c b.

Spent nearly £100 on a tree as a surprise birthday gift. I read all the reviews! Thought I'd done my homework. Had a few emails back and forth to make absolutely sure it would be delivered at the right time before I parted with any money and was assured, yes, absolutely, the beautiful leafy fig tree would be delivered in two and a half months time together with the special birthday message. Details were given for the courier company of a safe place to leave it should no one be home.
A couple of weeks later I received a call... "You didn't leave a half dead sapling outside our house did you"?
So, after explaining that it was supposed to be a birthday surprise and due to be delivered at the end of July, I was sent a picture of the sad specimen that had been left two months early outside the intended recipients home. No note, no birthday message, no packaging and no leaves!
Contacted Trees online who basically said, "bla bla bla excuses excuses excuses, bla bla not our fault, bla bla bla early frost means no leaves, bla bla bla, not our fault.
I explained that the birthday wasn't for another 2 months and they had promised me delivery would be the last week in July. The surprise was now ruined, the tree looked nothing like the website picture, the recipients had no idea who it was from or why it had been left on their doorstep and it was a really seriously poor specimen. To add insult to injury I was then offered 10% off any future orders as a "gesture of goodwill" and a £5.45 refund. I emailed and said I would prefer a full refund and for them to collect the tree. So far they have not answered that email.
This may well not be their usual modus operandi and I can see that in general their reviews are good but after such a mammoth $#*! up, to be given pathetic excuses and an insulting offer of a fiver and 10% off future orders is nothing short of insulting. Buyer beware.