It's the Principle

In early spring I bought a double knock-out rose bush that I’ve been wanting since last year and my big sister Barb said were so great. Jim & I visited a few nurseries until I finally bought one from Koenig’s Nursery because it looked the healthiest and it would have red flowers. I very seldom buy anything but annuals each year because I always split my perennials or get free stuff from other sources so I really splurged and spent almost $40 on this one bush. I was told that it would flower continuously ALL summer. I picked the perfect spot where it would get a lot of sun and would be up-front & center so I could show it off. Six weeks after it was planted it had loads of flowers on it and I was very happy.

When those flowers faded, nothing happened. I did some research to see if I was supposed to deadhead and found out I could but didn’t have to. Thinking it might help, I did. I fertilized it. I watered it. Nothing happened. It was over a month and nothing. The more I tried the more I got pissed off. I finally convinced myself that the nursery sold me a regular rose bush and I got ripped off. Then I was really mad.

So one Saturday morning I dug the bush up, put it in the original pot that I bought it in, searched around to find my receipt and took it back to the nursery. I went inside to voice my complaint to a young guy and he immediately got the manager. She asked if I had it with me and I led her out to my car. I pulled it out of the back seat and plopped it on the ground where she started to inspect it. First, she told me they go through a dormant period. When I protested, she looked closer and said there was new growth on it. When I told her that there were no buds and it had been almost 2 months, she inspected closer until she found a teeny tiny spider web and pointed it out to me. She said it had bugs. She also said it was diseased. I argued that it did not have bugs and was not diseased. She asked if I had the yellow paper that was given to me upon purchase which stated their return policy. We argued a little more and she again asked about the yellow paper with the return policy. When I told her no I didn’t have the yellow paper and what was their return policy she said “WE DON’T TAKE THEM BACK!”

Needless to say, by this time, I was really worked up and very angry. She turned on her heal and was walking back into the nursery when I yelled that I would never come back and I’d tell all my family & friends never to come there. She said fine and walked into the store. I plopped the rose bush back into my car & spun my tires which threw gravel in the parking lot. I was fuming as I called Jim and told him what happened. He said that his brother told him before that Koenig’s were jerks about taking things back but he hadn’t believed him. I went back home, took the damn rose bush and replanted it in the same spot. After I calmed down, I told Jim that it would probably do good now since it had caused me so much grief.

It’s got blooms on it again, but regardless, I will NEVER go back to Koenig’s Nursery again and if you’re my family or friend, you won’t either!