GYO Seed Bank - Lets see......placed order 26 Apr. 2019 for 7 different strains totaling $299.62 including shipping, handling and "additional" fees (?) , paid with VISA debit, processed the same day by "Payofix", checked bank statement payment was processed and went through (here's one to worry about) Lagos, Nigeria. Same day 26 Apr., receive message via e-mail from "Orla", requesting " As this is your first order with us, could you please provide a screenshot of the transaction as it appears on your online bank statement? You may black out or blur any transactional information that you do not wish to share." I oblige and send screen shot. Receive message from "Orla" saying "Thank-you; your goods will be despatched as soon as possible." 03 May 2019, decide to see the status of my order. as I have not received a tracking number (paid for), only to discover my order still indicates "Processing", I generate an inquiry ticket as to what's going on with my purchase. 08 May 2019 receive e-mail from "Molly" stating "Please accept our sincere apologies for the late response. Unfortunately, there was a tech error in our support portal and we have received your message only recently." I check the status of my order to see it went from "Processing" to "Complete", check my e-mail, still no tracking number. I generate another inquiry ticket requesting a tracking number, and received this from "The team at GYO Seedbank" - "Thank you for your email about tracking your order. You can find all the relevant information on this by clicking here." The "clicking here" took me to a web site called "Aftership", where I tried two reference numbers to my order, one my order number, two my shipment number, both are non existent, (meanwhile as this is going on I placed other orders with other seed banks MSNL, Attitude, Herbie's, Oregon Elite totaling all together $1200.00 including shipping and received them in 7 to 10 days) I generate another ticket, informing them that neither shipping or order number are working on "Aftership", I get a response from "Molly" - "We apologize for the confusion. The shipment number is not the tracking one. We will clarify your tracking details with our warehouse and get back to you as soon as possible." So I start to worry, and think this was a bad decision to go with GYO, generate another ticket, to let them know my concerns, and to either send the product or refund my money, in addition to letting them know, this seems like a scam. I receive this from "Molly" - "We truly understand your concern. Please be assured that there are no reasons for us to scam you as it, obviously, would hurt the business we are running for years. Your order has been dispatched on the 4th May, but unfortunately, we did not receive the tracking number for your package from the mail service. We are working on this issue and awaiting a reply from USPS. We will contact you immediately once we receive any updates regarding the issue." followed a few days later with "We are very sorry for the confusion. However, we are still awaiting a response from the USPS. Once we receive the reply from them we will immediately contact you." then by, "The USPS finally sent us a reply. Unfortunately, they do not provide tracking shipping service to Guam. We apologize for the inconvenience. Your order has been dispatched on the 4th May and delivery usually takes about 2-3 weeks." You smell that? That's right a giant pile of bullshit!! I recall paying for a tracking number and a text alert (paid for), and any U.S. citizen that has ever used the USPS, knows when you request Priority or Express shipment, what do you get? That's right a TRACKING NUMBER!!! So from here on, I really start to worry. Then I get this from "Molly" - "Please accept our sincere apologies but international mail is often subjected to unexpected delays, delays that are totally beyond our control. We kindly ask you allow up to 30 working/business days** for your package to arrive. If your goods have been ordered with an insured tariff we will always resend after this 30-day period, should you require us to do so. Please use this service (a U.K. work calendar) to count the delivery period and contact us on the last day if you are still not in receipt of your goods.
**working/business days - are days from Monday to Friday which exclude public holidays."
I'm surprised, because last I remember, I clicked on to the U.S. GYO site, so the whole time, I've been dealing with a U.K. site (WTF over!!!), in addition I have to go by a U.K. workday calendar!!! Then I get this from "Molly" - "We truly understand your concern. However, please note that the delivery could take up to 30 business days, unfortunately, we cannot speed up the mail services. If your goods do not arrive till the 17th June we will resend them. Once again, we deeply apologize for the inconvenience." So now we have gone from, 2 to 3 weeks to a full blown 30 days?!?!?! Fast forward to 19 June 2019, I give it a two day lee way, and guess what? Still no delivery!!! I generate another ticket, informing them that nothing has come in. This time "Natalia" sends me a response "
We're very sorry to hear that your goods have not yet been delivered. Please complete in full your non-receipt claim form. You can find this form by following this link and the subsequent instructions. Once we receive your completed form the claim will be reviewed by our despatch team. Please note that a claim form must be completed before a reship can be authorised." So like a fucktard, I fill out the online "Non receipt form" and submit it. Then 25 June 2019 "Orla" sends this "We have received your completed non-receipt claim form and your replacements will be despatched as soon as possible." I receive this message while having lunch with a friend of mine that happens to work for the U.S.P.S., and I show him the messages, he looks at me and tells me I got shafted, and laughs and says "No tracking number huh", my response "I hope you choke on your steak. I'll wait until you turn a nice shade of blue, before I help you." I reply to the message asking does it come with a tracking number? I get a return message from "Natalia" - "I am delighted to inform you that once it is dispatched I will contact you with the tracking details." that message was on 28 June 2019, and the last one so far. Still waiting for that message it was "despatched" or "dispatched" and a tracking number, it is now 01 July 2019. I think I'll go play the lotto, I got a better chance of winning. Oh by the way after my first orders with the other seed banks, I've made additional orders with them, and still got them within 7 to 10 days!!! So is GYO seed bank legit? Draw your own conclusion. Here's one more tip, take notice on the website. Notice that only five star reviews are showing up and no other ratings (YotPo is their fixer), also Facebook search them, you'll find some interesting experiences there.
If your looking for a reputable seed bank, check out seedfinder. eu, they have a section called SeedCop, which gets real reviews about seed banks. It's where I go now whenever I want to get more info about a seed bank or one that I've never dealt with before, saves a whole bunch of research time. It's where I found my go to seed banks, that I do business with only, they haven't failed me yet, between the two about 30 to 40 purchases, on time delivery, great prices, awesome freebies, and great product quality.