I bought an expensive bamboo plant from a seller who was away and that shipping would be delayed. The delay suited my purposes as I was having work done in my garden and felt that the plant would be safer in the nursery. The seller has a huge business that must require a very large staff. This is odd, as given that volume of business, I would expect that there would be other personnel capable of filling orders! I became concerned and asked the seller to cancel the order on the basis that I was concerned about the health of the plant. Seller promptly refused. I wrote back asking the seller to guarantee that the plant was healthy. She ignored me, sent the plant out without marking it as dispatched. It arrived on Sunday, 24 November. It was bedraggled and in poor condition. Several dead and dying leaves and the rest were drooping. I contacted the seller and advised her of the condition of the plant and pointed out that the delivery slip showed that it had been dispatched from another supplier. There was no letter head or receipt, just the delivery note with the upper portion peeled away. Seller stated that it was her stock. I noticed that the plant was "swaddled." Unwrapped it this evening and found that the plastic pot was split about two thirds of the way up. There was no drainage and it was water logged. Wrote to the seller advising her of the situation and expressed outrage that she would behave in this manner. Ebay was monitoring and alleged that I was using "offensive" language. Ebay considers, clearly, that the use of the terminology "outraged" to be offensive. I had raised an earlier complaint regarding her lack of communication and refusal to cancel. I closed the case when the plant arrived. Ebay had interpreted my complaint incorrectly as "Item not received." That was not the basis of the complaint and now ebay refuses to liaise regarding the new issue concerning the condition of the plant.
I have advised the seller that I want a partial refund, that I will keep the plant and try to rejuvenate it as I doubt that it would survive another journey, and quite honestly, I feel sorry for the plant and want to help it and bring it back to health. How daft am I....! I have bought other bamboo from other sellers and hope that I am not going to be subjected to this unacceptable behaviour again.
