Im not one to bash anyone...anyone! I try to take the high road. However, I felt that it was important to post this in order to save another person from making the same mistake as I did. I will share ut here for others to see. You be the judge. We rely on the good reputation of this forum to choose eBay sellers, right? I thought this was the right thing to do also, which is why I chose to bid on these cuttings. Unfortunately, Giacomo Calebrese (spelling?) who goes by "Justfigs" on this forum sent me cuttings, which I won on for what I thought was a good price. By the way, his cuttings are NOT shown on his post but rather he posts a picture of trees! Now I understand why! When I received the cuttings today, I was horrified. They were diseased and had huge burrows! Something is chewing up the cuttings and still lives in there! Why would someone knowingly send out these cuttings? Why? Why do this just to make a few bucks? Why risk reputation, money and more? When I sent him a pm and asked for a full refund. He simply answered "I can get you a refund." No apology. Nothing! He didn't know the buyer was someone connected to this group?! My next pm only received this response..."I already put in a refund request. Im not mother nature. Get over yourself." What? After he ripped me off he still dares say this to me? Still no apology. You take a look and tell me what you see and what you think.

why dont my pictures show?

I think the forums storage for pictures is full so you have to upload to photo bucket, Flickr, ect. And post the link.

I bought cuttings from Justfigs last summer. Col de Dame blanc, Col de Dame Noir and Col de Dame Gris. 10 cuttings, they were really thin, half pencil thickness, none survived.

If something is inside a cutting eating it, borer beetles, moth grubworms, ect. The cuttings are doomed from the start.

The best eBay cuttings thickness, length, healthiest, were from Fatnsassytexan.

I think I ordered 30 cutting, but they were long enough that I was able to cut them and double them to 60. I think I rooted them all as well.

Thanks for sharing.

Yes, I just found out the storage issues. Yes, the cuttings were unbelievably horrible! I dont have flicker or other but I will work on this to get photos posted! Thanks for posting about your experience. I wanted to post my experience so that others realize that some of these people are actually here on this forum for the sole purpose of scamming others on eBay or otherwise. Thanks so much for confirming what I also discovered with my cuttings!

Meg,

I am so sorry that this happened to you.  Thanks for sharing.

thanks for letting us know   sorry

What were the varieties you ordered? Maybe someone could help you out.

Hey, Aaron, its nice of you to even post but I would rather just thank you than say. I really wanted to just express that this person uses the goodness of this forum in the wrong way thats all. I think people here are great and in my eyes, just plain kind. In fact kindness here goes far beyond monetary value for me. Again thanks for even suggesting that i post the items here but its best just to let things be.

[QUOTE=ADelmanto]What were the varieties you ordered? Maybe someone could help you out.
[/QUOTE]

That's pathetic. Sorry about the waste of your time and money

Ouch sorry to hear that and thanks for the heads up! Btw, I bought from fatnsassytexan as well last spring. Great cuttings!

Giacomo seems like a nice person and always helped me with my questions on SIP designs.

I suggest that you burn them so the eggs never hatch.  If you throw them out the eggs will hatch in your landfill and you may have a colony spreading in your area.

Giacomo sent me awesome cuttings every time......I also sell a few cuttings in the spring. A year ago a customer got a few cuttings that probably froze on the plane, truck or mailbox....I didnt appreciate him assuming I sold him dead cuttings... I sold him about 5 mission cuttings for about 5 dollars.....I hope he got black listed.. LOL.

Sometimes mistakes are made as well, send them pictures and ask if they looked the same when shipped out. If not, we all know the postal system is perfect lol not to mention many states have had freezes lately

I have gotten many cuttings from him in the past. I have always been happy with what I received. Shame to hear this news.

Hi, Elin: im sorry: i dont like speaking poorly of people. I was disappointed & truly shocked. Truly shocked. More than anything, I was shocked to receive his uncaring response.

[QUOTE=elin]Giacomo seems like a nice person and always helped me with my questions on SIP designs.


[/QUOTE]

I know he has been on this forum & thiz is why i went with his suction. Im sorry for this negative post.

[QUOTE=Apalermo88]I have gotten many cuttings from him in the past. I have always been happy with what I received. Shame to hear this news.[/QUOTE]

i thought that too...maybe a mistake. However, he was not surprised at all nor did he seem to care when I sent him a pm about it. He never apologized. Rather, he seemed flippant about it. The burrows are almost 2/3 inches long and one cutting had at least four! At first i thought the cutting was possibly bent in shipping and it got stressed to the point of shredding the cambian. I have never seen anything so obviously bad.

Posting this is not something i really wanted to do. I had hoped to receive a difference response from him.

[QUOTE=DevIsgro]Sometimes mistakes are made as well, send them pictures and ask if they looked the same when shipped out. If not, we all know the postal system is perfect lol not to mention many states have had freezes lately[/QUOTE]

Im glad you have. Something has obviously changed for him and Im sorry for that.

[QUOTE=Apalermo88]I have gotten many cuttings from him in the past. I have always been happy with what I received. Shame to hear this news.[/QUOTE]

Hi Armando: i try to see all sides. Most of all I try to never assume. In research, we look at things from different angles and ask different questions. We watch for changes when something is introduced to the model. We never first assume. When I sent Giacomo a pm, I was hoping for an apology. Or some sort of explanation but he didnt seem to care about that, which surprised me. I would never knowingly send cuttings that were so horribly diseased. A dried cutting, that could happen for many reasons. Huge 2/3 inch burrows, its obviously a sick tree. EVEN if its been bad weather in his part of the country, there is an ethical responsibility for both parties. And in my opinion, more so when one is a member of a forum that holds to high standards such as here and, when this forum is mentioned in the sellers description.

Im not angry & I have forgiven him. I hope he makes some changes in his life.

[QUOTE=armando93223]Giacomo sent me awesome cuttings every time......I also sell a few cuttings in the spring. A year ago a customer got a few cuttings that probably froze on the plane, truck or mailbox....I didnt appreciate him assuming I sold him dead cuttings... I sold him about 5 mission cuttings for about 5 dollars.....I hope he got black listed.. LOL.[/QUOTE]

Hi, Rob: I thought about this but im afraid of beetles running out. The burrows are huge. Do you know of a chemical i can pour into a container that would kill things that big? They are in a bag inside another bag in a box outside on my car port. I didnt know what to do with then.

[QUOTE=rcantor]I suggest that you burn them so the eggs never hatch.  If you throw them out the eggs will hatch in your landfill and you may have a colony spreading in your area.[/QUOTE]

I know we can post many more responses here but perhaps this has been enough said. I hope Giacomo will make better decisions in the future.

Try to post using photo bucket? Maybe that will offer a further explanation by someone.

Liquid Sevin mix to normal mix....soak the cutting about 1 hour should take care of them. Soak in clean water after to remove the remainder. I use this every fall and spring to kill the grubs of many pests in my berry patch. I  Pour 1 Gal on each root clump for Blackberries and Raspberries never had a problem with my figs or Cherry trees. But have lost lots of berry plants......... 

Personally I would burn them to insure I do not end up bringing problems in. The cost of the cuttings is not worth the chance of harmful eggs getting loose.  I have enough pests already.

Looks like he pulled all of his cuttings off Ebay as of yesterday, I sense a resolution on the horizon for you Smyfigs... Fingers crossed.

Yes, maybe burn is best.

[QUOTE=JMRTSUS]Liquid Sevin mix to normal mix....soak the cutting about 1 hour should take care of them. Soak in clean water after to remove the remainder. I use this every fall and spring to kill the grubs of many pests in my berry patch. I  Pour 1 Gal on each root clump for Blackberries and Raspberries never had a problem with my figs or Cherry trees. But have lost lots of berry plants......... 

Personally I would burn them to insure I do not end up bringing problems in. The cost of the cuttings is not worth the chance of harmful eggs getting loose.  I have enough pests already.[/QUOTE]

I think I got the bucket thing figured out..maybe
http://s345.photobucket.com/user/smyfigs/library/

[QUOTE=Smyfigs]I think I got the bucket thing figured out..maybe http://s345.photobucket.com/user/smyfigs/library/[/QUOTE]Hello Meg,
I have been reading your post since the time you created.
I have heard only good things about Giacomo. He has also sent /exchanged very good variety of figs with Aaron for LosAngelesFigForest. I can not answer your question to WHY he treated you like that but this is what I can tell you: Those wound like marks are due to weather, heat and night moisture in the air. I got few trees this year with trunks damaged like that. They are just trunk cracks and the bark openings from over-watering sometimes after dehydration. They heal within a season.
If you look carefully, some of the cracks on your cuttings have already developed calluses. They are perfectly normal reaction of fig plant to the weather hazards.
If I were you, I would take just one cutting and split lengthwise and check for bugs. I'm pretty much positive that you won't find any leaving things in the trunk. (I pray that I am not wrong, LOL)
In fact those cuttings will root faster than you think because of the calluses on the surface.
Please keep us all posted.

So sorry that you got a bad deal and a bad attitude from Justfigs. I can't imagine that he did not notice the galleries in the wood. It makes one wonder whether he has cheated in some other ways while selling cuttings.

I bought 3 cuttings of Ronde de Bordeaux from him on 9/27/16, they arrived promptly and in very good condition. I cut the cuttings in 2 and the 6 cuttings have already rooted (10 days in water, then planted in coir + perlite, all under light). I hope that they are RdB!

Thank you so much for taking the time to give me your explanation. I sincerely appreciate it. I wish Giacomo would have taken the time to explain to me or perhaps even ask me what my concern was. I was taken back by his response. I wish he had taken the time to explain to me ahead of time what he was shipping to me. I would like to believe Im a reasonsble person. You can imagine my shock when i opened the package. But misunderstandings can be remedied through communication. I wish he would have explained to me. I could have understood.

QUOTE=FigWhisperer]Hello Meg,
I have been reading your post since the time you created.
I have heard only good things about Giacomo. He has also sent /exchanged very good variety of figs with Aaron for LosAngelesFigForest. I can not answer your question to WHY he treated you like that but this is what I can tell you: Those wound like marks are due to weather, heat and night moisture in the air. I got few trees this year with trunks damaged like that. They are just trunk cracks and the bark openings from over-watering sometimes after dehydration. They heal within a season.
If you look carefully, some of the cracks on your cuttings have already developed calluses. They are perfectly normal reaction of fig plant to the weather hazards.
If I were you, I would take just one cutting and split lengthwise and check for bugs. I'm pretty much positive that you won't find any leaving things in the trunk. (I pray that I am not wrong, LOL)
In fact those cuttings will root faster than you think because of the calluses on the surface.
Please keep us all posted.[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=Smyfigs]Thank you so much for taking the time to give me your explanation. I sincerely appreciate it. I wish Giacomo would have taken the time to explain to me or perhaps even ask me what my concern was. I was taken back by his response. I wish he had taken the time to explain to me ahead of time what he was shipping to me. I would like to believe Im a reasonsble person. You can imagine my shock when i opened the package. But misunderstandings can be remedied through communication. I wish he would have explained to me. I could have understood.

QUOTE=FigWhisperer]Hello Meg,
I have been reading your post since the time you created.
I have heard only good things about Giacomo. He has also sent /exchanged very good variety of figs with Aaron for LosAngelesFigForest. I can not answer your question to WHY he treated you like that but this is what I can tell you: Those wound like marks are due to weather, heat and night moisture in the air. I got few trees this year with trunks damaged like that. They are just trunk cracks and the bark openings from over-watering sometimes after dehydration. They heal within a season.
If you look carefully, some of the cracks on your cuttings have already developed calluses. They are perfectly normal reaction of fig plant to the weather hazards.
If I were you, I would take just one cutting and split lengthwise and check for bugs. I'm pretty much positive that you won't find any leaving things in the trunk. (I pray that I am not wrong, LOL)
In fact those cuttings will root faster than you think because of the calluses on the surface.
Please keep us all posted.[/QUOTE][/QUOTE]



Picture is worth 1000 words. The fresh wounds look like the cuttings got run through one of those mail sorting machines.

[QUOTE=Smyfigs]I think I got the bucket thing figured out..maybe
http://s345.photobucket.com/user/smyfigs/library/[/QUOTE]

A picture is worth 1000 words. The newer scars look like a mail sorting machine.

Meg,
I would suggest disinfecting them in a 10% bleach solution before planting (this should stop most cross contamination). If there are any bugs they will die quickly in the bleach. Hope everything works out for you!

I've bought quite a bit from Giacomo. Never had any problems. I've recomended people to get cuttings from him also. Everything I've got from him has grown nicely. Sorry you've had a bad experience.

I think it was poor judgement on Giacomo's part to send me those damaged (or whatever) cuttings.