Folks,

This thread is so enjoyable to read. What will I do for entertainment once James officially shuts down, or actually delivers? We'll have to find something else to talk about!!

@nunuorig We'll all go back to complaining about the eBay scammer plague and how eBay refuses to do anything about them except make hollow, unfulfilled promises.... In the last few days, even more scammer auctions have been added... Guess they need to keep the fake inventory moving...   :-)

Drew, why not? He's still taking orders!?! 
Maybe I should progress from my $1.00 cuttings to Newbies to selling plants (hehehe).

Still waiting to hear from ANYONE that has received and order?

No updates since 3/10 ?

James said he had help. There is no good reason why deliveries have not started.

Anything new to report?

No offense to anyone in this thread...but I'll share my story.

I ordered last year 4/12/2016 and knew it was for a summer 2017 delivery. Only today I'm logging on to really check. I guess I wasn't worried, but now I have some worries seeing how many people are requesting refunds. It was pretty clear on his site that the reason he can offer such rare fig cuttings for $7-15 (though now I see the price has dropped for fall delivery) wasn't because he was a scammer but because he got the money early and it wouldn't be refunded and you would get the rooted cuttings when you got them essentially. If you want right away, go to eBay (or I guess get lucky with trades or knowing someone here).

Personally I had time and dropped $200 on the rooted cuttings, but I still think I'll get mine eventually. I'm just hoping all the refunds isn't going to ruin everything for him for the future.

As for why he hasn't shipped or hasn't responded to everyone, I don't really know, I'm sure he will have a reason, but when you get flooded with emails at some point most people can't keep up. So not answering any until you can get problems sorted out is one solution. Hopefully it means he's working on the problems rather than working on responding to everyone.

I don't have a pony in this race and I have only read a scattering of the posts on this topic.  But I wonder if the situation playing out is an example of manic depressive behavior.  Grandiose and unrealistic plans, with a huge personal commitment of effort, sure sounds manic to me.  And now the lack of results and, most importantly, the lack of communication could reflect a shift to the depressive state. BTW I have no professional medical background, so decide on your own how to read the tea leaves on this.  I do hope the situation works out well for everyone involved.

 The problem at this point is that after not keeping in touch for long periods of time James said he would post monthly to reassure and keep people updated.

 One post every month should not be a problem considering the amount of people waiting.

I can imagine a snowball affect, but people should be better informed than this.

 Good luck with your season everyone.

  Mike

Hi, I am from Singapore and I ordered and paid more than SGD 100 for cuttings back in August 2016. I was assured the company had international shippings. Cuttings were supposed to come by Feb/Mar 2017 but no news as yet.

I guess at the time I bought, no mention of a time frame other than "summer 2017" was given. That's why I forgot about them until now and purposely didn't check the boards everyday else I would drive my own self crazy waiting. Did he give faster timelines to those who bought later or something? 

Maybe since I'm looking at everything just now I feel more reasonable, I don't deny that a monthly update should be relatively easy, even if individual responses aren't.

I'm willing to wait overall, and I feel he was pretty up front about the informal timeline and that this route wasn't for the impatient and this is why the cost savings. I'm personally more concerned about accuracy of the variety and health of the plant than I am about production speed or communication.

Anyone know where I can get a Raspberry Latte cutting, now that I know I'm not getting mine from James?  I really want a Raspberry Latte cutting.

I disagree.  People bailing out would be the best chance you would have of receiving your trees.

The money you paid is already gone but he still needs to pay for shipping.  New orders on the site might help pay for some but if he actually has the trees to ship and people request refunds that they aren't receiving anyway, he can sell their trees for at least double the initial charge and some considerably more on ebay even with his damaged reputation.

I don't think most people have as much issue with the constant delay which is ridiculously long at this point but the fact that he seems to have disappeared and tress may never ship and now he isn't giving refunds either.  Supposedly, he was laid up with a broken pinky toe (that still makes me giggle a little) so he had plenty of time to post a 5 min status.  The fact that he has gone MIA in my mind suggests that he doesn't plan to ship trees, had another catastrophe like loosing trees in the tunnels during these cold periods or because he couldn't water them with his broken pinky toe (5555), or just plain doesn't give a crap anymore.

A simply "Hey, I haven't forgotten you guys.  Here is where I'm at." does wonders.  Cheerleaders would be cheering, dissenters would call BS, and others will be like let's see where this goes.

Andre,

The talk of shipping came from a video of "test shipping" by James W. Sperman, and if he did ship that carelessly, your figs would likely be toast.

The fact remains up untill this very minuite, no one has recieved anything since figcuttings dot com started.

Hello fig friends.  I am sorry to say that I also have not received any trees on my 2 orders hfrom 12/24/2015 or 2/22/2016, nor the refund I requested two weeks ago.  I did decide last week to contact paypal and my credit card company to file a dispute as I did not receive a refund or any communication from James after I followed the outlined procedures two weeks ago.  I did hear from both Paypal and my CC.  They both are being very helpful and are concerned that this merchant is still taking orders, having not fulfilled any to our knowledge.  The lady at the CC co. warned me that after 540 days no disputes are able to be filed.  I just wanted to let you all know that fact.  I am sorry that this has not worked out.  And wish you all the best with your figs this summer.  Jodi

When I talked to PayPal they said if they received numerous complaints about a vendor they would restrict the account from accepting new orders

I'm a newbie to this forum, just registered.  I discovered figs a year or two ago and I've been growing them in my zone 6 location in CT since.  I ordered a fig tree from this vendor in Spring of 2016.  As a newbie, I was interested in the most delicious varieties. After researching the varieties online,  I sent $15 for a tree for Nero Genovese Raphel plus an additional $15 for postage.  I discovered this forum recently after inquiring about the status of this order and not hearing anything from the "grower".  It seems to me that where this goes off the rails is that the grower did not make apparent that he did not have all of the material to propagate the trees and he continues to take orders notwithstanding the fact that orders from 2015 remain unfulfilled.  Worse, PayPal continues to allow him to collect money and it isn't clear to me that we will ever see the trees we ordered.

I requested a refund as I don't have lots to spend on trees and this was a splurge for me. No refund as yet, of course.  

I think he has done a lot of damage to this hobby and he should be ashamed of that.

I got hit for $278 dollars and he is not contacting me either. I feel so embarrassed to have been taken. I will contact paypal in a few minutes. I placed my order a year ago and I can't wait any longer. Yes this guy has given fig sellers a bad name. The Bernie Madoff of the fig cutting world! I wish everyone the best but I think we got took.

1 Albacor de Molla Blanca - rooted fig tree
 Item # AlbaMB - r   $12.00 USD
1 Longue d'Aout - rooted fig tree
 Item # LdA-r   $12.00 USD
1 Mare de Deu - rooted fig tree
 Item # MdD-r   $15.00 USD
1 Martinenca Rimada - rooted fig tree
 Item # MartinencaR - r   $15.00 USD
1 Ponte Tresa - rooted fig tree
 Item # PT-r   $20.00 USD
1 Red Israel - rooted fig tree
 Item # RedIsrael - r   $12.00 USD
1 Genovese Nero (Rafed's) - rooted fig tree
 Item # GeN(Rafed's) - r   $15.00 USD
1 Galicia Negra - rooted fig tree
 Item # GN-r   $15.00 USD
1 Black Tuscan - rooted fig tree
 Item # BTuscan - r   $15.00 USD
1 Bourjasotte Grise - rooted fig tree
 Item # BourjGrise-r   $15.00 USD
1 Col de Dame Blanc - rooted fig tree
 Item # CdDB-r   $15.00 USD
1 Col de Dame Grise - rooted fig tree
 Item # CdDG-r   $15.00 USD
1 Col de Dame Noir - rooted fig tree
 Item # CdDN-r   $15.00 USD
1 Coll de Dama Gegantina - rooted fig tree
 Item # CdDGeg - r   $15.00 USD
1 Grise de St. Jean - rooted fig tree
 Item # GdSJ - r   $12.00 USD
1 Lebanese Red (Bass) - rooted fig tree
 Item # LR(B)-r   $15.00 USD
Amount  $233.00 USD
 
 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 

 
Order Description:
 Shopping Cart
Item Total:
 $233.00 USD
Sales Tax:
 $0.00 USD
Shipping:
 $45.00 USD
Handling:
 $0.00 USD
Seller discount or charges:  
 $0.00 USD

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 

 
Total amount:
 -$278.00 USD


Gil Fisher (West FL)