I want to preface this saying I MAY update the review at some point if I go back for a third time,…read morebut for now here are how my first two experiences went:
First visit - I did purchase three plants that were well cared for, but the overall experience was NOT GOOD. I went the day after learning this place carries Texas Madrones and was eventually met by a man (David) who was too busy yelling questions to Pablo (plant expert) and playing unusual snippets of songs as loudly as possible while also fielding calls from the occasional customer.
During his phone conversations I heard him clearly take time to listen to the customer on the phone (he did not even register what I was talking about when I asked him questions, nor did he pay any attention to me, the only one in the nursery) and he continued to "look through me" all the way until I checked out with my three plants having learned that their madrones may or may not become available in October or November each year.
I told my wife about the dismal experience, she said maybe it was a one off AND understood that a lot of large property owners do not really pay much attention to those who look like me, darker skin and also not riding up in a visibly high dollar SUV, etc. We figured another visit might tell a tale.
Just last week I drove over 400 miles from Big Bend National Park to revisit this place. The plant selection is great, before I forget. Either way I arrived in time to talk with Pablo for a while at the "inside" nursery about the madrones that were being raised and I even got to see some before David called Pablo so that he was not the one talking with me anymore. Pablo and I are both a bit different in skin color to David, just as a possibly relevant detail.
When I walked to the main part of the outdoor nursery since Pablo had been called away from the "inside" nursery, David was standing in the entryway of the outdoor nursery asking "How can I help you?" when obviously I was there looking at plants. I mentioned I was looking at plants and he said "You can look all you want!" while not moving at all from the entryway to the fenced nursery.
I said (and gestured with a point towards the plants he was blocking access to) "I'm going to look at these plants" and he finally moved, allowing me to walk into the outdoor nursery. I started at the back where some of the larger trees are, mostly to familiarize myself with the many local natives. As I was there in the furthest back corner, a section of sprinklers mysteriously turned on. I quickly walked out of the back row noting that old man David was sitting on the porch just watching. No apology, no consideration, nothing.
I thought to comment to him "You could've at least warned me about the sprinklers" thinking they were on a timer, but when no other sprinklers turned in any other row on after my initial dousing, I felt I was dealing with a racially motivated encounter. My perception is unique because of the unique circumstances, and maybe David is not "ethnically concerned" but either way I did not want to harm my potential of eventually purchasing a madrone for my own personal garden, so I decided against commenting on being doused with water on this cold morning at opening time.
Along the drive to Natives, I saw a lot of yuccas that I wanted to inquire about since David's store carried a few. I even had earmarked about six other plants I was going to take back with me from this trip when I went to ask David a question. I was well into the question that he appeared to be nodding on about when his phone rang. "Excuse me, I have to take this" he said and then just answered the phone, cutting me off and again making me feel like less than a person.
I walked to my car and decided to leave without buying any additional plants. I called him when I was between Kerrville and home and told David that I felt like less than a person when he treated me the way he did on the past two visits. He said "We have plenty of customers who leave us reviews saying we have good customer service."
Am I not a customer, having purchased items in the past and having returned to get more items with the intention of going back yet again for what I wanted from the start? Was I not right in front of the man who ignored me and dropped me for someone on the phone? Furthermore, here is what happened when I called just to clarify whether I was important or not compared to the "unknown" buyer on the phone:
When I called David to voice my frustration, my call dropped due to a spotty signal. He hadn't even answered the phone when my call dropped. About a minute later before I called him back, my phone rang direct from David who was calling to see whose call he missed. His call dropped as well due to the signal. A minute later I called him back to voice my frustration. He answered, I told him the story you read above, he told me "We have plenty of customers..." saying how they enjoyed and praised his "good" customer service.
