"Assembled on 12/22, base so stuck together that weld broke while trying to expand it. Numerous rubber "realistic" tips had broken off during transit and more broke off easily during assembly and expanding the limbs. All lights working on 22rd but a strand was out the two days later. Nothing had changed overnight. Way too many lights out to check individually and why should you have to on a new tree. Overall cheap looking tree. I expected much more at the sale price of 399.00. Very glad I did not purchase it at retail price. Stay away from this company's products. No guarantee beyond Christmas Day? I can't return it now? Who would spend hundreds of dollars on something that may not last much longer than that."

"We noticed after about 5 hours of use that there were a strand of lights out...the $500 tree was likely Dead On Arrival and we just did not notice the broken lights earlier.

Customer Service (even my letters to the Found/CEO) refuses to pay for return shipping even after 5 phone calls and 2 emails to the CEO. They state only other option is to wait until their Warranty Service Department opens in February to get replacement parts!!! They want me to wait 60+ days for PARTS on a 5-hour used broken tree?! Then dig it out of the basement next summer, put it together with the new parts, test it, then box it back up in the basement, then open it again Christmas 2012 and see if it works still?! Moreover, they said I had to return it by Christmas 2011 (10 days from now) or I would not get a refund on my $500 tree purchase!

Writing Better Business Bureau and California Attorney General.

***Short of story: STAY AWAY FROM BALSAM HILL! ***

Google and read the other horror stories. There are even websites solely dedicated to Balsam Hill complaints!
"

"Terrible customer service model. First I didn't get any response from my email for days and finally after resending it, a rely came. Then on the phone the person was very unfriendly - no customer service skills. I purchased a tree and wanted to exchange it for a larger one but they don't do exchanges. You have to just buy the next one. The return policy is is not customer friendly. And, the cost of shipping back is so high you may as well keep the darn thing."

"Big problem and no way to get help.....
we went to put up our tree...just the third Christmas we have had it....over one third of the lights won't work...not just one strand...although it might have been a strand out but when we tried to determine which strand it was we couldn't as the way they were intermixed made it impossible.... maybe it's just a lot of bulbs, but if so they are scattered all over the treet? But I mean LOTS.....customer service says it is normal to have them go out in storage due to lightening in the summer and static ! Maybe...but all the other lights stored with the tree are just fine....

We have a large tree lighting event in 6 days and so were concerned. I called the company expecting them to stand behind their beautiful tree....Three calls later speaking with nice but not very helpful people I was told the trees are made and assembled in China and that the old 5 year warranty was changed to 3 years (three months before we bought the tree).

So.... well over a third of the tree is dark and after three LONG calls I am told that the warranty on the lights expired about 5 weeks ago....and so on a ten year warrantied tree the company feels they have to do nothing....HOWEVER the supervisor offered to "make an exception" and send me four strands of lights and some bulbs. I asked them to overnight a new tree which would just give me time to "fluff" it, decorate it and get ready for our first guests arriving on Saturday. I was told no.....and as others have mentioned they don't do repairs until February "even on trees in the 3 year warranty". To top it off they have no trees to back up problems...like replacements...so if one is needed it has to come from China after February. They said they couldn't expedite shipping on the bulbs or lights either. "Corporate wouldn't approve it"...

We have tried to get the old lights off and couldn't do it. They are very crossed on the tree and it one case seemed attached to the branch.so we either have to buy a new tree for our tree blessing and lighting event or decorate and light a tree with almost half the lights out. I asked customer service about replacing the bulbs myself and was told thee ones they use are brighter and the ends might be different... I thought we could just take off all their lights and start over with new ones.....Can't do that either I guess....

A $500 tree is meant to last more than 4 weeks of use. Did I mention this is a Convent and we bought the tree with donated funds hoping to save money from having to purchase a "real" tree every year. ...
Did I mention that the Bishop is doing the tree lighting and blessing next week....
and that a number of people will attend?

We are VERY disappointed in the lack of concern for us who are your customers. We have a steady stream potential customers through the convent each Christmas and for the past two years many have commented on our beautiful tree. Unfortunately this year I will be suggesting that as beautiful as the tree is, that they NOT buy one from Balsam Hill. I can no longer recommend your company."

"Do NOT buy a Balsam Hill pre-lit tree.

Ours has not had wiring problems as other reviewers here have experienced, but the incidence of bulb failure has been far beyond what could be considered normal. Their web site says that you should expect "a few" bulbs to fail now and then. This is laughable. After the first year of ownership, so many bulbs were out that I was convinced it must be a wiring problem. We contacted customer service and were told that we would have to send the tree back -- at our expense. How? The tree is 7' tall and breaks down into five sections that take up a great deal of room. It also weighs quite a bit. Will they provide packing materials? No. I can only imagine the cost of packing and shipping a tree like this. A "warranty" that requires the customer to return a product like this to the manufacturer at the customer's expense and risk is like having no warranty at all. It's like buying a Ford automobile and being told that if you want warranty service you'll have to ship the car back to Detroit at your expense. It's absurd and complete joke.

So I purchased a tool to test line voltage in order to diagnose the problem. It turned out voltage was present in the strings. It was the bulbs themselves. Dozens and dozens and dozens of them were burned out. As I write this, I've worked on four out of the five sections of the tree, and have replaced over FOUR HUNDRED individual lights. I've put hours of work into this.

I contacted customer service to complain about the extraordinary number of burned-out bulbs, which any thinking person would know cannot possibly be normal. The customer service rep was argumentative, and insisted that this was normal. No apology, not even an expression of sympathy for the frustration and irritation of having to spend so much time and effort replacing so many bulbs.

So here it is straight from the horse's mouth, folks: If you buy a Balsam Hill tree, within two years you should expect to have to replace hundreds of bulbs yourself. This is "normal". Defective bulbs? Nope, that's not the reason. Defective design leading to premature bulb failure? Nope. Balsam Hill says this degree of bulb failure is normal. After spending many hundreds of dollars for your tree, enjoy the many hours of tedious work that will be required of you replacing substandard lights that the manufacturer describes on its web site as "high-quality". Because your only other alternative will be to ship the tree back at your expense.

One star is too high a rating for this company and its terrible products. Don't say I didn't warn you."

"Wow, I’m really surprised at the reviews here...We have a Balsam Hill tree – the Berkshire Mountain Fir - and we absolutely love it! We bought one of their lower cost trees but it is still very high quality and we’ve had no problems with it. It’s a slim style tree which we think looks really elegant and doesn’t take up too much space in our living room. Despite being a slim tree, it still has a lot of branches and a very natural full look. Granted, it didn’t look as full out of the box and I did have to spend some time shaping the tree (they give instructions in the box on how to do it) but once we shaped it, it has looked great. We’ve had it a couple of years now, and haven't even had any bulbs burn out - but they included extra bulbs for when we need them. We're very satisfied with our Balsam Hill tree. "

"Avoid Balsam Hill trees. Customer service is very weak - google Balsam Hill complaint and see what you get. Our tree had a part that would not light up. When we called about the problem, we were told they could not send the replacement before Christmas but that they would send it after Christmas. However, after Christmas, they sent a letter saying that if we still had a problem with our tree we needed to call them up and discuss it! Keep in mind that when we called customer service the first time they kept us on hold, no joke, for 1.5 hours. Do yourself a favor and avoid."

"If a recession has any virtue, it is to force companies like Balsam Hill to choose between more customer-friendly business practices or be purged from existence.

The very expensive tree we ordered from Balsam Hill looked and work magnificently for 5 weeks. Then the top section of lights went out. I replaced the fuses and inspected each and every one of the 100+ lights of this section (2 hrs of mind=blowing tedium) to no avail. Emails to support went unreturned, and 3 separate phone calls w/ avg of 30 min waits each were never answered. I've since learned through other customer reviews that this is a standard practice. Also, if the product is defective and the company decides to honor a refund, we'd still be out $100+ dollars in return shipping costs, apart from being without a Xmas tree until after the holidays.

If the company invested as much in customer support as in marketing and web development, they'd have a decent chance of survival through these hard times. As it were, the company's value decreases exponentially with each poor customer experience. Unless the company does a 180-degree turnabout in its priorities, I suspect we will not hear of Balsam Hill next season or the following."

"The worst store I have ever dealt with. Their server kept telling me my order didn't go through, although it actually had. Every time they said the order didn't go through, I tried again. By the time they acknowledged my order,they had charged me for thirteen Christmas trees! They did send an email saying that they would credit back twelve of the charges, but they only gave me credit for nine of them so that I still have four charges on my card. They have not replied to my emails and I cannot get through to their customer service number. I have waited for thirty minutes twice.
Tomorrow I will alert my credit card company that I am contesting the charges.
Go elsewhere. I hope they are out of business by next Christmas."

"I have had the same trouble as other reviewers. My wife and I spent $700 on a nice tree to be enjoyed supposedly for Years to come.

When the tree arrived we set it up. It had a significant lean to the side that I could not fix. I took the tree apart and put it back together again at least 4 times and still the lean was there.

We also noticed a smashed electrical plug that looked unsafe.

We called Balsam Hill NUMEROUS times. Each time I held the line for around 35 to 45 minutes just to speak with someone. When someone finally answered they told me I would have to wait for warranty help to call me back. They never did. We did a credit card back dispute, BBB complaint, and our situation still remains unsolved.

Please don't make the same mistake as we did and find another supplier for your tree. You do not want to deal with these people, they are ripoff artists. "

"This is the worst possible company you could ever consider doing business with regarding purchasing a Christmas tree. We are a very dissatisfied customer being added to the long list that seems to be growing with this company. There are numerous negative reviews, poor feedback and complaints about Balsam Hill and their web site www.balsamhill.com

After spending almost $2000 on a Christmas tree at the www.balsamhill.com web site, it was put up for Christmas of 2009, just after New Years Day a complete set of several hundred bulbs went out. We called their customer support department and they suggested checking the fuses. We did that and found they had blown. Immediately upon replacing them they blew again. A third attempt, they blew again. It was obvious now that there was some kind of electrical defect in the light string.

We called Balsam Hill again and they said a member of customer services would call back. They never did. So we called them again and were then told they couldn’t do anything about it until February. We called again in February and were told somebody would call us back. They never did so we called our credit card company to file a chargeback. Balsam Hill responded to that by saying we should call them again. We did, only to be told that they may issue an RMA but it will take up to 3 weeks for somebody to get back to us to do that and only if they think it will be necessary.

It has now been over 3 weeks and we have heard nothing at all from Balsam Hill. Having called them today, only to get the run-around yet again. This time told that there is nobody available in customer services to answer and somebody would call back. Sure, we have heard that one before! It’s not going to happen. I asked if the person had ever seen all the negative reviews on the internet about Balsam Hill and of course she said she has never looked and when questioned, why not? She said she was a temporary worker. This company seems to have an answer for everything.

I would never recommend this company to anyone. They have zero customer service and just do not care. Their products and their company appear to be nothing other than a rip-off! "

"I would NOT recommend this company to anyone.

I received a defective tree from this company and after multiple attempts to get the problem resolved (company stated they never received my initial phone call regarding the defective tree....total lie, I have phone records to prove it), I requested a return authorization and shipped it back at a cost of $121.96. After the tree was on its way I was informed that the return shipping would not be reimbursed to me.

I fought long and hard over this, even involved the BBB. It's just too long of a story to put down in words here, but believe me this company does not believe in "the customer is always right." They wanted no part of taking blame for sending a defective product. They thought that I should have fixed the tree. Fixing a prelit tree, now that's something I'm skilled at....NOT!

Again, I would NOT recommend this company to anyone. The product was shoddy and their customer service skills are horrendous. A total rip off. "