You Win Some...You Lose Some
I was in my office today answering phone calls and balancing the checkbook. The glamorous job of a garden center owner. I got a call from a woman asking if we had any pansies in stock. I told her that we don’t have any in yet. She said “that’s weird, I was at two nurseries yesterday that had them”. She asked when we were going to get some in. I told her I wasn’t exactly sure when. The woman stated she could not understand why some nurseries had pansies but we didn’t. I said to her “we are a different nursery from them” She said “ I know that....whatever!” and she hung up on me. She thought I was being rude and condescending but I didn’t get to finish. I wanted to tell her it was still a little early to plant pansies and we like to bring them in when it is a good time to plant. That’s why most local growers plan their first crop to be ready later in October. Pansies can rot or stretch in the heat. I am very sorry that I made her mad.
A half an hour later I got a call from another woman that asked questions about what I could suggest for her garden. After I answered her questions she mentioned that she moved about 60 miles away last year. She told me there is a nursery about the same size as us fairly close to her but no one knows about gardening there and they can’t help her. She wanted to let me know that she will drive 60 miles to shop with us for the service and knowledge we provide. That was very nice to hear after the previous call.
A half an hour later I got a call from another woman that asked questions about what I could suggest for her garden. After I answered her questions she mentioned that she moved about 60 miles away last year. She told me there is a nursery about the same size as us fairly close to her but no one knows about gardening there and they can’t help her. She wanted to let me know that she will drive 60 miles to shop with us for the service and knowledge we provide. That was very nice to hear after the previous call.
The sad part is that some nurseries carry items just to make a sale and people think because they are a nursery, they carry what should be planted. I am glad you have the integrity to ensure people are successful with gardening and not just in it to take their money.
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You can please some of the people some of the time BUT you can't please ALL of the people all of the time. Ignorance is bliss.
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Last year I did a little survey in October -- calling all the local garden centers to see who had pansies in and what they had to say about them. Personally, unless we have really unusual weather, I think October is too early. But I wanted to see what the independents had to say. The responses were all over the map. A few took the time to explain, like you, why they did not carry pansies in early October. More said "Sure!" It's a bad practice to sell plants that won't be successful in our climate, but then again, the customer wants what she wants. A dilemma for the GC Owner.
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You can't take comments like that personally, it's really a reflection of that woman and her issues. For the most part it usually doesn't have anything to do with what it seems like. She probably had a fight with her husband that morning and you took the hit for it.
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