Yeah, those colors are amazing!

There are many, many photos that have been retouched by this seller.

Buyer beware.

Just as my friend who has gotten hooked on them this past year....tells me the other day..."Gee, I see they have them in Cobalt...why don't you have one of those?" I had to tell her there are certain people to never order from and they don't come in those colors! Mahalos, Mike

From reading the reviews, there is at least one guy who will be surprised to find that it's not as advertised.

Thanks for the heads up, Mike.

Report them to Amazon ... they will lose the account.

And, because of how Amazon verifies sellers, it will be really hard for them to get the account back or open a new one.

What funny is Amazon emailed me today and said "hey check these out" LOL

I reported them as best I could. I encourage the others to do so as well.

mike

This post was edited by mksmth on Thu, May 22, 14 at 14:43

You can report them here:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/reports

I reported the seller as well, but I got back a form letter from Amazon asking for a new report with additional info:

- Amazon.com Order ID of a test buy that confirms the violation (required)
- A concise description of the differences between the item ordered and the item received (required)
- The ASIN/ISBN of the item's detail page and the product title
- The store or business name of the seller you are reporting
- Any other evidence that supports your complaint

...
So, let me get this straight -- You can't report this seller without first buying a plumeria from him (not gonna happen), but then how can you prove the colors are fake when you're going to get an unrooted cutting with no inflo? I know it's fake, you know it's fake, but you can't exactly wait one or two years to finally get the real bloom, take a picture, and then say, "See?"

I feel sorry for anybody taken in by this scam. On the other hand, I would never buy plants or seeds on Amazon (or eBay), either.

Amazon changed it so you cant just report anyone to avoid spam reports but if you use the link Ill attached below it can be done without ordering.

I used this link and left the order line blank. the report went through just fine and got a reply saying "Thanks for the report it will be reviewed,etc

Adding a few reviews to the listings will forewarn anyone shopping. I dont know if the seller can remove reviews or not.

Mike

Here is a link that might be useful: report seller

Hi,
Sorry, I don't grow Plumeria (although I love their flowers and admire those who can grow them), but I saw this post on the right side after browsing the House Plants forum. I just wanted to say I also reported the seller. It's sad that there are people out there in the world like this knowingly ripping people off. Thanks for bringing this to light, I hope the seller's account gets closed.

Planto

Hey planto. Hang around long enough and you'll end up taking home a dozen plants. LoL.
This has been going on for a long time. Who knows how many people have been ripped off. Thanks for your help.
You should get a plant or two.

Mike

Mike,
Don't tempt me lol. I haven't thoroughly researched caring for Plumeria, but once I have the space, I'll be sure to to do so. Living in apartment is a bit limiting in where I can place plants, so for now, I'll admire them from a distance. :)

Anything I can to to keep someone from being ripped off by that seller. I know it won't stop the process from ending overall, there will always be someone, but hopefully it will help stop this seller.

Planto

A little update. I had reported the picture to amazon stating that they are a false representation and that they have been photo shopped to have a color not available in the real world.
I got a form email from Amazon saying that they reviewed the image and they found no need to change the image. That's a bit frustrating. I guess Amazon doesn't care that one of their sellers is lying and stealing from their customers. I use Amazon and like the service but if they let this go I may change that.

Mike

So if a seller advertises dinosaur eggs for sale, you're just supposed to buy them as legit and can't report them to Amazon until after they hatch as chickens?

Completely ridiculous.

It seems Amazon is aware of the bogus listings (not just plants but other products as well) and 3rd party sellers selling counterfeit items. There have been many complaints posted on their forums about these sellers getting away with criminal activity. But it seems of no use to complain to Amazon about this. The good news is, Amazon is good about returns and you can get your money back over fake items.

I just hope that a newbie plumeria enthusiast will research the variety before purchasing. Reporting these bogus listings on Amazon or EBay does not seem to work. These corporations do not seem to care to be proactive about removing these listings that are blatantly bogus to us because they constantly reappear.

I suggest we create a thread and have it "stickied" with FAQs and inform newbies that these blue and black plumerias do not exist and there are many scammers out to make a quick buck all over the internet.

If anything, everyone should give a "helpful" vote to the reviews that state blue plumerias, etc., don't exist (or add their own review). I think Amazon has recently changed its rating system so that "helpful" reviews are given more weight when calculating the overall rating of an item.

Mike,
I haven't gotten a response from Amazon yet, although I'm sure if I receive one, it'll be the same response you received. That's a shame for sure.

Planto

If you have an account you can review the "product" I just reviewed a couple and at least one of mine made it on their site, hopefully it will help someone. :P

Thanks for adding some reviews. Hopefully we can stop someone from wasting their money.

mike