Frequently Asked Questions about Herbs

    Our plants are of the highest quality, and are healthy when they leave our greenhouses. They are ready for transplant AS LONG AS YOU FOLLOW OUR INSTRUCTIONS CAREFULLY. If your plants fail within ten (10) days of arrival, please contact us via info@thegrowers-exchange.com. Please understand that we cannot be responsible for the results of extreme weather, neglect, ignoring our hardiness zone information and care instructions. There are too many factors outside of our control to guarantee long-term survival: your neighbor's dog, poor soil, insect infestations or moles. We are always here to help!
    General care and arrival instructions:
    Inspect your plants upon arrival. If there are problems, please contact us @ info@thegrowers-exchange.comwithin 48 hours of arrival. Include your Order Numer, Date of Arrival, Description of Problem and Photos.Remember, plants will experience a little wear in their travels, so expect a yellow leaf or two, and it is not unusual to find a broken stem as well. Plants usually perk up with proper care.That said, please don't plant a poor/damaged plant thinking you can do some miracle working, and then contact us weeks later requesting to return your purchase. If you have questions about the shape a plant is in upon arrival, please contact us and we'll help assess the situation.
    As we mentioned above, because once you plant your plants there are so many factors out of our control, we cannot replace plants that arrived in poor condition unless we are notified within 48 hours of arrival. Additionally, we cannot replace plants that have been in the customer's care for more than ten days after arrival.
    We reserve the right to request the return of damaged or unsatisfactory plants at our expense.We want you to be satisfied with your plants and for you to grow old together. It is your responsibility to find the right home for your plants, to provide enough water, sun and nutrients to keep them healthy, to protect them from extreme weather and to plant them in a timely manner. In return, your plants will bring you the happiness that only gardeners know. We are always available to answer questions and provide help.
    Care and Arrival FAQ:

    Please remember that while delays and damages due to shipping are outside of our control, we are here to help!

    Please inspect your package immediately upon arrival. We include a "In the Event of Damages" sheet in every box. Please follow the information carefully.

    Please choose your plants carefully. We work hard to provide you accurate pictures and information about all of our plants. If you find that your plant arrived safely but doesn't match your garden like you hoped, we're sure you can make it work, unfortunately, we cannot accept returns and exchanges for these reasons.

    Spring happens, sometimes earlier than expected. However, our schedules are established based on the previous year's shipping schedule. Our schedule is based on averages which take many factors into consideration:

    -The average temperature of the customer's area.
    -The average temperatures through the regions that the plants must travel and many of the hubs for our carriers are in the mid-west.
    -Our production schedule - we base our sowing, planting and potting schedules on the shipping schedules.

    Our plants are grown to be ready in time for those ship dates, not before.

    Our orders are shipped out on a first come, first served basis.

    We process your order immediately: we charge your credit card and reserve your plants in your name. We ship your order at the right time for your Zone and our plant availability (see below).

    Shipping Policies:

    We use the USDA Zone Chart an industry accepted standard.

    We will check your zone, check the weather and ship when it is safe. In general, Fall shipping begins early September through Christmas, weather permitting. Spring shipping begins in mid March through June, weather permitting. You can also visit our Policy page for our fall and spring shipping schedule.
    'Shipping Begins' dates are approximate based on the previous year's shipping schedule. Actual dates are subject to change with weather conditions including temperatures in your area as well as ours
    Fall Shipping begins mid-September through Christmas, weather permitting. Spring shipping begins in mid March through mid-June, weather permitting.It is our goal to ship plants at just the right time for your particular area. We will check your zone, check the weather and ship when it is safe! We encourage customers to order early to ensure that you get just what you want - 'first come, first served'!In the very rare case where weather may prevent delivery of tender plants intended as gifts, we will send an announcement of your gift and then ship as soon as it is safe

    All Garden Accessories orders are shipped separately, unless you request otherwise.There are some plants that are more sensitive to extremes in temperature, therefore these ship dates may not apply in cases when ordering these plants.

    FALL SHIPPING
    Zone + Date

    3-5 Early August
    6 Early September
    7 Mid/End September
    8+ Early October

    SPRING SHIPPING
    Zone + Date

    3 Late May
    4 Mid / Late May
    5 Late April/Early May
    6-7 Early/Mid April
    8+ Mid March

    Please Note: 'Shipping Begins' dates are approximate based on the previous year's shipping schedule. Actual dates are subject to change with weather conditions including temperatures in your area as well as ours

    All orders placed after the last week of the Fall or Spring schedule will be shipped ASAP, which is usually 5-7 days after the order is placed depending on when the order came in during the week.

    Please note: We avoid shipping plants at the end of the week so that they won't sit in a shipping warehouse over the weekend. Any orders coming in at the end of the week will be shipped the following week, regardless of the method chosen. If you order on Friday, and choose Express or Overnight, that package will be shipped the Monday of the following week.

    It is our goal to ship plants at just the right time for your particular area. Some of our plants can ship nearly year round, while others require specific timing in order to achieve ideal growth. We do encourage customers to order early to ensure that you get just what you want: first come, first served!

    If you are not going to be home to receive your package on your scheduled ship date, please make a note on the checkout form. We will ship your plants the week that you specify.

    If we have the plant available, Overnight Shipping is usually safe in the off seasons in mid to late summer, and in the winter. It is best to contact the office and place a phone order so that we can ensure availability immediately.

    How do you ship?

    We use UPS and offer several options for shipping:

    Regular Ground
    Express Saver (3 Day)

    UPS guides us on these numbers. Anything over $1,000 please reach out to our customer service department at info@thegrowers-exchange.com and they can get that answered for you.

    Shipping Flat Rates

    $0.00 - $19.99 $12.99
    $20.00 - $39.99 $14.99
    $40.00 - $59.99 $16.99
    $60.00 - $89.99 $18.99
    $90.00 - $119.99 $20.99
    $120.00 - $164.99 $22.99
    $165.00 - $184.99 $24.99
    $185.00 - $199.99 $28.99
    $200.00- $249.99 $32.99
    $250.00- $299.99 $36.99
    $300.00 - $349.99 $45.99
    $350.00 - $399.99 $55.99
    $400.00 - $449.99 $67.99
    $450.00 - $499.99 $84.99
    $500.00 - $549.99 $93.99
    $550.00 - $599.99 $100.99
    $600.00 - $649.99 $110.99
    $650.00 - $699.99 $118.99
    $700.00 - $749.99 $149.99
    $750.00 - $799.99 $159.99
    $800.00 - $849.99 $169.99
    $850.00 - $899.99 $197.99
    $900.00 - $949.99 $219.99
    $950.00 - $999.99 $250.99
    $1,000.00 - $+ 30% of subtotal

    Our facility is located in Virginia. On average, it takes an order 5 business days to ship to areas on the West Coast, and in some cases, up to 8 days in remote areas west of the Mississippi. Plants should not ship over 5 days, therefore the option of Express Saver ensures that plants arrive in good shape. We have decided not to require this method of shipment, as we do want to give our customers a choice.

    We do not charge for 'handling'. However, a lot goes into the shipping of your herbs. In order to make sure that your plants arrive safely, we have spent a lot of time and money on the development of our shipping materials. We ship in a custom designed box, and we also take a great deal of care and attention in packing.

    On average, one box of plants takes about 25 minutes from start to finish to prepare. The order is processed in our office, the plants are then pulled in our greenhouses, watered if necessary, and each plant is individually sleeved in its own casing and then wrapped in plastic, and finally nestled into its own compartment.

    All of our packages are inspected carefully before they ship.

    We assure our customers that we do all that we can to give you great service, healthy product and honest pricing.

    We are a small, independent business, and don't have the volumes to offer free shipping. However, our product quality and personal customer service more than make up for this.

    Once your order is shipped, you will receive a Tracking number. If you simply click on that number, you will be taken to the Tracking page where you can follow your package from our facility to your home.

    We cannot be responsible for delivery problems due to incorrect addresses.

    Unfortunately, this does happen and please keep in mind that we have no way of knowing if an address is correct. In the case of a mistaken address, please understand that we cannot be responsible. If the address is incorrect or outdated, the package is usually returned to us by the carrier or the unintended recipient. Please double-check your address when placing an order.

    We are unable to re-ship orders that are returned to us as undeliverable. If you would still like to purchase items that were undeliverable, you are welcome to place a new order on our website.

    Once the order has been shipped, it can sometimes be rerouted, if necessary. However, please keep in mind that we will charge a rerouting fee (the carrier charges us for these mid-shipping changes) and that we do not extend ourplant guaranteeto rerouted orders.

    The Department of Agriculture determines that some plants may not be shipped to certain areas, for many reasons. When you see the following:

    No AR, CA, in the plant description, it means that the particular plant may not be shipped to the states listed. Due to the volume of our orders, there is no way for us to monitor these restrictions. If you order a plant that is restricted to your area, you forfeit any guarantee. There will be no refund/replacement either. The Department of Agriculture takes these violations seriously.

    The following restrictions apply:

    CA: Chive Plants, Buddleia
    GA: Mint Plants
    ID: Chive Plants, Mint Plants
    OR: Buddleia
    WA: Chive Plants
    MN: Mint Plants
    NV: Mint Plants
    UT: Mint Plants
    WY: Mint Plants

    Security Policy: Orders placed on our website utilize SSL (secure socket layers) to protect credit card information so that it cannot be read in transit. The company that we have selected to safeguard your information is AUTHORIZE.NET. Authorize.Net is committed to safeguarding customer information and combating fraud. They have implemented industry leading security initiatives, and merchants are protected by the strongest encryption methods and security protocols available. They continue to develop new solutions to provide our merchants and their customers with confidence and security.

    Privacy Policy: This privacy notice discloses the privacy practices for www.thegrowers-exchange.com. This privacy notice applies solely to information collected by this web site. It will notify you of the following:

    What personally identifiable information is collected from you through the web site, how it is used and with whom it may be shared.

    What choices are available to you regarding the use of your data.

    The security procedures in place to protect the misuse of your information.

    How you can correct any inaccuracies in the information.


    Information Collection, Use, and Sharing:We are the sole owners of the information collected on this site. We only have access to/collect information that you voluntarily give us via email or other direct contact from you. We will not sell this information to anyone.

    We will use your information to respond to you, regarding the reason you contacted us. We will not share your information with any third party outside of our organization, other than as necessary to fulfill your request, e.g. to ship an order.

    Unless you ask us not to, we may contact you via email in the future to tell you about specials, new products or services, or changes to this privacy policy.

    Your Access to and Control Over Information:You may opt out of any future contacts from us at any time. You can do the following at any time by contacting us via the email address or phone number given on our website:
    See what data we have about you, if any.Change/correct any data we have about you.Have us delete any data we have about you.Express any concern you have about our use of your data.
    Security:We take precautions to protect your information. When you submit sensitive information via the website, your information is protected both online and offline.

    Wherever we collect sensitive information (such as credit card data), that information is encrypted and transmitted to us in a secure way. You can verify this by looking for a closed lock icon at the bottom of your web browser, or looking for "https" at the beginning of the address of the web page.

    While we use encryption to protect sensitive information transmitted online, we also protect your information offline. Only employees who need the information to perform a specific job (for example, billing or customer service) are granted access to personally identifiable information. The computers/servers in which we store personally identifiable information are kept in a secure environment.

    Cookies:We use "cookies" on this site. A cookie is a piece of data stored on a site visitor's hard drive to help us improve your access to our site and identify repeat visitors to our site. For instance, when we use a cookie to identify you, you would not have to log in a password more than once, thereby saving time while on our site. Cookies can also enable us to track and target the interests of our users to enhance the experience on our site. Usage of a cookie is in no way linked to any personally identifiable information on our site.

    If you feel that we are not abiding by this privacy policy, you should contact us immediately via telephone at 888-829-6201 or email at info@thegrowers-exchange.com.

    Check out our Better Business Bureau Rating. We have an A+ rating!

    Just review our guarantee information and simply follow the steps outlined in the case of damage. We do all we can to help you we want happy, satisfied customers and our goal is to make your experience with us a good one. We are here to help!

    Of course. We have a "Check By Mail" option on the checkout page. All you need to do is send us a check, and once it is received, you will receive your confirmation via email stating that your order had been processed.

    Our plants come in 3.25" square herb pots.

    We sell well-rooted, ready-to-grow plants, and our plants are known for their size. Many of our competitors have been shipping what we call plug-size plants, which are not ready for the garden. 

    Very carefully! We have spent a great deal of time, energy and money perfecting our custom-made shipping packages. They are designed to make sure that you get what we send: happy, healthy ready-to-grow plants.

    About 99% of what we sell comes from our own greenhouses in Virginia. We start our plants from seeds, plugs and cuttings and we have complete control over their lives from selection to fully grown plants. 

    The short answer is availability. We may receive orders that we can only partially fill based on inventory, and it is our policy to ship orders once they're complete. If you find that you just can't wait, you can cancel the late plant, and we'll simply refund you the balance and ship the remaining.

    We are committed to growing healthy plants using healthy practices. We avoid harsh chemical pesticides and herbicides. To read more about how are plants are grown. Click here: Growing Practices

    Now comes the fun part. Inside your box, you'll find detailed instructions on unpacking your plants. We also have a great, short video with step-by-step instructions. Make sure that you unpack your box immediately upon arrival, and get growing!

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