Tissue Culture Plants

[Francis Xavier]

Plants arrived yesterday!

Shipping for pre-orders will take place on Monday.

[Wwh2694]

....

[tdw1989]

do you have or can you get Anubias 'Micro'

[Francis Xavier]

Originally Posted by tdw1989

do you have or can you get Anubias 'Micro'

Unfortunately, Anubias Micro is not on their list for tissue culture.

[LeoCordero]

Hi! I'm interested in ordering some tissue culture plants from you but I've heard some mixed reviews. Some members have had a good experience with ordering plants from you. SEVERAL have expressed uneasiness with their order. Some people complained that their plants arrived melted and when they contacted you for a refund, you said NO REFUND but instead aggressively pushed to re-send them new plants (some of which they didn't order and have no interest in).

I've taken these comments and experiences with a grain of salt, but I'd like to know what your policy is for plants that arrive melted or in not good shape. I understand these plants come from Italy so they are going through quite a lot of transit time. What assurance can I get that you won't ship me plants that are already on the melted side? Is it true that you won't offer a refund for plants that arrive in poor condition?

I'm very interested in ordering some TC plants from you, as I've ordered some in the past from a different vendor with great success, but I want to clarify some details to be clear as to the condition of the plants we can expect upon receipt and what happens if we aren't happy with the condition of the plants. Will a refund be viable? B/c I don't want another shipment of plants that I have no interest in as a "replacement".

[tdw1989]

What's the cost of shipping

[plantbrain]

Originally Posted by LeoCordero

Hi! I'm interested in ordering some tissue culture plants from you but I've heard some mixed reviews. Some members have had a good experience with ordering plants from you. SEVERAL have expressed uneasiness with their order. Some people complained that their plants arrived melted and when they contacted you for a refund, you said NO REFUND but instead aggressively pushed to re-send them new plants (some of which they didn't order and have no interest in).

I've taken these comments and experiences with a grain of salt, but I'd like to know what your policy is for plants that arrive melted or in not good shape. I understand these plants come from Italy so they are going through quite a lot of transit time. What assurance can I get that you won't ship me plants that are already on the melted side? Is it true that you won't offer a refund for plants that arrive in poor condition?

I'm very interested in ordering some TC plants from you, as I've ordered some in the past from a different vendor with great success, but I want to clarify some details to be clear as to the condition of the plants we can expect upon receipt and what happens if we aren't happy with the condition of the plants. Will a refund be viable? B/c I don't want another shipment of plants that I have no interest in as a "replacement".

I had a small issue, Frank took care of it.
Why would you buy the plants to begin with if you did not want them if the 1st batch came in bad condition?? As long as the 2nd batch came in good shape, that's fair it would seem to me.

[Francis Xavier]

Originally Posted by LeoCordero

Hi! I'm interested in ordering some tissue culture plants from you but I've heard some mixed reviews. Some members have had a good experience with ordering plants from you. SEVERAL have expressed uneasiness with their order. Some people complained that their plants arrived melted and when they contacted you for a refund, you said NO REFUND but instead aggressively pushed to re-send them new plants (some of which they didn't order and have no interest in).

I've taken these comments and experiences with a grain of salt, but I'd like to know what your policy is for plants that arrive melted or in not good shape. I understand these plants come from Italy so they are going through quite a lot of transit time. What assurance can I get that you won't ship me plants that are already on the melted side? Is it true that you won't offer a refund for plants that arrive in poor condition?

I'm very interested in ordering some TC plants from you, as I've ordered some in the past from a different vendor with great success, but I want to clarify some details to be clear as to the condition of the plants we can expect upon receipt and what happens if we aren't happy with the condition of the plants. Will a refund be viable? B/c I don't want another shipment of plants that I have no interest in as a "replacement".

These are great questions!

First and foremost, my number one priority is making sure to deliver on high expectations - the first thing I try to do is to get people what they wanted in the first place in the case of an issue, which, is usually done at a greater cost of business than simply issuing a refund - of course, if in the end, it doesn't work out, there is absolutely no "no refund" policy that blocks refunds from taking place, if it is the preference of the purchaser, then that's the best course of action to take.

In fact, I take satisfaction of fellow hobbyists in what they got so personally, that I'd rather incur a total loss on a shipment (financially) than see someone unhappy. Pretty much everything that's done is an import product - whether it be ADA or Italy TC plants from Anubias, and part of that game is subject to logistic delays, manufacturing delays, customs issues and so on, which all essentially means that we maintain a very loose refund policy - basically you get whatever you want. Replacement? No problem. Refund? Not an issue.

In cases where there is a mishap, usually the customer wins double - because usually that means you get what you originally ordered and a bonus.

As for the TC plants, by and large, it was our attempt to bring a better quality plant to the table to be available easily to everyone (since let's face it, coordinating plants for a full-blown planted tank, planted from the get go full on is a challenge and a half with the way things are now).

We believed that that path was through Anubias tissue culture plants, but after the first shipment we discovered issues with the product.

The first is that 1.) The product is very clearly designed to be shipped via air cargo or on a truck directly to a retail store for display in smaller countries (such as European countries where logistics aren't as big a challenge).

The case that I found was happening with a lot of the plants, is that the plants would leave in perfect condition, and the plants themselves would arrive fine - but the black agar that they grow in, in the process of being tossed around through the shipping process would essentially get totally jumbled with all the plant matter, creating a scenario where when you open the package, what you see looked completely different from the original plant. The plant is fine, but it's mixed up with the Agar.

The product line saw widespread success in Europe and Japan, and in retrospect, it makes more sense as the distribution area is much smaller and it's much more viable to deliver safely without the box ever getting turned over, to a retail store in Japan from a central distribution point, than it is in the USA direct to a customer from the distribution point.

That's a hard lesson learned - and one that case by case has been addressed with all the early adopters, we found out what plants shipped well, which ones didn't and which ones make a safe transition into the aquarium better, which is all information we had no way of knowing before hand, as there had never been an attempt to distribute this kind of product across such a large area before.

All that being said, for the time being, we've essentially halted the ordering of the plants from Italy. We haven't given up on finding a solution, but for now, until retail stores begin investing more into planted aquariums (outside a few specific geographic area), this particular product line is just not suited for direct shipping, and it's price point is not particularly viable for effective distribution to stores (which, costs are so high on it, that the retail value is $14.25, the wholesale is $12.25, and our cost was $11.50...which really just makes no business sense what so ever).

It's a great product and a great line, but we'll have to work on opening a different channel to exploit it - it's a similar story with most foreign product lines trying to enter the USA after being used to Europe and Asia. Even Canada is significantly different than the USA in terms of viability of cost.

So the bottom line is, if you're ever not happy, let me know. I will take care of you. If you do not like the solution I present, then we'll just keep plugging away until we find the best solution for you. There is only one policy: I will do everything in my power so that you walk away happy.

I hope that answers your questions!

[Jeff5614]

Originally Posted by Francis Xavier

...So the bottom line is, if you're ever not happy, let me know. I will take care of you. If you do not like the solution I present, then we'll just keep plugging away until we find the best solution for you. There is only one policy: I will do everything in my power so that you walk away happy.

I hope that answers your questions!

I can and will personally attest to that. I ordered a pollen beetle a couple of years ago that arrived damaged. A quick PM to Frank and another was on the way. He did not ask me to return the damaged diffuser before shipping out a new one which I had within the week. I still have the damaged one in my aquarium supply closet. He only asked for a pic after the fact to send to ADA since it actually seemed to be a manufacturing defect and not shipping damage. How could you ask for better customer service.

[Soup12]

Originally Posted by antbug

Not only are these great options for aquarist, the customer service from Frank and ADG is top notch.

Frank is pretty legit +1

order ALL my ada supplies exclusively thru him.

[aesthetics808]

so these aren't available at the moment?

[Green_Flash]

Can you still order them upon special request from members?

[Francis Xavier]

I can make special orders yes, there just needs to be appropriate volume levels!

[madness]

I am sorry to see that there were problems for you with distributing this product.

It is a great idea and one that, IMO, will be very popular if you can figure out a solution or a similar alternative.

So, uh, keep looking for a suitable alternative and keep us posted please.

[xiaoxiy]

It's a shame to see that these don't ship well.

I ordered 3 pots of E. Parvula, 1 tube of R. Waiichi and 1 tube of R. Rotundifolia of the anubias TC from Frank. While the stems weren't looking so great when they first came in, they're all flourishing in the tank. In fact, after a week, the DHG has begun to spread and the waiichi has begun to turn red!