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HELP / Frequently Asked
Questions
Where do I get questions answered?
First, look through the following frequently asked questions for the
answer.
For all other questions, send email to: questions@richfarmgarden.com
Shipping
and handling charges
This will be added automatically to orders using the shopping cart.
Continue to checkout and enter your address to see the amount before
completing the transaction.
For amounts to enclose by check or money-order, see: Shipping
and Handling Fee Charts
You can also email sales@richfarmgarden.com
for
a quote; be sure to include your order form information including
what
items and quantity that you wish to order, and your shipping address.
Business Hours
Our retail store is in the North American Eastern Time Zone. We
operate on
Eastern Standard Time and observe a one
hour
shift to Daylight Savings Time in the summer months. The
East Indiana store business hours vary seasonally. Click on Store Location/Hours
for current store operation hours. Hours may be extended during
Spring and Fall. Hours and work week may be shorter during winter
and mid-summer. If you are traveling some distance or traveling
to pick up something very specific, we always suggest that you email
ahead for an appointment or to verify business hours and
location/availability of stock. Clerks at our retail store may
not be able to make certain trades or access computer records for
on-line sales. See below: 'Forms of payment' and 'Placing
Order for Pick-Up' and 'Barter
Instructions page'.
Forms of payment
For orders that we will ship to you, our
shopping cart works in
most
countries for all major credit cards; also you can simply use your
checking account with the PayPal service for electronic payment.
For orders by mail, we take checks and money-orders that are payable in
USD. For more information and instructions on mail-order see How to Place an Order page. Or we also trade:
see our Barter Instructions page to
trade.
For merchandise that is picked up in the retail store, we take Visa,
MasterCard, Discover, Cash, or bring something to trade(see Barter Instructions).
Placing Order for Pick-Up
Orders placed with our shopping cart, or by mail, will automatically be
shipped to you. If you plan to pick up merchandise in person, do
not place your order on-line unless you are instructed to use this
method after contacting us. If you are traveling to pick up very
particular items, arrange a pick up schedule with us by email.
Some products are seasonal availability and some products ship from
different locations.
Order-Confirmation/Receipts
When you complete the ordering process using our shopping cart, two
Order-Confirmation emails will be sent to you. (one is
itemized receipt with SUBJECT: "Receipt for your
payment to Rich", and other SUBJECT: "Order with Rich, Thanks for
choosing us!"). When you place orders by mail or by phone, keep a
copy of the order
form for your records. If you have completed payment to us for
this order, your
order will be processed. When your shipment arrives, there
will be a Packing-List/Receipt in, or attached to, the box.
Scheduling and Availability
To check the availability or check the estimated shipping schedule
of
any items, please use the email to shipdept@richfarmgarden.com
Also
see: Live Plant Availability and
Shipping Schedules
Order tracking
To check on an existing order, check the estimated shipping
schedule,
get shipper tracking numbers, etc. send email to: shipdept@richfarmgarden.com
Care
and Planting instructions
We will sometime include care and planting instructions along with
an
order for certain items. If you need this, it is also a good idea
to explicitly request it with your order, to be sure that it will be
included.
Unique
conditions? for special care, growing, propagation, etc. questions,
send email to: HorticulturalQuestion@richfarmgarden.com
Looking
for...
If you are looking for an item that you can not find in the
catalog,
please email to: sales@richfarmgarden.com
More information about a catalog item
If you would like more information about an item that you see in the
catalog, please email to: sales@richfarmgarden.com
Shopping Cart Problems
If you are having a problem with the shopping cart functioning, usually
it is something simple like: Your cookies need to be
enabled, Pop-ups need to be unblocked, etc. or a temporary
problem, try again in a few minutes. (But it is also
simple to order from us through the mail, see: Ordering
Instructions) For more information about
the Shopping Cart, see: Shopping Cart
Help
Site Navigation
richfarmgarden.com is an extensive web site and data base. If
you have entered this site and do not have a navigation bar in a window
along the left side of your screen, then -->Click
Here to Get a Navigation Bar
Seed & Plant VARIETY NAMES / CATEGORIES
Do you have a variety that I can't find in the online catalog?
Often times the variety that you seek may be listed under a different
name; and not all plant and seed varieties are listed in every possible
category that they could fall under. Check for different /
alternate
names for it. Also check the Comprehensive
Alphabetical Seed & Plant List If you still don't
see
it, email to sales@richfarmgarden.com
to
check our miscellaneous, odd, and small stock items.
Printed Catalog
Can I get a printed seed and plant catalog?
We strive to be able to provide the most extensive selection of
heirloom
and antique varieties of vegetables, fruits, herbs, flowers, and
trees.
We have our most comprehensive product catalog published on this web
site.
We are constantly updating this to reflect changes in
availability.
With a printed hardcopy of our catalog, this would not be
possible.
So for the most complete and up-to-date catalog, GoTo
Seeds & Plants This will always be the best place
to
select seeds and plants.
We occasionally print and mail partial lists and product information
to our customers. If you would like to be included in these
mailings,
send your name and postal mailing address to maillist@richfarmgarden.com
You
can also sign up for our email Newsletter here: newsletter@richfarmgarden.com
email Help & About our email filters
Our email filters
We process large volumes of email. Carefully read the rules
and suggestions below.
Our Email Response
Our response time to your email will vary based on our seasonal
business
volume, staff availability, email traffic, etc. For fastest
response,
make sure that your question is addressed to the correct department,
(read
above questions for correct email addresses). If you do not
receive a response to your email within 3 business days, try
sending it again; also state that you are repeating the message (Do Not
send the exact same message). If your email address is
hard to spell or nonintuitive and was given to us by phone, send an
email
to us so that we can see the address. Messages may be answered
in batches by the third shift or weekend overtime. Our manpower
is limited and we may be very
busy at times. During our busiest seasons, we have found
that
if the inquiries to the shipping department are causing much of our
time
to be spent researching the ship dates on orders, it can slow the
shipping
time of orders in the queue: a perfect demonstration of Heisenberg's
Uncertainty
Principle. When we see this effect, our priority will be to get
orders
packed and shipped before answering email. Also, during our busy
times, email questions that have already been answered on the web site
pages, may not receive an answer. If you are expecting an email from us
that we have explicitly promised to send within a specified time, you
should review the 'Email System Issues' below, and firstly send an
email to us in case we have your address wrong. If you are
looking for an email otherwise, you must consider both the system
issues below, or that we may be busy.
Requestsfor More Details
We receive emails asking us to provide more specific information such
as for more detailed product information or for more specific estimates
for the timing of future events. We try to answer all emails but
if we can not be more specific, we may not answer. This class of
query is processed last. Please do not send these queries more
than once.
Include in your Email
Please state your name in each message,
and be concise.
Include a copy
of the on-going message string. If you have an order in-house
with us already, be sure to use the same buyer's name and the same
email address from which your PayPal payment was sent, or that you put
on the order form.
Do not send
Do not send pictures unless we have requested these.
Attachments
will not be read, send your message in text. If your emails have
advertising attached, it will probably be treated as spam and
unread. Scripts, graphics, animations, attachments, etc. may
interfere
with our ability to receive your email. If you have sent the
exact same message more
than once, or if you have sent multiple messages in a very short period
of time, your mail may be blocked by our system. If you realize that
this
may have happened, you will need to use the postal service to contact
us.
Email System Issues
If your email bounced back as undeliverable, it is most likely
that you have misspelled our email address. It may bounce back
also when various internet connections are down, which usually will be
for very short periods; try again in a few minutes. Our response
may not be reaching you if the return address on your email server is
incorrect or if your spam filters are interfering. We do not
necessarily respond from the same
email
address to which you sent the question. Also, we do not register
in security systems, or send separate messages to security or spam
filter systems. If you have checked the above items
and have reset your system,
send another email to us telling us so. Critical information can
not be deemed delivered until we have acknowledged the specific
message.
If you are still having trouble, please use the Postal
service.
Minimum Order
Is there a minimum size order?
No.
Back Orders
Will you back order items if I can't get them immediately?
Some seeds and plants are on a season availability schedule. We
encourage
our customers to order early. Many items have limited availability each
season.
If there is one, or a few items that are not ready to ship, on a larger
order, we will ship immediately what we can and back-order the rest.
When
shipping was quoted for whole order, there is no additional shipping
charge
on items that were delayed. If you do not want to receive a
partial
shipment, please specify this in special instructions on your order
form or send an email to us immediately upon checkout.
Items will remain on back-order and will ship as soon as
possible.
To make changes to an order such as cancel a back-order or request a
substitution,
please send email straight to
shipdept@richfarmgarden.com
Send all back-order schedule queries to: shipdept@richfarmgarden.com
Live Plant Availability and Shipping
Schedules
Does Plant availability change?
We sell our live plants to those who place their orders earliest.
The schedules for delivery are developed from our production plans for
the season and your early orders, and are later affected by our best
predictions
for all necessary conditions to ship the live plants. Delivery
schedules
are also based on weather conditions from shipping point to
destination;
and based on special instructions that you may provide. We can
not
guarantee delivery before or on a specific date.
If necessary,
please
specify a date before which you would not want to receive the plant, in
special instructions or send an email to us immediately upon checkout,
and we will let you know if there is a
problem.
If we are experiencing a problem with a lot of plants or a seed lot,
the
customers who ordered early will receive priority on future lots to be
shipped. This can mean that shipping schedules will change, and
that
it is possible that some orders may be shipped by different methods as
the weather may require and such orders will be filled as soon as
possible
or you can request a substitution or refund. For the current
estimated
shipment date of your order, send email to: shipdept@richfarmgarden.com
Shipping
Address Changes
Please be sure that the shipping address that you provide is
correct. If PayPal has a former or outdated address for you, this
should be corrected before using our shopping cart. If you must
ship to an alternate address, this must be approved by
shipdept@richfarmgarden.com before your order is placed. (If
address change is not critical and you could receive the shipment at
the address provided to PayPal, we suggest placing your order first,
then request the address change approval for faster service.
During our busiest seasons we may not be able to process address change
requests.)
Documentation
Upon completion of the shopping cart ordering process, you will
receive an itemized receipt by email. For orders by mail, we
prefer to see our Order
Form If you are placing your order by
email, please use the order form to be prepared with the
information
that we require. Your product will arrive with a Packing List /
Receipt
which will list each item that is in the shipment as well
as
shipping and handling charges and total charges. Please be sure
that
you have found all items that were in the box and attached to outside
of
the box before disposing of any packing material. If you
require
any further documentation, please request this before placing
your
order.
Growing in my area
For care and planting instructions that may be special to your
conditions,
and growing, propagation, etc. questions, send email to: HorticulturalQuestion@richfarmgarden.com
For
nuisance and invasive species questions, contact your neighbors
and check your library for local regulation.
Shipping across borders
We limit certain shipments of specific items to specific localities
based on our experience and knowledge of problems with these.
This
may affect availability of our catalog item to you, or may affect your
delivery schedule. We will inform you of these as
necessary.
Generally, we ship our seeds worldwide (see: Countries who order seeds), we ship
our plants within 50
states
of USA. You are responsible for checking local regulation and
paying
all taxes, duties, etc. on shipments. For other, unknown risks,
we
have shippers willing to insure delivery. This is sometimes an
option,
however, usually increases costs. Check with sales@richfarmgarden.com
for
shipment insurance options.
Other questions
For all other questions, send email to: questions@richfarmgarden.com
Thank
you. We appreciate your business!