[Dendian]

I am so sorry that your plant got frozen. You lost the flowers, but the plant appears to be fine and will grow and bloom again if taken care of properly.

However, in all fairness, it sounds like several errors were made, and I think you are blaming the seller unduly.

Please correct me if I am wrong, but your mom bought the plant for you on ebay. After the auction closed (not before), you contacted the seller and asked him to include the heat pack (which is an extra charge). He sent the bill to your mom's email, which she didn't pay. I know that sellers cannot send invoices through ebay for things not purchased through ebay (like heat packs) unless they send an invoice for items purchased and include any additional charges in the "seller charges" section. If you had requested an invoice and he didn't include the charge for the heat pack, then it would have been his error. He did not include the heat pack and sent the plant to you. This is his only error that I can see, he didn't attempt to contact you again before shipping without the heat pack.

You watched for the mail because the weather was bad, but somehow forgot to leave a note about expecting a live plant, and your mail carrier put your mail in the mailbox, which you didn't check until later that day. Even if he had included a heat pack, being left in a frozen mailbox for 2 hours might have harmed the flowers. I have found it best to leave a note in the mailbox for the carrier. I have had plants mis-delivered, lost, and found, forgotten, put in odd places where I wasn't expecting them - all because I didn't alert the delivery person that I was expecting live plants (and yes, the boxes were marked "perishable" "live plants" etc... but the mail carriers are usually rushed to do a job in a specific time and sometimes don't register what's on the boxes). I have learned it is my responsibility to make sure I keep track of plant orders, and make sure I notify the delivery person, so we are all in the loop.

I'm definately not a seller, but I probably would not have refunded you for that plant. I think they went beyond what was called for in an effort to give good customer service. The fact that the plant is still alive after what it went through is a miracle. Be grateful!

In the future, if you intend on purchasing any more plants in the wintertime, make sure you include in your payment when you pay (that is the only way, unless you wait for an invoice from the seller) the extra amount for a heat pack or two. Even then, as Katrina says, a heat pack will not always protect the plant. For your sake, and to avoid more dissappointment, I think it would be best for you to wait until the weather is more temperate in your area before purchasing more mail-order plants.