Hello everyone,
I have a new client who has a high tech video conference room that is pitch black most of the time so I include in my proposal pictures and pricing for faux foliage from Autograph Foliage. I convince my client that this is top quality faux foliage, better than what he can get at Costco and worth the expense. I have seen Autographs product at Calscape but this is my first order. My client chooses a Kentia that looked great in the picture. When it arrives and I open the box big pieces of black plastic fall out which turn out to be pieces of the pot. No big deal as no one is going to see the pot anyway. I am disappointed with the look of the plant but hope that when it is opened up it will improve. However, when I start to open up the foliage I find that many of the "leaflets" are not fully attached to the petioles so that they half hang off. I get out my glue gun thinking to start reattaching when I then notice that some of the leaflets are shredded. I realize that to make this thing look half way decent I am going to have to spend some serious time with the glue gun and that the tallest frond is too damaged to repair and will need to be removed. There is no way I am presenting this plant to my client so I call Autograph and am told that a supervisor will have to be consulted and someone will call me back. It has been over a week with no call. I am so disappointed with the quality that I am not sure that I want to exchange this plant for another from Autograph. Autograph’s return policy will leave me with the expense of shipping both ways and possibly a 20% restocking fee which means my profit is already gone and then some with no “top quality faux foliage” for my client. Now what?

Janelle,

Climb down off that ledge and let’s talk...I have used Autograph for a number of replica plant orders in the past and would again in the future. That doesn’t mean they’re perfect, though. The palm you were shipped is obviously defective, so you won’t be paying any "re-stocking fee" as you might with an item you returned for some other reason. And Autograph should send you a UPS call tag for FREE shipping on the return item, plus send a replacement at absolutely no charge to you. That’s what they owe you.

Now, looking at the replica Kentias on the Autograph website, I’m struck by how little they actually resemble a live Kentia. Oh, the fronds do, I guess, but the trunks have little or no character that would distinguish them from other similar palms on their site (the "paradise palm", for example)...not much I can see in the way of the dark brown "hair" that characterizes Kentia Palm and which I have seen first-hand on other manufacturers’ products I’ve used personally. These look a bit sad, in fact, and not really close replicas of what is the king of indoor palms. Here’s one from another manufacturer, PTI, that looks a little more like it:

http://www.treescapes.com/efolio_detail.asp?id=401

And at Commercial Silk Int’l, they have what’s called a "Butterfly Palm" that looks for all the world like a nice, beefy Kentia to me:

http://www.commercialsilk.com/artificial-palm-trees_butterfly-palm-tree_p_592.aspx?bc=c55

...but you be the judge of that.

Return your palm for a full refund and shop around. I would.

Clem

Thanks for the alternative faux info Clem, and for the advice. I hope I can get Autograph to cooperate. In this stellar economy (which is even more fabulous here in California) this kind of incident is painful.

Janelle,
Autograph Foliage has a stellar reputation and owner Tom Acklin (who you might recall was inducted into the Hall of Fame at this years Calscape) is a reputable guy. Call them and ask to speak with him personally. If I know Tom, he will bend over backwards to make this right.

I guess "stuff happens" to all of us, vendor and client alike. If you still have a problem, call me.

Subject;I need a good article on interiorscape.Can you help.Thank You.

Robert,

Check out the link at the top of the homepage entitled "In Liu of Archive"...it contains a bunch of very good articles published over the years in Interiorscape Magazine by correspondent David Liu, on topics ranging from pest control to plant cultivars for interiorscapes to customer service and more. Hope that helps.

Clem

In defense of Autograph Foliages who I buy from and visit the Dallas showroom several times a year...rule of thumb should be, catalog picture x 2 if not 3 to equal a "realistic" quality "live" plant.
Sorry you had to experience that kind of quality. Take pictures of your damaged goods. Demand a refund.

Robbin

I have always said that "silk plants" are like "TV dinners", they all used to be terrible. But in todays market you can get very fine frozen dinners at any market in town.

Silk plants are best viewed at a distance. Best viewing needs to be personally inspected before purchase. Catalogue and pictures on the web remain suspect. If you can "SEE" the product, in advance, is to your advantage. (Although, purhaps easier said than done".

For a big job i did several years ago, I had selected samples sent to the account, for their approval, before I would order anything. IT worked out great and I covered the cost in my eventual bid.

Just a follow-up, finally got an agreement to take damaged plant back for full refund. Everyone I delt with at Autograph was really nice but it certainly took longer than I had hoped for resolution.

All’s well that ends well...sometimes busy companies can take awhile to get off the dime and get someone to take ownership of a problem. Glad you found your way through the maze to the goal.

Clem