Inside Bonsai Development

What is the Deal?

I was recently talking to someone about internet bonsai stores and the bonsaimonks came up in conversation. A bunch of monks living in a secluded enclave, devoting themselves to enlightenment through bonsai, what is there not to like? It sounds like a great idea, unfortunately it is not well executed.

I made an order from them (they have a snazzy website and the prices were admittedly pretty good.) I ordered a set of three glazed pots and volume one of John Naka's classic 'Bonsai Techniques'. That is where things started going downhill.

I received the wrong pots and volume two. I called the monks and talked to a couple of the brothers, both of whom said they would immediately refund me the difference on the price of the pots (the ones shipped were a few dollars cheaper). However they did not want to pay for me to return the stuff for the correct merchandise. There reasoning was that the shipping would cost more than the value of the pots. To make a long story short, I never got refunded the difference and I was stuck with merchandise I did not order. I have never come across such an unprofessional retailer. If you are going to run a charity organization, that is fine, but do not advertize it as a legitimate business.