ARREOLA BROTHERS NURSERY

He told me he didn't have any receipts, so I wrote down a list of the trees (with the price next to each one) on a legal pad and gave him the original. He requested that a personal check be made out to "Jose Arreola", and he immediately went to the bank and cashed the check. Everything that transpired that morning should have been enough to warn me that I should never have agreed to do business with Jose, but for some reason I did write him that personal check. Right after he left I realized that I my decision was very premature and that nothing had been done correctly. So, I wrote down a very long list of my concerns and waited until I knew he would be driving (since he said he was leaving at noon) and then called him. I left a message stating that it was very important to call me to discuss some issues. He never returned my call on Saturday, so I called him Sunday morning. The first thing I brought up had to do with trying to get some reassurance that the height of the trees would be what we had agreed. He became very defensive and I tried to bring up some more issues. However, he abruptly stated that he "had to get to a family meeting" and that he would see me Thursday morning to plant the trees. I said "no, it's very important that I talk to you before you get here on Thursday". He said "I will call you tomorrow (Monday). He never called that day, and I didn't want to bother him if he was "working" for the county. After researching the trees, I found out that some of them weren't supposed to be planted at this time of year and there were special ways in which the trees were to be planted. I was very concerned that we didn't have any kind of contract or warranty. I also never had a chance to give him the 30% off coupon. When I mentioned the coupon to him, he said that it had expired, which is not true because it doesn't expire until 5/31/16. We had never talked about how or where the trees were to be planted, and there were quite a few other very important issues that had never even been discussed. I also found out on Sunday that he was charging me twice as someone who happened to call me on Sunday and who warranted his trees for a year. When I didn't hear from him on Monday, I drove over to his nursery on Tuesday morning with the intention of cancelling the agreement (there was no actual contract). I spoke to an employee who implied that he didn't speak English, but somehow understand enough to get Jose (who was still in Miami) on the phone. I then attempted to explain to Jose that for a whole lot of reasons I could not get the trees, and he told me that he just purchased them (14 trees) and that they were on his truck. I told him that I didn't believe him (it was Tuesday morning), and he wasn't due back in town until Wednesday night). So, I said that even if he had just purchased them, that he could return them. He said that "no he couldn't" and that he would be at my house Thursday morning and that he hoped that I would pay him the rest of the money. He also stated that he had spent an additional $500 of his own money (yet previously he had stated when he was at my house that he was broke and had no money). I asked him about a warranty and he said that he would warranty it for 90 days. I told him that was not enough. Before I could explain that there was no way that I could do business with anyone without a contract as well as any of the other numerous concerns, he said he had to hang up and that he would see me on Thursday. I found out from Hillsborough County on Wednesday that the Areca Palms would never survive and that the 3 shade trees were supposed to be planted in the fall--not now because it was too hot.. I had tried ever since Sunday to discuss various issues of concern for me, and he refused to talk about it. He never called me on Monday (like he said he would) when I was going to let him know in no uncertain terms that I do not want the trees and would like my money back. I did tell him that on Tuesday morning,, and he just ignored me. So, after consulting with an attorney, i spent the rest of the day on Wednesday typing a very long letter to him which I e-mailed to him about 5:30 pm making it crystal clear that he was not to show up to plant the trees, and that I expected a full refund. I sent him a text to inform him that I had just e-mailed him an important letter that he needed to read. He called me a few minutes later saying that he was back in town with my trees and that he will be at my house the next morning (Thursday). I told him that "no" he was not to come here and asked if he had read my e-mail. He said that he didn't get it, and I had mentioned in my text that if that wasn't the correct e-mail address, that I needed the correct one. He said that he wasn't giving me his e-mail address and that he wasn't going to read anything from me. I was able to make him understand that he was NOT to show up at my house with the trees. The e-mail I sent him was never returned to me, so that was indeed his correct address. I believe he read it, but cannot prove it. I do know, however, that he did receive my e-mail that I spent the whole day typing. At one point he asked me if I would allow him 60 days in which to sell the trees to get the money to get the money to return to me. I would have actually been agreeable to that, but he never gave me the chance to respond. He never explained why he couldn't return the trees on Tuesday morning while he was still in Miami. He also refused to tell me where he purchased the trees and mentioned that there were no receipts. He later stated one time that he had receipts. In another conversation, he offered refund to most of the money to me but that he would keep $400 to pay for his time and gas, and that he doesn't work for free. Again, he didn't give me an opportunity to respond or discuss an alternative solution and perhaps reach a compromise. He obviously contradicted himself quite a bit the last 8 days. I told him that i would call him the next day, (Thursday), which I did, and spoke to him briefly. At that point I was starting to get very ill (NOT because of this ordeal--just a very bad cold or flu). So, I informed him of my extreme illness and told him that I hoped that I would be better tomorrow and would call him then. Unfortunately I was not any better, but significantly worse. So, the next day (Friday) when I was extremely ill and barely able to function, i did send him a rather long text message Friday night clearly stating that i was still very ill, confronted him about the highly unprofessional way in which he conducted business, that I did not want to fight with him and believed that we could come to a peaceful resolution. As sick as I was, i was already committed to a yard sale the next day and told him that I'd contact him sometime from 8-11 am so that we could decide how to proceed. I mentioned that I had someone who was going to go to the nursery and look at the trees sometime in the morning. After the yard sale (still very ill with no sleep) I saw that he had texted me the night before stating clearly that I either allow him to plant the trees and pay him the additional $1250, but if not there would be zero refund. He stated that when I arrived at his nursery that we could go into his office and discuss the matter. I texted him back to say I would be at the nursery at 2:30 pm. I did manage to get to the nursery with a friend at 2:40 PM, and notified him that I would be 10 minutes late. My lawn guy (Michael), who also has quite a bit of knowledge about trees previously stopped by the nursery to see the trees. However, he was told by an employee that he didn't know anything about them--so Michael never did see them. When Steve and I arrived at the nursery, Jose showed us the trees pointing out how healthy they were. He stated that he would allow me to trade the Areca Palms for 4 other trees, but that's it. He also stated that I was to decide before he arrived at my house exactly where he was to plant the trees because he didn't want the responsibility. My friend Steve asked him twice about a warranty, and he said he would only warranty them for 90 days. After a few minutes he said he had to get to an appointment and that he would give me until the following Wednesday (5/11/16) to let him know if I wanted the trees, but under no circumstances would there be any refund. He never gave me a chance to respond. Once again, he was in a hurry and we NEVER went into his office like he had promised. After the day I met Jose, I then spoke to numerous professionals (in addition to my own research), and have been told repeatedly that these trees are inappropriate for multiple reasons, and some would never survive. I made it clear to Jose the day I met him on 4/30/16 that I did not want any more failures and that I did not want to throw any more money away. I refuse to throw away another $2500 in addition to the additional cost of irrigating 14 trees most of which will never survive. These are clearly not appropriate trees, and I'm sorry that I didn't know this the morning he was at my house. However, I did realize a great many things right after he left, and attempted to discuss these issues with him. He was defensive and uncooperative during my attempts to resolve my very valid concerns, and a few days later, I came to the full realization that I could NOT do business with him at all and insisted on a full refund. I do not have confidence in Jose or trust him in any way. I think that he has handled this situation in a most unprofessional and unethical way, and I feel completely entitled to receive a full refund of my $1250.