Marc Torppa / Marc Torpa / Mark Torppa / Mark Torpa @ the Growing Grounds - AVOID

[Ang3lfir3]

the more likely reason for Chris (jersanct) to have not replied to the thread are
0) this thread was started .... wait for it.... wait..... not 1, not even 2 but ..... over 3 months ago
1) it was merely a warning thread (he NEVER said he would return and comment)
2) Chris is a busy guy (he's a friend of me and Vic's)
3) He's spending most of his bonsai time with Marco so this may no longer be an issue for him (better more reliable sources to acquire trees)
4) He doesn't come to the nuthouse because he hasn't got time (did I mention he is running around like a chicken with his head cut off)

so in all fairness I know most people don't know and can't vouch for Chris.... but Vic and I do ... He's a good egg, if he never replied its simply because it was not necessary
(regardless of if he got it or not... the service was crap and that is corroborated by other accounts)

Thankfully most people are decent. In my opinion if this man who started this thread was ripped off he would be back here whining like and old woman, he probably does not have the balls to come back and admit he was wrong.

pretty sure Chris has the balls ( as you say ) .... whether he chooses to waste his time.... that's another story

 

[Smoke]

Quite an endorsement.

Think I'll call Marc and see if he has a nice pine to replace the one thats browning as we speak.

 

[Ang3lfir3]

Quite an endorsement.

Think I'll call Marc and see if he has a nice pine to replace the one thats browning as we speak.

lol you realize I was talking about the OP (the angry customer) right??? I don't know Marc from Adam ... and I don't buy from him ....

Al.... are you in need of glasses? or you just messin with me ? (ur too slick for me sometimes)

 

[goosetown]

God, this is such a shame. After reading this thread and the other there's zero chance I'd risk shelling out money on this site, but, as many have already ruminated, there are some truly beautiful trees there. I'm still thinking about a couple Shimps/San Joses and forcing myself not to email.

What's most sad is that this seems like the case of someone who's not out to be a thief or a scammer, but someone who's failing at e-commerce and generally terrible at dealing with people (at least in this business). All those testimonials can't be wrong.

I've bought almost all my trees/stock from nurseries and just a couple online with mixed results. Can anyone link me to a thread where really great online bonsai retailers are discussed? Or perhaps list a few to patronize and a few to avoid?

 

[Redwood Ryan]

Or perhaps list a few to patronize and a few to avoid?

Avoid Bonsaiboy.com

 

[goosetown]

Holy crap, didn't even know that site existed. I'm certainly no snob, but I think when you see a "Bonsai for under $30" link, there's trouble afoot

Avoid Bonsaiboy.com

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

... to replace the one thats browning as we speak.

BUMMER.

Goosetown...in no particular order, check out these online vendors...all are members here too:
Gregorybeachbonsai.com
Evergreengardenworks.com
Telfarms.com

 

[goosetown]

Will definitely check these out. What I just remembered is why I've had such a hard time ordering online - I've stuck with Junipers thus far and plan to continue working them more or less exclusively for the foreseeable future. And any reputable retailer won't ship them to CA because of the trade restriction. So it's an uphill climb in that regard.

That said, anyone work with an online retailer based in CA? Realize that might be impossibly narrowing the field, but just thought I'd check.

BUMMER.

Goosetown...in no particular order, check out these online vendors...all are members here too:
Gregorybeachbonsai.com
Evergreengardenworks.com
Telfarms.com

 

[edprocoat]

To Ang3flr3 and others who wrote about the other link, my bad I either did not see that or maybe its just the onset of Oldstimers disease. Certainly if there are others in the same boat than this is true. Those who have run their own business, especially those who are Chef, cook and bottle washer understand that even your best offering can be either unappreciated or just plain lied about depending on the person you are dealing with.

One example, as a young guy, third year in business, and old lady in Indiana called me through a recomendation by her neice to do her 3 story roof on her chicken restaurant. I estimated the job to this nice old lady who preached her christianity to me the whole time, which was to scrape the chipping roof tar off by hand and then coat the roof with the new rubberized asphalt coating. I had written on the contract clearly that the chips would remain where they would fall on the ground, and she said her mower would crush them up and they would be gone as in the past. I scraped the roof for six hours, removing what turned out to be six large garbage cans full of loose material. When done scraping she came out and said " you took off way too much material, I will never be able to mow that away " so, I went ahead and spent the rest of the day raking the chips into her garbage cans just because she was an old lady. I started at 6:00 am that morning and worked non stop till noon scraping, then raked till 8:00 pm and explained to the lady that I would now have to return tomorrow to do the coating which would take 3 hours with a high pressure airless sprayer. I drove 65 miles to do the job, she said let me give you 1/4 of the job so you have the money to go home and come back, so I wrote her out a reciept for $400.00 and wrote balance due $1200.00 upon completion. I returned at 6:00 am the next morning and had the job completed and all wrapped up by 11:00 as she was open for lunch at 1:00 and she arrived there at noon to get ready. At noon she drove up and said " it looks nice, come back at 3:00 when I slow down and see me then. At 3:00 I arrived with a receipt for the balance and she said " you sure make money fast, you only spent about 9 hours on the job " I told her yes, 9 hours doing the roof and 7 hours raking the chips free of charge and she said " I am sorry, but I just finished praying over this and God told me I have paid you enough for the job " I was shocked to say the least, to think that God would okay a deadbeat. I went down to the county seat to see about putting a mechanics lein on the property and they basically told me to stand in line as she is a known deadbeat and owes half the county.

Most times I tend to beleive the small business owner as they usually want to make an honest living and keep their customers happy, but there are theives in all walks of life.

ed

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Evergreen is in CA and Brent has great junipers Others should be able to direct you to more, should be plenty to choose from somewhat nearby... Yamaguchi, or Chikagu-en, or Muranaka bonsai come to mind.

 

[goosetown]

Yamaguchi is actually where I go most often. Thanks again!

Evergreen is in CA and Brent has great junipers Others should be able to direct you to more, should be plenty to choose from somewhat nearby... Yamaguchi, or Chikagu-en, or Muranaka bonsai come to mind.

 

[edprocoat]

Is there a website for evergreen. I found evergreen garden works, which only has a descriptive catalog, I could find only starter plants such as pine whips and such, a lot of species specific info and starter plants but not really anything like pre-bonsai.

ed

 

[Redwood Ryan]

Is there a website for evergreen. I found evergreen garden works, which only has a descriptive catalog, I could find only starter plants such as pine whips and such, a lot of species specific info and starter plants but not really anything like pre-bonsai.

ed

Yup. Click 'Plant Catalog' then go to 'Specimen Catalog.'

http://www.evergreengardenworks.com/specimen.htm

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Is there a website for evergreen. I found evergreen garden works, which only has a descriptive catalog, I could find only starter plants such as pine whips and such, a lot of species specific info and starter plants but not really anything like pre-bonsai.

ed

That's the same. I just email him with some idea of what I'm looking for, along with my budget. Bought every time and have never been disappointed. In fact, this big shimpaku he sold me arrived overnight, from northern CA to AL.

 

[edprocoat]

Wow, I don't know how I missed this ? What a fine group of trees, the elms are amazing, and the pines for $150.00 to $200.00 are unbeleivable ! i have saved the site and thanks for the link, I looked at the descriptive catalog and did not see the link to that page at all. I am going to have to save up some money, perhaps my daughter can go without chair tiebacks on her wedding day, yeah right...

Thanks again for this link, its like finding great material at a fair price, what are these guys from mars or decent business men? Most the stuff I find that is almost that nice is priced as if being sold to oil sheiks.

ed

 

[Smoke]

lol you realize I was talking about the OP (the angry customer) right??? I don't know Marc from Adam ... and I don't buy from him ....

Al.... are you in need of glasses? or you just messin with me ? (ur too slick for me sometimes)

I'm just screwin with ya. We heard from Chris and he "was" pissed off. We recently heard from Marc who made it sound like it takes two to tango. I just thought that since we didn't hear from Chris again, and you made him sound so wonderful that all must be OK.....or since you are a friend...is there more to the story we don't know?

This was probably one of those times when you get open mouth foot syndrome. I get that from time to time like in Dick Benbows thread and Dave DeGroot.


....and that concludes todays episode of .."and the bonsai turns"...

Mine turns brown but thats a different post. Gonna wait until its good and toasty.

 

[Ang3lfir3]

What's most sad is that this seems like the case of someone who's not out to be a thief or a scammer, but someone who's failing at e-commerce and generally terrible at dealing with people (at least in this business). All those testimonials can't be wrong.

I think you have probably hit the nail on the head .... e-commerce in this business IS hard.... there is no doubt about it... so chances are Marc isn't a bad guy (I'm pretty sure he's not) .... heck I'm sure he's probably better at dealing with people in person ... so I'll give him the benefit of the doubt.... but remain cautious until I know otherwise ...

you just can't have that much nice stuff and be a bad person ....

 

[Ang3lfir3]

I'm just screwin with ya. We heard from Chris and he "was" pissed off. We recently heard from Marc who made it sound like it takes two to tango. I just thought that since we didn't hear from Chris again, and you made him sound so wonderful that all must be OK.....or since you are a friend...is there more to the story we don't know?

honestly I have No idea how it turned out ... cautious would be my method moving forward ... Chris doesn't really frequent bnut as the early days drove him away (my understanding) ... so i am sure other places see him more often..... lets see if I can conjure up a response...

 

[Smoke]

you just can't have that much nice stuff and be a bad person ....

How long of a list do you want me to PM ya

 

[milehigh_7]

Chris doesn't really frequent bnut as the early days drove him away (my understanding)

Oh come on, it has always been just friendly banter