I bought an alleged Damson Merryweather from a mail order company because I wanted the fruit for cooking and I needed something relatively hardy because my plum and cherry trees had all previously succumbed to canker.
It was the only damson I could find on pixie root stock at the time and I wanted to try fan training it up a frame because it would both improve my privacy and would be a learning experience.
After 3 years of scrupulous pruning/training and a further 2 barren years of continued pruning/training but with killer hard frosts during blossom time I finally got my first fruit. Imagine my disappointment when after all that effort, instead of the expected damsons, I got the biggest, watery, tasteless plums Ive ever came across. They’re so bad that I don’t even bother picking them any more. I just leave them on the tree for the insects. They’re most certainly not damsons that’s for sure.
I would have loved to complain and warn everybody about the seller but after 6 years I couldn’t remember where I bought it. Dark thoughts of anger, resentment and bloody murder toward the company used to feature in my thinking but after 8 years I am glad to say that I’ve gotten a bit more philosophical about it.
Having learned the hard way regarding the importance of secateur hygiene through losing my previous trees, this one is showing no signs of disease which means the tree looks dense and healthy so at least the privacy bit is working for me. Hooray!!
Fidget, you were lucky, I bought a quite expensive Orchid from T & M described as scented, complained it wasnt scented, not interested. I find B & Q particularly unhelpful, I worte twice last year, once was a pack of dianthus, marked plant in full shade!! Cant remember what the other thing was now, it was a B & Q label, they werent interested, HOWEVER, a couple of years back I bought 2 Rhodendronds from ALDI,£5.99, each,one was meant to be mid pink the othr white, planted them in particular spots depending on the colour. When they came out, they were both white, I dont have a smart phone, so I wrote to them enclosing a picture of the plant with its label. I received a reply with apology BY RETURN OF POST saying they would be contacting their garden dept, and a full refund.then I was doing the front garden one day, a box arrived by courier, a mtr square, Hubby said, "What have you order now", nothing, but inside was another apology, a huge Rhodi, the like of which would cost you a bomb in a garden centre, AND a box of cholocates. In my last house I bought plug plants from T & M for window box meant to be white, when they came up some were purple.
Last week I went to Lidl, (bcause they had a couple of things I was interested in) thought the shopping smelt "fishy", hadnt bought any fish, the culprit was one bad spud in a bag, took them back, got and new bag and full refund. Have found plants from both to be amazing quality, my neighbour has apricots,peaches from Lidl, all lovelly a couple of years in his garden and a really ood crop, they were under a fiver each
So I mailed back and reminded them of the Consumer Rights and Sale of Goods Acts and asked them to confirm the plants are as described, and they've said:
"I have contacted the store today and have had a discussion with a member of staff there, they have stated the Black Satim Blackberry plants
you have purchased are not mature enough at the present time for to say whether it will be thorny or not. We have to go by the description on the plant unfortunately."
Posts
It was the only damson I could find on pixie root stock at the time and I wanted to try fan training it up a frame because it would both improve my privacy and would be a learning experience.
After 3 years of scrupulous pruning/training and a further 2 barren years of continued pruning/training but with killer hard frosts during blossom time I finally got my first fruit. Imagine my disappointment when after all that effort, instead of the expected damsons, I got the biggest, watery, tasteless plums Ive ever came across. They’re so bad that I don’t even bother picking them any more. I just leave them on the tree for the insects. They’re most certainly not damsons that’s for sure.
I would have loved to complain and warn everybody about the seller but after 6 years I couldn’t remember where I bought it. Dark thoughts of anger, resentment and bloody murder toward the company used to feature in my thinking but after 8 years I am glad to say that I’ve gotten a bit more philosophical about it.
Having learned the hard way regarding the importance of secateur hygiene through losing my previous trees, this one is showing no signs of disease which means the tree looks dense and healthy so at least the privacy bit is working for me. Hooray!!
So I mailed back and reminded them of the Consumer Rights and Sale of Goods Acts and asked them to confirm the plants are as described, and they've said:
"I have contacted the store today and have had a discussion with a member of staff there, they have stated the Black Satim Blackberry plants you have purchased are not mature enough at the present time for to say whether it will be thorny or not. We have to go by the description on the plant unfortunately."
So now they don't know what they are selling.