Compare Balsam Hill Christmas Tree Co. vs Hammacher Schlemmer

"Grew up with the look and smell of real Christmas trees. Parents switched to artificial trees after I grew up and I vowed never to do that. This year, at the age of 76 , I changed my mind. Spent time online looking for products that did not look artificial. Kept going back to the Balsam Hill website and ordered a 9 foot tall Fraser. It arrived on time and I was able to assemble the tree in about 15 minutes. Spent a bit more time spreading the branches to make it look more natural. Finally I put on strings of lights, clear glass ornaments and strings of gold and silver beads we brought home from Mardi Gras last year. The tree is beautiful and everyone thought it was real. "

"I'm a professional holiday decorator. I found the balsam hill tree ny customer ordered was a huge disappointment. I have decorated more than 5k trees over the years and balsam hill by far is the most difficult tree to fluff and get to set right. Most of the finer trees are stiff on the exterior but have pliable branches which allows you to move branches around to prevent too many holes bit balsam hill does not have that ability. My customer bought one of the higher end trees spent over 3k and every time the tree would shift the lights flickered, so being a concierge service for holiday decorating I contacted balsam hill and basically it can happen. After all these years I always wanted a balsam hill for myself this turned me off. I have over 30 trees in my everyday inventory and never had a tree that flickered when you move it. "