I have been checking the green pages before buying from a catalog. It was my understanding that if they have no recommendations, don't buy their products. Well, who puts the companies in the green pages when they have no recommendations or comments? Is that the company? Or, is that the way an endosement appears?

Hmmm. I guess if someone bought something, regardless whether they were pleased with the plant/product or service, most would never bother to make a comment on The Green Pages. That's just human nature. You might want to just post that you are thinking about purchasing something from a certain company, and wondered whether anyone had experience with that company.

I could do that, but it defeats the purpose of having the green pages. Maybe @trish or @dave would know why a company would be in the green pages, and have no info about them from a member.

I am not sure why you would say that defeats the purpose of the Green Pages. The Green Pages can only reflect what ATP members choose to post, nothing more. At least by asking for members' experiences with a certain company, that accomplishes the same goal - information.

Companies can add themselves to the green pages, and it wouldn't be appropriate for them to endorse themselves.

I have added companies that I know other people like, but I haven't dealt with them directly so I didn't endorse them.

There's plenty of reasons for a company to be listed without endorsements.

I think I sort of stated that. For goodness sakes, just ask about the company.

P. S. I hope I'm not that company.

But then, im correct? If a company is there, and has no endorsements from a member, then it means nothing as far as "this is a good company"

TK, it doesn't mean good or bad, only that either no ATP member has ordered from that company or no member has bothered to "rate" that company. Just ask, TK.

I'm glad you posted this. It caused me to check back for a company that wasn't there the last time I checked and now is, so I left a positive review for them. The Green Pages are a really useful shortcut on searching the net for plant sources with or without recommendations. If you are looking for something specific, like iris or daylilies, it can save hours of time (not that I haven't spent hours of time looking, anyway) .

Good for you, Donald. That will be helpful to others.

Ok ken, you keep saying that, so let me explain why i dont do that. If this thread asked that very question, only 57 members would have viewed it, some, like ourselves viewed it more than once. Out of those less than 50, how many do you think might have bought from that very company? Actually, im really trying to point out that having a company listed in the green pages without any endorsement creates a negative, rather than positive attitude about them. For me anyway. I look at it and think " that company just put their own name there hoping members would think it had been endorsed by other members". Which it hasnt. I was hoping that dave would remove all the companies without member endorsements.

Hmmmm. That's a question for Dave to answer. We simply have different opinions of what "no rating" means. I just know that human nature often brings out the worse in us - laziness. Here's an example of what I mean. Just about every company in the US gives us a money-back guarantee if we are not pleased with a product. Right? Behavioral scientists will tell you that out of 100 products that people HATE, only 12 will be returned for money-back. Don't you think companies know this? 88% of the dissatisfied customers are simply too lazy to return that product. Companies prosper from that laziness!

So true. Also, sometimes its too late. For instance, one company i bought bulbs from in the fall, not one of them came up in the spring. If i had complained, they might have refunded or replaced them, maybe not. I just dont buy from them anymore. Was easier.

texaskitty111 said:I was hoping that dave would remove all the companies without member endorsements.

I see no reason to do that. Rely on the endorsements to make your decision.

You have just confirmed my point, TK. If companies are not made to "pay" for their poor merchandise, they will simply keep doing what they are doing. That's a "win" for them. Unfortunately, I am just as bad as you when it comes to returning defective/poor products. It is often just too much of a hassle to do so.

TK, is there some specific reason you don't want to post the name of the company you have interest in?

Only because of what i said above. But here they are:
Honeycreek nurseries (mail order catalog)
Lyndon Lyon Greenhouses. (For african violets)

Soooooo, lets see if i get some responses.

TK says " Actually, im really trying to point out that having a company listed in the green pages without any endorsement creates a negative, rather than positive attitude about them. For me anyway. I look at it and think " that company just put their own name there hoping members would think it had been endorsed by other members".

I can see how you might approach it that way, but it's not how I view the green pages. A new company has to start somewhere and they won't start out with endorsements until there is a wider customer base. A small family business, or hobby business, might never have a large customer base and many of those customers might not be members here at ATP anyway. So I just consider the green pages a good source to start a search for whatever I might be interested in and the endorsements are just a bonus. If I could change anything about it, it would be the ability to search more specifically for some plants by type. I think, considering the taxonomy of the plant world, that is probably impossible but it would be my wish anyway. I find the green pages a great place to start searching for a source for gardening stuff. A specific item search function would just make it faster at times.

TK, unfortunately I have never ordered from those two companies. You might post those two on the "Classifieds" page. I see people who want specific plants do that.

Having a tiny, cottage, hobby business, I sure agree with you, Donald.

TK, I have not purchased from those companies so I cannot offer any endorsement, but I wanted you to see that if you ask the question, more people will probably look and someone probably has purchased from them before and can tell you of there experience.