Telperion Farm

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Kevster

Shohin
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Delaware
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7A
So I've emailed Chris a few times about buying a Trident from him. Just curious how fast from the initial email sent to him till the time you get a tree sent is.
I ask because my first email to him will be one month ago tomorrow. And he has sent a few pictures and I found 2 I liked but asked if he could send me a couple more pictures of the 2 trees I liked with the tape measure in the photo. It's been a week since he said he would. I don't want to bug him to the point that he doesn't want to work with me but this is how the whole transaction has been so far. I have to keep emailing reminders to him.
Is a $250-$300 tree not worth his time? This is how I feel right now.

Should I keep bugging him? I know he has a day job. But if you're busy inform your customer instead of leaving them hanging.
 
Online orders for most bonsai sellers is a pain in the butt (I've talked to a few about their experiences, not Chris, though). They won't tell you that, but it's the truth. It can take time, sometimes a lot of time, because it is a lot of trouble to repeatedly email special pics, settle on a tree, get the check (which may, or may not, clear), pack the tree, send the tree, etc.

It's a time consuming process, especially when you have a nursery to run day-to-day.

I'm not defending poor service (and it's not clear if that's what's happening here -- and from the sterling reputation the nursery has, I tend to doubt it). You've probably caught them in a busy cycle, as it is nearing the height of the growing season...

Be patient. I doubt very much he wants a disgruntled customer.

FWIW, I waited a year to get a tree from one online vendor, as he required a substantial upfront payment for a tree which I had to pay off gradually. He had been burned by an online buyer who paid with a check that bounced after the tree had been sent.
 
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I just wish they would fix their pictures are their site so you could see the trees.
 
I agree with everything Rock Said. I've heard lots of good things about Telperion Farm. I'm sure any buisness like this would much rather have you come by to look through and pick out a tree. At the same time I don't think it's a big deal if you email him again. Even if you bug him a little, your more likely to get your tree faster.
 
Thanks rockm! That makes me feel much better. Being my first online attempt to purchase a tree I didn't know how long things would take. He seems like a great guy and when I do get his emails he is very helpful.

I will continue to be patient.
 
I've bought a tree from them in the past and IMHO both Chris and his wife Lisa are a couple of the "good ones". He's a pretty busy guy and from my experience has no problem with a gentle reminder.
 
I hope this isn't too rude to give posting advice but...
Generally speaking I think it's best if you have a concern with someone to go directly to the person themselves.... It's like if you have an issue with one of your coworkers it's a better practice to talk directly with your coworker rather than send an email to his or her boss or send an email to the whole company.
I understand your frustration but when I read your post I felt like you were sending a complaint about a coworker in an email addressed to the entire company!
I bought two trees from Chris earlier this year and I'm very happy with both. I just hope I can get the JWP to thrive in my climate. Now that I look back on it there may have been a week or so lag here and there in the interactions but it seemed fine to me.

With respect to keeping an updated photo inventory that is a very very hard job in this business. Trees are changing every few months and some get sold and new ones come etc. It would take many hours to do it just once and then it would be out of date in a couple months. Those couple months fly by like that! So keeping it up to date would almost be a full time job. I can understand why we don't see too many individual trees posted from any large nurseries.
(I agree with the gentle reminder strategy though :))
Ian
 
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rockm said:
Online orders for most bonsai sellers is a pain in the butt (I've talked to a few about their experiences, not Chris, though). They won't tell you that, but it's the truth. It can take time, sometimes a lot of time, because it is a lot of trouble to repeatedly email special pics, settle on a tree, get the check (which may, or may not, clear), pack the tree, send the tree, etc..
Click to expand...

Not if it's the bulk of your business and what you're set up for ;-)

Zach
 
Kevster, last I heard Chris was preparing for a (more than one?) show ('s'?), so that may have caused the delay. As for the tree being worth his time, I can assure you it is. The world's full of all sorts of people. Chris seemed to like talking on the phone more than through email (which may or may not be the case), whereas I'm terrible on the phone but more communicative through email. lol

For what it's worth, I've had a tree Chris sold me for almost a month now and he just now got around to placing the payment for it. Not saying he takes forever to do stuff, I'm just saying it's clear that he's been very busy as of late. :)

But yes, Rockm summed it all up, and well. Have no fear, Chris is a good guy.
 
Please be patient, and try to be understanding. A gentle reminder or two is usually helpful. This is our busiest time of the year, not only for customer orders, but also for nursery tasks. I know I work seven days a week right now and I still can't keep up. So, when a customer makes a special request, it means something else doesn't get done. I'm usually very good at keeping up with email responses, but this time of the year, I can get a week or two behind when I know that I am going to have to spend a half hour or more searching the nursery, making photos, etc.

Taking extra photos sounds easy, but it means locating the tree, waiting for the light to be right, hoping the wind isn't too strong, and very often moving the tree to where the light and background ARE right. Then into the house, downloading the shot, editing it, and finally composing the email. It is a lot of work, and there is no guarantee that it will result in a sale. It's probably just the luck of the run, but in the last couple of weeks I have had maybe a half dozen special requests like this that did not result in a sale. This gets very frustrating very quickly. Sometimes, I just apologetically tell customers that they will just have to be patient and wait until I can get the trees up on the Specimen Catalog, so I only have to do it ONCE! Even at that, it is a lot of work keeping the catalog updated. It's no wonder there are so few good specimen catalogs on the internet. I have been trying to work this out for about fifteen years now, and just in the last year have I even got close to what I want to do with it.

So, take a deep breath, drop another polite email, and try to understand what premium service you are getting when the response comes.

Brent
EvergreenGardenworks.com
 
I can add my own experience as a "seller" as well. A year ago a fellow club member lost most of his collection and asked me if I had anything I was willing to sell. I traded a few emails describing a few trees that he seemed very interested in. So, I spent time photographing my trees, editing the pictures, etc. (everything that Brent mentioned), which took a few of hours out of my day. In the end, he changed his mind, which he of course had every right to do, but it was very frustrating for me.

So, if I felt this way after responding to only one request, I can only imagine how magnified it gets for internet sellers.
 
@Kevster ... its good that you are excited .... don't worry ... remember bonsai is about patience :p ....

for those wondering why they can't see an up to date picture of all the trees at Telperion... see https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B_g...I5NC00NDhiLWEyMWItNzQyMThkZWZhNTc3/edit?pli=1 for some photos... the photos cover less than 20% of the size of the nursery
 
berobinson82 said:
Married at the Garden. :) Talking about Eric and Vic
Click to expand...

Pretty damn smart. One way to be married and enjoy a hobby and spend nearly anything you want.


.......you sly dog......
 
Nice wedding photo! I wish we had just one nursery in Texas like that. That's amazing. I would never be able to get my wife to travel to Oregan or California to look at bonsai nurserys
 
@berobinson82 @smoke ... its also a way to get one of the best wedding venues in the area for a minor cost (we had to help prepare the landscaping)

that and its one of our most favorite places on earth :p

(interesting no one noticed I was wearing a kilt in that picture :p )
 
@Ang3 & Vic, what a wholesome wedding memory and a fine decent way you two met and started down the road to your future together. I would never have noticed the kilt either LOL, at least its an Irish Tartan or I would have too have berated you, just on general purposes.

ed
 
edprocoat said:
@Ang3 & Vic, what a wholesome wedding memory and a fine decent way you two met and started down the road to your future together. I would never have noticed the kilt either LOL, at least its an Irish Tartan or I would have too have berated you, just on general purposes.

ed
Click to expand...

thank you!! and good eye on the Irish tartan (country Wexford) ... in proper fashion I had a pint of ale in my hand the entire time (except when I of course was holding something more precious)
 
Well, I guess I'd better weigh in here. Kevster's critique is fair. Between his particular request and the demands of other requirements, I haven't been able to get those pictures for him. Then a couple of extra events (open house, workshop at the farm, etc) came along, and.... Not complaining. It's good to be busy. So, Kevster, don't quit bugging me. Pictures will come. My apologies for not getting them sooner.

I still have a day job, so if something doesn't get done one weekend, it might be until the next weekend before I can get to it And, in this online, email kind of business, it's not unusual to wait a week or more for a customer to respond to pictures or info that we send.

About the website: Some time ago, I chose to work with a professional website developer, rather than trying to maintain the website by myself. This was the result of website servers chosing to no longer support the software I was using. So, now the website server has chosen to no longer support the software that the professional was using. And after many efforts to resolve that issue, we are switching servers.

I feel very lucky and grateful to have customers who care enough to complain.
Thanks,
Chris
 
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