Whoa. Guess he's not a serious businessman.

You might check into Daves Garden as you can list sellers as good, bad, or neutral. It helps other buyers. It is also a good place to check out a nursery before purchasing.

This is an amusing report, to say the least. I'm sorry you've had a bad experience with them, but I want to say that in 20 years of dealing with them, I've always had good experiences. Including speaking to Mr. McCartney several times on the phone about horticultural matters. (never anything related to an order, they usually have a office manager to handle that...always female in my experience) I have a neutral mid-Atlantic accent btw. And let's put this into perspective...it's not like they took your money and under-delivered in some way. I can think of a couple nurseries where I've had that experience!
Their catalog stresses that plants should be ordered early. Assuming they are even in business next winter, I'd recommend other northern clients do what I do, which is to order in the fall and keep the plants in a bright, unheated (or lightly heated) space over the winter like a garage.

I had some of the same problems you had. Also, they are always out of something I order and only send a credit but not a refund. I walked away from them with a $20 credit because I believe it was a scam to get repeat business.

"I walked away from them with a $20 credit because I believe it was a scam to get repeat business."

Unfortunately, this "scam" has become prevalent at many of the nation's mail order nurseries, including some of the most respected, not just Woodlanders.
In my experience Woodlanders has:
1) never sent a bad (poorly grown) plant
2) never sent a mislabeled plant
3) never sent outside the agreed-upon time frame

In 20 years of dealing with at least 25 different mail order nurseries, I can only think of a few that met all of these criteria. Seneca Hill Perennials was one of them and she's closed.

OMG, that really does sound like Bob! He's a wonderful, generous, funny, hugely knowledgeable plantsman but you know that phrase "Don't get on my last nerve?"

Anyway, that you had a bad experience with him and Woodlanders is highly unusual. I've recommended them hundreds of times and will continue to do so.