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Tropical Fruit => Tropical Fruit Discussion => Topic started by: BestDay on September 16, 2014, 04:24:17 PM

Title: Another experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: BestDay on September 16, 2014, 04:24:17 PM
Hi all, Two years ago I ordered twelve Mango trees from Top Tropicals Nursery.  This year when my Cushman fruited the fruits looked nothing like Cushmans.  Cushman fruit is round and yellow, my fruit was oblong and green that colored up to orange and red.  My Southern Blush that I received from them has Mango Malformation Disease.  Reference this posting for pictures of the flower panicles http://tropicalfruitforum.com/index.php?topic=12129.msg155746#msg155746 (http://tropicalfruitforum.com/index.php?topic=12129.msg155746#msg155746) .  This disease causes trees to grow very slowly, set little fruit and it is very contagious.  Luckily the first year I noticed the flowers looked strange so I have been very careful not to spread the disease to my other trees.

I contacted Top Tropicals almost three weeks ago and talked to Heather.  She asked me to email here photos of the mislabeled Cushman tree and the diseased Southern Blush.  I did.  After not hearing back from her for several days I called and talked to her.  She agreed that the Cushman tree was mislabeled and said they would ship me a replacement.  She said that they were talking to their plant expert about the Mango Malformation Disease and they would get back to me. She told me that she had never heard of Mango Malformation Disease before.  This was shocking to me as it shows how completely clueless this Nursery is or that she is willing to lie to me to.

After not hearing from Heather for a week I started calling Top Tropicals each day.  For a week I called every day and every day I got a different excuse, "Heather is on the other line. She will call you right back.", "Heather is off today.  I'll leave her a message and have her call you first thing in the morning.", "Heather is working in the field I'll have her call you when she gets back to the office."  Needless to say I never received a return phone call.  I asked the other people that I spoke to on the phone if there was someone else I could talk to about my problem.  Each time I was told that I needed to talk to Heather.  One of the other girls that I spoke to on the phone told me that their plant expert had told them that I must have obtained the disease from one of my other trees.  I told her that this was the only tree I have with this disease and that the entire tree has the disease.  To me, if every flower on a three gallon tree has Mango Malformation Disease then it probably got it from dirty equipment when it was grafted.

After almost three weeks and with unreturned phone calls to Top Tropicals I have contacted my Credit Card and I am disputing the charges.  I also plan on reporting them to the appropriate California agricultural department.  To let them know that Top Tropicals is shipping diseased trees into California and doesn't appear to care.  I know there has been a lot of talk on this forum about different online nursery options for California.  In the past I have defended Top Tropicals and told people about the large trees I received from them.  With Top Tropicals poor communication and complete lack of responsibility for shipping me a diseased tree.  I can no longer recommend them.  For others considering ordering from them, the risk of receiving a diseased tree is simply not worth it.  This is a very contagious disease that can easily be spread.

Another unhappy Top Tropicals customer,
Bill
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: wslau on September 16, 2014, 05:00:37 PM
A real bummer Bill.
I hope your credit card company sides with you.  Not sure what the statute of limitations is in CA and FL.
Btw, I've asked Champa Nursery to import more varieties of mangos into SoCal.  Hopefully we'll see more varieties regularly next spring so that we don't have to go through TT, which has been a hit or miss with most folks.
Good luck!
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: zands on September 16, 2014, 05:43:10 PM
What a cluster! :( 
I hope you get some money returned.
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: ClayMango on September 16, 2014, 05:56:43 PM
sorry to hear...My experiences have been purely pleasant with my 11 Mango Trees ordered....

I'm sure almost all largescale nurseries have mislabled a tree at some point or another....Hopefully they improve with their customer relation a little better though.
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: NewGen on September 16, 2014, 06:33:15 PM
Every business makes mistakes. It's how they deal with it that matters. In this case, it's horrible customer service. I've bought from them before, and have been satisfied with what I received. Haven't had to contact them on any issue. This doesn't make me want to order from them in the future. Good luck to you in getting this resolved.
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: ClayMango on September 16, 2014, 06:45:21 PM
One thing I am curious about.... you mentioned "3 weeks of unreturned phone calls" Do you mean they also refused to answer you phone call 3 weeks in a row? or did they not return your call for the initial complaint after 3 weeks?

I'm sure they pick up their phones on a daily basis as they do large volumes of over the phone orders, unless they have your number on caller ID and are purposly avoiding you...hmmm...
http://youtu.be/ZomwVcGt0LE (http://youtu.be/ZomwVcGt0LE)
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: Cookie Monster on September 16, 2014, 06:56:38 PM
Make sure to post on the garden watchdog: http://davesgarden.com/products/gwd/c/2785/#b (http://davesgarden.com/products/gwd/c/2785/#b)
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: BestDay on September 16, 2014, 09:59:59 PM
Claymango, yes they answer the phone sometimes.  But no one is willing to talk to me about my problem.  They tell me that I need to talk to Heather about it.  I leave a message for Heather and then she never calls me back.  Very frustrating.  She is obviously avoiding me.  I called them everyday last week, with no response.  I initially talked with Heather on August 29th, 19 days ago! 

The fact that they claim to not know what Mango Malformation Disease is, is very disturbing.  You would expect a nursery that ships all over the country to be knowledgeable.  If they don't know the warning signs of infected plants, then they could be shipping infected plants all over the country.

Bill
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: Tropicaliste on September 16, 2014, 11:31:04 PM
Wow, this smells of the run around. It's absurd why they wouldn't just replace your tree, and then you could've came on here and said "They replaced my trees, and they're fantastic folks", and the folks on here would have remembered this and given them a chance ... instead, it's more proof not to shop with them, bad business sense. No they can't replace every customer's plant but for someone calling everyday, the complaint legit, it's absurd not to replace it.
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: puglvr1 on September 17, 2014, 08:51:34 AM
Very sorry for your bad experience with them, their customer service sounds like a nightmare! One would think the best way to resolve this would be to just replace the tree...they would come off a hero and you would give them glowing recommendations...it boggles the mind  :o instead you are now posting warning many potential buyers to be aware of this situation...it doesn't make sense to me...one tree!?! Isn't it worth it to take care of the problem and be done with it??
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: gunnar429 on September 17, 2014, 09:32:20 AM
give 'em the pickle!  Jeez.
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: jcaldeira on September 17, 2014, 10:19:22 AM
I think it is asking too much to expect a nursery to cover a disease issue two years after the purchase.
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: murahilin on September 17, 2014, 11:38:19 AM
I think it is asking too much to expect a nursery to cover a disease issue two years after the purchase.

That would be understandable if the disease wasn't one that was shipped with the tree as is likely the case with the Southern Blush. Nurseries need to be held responsible for spreading malformation because there should be an implied warranty that you're getting a healthy tree when you buy it.
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: jcaldeira on September 17, 2014, 12:45:58 PM
I think it is asking too much to expect a nursery to cover a disease issue two years after the purchase.

That would be understandable if the disease wasn't one that was shipped with the tree as is likely the case with the Southern Blush. Nurseries need to be held responsible for spreading malformation because there should be an implied warranty that you're getting a healthy tree when you buy it.

Agreed, but the buyer should bear some burden to show that the disease was in fact present when the plant was purchased, and not introduced later.  Perhaps one's own pruning equipment spread the disease, or insects.

http://www.planthealthaustralia.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Mango-malformation-FS.pdf (http://www.planthealthaustralia.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Mango-malformation-FS.pdf)
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: JF on September 17, 2014, 12:48:16 PM
Sounds like a nightmare Bill. We will all take notes and reconsider purchasing anymore trees from this outfit.
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: ClayMango on September 17, 2014, 12:58:16 PM
I agree 2 years waiting to report a desease would seem highly suspect in the companies eyes even though you are right. On top of that, they are already replacing 1 tree that they mislabeled...But the fact that you're looking for 2 tree replacements could twist and bend their perception of the truth as you maybe just trying to get over on them wiht extra trees, or just replacing an older tree for a newer, better variety...I could clearly see that being the case if i ran a buisness... Non the less, they need to practice better customer relations, unlike how they are treating you...

Again....The 11 Mango trees I have purchased have all been great incredible trees and have put on tremendous growth.....correction 12*** 3g Peach Cobbler is coming in the Mail this week....will post pictures on it's results
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: MangoFang on September 17, 2014, 02:11:58 PM
So, stupid on their part Bill.  Like Tropicaliste said, all they have to do is just send you that second replacement tree, apologize and this whole bad report by you would have been much less negative. 

Sorry for the hassle you're going through......I'm so glad I am 98% done with getting any new trees.....

Gary
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: gunnar429 on September 17, 2014, 02:15:29 PM
So, stupid on their part Bill.  Like Tropicaliste said, all they have to do is just send you that second replacement tree, apologize and this whole bad report by you would have been much less negative. 

Sorry for the hassle you're going through......I'm so glad I am 98% done with getting any new trees.....

Gary

So you're saying there's a chance?!  That's a great way to say it so that it seems like there's no obsession/problem there, plus the door is open if you do get more.
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: Jsvand5 on September 17, 2014, 02:34:07 PM

Again....The 11 Mango trees I have purchased have all been great incredible trees and have put on tremendous growth.....correction 12*** 3g Peach Cobbler is coming in the Mail this week....will post pictures on it's results

Now you just have to hope that they are all the varieties that you paid for...
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: gunnar429 on September 17, 2014, 02:36:49 PM
Clay's TA/Haden Mango Stand will be open in 3 years!  ;)  (kidding)
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: ClayMango on September 17, 2014, 03:53:21 PM
LMFAO...Gunnar dont you dare Jinx me man...... A whole Mango stand of Tommy Atkins at the corner of my block lol....

Well I can at least spot out my LZ with its non spreading, upright growth of Wavy leaves...this thing just wants to go up....
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: mangomanic12 on September 17, 2014, 04:55:15 PM
Quote  "I'm so glad I am 98% done with getting any new trees..... "

Really sure  Gary  ;) we all believe  you ...lol

Mike

Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: BestDay on September 17, 2014, 09:03:30 PM
I could understand if Top Tropicals said they couldn't replace either tree because they had had fraud issues in the past.  It would be easy for me to take the Cushman label and put it on another tree.  Then I could take photos of the fruit and say the tree is mislabeled.  I could also have got an infected tree from another vender and be blaming it on Top Tropicals.  At this point they are completely trusting what I say and the photos I sent them.  I could understand this.  I might not be happy or agree with their decision but I could understand.  But when they stop returning my phone calls and say that they don't know what Mango Malformation Disease is, I start to feel cheated and lied to. 

I think if a customer orders twelve trees and has issues with two of them, some attempt should be made to make the customer happy.  Especially when the customer is saying that a tree was shipped with a very contagious disease.  For the prices they are charging they have profit margin to make sure customers are happy.

Bill
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: JF on September 17, 2014, 09:26:06 PM
I could understand if Top Tropicals said they couldn't replace either tree because they had had fraud issues in the past.  It would be easy for me to take the Cushman label and put it on another tree.  Then I could take photos of the fruit and say the tree is mislabeled.  I could also have got an infected tree from another vender and be blaming it on Top Tropicals.  At this point they are completely trusting what I say and the photos I sent them.  I could understand this.  I might not be happy or agree with their decision but I could understand.  But when they stop returning my phone calls and say that they don't know what Mango Malformation Disease is, I start to feel cheated and lied to. 

I think if a customer orders twelve trees and has issues with two of them, some attempt should be made to make the customer happy.  Especially when the customer is saying that a tree was shipped with a very contagious disease.  For the prices they are charging they have profit margin to make sure customers are happy.

Bill

You know what, TT is ignorant. if they would have settled with you it would not be in public.......when you are in business there are profits and losses.

Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: MangoFang on September 17, 2014, 11:20:42 PM
Gunnar - I've got my addiction under control now.  Those last 3 years of the 12 step programs
really work!

Really.....other than switching out some undesireables, I'm DONE!!!!!!


 :P


Gary
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: wslau on September 17, 2014, 11:43:52 PM
Gunnar - I've got my addiction under control now.  Those last 3 years of the 12 step programs
really work!

Really.....other than switching out some undesireables, I'm DONE!!!!!!


 :P


Gary

Gary...
I don't believe that "98% done"....lol.
We'll have to rekindle your addiction next year with some varieties you don't have....Peach Cobbler, White Pirie or ST Maui, and some others.  After next month, I'll have all of these in Southern California...so you won't have to buy from TT...just get a cutting from me and go at it!
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: ClayMango on September 18, 2014, 12:35:41 AM
I started out on this forum asking what top 5 mangos should i get last year.....12 mango purchases  later.....
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: Mark in Texas on September 18, 2014, 02:45:27 PM
Make sure to post on the garden watchdog: http://davesgarden.com/products/gwd/c/2785/#b (http://davesgarden.com/products/gwd/c/2785/#b)

You took the recommendation right out of my fingers.  Yep, please add your comments to the many dissatisfied customers who have. 
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: JF on September 18, 2014, 04:20:29 PM
Gunnar - I've got my addiction under control now.  Those last 3 years of the 12 step programs
really work!

Really.....other than switching out some undesireables, I'm DONE!!!!!!


 :P


Gary

Gary...
I don't believe that "98% done"....lol.
We'll have to rekindle your addiction next year with some varieties you don't have....Peach Cobbler, White Pirie or ST Maui, and some others.  After next month, I'll have all of these in Southern California...so you won't have to buy from TT...just get a cutting from me and go at it!

Warren, I believe Gary he's done . He is perfecting his grafting skill I can't believe he butcher his beloved Manny and grafted a bunch of LZ :)
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: ClayMango on September 18, 2014, 05:43:04 PM
Gunnar - I've got my addiction under control now.  Those last 3 years of the 12 step programs
really work!

Really.....other than switching out some undesireables, I'm DONE!!!!!!


 :P


Gary

Gary...
I don't believe that "98% done"....lol.
We'll have to rekindle your addiction next year with some varieties you don't have....Peach Cobbler, White Pirie or ST Maui, and some others.  After next month, I'll have all of these in Southern California...so you won't have to buy from TT...just get a cutting from me and go at it!

Warren, I believe Gary he's done . He is perfecting his grafting skill I can't believe he butcher his beloved Manny and grafted a bunch of LZ :)


That Manila was unworthy lol
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: MangoFang on September 18, 2014, 06:09:33 PM
well.....based on my grafting skills, that manila may be a widower
before long.....I'm so bad at it, and I don't know why....they look
great to me!  Thanks, JF, for the encouragement.



Mr. Slice & Dice

(PS - Warren - I am going to pull out my apple and pear trees which really don't do well
out here, so there will be a spot to fill...but hey, maybe I'll be looking at some other
fruit...who knows....)
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: ClayMango on September 18, 2014, 06:55:39 PM
well.....based on my grafting skills, that manila may be a widower
before long.....I'm so bad at it, and I don't know why....they look
great to me!  Thanks, JF, for the encouragement.



Mr. Slice & Dice

(PS - Warren - I am going to pull out my apple and pear trees which really don't do well
out here, so there will be a spot to fill...but hey, maybe I'll be looking at some other
fruit...who knows....)

Gary I htink I'm going to rip up my Asain Pear Tree as well....I feel like another Avocado or Cherimoya would be much better to have.
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: BestDay on September 30, 2014, 09:10:10 PM
Hi guys, I have a new twist to my saga with Top Tropicals.  A day after I contacted my credit card to dispute the charges with Top Tropicals I received an email from Heather.  She said that they weren't able to get a straight answer from their plant expert so they were going to replace both of my trees! 

Today I received a call from Christy at Top Tropicals.  They are going to replace my 3 gallon Southern Blush with a 7 gallon Southern Blush and my 7 gallon mislabeled Cushman with a 7 gallon Sweet Tart (per my request).  The trees will ship Monday with ground shipping.  I should receive them on Thursday or Friday of next week.  Wish me luck!

I don't know if getting my credit card company involved had anything to do with it or not.  Christy did say that Heather is not working for Top Tropicals anymore.  Maybe she was giving other customers the same bad customer service she gave me.  I have no idea.  All I know is I'm happy and should have new trees soon.

As a side note I was told by what I think is a reliable source that Zill has grafted Fruit Punch trees and will release them in the spring or summer.  Depending on when they are ready size wise.

Do you guys think replacing the Cushman with a Sweet Tart was a good idea?  Some people say the Cushman is great and others say it is just so so.  Everyone says the Sweet Tart is great so I thought I would probable like it better.  Time will tell.

Bill
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: ClayMango on September 30, 2014, 09:59:08 PM
TOP Tropicals for the win.... 13 trees with my latest edition Peach Cobbler...Now im eyeing their seedless lychee tree
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: wslau on September 30, 2014, 10:48:20 PM
Hi guys, I have a new twist to my saga with Top Tropicals.  A day after I contacted my credit card to dispute the charges with Top Tropicals I received an email from Heather.  She said that they weren't able to get a straight answer from their plant expert so they were going to replace both of my trees! 

Today I received a call from Christy at Top Tropicals.  They are going to replace my 3 gallon Southern Blush with a 7 gallon Southern Blush and my 7 gallon mislabeled Cushman with a 7 gallon Sweet Tart (per my request).  The trees will ship Monday with ground shipping.  I should receive them on Thursday or Friday of next week.  Wish me luck!

I don't know if getting my credit card company involved had anything to do with it or not.  Christy did say that Heather is not working for Top Tropicals anymore.  Maybe she was giving other customers the same bad customer service she gave me.  I have no idea.  All I know is I'm happy and should have new trees soon.

As a side note I was told by what I think is a reliable source that Zill has grafted Fruit Punch trees and will release them in the spring or summer.  Depending on when they are ready size wise.

Do you guys think replacing the Cushman with a Sweet Tart was a good idea?  Some people say the Cushman is great and others say it is just so so.  Everyone says the Sweet Tart is great so I thought I would probable like it better.  Time will tell.

Bill

Bill,

Its good to hear the great news on your tree replacements.  I think your Sweet Tart will be a great selection even though our summer sampling of Sweet Tart was just okay.
Thanks for the news on Fruit Punch trees!
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: JF on September 30, 2014, 11:00:20 PM
Hi guys, I have a new twist to my saga with Top Tropicals.  A day after I contacted my credit card to dispute the charges with Top Tropicals I received an email from Heather.  She said that they weren't able to get a straight answer from their plant expert so they were going to replace both of my trees! 

Today I received a call from Christy at Top Tropicals.  They are going to replace my 3 gallon Southern Blush with a 7 gallon Southern Blush and my 7 gallon mislabeled Cushman with a 7 gallon Sweet Tart (per my request).  The trees will ship Monday with ground shipping.  I should receive them on Thursday or Friday of next week.  Wish me luck!

I don't know if getting my credit card company involved had anything to do with it or not.  Christy did say that Heather is not working for Top Tropicals anymore.  Maybe she was giving other customers the same bad customer service she gave me.  I have no idea.  All I know is I'm happy and should have new trees soon.

As a side note I was told by what I think is a reliable source that Zill has grafted Fruit Punch trees and will release them in the spring or summer.  Depending on when they are ready size wise.

Do you guys think replacing the Cushman with a Sweet Tart was a good idea?  Some people say the Cushman is great and others say it is just so so.  Everyone says the Sweet Tart is great so I thought I would probable like it better.  Time will tell.

Bill

Top tropical came thru....sweet Tard is better than LZ and Cococream I had  quite a few after Gary's tasting.
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: MangoFang on September 30, 2014, 11:13:15 PM
Yeah, Congrats, Bill, on getting the mango situation straightened out....
what a chore!  It's hard to decide what to get these days - way too many
good selections to chose, and we're usually choosing blindly out here
in SoCal, where in Florida they can actually taste them first, so yeah, it's
definitely tough.....


Gary
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: Tropicaliste on September 30, 2014, 11:22:46 PM
Well good. It's nice to know they will make good on the tress. Threatening to withdraw the money probably woke them up. The company could've easily put a note up saying that they were currently backlogged, had that been the case, so that excuse of changing managership doesn't really fly. :)
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: ClayMango on October 01, 2014, 09:15:48 AM
Crap...so Heather ether got fired or she quit... Now i no longer have a connection to get that fruit punch tree reserved before it sells out....i bet the Top Tropical haters on this forum might crash the website servors trying to get this tree! Lmfao
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: puglvr1 on October 01, 2014, 11:05:32 AM


Bill, glad it worked out in your favor...Good luck with the new trees  8)
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: Mark in Texas on October 01, 2014, 02:39:46 PM
I don't know if getting my credit card company involved had anything to do with it or not. 

....or perhaps they had just had a kumbaya moment and felt really really generous.   ::)
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: BestDay on October 06, 2014, 11:27:02 PM
I got tracking numbers for the trees today.  They should be here Friday.  One weights 19 pounds the other 22 pounds.  I'm very excited to see my new trees.  I'll keep you guys posted.

I ate the mango off my infected Southern Blush mango tree today.  I have to say it was weird to eat a fruit that I knew had a disease.  But according to the internet the fruit is perfectly fine to eat.  The taste was mild and not very sweet or memorable.  I hope when grown on a healthy bigger tree they taste better.

Bill
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: murahilin on October 07, 2014, 11:39:50 AM
Today I received a call from Christy at Top Tropicals.  They are going to replace my 3 gallon Southern Blush with a 7 gallon Southern Blush and my 7 gallon mislabeled Cushman with a 7 gallon Sweet Tart (per my request).  The trees will ship Monday with ground shipping.  I should receive them on Thursday or Friday of next week.  Wish me luck!

They are likely from the same source, so you're probably going to get another tree with malformation.

Also, please destroy the tree that you've confirmed has malformation. It's not worth the risk of it spreading to other trees in your yard or throughout your state.
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: Mark in Texas on October 07, 2014, 11:44:58 AM
They are likely from the same source, so you're probably going to get another tree with malformation.

Also, please destroy the tree that you've confirmed has malformation. It's not worth the risk of it spreading to other trees in your yard or throughout your state.

Great advice on both accounts.

I'd call them up and ask where the new trees came from.
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: BestDay on October 07, 2014, 02:19:30 PM
Yes, the plan is to destroy the old Southern Blush as soon as I get the replacement trees.  Hopefully their supplier has fixed his problem.  I assumed that since the Sweet Tart is a 7 gallon it must be from Zill?  Has the tree been out long enough for other people to have grafted 7 gallon trees already?

Bill
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: behlgarden on October 07, 2014, 05:14:19 PM
I had  bad experience with Top Tropicals first time around (when heather was there), day after placing the order I wanted to cancel and they dinged me with handling charges, while plant was not going to ship for another 3 days.

Fast forward 4 months, again, I had to call them to cancel Dwarf Hawaiian Raposa as I got confused with "Dwarf Hawaiian", they replaced it after talking to Christy and mentioning that dont give me bad experience twice! Then I was told that my Peach Cobbler that I ordered in 3gal was out of stock, instead they are shipping 7 gal. wow!

I think although I had to remind them to not screw me second time around, I believe Top Tropicals is trying very hard to be better service oriented. I will give them a benefit of doubt.
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: ClayMango on October 07, 2014, 09:40:54 PM
I had  bad experience with Top Tropicals first time around (when heather was there), day after placing the order I wanted to cancel and they dinged me with handling charges, while plant was not going to ship for another 3 days.

Fast forward 4 months, again, I had to call them to cancel Dwarf Hawaiian Raposa as I got confused with "Dwarf Hawaiian", they replaced it after talking to Christy and mentioning that dont give me bad experience twice! Then I was told that my Peach Cobbler that I ordered in 3gal was out of stock, instead they are shipping 7 gal. wow!

I think although I had to remind them to not screw me second time around, I believe Top Tropicals is trying very hard to be better service oriented. I will give them a benefit of doubt.

Behl

I believe I took your  Peach Cobbler....when I ordered 3 weeks ago it showed like 1 or remaining....when I checked the sight later....maybe a week or so....it showed zero ....well at least you got a 7 g....the 3 g is definitely just  a twig....its going to be  long time before this tree is up and running
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: behlgarden on October 07, 2014, 09:44:25 PM
I hope it's Florida standard 7 gal and not CA standard where CA sell 15 Gal that is actually smaller than Florida 7 gal. Lol
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: ClayMango on October 08, 2014, 02:03:04 AM
I hope it's Florida standard 7 gal and not CA standard where CA sell 15 Gal that is actually smaller than Florida 7 gal. Lol


Behl I know exactly what you mean..... I purchased several mandarins this year....Gold Nugget, Tango, and Kishu..... two of them were 15 g trees while the other was a box tree... Tell me why they were clearly extremely small trees for the container size to begin with....But when I actually went to plant each tree.....The original size down container form popped right out of the pot when I went to plant each one....so my 15g trees, popped a solid 7g pot shell when I lifted the tree....Same thing with the box tree...Literally when I cut the Box straps off of it and exposed the entire box of dirt.....Literally It all collapsed revealing just a small 10-12 gallon shell of dirt containing the tree..


These were purchased at Louies Nursery and Mcabes Nrsery in Riverside County......S beware when buying trees when these are babies being up-potted into something twice there size
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: Mark in Texas on October 08, 2014, 08:26:50 AM
....I think although I had to remind them to not screw me second time around, I believe Top Tropicals is trying very hard to be better service oriented. I will give them a benefit of doubt.

I don't think TT is gonna change.  They seem to take delight in chingalingling people.  http://davesgarden.com/products/gwd/c/2785/ (http://davesgarden.com/products/gwd/c/2785/)
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: puglvr1 on October 08, 2014, 09:16:01 AM

Today I received a call from Christy at Top Tropicals.  They are going to replace my 3 gallon Southern Blush with a 7 gallon Southern Blush and my 7 gallon mislabeled Cushman with a 7 gallon Sweet Tart (per my request).  The trees will ship Monday with ground shipping.  I should receive them on Thursday or Friday of next week.  Wish me luck!

They are likely from the same source, so you're probably going to get another tree with malformation.

Also, please destroy the tree that you've confirmed has malformation. It's not worth the risk of it spreading to other trees in your yard or throughout your state.


Great Advise...if it were my tree I would destroy it even if I wasn't going to replace it...its just not worth the risk of infecting all your other mango trees  :'(...You have a very valuable collection worth protecting  :D
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: Bush2Beach on October 08, 2014, 11:49:18 AM
I hope it's Florida standard 7 gal and not CA standard where CA sell 15 Gal that is actually smaller than Florida 7 gal. Lol


Behl I know exactly what you mean..... I purchased several mandarins this year....Gold Nugget, Tango, and Kishu..... two of them were 15 g trees while the other was a box tree... Tell me why they were clearly extremely small trees for the container size to begin with....But when I actually went to plant each tree.....The original size down container form popped right out of the pot when I went to plant each one....so my 15g trees, popped a solid 7g pot shell when I lifted the tree....Same thing with the box tree...Literally when I cut the Box straps off of it and exposed the entire box of dirt.....Literally It all collapsed revealing just a small 10-12 gallon shell of dirt containing the tree..


These were purchased at Louies Nursery and Mcabes Nrsery in Riverside County......S beware when buying trees when these are babies being up-potted into something twice there size


That is low down dirty! If they are that scandalous I hope they are the same varieties as labeled.
Finding a good nurseryman who has the plants you want can be harder than finding a good mechanic.
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: behlgarden on October 08, 2014, 12:05:49 PM
talk about down and dirty. I purchased nam doc mai from Home Depot, supposedly it came from La Verne nursery in CA.  I never grafted NDM thinking I already have it, the sucker produced nothing like NDM but small 3" fruits only. and whatever variety it is its extremely show growing. but the mango I ate are like sugar cubes. so I will keep it, but its hardpressed to raise a tree for years only to find out that its not what you wanted.
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: BestDay on October 15, 2014, 07:26:36 PM
An update for you guys.  My replacement trees came in last Friday and they look great.  Very nice 7 gallon trees, 5/8"-3/4" diameter trunks with nice branching about 3 feet up.  The Southern Blush is about 4.5 feet tall and the Sweet Tart has a larger diameter trunk but on 4 feet tall.  They are both definitely very nice trees.  I'm hoping this Southern Blush is disease free.  It looks slightly different with longer inter node spacing.  So it is either a healthy tree or mislabeled!

Now I need to throw out my old Southern Blush and call my credit card company.

Bill
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: MangoFang on October 15, 2014, 08:21:48 PM
Great news, Bill!  Now let's hope there is nothing wrong with them!


Gary
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: tqn626 on October 15, 2014, 10:47:53 PM
Wow, i'm really worried now. I just bought a 3 gallon Cac Hoa Loc mangos from Top Tropical at 90 bucks with 30 dollar shipping each. I'm vietnamese and my uncles live in vietnam. They'll know if it a true Cac Hoa Loc or not. Hopefully I don't get screwed 2ish years down the line. Hopefully it a true Cac Hoa Loc so i can spread the budwood around. What are some awesome fruit tree vendors? I had great experience with Wild papaya nursery.
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: ClayMango on October 16, 2014, 12:41:36 AM
Wow, i'm really worried now. I just bought a 3 gallon Cac Hoa Loc mangos from Top Tropical at 90 bucks with 30 dollar shipping each. I'm vietnamese and my uncles live in vietnam. They'll know if it a true Cac Hoa Loc or not. Hopefully I don't get screwed 2ish years down the line. Hopefully it a true Cac Hoa Loc so i can spread the budwood around. What are some awesome fruit tree vendors? I had great experience with Wild papaya nursery.


This is just retarded.... Please do not listen to half of this mess....

When you sell thousands of trees a  year... There will be mislabels and wrong trees issued... I bet my bottom dollar this has happned with POG and Pine Island.
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: tqn626 on October 16, 2014, 01:12:19 AM
Wow, i'm really worried now. I just bought a 3 gallon Cac Hoa Loc mangos from Top Tropical at 90 bucks with 30 dollar shipping each. I'm vietnamese and my uncles live in vietnam. They'll know if it a true Cac Hoa Loc or not. Hopefully I don't get screwed 2ish years down the line. Hopefully it a true Cac Hoa Loc so i can spread the budwood around. What are some awesome fruit tree vendors? I had great experience with Wild papaya nursery.


This is just retarded.... Please do not listen to half of this mess....

When you sell thousands of trees a  year... There will be mislabels and wrong trees issued... I bet my bottom dollar this has happned with POG and Pine Island.

You're probably right. Just so paranoid.  :-\
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: behlgarden on October 16, 2014, 01:14:31 AM
I agree. I am yet to find a nursery who has not made a mistake.
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: DurianLover on October 16, 2014, 02:07:35 AM
TT are mostly resellers, perhaps original nursery screwed them with with incorrect tag. I'm going against the tide. To demand free shipping and replacement is excessive after so many years. I would have at least offered them compromise on shipping. At the end, future TT customers will pay more to absorb the loss. I liked bsbullie answer when similar accusations were made against Excalibur.
Also highly contagious tree should have been destroyed immediately. Wait one month for replacement and only then destroy the tree?
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: Mark in Texas on October 16, 2014, 08:40:15 AM

This is just retarded.... Please do not listen to half of this mess....

When you sell thousands of trees a  year... There will be mislabels and wrong trees issued... I bet my bottom dollar this has happned with POG and Pine Island.

TOP buys from PIN and other suppliers.  They relabel their stock which introduces a chance for human error.  A guy making minimum wage while he's shuffling plants and watering is not too inclined to care about what's what.  It's just another tree to him.
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: fruitnut on October 16, 2014, 09:40:29 AM
I've purchased a few tree in the past, and so far, I got what I paid for.  As a matter of fact, I just got a plant fron the last week.  As stated, business will make mistake, it's how they rectify their mistake is the key.
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: ClayMango on October 16, 2014, 10:24:56 AM
I've purchased a few tree in the past, and so far, I got what I paid for.  As a matter of fact, I just got a plant fron the last week.  As stated, business will make mistake, it's how they rectify their mistake is the key.


It seems like they're are on the right track...A few people have had bad customer experiences with them, but they have had a change in staff and it seems customer relations have changed dramatically with T.T. putting the customer first...I mean Behl got a 50 dollar upgrade to a 7g Peach Cobbler because of their website not updating quanities correctly and him being delayed on backorder...

I've ordered over a dozen trees in the past year and I'm very satisfied with my purchase...And the majority seem to agree... The ones unsatified in some cases have had their issues rectified which is how a buisness is suppose to operate. For those of you who live in Florida..it seems PIN is still the go to nursery.....but here on the West Coast it's T.T. due to the price of the trees and the choice of size is much larger.
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: behlgarden on October 29, 2014, 10:44:07 AM
Update on my order with Top Tropicals:

I ordered Sunrise, Peach Cobbler, and Sweet Tart, all in 3 gal. To my Surprise I got all three in 7 Gal, Sunrise is almost 6-1/2 foot tall. I am very impressed. Kristi there is great to deal with. I think every now and then you will have problems with mail order, its just how company deals with it post order is what matters. Top Tropicals is providing excellent customer service to all, they may have changed dramatically. Lets not judge them from past one odd bad experience.
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: ClayMango on October 29, 2014, 12:09:04 PM
Update on my order with Top Tropicals:

I ordered Sunrise, Peach Cobbler, and Sweet Tart, all in 3 gal. To my Surprise I got all three in 7 Gal, Sunrise is almost 6-1/2 foot tall. I am very impressed. Kristi there is great to deal with. I think every now and then you will have problems with mail order, its just how company deals with it post order is what matters. Top Tropicals is providing excellent customer service to all, they may have changed dramatically. Lets not judge them from past one odd bad experience.



wow! somebody hit the jackpot on size upgrades!!!
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: MangoFang on October 29, 2014, 01:17:39 PM
...boy I'll say....sounds like a GREAT time to order from TT while
they are in the midst of upgrading there customer relations!!!!!

Gary
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: behlgarden on October 29, 2014, 01:39:59 PM
...boy I'll say....sounds like a GREAT time to order from TT while
they are in the midst of upgrading there customer relations!!!!!

Gary

Main reason for upgrade was end of season. towards the end either you get left over 3 gal, or too small plants or an upgrade if nursery cares. In this care Top Tropicals did the right thing.
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: FrankDrebinOfFruits on March 12, 2015, 04:14:35 PM
I received an order from Top Tropicals yesterday. S/H was as expensive as the trees (if not slightly more), but I cannot say enough good things about how well the shape was of the trees that arrived and the excellent packaging.

The rootballs were double bagged and then plastic wrapped and tied.  A sock covered the trees, they were placed in a box with peanuts, and 3 trees per large box. A large bamboo stick ensured no damage to the trunk.  Box labelled which end was up. Fedex picked it up on Monday morning and arrived at my house Wednesday afternoon, and that is probably a record for anything I have ordered from the mainland.

My only gripe is styrofoam peanuts, everywhere... and my kids think its snow, so it was a mess. But better to have peanuts and arrive in good shape.

So top tropicals to Hawaii is two thumbs up!
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: fruitlovers on March 12, 2015, 04:24:23 PM
I received an order from Top Tropicals yesterday. S/H was as expensive as the trees (if not slightly more), but I cannot say enough good things about how well the shape was of the trees that arrived and the excellent packaging.

The rootballs were double bagged and then plastic wrapped and tied.  A sock covered the trees, they were placed in a box with peanuts, and 3 trees per large box. A large bamboo stick ensured no damage to the trunk.  Box labelled which end was up. Fedex picked it up on Monday morning and arrived at my house Wednesday afternoon, and that is probably a record for anything I have ordered from the mainland.

My only gripe is styrofoam peanuts, everywhere... and my kids think its snow, so it was a mess. But better to have peanuts and arrive in good shape.

So top tropicals to Hawaii is two thumbs up!

I had same exact experience. Only difference is that they shipped the trees USPS, and i'm guessing was a bit cheaper than FedEx. Arrived in 3 days instead of 2, which really doesn't make any difference.
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: ClayMango on March 12, 2015, 04:57:12 PM
I received an order from Top Tropicals yesterday. S/H was as expensive as the trees (if not slightly more), but I cannot say enough good things about how well the shape was of the trees that arrived and the excellent packaging.

The rootballs were double bagged and then plastic wrapped and tied.  A sock covered the trees, they were placed in a box with peanuts, and 3 trees per large box. A large bamboo stick ensured no damage to the trunk.  Box labelled which end was up. Fedex picked it up on Monday morning and arrived at my house Wednesday afternoon, and that is probably a record for anything I have ordered from the mainland.

My only gripe is styrofoam peanuts, everywhere... and my kids think its snow, so it was a mess. But better to have peanuts and arrive in good shape.

So top tropicals to Hawaii is two thumbs up!


Yeah the shipping is definately a bear in terms of pricing....and they also went up 10 dollars on their trees it looks like, but I must say that they definately know how to pack a perfect Mango tree...I recieved 12 mango trees from them in one year...all of them arrived in great condition minus the Maha Chanok which rebounded with incredible growth.

I Malika was devoured by my Bulldogs and my Carrie bit the dust from Frost and my neglect for not protecting it...I've decided not to purchase the Malika and buy another carrie...I jsut can't afford TT's prices right now...hopefully one has reached Socal by now at a  cheaper price.
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: Tropicaliste on March 12, 2015, 05:00:45 PM
You guys in the aloha state need to order from top? That seems wrong somehow. Lol.
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: fruitlovers on March 12, 2015, 05:08:53 PM
You guys in the aloha state need to order from top? That seems wrong somehow. Lol.

We have cultivars you don't have in Florida and vice versa. None of the nurseries here sell yet the new Florida cultivars.
BTW a lot of the ultra tropicals sold by TT come from here. Is that wrong also? LOL
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: Tropicaliste on March 12, 2015, 05:30:47 PM
I'm surprised that you would need to order from Top. It kind of seems odd, because there are many good sources in Florida? Can't you order from PIN and cut out the middle man, especially because you've a nursery?
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: FrankDrebinOfFruits on March 12, 2015, 05:41:53 PM
I'm surprised that you would need to order from Top. It kind of seems odd, because there are many good sources in Florida? Can't you order from PIN and cut out the middle man, especially because you've a nursery?

I was specifically seeking lemon zest and coconut cream (which aren't listed on PINs site)... that everyone on this website raves about.  It better be good, or I am holding all of you responsible, in 2-5 years.  :P

I also ordered a few rare trees for a friend.

PIN seems to have fixed pricing, while top tropical has varied pricing. I would guess that the coconut cream price which is substantially higher has to do with royalties...
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: CGameProgrammer on March 12, 2015, 06:54:31 PM
I have ordered MANY trees from TT over the last six months or so; they've always arrived promptly and well-packaged. TT really has the business side of things nailed down; they keep careful inventory and are very quick with processing orders or replying to e-mails and phone calls. They also have the largest selection of any nursery I've found.

Many of the trees that I get from them do undergo defoliation to some extent, though not all, but nearly all recover. I think I've only had one tree (a dwarf red poinciana) die completely.
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: ClayMango on March 12, 2015, 07:31:51 PM
I'm surprised that you would need to order from Top. It kind of seems odd, because there are many good sources in Florida? Can't you order from PIN and cut out the middle man, especially because you've a nursery?


TT is a much better source than Pine Island and POG for those of us who live in CA and Hawaii... There's a  reason the you see a lot of Florida Mango Tree Purchases are through TT when looking at the purchase history on this forum coming out of CA and Hawaii...

correct me if I'm wrong***Their online Catalog has the largest  Tropical Fruit tree selection out all nurseriers on the Web. ***Unlike Pine Island, their Mango Trees are approved and certified for CA shipping and are not charged with a * $100.00 agricultural inspection tax. Literally a 40 dollar tree turns into 140 dollars without shippping. Sure in Florida Pine Island is probably the cream of the Crop brother.... but not in California in Hawaii. TT=Better selection, better prices, great shipped healthy tree, good customer service counting the last 2 years.
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: zands on March 12, 2015, 07:39:30 PM
The title of this thread needs to be changed. It is prejudicial against Top Tropicals. It gives readers the impression that all transactions with TT have been bad, when in reality it is a mix with many swearing by Top Tropicals
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: ClayMango on March 12, 2015, 07:41:05 PM
The title of this thread needs to be changed. It is prejudicial against Top Tropicals. It gives readers the impression that all transactions with TT have been bad, when in reality it is a mix with many swearing by Top Tropicals

I agree, most of this thread has good reports about TT and this title definatley comes off as bashing them sending the wrong message.
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: mangomaniac2 on March 12, 2015, 07:43:26 PM
I agree with Clay. I have ordered at least a dozen or so mango trees from Top Tropicals and most have been healthy, some smaller than anticipated, some larger than anticipated. The one that arrived unhealthy they replaced without issues. Still waiting to harvest fruit to verify all of the varieties I bought, but I would still purchase mango trees from them without question. I have learned though, that it is better to stick with 7 gal size because 3 gal can vary so much, and when you get a really small one it does take so long to get to any substantial size. Definitely worth the extra 50 or 60 bucks for 7 gal to save the years of waiting, and chance of survival goes up greatly as well.
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: ClayMango on March 12, 2015, 10:28:56 PM
TT is  the  cream of the  crop brother  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8C4lK41SX-Q (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8C4lK41SX-Q)
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: Viking Guy on March 12, 2015, 10:36:16 PM
Title should remain the same.  It is what prompted me to read the entire thread.

I have ordered from nurseries around the country, and none of them even come close to what I have experienced with Top Tropicals.  Their shipping method is by far the best there is, and very limited to no damage other than occasional defoliation of the more sensitive varieties.

Other nurseries ship trees loose and they arrive with broken and dangling branches (usually pulling down bark).  Last few trees I got from one place (with former good experiences), sent me a Bosch Pear that was left with zero of the 12 branches because they were all broken off and I had to plant a 7' stick.  The smaller plants were wrapped and breaking off around its bare roots.  Very unfortunate.  I told them about it, and they did not offer any form of resolution--nor did they even acknowledge what I told them.  Disappointing.

Not Top Tropicals.  Every communication whether phone or email has been quick and conclusive.  Very professional, and no trees have been mislabeled or diseased.

Top Tropicals also leaves your flowers and fruit in tact so you can choose what to cull.

I am happy happy with Top Tropicals.  Other vendors, I'm a bit more hesitant to purchase from due to other issues.
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: Galka on March 12, 2015, 11:37:44 PM
I had a bad experience with TT or it's just my luck. I ordered variegated plant from them last April and got just regular green leaf plant. I communicated with Heather by email for a few months. She said it was their mistake and she will try to find me that particular plant but it will take some time. Then she said she found one and still is waiting for it to arrive... Well, to make long story short she stopped responding to my emails. Today I sent another email and we will see what happens.
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: Tropicaliste on March 12, 2015, 11:53:27 PM
I made the comment of the needing to look to top because it surprised me that those in hawaii would need access to unusual varieties. It's more obvious after Oscar's comment, the unique varieties of florida are slower to get to hawaii, and top has a niche there.  It's just not the way I imagined it in my head because of the diversity in our most tropical state, hence the statement "that seems wrong somehow".
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: fruitlovers on March 13, 2015, 12:34:32 AM
I'm surprised that you would need to order from Top. It kind of seems odd, because there are many good sources in Florida? Can't you order from PIN and cut out the middle man, especially because you've a nursery?

I've ordered from PIN also. They don't have nearly quite as good as a selection as TT, especially on mangoes. Obviously TT is getting their mangoes from other sources besides PIN, i'm guessing probably Zill's.
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: TropicalFruitHunters on March 13, 2015, 07:08:12 AM
Been a hater of TT for so long, it's nice to hear some positive experiences for a change.  All the flak TT received from this forum and others had to have made its way back to them eventually.  Sounds like they have been turning things around for the better.  Hope it continues.  It's difficult wanting a plant and trusting someone you don't know to pick a good one out and get it to you safe and sound.  Good luck to all.  Maybe I might even look at their website again.  Baby steps.
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: bsbullie on March 13, 2015, 07:21:17 AM
I'm surprised that you would need to order from Top. It kind of seems odd, because there are many good sources in Florida? Can't you order from PIN and cut out the middle man, especially because you've a nursery?

I've ordered from PIN also. They don't have nearly quite as good as a selection as TT, especially on mangoes. Obviously TT is getting their mangoes from other sources besides PIN, i'm guessing probably Zill's.

They will get their products from many sources.  I will leave it at thst.  They sre basically plant brokers.
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: bsbullie on March 13, 2015, 07:23:00 AM
Been a hater of TT for so long, it's nice to hear some positive experiences for a change.  All the flak TT received from this forum and others had to have made its way back to them eventually.  Sounds like they have been turning things around for the better.  Hope it continues.  It's difficult wanting a plant and trusting someone you don't know to pick a good one out and get it to you safe and sound.  Good luck to all.  Maybe I might even look at their website again.  Baby steps.

You dont want to look at their website,  it may cause a regression in your feelings towards them.
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: Squam256 on March 13, 2015, 10:26:38 AM
I'm surprised that you would need to order from Top. It kind of seems odd, because there are many good sources in Florida? Can't you order from PIN and cut out the middle man, especially because you've a nursery?

I've ordered from PIN also. They don't have nearly quite as good as a selection as TT, especially on mangoes. Obviously TT is getting their mangoes from other sources besides PIN, i'm guessing probably Zill's.

PIN actually sources almost all their mangos from Zill HPP, with a few coming from Lara Farms. TT seems to look under every crack and crevice for anything 'rare'. I've even received a phone call from them looking for something and I don't whole sell trees.
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: murahilin on March 13, 2015, 11:19:49 AM
PIN actually sources almost all their mangos from Zill HPP, with a few coming from Lara Farms. TT seems to look under every crack and crevice for anything 'rare'. I've even received a phone call from them looking for something and I don't whole sell trees.

So TT is basically a nursery version of George? Every time he goes to Excalibur he checks Rob's cracks and crevices very carefully for anything rare.
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: bsbullie on March 13, 2015, 11:23:30 AM
PIN actually sources almost all their mangos from Zill HPP, with a few coming from Lara Farms. TT seems to look under every crack and crevice for anything 'rare'. I've even received a phone call from them looking for something and I don't whole sell trees.

So TT is basically a nursery version of George? Every time he goes to Excalibur he checks Rob's cracks and crevices very carefully for anything rare.

Only after you have serviced him.
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: FlyingFoxFruits on March 13, 2015, 11:56:06 AM
i've searched every crook and nanny for Myrciarias!
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: TropicalFruitHunters on March 13, 2015, 12:06:14 PM
Anytime Sheehan speaks of nooks and crannies, I'd be wary!  But now we know where Rob keeps the rare, hard to find stuff!
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: ClayMango on March 13, 2015, 01:09:55 PM
If your looking for the Fruit Punch mango, I bet Top Tropicals will be the First *Online Nursery to have them...their slecetion is the best online period....These scavengers are looking High and low to increase their online catalog..
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: Viking Guy on March 13, 2015, 02:46:38 PM
I think they monitor forums like these   Almost everytime we mention something rare here, I'll find them harboring it shortly after.  lol
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: ClayMango on March 13, 2015, 02:58:07 PM
I think they monitor forums like these   Almost everytime qe mention something rare here, I'll find them harboring it days shortly after.  lol

We know for fact they monitor this forum...probably are reading this thread right now.  They have stolen mango descrition and pictures from this forum n used them on their webpage...so yeah...the shadow lurkers.
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: bsbullie on March 13, 2015, 03:16:21 PM
To show what a joke they are, for those familir with the fruit, this is their pathetically incorrect description of Coconut Cream (and their picture is just as bad).

EXTREMELY RARE AND HARD TO FIND! EXCLUSIVE OFFER.
Coconut Cream Mango - this variety is so exceptional, it is patented. Delicious, fabulous creamy coconut-mango flavor. Very large juicy fruit, and probably the most colorful! Brgiht red-orange-yellow. Flavor is exceptional with a coconut hint. Fiberless. Pulp is bright orange.

Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: bsbullie on March 13, 2015, 03:31:25 PM
I suggest, if you think they are so great, to browse their mango varietiesthey list for sale and see how many pictures and descriptions are wrong.  How about the Dunkan?

Here is another good one (are they describibg the mango or the frozen desert product from the grocery store):

Orange Sherbet (Orange sorbet) is new variety producing medium size round bright yellow fruit when mature. Fruit weighs up to one pound. One of the best new varieties for backyard growing. Flesh has no fiber. Excellent sweet taste. Flavor is sweet citrus-orange and less lemony than Lemon Meringue mango. Tree is moderately vigorous. 

Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: ClayMango on March 13, 2015, 03:33:46 PM
To show what a joke they are, for those familir with the fruit, this is their pathetically incorrect description of Coconut Cream (and their picture is just as bad).

EXTREMELY RARE AND HARD TO FIND! EXCLUSIVE OFFER.
Coconut Cream Mango - this variety is so exceptional, it is patented. Delicious, fabulous creamy coconut-mango flavor. Very large juicy fruit, and probably the most colorful! Brgiht red-orange-yellow. Flavor is exceptional with a coconut hint. Fiberless. Pulp is bright orange.


lol...Yeah they sold me on that bullshit description when i bought it....Found out it in fact has barely in red at all....well at least my blind purchase turned out to be a good one based on the forum feedback on this forum... The bogus descriptions and the plagerism needs to stop forsure.
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: bsbullie on March 13, 2015, 03:42:05 PM
Hmmmm...of the hundreds i have picked, they have had no red coloration whatsoever.
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: Viking Guy on March 13, 2015, 03:57:04 PM
As for mangos, I've only ordered Nam Doc Mai from them.  Looks pretty legitimate far as I can tell.  As for descriptions, I never read or pay attention to those on seller websites--it's almost all fluff.  I go straight to other sources like this forum if it is something I haven't tried.  Perhaps they aren't the best, and I was unaware of the plagiarism, but I can't find a better source of tropical rares--especially ones like my wife wants for her aquatic/terr mini environments.
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: FrankDrebinOfFruits on March 13, 2015, 05:00:28 PM
They will get their products from many sources.  I will leave it at thst.  They sre basically plant brokers.

That is all I really need, someone to package up what I want and send it. So for me it works. Doesn't make sense for me to fly to Florida (around $1000 round trip, plus 12 hours each way) to buy a half dozen trees and mail them to myself. So if they found a niche, I will support it. As long as they continue to ship quality trees packaged as well as they have, they have my business.
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: fruitlovers on March 13, 2015, 05:18:01 PM
I'm surprised that you would need to order from Top. It kind of seems odd, because there are many good sources in Florida? Can't you order from PIN and cut out the middle man, especially because you've a nursery?

I've ordered from PIN also. They don't have nearly quite as good as a selection as TT, especially on mangoes. Obviously TT is getting their mangoes from other sources besides PIN, i'm guessing probably Zill's.

They will get their products from many sources.  I will leave it at thst.  They sre basically plant brokers.

Yes that is correct, they basically are redistributing plants purchased from other nuseries. It doesn't seem like they grow anything themselves. This in itself is no crime. Loot at Amazon for example...doing same thing. Part of American business model. The problem comes in though that when you are not growing the plant yourself you may not know that much about it. I think this is what causes some of the misinformation and incorrect photos on their website.
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: FlyingFoxFruits on March 13, 2015, 05:47:20 PM
I think they monitor forums like these   Almost everytime we mention something rare here, I'll find them harboring it shortly after.  lol

i see they already have Myrciaria glomerata... :P

I wonder how long it will take them to figure out it's mislabeled?  and furthermore how long will it take their customer base?


Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: CGameProgrammer on March 13, 2015, 10:48:08 PM
More accurately, TopTropicals does not propagate their own plants. That's fine. A lot of places that do propagate do not sell to the public, or their customer relations are lacking, so TT effectively serves as a good retail front. You'll have a lot of difficulty finding other sources for most of the plants that TT sells, and I'm not talking about their fruit trees.
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: TropicalFruitHunters on March 14, 2015, 09:44:44 AM
Just looked at their website for the first time in years.  Wow...Rob was correct, shouldn't have done it.  Lots and lots of varieties listed but disappointed to see that only a fraction are actually available.  And the prices for many of these?!  Holy shit!  Personally, it would have to be a variety that I was desperate to have and no one else in the country had available before I would purchase a plant from them.  A seedling durian for $125?!!  The size of the plant they show available is the same size we can get from PR for $10.  If I lived anywhere in Florida, I would make a day trip to Excalibur, PJ's, or any number of member nurseries listed on this forum and spend the day there picking out my own plants instead.  Could visit other members in the area and just make a full day out of it.  Aside from California and Hawaii, sorry, I just don't see the attraction.  Just my small-minded opinion.  Glad I checked the site out...won't need to do that again.
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: fruitlovers on March 14, 2015, 05:48:16 PM
Just looked at their website for the first time in years.  Wow...Rob was correct, shouldn't have done it.  Lots and lots of varieties listed but disappointed to see that only a fraction are actually available.  And the prices for many of these?!  Holy shit!  Personally, it would have to be a variety that I was desperate to have and no one else in the country had available before I would purchase a plant from them.  A seedling durian for $125?!!  The size of the plant they show available is the same size we can get from PR for $10.  If I lived anywhere in Florida, I would make a day trip to Excalibur, PJ's, or any number of member nurseries listed on this forum and spend the day there picking out my own plants instead.  Could visit other members in the area and just make a full day out of it.  Aside from California and Hawaii, sorry, I just don't see the attraction.  Just my small-minded opinion.  Glad I checked the site out...won't need to do that again.

Another forum member wrote me asking about that durian. They said TT says on their website that it's grafted? I doubt that is the case. Yes for a seedling that price would be way over the top. Dare i ask how much a grafted durian would be?  :o
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: Jsvand5 on March 14, 2015, 06:42:33 PM
Oh, it definitely said grafted when it was first posted. I have a screenshot of the page. I ordered it and asked if they could send a pic of the graft line. Then I was informed it was a mistake and it is not grafted. I told them I wasnt interested in a seedling and to just cancel the order.  Wasn't angry at that point, figured it was just a mistake on the website. But then they tell me a refund will take 7-10 business days. All they have to do is to go on PayPal and refund me. Would take about 60 seconds of their time. Getting pretty frustrated with them. If I don't have my refund by the end of the day on Monday I am just going to go ahead and do a chargeback on my credit card.


(http://s7.postimg.cc/mep70rl3r/image.jpg) (http://postimg.cc/image/mep70rl3r/)
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: CGameProgrammer on March 14, 2015, 07:58:04 PM
I had no problems getting a refund when one of my plants died after arrival. All vendors always state that refunds take a while to show up; it doesn't mean they take a while to process them, it means the bank takes a while. You're only supposed to do chargebacks if you tried to alleviate the situation with the vendor but they don't cooperate. Just be patient.
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: Viking Guy on March 14, 2015, 08:26:27 PM
A charge back takes longer than 7-10 days, and it is unlikely they will give you one if the vendor has stipulated a reasonable timeframe, and that timeframe has failed to pass.
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: Jsvand5 on March 14, 2015, 08:53:55 PM
I had no problems getting a refund when one of my plants died after arrival. All vendors always state that refunds take a while to show up; it doesn't mean they take a while to process them, it means the bank takes a while. You're only supposed to do chargebacks if you tried to alleviate the situation with the vendor but they don't cooperate. Just be patient.

It's a little different when I am not returning something. My order was placed for about an hour before it was discovered that they did not have what they claimed. All they have to do is go on PayPal and click refund. And if I call the credit card company I will have my money back immediately. I had to do it a few years ago
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: fruitlovers on March 14, 2015, 09:10:57 PM
I had no problems getting a refund when one of my plants died after arrival. All vendors always state that refunds take a while to show up; it doesn't mean they take a while to process them, it means the bank takes a while. You're only supposed to do chargebacks if you tried to alleviate the situation with the vendor but they don't cooperate. Just be patient.

It's a little different when I am not returning something. My order was placed for about an hour before it was discovered that they did not have what they claimed. All they have to do is go on PayPal and click refund. And if I call the credit card company I will have my money back immediately. I had to do it a few years ago

Please be patient and wait the week. Don't do the chargeback. What happens is that Paypal penalizes the vendor when there is a chargeback an additional $20 to "research" it.
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: bsbullie on March 14, 2015, 09:24:14 PM
They should be penalized.   They knowingly posted something for sale they didnt have. 
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: CGameProgrammer on March 14, 2015, 09:27:04 PM
I did not return anything. I'm in California, they're in Florida, why would I ship back a dead tree? I informed them the tree was dead so they refunded me the amount I had paid for it (excluding shipping obviously). It had arrived alive but immediately began dying despite giving it the proper care.
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: bsbullie on March 14, 2015, 09:36:26 PM
I did not return anything. I'm in California, they're in Florida, why would I ship back a dead tree? I informed them the tree was dead they refunded me the amount I had paid for it (excluding shipping obviously). It had arrived alive but immediately began dying despite giving it the proper care.

I believe what he is saying is that uou purchased something,  had a problem and requested a refund.   He made a purchase, order was never processed.  When he called less than an hour after making online payment to confirm what he was getting they informed him their post was bogus, as many of them are, he said he didnt want it and refund the money.   As this was never an actual purchase,  and paid via PayPal,  they should have processed an instant refund. 
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: demingcr on March 14, 2015, 10:15:58 PM
I made two purchases from tt.

1 from their retail nursery before it moved locations. A Tikal dapodilla and a pickering. Both are in ground and doing great. Supposedly (at least then) the website and the retail location were completely separate ops.

2nd purchase was.online. a Valencia pride mango and a Jamaican cherry/strawberry tree. The strawberry tree doing great. The vp was a keitt. I like Keitt better as it turns out so win win but I wouldn't order again given cheaper local alternatives.


come to think of it, I made a separate purchase at the retail nursery...

A Florida haas avocado and a Glenn mango.

The Haas has yet to set fruit but is growing well (though slow) it is flowering now and i expect this year it will set fruit. The Glenn died in a tropical storm band a year or two back (snapped at graft line) and was replaced by the pickering.

However in all instances, nurseries like fruitscape had far superior and far cheaper selections. Plus the dudes there are pretty informative and like working with customers.
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: CGameProgrammer on March 14, 2015, 10:37:53 PM
Avocado trees are not self-fruitful; you need at least two trees, with one being an A type and another a B type.
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: demingcr on March 14, 2015, 11:06:17 PM
Avocado trees are not self-fruitful; you need at least two trees, with one being an A type and another a B type.

I don't think this is strictly true as the flowers change sex during different hours of the day. Certainly, additional A-B varieties will improve pollination.


Regardless, the tree has set plenty of fruit and there are a lot of Avocado in a radius around my property it just hasn't held to maturity.  I may look into grafting a branch of variety onto the tree if it continues to languish.
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: JF on March 14, 2015, 11:16:57 PM
I've only had one bad experience with TT but not really since they replace the wrong mango they initially send me. I only use them for mangos so I'm not interested in the other stuff they sell. I don't care about their definitions as long it's the correct variety they're advertise.
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: Jani on March 15, 2015, 07:04:29 AM
Am I the only one who doesn't feel comfortable with this? At what point does the line between useful information exchange and almost sabotaging a business gets crossed/blurred? It's not like we are talking about HD or Lowes here that can withstand (and also fight back online) against negative web portrayals..rather this is a smaller business in a very niche market and community that may be severely affected.

Also while I'm sure most of the intentions here are genuine to help members of the forum here, who really knows if there aren't direct competitors here with different aims.  I like to learn of the posters' good and bad experiences with nursuries and those experiences already come through where necessary within conversations on various thread topics. But a whole topic and title dedicated to bashing a business seems harsh (no matter how true).

I've never used TT, and have no horse in this race...but I'll tell you straight up that I've had pretty bad experiences with two of the more highly celebrated nursuries here on this forum..one in South Dade and one up in Western Palm Beach Co (and for Citrus another highly regarded nursery that ship from Tampa area)..but I chalk that up to noone is perfect ESPECIALLY operating in a space like this with living tropical trees,lots of them, shipping etc.

That's not to say they shouldn't be held to account for errors and poor service, and that as customers we should just shut up and take shoddy service, but there's no better way than this? I'm no legal expert, but I'd be careful if this was my website, as to where the line is about slander.

Just my 2 cents.....
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: bangkok on March 15, 2015, 07:30:29 AM
Am I the only one who doesn't feel comfortable with this? At what point does the line between useful information exchange and almost sabotaging a business gets crossed/blurred? It's not like we are talking about HD or Lowes here that can withstand (and also fight back online) against negative web portrayals..rather this is a smaller business in a very niche market and community that may be severely affected.

Also while I'm sure most of the intentions here are genuine to help members of the forum here, who really knows if there aren't direct competitors here with different aims.  I like to learn of the posters' good and bad experiences with nursuries and those experiences already come through where necessary within conversations on various thread topics. But a whole topic and title dedicated to bashing a business seems harsh (no matter how true).

I've never used TT, and have no horse in this race...but I'll tell you straight up that I've had pretty bad experiences with two of the more highly celebrated nursuries here on this forum..one in South Dade and one up in Western Palm Beach Co (and for Citrus another highly regarded nursery that ship from Tampa area)..but I chalk that up to noone is perfect ESPECIALLY operating in a space like this with living tropical trees,lots of them, shipping etc.

That's not to say they shouldn't be held to account for errors and poor service, and that as customers we should just shut up and take shoddy service, but there's no better way than this? I'm no legal expert, but I'd be careful if this was my website, as to where the line is about slander.

Just my 2 cents.....

No and i even have no experience at all with any nursery from the US.

But on this forum slandering is quite common unfortunately. It seems that on the West coast lives another breed of people.
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: fruitlovers on March 15, 2015, 07:48:33 AM
Am I the only one who doesn't feel comfortable with this? At what point does the line between useful information exchange and almost sabotaging a business gets crossed/blurred? It's not like we are talking about HD or Lowes here that can withstand (and also fight back online) against negative web portrayals..rather this is a smaller business in a very niche market and community that may be severely affected.

Also while I'm sure most of the intentions here are genuine to help members of the forum here, who really knows if there aren't direct competitors here with different aims.  I like to learn of the posters' good and bad experiences with nursuries and those experiences already come through where necessary within conversations on various thread topics. But a whole topic and title dedicated to bashing a business seems harsh (no matter how true).

I've never used TT, and have no horse in this race...but I'll tell you straight up that I've had pretty bad experiences with two of the more highly celebrated nursuries here on this forum..one in South Dade and one up in Western Palm Beach Co (and for Citrus another highly regarded nursery that ship from Tampa area)..but I chalk that up to noone is perfect ESPECIALLY operating in a space like this with living tropical trees,lots of them, shipping etc.

That's not to say they shouldn't be held to account for errors and poor service, and that as customers we should just shut up and take shoddy service, but there's no better way than this? I'm no legal expert, but I'd be careful if this was my website, as to where the line is about slander.

Just my 2 cents.....

Look at the definition of slander, it has to do with making false statements that are injurious to the other party. I really doubt that people here are making any false statements about their experiences. Also if you look through the whole thread you will see many people, including myself, have had very positive experience with TT. Subject heading of this thread is not reflective of that. I think only problem with this thread is that there might be some conflict of interest, especially with nurseryman in Florida giving opinion about another nursery in Florida. Obviously there could be some prejudiced opinion in that case. But we can all factor we is giving the opinions, whether they were a customer or not, whether they purchase something or not. As far as legality of such postings, look at Dave's Garden where nurseries are much more critically roasted. Don't think there is any legal problem with customers saying what their experiences were.
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: gunnar429 on March 15, 2015, 08:51:51 AM
I do have a problem with misinformation, though, as it spreads like wildfire with so little info available on the internet about certain species/cultivars, etc.  Plus, with limited space, I need to know that the golden sugar apple is actually just a pond apple.  That's all I care about...because one bit of misinformation could affect many down the line with budwood exchange and whatnot
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: TropicalFruitHunters on March 15, 2015, 09:06:54 AM
Quote
At what point does the line between useful information exchange and almost sabotaging a business gets crossed/blurred?
I personally know several of the members who have full blown nurseries, home nurseries, or work for nurseries...and I don't believe any would maliciously slander another company.  If they have posted critical comments, then I do believe they have the facts and experience to back up their claims.  TT has been taking shit from every tropical fruit forum I've ever been a part of, and it seems overwhelmingly obvious that the criticism is well-deserved.  I'm not saying that there hasn't been positive experiences, there plainly has been, but overall, it has been touted as a nursery to stay away from.  I was willing to give them a benefit of a possible turnaround in practices, but after viewing their website and further posts, I'm back to my original opinions and would never consider ordering from this nursery.  If you've had good luck, that's great, good for you.  I truly hope it continues for you.  But for those who have read all of the posts, seen reviews from other forums, if you place your first order from them and you get groin kicked for it, well, you were warned. 
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: Jani on March 15, 2015, 09:13:55 AM
@ Fruitlover, fair enough and I'm not in anyway making any definitive   statements of what's and who's  right or wrong about how this or any other nursery operates or anything legally. I have no horse on this race. Re: slander and the definition you posted..it seems like it hinges on what's knowingly false, while I like you think the overwhelming contributions by posters here on this thread are genuine or true..none of us can say all of it is..such is Internet anonymity. But I get what your saying..

I just think this is kinda  slippery especially in such a connected niche market and all things should be considered when they're threads like this that could potentially move the market and hurt what are likely family owned small businesses.

Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: bsbullie on March 15, 2015, 09:53:11 AM
Jani - please keep in mind. TT is not a family owned nursery but a plant brokerage business.  I know for a fact they will take orders and then visit/contact other nurseries in an attempt to fulfill the order.  That is in no way the practice of a nursery.
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: Jsvand5 on March 15, 2015, 01:31:10 PM
I personally have never had a problem with them prior to this durian purchase. You would think when they made such an obvious error on their site they would want to correct the problem immediately but apparently not. Like I said before. This could be resolved in 60 seconds of their time. Why would they want to drag this out for 7-10 business days? They have also not responded to an email that I sent 4 days ago. Guess I'll have to call them again on Monday.
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: savemejebus on March 15, 2015, 01:49:42 PM
On the subject of slander, I actually represented a guy in a business defamation case that got a lot of attention last year (maybe the year before). Case involved posts made on a firearms forum and a seller's response by suing the guy in Arizona. I got the case dismissed but it's a good warning for being careful what you say online (especially if someone can allege that you are a competitor).

Of course, it was a particularly stupid decision for the seller that filed the lawsuit. News spread through the firearms forums with several hundred thousand views and at least a thousand posts - not many of which approved of the lawsuit. The seller really damaged its reputation in filing suit, which it probably did not consider before filing.
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: Viking Guy on March 15, 2015, 03:01:49 PM
Jani - please keep in mind. TT is not a family owned nursery but a plant brokerage business.  I know for a fact they will take orders and then visit/contact other nurseries in an attempt to fulfill the order.  That is in no way the practice of a nursery.

I've had NO bad experiences using Top Tropicals.  I am currently, and will continue to order from them regardless of other's opinions here--so I doubt this thread is detrimental to their business.

Also, I am actually happy to hear what Rob just stated above.  I have ordered some incredibly rare trees which I can find NO where else, and if they went through the trouble to go find them for me, then get a visual and pick out the best specimen, and then pack it as awesome as.they do and ship it, then that is exactly what I want!  I don't mind paying extra for such a middle man service.  Quite honestly, I now understand why my trees from them have looked so much better and healthier than ones I order from other nurseries--it is likely they had to find and pick it out.  That is great customer service.

If their specialty is knowing where to get the rares and making them available for someone who can't, then that works for those who need it--such as me.

I'll mention again, that NO nursery ships trees as good as them from what I've seen.  All branches, flowers and even fruit arrives IN TACT every time.  They also ship trees after March and before June (pin) when other nurseries won't.

Yeah, I'll keep using them.

Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: Viking Guy on March 15, 2015, 03:22:02 PM
I personally have never had a problem with them prior to this durian purchase. You would think when they made such an obvious error on their site they would want to correct the problem immediately but apparently not. Like I said before. This could be resolved in 60 seconds of their time. Why would they want to drag this out for 7-10 business days? They have also not responded to an email that I sent 4 days ago. Guess I'll have to call them again on Monday.

You do realize that just because you used PayPal to make the payment does not mean they received it as a payment to a PayPal account?  If they have it linked to an account like the way my business is set up, them they have to wait up to 10 business days to reverse charges.  I use PayPal avidly, as I also direct deposit a ton of my payroll through them, and the ONLY time I can instantly reverse a charge is if payments were sent PayPal to PayPal, as in by way of an email address or a phone number.  A charge is pulled from the account and takes a week or greater to be reimbursed from the recipients side as well, and will get refunded to PayPal instead of the account it is linked to.  It is annoying, but that is PayPal and not the seller's design.

You're mad at them unnecessarily I think.
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: Jani on March 15, 2015, 04:24:16 PM
Jani - please keep in mind. TT is not a family owned nursery but a plant brokerage business.  I know for a fact they will take orders and then visit/contact other nurseries in an attempt to fulfill the order.  That is in no way the practice of a nursery.
fair enough Rob, good discussion.
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: fruitlovers on March 15, 2015, 06:46:39 PM
@ Fruitlover, fair enough and I'm not in anyway making any definitive   statements of what's and who's  right or wrong about how this or any other nursery operates or anything legally. I have no horse on this race. Re: slander and the definition you posted..it seems like it hinges on what's knowingly false, while I like you think the overwhelming contributions by posters here on this thread are genuine or true..none of us can say all of it is..such is Internet anonymity. But I get what your saying..

I just think this is kinda  slippery especially in such a connected niche market and all things should be considered when they're threads like this that could potentially move the market and hurt what are likely family owned small businesses.

I don't think any unfair criticism were made. It's easy to see looking through their website that there were some glaring mistakes. So that could definitely use improvement. It's also easy to see receiving some of their plants that they do an excellent job of shipping plants. I think Jay's summary is correct: for people in Florida probably not best place to shop, but for shipments through the mail to other states they can come in very handy. I don't think any nursery is completely perfect, if you think yours is perfect then you can cast the first stone. In my mind a "good" nursery is one that takes criticisms from customers and is continuously improving, or at least making an effort to improve.
Title: Re: Another experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: gnappi on March 15, 2015, 08:31:28 PM
Good to see you changed the topic, but the headers on all the replies are the same.
Title: Re: Another experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: Patrick on March 15, 2015, 08:52:39 PM
Good to see you changed the topic, but the headers on all the replies are the same.

This is a discussion forum.  I have never had any dealings with TT so I have no opinions on the topic.  I changed the header of the original post to be kind, nothing more.  Other nurseries have received bad reviews on this and other forums in the past and aren't censored.  After all, this is the place fellow people who share the same interests come for information.  Take Daves Garden for instance, their site is nothing more than a review site. 

http://davesgarden.com/products/gwd/c/2785/ (http://davesgarden.com/products/gwd/c/2785/)

I would think anyone would want to hear good and bad reviews on any business no?

With that being said.... "All discussion content within the forum reflects the views of individual participants only and do not necessarily represent the views held by the Tropical Fruit Forum as an organization."




Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: Bush2Beach on March 15, 2015, 11:55:44 PM
Just looked at their website for the first time in years.  Wow...Rob was correct, shouldn't have done it.  Lots and lots of varieties listed but disappointed to see that only a fraction are actually available.  And the prices for many of these?!  Holy shit!  Personally, it would have to be a variety that I was desperate to have and no one else in the country had available before I would purchase a plant from them.  A seedling durian for $125?!!  The size of the plant they show available is the same size we can get from PR for $10.  If I lived anywhere in Florida, I would make a day trip to Excalibur, PJ's, or any number of member nurseries listed on this forum and spend the day there picking out my own plants instead.  Could visit other members in the area and just make a full day out of it.  Aside from California and Hawaii, sorry, I just don't see the attraction.  Just my small-minded opinion.  Glad I checked the site out...won't need to do that again.

Who is shipping Durian or any other $10 plants from PR right now?
Title: Re: Another bad experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: Bush2Beach on March 15, 2015, 11:59:32 PM
Am I the only one who doesn't feel comfortable with this? At what point does the line between useful information exchange and almost sabotaging a business gets crossed/blurred? It's not like we are talking about HD or Lowes here that can withstand (and also fight back online) against negative web portrayals..rather this is a smaller business in a very niche market and community that may be severely affected.

Also while I'm sure most of the intentions here are genuine to help members of the forum here, who really knows if there aren't direct competitors here with different aims.  I like to learn of the posters' good and bad experiences with nursuries and those experiences already come through where necessary within conversations on various thread topics. But a whole topic and title dedicated to bashing a business seems harsh (no matter how true).

I've never used TT, and have no horse in this race...but I'll tell you straight up that I've had pretty bad experiences with two of the more highly celebrated nursuries here on this forum..one in South Dade and one up in Western Palm Beach Co (and for Citrus another highly regarded nursery that ship from Tampa area)..but I chalk that up to noone is perfect ESPECIALLY operating in a space like this with living tropical trees,lots of them, shipping etc.

That's not to say they shouldn't be held to account for errors and poor service, and that as customers we should just shut up and take shoddy service, but there's no better way than this? I'm no legal expert, but I'd be careful if this was my website, as to where the line is about slander.

Just my 2 cents.....

No and i even have no experience at all.

But on this forum slandering is quite common unfortunately. It seems that on the West coast lives another breed of people.

What West Coast are you talking about genius?
Title: Re: Another experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: rliou on March 16, 2015, 12:35:45 AM
I would have to say the assessment is correct.  I had both good experience and bad from TT before.  i got most of my mangoes from them but i live in california so their prices and packing is reasonable.  I also had a sapodilla that I ordered from them that shortly demised after arrival.  Unsure if its them or me though.  Overall, its not a bad price for californians.  Shipping at least for mangoes are well done.
Title: Re: Another experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: Charlie23 on March 26, 2016, 11:47:40 PM
any recent experiences with Top Tropicals?
Title: Re: Another experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: Tropheus76 on March 27, 2016, 12:49:53 AM
I just ordered from them in the last couple weeks. Note I only order oddball stuff I cant find elsewhere which they are really good for. Stuff arrived that day in great shape. I would definately order again. I love the "notify me" function they have, unlike most places, I think they actually go looking when they get enough clicks to make an order and then actually send out notices.
Title: Re: Another experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: greenman62 on March 27, 2016, 02:46:27 PM
yeah, i got a Feijoa, , a yellow strawberry guava, and something else with that same order
but cant remember what the hell it was... LOL

i was impressed by the packaging and shipping.
all done very well and got here fast.
i like the clearance section too. i think the Feijoa was $9 in a 3gal container.
cant beat it.
Title: Re: Another experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: Charlie23 on March 29, 2016, 02:55:54 PM
I just ordered a sugar apple tree a couple of days ago.  I swear when I ordered it, it said in a 3 gallon pot, but today it's changed to 1 gallon pot, but the price is the same...  I know I'm getting old but come on my memory can't be that bad. 
Title: Re: Another experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: TonyinCC on September 07, 2016, 04:21:58 PM
I have been there about 10 times,most recently about a month ago. Their online catalog isn't always accurate. On several occasions, I have checked their online inventory before driving 35 minutes to them,and they have actually had items that were listed as not in stock online. I imagine it might be because they would have to severely prune some of those trees to fit them in a shipping box,or sometimes the trees seem recently grafted or re-potted and small for the container they are in.
  The average person might recoil in horror at receiving a mango tree pruned back to the main leader to fit it into a box. (Personally, I feel the more leaves on a shipped plant,the worse it fares.) If in doubt,call and ask them to physically check to see if they actually have an item. Overall I have had mostly positive experiences with them,the exception being that very few of their jackfruit trees were actually grafted.Only a handful of the 20 something trees they had that day had graft unions or scars. Of course the varieties I was looking for were definitely NOT grafted trees,so I passed. It might be that they sourced them elsewhere, I remember some posts about other nurseries selling jackfruit seedlings with the name of the parent tree. Overall a bit pricier than other nurseries in the area, but they do have stuff no one else carries. I don't think their notify me function works,The last time I was there they had something in stock that I had eventually found elsewhere. Never got an email saying it was in stock.
Title: Re: Another experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: LivingParadise on September 07, 2016, 05:50:06 PM
I have ordered multiple thousands of dollars of plants from them over a several year period, so I am more than qualified to share experiences here.

The reality is, they are hit or miss. I now only order from them when I have absolutely no other choice, when there is literally no other shipper in the contiguous US who has the item I am looking for. Because their variety is so extreme, that happens a fair bit of the time.

What They're Good At:
1. Variety - the best variety of tropical fruit shipping I've seen inside the mainland US
2. Ordering - the online ordering process is easy

What They're Bad At:
1. Customer Service - on a shocking level a majority of times, if they happen to mess up. Even though I order from them multiple times a year with large orders, they still treat me like a nobody every single time, and with utter disdain if I happen to notice anything wrong with the order, no matter how polite I am about it. They have sent plants that were grossly mislabeled, nearly dead, clearly diseased, and yet treat me with an amazing amount of disrespect and make my life as hard as possible, rather than simply owning up to the mistake and putting it right without much investment of time and money on my part. I did swear off them completely several times, but my addiction to plants keeps me coming back for things I can't get, especially when I am too ill to travel locally to buy plants in SFL. Fortunately, a majority of their plants do not cause these problems, but a good 10% of them do. The 3 day window for filing a claim is unreasonable, particularly with dormant plants. For instance, they shipped me bulbs that were not described as bulbs but as full plants when I bought them. The bulbs appeared rotted. They refused to acknowledge that anything was amiss because they said the bulbs were deciduous and dormant - but they were shipped in the middle of summer in FL (and has clearly had their tops cut off)! So how did they manage to arrive with no leaves, 6 months after the last frost?? They insisted that the plants were fine, and if kept consistently moist and warm, should put up new sprouts a FULL YEAR LATER... um, what? I don't even live in an area that ever reaches freezing. So there is no way to dispute that if in fact the bulbs do NOT sprout and are in fact rotted, because the window is only 3 days and they are saying it will take a year to get even a leaf on it (which would mean the bulbs were dormant for a full 1.5 years). Whatever.

I could list a LOT of customer service incidents, but another one was the fact that my order once arrived missing 4 out of 20 items. The plants were listed on my invoice though. Top Tropicals is difficult to get ahold of, because they refuse to answer the phone. So when we finally managed a series of emails back and forth, I at last got the answer that they had run out and decided not to ship the plants to me. No email, no warning, no notice, no explanation. No sorry. No discount. No refund. They charged my credit card anyway. They said that as soon as they got replacement plants in, they would send them, but no clue as to how many months that would take - and they seemed very annoyed that I would ask them WHEN. I had to write the question multiple times before they responded to it, and even then only with a very vague answer of 'we don't know when.' I could have wasted less time if I had been able to call, but they refuse to use the phone. When I leave phone messages, they don't reply. I had to ask them if they could please email me when they DO send them on, so I at least know they're coming, because they do not necessarily let you know. Their communication is terrible. I did not bother to put up much of a fight that time, because the price was a good deal and at least they would still honor it.But it's not much of a deal if it shows up a year late, perhaps when I'm out of town and they don't bother to notify me.

2. Price - they overcharge for nearly everything they sell, and some things are WAY overcharged. They also do not make their handling and shipping prices transparent, and it often costs far far more than what it should when you try to break it down via the cart.

3. Seeds - in my experience, the vast majority of their seeds are shipped dead. Having said that, the ones that actually sprouted, grew well - but that was maybe 5% of the hundreds I bought. Even during their Fall seed sale, the price for the seeds is often high, and the shipping cost is far more than it costs them to send them in the cheap envelope via USPS they do.

4. Consistency - Consistency is poor. I have a lot of plants that I bought 3 years ago that are still doing well. But by and large, the "clearance" items, while the most reasonably priced, should be bought with the understanding that they either will be great or a total loss. Probably 3/4 of clearance items are usually in terrible health, not marked clearance because no one wants them or they just felt like being generous. A number have been sent to me basically already dead. The prices on the site are changing a lot, and they don't care if you just ordered something 2 days ago and it hasn't arrived to you yet, but now is suddenly being sold for half price - they charge whatever it was when you bought it. One item I bought at 1 gal size that cost $40, not including shipping which was another $25 tacked on. I thought the price was outrageous, but I really wanted that item, which was rare in the US. I received a healthy but tiny plant with only a single stalk on it and about 4 leaves - but it did well in my yard and tasted delicious, so I wanted more. 6 months later they had it back in stock again, same size, but only $20 plus the $25 shipping this time. I thought at least that's better, so I tried again. Weirdly, this time the plant was easily a size that could have been classified as a 3g, and had maybe 12 stalks and more leaves than I could count. So I got like 4 times the plant, for half the list price. Experiences like this make up for some of the other money I wasted with them. It is common that if you buy more than one of the same thing, especially if spaced out over months or years, you will get vastly different quality, size, or shape. This works out in your favor as much as it works against you. If you buy multiples all in the same order, they usually are close to the same size and quality as each other.


Some Good Some Bad:
Their shipping has improved over the past few years. They used to use hordes of non-biodegradable styrofoam peanuts, and they always strapped their trunks so tight to the poles and to the root balls that they damaged them and cutting them was nearly impossible without causing further damage to the trees. That has much improved, and now they use airbags and a more loose wrapping style, which serves the plants much better (as well as the environment).

I notice too that they seem to have hired a few new people lately for customer service, and while they still usually take the stance that "the customer is always wrong," the new people seem far more polite and better at dealing with the public and at least ATTEMPTING to resolve issues in a timely and respectful way. Hopefully they will keep working on this.

Their labeling is wrong more than it should be - perhaps 10-15% of the time, from what I've seen. It's not gross mislabeling, like the wrong species, but frequently is the wrong color by far, or the wrong variety. They also give frequently incorrect info and instructions on their website for individual plants.

I learned the hard way, to avoid problems with them, always pay via PayPal, and if there is a problem, if they don't correct it immediately, escalate it as a dispute with PayPal. They utterly ignored me for 4 consecutive weeks of repeated contact until I did this, and then, knowing they would lose with PayPal because my issue was clearcut and they were in the wrong, and it would affect their rating, they refunded me promptly for the amount I was owed within 24 hrs of my escalating it within Paypal. It's too bad I had to go that far, because I wanted to work it out with them directly, and the amount they owed me wasn't that much. But it was an obvious issue that time where they had charged me for something they never had in stock in the first place, due to an inventory error with their computer that time (separate from the incident I mentioned above where a similar thing happened).




I think they run their business terribly. But they have plants that no one else in this country has who can take credit card via an online ordering form and ship to you. They're not scammers. But whenever I have any other option besides them, I take it.

Consumers deserve to see honest reviews like this before they order. I wanted to love them. But they mess up on the same few issues over and over again, and are defiantly unapologetic. Sometimes they send good plants, that are correctly labeled, and impossible to get elsewhere. I'm glad they exist - I certainly don't want them to go out of business. I just wish they would make an effort to improve the things they suck at, so good customers like myself could wholeheartedly recommend them. They have never once apologized to me, or refunded me without hassle, or given me a discount for my troubles, even on the multiple times when they were clearly in the wrong and I was being extremely polite and patient with their mistakes. Sometimes their reps were outright rude. They generally act like I, as their customer, am a hassle to them and that all they value is my credit card number, not our business relationship. So if this review steers business away from them, they fully deserve it. If they had competition rather than a monopoly, I would go to the competition.
Title: Re: Another experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: LivingParadise on September 07, 2016, 06:14:45 PM
Incidentally, Top Tropicals currently has a Better Business Bureau rating of a C+. The reason given is that they had a complaint which they failed to resolve. It was the only one ever filed. But they were given credit for being open a decently long time and having many customers, for only 1 complaint. I try not to do business with any company that has a rating less than a B+, where possible. I suspect that they would have far more complaints if people bothered to go through the BBB process, but I certainly would hope that they would not be stupid enough to ignore the next ones, so their rating might remain close to the same over time. I would give them probably a C- overall. I hope they will someday care enough about their business and their customers to improve, because they have a great thing going if they can simply show more appreciation for the business they do get, rather than sticking up their virtual middle finger at loyal customers.
Title: Re: Another experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: CGameProgrammer on September 07, 2016, 08:48:28 PM
I have ordered many many plants from TT over the last couple of years. They always had great customer service; I never had any trouble contacting them by e-mail or phone and if a plant arrived dead then they always issued me a refund or credit. Shipping is also reasonable to California and they ship by air, so the plants arrive two days after they shipped. This is unlike Plant-O-Gram where shipping prices are absurd and they ship ground.

Like all nurseries they occasionally mislabel things; I think I've had one plant mislabelled (as far as I know at least) which was just a flowering plant anyway. Also they often list 3-gallon plants but they're actually 1-gallon or less; this isn't common but it happens. However you can ask them to send you a photo of the actual plants for sale.
Title: Re: Another experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: StPeteMango on September 08, 2016, 08:40:57 AM
I had an Imam Pasand mango from Top Tropicals delivered last week and experienced no problems. I live a few hours away from Ft. Myers and decided the cost of shipping was worth the not having to drive a few hours. The plant is recovering well from its shipping experience, and will go into the ground this weekend.
Based on this experience, I'd say if you can, it's worth picking up the plant from the nursery yourself. This is not criticism of TT; it's just that for shipping, a lot of foliage is clipped off, the pot is cut to about half the size so it holds less soil and is thus lighter. A plant bought from a nursery is fuller, is usually better branched, has more foliage and just looks healthier.
On the other hand, if the nursery is far away (or like me, you're too lazy to drive 4-5 hours for one plant), what options do you really have?
Title: Re: Another experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: Squam256 on September 08, 2016, 09:00:21 AM
I've had multiple mislabeled trees from them, including a Tong Dam that turned out to be a PSM, a Quidnau that turned out to be a Cac, a Dominicana that turned out to be a Glenn, and a Heidi that was actually a Tommy Atkins. An unacceptably high rate of mislabeled trees.
Title: Re: Another experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: Mark in Texas on September 08, 2016, 09:12:38 AM
Mama didn't raise no fool (this after losing 2 avocado trees that had a butchered root system upon arrival).  ::)

Now days, if I can't have it, I'll do without.  There are plenty of quality ops out there.  If enough folks stopped falling for their bullshit, stopped ordering from them, then perhaps they might get the message.   
Title: Re: Another experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: dwfl on September 08, 2016, 09:54:38 AM
TT was selling variegated guava in 1 gallons for $100 and sold out in first day. Went to the nursery they got the variegated guava from and purchased same 1 gallon variegated guava for $15.
Title: Re: Another experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: Mark in Texas on September 08, 2016, 10:02:21 AM
TT was selling variegated guava in 1 gallons for $100 and sold out in first day. Went to the nursery they got the variegated guava from and purchased same 1 gallon variegated guava for $15.

"We all are dreamers and conmen fulfill those dreams."
Title: Re: Another experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: CGameProgrammer on September 08, 2016, 03:07:49 PM
What is the name of that nursery? Do they ship plants? Even to California? Many true nurseries only deal with commercial bulk purchasers and can't be bothered to deal with individuals.
Title: Re: Another experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: dwfl on September 08, 2016, 04:08:53 PM
What is the name of that nursery? Do they ship plants? Even to California? Many true nurseries only deal with commercial bulk purchasers and can't be bothered to deal with individuals.

That nursery doesn't ship plants but deal with individuals all the time. An $85 markup + shipping charges was still mind boggling but people paid for them so I guess there was enough demand. I wouldn't pay 100 + shipping for any guava but for 15 I got one.

I've bought from TT before and would still stop by and buy from them but not before checking other sources to make sure I'm not giving away $85.
Title: Re: Another experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: knlim000 on October 04, 2016, 04:51:29 PM
so far, my experience has been good. I ordered 3 mango tree . two arrive in a very bad shape and 1 was good.  Eventually, the two bad one never recovered. Toptropical is giving me a refund for the two that die.
I also got a lychee from them 3months ago . It arrive 2-3days later in great condition. It is now sending out lots of flowers.
From my experience from ordering online mango, regardless of which vendor, I always noticed that if the plant arrive in wilted, bad condition. It is 100% that the plant will not make it at all.
Title: Re: Another experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: Mark in Texas on October 05, 2016, 09:04:14 AM
so far, my experience has been good. I ordered 3 mango tree . two arrive in a very bad shape and 1 was good.  Eventually, the two bad one never recovered. Toptropical is giving me a refund for the two that die.

You call that a "GOOD" experience?   :o Boycott the bastards! 
Title: Re: Another experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: palingkecil on March 19, 2020, 01:32:59 AM
Anyone in SoCal ordered from Top Tropicals? I am thinking to order a Makok Sapodilla from them, since I cannot find it anywhere else. But the story about mislabelled plants they shipped really discourage me.
Title: Re: Another experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: hawkfish007 on March 19, 2020, 02:36:35 AM
Anyone in SoCal ordered from Top Tropicals? I am thinking to order a Makok Sapodilla from them, since I cannot find it anywhere else. But the story about mislabelled plants they shipped really discourage me.
Have you checked champa nursery in El Monte? I bought mine from them and looks like they have Makok in stock per their website.
Title: Re: Another experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: Mark in Texas on March 19, 2020, 08:40:30 AM
Anyone in SoCal ordered from Top Tropicals? I am thinking to order a Makok Sapodilla from them, since I cannot find it anywhere else. But the story about mislabelled plants they shipped really discourage me.

https://davesgarden.com/products/gwd/c/2785/0/

no
Title: Re: Another experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: Squam256 on March 19, 2020, 11:03:23 AM
I've had multiple mislabeled trees from them, including a Tong Dam that turned out to be a PSM, a Quidnau that turned out to be a Cac, a Dominicana that turned out to be a Glenn, and a Heidi that was actually a Tommy Atkins. An unacceptably high rate of mislabeled trees.

So in addition to this, we had a Manilita that turned out to be a Carabao.
And I think the mango we got from them labeled “Sia Siam” might actually be Hong Sa.

Makes you wonder if they deliberately mislabel trees.
Title: Re: Another experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: TnTrobbie on March 20, 2020, 12:55:53 AM
I've spent a small fortune at Top Tropicals. The mango trees I got from them are the ones I don't see/ find anywhere else. (I'm sure its mislabeled :D). I too bought a Heidi (or was it Mesk) from them 2 yrs back. It actually bore three delicious, medium size fibreless fruit last season but they didn't look like any Heidi/Mesk I saw on the internet (I have pics of the fruit). Carambolas....time will tell LOL. Sapodillas are expensive...and time will tell :). Half of my fortune with them was for flowering trees/shrubs/ and vines. So far they seem true. Mulberries have come true to label. Guavas....bought a "Kilo" (cv.) from them with small fruit on it...it ripened small with orange flesh...super sweet and delicious ...planted it and it died with standing water. I wonder if I'll get lucky again :).
Title: Re: Another experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: palingkecil on March 26, 2020, 01:24:19 AM
Thank you everyone for the responses, i really appreaciate all. I've decided not to buy it from TT, i cannot spend 5 years caring for a tree that will turn out not true to its label. I will probably get it from champa, or graft some makok scions to my Alano. Hawkfish, i called champa, they do have makok in stock now. Thanks. How is your makok now? I had some bad experience bought a 7 gallon soursop tree for $200 from champa that has a bad rootbound and died after a year.
Title: Re: Another experience with Top Tropicals Nursery
Post by: kevinfolta on April 12, 2020, 09:15:45 AM
I have received about 10 trees from them, avocado and loquat.  They generally arrive quickly and in good shape.  However, I did receive an avocado in my last order that arrived looking a little rough. The leaves were stressed, the plant generally not vigorous.  I replanted in my plant ICU and it just continued to decline, dropping the leaves it had.  I contacted Top Tropicals by email and I think the longest reply I got was six words. I sent pictures, hoped for advice. No dice.

The sad part is that I could likely save this plant without them, but would have appreciated their guidance and advice. I work with dozens of different tree species. Customer service could have been much better.  The trees are hardly free, so I would be reluctant to order from them going forward.