I think “rip-off” is a fair description of the events that took place in the original post, which is where the thread title came from.
I enquired at FF about a landscaping estimate this summer and was told that they charge $50 for an estimate. The $50 would be applied toward the bill if I hired them to do the job, but if not, I'd be out the $50. I didn't bother to get an estimate from them. I was able to get a sufficient number of free estimates for my landscaping project.
Since then I’ve been into FF three times to purchase plants. I’ve walked out every time without purchasing anything. As a new Floridian I had a lot of questions about the plants I want to add to my landscaping but getting helpful answers from the sales staff at FF is like pulling teeth. I was made to feel like I was "bothering" the sales staff whenever I attempted to get my questions answered. Perhaps they are interested in and good at large landscaping jobs, but they don’t seem overly interested in small retail customers. That’s been my experience on all of my visits, including my last (and final) visit to them last week. I won’t be going back there, ever.
I went down the street to TerraScape and it was a wonderful experience. Bonnie, the nursery manager came right up to me and offered help. She even suggested a smaller (and less expensive) size container plant than I was planning on buying because they grow so fast. TerraScape is smaller and may not have as large of a selection, but they seem to have everything I’ll ever need and the customer service and shopping experience is far superior to FF.
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