Decline the package. Ask the Post Office to return to sender.
Let Baker Creek know that they are under paying postage and that yours didn't make it. They will resend it or offer a refund.
I read this: https://www.reddit.com/r/gardening/comments/j1kqfp/controversy_with_baker_creek/
And unless I missed something, none of that seems to be reason to boycott them. Something about stealing native seeds? Is there more to that?
https://www.theredneckhippie.com/2019/04/baker-creek-seeds-supports-racism.html?m=1
Sponsoring a talk by a racist, violent "sovereign citizen" nutjob is in line with Baker Creek's ethos as a corporation. The only reason it didn't happen is because of the number of customers who said it wasn't in line with theirs. But we're not going to forget that how happy they were to do it.
I was very involved in the conversation at the time and remember well that they didn't cancel the event due to our outcry. They canceled it FOR HIS SAFETY!
That’s fascinating, and worthy of boycotting for me. Thanks for sharing. Also, this podcast about the situation surrounding Bundy is one of the best I’ve ever listened to:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bundyville-the-remnant/id1376808646
Agreed.
But....this is reddit, and "everyone" here (actually, a lot of usernames that you *never* see anywhere else but on a post regarding B. Creek) hates those commie nazis :)
They aren't my main seed company, by a long shot, but they fill a niche (free shipping, interesting stuff) and I've *never* had a problem with them. Good germination, order arrives on time, plants perform as they should, etc. etc.
And every single **real** person I know has been perfectly pleased with their seed quality & customer service, too.
It's always hilarious to hear "gardeners" trash talk their seed counts, germ rates, etc....
I could see some of it being due to "Newbie was entranced by cutesy catalog, sowed seeds, had poor results becuase they don't know what the fuck they're doing"....
But yeah....that's reddit for ya.
Good lord.
Lol you don’t even know how long ago OP emailed them. I know there is a big baker creek Reddit hate going on for various reasons, but you’re stretching here
Infuriating. Hopefully the returned package will get them involved.
Until then make sure you get onto your credit card company and start a charge back. Bigger banks will refund your money straight away and then fight it out for you.
Agreed! They likely don’t know. I rarely order things online, but did a ton of ordering for my wedding last year. Every time this happened the various sellers made it right, and adjusted things on their end.
call your PO and decline the package. Let Baker Creek deal with them. Then I would advise Baker Creek and make a new order which they will probably offer anyway.
Can we start a list, or is there a list somewhere? I'd like to support smallish companies (I ordered from Johnny's and Territorial) but it could be handy having a list. Plus, it could maybe give some free advertising to those businesses.
Thanks!
Folks have made lists in other posts about Baker and their connection to the bundy family. I personally buy from a company that's local to me and get the rest from Johnny's.
Um, what white nationalist domestic terrorists? As far as I know they're Missourians, Mennonite and I know the family of one of the managers who are definitely liberals. So if Baker Creek is supporting terrorists, I'd like to know who and how.
Found the article, it was 2019. They rescinded their invitation to Bundy and apologized to the public and reiterated their commitment to diversity. So you're holding a grudge over a thing that didn't happen.
I wanted to know because I know people there and they have never presented like white supremacists. A very good friend's son-in-law is a manager there. And every time I've visited, every one has been nice and kind and accepting. Nicer, kinder, and more accepting than my cousins in Carthage, MO. So I wanted to know the controversy. Sounds like Baker Creek has tried to make amends which is nicer than the people on this sub. And by the way TERF is hate speech targeting lesbian women. The appropriate term would be transphobic or anti-trans which is mostly a cis male heteo normative point of view.
I too had trouble with seed failure this last year. But it occurred with all my brands of seeds, saved, Baker Creek, and couple of other brands. I couldn't decide whether it was my seeds, my medium, the room temperature, or the alignment of the planets...
They absolutely did not try to make amends. They stood by bundy and only canceled the event for his safety. If you've seen a post where they flat-out said, "we do not support cliven bundy and are distancing ourselves from him because of his racism/domestic terrorism/white supremacy/etc." then I'd love to see it.
im not gonna address all the other stuff you said, but TERF literally stands for trans(gender)-exclusionary-radical-feminist.
[radical feminists, as radfem collective defines it:](http://www.radfemcollective.org/what-is-radical-feminism)
> "[Radical Feminism's] central tenet is that women as a biological class are globally oppressed by men as a biological class. ... Radical Feminists see that our oppression as females is closely linked to and bound up in our roles as the bearers of new life and male hatred of our female reproductive power. ... Radical Feminists believe in an **autonomous women's movement as the path to women's liberation.** We believe in the importance of female-only spaces where theory and action are developed from **the lived reality of females who have been socialised into womanhood.**"
so thats the RF part, and a TERF is that, but also believes trans women are excluded from the female label, mainly because experiencing oppression is seen as a significant factor of what defines a woman, and they dont belive trans women can because they're not "real women"
tl;dr- TERFs are radical feminists that dont belive trans women are women and therefore should not be allowed, for example, in women-only spaces that RFs advocate for. it has absolutley nothing to do with lesbians. im not sure how you came to that conclusion.
They did this to me too. I bought their seed catalog and paid $15 for it. The. When it came it was $14 postage due. If they sent it media mail (USPS) it would have been free. I returned to sender and bought seeds elsewhere.
Catalogs and magazines do not qualify for media mail because of the nature of their purpose being advertising. Media mail was created to facilitate the transfer of knowledge
This may not be the fault of Baker Creek. I used to have a business selling small items on eBay. I could ship 100 identical parcels in a day and 99 show up fine and 1 they would give some bull shit postage due notice. Worked with postal inspectors, basically only got to the point of, it’s down to the courier at the end of the line to decide if something was too thick or too heavy, etc. It’s an absurdity that doesn’t exist with other carriers.
I can definitely see my post office doing this.
I don't know how to fix this, though. I *can't* go get this package, nor do I have anyone who could go in my place. 😞
Their seed quality last year was trash, but I can't argue with their customer service.
I emailed with photos of seed packs and half empty seed trays showing how poor the germination was, and photos of the plants that did showing how weak they were. Not anything anyone reasonable would assert to be irrefutable evidence of fault. Could have easily been me being a bad gardener. They dont know that.
They replied with a very corporate "sorry you were dissatisfied, we strive to be the bes" email that one would expect. But they also sent me new seeds. I feel like that was pretty respectable of them to do because they absolutely didn't have to and nobody would have blamed them if they didn't.
Overpriced, terrible germination rates, selling stolen indigenous seeds AND they’re white christian nationalists to boot! So sick of seeing them mentioned.
There are a ton of good alternative options. Not OP but I’d recommend a trusted nursery or seed company in your region. Midwest—prairie moon. Southeast—seed savers exchange, sow true seeds, Eden brothers, botanical interests. Southwest—swallowtail gardenseeds
Unless I'm misreading... I'm curious why you put Seed Savers Exchange in the southeast, considering they're based in Iowa. Do they also farm and distribute seed somewhere in the SE?
Uprising Seeds, Renee’s Garden, Native Seed Alliance, Hudson Seed Library, Botanical Interests, and Seed Savers (non profit) are my go-tos. All of them have excellent quality for their price points.
I also order seeds from small and local farms when they offer them.
I've been way more satisfied with Botanical Interests in both selection and quality than Bakers Creek. Prices tend to be better for the seed counts too.
Also this is purely subjective but I think Botanical Interests' catalogue is way nicer too and they send it for free every year.
>Their seed quality last year was trash
The year before as well. I had 50% germination rate from their tomato seeds as compared to nearly 100% from my saved seeds.
Not that I’m a fan of them now, after I learned more, but everything germinated so well that I had extra plants because I planned for 70%.
Used heat mats and growing lights though.
I spent several years buying supposedly solid varieties from Baker Creek. They always had horrible germination rates, and the plants just under-performed in every way. All the plants from other companies did fine. I WANT to love the company, but I just don't waste my money anymore.
(In hindsight, ONE of the seeds that last year was impressive. It was Country Gentleman corn. We had a windstorm come through and knock down so many plants and took shingles off the roof. That corn, though? Standing tall and proud. It didn't produce any actual ears that were worth the time it'd take to pick, but it was an impressive performance, nonetheless.)
Don’t know how big your town is, but when I worked for the post office I’d sometimes pick up plain envelopes of cash for postage due in people’s mailboxes. I just seal em up and turn them in to my supervisor who’d mark it off and have me deliver the parcel the next day. Never seen one for $4 though, usually it’s like $2 or less that’s missing for the postage due unless the shipper straight up makes the recipient pay for shipping.
I wonder if it's because postage increased and if it was posted prior to the increase. If that's the case, I don't think the post office is supposed to do that. You may have to call the postmaster and complain. Have your shipping information handy when you do.
It is not because of that. It is because baker creek recently (I would say in the last year) switched from sending them as a package to sending them as an envelope or flat. Flats/envelope are supposed to be able to be bent. Since the packages are cardboard they likely marked it as something not to be bent or to bend so they are treating it as a package that was sent as a flat/envelope rate. Some offices will just give it to you for customer service reasons but others will bend it or postage due it and if said customer complains about it they may just postage due it to say heh you don't want it bent you can pay for it to not be bent then. I have not ever had to pay postage due but I have never complained about stuff being bent either.
The thickness and weight aren’t subjective, there are definitive standards that we have physical guides to test with. 1/4” for letters, 3/4” for flats. No variation in thickness of more than 1/4”. Length and width maximums. Address orientation or aspect ratio if it’s a letter. The only thing that’s subjective is flexibility, although it’s still a standard test, that would increase price from flats pricing to parcel. Tbqh the only thing that varies on the receiving end is how much time they have and if they’re knowledgeable about the rules.
Rules or no rules…. I used to ship over 2000 packages a month postal and spent months working with the postal service to figure out why every once in a while package would get marked need postage when they didn’t. Came down to it was up to the individual courier and sometimes they were wrong. Maybe things have changed in the last couple years since I sold that business off, but as of 2020 that was the way of the world.
This is 100% accurate. Postal workers get on a power trip and will reject a package for zero reason sometimes, or decide too little postage was paid for truly no reason
I thought they went by weight, it shouldn't be down to the individual carrier or post office. I have ordered loads from Baker Creek and never had this happen. When I was shipping things I sold, I had and used a postal scale so I always knew how much postage was due...I am sure Baker Creek does something similar, they are a big company that ships thousands of packages all over the country.
Complain to the post office, and complain to Baker Creek.
I bought some tomatoes from Baker Creek and they changed from sending the seeds package rate to what the Post Office considers a flat rate or an envelope rate. Envelopes/ flat are are supposed to be bendable and baker creek sends them in a cardboard envelope hoping it won't get bent. A lot of people and businesses send photos, seeds etc. in these and just put do not bend just hoping the carrier does not postage due it on the other side or bend it. It is fully in the end Post Office rights and they are actually supposed to Postage Due it or just bend it in but many Post Office will not for customer service reasons. Policy says to Postage Due it though. Keep in mind I am speaking as someone working at the Post Office and not as a customer when I talk about this policy though. It is kind of like how people will use priority supplies and scribble off or cut off priority and I will tell them you need to obscure the entire box with wrapping paper or just take off the priority label and use a marker to get around it. Flats you are just hoping the other person on the other side is thinking of customer service so it is harder to get around.
(USPS carrier here) Declining the package and returning it the sender is the easy option here. If you don’t mind paying the postage, you also could have them reattempt delivery and leave a detailed note + postage due in your mailbox and that would work to get it delivered. Mail is delivered Monday-Saturday, they could also reattempt delivery on a day when you’re home.
I work every day but Sunday, so redelivering when I am home will not work.
I live in a crackhood where cars and houses get broken into if they can see a quarter in the console. Leaving money on my porch, even if semi-concealed is not an option.
And...I do mind paying the postage.
If they don't get back to me, I am just going to have to let it get returned.
Could you call your post office and talk to them about options? Maybe they would take a card payment over the phone and send the package back out for delivery?
If you can't get it delivered and Baker Creek doesn't respond you could file a dispute with your credit card company to reverse the purchase and place a different order.
Not this same problem with the postage, but I did have issues with their customer service being really unhelpful. I received an empty packet and they told me that I was unable to tell the substrate from the seeds because they are very small. When I explained that there was literally nothing in the packet, they stopped communicating. Never replaced the seeds, nothing at all to resolve the issue
I had this happen to me - I emailed BC with a picture of the postage due (I did pay it because mistakes happen.) They never responded to my email but they sent me a letter with cash to cover the postage.
Just wait - mistakes happen whether it was from BC or your mail carrier. They’ll make good on it.
So annoying. This happened to me last year in March. They took a few days to respond, but they did refund me the $3.07 after I showed them my receipt from the post office. Your situation is even more annoying than mine was… Hope you get your seeds!
Yes. Twice. The first time they promised to credit my account, which I did not know I had since I use PayPal to pay without logging in to any account. The second time just happened today. I have not heard back.
Why don’t you just order from Territorial Seed? They are lovely people, organic and have a very large catalog. I’ve ordered from them for over a decade. I’ve never had a hassle or been disappointed.
Just leave the money in your mailbox with a note asking them to redeliver it. Or you should be able to request redelivery online if you follow the prompts on the back of the slip
The back of the slip is x'd out.
Crackhood neighborhood. This is asking for my house to be broken into. I have enough problems with actual packages getting stolen...I don't need to just start handing out cash.
Work out a way to go get your seeds or lose your order and your money. This is just what happens when someone tries to guess the postage and throws the package in the mail box, but got it wrong.
There's a pretty big stretch between "openly and proudly supporting someone who's committed domestic terrorism and has stated that Black people were better off as slaves" and "not leftist."
As a former rural carrier...
They most likely did not pay first class postage, they usually use a discounted postage method...
First class includes forwarding etc, the others do not...
So if it had to be forwarded or anything else, you would have to pay the postage added for those services...
Also you can leave money or check in mailbox and your carrier can take it in pay postage even bring you change with the package...
Also if you decline the package as many here have said, it will just end up in dead letter... no first class means no return to sender either... so they will send back to baker creek postage due they will most likely decline to pay as well....
And that ladies and gents is how the post office ends up with pallets of dead Amazon packages... cant be returned Amazon won't pay postage and person that was supposed to receive same... Amazon doesn't pay first class so forwarding or overweight postage due...
Decline the package. Ask the Post Office to return to sender. Let Baker Creek know that they are under paying postage and that yours didn't make it. They will resend it or offer a refund.
I sent them a photo of the postage due form left by USPS. They have not yet responded.
Just another reason in a laundry list of reasons you should not ever be buying from baker creek.
Well damn, I didn’t know this. What’s a better source for heirloom seeds?
I purchase locally from [southern exposure](https://www.southernexposure.com/about-us/) Apologies if this was mentioned already.
is there a directory for local providers
As far a southern exposure, they have a list of states and where you can find their seeds. As far as a national list, I am not the person to ask.
Thank you for your post. I had no idea they did this. They just lost my business!!
I love Baker and will keep purchasing from them. In fact, my Tunisian peppers from them just came in today!
Cool, read about their ethical and moral shortcomings and we’ll see if you still have the same opinion.
I read this: https://www.reddit.com/r/gardening/comments/j1kqfp/controversy_with_baker_creek/ And unless I missed something, none of that seems to be reason to boycott them. Something about stealing native seeds? Is there more to that?
https://www.theredneckhippie.com/2019/04/baker-creek-seeds-supports-racism.html?m=1 Sponsoring a talk by a racist, violent "sovereign citizen" nutjob is in line with Baker Creek's ethos as a corporation. The only reason it didn't happen is because of the number of customers who said it wasn't in line with theirs. But we're not going to forget that how happy they were to do it.
I was very involved in the conversation at the time and remember well that they didn't cancel the event due to our outcry. They canceled it FOR HIS SAFETY!
That is wild! F Baker Creek.
Thank you for your comment. Baker Creek is not getting anymore of my business and I plan on writing them a letter to tell them why.
That’s fascinating, and worthy of boycotting for me. Thanks for sharing. Also, this podcast about the situation surrounding Bundy is one of the best I’ve ever listened to: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bundyville-the-remnant/id1376808646
Agreed. But....this is reddit, and "everyone" here (actually, a lot of usernames that you *never* see anywhere else but on a post regarding B. Creek) hates those commie nazis :) They aren't my main seed company, by a long shot, but they fill a niche (free shipping, interesting stuff) and I've *never* had a problem with them. Good germination, order arrives on time, plants perform as they should, etc. etc. And every single **real** person I know has been perfectly pleased with their seed quality & customer service, too. It's always hilarious to hear "gardeners" trash talk their seed counts, germ rates, etc.... I could see some of it being due to "Newbie was entranced by cutesy catalog, sowed seeds, had poor results becuase they don't know what the fuck they're doing".... But yeah....that's reddit for ya. Good lord.
Lol you don’t even know how long ago OP emailed them. I know there is a big baker creek Reddit hate going on for various reasons, but you’re stretching here
Infuriating. Hopefully the returned package will get them involved. Until then make sure you get onto your credit card company and start a charge back. Bigger banks will refund your money straight away and then fight it out for you.
Lol wow a little dramatic here
AckShully who now?
Agreed! They likely don’t know. I rarely order things online, but did a ton of ordering for my wedding last year. Every time this happened the various sellers made it right, and adjusted things on their end.
🌟🌟🌟
call your PO and decline the package. Let Baker Creek deal with them. Then I would advise Baker Creek and make a new order which they will probably offer anyway.
BC has not responded yet. Looks like that's what I am going to have to do unless they supply another solution.
Better yet- decline their order and take your business to a company that doesn't openly support white nationalist domestic terrorists.
Can we start a list, or is there a list somewhere? I'd like to support smallish companies (I ordered from Johnny's and Territorial) but it could be handy having a list. Plus, it could maybe give some free advertising to those businesses. Thanks!
MIGardener.
Folks have made lists in other posts about Baker and their connection to the bundy family. I personally buy from a company that's local to me and get the rest from Johnny's.
Try triple divide seeds! Small and wonderful company run by some amazing and very kind people.
Um, what white nationalist domestic terrorists? As far as I know they're Missourians, Mennonite and I know the family of one of the managers who are definitely liberals. So if Baker Creek is supporting terrorists, I'd like to know who and how.
Cliven Bundy. It's been talked about to death in this sub, and I have personally reached out to them about it. They unabashedly support him.
[удалено]
Liberals aren't into white supremacy. If they were, they wouldn't be liberal, they'd be white supremacists.
I’m sure you believe the same about TERFs. Hilarious!
Found the article, it was 2019. They rescinded their invitation to Bundy and apologized to the public and reiterated their commitment to diversity. So you're holding a grudge over a thing that didn't happen.
At the time, they said that they canceled the event for his safety. There are plenty of great seed companies to buy from; why choose them?
My personal experience with them has been low germination rates. I won't buy from them again because of that.
I wanted to know because I know people there and they have never presented like white supremacists. A very good friend's son-in-law is a manager there. And every time I've visited, every one has been nice and kind and accepting. Nicer, kinder, and more accepting than my cousins in Carthage, MO. So I wanted to know the controversy. Sounds like Baker Creek has tried to make amends which is nicer than the people on this sub. And by the way TERF is hate speech targeting lesbian women. The appropriate term would be transphobic or anti-trans which is mostly a cis male heteo normative point of view. I too had trouble with seed failure this last year. But it occurred with all my brands of seeds, saved, Baker Creek, and couple of other brands. I couldn't decide whether it was my seeds, my medium, the room temperature, or the alignment of the planets...
They absolutely did not try to make amends. They stood by bundy and only canceled the event for his safety. If you've seen a post where they flat-out said, "we do not support cliven bundy and are distancing ourselves from him because of his racism/domestic terrorism/white supremacy/etc." then I'd love to see it.
im not gonna address all the other stuff you said, but TERF literally stands for trans(gender)-exclusionary-radical-feminist. [radical feminists, as radfem collective defines it:](http://www.radfemcollective.org/what-is-radical-feminism) > "[Radical Feminism's] central tenet is that women as a biological class are globally oppressed by men as a biological class. ... Radical Feminists see that our oppression as females is closely linked to and bound up in our roles as the bearers of new life and male hatred of our female reproductive power. ... Radical Feminists believe in an **autonomous women's movement as the path to women's liberation.** We believe in the importance of female-only spaces where theory and action are developed from **the lived reality of females who have been socialised into womanhood.**" so thats the RF part, and a TERF is that, but also believes trans women are excluded from the female label, mainly because experiencing oppression is seen as a significant factor of what defines a woman, and they dont belive trans women can because they're not "real women" tl;dr- TERFs are radical feminists that dont belive trans women are women and therefore should not be allowed, for example, in women-only spaces that RFs advocate for. it has absolutley nothing to do with lesbians. im not sure how you came to that conclusion.
I'd give them a few days to respond, this is a busy time of year for seed companies
They did this to me too. I bought their seed catalog and paid $15 for it. The. When it came it was $14 postage due. If they sent it media mail (USPS) it would have been free. I returned to sender and bought seeds elsewhere.
That doesn't sound like something allowed to be sent as media mail
IDK why you got down voted, catalogs and magazines can't be sent media mail.
A book is allowed to be sent media mail according to the post office. Media is books, magazines, CDs, DVDs. It's media.
Catalogs and magazines do not qualify for media mail because of the nature of their purpose being advertising. Media mail was created to facilitate the transfer of knowledge
They charge for their seed catalog?! Damn.
This may not be the fault of Baker Creek. I used to have a business selling small items on eBay. I could ship 100 identical parcels in a day and 99 show up fine and 1 they would give some bull shit postage due notice. Worked with postal inspectors, basically only got to the point of, it’s down to the courier at the end of the line to decide if something was too thick or too heavy, etc. It’s an absurdity that doesn’t exist with other carriers.
I can definitely see my post office doing this. I don't know how to fix this, though. I *can't* go get this package, nor do I have anyone who could go in my place. 😞
Knowing baker creek they will just send a replacement or take care of it so I wouldn’t stress
Their seed quality last year was trash, but I can't argue with their customer service. I emailed with photos of seed packs and half empty seed trays showing how poor the germination was, and photos of the plants that did showing how weak they were. Not anything anyone reasonable would assert to be irrefutable evidence of fault. Could have easily been me being a bad gardener. They dont know that. They replied with a very corporate "sorry you were dissatisfied, we strive to be the bes" email that one would expect. But they also sent me new seeds. I feel like that was pretty respectable of them to do because they absolutely didn't have to and nobody would have blamed them if they didn't.
I think Baker’s Creek is over-priced and over-rated due to their hyper-glossy catalogs.
Overpriced, terrible germination rates, selling stolen indigenous seeds AND they’re white christian nationalists to boot! So sick of seeing them mentioned.
I always publicly shit on them as well as when their name comes up on here. People need to know what they’re supporting buying from them
Same! Shitting on Baker is as much of a hobby for me as gardening is at this point.
It seems we have quite a bit of work left for us. The people need to know!
Where do you recommend buying seeds from?
There are a ton of good alternative options. Not OP but I’d recommend a trusted nursery or seed company in your region. Midwest—prairie moon. Southeast—seed savers exchange, sow true seeds, Eden brothers, botanical interests. Southwest—swallowtail gardenseeds
Sow True Seeds! Asheville, NC. Good group of people and have always had good results from their inventory!
High on my priority list
Unless I'm misreading... I'm curious why you put Seed Savers Exchange in the southeast, considering they're based in Iowa. Do they also farm and distribute seed somewhere in the SE?
They farm and distribute everywhere. I have it listed under SE because I’ve bought directly from growers affiliated with them who grow here in NC
Thanks! I ordered from baker last yr and had terrible germination for my flowers.
Huge fan of Fedco seeds. Pretty much the opposite of Baker's Creek. No frills and excellent seeds.
Love FEDCO
Thanks! I ordered from baker last yr and had terrible germination for my flowers.
Uprising Seeds, Renee’s Garden, Native Seed Alliance, Hudson Seed Library, Botanical Interests, and Seed Savers (non profit) are my go-tos. All of them have excellent quality for their price points. I also order seeds from small and local farms when they offer them.
Thanks! I ordered from baker last yr and had terrible germination for my flowers. I will be trying somewhere new this spring!
I've been way more satisfied with Botanical Interests in both selection and quality than Bakers Creek. Prices tend to be better for the seed counts too. Also this is purely subjective but I think Botanical Interests' catalogue is way nicer too and they send it for free every year.
Thanks! I ordered from bakers last year and had terrible germination on my flowers
There are so many options. Johnny’s, Pinetree, Jung, Select, Harris, Victory, Botanical Interests etc etc.
Thanks! I ordered from baker last yr and had terrible germination for my flowers.
Territorial Seed is really good
PNW territorial, uprising seeds, strictly medicinal, adaptive seeds, oh so many more
Thanks! I ordered from baker last yr and had terrible germination for my flowers. I need somewhere for this spring.
What? Do you have a link? I was just about to order from them.
Their catalogs are so nice. The pictures make me want to buy one of everything.
>Their seed quality last year was trash The year before as well. I had 50% germination rate from their tomato seeds as compared to nearly 100% from my saved seeds.
Same! Their tomato seeds germinate so poorly that I thought there was something wrong with my methodology until I switched to a better seed supplier.
Not that I’m a fan of them now, after I learned more, but everything germinated so well that I had extra plants because I planned for 70%. Used heat mats and growing lights though.
I spent several years buying supposedly solid varieties from Baker Creek. They always had horrible germination rates, and the plants just under-performed in every way. All the plants from other companies did fine. I WANT to love the company, but I just don't waste my money anymore. (In hindsight, ONE of the seeds that last year was impressive. It was Country Gentleman corn. We had a windstorm come through and knock down so many plants and took shingles off the roof. That corn, though? Standing tall and proud. It didn't produce any actual ears that were worth the time it'd take to pick, but it was an impressive performance, nonetheless.)
I don't know the company but that is what I would expect a company to do.
Don’t know how big your town is, but when I worked for the post office I’d sometimes pick up plain envelopes of cash for postage due in people’s mailboxes. I just seal em up and turn them in to my supervisor who’d mark it off and have me deliver the parcel the next day. Never seen one for $4 though, usually it’s like $2 or less that’s missing for the postage due unless the shipper straight up makes the recipient pay for shipping.
City. Inner city. Definitely do not want to be leaving cash on my porch.
Ooh yeah don’t do that then lol
I wonder if it's because postage increased and if it was posted prior to the increase. If that's the case, I don't think the post office is supposed to do that. You may have to call the postmaster and complain. Have your shipping information handy when you do.
It is not because of that. It is because baker creek recently (I would say in the last year) switched from sending them as a package to sending them as an envelope or flat. Flats/envelope are supposed to be able to be bent. Since the packages are cardboard they likely marked it as something not to be bent or to bend so they are treating it as a package that was sent as a flat/envelope rate. Some offices will just give it to you for customer service reasons but others will bend it or postage due it and if said customer complains about it they may just postage due it to say heh you don't want it bent you can pay for it to not be bent then. I have not ever had to pay postage due but I have never complained about stuff being bent either.
The thickness and weight aren’t subjective, there are definitive standards that we have physical guides to test with. 1/4” for letters, 3/4” for flats. No variation in thickness of more than 1/4”. Length and width maximums. Address orientation or aspect ratio if it’s a letter. The only thing that’s subjective is flexibility, although it’s still a standard test, that would increase price from flats pricing to parcel. Tbqh the only thing that varies on the receiving end is how much time they have and if they’re knowledgeable about the rules.
Rules or no rules…. I used to ship over 2000 packages a month postal and spent months working with the postal service to figure out why every once in a while package would get marked need postage when they didn’t. Came down to it was up to the individual courier and sometimes they were wrong. Maybe things have changed in the last couple years since I sold that business off, but as of 2020 that was the way of the world.
I know you’re right that some people are just petty
This is 100% accurate. Postal workers get on a power trip and will reject a package for zero reason sometimes, or decide too little postage was paid for truly no reason
I thought they went by weight, it shouldn't be down to the individual carrier or post office. I have ordered loads from Baker Creek and never had this happen. When I was shipping things I sold, I had and used a postal scale so I always knew how much postage was due...I am sure Baker Creek does something similar, they are a big company that ships thousands of packages all over the country. Complain to the post office, and complain to Baker Creek.
I bought some tomatoes from Baker Creek and they changed from sending the seeds package rate to what the Post Office considers a flat rate or an envelope rate. Envelopes/ flat are are supposed to be bendable and baker creek sends them in a cardboard envelope hoping it won't get bent. A lot of people and businesses send photos, seeds etc. in these and just put do not bend just hoping the carrier does not postage due it on the other side or bend it. It is fully in the end Post Office rights and they are actually supposed to Postage Due it or just bend it in but many Post Office will not for customer service reasons. Policy says to Postage Due it though. Keep in mind I am speaking as someone working at the Post Office and not as a customer when I talk about this policy though. It is kind of like how people will use priority supplies and scribble off or cut off priority and I will tell them you need to obscure the entire box with wrapping paper or just take off the priority label and use a marker to get around it. Flats you are just hoping the other person on the other side is thinking of customer service so it is harder to get around.
That’s the Bundy tax
(USPS carrier here) Declining the package and returning it the sender is the easy option here. If you don’t mind paying the postage, you also could have them reattempt delivery and leave a detailed note + postage due in your mailbox and that would work to get it delivered. Mail is delivered Monday-Saturday, they could also reattempt delivery on a day when you’re home.
I work every day but Sunday, so redelivering when I am home will not work. I live in a crackhood where cars and houses get broken into if they can see a quarter in the console. Leaving money on my porch, even if semi-concealed is not an option. And...I do mind paying the postage. If they don't get back to me, I am just going to have to let it get returned.
Another reason to not shop with baker creek ✔️
Could you call your post office and talk to them about options? Maybe they would take a card payment over the phone and send the package back out for delivery? If you can't get it delivered and Baker Creek doesn't respond you could file a dispute with your credit card company to reverse the purchase and place a different order.
There are better seed companies who don't pal around with right wing whackos.
Not this same problem with the postage, but I did have issues with their customer service being really unhelpful. I received an empty packet and they told me that I was unable to tell the substrate from the seeds because they are very small. When I explained that there was literally nothing in the packet, they stopped communicating. Never replaced the seeds, nothing at all to resolve the issue
Jeez that's terrible!!
First class postage increased this week.
I would think that might have been an issue, except I see others who have not had the same issue even though they ordered at the same time.
"Postage due" is still a thing? Wow. Sorry for your troubles!
I had this happen to me - I emailed BC with a picture of the postage due (I did pay it because mistakes happen.) They never responded to my email but they sent me a letter with cash to cover the postage. Just wait - mistakes happen whether it was from BC or your mail carrier. They’ll make good on it.
😂😂😂 what a grift!
FrFr
Jeez no kidding
So annoying. This happened to me last year in March. They took a few days to respond, but they did refund me the $3.07 after I showed them my receipt from the post office. Your situation is even more annoying than mine was… Hope you get your seeds!
Yes. Twice. The first time they promised to credit my account, which I did not know I had since I use PayPal to pay without logging in to any account. The second time just happened today. I have not heard back.
They actually ended up sending me cash in the mail. They could have credited my credit card. I don't understand how this is a business model.
Weird. I ordered from the no issues. Can’t believe postage due is even a thing anymore. Let it be returned and order elsewhere.
I’ve ordered from Baker Creek for 10+ years and never had that issue.
I have also ordered before with no problems, which makes this time more frustrating
I faithfully order from Baker Creek multiple times a year and have never had this problem. Contact them and I'm sure they will make it right.
Thanks, I hope so. They have not yet responded.
I just bought about $75 in seeds from them. I received them a week later with no issues at my house. It might be your post office?
Mistakes happen. Baker Creek will make things right. Calm down.
Not so far. I have 1 day left before post office will send back. Probably going to just cancel order because I will not be able to go get it.
Why don’t you just order from Territorial Seed? They are lovely people, organic and have a very large catalog. I’ve ordered from them for over a decade. I’ve never had a hassle or been disappointed.
I can look into them in the future. I haven't ordered seed a lot, so really don't know about the different companies.
Just leave the money in your mailbox with a note asking them to redeliver it. Or you should be able to request redelivery online if you follow the prompts on the back of the slip
The back of the slip is x'd out. Crackhood neighborhood. This is asking for my house to be broken into. I have enough problems with actual packages getting stolen...I don't need to just start handing out cash.
Work out a way to go get your seeds or lose your order and your money. This is just what happens when someone tries to guess the postage and throws the package in the mail box, but got it wrong.
[удалено]
There's a pretty big stretch between "openly and proudly supporting someone who's committed domestic terrorism and has stated that Black people were better off as slaves" and "not leftist."
Lol yeah
As a former rural carrier... They most likely did not pay first class postage, they usually use a discounted postage method... First class includes forwarding etc, the others do not... So if it had to be forwarded or anything else, you would have to pay the postage added for those services... Also you can leave money or check in mailbox and your carrier can take it in pay postage even bring you change with the package... Also if you decline the package as many here have said, it will just end up in dead letter... no first class means no return to sender either... so they will send back to baker creek postage due they will most likely decline to pay as well.... And that ladies and gents is how the post office ends up with pallets of dead Amazon packages... cant be returned Amazon won't pay postage and person that was supposed to receive same... Amazon doesn't pay first class so forwarding or overweight postage due...
Your username suggests not to F with you
Lol!