Has anyone else had trouble getting a reply from Oikos? Any suggestions?

I placed ~$185 of plant orders with Oikos Tree Crops last November for shipment in early April and haven't heard anything from them yet.  I know there's a lot of troubles keeping up with orders for nurseries right now, but I ordered some more from them this spring and promptly got those items.  I've e-mailed them several times over the last few weeks hoping they can just confirm that they haven't forgotten my fall orders, but so far no reply.  On their facebook page they said a few days ago to contact them by email and they will reply within 24 hours.  They seem to not want to contact me back and I just have no idea why.

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to discuss this with them?  I really, really want their terrific plants and I'm a long time good customer with them, but they have me worried.  I'm starting to think that I should either:

A) just wait it out trusting they will do the right thing and it's just a difficult time (kind of what I have been doing)
B) finally set up a Facebook account and ask them about it publicly
C) or, with great sadness, dispute the charges and get my money back

All advice appreciated.

I have gotten quick replies in the past. They are probably just overwhelmed.

Like all small business, Oikos Tree Crops has been impacted by the corona virus.  Our normal work force which comprises a mixture of local hires and professional temporary office staff has been replaced by family willing to pitch in as well as our seed specialist-order fulfillment person. We are all wearing a lot of hats this season . As a result you might find it difficult to get through on our phone. If possible please use our email customerservice@oikostreecrops.com    for requests on order status

Is this the email you used?

Further questions and status of an existing order can be directed to: customerservice@oikostreecrops.com

We respond daily to all emails. Plant questions; oikostreecrops@gmail.com  

Thank you Ken and Anne.  Yes, I went with the customerservice@oikostreecrops.com email address.  I'm guessing where it's an existing order that I'm in the cue and so they aren't spending time answering those emails.  

I'm not sure how long I have to refute a charge, but in a few weeks it will be 6 months since the charge, so that's running in the back of my head.  Probably I'm being silly, right?  Oikos is a standup organization, correct?

I dont know this organization, but I and my colleagues who work in 100% online settings since forever have noticed lots of email weirdness lately (addresses that usually work just fine going into spam, server errors, etc). If it were me, I would leave them a note on Facebook just to make sure you didn't go into a spam folder, since they seem to be upstanding otherwise.

Maybe give them a phone call? I see there's one listed at their web site.

I haven't ordered anything online in a long time and just this morning tried to get a few things from some old standbys.  One was out of stock on just about everything and the other had stopped taking online orders until they caught up again.  They were also out of stock on many things and said because of social distancing they had to cut way back on employees so that had added to the problem.

It helps a lot if businesses can post at their site if they are having issues filling orders as I think we all would understand.

Seems like most businesses have a way to check on the status of your order separate from speaking or texting with someone?

I am going through this with a different seed company. I placed an order over 3 weeks ago and when doing so it said on their site that it would take 4-9 business days to fill the order. When it got to be 11 business days and I still hadn't heard anything, I called them and left a voicemail. No return call. I called again 2 days later and still no return call. I then e-mailed them and finally got a response telling me they were out of one of the items I wanted. To me coronvirus is not an excuse not to keep in contact with customers since it is something a company can hire someone to do from home.
The thing that irked me even more is that they were busy making posts on FB to promote themselves. Yet they don't respond to customer's attempts at communication? It's left a bad taste about them for me and I likely will be seeking another company to buy seed from. This is not the company you are dealing with, however.
You have amazing patience. I would have gone for a charge back a while ago already. If I were you, I would definitely post on their FB page as someone else has suggested.

Hey Greg, this reminds me of correspondence I had with a company in the not too distant past, and their reply somehow ended up in my spam folder.

Greg, This is at their facebook page....seems like they would have posted it at their web site also?

Update On Shipping and Other Related Activities at Our Farm During this Crisis
Oikos Tree Crops·Wednesday, March 25, 2020·3 minutes
Updated April 19th.  
Like all small business, Oikos Tree Crops has been impacted by the corona virus.  Our normal work force which comprises a mixture of local hires and professional temporary office staff has been replaced by family willing to pitch in as well as our seed specialist-order fulfillment person. We are all wearing a lot of hats this season . As a result you might find it difficult to get through on our phone. Please use our email customerservice@oikostreecrops.com    for requests on order status or a change in shipping address.  We respond daily to all emails. We rarely answer the phone this spring due to having no office staff but do have voice to text capabilities and can email you back if you have a question. We will not likely call you back.
COMMON QUESTIONS :
Q. Are you open?    Yes. We are still open and taking orders. We can no longer accept phone orders at this time. There is no one to answer the phone to take your order.
Q. When will I get my order?  We are behind but catching up. We will continue shipping through April and half of May and beyond with the potted plants.  And yes:  We are behind in shipping.
Q.  Can I add to an existing order or combine orders?   No.
Due to lack of personnel, we cannot add to existing orders anymore. If you place an secondary order and want it combined we can no longer do this in a timely fashion.
Q. Can I  pick up my order at the farm?   No.
We can no longer set up appointments for pick up orders this spring. We will honor the few that were done earlier this winter and spring by shipping your plants as soon as we can. Michigan is currently under the ‘stay at home.’ rule. If you had requested pick up earlier and now want it shipped, let us know by email and we will make that happen. I totally understand.
Q. It says ‘Out of stock’. Are you getting more in?   Possibly but not likely.  If you email us about a certain plant, we will keep your email and notify you when it is in stock.
FALL SHIP :  Tubers are often fall shipped if out of stock and our crop was short. We can refund the items or you can substitute. Let us know which is best for you. You will get a notification within your shipment if this happens and we will then automatically send the tubers in the fall starting in early October.

“Thank you for your time and patience during this rather turbulent time. Thank you for choosing Oikos Tree Crops to help you on your path to a healthy life and environment.  I could not do this without you. I wish you the best of health and well being.”   Ken Asmus

Judith Browning wrote:Maybe give them a phone call? I see there's one listed at their web site.

I haven't ordered anything online in a long time and just this morning tried to get a few things from some old standbys.  One was out of stock on just about everything and the other had stopped taking online orders until they caught up again.  They were also out of stock on many things and said because of social distancing they had to cut way back on employees so that had added to the problem.

It helps a lot if businesses can post at their site if they are having issues filling orders as I think we all would understand.

Seems like most businesses have a way to check on the status of your order separate from speaking or texting with someone?

Unfortunately they aren't accepting phone calls right now Judith, they are pushing everyone to their email.  I just wish they could drop me a note saying "No worries, we've got you in queue".  They definitely aren't doing what they say on Facebook so I guess I'll sign up and post a question there to make sure I'm not getting caught in their spam.  Thank you.

Greg, I was posting at the same time...copied their statement from facebook (two replies back)...for some reason it's not at their web site?

Judith Browning wrote:Greg, I was posting at the same time...copied their statement from facebook (two replies back)...for some reason it's not at their web site?

I know, isn't that super weird?

If they're rushed, they might not have remembered to update their website and facebook. I've seen this with quite a few stores. It could also be they don't know how to easily update their website.

I have NO IDEA how to update Richsoil, but I can update permies facebook page and threads here on permies, and on Wheatonlabs.com. But, I don't know HTML code, so I can't do diddly about Richsoil. It could be the person in charge of updating everything didn't know how to update the code on the website.

There's a local restaurant here, and I went on their website to see if they were open. There was no information about coronavirus and adjusted hours or take out or anything. BUT, their facebook had the information. They probably either (A) didn't remember to update their website, or (B) had no idea/ability how to update their website.

Thank you Nicole.  Very good point.

I dropped them one last email (3 weeks since the first) and if I don't hear from them tomorrow I'll go on Facebook for the first time.  (as a lifelong Facebook holdout that shows how much I really want my plants!)

Greg Martin wrote:
I dropped them one last email (3 weeks since the first) and if I don't hear from them tomorrow I'll go on Facebook for the first time.  (as a lifelong Facebook holdout that shows how much I really want my plants!)

Don't do it!   You'll be Zuckerfied...

Just something to consider, you said they “have time to post on facebook”, it’s very possible those post have been scheduled some time ago, and they are being posted now without anybody actually typing them in real time.

Maybe that’s the case, or maybe not.

Yep, pages can schedule posts out in advance. I've done that a few times on the permies facebook page. And, hey, if you join facebook, you can always like our permies facebook page, bwahahahahahaha!

I'll go on Facebook for the first time.  (as a lifelong Facebook holdout that shows how much I really want my plants!)

There are many privacy setting to use on facebook that will help somewhat...and I suppose, you could sign up and and then not accept friends and join groups?  

I don't have any problems with it but I pay attention to what privacy settings there are, only have a small group of friends and I drop any 'friends' that I find annoying

Besides enjoying long distance family, there are many active informative 'groups' and many of them are more private.

Good Luck Greg!

Timothy Markus wrote:
Don't do it!   You'll be Zuckerfied...

I don't want to be Zuckerfied!!   I think I will use a friend's account.  Thank you everyone for your help.

It's here, it's here!  I'm very excited.

Again, thank you everyone :)