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TwitterLast year I was writing for another website of mine with my TV on a rather low volume in the background. While sitting there minding my own business out of nowhere my television got really loud and basically started screaming at me about a product called “little giant blueberries plants“. It really annoys me that these commercial people think that they have the right to decide what volume my TV is at and this is even more true when its a commercial about a product that is complete crap. Since I was so annoyed by the volume of this commercial and noticed its outrageous claims regarding its blueberry plants I decided to do a little bit of research myself and just let me say that the little giant blueberry company is gonna wish that they didn’t raise the roof on me.
When doing my research of the little giant blueberries I found almost exclusively negative comments and reviews regarding them. The only time I found anything even remotely positive was when I happened to stumble upon a website that was promoting them with the hopes of getting affiliate sales. This is particularly disturbing because usually when a product is halfway decent you will find at least some comments that talk about it in a positive manner.
My first complaint regarding the little giant blueberries is their confusing checkout system. When you purchase the little giant blueberries they do not give you an order total until you have already completed your purchase. And let me tell you, this isn’t a coincidence. Little giant blueberries are marketed on the fact that they are extremely cheap and its easy for people to commit to a purchase of $10 but before they know it they are often stuck with an order that was over 5 times as much. Now people are to blame for this problem too, because they aren’t taking the time to read the fine print but if the company was really concerned about the customer they wouldn’t have forgone customer satisfaction in an attempt get more sales.
The confusion seems to happen because people don’t understand that for every single plant they order they have to pay $4.95 shipping. So if they get the special of three plants for $10 then they are actually billed $24.85. Now it gets really dicey when consumers are going through the checkout and the company begins offering all sorts of different plants… always in three’s for just $10. People figure shipping won’t go up for a couple more small plants but they are oh so wrong. For every plant in your order you are charged $4.95. No matter the fact that they shipping everything together in a tiny tiny package for just a couple bucks. This isn’t anything new either, As Seen On TV Companies have long made their profits by over charging on shipping. It’s simple, offer a cheap product, sell it at break even point, and then all of the shipping charges are 100% pure profit. This isn’t necessarily wrong either, assuming you aren’t confusing customers with how much their order total is.
My second beef with the company has to do with their 30 day money back guarantee. I like the fact that they offer this guarantee but some buyers have complained that it took them over 30 days to get their plants and the company offers the guarantee from the date of purchase, so for those unlucky individuals they essentially have no guarantee. Now for those that do request a refund within the 30 day window they still are getting screwed. The reason for this that when they request a refund they don’t get any shipping charges refunded. I understand this idea for those that just decided they didn’t want the plants, that’s their problem. But what about the people that receive plants that died during shipping due to a delay in delivery. Is it really fair for those customers to get a $10 refund and still be out $14.85? Shouldn’t it be the company’s responsibility to get the plants to their customers in good condition?
The third concern with this company is their misrepresentation of what you can expect from the plants. Sure, you may be able to get a ton of blueberries from these plants after they are mature but they send you very small plants that you probably shouldn’t expect but 2-3 berries from in the plants first year and still not very many the second year either. The company preys on consumers by emphasizing that you can get bowls full per week and they make you think you are gonna get them right away. They should state in the commercial how it will take a few years but instead this information in only found little giant blueberries FAQ subpage.
Finally, my last complaint is in regards to these plants being a special type cultivated by expert scientist. I don’t buy this and if it were true they why isn’t everybody selling and growing these ‘special’ blueberry plants? Sure these plants may produce better sized blueberries than some other plants but there are quite a few different types of blueberry plants that produce varying sized blueberries. In fact, their FAQ page says that they are Vaccinium Corymbosum or highbush blueberries, which is one of the most common types of blueberries around these days.
It’s not that I don’t think that it would be a great idea to grow your own blueberries because I actually do think it would be awesome. I love blueberries but they are always expensive and I can’t convince myself that tiny package of them is really worth $5. Just because growing them yourself is a good idea that doesn’t mean you should buy them from whoever. Instead you should take this wonderful idea that blueberry giant has given you and run to your local Home Depot or Lowe’s as I’ve heard that they sell them and sure, they will be a little bit more expensive but you will also get larger more hearty plants and a good return policy in case they die right away. Another option is to search on the Internet for full scale blueberry farms, as they often offer plants for sale.
The bottom line however is that you shouldn’t buy from these things guys, at best you will get plants that take a few years to produce but any real amount of blueberries and at worst you will get overcharged to the tune of $50 or more only to have your plants arrive dead.
