Marc Torppa / Marc Torpa / Mark Torppa / Mark Torpa @ the Growing Grounds - AVOID

Thanks for your thoughts. Yes, I process many new trees each yr. this yr, I am sending out packets of pictures due to posting problems of the pics themselves. Hopefully it will be fixed soon.
I keep trees on the site for others to study or just enjoy. may folks write saying it lifts their spirits. Many are sold but nice to look at. I replace a certain number each yr (except this yr) with new trees.
I have no interest to sell 300 trees a yr. close to a hundered is enough. dont want to die chasing numbers ! Hard enough to get caught up between surgeries.

One question the original posting had was BS. well the BS was over the $45 ship fee to his place for a small tree. UPS charges for the size of the box and THEY have assigned a weight to it. Doesnt matter if your box is 2 lbs, if the chart says that box weighes 32lbs, thats what you are charged for. Not fair in my book. So, I have and always will pay for double boxing, stryo false bottom, new copper tie downs, root drench and delivery. I add no fees to any shipping just charge a flat UPS rate. It oftens costs me a few bucks to 20 bucks to ship. its Ok, easyier on the customer. 5 trees in 15yrs is very good. We all saw what UPS drivers did to our packages on national TV.

Yes I do have many happy customers but hard to please all in retail. I do have the folks at the FBI in VA as buyers!! Customer service is easy, just answer questions about a tree. Some are real happy others not so much so. Is anything but stressful.

Well thanks alot for your thoughts, must go have trees to ship all over the USA. marc
 
I could chime in here and say that I have purchased trees from a number of online vendors - almost every one mentioned here. I must say that none of them gave very fast responses to any of my emails or phone calls. I am not complaining, I am sure they are very busy at times. In fact I have had people notoriously hard to deal with or buy from, and the Growing Grounds was not one of them. The tree I purchased was very good quality, good price, and was shipped very well. No problems here, satisfied customer, just my two cents.
 
Considering that Chris is one of my best friends... I can say without hesitation that he's so laid back it's ridiculous. If he says he had problems with a vendor... he had problems with a vendor. Painting him as a disgruntled, can't please everyone, kind of customer would be absurd to anyone who actually knows him. He's generally the most non-reactionary person I've ever met, but when goaded beyond all reasonable bounds, he reacts.

People can do business with Marc or not... the point of this thread was to provide awareness for others. So buy or not... that any of this is about Chris, because the vendor swoops in to defend himself MONTHS after the issue, is goofy. I always find the deference shown to 'professionals' who swoop in to defend themselves without a care in the world for contributing to this community is a crack up. It's like getting all star struck if Charlie Sheen walked in the room... people forget he's clearly crazy and narcissistic. It's not exclusive to bonsai... but it's mind boggling no matter what the situation.

A great vendor would have come in, owned his parts of the communication breakdown, and tried to make things right. For a true example see... http://bonsainut.com/forums/showthread.php?8226-Telperion-Farm&highlight=telperion

Came in within 24 hours of the thread... appreciated the feedback... and owned the situation in a reasonable way. Oh and did I mention he cares about and contributes to this community??

Now who do you want to buy from?

Just sayin'.....

V
 
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Marc,
I'll try one more time...

Why don't you hire a high school kid to manage your web page? Keeping up with today's technology can be daunting. The kids these days are taught how to do e-commerce in school, how to set up web pages, run transactions. The opportunity you would provide for the HS kids to photograph, provide graphic design, learn how to do e-commerce, etc would be amazing.

You see, they could automate something like this for you: I call or send an email asking about Japanese Black Pines. They set me up on your database as a potential customer, and whenever a new JBP gets posted on your site, I get an email with a picture. All automated. I can go in to your web site, and list the types of trees I'm interested in, and whenever you get a match, I get notified. It SOUNDS really hard to do. Not for the kids these days. I bet there's a teacher at the local high school who would love to have a class project.
 
Victrinia Ensor said:
Considering that Chris is one of my best friends... I can say without hesitation that he's so laid back it's ridiculous. If he says he had problems with a vendor... he had problems with a vendor. Painting him as a disgruntled, can't please everyone, kind of customer would be absurd to anyone who actually knows him. He's generally the most non-reactionary person I've ever met, but when goaded beyond all reasonable bounds, he reacts.

People can do business with Marc or not... the point of this thread was to provide awareness for others. So buy or not... that any of this is about Chris, because the vendor swoops in to defend himself MONTHS after the issue, is goofy. I always find the deference shown to 'professionals' who swoop in to defend themselves without a care in the world for contributing to this community is a crack up. It's like getting all star struck if Charlie Sheen walked in the room... people forget he's clearly crazy and narcissistic. It's not exclusive to bonsai... but it's mind boggling no matter what the situation.

A great vendor would have come in, owned his parts of the communication breakdown, and tried to make things right. For a true example see... http://bonsainut.com/forums/showthread.php?8226-Telperion-Farm&highlight=telperion

Came in within 24 hours of the thread... appreciated the feedback... and owned the situation in a reasonable way. Oh and did I mention he cares about and contributes to this community??

Now who do you want to buy from?

Just sayin'.....

V
Click to expand...

This sums it up very well.

We visit NC frequently and I have wanted to make an appointment to visit this vendor; however, after negative email experience and negative references from many on this and other forums, I will not do so.
 
His responses follow the pattern of responses piss-poor customer service regardless of the venue- at no point is responsibility taken, blame technology, the mail, the weather, the dog died, the wife was sick... anything that is untraceable. Or the ever changing email game on all sides... I dunno - most folks check all their various emails several times a week, if not sent right to their phones... And really how often in this day and age do spam filters suddenly go hay-wire. Maybe back in the early 90s...

Throw in a few oddities for good measure- "pictures of unavailable trees lift people's spirits" WTF is that? "I replace a few each year" This is your for sale section not your "examples" section or "moving onto a happy home" section. And I always like the "I'm happy just doing what I'm doing (So take the lousy service with it because I'm happy with that too) plus I'm losing money on every sale" excuse...

I cry manure cakes on this one- its laziness and/or lack of professionalism. Bonsai is all about patience... we are a patient lot even in the face of the mad rush that modern technology is forcing us into. Communication really is not that hard. The customer is always right unless they are truly a PIA.


I certainly thank you for the ideas as I get my own nursery operation (back) on-line!
 
I fear this vendor is getting trapped in 21st vs 20th century techno think. It may seem very realistic that he "own" his mistakes on the web when someone announces it publicly on a web site.

That reaction, however, assumes the vendor is aquainted with bonsai on the web. Not all are. The web, for many bonsaists over a certain age, is not even on the radar. It is little more than an afterthought (leaving pics up of sold trees to reminisce is quaint. It's a big no-no for professional online businesses, though)

The vendor is apparently not easy to get a hold of, which is not unheard of for specialist sellers of high end goods---not a great way to do business, but hey...:rolleyes:) Sometimes quirkiness drives businesses. I mean this guy seems pretty quirky. He has scores of higher end stock trees IN HIS YARD...and isn't in a real hurry to move them. I don't know many people who are sitting on that many trees, even the most prolific bonsaists here...

At the risk of defending bad customer service, the assumption here is that the world revolves around the Web. It really doesn't. Business with some folks is best done face to face. That's not all bad. I mean when's the last time you stood in line at a busy retail establishment and the clerk took a phone order instead of serving you at the counter? Irritating, no? Same deal here , I suppose. The guy apparently works with local clubs and individuals he knows well...Other online buyers beware...
 
Victrinia Ensor said:
Considering that Chris is one of my best friends... I can say without hesitation that he's so laid back it's ridiculous. If he says he had problems with a vendor... he had problems with a vendor. Painting him as a disgruntled, can't please everyone, kind of customer would be absurd to anyone who actually knows him. He's generally the most non-reactionary person I've ever met, but when goaded beyond all reasonable bounds, he reacts.

People can do business with Marc or not... the point of this thread was to provide awareness for others. So buy or not... that any of this is about Chris, because the vendor swoops in to defend himself MONTHS after the issue, is goofy. I always find the deference shown to 'professionals' who swoop in to defend themselves without a care in the world for contributing to this community is a crack up. It's like getting all star struck if Charlie Sheen walked in the room... people forget he's clearly crazy and narcissistic. It's not exclusive to bonsai... but it's mind boggling no matter what the situation.

A great vendor would have come in, owned his parts of the communication breakdown, and tried to make things right. For a true example see... http://bonsainut.com/forums/showthread.php?8226-Telperion-Farm&highlight=telperion

Came in within 24 hours of the thread... appreciated the feedback... and owned the situation in a reasonable way. Oh and did I mention he cares about and contributes to this community??

Now who do you want to buy from?

Just sayin'.....

V
Click to expand...

Nothing to add here except an endorsement from Vic and Eric is no small thing.
 
If Charlie Sheen DID walk into the room I'd not be star struck- I'd be geared of for some serious partying! Bwahahahahaha
 
Try handing Gary Iishi a credit card at Chikugu En!

or... an out of town check if he doesn't know you!
 
I actually have plans to visit Chikugo-En and House of Bonsai for the first time later this week. Pretty excited.
 
I've taken checks for 12 years... regardless of where they were from. My wife as well- she sells goats milk soap and lotion. Between the two of us she's the only one who ever got burned - for about $30 from a local....

We know take cards any where we do business.

Guess I won't be a "real" nursery... ;^)
 
goosetown said:
I actually have plans to visit Chikugo-En and House of Bonsai for the first time later this week. Pretty excited.
Click to expand...
Chikugo is a really nice place kinda small but he has awesome trees... look out for his bear he keeps in the front its one of the biggest damn dogs I've ever seen...
House of Bonsai is a giant lot with a lot nice bonsai and good sized Juniper material...
 
I think Als point is it's one of the best places for trees and they don't give a hoot about the E world. Just because there is most anything we want available on the net does not mean we should expect everyone to meet our expectations of how the (your) world works on the web, there are still some around that can live without ecommerce and google, and paypal, and yet they go on and do well.
 
Bill S said:
I think Als point is it's one of the best places for trees and they don't give a hoot about the E world. Just because there is most anything we want available on the net does not mean we should expect everyone to meet our expectations of how the (your) world works on the web, there are still some around that can live without ecommerce and google, and paypal, and yet they go on and do well.
Click to expand...

Its likely the dinosaurs didn't give a hoot about that big fiery rock hurtling toward the earth either...don't miss the point.

By comparison, I spoke with Gary Ishii (Chikugu-En) several times by phone, and by email, and although I had to mail him a check to make my purchase, he was responsive, courteous, and a pleasure to work with; he even called me afterward to ensure I got the trees and was happy with them (and it was a small order). Gary doesn't run a web-based e-commerce business, but he had great customer service.

The growing grounds seems to only want e-commerce, and my electronic inquiries did not result in so much as a reply.
 
Bill S said:
Just because there is most anything we want available on the net does not mean we should expect everyone to meet our expectations of how the (your) world works on the web
Click to expand...

But they should at least meet their CUSTOMERS expectations. At the very least, the expectation of getting what you paid for in a timely manner, undamaged.
 
Thats where you make up your own mind as to wether you do bussiness again with them. The internet doesn't give any advantage except to go see what you want without driving and waiting for mail. In all actuality, I am more leary dealing with anyone over the net, unless I know them from personal visits, remember that the net makes it all more impersonal, and harder to judge what you are getting into. In some cases it makes it easier for them to screw you due to proximity.
Before I get the dinasaur crap I do plenty of business over the net, but usually not without some poking around first.
 
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