Do NOT order from Brussel's Bonsai in the winter.

[marcvs.antonivs]

Recently converted a sunroom in my house to be sort of a slightly humid grow room for my tropicals (I live in Wisconsin). Needed to fill it up with more plants and trees, so I ordered a cheap starter tree from Brussel's. Have ordered from them in the past quite a lot and always received trees of excellent health.

Before I ordered I checked to make sure they included heating pads in the package. Right on their website it says they do.

https://imgur.com/bV2BBx7

Well, the tree arrived frozen with no heating pad. I'm going to try to save it but it's already dropped all of it's leaves, showing clear signs of severe damage from the cold. Such a shame to see a tree die over something this easily avoidable, if they just followed the promise on their own website this wouldn't have been an issue. I assumed this must have been a mistake, so I emailed their customer service and they said they'll send me a replacement. I told them if they need me to pay extra for the heating pad I will gladly do so. No response. Since I assumed it was just an oversight, I went ahead and ordered a seperate variety of tree, and shot them another email with the order number asking them to make sure they include a heating pad, even offering to pay extra for it if necessary. It's right on their website, they sell trees, why wouldn't I assume they had heating pads and just forgot to include one in my first order? Of course I figured it was just a mistake, especially considering they were willing to replace the tree.

They ship out the second order without responding and then respond and say "We don't sell heating pads". What? Are you kidding me? It's on your website! I wouldn't have ordered anything in the winter if I didn't see that they claim to include heating pads in the packages! So now it appears that they are just going to ship out the replacement for my original tree without any heating pad, essentially condemning another one to death. It looks like the second order I made will arrive sooner, and I believe this variety to be more hearty, so I am hoping it can survive without a heating pad. But I really have no idea if it will. EVERY other time I have ordered tropical pants in the winter the companies ALWAYS include a heating pad. I can't believe Brussels just neglects to include them in their packages... especially considering they say they do on their website. It's really a shame.

 

[Mapleminx]

I have never ordered from them simple for the fact I am not in the US. BUT I have heard a lot of praise for thrm from others sourcing from them

They ship out the second order without responding and then respond and say "We don't sell heating pads".

Maybe they don’t “sell” heat pads as a buyable add on but do include them as part of the shipping and just forgot the first time?

For me personally I would never buy/sell/ship a tropical tree/plant during the winter because even with heat pads there is no 100% guarantee. Postal depots can be insanely cold in the dead of winter and if the box is sitting around longer than expected due to unforeseen delays then even a heat pad might not be enough.

I hope #2 does indeed turn up with a heat pad for the sake of the tree but I would have been inclined to take a refund and re-order once the season turns around.

 

[cmeg1]

Post is still slow from logistical regulations too from the pandemic…….my two day shipments were taking 5 days.

 

[hampton]

my two day shipments were taking 5 days.

That’s the truth, I’ve been waiting on a watering can for 3 weeks. At this point if it gets here it’ll be a miracle

 

[Warlock]

i ordered two dawn redwoods from Brussels Bonsai via Amazon.. got them 3 days later in texas. no problem.

 

[Flowerhouse]

I like Brussels, have ordered from them in the past, will do so again. I don't order any living material from anywhere in the winter. Simple decision, even when shipping is functioning at optimal levels.

 

[Carol 83]

I like Brussels, have ordered from them in the past, will do so again. I don't order any living material from anywhere in the winter. Simple decision, even when shipping is functioning at optimal levels.

I never order anything to be shipped in the winter either, no reason to take a chance and I don't want anything else I need to keep inside. Ordering tropicals in the winter, to be shipped to Wisconsin, heat pack or not seems pretty risky.

 

[Lorax7]

The only live plants I've ordered and had shipped in winter were evergreen seedlings that were already dormant (and I knew they'd stay that way during shipping). I wouldn't chance it with more expensive material.