R F Orchids — Local services in Homestead

HORRIBLE SERVICE! STAY AWAY! On 4/13/2021 I purchased 3 orchids for my Mom and a lady by the name CLAUDIA assisted me during the selection of each individual plant. These orchids were for my Mom as a birthday present. CLAUDIA assured me that my plants were going to be properly package by them and ship to the address that I provided to them using USPS. Keep in mind that the whole expense including shipping was $312. On 4/16 the person in charge of the shipping and packages calls me "RUDE AND with ATTITUDE " to provide me with the prices of sending the orchids express mail or priority mail. After this RUDE female tells me my options I decided to go with the priority mail service (3-5 business days -$85). The RUDE female sends me an email with the receipt and tracking number for me to track the package. On 4/16 I noticed that my package was received but the acceptance of the package was still in pending status. On 4/16 I contacted CLAUDIA and advised her of the situation and told me that she was going to look into it. The day goes by and CLAUDIA doesn't call me back. On 4/17 I called CLAUDIA again demanding for answers and tells me that they were going to investigate and get back to me (same excuse as the previous day). CLAUDIA then calls me and tells that they went to the post office and the post office told them that they didn't have the package (nobody can say where package worth $312 worth ). CLAUDIA then tells me that she was going to call me on Monday to determine what they were going to do with my missing orchids. On Monday CLAUDIA doesn't call me (keep in mind that she said on Saturday 4/17 that she was going to call me) and this miserable person ERIKA tells me with a sarcastic tone of voice that CLAUDIA wasn't working on Monday or Tuesday and that I needed to wait now until Wednesday to hear from her. On 4/21 CLAUDIA calls me and laughs and tells me sorry I forgot that I was not going to work on Monday or Tuesday but that they were going to reimburse me the money for the orchids and not the shipping. I explained to CLAUDIA that the were responsible for the entire bill and that If I wasn't getting my full refund that I was going to contact local police department to file the report and provide all documents to my attorney to move forward with this issue that they were treating as a joke. My full refund was received ($312 and it takes 2-3 business days for the amount of money to reflect in my account) and the orchids were never found. Lesson learned - My mom never received her birthday present because of these unprofessional individuals and I had to chase down my purchase for them to reimburse me. See pictures below. PLEASE STAY AWAY. They don't care about customers. You can thank me later. This...

RF Orchids is one of the largest, most popular orchid nurseries in the country. The owners, Robert Fuchs and Michael Coronado, have created an orchid-mecca here over the years... and have turned it into a literal botanical garden of their own personal collections. Garden tours are even offered here! I have yet to physically visit this incredible place, but I know plenty of people who have as well as some that work there. I have ordered Vandas from RF's online catalog which, although a bit on the pricier side, have been stunning growers and bloomers. I placed my first online order a little over four years ago, a V. Harry Wayne Casey, which today is a monster of a specimen with four keikis, two now blooming just like the mother, and it has the largest, healthiest root system of all my Vandas. I remember the order like it was yesterday. After I received the order, I called to follow up with a few questions. I quickly found out that the one I was sent was the very last one in stock and that was because it hadn't yet bloomed, so no one physically shopping at the nursery was interested because of the unpredictability of what the color of the blooms would be. I was happy to hear this, and even though it was a blooming sized orchid, it didn't bloom for another two years. When it did, it was an absolute spectacle. One of the keikis bloomed as well. I'll never forget how I felt when I first saw the intense pinkish-red colors of its huge dinner plate blooms! That Harry Wayne Casey was worth every penny I spent. And so has each Vanda since that first one. Two of them are constantly in bloom with magnificent color, and make for excellent talking pieces. I live in Orlando, and don't travel to South FL more than once or twice a year... and unfortunately haven't had a chance through these years to drive just the short distance further south to physically see this marvelous place that Robert & Michael have built. I really look forward to finally seeing the nursery this coming winter, as I'm taking the trip down during a huge annual orchid show (Redlands International Orchid Festival) that RF heavily participates in. I'll update my review then... and I really look...

This place is absolutely gorgeous and I would go back again and highly recommend to go. I saw the most beutiful and unique orchid's. And there was a fish pond, and tons of beautiful flower pots for sale. I'll post some pics here so you can see.

The parrots were so cute and definitely were trained because when I said hi, they both said hi and hello to me so it was fun to visit with them.

One of the young male staff members was really friendly and gave me advice on other activities he recommended to do in the area and gave me a map.

The only 2 negative critiques I would give was: 1.) As one of the other reviewers mentioned, the bird cages were too small and one of the parrot's feathers were coming out (which can be a sign up stess). I wish they were kept somewhere they could fly around like they are meant to.

2.) One of the female staff members told my parents and I about 10 times that they were closing in 5 minutes and we said ok, and she kept repeating it in an irritated fashion and glaring at us. I was just taking photos to submit to my Google review and we left well before they closed. Her behavior and mean glare kind of left a bad taste in my mouth as I was leaving. I'm just being honest not trying to be a mean reviewer or anything. She only needed to say it once and then tell us to leave once it actually closed like I've seen people do at most other stores.

But besides for those 2 things I loved the place and would highly reccomend and would go...