The Tropical Fruit Forum
Tropical Fruit => Tropical Fruit Discussion => Topic started by: ChaunsaEnthusiast on June 25, 2022, 11:17:41 AM
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Hello everyone,
Would really like an updated discussion on this and hopefully take some collective action. I came across several old posts on the forum indicating that this guy is a scammer (https://tropicalfruitforum.com/index.php?topic=46827.0 and https://tropicalfruitforum.com/index.php?topic=26564.0). However some of the new ones seem happy with the fruits they got from this guy: https://tropicalfruitforum.com/index.php?topic=44540.0
GuavaKing seems to be still operating with near perfect reviews on ebay and his site:
https://www.ebay.com/usr/guavaking
https://www.guavaking.com/product-page/indian-pakstani-mango-tree-chaunsa-mango-grafted-the-best-mango-in-the-world
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdu0FAmbMKH_DaGmBOlPACg/videos
So what is the latest verdict on this guy? Is he a scammer or perhaps did scam in the past and has real indian/pakistani mangoes now? Why are his ratings still so high? What can we do if we got scammed?
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I bought an airlayered tree from his etsy shop this year. Tree is smaller than on the picture, needed some careful care for a while, very expensive for that kind of value, but not a scam..
Ana
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In the past, I almost bought some guava from him. I decided not to because I did not want to deal with USDA issue.
We should give credit to those who try to distribute tropical fruit trees. If you has issue with his item, try to resolve with him first before declare it as a scam. That is just my 1 cent.
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I bought a few of his guava trees before reading the posts on the forum questioning the authenticity of the cultivars. Not sure yet if they are true, only had a few fruit last year, but the ones I tasted were promising for first fruits, with one being very good. Also, the guavas are different from each other with different leaf shapes, coloring, and growth habit, so I feel confident that at least there is a variety that I will be able to choose the best from. All the trees I got from him are growing well and are vigorous.
Janet
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Most reviews on ebay would be buyers who received a decent looking tree
in a timely manner. When the tree grows up and fruits 2-4 years later and
you see the fruit then it's too late to write a poor review. I think reputation
is everything but some people don't have any integrity and making a sale is
more important. I read some of the complaints about Guava King and some of
the poeple who said it I respect. I wouldn't buy anything from that seller
based on what's been said especially something rare.
Is it airlayered or is it a seedling how can you tell?
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Yeah, I haven't bought anything else since I learned of other member's experiences. It's unfortunate but I've gotten mislabeled stuff from other sellers as well, including a prominent ebay seller from Hawaii.
At least I have this forum with great sellers here willing to make a lot of rare genetics available.
Janet
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Completely agree with "achetadomestica". There are multiple reports of people getting trees different than what was the cultivar described. Personally, I would not buy from him as I don't want to waste several years waiting for trees to fruit and then find out it is not the tree I had ordered.
For people who had good experience with him, can any one confirm that the fruit tree that they received was the cultivar ordered?
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Completely agree with "achetadomestica". There are multiple reports of people getting trees different than what was the cultivar described. Personally, I would not buy from him as I don't want to waste several years waiting for trees to fruit and then find out it is not the tree I had ordered.
For people who had good experience with him, can any one confirm that the fruit tree that they received was the cultivar ordered?
That is exactly my concern. And in the case of Chaunsa, it is so rare here and such high demand that the changes of fraud are extremely high. This would be beyond disappointing if after paying this rip off price and years later it turns out to be a scam.
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I only deal with questionable sellers when there is something that is dearly sought and cannot be found elsewhere, and when willing to accept total loss of $.
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I only deal with questionable sellers when there is something that is dearly sought and cannot be found elsewhere, and when willing to accept total loss of $.
Yeah in this case I couldn't really find any other Chaunsa trees for sale. Is there a reputable seller that sells those?
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I think this seller is very expensive, so I decided not to go with him, but at least he is responsive.
The one I will stay away from is http://www.chfruittreenursery.com/product-category/fruit-tree/ http://tropicalbonsainursery.net/policy.html . Horrible communication, sent me a bad plant and I am in the waiting to confirm if the plant he sent is the right one (I will have to wait till it fruits :()
So far I have had good experience with https://www.etsy.com/shop/StylabBeauty which I believe is Mimosa Nursery from LA (https://www.mimosala.com/). Great collection, still expensive, but relatively cheaper than other sources and a more reliable seller from what I have heard from this forum.
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vrk3, the first websites/links are not good to be dealt with. They are owned by the same person. Bad communication, bad shiping, bad shape plant, and tiny plants.
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I'm really sad to see this thread. I've been following that seller for years and have been excited that they have been slowly adding new varieties. I really wanted to try the giant Indian, especially after coming across the history of it. Along with the Allahabad that they said is their sweetheart. Is there another source for giant Indian?
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GuavaKing lists uncommon varieties to sell overpriced mislabeled trees. I would consider it to be a scam.
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Is there another source for giant Indian?
I'm guessing the only way to ID definitely is once it fruits? I bought one 2 years ago on ebay from another seller that hasn't yet fruited. The pricing now for giant Indian is ridiculous. You're welcome to cuttings if it is one!
(https://i.postimg.cc/cvpx3CYK/IMG-20220626-184742170.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/cvpx3CYK)
(https://i.postimg.cc/PP7Ffwsw/IMG-20220626-184824520.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/PP7Ffwsw)
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Most reviews on ebay would be buyers who received a decent looking tree
in a timely manner. When the tree grows up and fruits 2-4 years later and
you see the fruit then it's too late to write a poor review. I think reputation
is everything but some people don't have any integrity and making a sale is
more important. I read some of the complaints about Guava King and some of
the poeple who said it I respect. I wouldn't buy anything from that seller
based on what's been said especially something rare.
Is it airlayered or is it a seedling how can you tell?
I feel like a lot of people in the business of selling plants or fruit are in it more for the money than because it's something they are truly passionate about. Even the ones who are not scammers. (Not that money isn't important, but still). Things are getting really crazy now with the prices of trees and fruit. I have only 4 more trees to add my yard and I plan to be done by October, then I'm going to focus on the smaller plants and how to save the seeds and reproduce the plants myself. At this point growing your own food is more than a hobby. To replicate what I'm growing with money would cost a fortune. Not to get off topic..
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Is there another source for giant Indian?
I'm guessing the only way to ID definitely is once it fruits? I bought one 2 years ago on ebay from another seller that hasn't yet fruited. The pricing now for giant Indian is ridiculous. You're welcome to cuttings if it is one!
(https://i.postimg.cc/cvpx3CYK/IMG-20220626-184742170.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/cvpx3CYK)
(https://i.postimg.cc/PP7Ffwsw/IMG-20220626-184824520.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/PP7Ffwsw)
That would be great! Thank you. I'm the meantime I'll just buy some of the local plants to fill things in. There are plenty of local Nurseries with good reputation for not rare plants.
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They have the Chaunsa variety and sell scions you have to email for availability:
https://www.themangoplace.com/scions-2
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Well, I was reading on this site that you needed to buy Mexican cream guava from a reputable seller and the varieties they have at the big box stores sell trees that create poor quality fruit.
So, I went onto guavaking on ebay and purchased an air layered mexican cream guava 3 years ago.
Then, about a week after purchase, I read on here not to buy from guavaking. 🤦♂️
All I can say is that the tree is in the ground and growing quite well. I'll give an update if it ever fruits.
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I bought a tree from him that will be able to confirm maybe next year. We might not like his prices or size of trees but he is not a scam. He is using the same name for at least 10 years, sells on ebay, etsy, his own website, has youtube channel and Instagram.
Ana
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I have purchased 4 different guava plants from him. His price is on the mid-high side, but the plants are not the common ones you find at the box stores. One plant died, my fault, but I did get a fruit on one tree and it was a very nice fruit, small since it was first fruit but looked good, red flesh. I hope it fruits again so I can taste a normal size fruit on the tree. His seedless guava does have the round leaves which seems to be one distinguishing characteristic that matches description of this variety. I don't think he is a scan either.
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$399 for this small plant is outrageous - https://www.ebay.com/itm/115404422672?hash=item1adea3be10:g:LKQAAOSwbC5hcaTj
Not to mention that most of the photos are from the internet. What bothers me the most is that he doesn't have a single fruit photo of their own. At this price, and not being a well known nursery, I would stay away from such seller.
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Your choice to pay the high price or not. Doesn't mean he is a scammer.
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This is a classic story of supply and demand. The seller it does sound like is selling authentic trees, and buyers are willing to pay the outrageous prices... So... He continues to sell them. If people didn't buy at those prices, he would lower the price till he sold again.
Fruit collecting has, from what I can tell, boomed since COVID and prices are much higher than before. This forum is my favorite because people are fair and tend to help each other out. I would suspect in just 3-4 years many of these varieties will be available here for buy, sell, or trade.
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I saw that guavaking had chaunsa mango and was ready to buy a tree.
then I read a very long thread on this forum and every one who had bought
his rare Indian mangos turned out to be common varieties from Zills.
AndrewAZ
I airlayered a local guava tree and gave it to my neighbor and it fruited the
following year. I can't imagine an airlayered tree taking 3 years to fruit?
Flgarden
Look at the old forum thread, the seller sold rare Indian mangos that are not
in the USA and after a couple years when they fruited they were not what
they were suppose to be. That is a scam! Top Tropicals has done the same thing
over and over to people and they are still in business. I assume if you call and place
an order if these scammers have it in stock they send it if they don't they substitute.
sc4001992
Look at the old thread, too many people got burned by this guy. He is a scammer
I hope none of you got scammed this time.
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I am not saying they are a scammer. My point is that in a world where there are so many scammers out there, I would like to only buy it from trusted sources who have a great reputation, especially when I am paying an exorbitant price. Imagine investing time / money and finding out 2 years later that you were conned. Who wants to go through that? The best you can do is to reduce the probability of having such an experience.
As such the seller looks sketchy and the feedback from the forum members here further confirms my suspicion. (some members may have had good experience, sure, but doesn't make up for the doubts others have raised).
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$399 for this small plant is outrageous - https://www.ebay.com/itm/115404422672?hash=item1adea3be10:g:LKQAAOSwbC5hcaTj
Not to mention that most of the photos are from the internet. What bothers me the most is that he doesn't have a single fruit photo of their own. At this price, and not being a well known nursery, I would stay away from such seller.
They're in Central FL Apopka? Someone must be bound to know more? Here's their FL SunBiz listing, currently inactive used to be in Miami: https://search.sunbiz.org/Inquiry/corporationsearch/SearchResultDetail?inquirytype=EntityName&directionType=ForwardList&searchNameOrder=GUAVAKING%20P200000927500&aggregateId=domp-p20000092750-f62fa21f-ba19-46b6-b183-9168e8f38152
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I left it in a pot for 2 years before planting. Didn't know where I wanted it, then I had a tree that was in afternoon AZ sun, and I knew guava could take the heat. So I planted it last September. Also, I think I was underwater ing and underfertilizing the tree. So, he is stillsection in the benefit of the doubt section. He'll fall out next summer if no fruit, lol.
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You only have sixty days to leave feedback on eBay. That is enough time to ascertain whether a plant is healthy, pest free, and matches what was in the photos. It is not enough time to determine whether the plant is the right variety, at least if the only way to judge is by its fruit. What those eBay feedbacks say is that GuavaKing sent customers a healthy mango, guava, or sapodilla of some kind, though not necessarily a Chaunsa, Mexican Cream, or Butterscotch. He very well could be selling grafted or mature cutting-grown plants from some of the rarest, most desirable varieties of mangos, guavas, and sapodillas. There is evidence that, in the past, on many occasions, he has not done so and has gotten away with not doing so. Weigh those facts and make your own decision about whether to purchase anything from GuavaKing. But, on this issue, I believe one should keep at the fore of one's mind caveat emptor.
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Well, I'll be glad to answer your question in 2 or so months. I purchased a Pakistani guava from him last year which is supposed to have yellow fruit with red spots. I currently have 4 fruits on the tree the size of a small lime. Let's see if they have the color they are supposed to.... stay tuned!
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I have bought and fruited 5 plants from him,
The giant indian pink was correct
The purple one is a seedling fruit
Crunchy pink was correct but much smaller fruit than advertised. could be environmental. had very small soft seeds which is nice
Lakarna was not correct, I was given another named cultivar he had for sale at the time "giant pink" which is also a decent fresh eating cv but not what i was paying for.
Allahabad has a few more days to ripen, they have the right shape so far
i picked them up from him in person
he was receptive to the mistake at first (i bought the trees in december)
and told me he would send a Lakarna
but its been weeks and several follow ups with nothing.
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I have bought and fruited 5 plants from him,
The giant indian pink was correct
That's worrisome because lakarna is the one I believe I bought from him as well. Supposed to be yellow with red dots. We'll see.
The purple one is a seedling fruit
Crunchy pink was correct but much smaller fruit than advertised. could be environmental. had very small soft seeds which is nice
Lakarna was not correct, I was given another named cultivar he had for sale at the time "giant pink" which is also a decent fresh eating cv but not what i was paying for.
Allahabad has a few more days to ripen, they have the right shape so far
i picked them up from him in person
he was receptive to the mistake at first (i bought the trees in december)
and told me he would send a Lakarna
but its been weeks and several follow ups with nothing.
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Fruit Queen, are the fruits you’ve had from his plants sweet? I bought a Mexican cream from him and the description says ‘extremely’ sweet. It says that for most of his cultivars I think.
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Confirmed, guava king is a scammer!!!! My fruit finally dropped from ripening. No red spots on the fruit like in 100% of his photos..... what a loser
(https://i.postimg.cc/ZCcy50TM/20220806-183217.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/ZCcy50TM)
(https://i.postimg.cc/jD3wy9n6/20220806-183231.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/jD3wy9n6)
(https://i.postimg.cc/BjnPLsbQ/20220806-183233.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/BjnPLsbQ)
(https://i.postimg.cc/ppxFvKtj/Screenshot-20220806-185500-Gallery.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/ppxFvKtj)
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Confirmed, guava king is a scammer!!!! My fruit finally dropped from ripening. No red spots on the fruit like in 100% of his photos..... what a loser
(https://i.postimg.cc/ZCcy50TM/20220806-183217.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/ZCcy50TM)
(https://i.postimg.cc/jD3wy9n6/20220806-183231.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/jD3wy9n6)
(https://i.postimg.cc/BjnPLsbQ/20220806-183233.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/BjnPLsbQ)
(https://i.postimg.cc/ppxFvKtj/Screenshot-20220806-185500-Gallery.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/ppxFvKtj)
forgive me as im still getting used to the forum formatting lol.
is the inside of this one pink? it looks similar to what i was also sold as "lakarna"
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Fruit Queen, are the fruits you’ve had from his plants sweet? I bought a Mexican cream from him and the description says ‘extremely’ sweet. It says that for most of his cultivars I think.
(https://i.postimg.cc/ZBrxCbbH/1-EF18-D8-F-3977-473-F-BB31-441199933-C6-F.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/ZBrxCbbH)
(https://i.postimg.cc/18tBJ1BR/655-AAF3-E-3-C5-E-422-F-B6-E6-2-FFB2-B8857-AB.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/18tBJ1BR)
(https://i.postimg.cc/bGSTf04K/94-C398-F2-EE1-F-4-D25-9600-15-FECDA9-C801.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/bGSTf04K)
(https://i.postimg.cc/cvbmzkkR/CB6-AD4-FE-D3-A5-471-D-A111-7-ECE278-C60-FA.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/cvbmzkkR)
(https://i.postimg.cc/6TvDfn3b/CF947-B8-D-6-D61-459-B-902-E-5-FB08-F70-FAB1.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/6TvDfn3b)
they are all pretty good but the purple one is missing the distinct aroma i expect from that color fruit
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Between my friend and me, we purchased total of 11 trees from him in the past. Only 1 is true to the variety, Malika mango. Either he is very confused, or he did deceive buyers.
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I will be able to report on my purchase from him maybe next year, but i would not ever buy anything else from him due to so many mismatched varieties.
It looks like he lists all hard to find varieties knowing people will pay big money for them....
Ana
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Confirmed, guava king is a scammer!!!! My fruit finally dropped from ripening. No red spots on the fruit like in 100% of his photos..... what a loser
(https://i.postimg.cc/ZCcy50TM/20220806-183217.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/ZCcy50TM)
(https://i.postimg.cc/jD3wy9n6/20220806-183231.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/jD3wy9n6)
(https://i.postimg.cc/BjnPLsbQ/20220806-183233.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/BjnPLsbQ)
(https://i.postimg.cc/ppxFvKtj/Screenshot-20220806-185500-Gallery.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/ppxFvKtj)
forgive me as im still getting used to the forum formatting lol.
is the inside of this one pink? it looks similar to what i was also sold as "lakarna"
Yes, it had a pink inside. He is not confused, he is straight up scamming people. I'm going to email him later today and tell him to make this right.....
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I just submitted an email via his website. Let's see how he responds...
Alex
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he has been telling me for weeks he will send me correct tree - good luck.
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I ended up just telling him I was reporting him to the state nursery board, BBB and will be sharing my experience through various fruit growing organizations that I run and participate in.
i suggest everyone else do the same
reminder that this guy was bold enough to scam me in person! lol
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Anyone bought Chaunsha and Langra variety mango from Guavaking? Should I buy mango tree from them? Their price is very expensive and not sure they will deliver the correct Variety? Appreciate, anyone can share their experience who bought these mango varieties from them before. Thank you.
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Anyone bought Chaunsha and Langra variety mango from Guavaking? Should I buy mango tree from them? Their price is very expensive and not sure they will deliver the correct Variety? Appreciate, anyone can share their experience who bought these mango varieties from them before. Thank you.
My friend did. Both were fake. They turned to be Bombay.Try to ask Alex at Tropical Acres Farm if he has those.