My experience with BC Bud Depot

KeizerSoze

Well-Known Member
I will cut to the chase... I got my seeds.


The story:


I am a bit of a stickler when it comes to the genetics in my garden and like to grow from seed obtained from reliable sources. After doing some research I decided that I wanted some of the BC Bud Depot strains, so on October 23, 2013 I placed the following order at the online shop of BC Bud Depot:


BC God Bud Feminized Winner 12 Seed Pack
Girl Scout Cookies Feminized Winner 12 Seed Pack
Cinderella 99 Feminized 12 Seed Pack


The total for the order came to $425. I printed out a copy of the order confirmation email that I got, folded it around $425 cash and sent it off to BC Bud Depot via USPS Registered Mail. Registered mail takes longer to move than regular mail so it took about a week for BC Bud Depot to receive my payment. I think they received it on October 30[SUP]th[/SUP], but no later than October 31st.


I noticed that on the BC Bud Depot website the status of my order had changed from “Open” to “Processing”, and there it stayed for weeks. After a few weeks, I called and spoke to a gentleman, (who sounded like he had been sampling some of their product) who reassured me that my order would be shipped within a few days. Sure enough, my order status changed to “Shipped” and after a few days I began to look for my seeds in the daily mail. Nothing... After about 10 days I called again and spoke to a woman who told me that my order had been shipped just a few days before and that it usually takes two weeks to receive an order in the US. I asked her about the previous shipping date and she told me that she could only see info on the current shipping date...


December 9th, two weeks from the last shipping date, I got my seeds...

IMG_9840-1.jpg


As you can see from the picture above, my order came in a plain white envelop with just the address of BC Bud Depot as the return. The seeds came wrapped in two sheets of plain white paper, in the plastic container shown above. There are little square plastic tubes where the seeds are placed and q-tips that had been cut in half were stuffed in to the ends to keep the seed safe and snug during transport.


Getting the seeds out was a fiasco! I pulled the first q-tip out of the Cinderella 99 section and no seeds... I had to violently shake the container to get the first few seeds out, but the rest were stuck. I started banging the container on the counter to get the seeds out. I then realized that I was banging the ends of the other q-tips into the other seeds packaged in the same plastic container. Afraid that I was crushing the other seeds, I panicked and pulled one of the other q-tips out only to have 6 God Bud seeds fall out and mix in with my Cinderella 99 seeds...


Well the good news is that BC Bud Depot sent an extra seed for each strain, so I got 13 seeds each for a total of 39 seeds. The bad news is that the packaging was so poorly conceived, that I now have 19 seeds that I can not tell if they are God Bud or Cinderella 99. I believe that the strains are distinct enough that I will be able to sort them out in a grow... I hope.


In the end, BC Bud Depot did deliver the seeds. The process took about 6 weeks from the time I ordered to the time I received my seeds. I spoke with someone at BC Bud Depot twice. They always answered their phone and were polite to me both times I spoke with them. The shipping materials were good at protecting the seeds but not really very stealthy like some other vendors that I have used. I do not care for their packaging, it seems to keeps the seeds safe during transit, but is very difficult to deal with when you are trying to get the seeds out. All in all, they did deliver but were very slow... If the genetics are as good as advertized then I guess it will have been worth it. We shall see...


Grow Journals to follow...


Peace,


Keizer Soze
 

JohnDee

Well-Known Member
I'm familiar with BCBD packaging. It isn't perfect but you can't blame them for the fiasco...it was your own impatience and poor technique. I mean look at the words you used: "violently shake" and "banging the container" and finally "I panicked and pulled one of the other q-tips out"

I used a sharp box knife and made a few scores and opened up each individual channel. Chill next time...
JD
 

KeizerSoze

Well-Known Member
I will admit to some contributory negligence in the seed unpacking fiasco. Certainly not my finest moment and if I had "chilled out" as you suggested things likely would have turned out better...

But this is not the first time I have unpacked seed and if BC Bud Depot used packaging techniques similar to other professional breeders like...

Barneys's Farm,

Barney's Farm - LSD.jpg

Green House Seed Co

Green House Seed Co - Super Lemon Haze.jpg

or Super Strains

Super Strains - Amnesia.jpg

I would have likely had a better experience. Hard to mix up seed when each strain is individually packaged.

BC Bud Depot gets an "A" for keeping their seeds safe and secure in transit but an "F" for ease of use. I think the other seed companies provided adequate protection while providing packaging that is easier to work with and much more attractive and professional looking. BC Bud Depot's packaging looks amateurish, unprofessional and unattractive in comparison...

I certainly didn't buy the product for the packaging and it is the end results that matter. I just think that they could do much better in this regard and thus provide a better customer experience...

My $.02

Peace,

Keizer Soze
 

JohnDee

Well-Known Member
KS,
I agree that they use problematic packaging. At this point, all you can do is to let them know how you feel...and perhaps your thread is doing that. I've had several friends grow out the God Bud and were very happy with it. Very frosty and luscious looking buds. Have fun growing them...
JD
 

Buzerek

Active Member
Reading this BC Bud Depot sucks big time, expensive goods, lousy packaging, lousy customer svce, slow shipping, next time try Peakseedsbc or/and Sannies, they will put smile on your face.... world class genetics, even freebees are world class unparalleled personalized super FAST customer support and guaranteed delivery.
Who can beat that?
 

KeizerSoze

Well-Known Member
Reading this BC Bud Depot sucks big time, expensive goods, lousy packaging, lousy customer svce, slow shipping, next time try Peakseedsbc or/and Sannies, they will put smile on your face.... world class genetics, even freebees are world class unparalleled personalized super FAST customer support and guaranteed delivery.
Who can beat that?
Can't say I disagree with your synopsis... I just tried to be balanced and honest. I have had very good experience with London Seed Centre, decent prices and very fast delivery (six days start to finish last time). I have heard good things about Sannies and will check out peakseedsbc.

Thanks,

Keizer Soze
 

abalonehx

Well-Known Member
Keizer.. your avatar looks like what Heaven must be like...where can I find this pic in full resolution? :-o
 

KeizerSoze

Well-Known Member
Keizer.. your avatar looks like what Heaven must be like...where can I find this pic in full resolution? :-o
Thank you, that is quite a compliment. I took that picture as part of a project that I am working on called Girls of Pacific Coast Highway (GOPCH). My avatar picture has not been published anywhere yet (except as my avatar), but it will be released with the balance of the set at some time in the near future... If you would like to see a few of the other shots from the series, I test market some of my GOPCH stuff on deviantArt - http://gopch.deviantart.com/. (If you arent a member of deviantArt it takes about 2 seconds to sign up, turn off the kiddie filter and go...) I have done 420 themed shots with both Summer and Jane.

My favorite 420 themed shot - Not Safe For Work (18+)

Peace,

Keizer Soze
 

ActionHanks

Well-Known Member
I had germination "issues" witb my bcbd Jack Herers 0/4. Left in a shot glass for 10 hours, transfered to a moist Tshirt snippet and monitored for 16 days. Nothing. I only use this process to germ and I've never had anything from anyone NOT germ. I've had some runt seedlings but never experienced seeds that don't germ. I wont be doing business with them again.
 
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