Medlock Valley Orchids

[Alex]

And I suspect it will turn up in January exactly as promised - perfect - unlike being promised something before Christmas and then not even being able to get in touch to find out what went wrong...

P.S. Fans of reasonably-priced Calypso and Pleione albiflora from source (or nearer to it anyway) may like to check E-bay now 

[Maren]

Hi,

I just received a message from Medlock, quote:

"I must apologise for the delay with some orders and also the delay in replying to emails for the last few weeks but just before christmas I suffered a heart attack and have been told I must take it easy for a few months so unfortunately the website was put to the side for a few weeks so over the next couple of weeks I will update the website and catch up with everything."

That explains it.

[Maggi Young]

Indeed, Maren - I'm sure we wish him a  full and speedy recovery.

[Transvaal]

Sad news- I wish him all the best and a speedy recovery.
regards
Phil

[Danshi]

I wish Stuart all the best for his health, but after reading through this thread and the ratings on davesgarden, I wouldn't place any high bets on his diagnosis tbh. 

[Alex]

Sad to say, I had the same cynical thought, partly fueled by reading online reviews of Plumeria2u

[moorish47]

hi,this is my first post.i am having trouble with medlock valley is anybody else still having problems with this company.he has delivered part of my order but will not answer any of my emails of which i have sent 12 to both his email addresses.according to his hardy orchid site he quoted all remaing orders would be sent out on monday 20th january.still nothing has arrived yet. on his site he is advertising pleione confirmation for sale so he must be back selling again.pity he cannot get his buisness back in order.derek

[Steve Garvie]

The short answer is yes.
I am still due a Cyp. plectrochilum from him that I was promised in early January. I have now given up on it and as I placed the order and paid for it many months ago I am now too late to raise a dispute through Paypal. This may be an option for you however.

If you paid by Paypal and your order was placed less than 60 days ago I suggest you log into your Paypal account, identify the transaction and then raise a dispute upon it.

If you are still within the Paypal window I strongly suggest that you take measures now as this retailer cannot be trusted to fulfil your order without appropriate leverage!

[moorish47]

hi steve,i paid by cc so i might be able to claim some money back from them.i also paid a large deposit to pre-order one of his rare cypripedium he had advertised for delivery in april so have no idea if medlock did place the order for these or not so i dont hold out much hope.derek

[Steve Garvie]

Hi Derek,

I hope your Cyps come through OK. If the original source is Holger Perner then it may be worthwhile trying to contact his nursery at Huanglong in China to confirm that Medlock Valley Orchids have an order with him. I know that his stock was of limited supply and other hardy orchid retailers in the UK were unable to obtain the promise of plants.

Apparently the owner of Medlock Valley Orchids had an MI some weeks ago -if true I'm sure we all wish him well. However he has since placed new stock on his website and has sent out further "special offer" emails so presumably he is back to normal business in which case he should be returning your emails and re-assuring you that your outstanding order is in the pipeline. At best this retailer is disorganised and haphazard in the way he handles his customers, at worst........ 

[Maren]

Hi, this is not good. I have written to Stuart advising him to improve his communications and I have sent him the link to this website so that he can see for himself how his business is being perceived. I hope for positive results.

[Maren]

Here is Stuart's reply (it took exactly 2 minutes for him to write back to me. )

"From: Stuart Pointon [mailto:stuartjpointon@googlemail.com]
Sent: 01 February 2014 10:54
To: M Talbot
Subject: Re: Your business

Hi Maren,

Thanks for the email, I've been told about the comments.

It is from a couple of people who don't understand when you pre order plants you have to wait for them as it's says on a few plants on the website and also what did nt help is I had a heart attack in October and I am only just getting back to normal.

I am waiting for plants from Japan that need a CITES permit that has only just come through yesterday so everyone will have their plants by the end of this month as they have been emailed and told‎.

As far as replying to emails I always reply as I get them to my blackberry.
The email on the website isn't working as it says so I have an alternative email address on there for people to email me.

Thanks for letting me know Maren.

Stuart"

[erf]

Sorry to say so, but I did buissines with Stuart last year. I never recieved any plants from him. In the process he had lots of excusess, like he had been away or his mobile phone did not work or he had been ill. To every one on this forum.....STAY AWAY from his buissines. Some get what they order, but to many get disapointet. 
Regards Erling

[Alex]

The problems don't sound particularly recent to me, and long predate this heart attack. The online reviews of his previous concern, Plumeria2u, make his latest attempts at customer service look like an unqualified success, and I hope all those disappointed people got their money back. Taking all into account, avoid this dubious outfit like the plague.

[johnralphcarpenter]

Anyone who doesn't receive the plants they have paid for should report the matter to his local authority Consumer Standards department for investigation.