True North Seed Bank Order Issues

[CRIMmir]

Hello all,

Nice to meet everyone. I saw this post and just wanted to chime in with my True North (TN) experience (spoiler alert: the guys/gals up there went above and beyond).

There’s a lot of inconsistency in shipping experiences because of COVID. I have noticed that international packages coming through customs in Queens just fly through. Customs in Chicago, on the other hand, seems to have slowed down to a crawl. Not sure why there’s such a big difference, but there definitely is.

Anyway, I ordered a couple limited run Ace Seeds packs back in mid-November. Tracking info stated they were inbound into customs in Chicago, and then...... nothing. No tracking updates, nothing.

I reached out to TN about 21 days after my order was shipped, and they got back with me within a day, offering to send me replacements and substitutes of my choice (they ran out of the Orient Express x Nepali Jam seeds I had ordered). They shipped those replacements out on Dec 17th, the package entered customs on Dec 19th, and then..... nothing. Once again, they disappeared. As of today (Jan 27), the package still has not arrived.

But here’s the thing... my ORIGINAL order was delivered on Dec 30th. I never received tracking updates from USPS stating the package had been processed through customs. The package just showed up one day.

Here’s what impressed the hell out of me about TN: I emailed them as soon as the original order arrived and asked them what they wanted me to do when the replacement order arrived (assuming it would). They responded back that I didn’t need to do anything.

Long story short, TN is a company comprised of humans who have to deal with (and trust) other humans to get their products delivered. Like all other humans, they don’t get it done perfectly every time. But they stepped up and made it right and then went above and beyond by showing a tremendous generosity.

I hope this helps give the OP some peace of mind.
~ Mir

 

[Dan Dark]

Hello all,

Nice to meet everyone. I saw this post and just wanted to chime in with my True North (TN) experience (spoiler alert: the guys/gals up there went above and beyond).

There’s a lot of inconsistency in shipping experiences because of COVID. I have noticed that international packages coming through customs in Queens just fly through. Customs in Chicago, on the other hand, seems to have slowed down to a crawl. Not sure why there’s such a big difference, but there definitely is.

Anyway, I ordered a couple limited run Ace Seeds packs back in mid-November. Tracking info stated they were inbound into customs in Chicago, and then...... nothing. No tracking updates, nothing.

I reached out to TN about 21 days after my order was shipped, and they got back with me within a day, offering to send me replacements and substitutes of my choice (they ran out of the Orient Express x Nepali Jam seeds I had ordered). They shipped those replacements out on Dec 17th, the package entered customs on Dec 19th, and then..... nothing. Once again, they disappeared. As of today (Jan 27), the package still has not arrived.

But here’s the thing... my ORIGINAL order was delivered on Dec 30th. I never received tracking updates from USPS stating the package had been processed through customs. The package just showed up one day.

Here’s what impressed the hell out of me about TN: I emailed them as soon as the original order arrived and asked them what they wanted me to do when the replacement order arrived (assuming it would). They responded back that I didn’t need to do anything.

Long story short, TN is a company comprised of humans who have to deal with (and trust) other humans to get their products delivered. Like all other humans, they don’t get it done perfectly every time. But they stepped up and made it right and then went above and beyond by showing a tremendous generosity.

I hope this helps give the OP some peace of mind.
~ Mir

Maybe my order will arrive someday though I don't hold out much hope.

I had a VERY different experience with True North. Their rep's were vey unhelpful, even rude. I ordered the seeds in November, and it was supposed to include seeds replacing defective product I purchased in a similarly frustrating - so now I am ripped off twice!. The package was supposed to arrive Dec 24th - about a month or 5 weeks after order and payment. They so far have even refused to file a case with Canada Post! It's still not here and every day the online delivery changes by another day - it's clearly NOT coming, but they refuse to help at all.

They refused to even engage with me until I was able to get the 420 rep to email them and ask them to not be assholes - then O did get a nice email explaining; "we depend on the postal service - sorry", So much for discreet packaging and fast shipping!.

I have experienced this poor service from every seed vendor and have finally circled up the two who perform even if it takes a month to get seeds from California. I swear it would be faster for me to drive the 775 miles to their door wand pay cash!. It's ridiculous. I appreciate (and I am jealous) you had a good experience. Mine has not been and I will not ever order from them again - and I will preach to anyone who will listen about my own experience - it sucks - almost $300 for a hard lesson.

And, for the record, True North's problem has nothing to do with shipping and everything to do with shitty customer service.

Amazon and other retailers have ruined it for everyone because I order today and get it this afternoon or tomorrow. This versus Seed Banks where you order and pay, then wait and wait and wait often a month or more AFTER YOU PAID - maybe never seeing your product. Someday legalization will allow real retailers and people who know how to run a business to take over and put these horrible vendors out of business for good. In the meantime I've decided to make my own seeds - buying another tent, lights and fans is cheaper than getting ripped off every other purchase.