My experience with Wofford's Nursery, particularly Chris Wofford, is not pretty, and I never even met the man. My first visit to the nursery was a bit rushed for me as I had little time to browse, but my impression was that there wasn't anyone who seemed interested enough to assist me. My second visit was even more frustrating as I had a specific tree in mind to see and no one was willing to walk me through the nursery to find it. I was sent on a wild goose chase on my own to find the tree, and came up empty-handed. My third visit (I know, I should have followed my instincts) was just as bad and I did have to find the tree on my own. The nursery worker marked the tree as "sold" and took my money, but that was all I was assisted with. I was told that the tree would be planted that Friday morning and when Friday morning rolled around, I got a call saying they didn't have time to plant it and would be out on Monday. They came on Monday, but when I saw that they had only dug the hole as wide as the rootball itself, I took issue. The workers told me they have never dug any hole wider than the rootball of the tree/plant before. I called the nursery and told them that I wanted them to do so, and was told the same thing. Mr. Wofford called me and instead of treating me with respect, was incredibly nasty toward me. His demeanor was not only angry, but spiteful with quite an intimidating tone. He said he has been planting trees this way for 30 years and has not had any problems. I said I find that hard to believe given that any tree specialist will tell you the tree will suffer or die if the hole is not wide enough for the delicate roots to establish, instead of having to try to push their way through hard clay. Needless to say, he told me to wait and see what happens. I did, and even with TLC the tree died. When I called to say so, Mr. Wofford said he would be out within a day or two but would not be able to replace the tree for "a month." Three days later, I had not heard back from him and I spoke with the cashier and she said she would have Mr. Wofford call me. When he did call, he acted like he didn't know what I wanted. I had to initiate the conversation by saying that I hadn't heard from him and he immediately lit into me with such hostility, it took me aback. He said, "I told you I'd be out there in a day or two and I was. I said, yes, but I didn't know that you had come, nor did I hear back from you. He said, "I told you it would be two or three weeks before I could replace the tree (which he actually said a month), so why are you calling me?" I said, because I need to have a date so I will know when to expect you. Again, "he said the same thing only this time with even more anger. My mind just kept wondering why on earth this man was treating me so badly. I got pretty upset at that point and told him that I wanted my money back, to which he replied, "you're not gettin' it back!" This made me even more upset. He then said this, "I'm gonna come out there next week and plant that tree personally just to get you out of the way!" To which I said, Mr. Wofford I have to end this conversation now and said I would see him next week and I hung up. The next morning his crew replaced the tree with a very skimpy tree that I would never have chosen and especially would never have paid $366 to have planted. I did not have any advance warning that they were coming and was not home at the time (I later discovered a voicemail saying they would be at my house in 30 or 40 minutes). Not enough of an advanced warning, nor did I have the opportunity to go and choose a replacement tree myself. When I got home and saw the tree, I couldn't believe that they didn't even bother to water it. It was already showing signs of transplant shock and is not doing well now, a week later. Chris Wofford had the audacity and the arrogance to leave a message on my voicemail telling me to "never shop at one of his establishments again." If this is the way he treats his customers, I honestly cannot imagine how he stays in business.
This was three years ago and the tree they planted still looks like a twig, a very tall twig, but a twig nonetheless. Every time I look at it I am frustrated that they would have even considered selling it, let alone charging that much money for it. I only wish there was a way to upload a photo of it on Angie's List.