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Royal Colors - Second Shipment

18 years ago

As I'm sure most of you know, I placed an order with Royal Colors some time in September... I opted for October delivery, mainly because the choice of "ship them right away" is not an option... October came and went with no sign of my package, and I even waited extra time, figuring since it was busy season and they were coming from overseas, it could take longer... still no package... so, I emailed my disappointment, and they responded with a second shipment, I'm happy to say...

I FINALLY GOT IT!

Yesterday, there was a box from Royal Colors in my mailbox... it looked like it had been through a war... it was partially open, dented, and looked like the hands that it had passed through along the way had all taken turns throwing it around!

Once opened, however, I discovered that the bulbs were fine... undamaged by human hands, anyway... although, I was not exactly thrilled with the loose and poor packing job... plus... upon opening the bags the bulbs come in, I discovered that a couple of them have broken scapes from being in bags for so long, and the ones with long, curling, white scapes are rather soft and feel depleted of moisture... I hope they make it.

Needless to say, I am not thrilled with my first, and possibly my last, order from Royal Colors. I spent good money to get these bulbs, waited an ungodly long time to get them, and received the bottom of the barrel bulbs, not even packed well...

Since it does no good to cry over spilled milk, I'm going to make the best of it all and plant them up... I think with good care, I can salvage them all and have nice flowers from most of them this year, and from the others by next year...

I've been told by everyone who has ever ordered from RC that they are a fabulous company with great products... I'm sure my poor experience with them was just a fluke... and with the volume of customers they must have, it's inevitable that one purchase goes awry...

Bottom line is... I have my bulbs, and I know RC will replace any that don't make it... they do have great customer service!

Whew! Done ranting... I'm going to the garden center today to get more clay pots for these guys... my bulbs are: Supreme Garden, Rapido, Rembrandt Van Rijn, Lady Jane and Giraffe. I'll take photos as I plant them up...

Comments (15)

  • 18 years ago

    Oh dear, I just sent off my first order to them last night! I wonder if yours got caught in the mess of Christmas mail and squashed under a mountain of over packages! I would give them a report on their condition immediately. They should replace the damaged ones or have the shipping company they used refund the money spent on Packing and shipping.

    I planted my Amaryllis BUlb Company order last night and discovered that 2 of them look like they had frozen in the package. They were mushy and smelled weird all down one side and rotted under the baseplate, but not brown yet except on the outer layers so I think it probably happened in mid shipment. MAybe that side of the box stuck out in a stack on the truck overnight. I did email ABC right after discovering and ask for replacements for those as well as ordering a few more to keep them company in the shipment, LOL. I was not able to save any of the baseplate on these two.

    Is there anyway to save the bulb and regrow them without a peice of baseplate? Didn't I read about someone who had done that on this net? I gouged out the bad stuff and have about a half bulb left and no baseplate on them. (Then I rolled them liberally in Cinnamon and left them to dry on the table. The other bulbs all looked great.

  • 18 years ago

    Oh my, what bad luck with RC. Lizalily could be right about the shipment getting messed up with the Christmas mail here in US. Anna on the other hand received her RC shipment in good condition in Canada.

    Jodic...Would you be home after X'mas and how would your weather be then? I will send you something to cheer you up girlfriend!

  • 18 years ago

    Sorry to hear of your troubles, and I really do think it was a fluke. My shipment which I just wrote about, came in good time, was well packed and even had a plastic "frost blanket" over it. I will post pics as well!

    Anna

  • 18 years ago

    Sorry to hear about the sub-standard order Jodi. My order from royal colors just arrived two days ago, and in good time, having been ordered at the end of november. I have not yet seen the condition of the bulbs (its a present to me...mom's got them right now) but if there are any concerns y'all will hear about it.

  • 18 years ago

    Man oh man, sorry to hear about your bad experience with RC. =( If they don't perform (especially the curly white scapes) let RC know. Take pictures/document everything and if the scapes aren't badly broken, try taping them together. It worked for my Green Goddess and the once broken scape is now in bloom. Ofcourse, if the scape has been for some time broken, this method probably will not work. =( Good luck and sorry for your disappointments.

  • 18 years ago

    But Wait! There's more!!

    Upon emailing RC to let them know what happened, and the condition of the received bulbs, it was surmised that this is not the second replacement shipment, but the FIRST, finally getting here! Invoice numbers were checked, and sure enough... this is parcel number 1!!

    And so, my dear friends, parcel number 2 is still on its way to my door... and I was told to keep parcel number 1, and enjoy them!!

    I feel so much better now!! It was simply a fluke that parcel number 1 was so late, and parcel number 2 is still coming! So anyone who has an order pending with RC, don't worry just yet!! They could arrive in great time, and in great shape!

    Thanks for the offer of a little something, Maria... I really appreciate it! However, I think it best to hold off until spring any shipment containing live plant materials... it's fairly frigid here, and the temperatures are fluctuating so much... I'd be afraid of something freezing while in transit. Thank you, though... just the thought of a feel-better gift from you makes me smile! :-)

    Lizalily... I'm sorry to hear that a couple of your bulbs didn't make it in good shape... I think you need to have at least a small piece of the basal plate for bulb parts to make new roots, but I could be mistaken... what do the experts have to say?? Good luck with them, though...

    So, you see? Everything always works out in the end... Karma is a good thing... and when you give, you get!!

    I will, hopefully, be enjoying double the bulbs I expected to have... they won't bloom for Christmas, but that's ok... I can just call them "Post-Christmas Blooms", and they will all be beautiful! Merry Christmas to me! And to all of you!!

  • 18 years ago

    Yayyyy for Jodik! Don't you just love Royal Colors? I still need to see another bulb company that could meet the standards of their business. I'm so happy for you Jodik. You deserve so much. I'll keep your surprise and send it to you maybe as a Valentine's gift?

  • 18 years ago

    Now, I have to go out and check if my package is here or not. Though I was the last one to receive it last month too, so I will just climb the hill as an excercise. :o)

  • 18 years ago

    I must say... Royal Colors has a top notch Customer Service Department... they answered all of my emails promptly, and shipped out a second package as soon as I told them my order never made it... I hope they pay their Customer Service girl a good salary, because she certainly deserves it! She's efficient, polite, prompt, helpful... she's on the ball!

    I'm very pleased with the way they do business at Royal Colors... with the customers' satisfaction placed at a number one priority... no wonder everybody sings their praises!

    Maria, you're too sweet, thank you! Anytime after our weather breaks will be fine for shipping anything! I'm sure we'll be in touch through email before then... I'll keep you posted on weather conditions!

  • 18 years ago

    I got the package. Everything is here.

    Pax, your Hercules is here. It is sitting with White Nymph now, waiting for Germa to arrive so I could send a package to you. Nice. No more packages for me this year.

    I will have to send three out, then the year is officially over.

  • 18 years ago

    So, it was worth it to climb that hill, huh?! Hehe! It's good exercise, Soultan... good for the heart! Not to mention good for retrieving packages of bulbs!

  • 18 years ago

    I did not climb the hill. It was raining, so I opted to drive down with Toto with me in the car. I usually climb down for the mail with Toto, but I don't like it when it is raining, and Toto would get messy, so the car is actually a safety vehicle. :o)

  • 18 years ago

    Well, at least Toto got a ride, and I'm sure he loves to ride! Emma loves to come with us if we go somewhere, even if it's only a short ride!

  • 18 years ago

    Oh yes. When he hears the keys fiddling, he knows that it is the garage door he has to sit down in front and wait for me to invite him in the car.
    He was with me in all of my journeys to get the amaryllis bulbs from the area...

  • 18 years ago

    We always take the girls with us when we go visit family up north! I don't like leaving them here overnight... I know they would be cared for, but I can't trust that they wouldn't get loose and cause damage to the other dogs that live here on the property... bulldogs can definitely hold their own, and I'd hate for a mistake to cost a life... it's not worth it... so, they travel with us... plus, I like traveling with a protection dog... I feel safer, and the girls are happy to be with us!

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