"We bought our tree four years ago and this is the second year we have had a section of our tree not work. We were able to buy similar lights to replace the dark section last year from another company, as customer service said that Balsam Hill does not sell any lights directly from them or replacement sections of the tree itself. After my husband and I worked for four hours together to cut out the bad lights and reattach the replacement light strings we were horrified this year to find yet a different part of another section was dead this year. We were going to attempt this tedious job again, but after my husband fell from a ladder today and dislocated his shoulder that tree job is not going to happen. It’s too bad we have to deal with this company for not standing behind its product when we paid for what we thought was a great investment in our holiday cheer. If I sold beautiful trees like theirs, I would stand behind my product and cherish my customers. Not sure what’s going on in their company. "
"Just took our tree out of the box and it is beautiful! Looks so full and realistic, with minimal fluffing of the branches. When we took it out of the box there was a large rip in the seam of the thick cover - I contacted customer service, an a replacement was already shipped out today. Pleased with the purchase so I went and ordered a few more things ! "
"We bought our 9' tree in 2014. For the first two years it was great! Last year two of our sections didn't light up. After many conversations and emails with them, they sent out strands of lights to put on those two sections - not good for a pre-lit tree! So we had to manually put those strands on those sections. After an additional many emails and phone calls, in October of this year they sent out two replacement sections - they worked. Today, the day after Thanksgiving, we got out our expensive pre-lit Balsam Hill tree and two of the other sections didn't light up. Because it is out of warranty they will only send out more strands of lights. I would not recommend Balsam Hill for a Christmas tree. When you pay this much money you expect a quality tree. We do not have that."
"I am not sure that I have ever written a review about a product or service before, but so far this experience has been so unsatisfactory that I thought I would warn other possible customers.
We had been considering a purchase of a Balsam Hill tree for 2 years. We finally decided to order one a few days ago. I placed the order on a Saturday, which I would assume would ship out the following Monday since that is what the website stated at the time my order was placed. I waited for 3 days expecting a shipping confirmation email, but never received one. I finally decided to start contacting customer service by email. I quickly realized that this was not going to be easy. I asked very simple questions; why has my order not shipped and when is it expected to ship. After 8 emails from Balsam Hill customer service (all from different people) I still have no answer. Every response is just a standard "we are sorry for your trouble "response". I was told in one email that warehouses were closed the week of Thanksgiving, which seemed extremely bizarre. Not getting any response through email, I decided to call. I was able to speak with someone (9th different person) about my issue. He said that none of the warehouses were closed and said that he "thought" my package shipped out on Monday, but blamed FedEx for not providing tracking numbers. He went on to say that I should receive the tree later than the 2nd Tuesday after my order was placed. At least this person provided an answer. I decided to email once more to see if the stories matched, and I received a response stating that I would be receiving a $50 credit on my order due to the shipping issues. However I received another email a few hours later stating that the $50 credit was a mistake and I was only receiving a 5% credit. the difference is only a few dollars, but it just further backs up how the customer service department is not on top of things. I am really not sure why I have not just asked for refund (since my credit card has been changed the full amount), I guess I am just hoping that if we actually receive the tree that it will be what we expected.
This review will come across as though I am a harsh person that is difficult to deal with and I hate that, but I am someone that feels as though I deserve a true explanation for the shipping issues. We made sure to order it so that it would arrive in a reasonable time frame. Thankfully there is more to the Christmas season than a beautiful green tree in our den. "
"Update:
They made it right, even thought it took several hours of my time to get to that point.
Original:
We respected this company three years ago when we bought our first few trees. (We put up five trees each year.)
Two of the the three trees had lights that failed—one after two years and one after three years. These were not cheap trees either.
On the second failure, they said we missed the warranty cutoff by a month—but only after wasting nearly a full hour of our Friday evening, including putting us on hold four times and having us send an emailed picture of the tree twice.
The product/light failures are a serious problem, and these malfunctioning lights are a persistent and consistent issue—as evidenced by comments here and on their Facebook page, especially over the last few weeks.
Interestingly, they had been resolving problems—according to follow up posts from consumers—and suddenly they just stopped. Everyone sharing stories of serious problems on Facebook now (about customer service, product damage, shipping issues, etc.) gets a generic message that publicly promises exceptional customer service is headed that way....followed up with zero actual solutions happening. (They assume we won’t check back in with other consumers.)"
"I must say I'm pretty disappointed in my tree as well as the customer service. I purchased an 8ft lighted spruce for $800. The connections aren't tight and the tree tilts and is crooked in almost an "S" shape. I had to shove cardboard in the space to tighten it up and have it stand straight. I also received an email talking about a current sale, and less than 30 days later the price had dropped a full $100. When I called to address both matters, they informed me that they will only price match for 14 days. As far as I'm concerned that is an extremely poor policy, and does not hold up to other corporate retail policies. So I was punished for giving them my business early during a slower time. As for a solution for the crooked tree, I was asked to dismantle the tree, try other sections in different places and at best have replacement sections sent out. I can't imagine a bigger hassle. To top it off, I realize I could have returned the tree for a refund with a $25 restocking fee and rebought the tree and saved $75, but again, the hassle is too great. Overall, for spending $800 on a tree I was expecting much better quality and customer service. I am very disappointed and next time, I'll go to Costco, where at least I know they appreciate their customers. At least the cardboard should do the trick and get me through the season, so there's that."
"I admit that Balsam Hill products look great. The problem comes in if you have an issue. We bought a Tree topper for our tree, Nov. 2017. We used it for one Christmas season and then packed it up in the original packaging for storage. Fast forward to Nov, 2018, when I was putting it back on the top of the tree. The weld broke. So, I called and explained. They proceeded to tell me that there was nothing that they could do. Their exact words were "these types of items are not eligible for warranty claims". They did suggest, however, that I GLUE it back together. AHHHH! I don't pay a premium for a product that has to be GLUED back together after only one season. Note that all we wanted was for them to replace the item, didn't want our money back and we were willing to send it back to them. We will never buy from Balsam Hill again. They will not stand behind their products. "
"I’ve never been more disappointed in a company than i am with this one. I ordered a new tree for our family the first week of November. It arrived about a week later and we were so excited to have an artificial tree that could be set up early for our family to enjoy. That’s about the only positive feeling that’s come out of this experience: anticipation of receiving a product that works. Upon initial set up, the middle section of the tree was broken. Called the 800 # and was issued a warranty replacement with no expedited shipping option. Not happy but ok.. we’ll wait another 5+ days to receive the replacement. Finally received the replacement and got it all out together only to find out that the middle section and the top section clear lights aren’t working. Super annoyed at this point. Called 800# - again. The rep wanted to walk me through troubleshooting .. fine. The questions were a joke - is your tree plugged in? Are you sure your outlet works? Umm.. yes. The problem is the half the lights on the tree don’t work and half of them do so I’m pretty sure the tree is getting power. 40 minutes later, she is sending me yet another replacement but this time it’s the top section. Even though the middle section *and* the top section are the ones not working. And expedited shipping? As if. It’ll ship within 3-5 business days. Except at this point, we’re so close to Thanksgiving that it’ll be the week after before the 3rd attempt even arrives. So much for buying an artificial tree so we would have it to enjoy throughout thanksgiving. So here we are... it’ll be 3 weeks after our initial order before we get the 3rd replacement pieces and I’m not confident that this will even work. . And no one at Balsam Hill seems to care enough to do anything to make this right. $750 for a tree that is broken - at least twice- and a company that can’t even go the extra mile to get replacements shipped sooner.
and for what it’s worth, I have no question that this review will not be published. It’ll be overlooked just the same as our ongoing problems with this product. "
"I have admired Balsam Hill trees for years but figured I would never own one. So I was SO excited when this year I ordered a 7.5' Balsam Hill Fraser Fir Flip Tree on Sept 16th. I started putting it together a few days before Halloween (early I know!) Imagine my disappointment when I opened the box to discover that the base didn't lock down the tree (it was broken), the top 1/3 of the clear lights didn't work, branches were actually broken and an actual ornament fell off the tree. What in the world? This was NOT what I expected from a Balsam Hill tree! And that was just SOME of the things I noticed about my "NEW" tree! I could only imagine that Balsam Hill had accidentally sent me a tree that had been returned. This began a long serious of calls to their customer service department. It's too long for me to describe all of my many phone calls with them... but suffice it to say that everything I was told via their customer service reps and customer service managers ended up being not true. I was so disappointed with their incredibly poor customer service, that I wrote a 4 page detailed letter to their CEO describing everything that had happened and how disappointed I was with their customer service (and in sending me an obviously returned tree.) I thought for sure he would want to know what was happening within his company. The only response from this company? An email asking me to rate their company. What? Did my 4 page letter not accurately describe how I felt treated as their customer? SO... BUYER BEWARE with Balsam Hill! That's why I'm posting this so other potential buyers will know the truth. If you buy a Balsam Hill tree that actually works and lights up correctly... then I imagine you will have a beautiful tree. However, if they send you a tree that has obviously been returned, be prepared to spend hours and hours with them in an attempt to make it right. Truthfully, I would suggest that you do what I finally did... just buy a tree from Costco. At least they stand by their products."
"
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Thief’s from Balsam Hill
Ok, I ordered Silverado 10’ lit garland to go with the tree I purchased a few weeks ago. I first paid for over night shipping. That never happened. I was given a credit ONLY because I had placed a review about Balsam Hill. The merchandise is still not here and all I get is excuse after excuse as to why I don’t have the garland. I needed this to finish decorating my home for family that will be arriving Tuesday night for the Thanksgiving holiday. My fireplace mantle looks very bare with NO lit garland from BALSAM HILL. I have filed a grievance with FTC and BBB. Just waiting to hear the excuse from Balsam Hill on the reason I don’t have the merchandise that I put on my Credit Card. I’m filing a dispute with my credit company on Tuesday and will forward these excuses I’ve been given to my attorney. He said he’d love to sue these people for taken hard earned money from people and not delivering the merchandise. Another excuse I got from Balsam Hill is Federal Express is backed up and that’s the main reason I haven’t gotten my merchandise. What’s funny is I work for Federal Express and this is nothing but a lie from the pits of HELL. We never say we are to backed up for almost 2 weeks and can’t pick up the merchandise to deliver to the customer..
BALSAM HILL IS A FRAUD !!!
I don’t want anymore of your freaking excuses as to why I don’t have the merchandise. There are other garlands with lights I would have agreed to but I was told we don’t do things like that. I have forwarded my complaint to Dateline and I hope it shows the world what a rip off you all are BALSAM HILL.
I am telling everyone that I come in contact what a@@ holes you all are. Just wait til court time and see what the judge declares !"
"I purchased a six foot tree from Balsam Hill last year, during the summer, and put it up at Christmas. I was so disappointed in it. There are gaps everywhere, even though I spent a very long time fluffing it. It looks absolutely nothing like the picture, there aren't enough branches, and our local WalMart had one half the price and twice as nice. Tried refunding it, but naturally since I was purchased several months before Christmas that could not be done. This year I gave that tree to my son, and shopped at WalMart. Save yourself a LOT of money, do not buy a tree from here, because its not always true that you get what you pay for."
"So excited to put up our new Balsam Hill Christmas tree. We unbox our tree only to find out we have 1 complete tree....that we did not order.... and half of the tree we did order. We call customer service and are on hold for 20 minutes before finally talking to our first of 4 representatives. We explain our situation and the representative tells us the mistake tree is on the house and we can keep it and then helps us order the additional pieces for the tree we did order. After about 15-20 minutes of figuring everything out the rep says he will send us a shipping label to return the mistake tree.... even though earlier he said we could keep it. So we get passed along to 3 other representatives, for a call lasting over an hour and 15 minutes. After asking many times if they would do anything to compensate us for their error the answer was no because we had already used a discount code when I ordered the original tree. They would be happy to give me 5% off on a future order.... are you kidding me!? We said we will send back everything and to credit our credit card back for the original tree. We were very inconvenienced in this process and Balsam Hill didn’t do anything to help the situation. Now we do not have a tree that we planned on putting up today and will have to do over the busy holiday weekend. Please do not give Balsam Hill your business as they do not seem to care about customer satisfaction."
"Never order from balsam hill. I ordered a tree on 11-8 and received an email with shipment info in 11-9. I received 1 of 2 boxes on 11-12. The second box still says “label created” 9 DAYS LATER. I called on 11-14 and was given the run around and was told Fed Ex 100% had the box and it would arrive that day or the next. Still no tree. Called 11-15 and they filed a claim and was told the tree never left the warehouse. Was told I would hear back within 24-48 hours and at the very least a new box would be shipped within 48 hours if they couldn’t find the original box. Never hear from them. Call again on 11-17 and the girl tells me it shipped and will arrive within a few days. Another lie. It still says shipping label created when I track it. Ask to speak to a manager. He tells me it’s the winter weather and fed ex has misplaced it! TOTAL LIE! It has never even left the wear house. I even called Fed Ex and they said they have never gotten the package from Balsam Hill. I tell him I just want a new tree shipped. He says no I have to wait on my claim. The same claim I was told would be handled within 24-48 hours and it’s well past that time frame. HORRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE. Now I will have to order from another company and dispute with my credit card company! Hopefully I can at least get a tree by Christmas!"
"Purchased a 12' BH Fir during the post Christmas 2016 sale. When we put it up in Nov 2017, we noted that a zone of lights were not lit and the tree had several broken bulbs. We were unsuccessful getting it to light up and called BH who informed us we'd receive a replacement tree as it was under warranty. Unfortunately they didn't have any and were back ordered until August 2018, but that it was one of their biggest sellers so they'd have them. We lived with the partially lit tree that year knowing we'd get a new one for the 2018 holiday season. Needless to say, August and the following months through November rolled by and after 5 phone calls and many "oh, they are scheduled in next month" we've given up on getting a tree that works for 2018 because the tree has to go up immediately for business reasons. They apparently have no idea when their trees will come in for warranties and we're tired of getting the runaround. They offer no alternatives, just lip service. Needless to say, a 12' tree was quite expensive and we are upset with the BH experience."
"After reviewing this site, there doesn't appear a need to warn folks about this borderline criminal company so I'll summarize by saying that I too have had the zero star experiences of so many others on this site. Strings of lights not working right out of the box followed by hours on the phone with customer service reps that don't know the product, repair kits, replacement parts and finally, yes -- a replacement tree that when removed from the box had (you guessed it) three entire branches of lights that didn't work -- all on a $1500.00 tree.
If I were composing the only negative review of this incompetent and completely indifferent organization, I could understand why folks might take a chance. But seriously, take a look at the collection of experiences detailed on this site and steer clear of these products. "