Buyer Beware: True North Seedbank

[Wheatie33]

Ordered from true north seed bank our of Canada. Package came quick..inside of 8 days. Not discreet what-so-ever. Just bubble wrapped around original packaging. They want you to pay extra $15 and purchase an item out of store for discreet shipping. Ordered Cheese Auto got Lemon Skunk Auto and Bubba Kush for free all by Canuk. None of them popped or even turned light color. When I opened the package they looked old and 2 almost appeared to be cracked.

Not sure if this is standard or not with other companies but a letter was also inside the package. Seems to be the way they protect themselves but it screws the customer. It said "These seeds are not for germination. They are for storage in case cannabis goes legal. We are not responsible for the germination of these seeds."

I will most certainly Never order from them again. I am waiting for an email back but I seriously doubt they will help per the letter. Will update you guys.

They are bisquit eating Monkey Dogs. 3/7 sees were delivered 0 blue dream 1/4 pounder and do-si-do do great that they delivered but this company screwed my around big time. And don't be fooled they are related to canuk too.

 

[Boatguy]

They are bisquit eating Monkey Dogs. 3/7 sees were delivered 0 blue dream 1/4 pounder and do-si-do do great that they delivered but this company screwed my around big time. And don't be fooled they are related to canuk too.

Nice first post.... Will be taken for what it is worth.

 

[BCbuds1]

I placed a valentine's day order from True North, couldn't resist the sell. Recieved order fast like always. Finally got them in cups. Out of the 4 seeds I planted 4 are up. Northern lights, Red Mandarine, Girlscout cookies, and Delicious Candy. Cant wait to see and results!! Sorry you all have had such problems, I find them very reliable. I throw them in water wait for them to sink, switch to paper towel then dirt in a cup then hydro. No problems here. All these post scare me but results speak for themselves!!

Weird. My northern lights autos went 0/5 and they were being grown side by side with some OG kush that all germinated. I’ve been trying to get compensated for months from them and what a disaster. Not sure what’s going on with these guys but I’ll never order from them again

 

[nc208]

Every other breeder except for some of the originals that gave been around since the 90s or earlier are doing this guys. I'm not defending it, its just the reality of the industry if you haven't noticed it yet. There's no such thing as pure genetics anyways unless again you are one of the OG's that uses clones that can be traced back 20-40years. And as I explained, Canuk tell you what strains they use to created their versions, so just do 2 minutes of research and know what you're buying. No need to get all high and mighty on me dude.

If you dont know facts then dont spout bs. I dont know what breeders you buy from but if you use good honest breeders you can learn alot about the industry.
Cannarado, Archive, in house, Oni, thug pug, relentless, dynasty, Clearwater, Raw, thug pug, seed junky, prolific coast, bodhi, Gage green, etc... I could keep going on with lists of breeders who use proven real legit breeder cuts and clone only elites in all their works.
First tip to find a "Real" breeder is look for a line. They will have a male plant that gets hit to lots of gorgeous ladies to make dope crosses that these elites are all found in. Look at Canuk seeds offerings and find me their lines? They have all only clone only elites for sale at all times? If it's too good to be true it is.

 

[al1993545]

Man ya gotta research these banks and breeders and the strains. Like foreal research, read and watch everything you can. I've always had 100% germination with humbolt blue dream, and I've ordered them from attitude seed bank, and seedsman. And same with the royal Dutch northern lights. But that's just me. Ive probably grown over 50 of each, both being autoflowers. Your best bet is to always go with long term breeders and banks who have a long term history, and honestly, my best plants have always been regular photo period seeds, and my top teir plants are undoubtedly seeds i got from mid grade or bunk seed weed. I would imagine because their is little to no tampering with their genetic lineage. Who knows, but those seeds have always been stronger and more resilient in my experience. But its been years since I've even seen mid grade. Femmed and auto seeds in the last few years for me have been a headache, they produce way to many ovules, always herming, weird leaf growth here and their. 90% of the time i always get big dank nugs, but I'm always stressed that if I don't check on them every day they'll herm, and ill lose a whole crop because these phenos have been inbred and hermied for almost 3 decades now. And it has definitely had negative effects.

 

[BCbuds1]

Has anyone heard from these guys in the last month? They’ve completely gone off the map. Just trying to get a response about those northern lights that never germinated has been embarrassing. Crazy way to run a business.

-sell someone bunk seeds
-ignore them for months when they complain

won’t be getting my business again. What a disgrace

 

[PlumbO]

First post here, for what it’s worth. Registered to share my experience with True North, and because this forum seems like a good source of info for a new grower like myself.

First order placed mid to late March. Small order, 2 Northern Lights Auto, 2 OG Kush Auto, 2 Purple Kush Auto. Took a while to ship (2 weeks I’d say), then once shipped was delayed by Canada Post for another 2 weeks (this was during height of pandemic meltdown). So about 4 weeks from ordering to delivery. Already had plants in veg (photos from Peak) but popped a NL Auto for fun about 4 weeks ago (new grower, just messing around). It was a slow starter but doing fine now, and is beginning to flower.

Placed another small order mid-May (2 Jack Herer Auto, 2 Bruce Banner Auto). Shipped about 10 days after ordering, arrived a week later.

Next grow I’m going to germinate most of these autos and I’ll post here what my germ rate is. However reading several threads on the trouble people are having I doubt I will be ordering from True North/Canuk again.

 

[JoeBlow5823]

First post here, for what it’s worth. Registered to share my experience with True North, and because this forum seems like a good source of info for a new grower like myself.

First order placed mid to late March. Small order, 2 Northern Lights Auto, 2 OG Kush Auto, 2 Purple Kush Auto. Took a while to ship (2 weeks I’d say), then once shipped was delayed by Canada Post for another 2 weeks (this was during height of pandemic meltdown). So about 4 weeks from ordering to delivery. Already had plants in veg (photos from Peak) but popped a NL Auto for fun about 4 weeks ago (new grower, just messing around). It was a slow starter but doing fine now, and is beginning to flower.

Placed another small order mid-May (2 Jack Herer Auto, 2 Bruce Banner Auto). Shipped about 10 days after ordering, arrived a week later.

Next grow I’m going to germinate most of these autos and I’ll post here what my germ rate is. However reading several threads on the trouble people are having I doubt I will be ordering from True North/Canuk again.

Ive had great luck with Canuk.

 

[nc208]

Ive had great luck with Canuk.

What other breeders have you run?
I'm curious to those that like Canuk, who else have you tried?

 

[Boatguy]

What other breeders have you run?
I'm curious to those that like Canuk, who else have you tried?

All these first time posters flagging true north for poor service, and others with the opposite has me thinking there is some attempt to game the system here.
I did have a normal good transaction with true north for some of crocketts tangie. My sister grew out a canuck freebie outdoors last summer, it was a fem, and did grow and was decent herb... Blue dream i think.

Has me wanting to place another order just to see if all this action is just bullshit, or i will receive the beans in breeder packs in about a week.
Betting covid slows it down bit but last year it was less than 7 days to mass.

 

[JoeBlow5823]

What other breeders have you run?
I'm curious to those that like Canuk, who else have you tried?

I havent run a ton of breeders yet. Im just say as far as their service and germination rates go, excellent. Out of like 20 beans, no duds.

 

[WintersBones]

All these first time posters flagging true north for poor service, and others with the opposite has me thinking there is some attempt to game the system here.
I did have a normal good transaction with true north for some of crocketts tangie. My sister grew out a canuck freebie outdoors last summer, it was a fem, and did grow and was decent herb... Blue dream i think.

Has me wanting to place another order just to see if all this action is just bullshit, or i will receive the beans in breeder packs in about a week.
Betting covid slows it down bit but last year it was less than 7 days to mass.

Haha, ya getting the same vibe. Everyone that I've seen or talked to that has actually posted proof of their grow has said they have not had any big issues with them. I'm sure the covid thing only made an average at best customer service even worse for awhile.

And to the "genetics snobs", as I'm starting to think of certain growers as...yes they are a lower tier breeder with less developed strains and knockoff gentics, but you're also getting seeds from these guys for pretty damn cheap unless you're a dummy. I still stand by my earlier statements, they are a good breeder for beginners and for experimenting on or cheap bulk seeds. Take two minutes to research and know what you're buying. I choose them because they are cheap when on sale and get a lot of good feedback overall. Of course there's better breeders out there with better genetics.

I'm 6/6 for germination and my buddy has popped another 3/3, all fem, no hermies and I'm close to harvesting the first of the autos. Should be getting around 3-4oz off one of the freebie seed i got with its "unknown gentics" and it looks very nice. and I'm still an amateur grower that made some mistakes with it. No complaints at all here.

 

[JoeBlow5823]

unless you're a dummy.

Far to many of those.

When I placed both my orders (quite a while before COVID), the first one got lost; replacement was sent with no hassle. The second order was during that 70% off sale; it took like 3 weeks to ship but I was in no rush and I knew that amazing sale would lead to long ass wait times. Of the 20 beans me and a friend have started, all have grown but none of them are to harvest yet.

And as far as the snobs go..... a lot of the time crossing that "grandaddy garlic caramel og widow" with "diesel wedding glueberry sherbert" just gives you the marijuana equivalent of this guy....

 

[BCbuds1]

Has anyone heard from these guys in the last month? They’ve completely gone off the map. Just trying to get a response about those northern lights that never germinated has been embarrassing. Crazy way to run a business.

-sell someone bunk seeds
-ignore them for months when they complain

won’t be getting my business again. What a disgrace

Update: Truenorth got back to me via email and apologized for the delay. They originally offered me 3 free seeds but because of all the hassle, they offered me 5 free seeds. They should be in the mail this week. Just wanted to update my experience. Still not impressed overall, since my OG kush autos sure don’t seem to be autos and my northern lights never germinated at all. However, most other seedbanks are slow as well and to their credit, they did eventually respond and make things right.

 

[Moonie0313]

I dont think so. They do what they do because the industry is what it is. They could be more responsive, answer the phone faster, send more emails.

What is most annoying to me is the idea that a sale causes service levels to be terrible with no effort to bother explaining the sale is slowing things. Its simply weak service because they can get away with it and cant afford the staff they really need to get things done faster.

Imagine you are in your garage filling orders and you have a sale with 1000 orders coming in, when you normally handle 50 a day. One way to handle it is to hire some friends on a temp basis and fill orders and provide good service.

Another option is say wow look at all the orders that came in, wow we have work for a month here to catch up. We are overwhelmed but hey its cool we will be super busy for a while! And phone response time is 30min+, email responses are sent occasionally, and your customers suspect you are shady. Because you make choices and when desperately trying to get business you maybe dont realize the effort to bring in sales is hurting your business as much as it might help.

If 100 people try them and 75% think wow unresponsive...they have a choice...they can look for a larger pool of prospects and keep doing what they do...or they can actually ramp up their staffing to deal with the peaks and valleys of their business.

Their choices are clear. There is such a big opportunity here once its legal at the federal level. Theres more money in seeds than any thing else in the industry...pure profit and no shipping/delivery costs. They weigh nothing, insurance is the only real cost of the business.

I fully recognize a quasi legal business faces challenges. They have choices though, and posing as real pros -- look at their beautiful site -- but not acting like pros imo is exactly why they will all go under and lose tbeir market to ABC seeds or whomever moves in with big money and the right infrastructure once its legal.

In the meantime, many companies like tnsb will continue treating fulling your orders like they are doing you a favor vs doing business with you. My 10c lol.

 

[Moonie0313]

Ok boys let Someone who actually works for tnsb answer your questions or respond to this post...TNSB is run/owned by First Nations. Tnsb stocks very little except Canuk seeds (their native partners) and acts as a drop shipper for a larger Canadian distributor when it comes to original breeder pack seeds. takes a cpl weeks to arrive from Spain/etc. then tsnb ships to you. TSNB has a retail outlet on site in Alderville first nation Roseneath, ON. Alderville first nation takes up about 2 miles of hwy 45 south of Hastings ON. and has approximately 20 Illegal dispensaries operating and native smoke shops. TNSB like ALL Canadian Seedbanks you guys ,(and myself) deal with online ARE ILLEGAL under Canadian Law. THE ONLY legal source of Canadian seeds is Canadian government LicencedProducts sold at various gov.t outlets and ONLINE thru OCS. in Ontario. Basically, TNSB and all the indigenous Illegal dispensaries are set-up and operating on the First Nations Right to ancestral medecine land use etc. You know Its our land medecine, we operate under an ever changing cherry-picking of Canadianlaw,blah blah blah. SO if you don't give a crap about politics, go ahead order from them and have it shipped to whatever country, just make sure you request that "Native American Seed Bank" doesn't show on your VISA statement, if you care about that kinda bullshit. Like people do what they do no problem, I buy smokes off first nation all the time as they are half price of 'legal' smokes. Its a political fuckshow with legalization. I dunno importing Pounds of Afghani Black Hash for sale to the public is not an indigenous right IMHO, but they have the lawyers and the blockades to do it. Basically they are as legal as most of their customers, but they have the money not to care about a 'record'. As I said I had good service, seeds were in orig packing, they din't mess with me except the non discreet billing name (see above) on my credit card, which I contacted and roasted them for. Do they care about the law or your privacy folks? You have to decide for yourself...this is about as much info as I know, from being a customer, a voter, and a LEGAL grower, who likes to know when I am breaking the law.

Who gives shit about who runs it.
I live on the Tyendinaga reservation all
I can say is as a returning customer i bought 10 seeds of Aurora indica and not one of them germinated.
I called and the only thing you offered was 3 seeds and they had to be canuk seeds.
I ordered from this sht hole 3 times previously and all i got was a slap in the face for 105.00.
So native run or not its bullshit. As for native run, Toronto is not a reservation so as the guy working at NTSB go fuc your slf and stick your seeds where the sun doesn't shine

 

[Rurumo]

Who gives shit about who runs it.
I live on the Tyendinaga reservation all
I can say is as a returning customer i bought 10 seeds of Aurora indica and not one of them germinated.
I called and the only thing you offered was 3 seeds and they had to be canuk seeds.
I ordered from this sht hole 3 times previously and all i got was a slap in the face for 105.00.
So native run or not its bullshit. As for native run, Toronto is not a reservation so as the guy working at NTSB go fuc your slf and stick your seeds where the sun doesn't shine

Wow, I'm amazed they sent you free seeds, that's pretty great customer service when your germination issue might have been poor germ practices.

 

[Moonie0313]

True north does carry real seed breeders.. Canopy or Aurora, you got to be kidding

They do but the 10 Aurora indica i bought not 1 germinated and got a slap in the face when i contacted them about the issues and that was from a returning customer

 

[Moonie0313]

Wow, I'm amazed they sent you free seeds, that's pretty great customer service when your germination issue might have been poor germ practices.

Lol wasn't my first day Germinating seeds
I have had 3 other hash plant order from them with absolutely no issues alway soak 15 hours in water place in paper towel moistened till they have at least a 1/4 inch tail then plant

 

[Cannasaurus Rex]

Who gives shit about who runs it.

Just putting what I know out there for peeps to decide for themselves...your original Aurora Indica purchase was Canuk? They are all knockoffs using not noteworthy pheno's from non-verifiable sources, do your research before shelling out big $$$ for crappy seeds. There has never been a solid rating on the web for TNSB so why the surprise. You can always get elite clones of IG for 200 bucks or so LMAO. NOT. The seed biz these days is not a 'get what you pay for' market, it's who can look like they are 'trending' the best. Most chuckers "breeds" aren't available long before the first grow reports hit the boards. Look for strain reports and grows not seedbanks stocking the cheapest 'new' strains. I ordered DNA genetics and got them, I didn't like the promised (but not) discretion on their credit card billing, is/was disregarding their customers IMO.