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Vendor Review: Karel Knize |
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Seed from Peru
takes 2 to 3 months,
then won't germinate... |
WARNING UPDATE: September 12, 2008
Hi,
I was amused by your webpage description of your experience with dealing
with Knize. I agree that he is a terrible businessman and I would like
to see his operation shut down.
I ordered plants from him in 2005 and never received nearly the number
or species that I ordered. What little I got was entirely mislabeled,
evidently so that he could correlate the shipment with his forged CITES
document, nor did I get a refund for the plants that I paid for and
never received. I should have learned my lesson then.
Recently I thought I would try again and remind him that I would not
order unless I got what I paid for. Well, I emailed an order and after a
week or so eventually got a reply that he would do better to ship the
plants I ordered to someone in Arizona instead. What the hell?
Fortunately I did not send him any money.
I have written this guy off and will do my best to warn
others before dealing with this crook. I think your webpage pretty much
sums up the frustration of dealing with Knize.
Best regards,
Don |
JUNE 1, 2007 WARNING: Germination = zero
I ordered KK242 and KK339 seed in January. Huge hassle,
finally arrived in May. After 30 days; no germination.
Seed from my European supplier planted at the same time,
under identical conditions germinated normally.
The problem with Knize is that his seed is unlabeled as to
year collected. Is it 1 year old? 2 years old? With his 2-3
month order filling it will take at least 3 to 4 months from
the time you send funds until you learn if the seed is
viable or not.
I will not buy any more seed from Karel Knize. Why waste
money and months of time to get--nothing?
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| 2-months in 2006 and 3-months in 2007 for seed
to arrive. Had to send many emails & letters asking
"Where is my seed?" Knize is NOT a reliable source
for individual buyers—apparently he only wants to
wholesale seed to the big European suppliers. |
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My 2006 Peruvian seed order took over 2 months to obtain;
this year it took 3 months.
Many emails and 4 letters finally did the trick.
This year I mailed Knize a photo
of his website with the "El Bandito?" image on it.
I accused him in my letter of being a thief.
Then my seed was mailed. But like last year there is no
invoice, no literature, no receipt, no order form,
etc. I send money and then try for months to
wear him down by showing him I won't go away until
he mails the seed.
During the 3-months I waited for my seeds from Knize I
purchased some from Europe. The seeds arrived in only 2
weeks. That source supplies invoices, receipts, etc.
and payment is traceable through PayPal.
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2006 KK242 had such good germination I bought
more. Unfortunately the 2007 packet of KK242 had
zero germination! Seed from Europe, planted in the
same germination chamber at the same time,
germinated perfectly. Knize, in my experience, can
not be trusted.
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| Below is the Knize email I received nearly 3 months
after sending payment— |
Hi, last min shipemnt per Air Mail certified
sent. I minf you have the envelope on the desk next
days.
I seen the delivery problem in local Customs and
Regiostartion service,usually if anything
happened,wrong address,any delivery documents or
othewr cause comming the parcel or envelope back 2-8
weeks.
After Registration just 2 for USA this year lost upt
today and not received back.
No problem with wholesale Delivery
we sent 4 sachets 2x pachanoi 2x peruvianus numered...
Direct from the Central Mail office and controled,
must be ready.
sincerely K.Knize |
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Karel Knize in a nutshell
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No PayPal/No credit cards; those would give you recourse.
Instead you have to pay by cash or bank transfer up front—with no
recourse if you never receive anything. Bad idea!
• No communication; no phone, head scratching email replies.
No reply to letters; no invoices.
• If seed is eventually obtained it may have low to zero
germination. This suggests it is too old to be used.
In fact, I have had to send repeated letters and emails for months to
obtain anything. Forget about it!
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Europe had the best seed sources |
Want a safe, fast, and professional source of seed? Try this
excellent German source.
http://www.koehres-kaktus.de/index1gb.htm |
• Select—List (Samenliste is "seed list" in German)
• Select Cacti - a PDF list opens up
• Scroll down to
TRICHOCEREUS
More... |
My experience
Seed arrives by airmail promptly. My first order was
registered mail that I had to pick up at the Post Office. I
gave them my bank # and they did a debit. Nice, friendly,
professional folks. Danke schön! |
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(Below) Peruvian seed varieties that either can't be
obtained (you'll lose any money you send them), or the seed
will be too old to germinate, etc. Stick with the European
sources and you won't get burned. |
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| The images shown here look great and
may entice you to send money for an order of seed.
However, you may never receive anything.
Believe me, I know! |
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