The variety of plants and flowers is fantastic and the quality of the plants is amazing! I fell in love with this place the first time I walked in, which was last fall. Why only one star then? The reason is the owner is not only stand offish but she is outright rude! I have encountered her on four or five occasions now and have never seen her smile. If you ask a question of her she will answer with as few words as possible and then you feel dismissed. I chalked it up to maybe she isn't a people person and just tried to find other people to ask. When my husband and I went there last week I had a question and I asked two of the workers (looked like high school students) neither could answer so I went in search of someone else that may be able to help. The only person that wasn't taking care of someone else was the owner. I waited for her to turn around and then asked her if she would be getting in anymore trees. I need 10 to 14 and there were only 3 of the type I wanted. She seemed almost angry when she answered all the trees are out and I don't know when or if we will get more. She then threw her hand in the air and waved me off before turning around. I nearly walked out then but I have 4 acres of flower beds to fill and thought well I will take what she has. After thinking on this for some time I have decided I will not be back. I can understand people having a bad day but from what I have seen this is just who she is. Being a small business owner myself I know people and long days can be trying but I also know that without customers there is no business. I insist on supporting local small businesses. I guess I will just have to make the drive back to the green house where I used to live. Piechnik's is a beautiful, quality place......it's such a shame.
My issue wasn't with the lack of knowledge of the high school kids. Not every person you hire can have knowledge of your field. I understand that and I am more than happy to wait my turn to speak to a knowledgeable staff member. You have some great ones. I didn't even have an issue with the fact that you only had three of the trees I wanted. The reason I wanted to know if you were going to get more was so that if you were I could wait and buy them from you. If you weren't we could go elsewhere and not feel bad we didn't spend our money on the local small business. My issue was how rude and unfriendly you were. It was very uncalled for. I waited patiently until you weren't' watching the girls at the registers, I stayed six feet away from you and asked very nicely about the trees. I can't tell you how deflated I was when I received your response. My husband and I love gardening and we had been anxiously waiting for the day we could visit and start buying plants. We have huge flower beds on our property that the previous owners never did anything with except to plant hostas. Plant shopping is a happy and exciting time for us. The way you treated me took the thrill out of the day. That should never happen.
What is my small business? My husband and I opened the first Dickey's barbecue pit in Michigan. Our business was in Troy on Rochester road. We took an unknown and built sales by community outreach and treating every customer and employee as if they were our family. We built a very successful business and assisted other operators in opening their sites, now there are over 14 locations in Michigan. We have since sold our business but hold tight to our principals of buying local. We worked for years without a vacation and all of the stress and worries that come with owning a business. I get it. It's not always easy to paste a smile on and pretend your not freaking out inside.
I have also upgraded my review. It's not fair that such a wonderful place should be harmed...
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