Ruibal's Plants of Texas — Attraction in Dallas

This was my second time to the downtown Ruibal’s and although they have beautiful plants with a lot of options, I’m disappointed in my visit! I was so excited the first time I made a trip to check them out, the gift shop is beautiful with so many cute planty things. I got into my plant collecting journey about a year ago, I’m pretty good at identifying plants especially since I have to be careful because I have a curious cat. Most plants at Ruibal’s are labeled with the genus and species but I’ve find a couple just labeled as ‘tropical’ and like I said, I usually have an idea of what kind of plant it is but I want to ask an employee just to be sure. This is the second time now I’ve asked for identification on a plant and both times I’ve felt like I was bothering the employee by even speaking to them. The first time I went I asked a lady with blonde hair for confirmation that the plant I was holding was a Pothos and she gave me an attitude. So much so that I actually just left and didn’t make a purchase. Today I went again because my mom knows I love plants and she’d found Ruibal’s online, thinking I’d like to go there not knowing I’d been before. I actually was excited to visit for second time even after my first negative experience because I knew I wanted to make a purchase since there had been multiple plants/cute things I saw during my first visit. But my suspicions were confirmed today as my mom and I come into the gift shop, again I found a plant I liked that wasn’t actually labeled so I asked the employee near by that was a younger girl with brown hair if she knew the identification. Like before, this employee acted like I was a pain in her butt and like she had way more important things to do than to stop what she was doing for 5 seconds and help me. She did point me over to someone else as she said she didn’t know it’s identification and that I should ask another lady behind the counter. We did end up making a purchase as my mom really wanted to get me a plant for Valentine’s Day and even the older man with white hair who checked us out seemed like he was in a rush. I don’t know what’s up, I thought maybe the first time I went was fluke but now that I’ve had two very similar experiences….

Anyways, I may or may not be back because there are other lovely/friendly plant shops around the area but I just wanted to share as it saddened me. Plants make me happy and I’d love to stop to talk about plants…you’d think their employees felt the same way. :/

Edit 5/26/23: I returned to Ruibals for the third time with friends for an outing, we all wanted to buy an African violet. We decided not to after I made sure to look closely to check for pests, I immediately found one on the African violet I wanted to purchase. We put them all back and I don’t think I’ll be returning to Ruibals for a plant purchase! Their shop is so cute but it’s not worth possibly bringing pests into your home. (PS: we were not acknowledged even once by an employee...

I recently purchased an ivy from this nursery last month, and unfortunately, my experience has been nothing short of a nightmare. From the start, the plant seemed to be sad, but I thought maybe it was just adjusting to its new environment, my apartment. After about a month of minimal attention (since I’ve been out a lot), I finally took a good look at it today, and to my surprise, the plant was covered in mealybugs and spider mites. This was particularly concerning since this is the only plant I have in my home, meaning the bugs had to have been there when I bought it.

I called the shop to discuss the issue, and the older man on the phone admitted that they had been dealing with a mealybug problem in the past. He even told me that to address the issue, they had used RAID to spray the plants. He then suggested that I do the same to my plant to get rid of the bugs. I declined and stated I would be bringing the plant back to return it.

When I went to the shop to return the plant, the customer service was beyond terrible. The Hispanic man at the register I interacted with was not only rude but extremely condescending. He kept insinuating that I was the reason the plant had bugs, asking, “Did the plant have bugs when you left here?” as if the plant got mealy bugs from my home, where there are no other plants. I told him that the man on the phone had already mentioned the mealybug problem with some of the plants in the store and how RAID had been used to address it. Instead of owning up to their mistake, this man just kept asking, “Who did you speak to?” as if I was making it all up.

The entire time, he was incredibly argumentative, defensive, and rude. To top it off, as I stood my ground, explaining that the bugs had to have been on the plant when I bought it, he stopped speaking to me (mid sentence) entirely and started talking to the other man in Spanish, which I’m pretty sure was about me. It was so unprofessional and uncomfortable, to say the least.

I eventually spoke with the man I’d originally talked to on the phone, and he did take the plant back. But, not before trying to tell me the bugs may be coming through the vents in my home.. like, be for real. To make matters worse, after telling my friend about my ordeal, I found out that her plant from the same nursery also has mealybugs. It’s clear that this shop has a widespread pest issue, and I wouldn’t trust them to sell me healthy plants again.

If you plan on buying from here, be extremely cautious. Inspect your plants thoroughly for pests, because you might be walking out with more than you bargained for, and don’t expect any decent customer service when you try to...

The service I received started well but ended terrible. Despite emailing the contact address listed on the website, I was passed around to various individuals before finally receiving several quotes. I ended up purchasing $500 worth of flowers, but found better prices on shrubs. Which seems like a normal way to conduct business? During this process, I started receiving e-receipts for all of the store's customers, which took some time to clear up.

After waiting for my delivery, which I had taken time off from work to receive, I discovered that the plants had never arrived. I followed up with the store and was informed that the delay was due to an employee's illness. While I understand that these things happen, it was frustrating to have to wait longer for my order. When I inquired about how to pay for the plants, I was told to call, but the email didn't include a phone number. When I called the local Rubal's location where I had initially made the purchase, I was informed that they didn't keep records for non-business customers and they asked what I ordered. I eventually found the amount in my email and relayed that info and they gave me a price and paid the correct amount immediately, despite the confusion.

To be nice, I replied to the email to let Brady, the person I had been communicating with, know that I had paid. However, I was met with a rude response that asked why I had called the Lakewood location. I was told that they didn't include the delivery fee. Which I absolutely have no problem paying but I tried everything and went out of my way to pay this and they gave me a price. How could I know what was in there or not? why don't they keep record? why did they take my payment if I wasn't supposed to pay there? What kind of bookkeeping is this? I had assumed that was the location I was communicating with the whole time, so it was frustrating to be chastised for something that wasn't my fault. I also was told that I was bounced around because I asked for quotes and didn't purchase, which again, is the whole point of getting quotes to compare prices! The tone of the email was accusatory and made me feel like I had done something wrong, despite being a prompt customer who paid immediately.

Overall, I found the service and prices to be subpar and would not recommend. I found some really good prices and great service from another vendor that I was really happy with. Also, If anyone is missing an e-receipt, they can let me know as it's likely...