Balsam Hill Reviews

Name: Balsam Hill
Rating: 1.26

1.3 Rating 421 Reviews

4 %

of reviewers recommend Balsam Hill

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1.3

Based on 421 reviews


Shipping & Delivery
Delivery Methods	Courier
Average Delivery Time	Within 5 Days
On-time Delivery	Greater than 66%
Accurate And Undamaged Orders	Greater than 52%
Customer Service
Communication Channels	Telephone, Email, Live Chat
Queries Resolved In	Under An Hour
Returns & Refunds
Returns Process	Could Be Better

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Balsam Hill 4 star review on 22nd December 2023

Anonymous

Anonymous // 01/01/2019

Sort by: Highest Rated Most Recent Highest Rated Filter: None None 5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Stars Helpful

“Bought a 4 1/2 foot tree it was on sale but I still don’t think it was the money. You can see right through the branches. It definitely looked better in the picture then it does out of the box. Would not recommend this to anyone.”

Helpful Report

Posted 2 years ago

“I bought Silverado slim tree and doesn’t have enough foliage you can see through even with the ornaments.”

Helpful Report

Posted 2 years ago

“In 2017, after doing some internet research, I decided to get a prelit tree from Balsam Hill. I had already seen quite a few TV ads for the Balsam Hill trees, and the online reviews (back then) were overwhelmingly positive. It was a few weeks before Christmas. Most of the stock had been sold out. Luckily for us, BH had a prelit 7ft. Frasier Fir in stock for the "discounted" price of $899. I bought it, it was delivered timely, and we were extremely happy with the tree. It really is a gorgeous tree; it's very well made, it looks real and it is extremely easy to put together. It is in 4 sections, and you just fit each section on top of the other and plug it in. Boom! You have a tree with lights. Everything worked in 2017 and 2018. In 2019, when we put the tree together, we had about 10 burned out lights, which was odd. These were all supposedly LED lights, so they shouldn't have burned out that quickly. For example, I had been using the same set of 7 strings of non-LED tree lights since my son was 5 years old (he's 30 now), and 2 of those light strings still work. In any event, BH includes a handy-dandy tool kit with its trees, which contains replacement lights. This year, however, when we put the tree up and plugged it in, whole sections of the lights were off on each of the 4 tree sections. I checked the fuses. They were fine. I tried replacing bulbs in the sections that wouldn't light, to make sure it wasn't the bulbs; the bulbs didn't light. I removed bulbs from the sections of lights that were lit, and replaced them with bulbs from the unlit sections, and they worked. Clearly, the light strings were defective. What was extremely aggravating was that it wasn't a matter of replacing one or two light strings; in each case, one-half or more of 5 or 6 different light strings weren't working. To add insult to injury, 51 separate bulbs in the sections that WERE working were burnt out and had to be replaced. I contacted Balsam Hill customer service, whose representatives need to learn new people skills. I was basically told that I was SOL because the warranty had expired, but as a "favor" to me, they would send me 2 light strands (which they did -- 2 weeks after Christmas). The point of buying a prelit tree is to have a tree with lights that work. While the Balsam Hill trees are beautiful -- they really are -- they string them with the cheapest LED lights in the entire world. In order to get the tree decorated, I had to buy lights and attach them to the unlit sections, which was difficult because all of those branches already HAD lights on them. After Christmas -- and by "after Christmas" I mean from January 15 until the present and likely continuing through the end of this week -- I have been removing the cheap-as-anything light strings from the tree and replacing them with working lights. It takes 6 or 7 hours to remove 1 light string of 150 lights. That's because the lights near the trunk of the tree are attached to the branches with tiny little zip ties that are suitable for handcuffing fleas and Christmas lights. You can't cut them off with a scissors because the zip ties are too tight and too small; you have to use a sharp paring knife or something similar. Frequently, you stab yourself. Each light not secured with a zip tie is secured with a horseshoe-shaped plastic hook that needs to be bent back on each side in order to detach the light wire. Seriously: for the past 3 weeks, I have spent 2 or 3 hours per day taking light strings off of this tree. I had to replace 1 light string on section 4 (the top); 1 light string on section 3; 1 light string on section 2 (not done yet) and 2 light strings on section 1. After replacing all the defective light strings on each tree section except for section 2, I put the tree back together to make sure everything was working together. The defective string in section 2 was still defective, and the light strings that I had not replaced on sections 3 and 4 (because they were working) are not working now. I give up. What I don't understand is why this company would create this beautiful tree with such painstaking detail, and then string it with defective lights. It was probably to save money. It's not just my tree. Since Christmas, I've been checking the internet and thousands of customers are having similar issues. So, all the work I've been doing these past 3 weeks to save myself time and trouble next Christmas has been for naught. I'll either have to buy lights to string over the existing ones that aren't working (again), or, buy a new tree. I can guarantee you, it WON'T be from Balsam Hill.”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

“I have worked hours,with out luck, trying to get the tree to look like the on line photo. You can not hang any ornament with any weight to it. I was very disappointed....for the $360 investment. I will go back to my old tree next year..”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

“No Outlet for tree topper Fraser fir flip tree order confirmation H013072178 The tree is nice but its upsetting that it doesn't have an outlet for a tree topper. Even less expensive $200 trees have that. This is tree is over 2k (US) why was that detail missed?”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

“Purchased 7’ pencil tree last year the top section leans over, it’s very unevenly spread. Very disappointed for price 👎🏻”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

“Purchased 7’ pencil tree last Xmas the top part leans over and the tree is very unevenly spread it doesn’t even have a good side...disappointed for price 👎🏻”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

“My third year with this tree and half the lights won't work. So disappointed.”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

“I ordered my first artificial tree and was extremely disappointed. It looks fake and feels plastic. It wasn't inexpensive and based on the reviews on their website and thinking if I paid more I would get a more realistic looking tree I couldn't believe what I got. I tried to leave a review on their website but wasn't able to which makes me suspicious of their reviews.”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

“So disappointed. Do not waste your money on these trees. You can purchase a more realistic looking tree at your local Walmart store. I tried to find reviews of the Balsam Hill Christmas trees before buying one, but I could not find reviews except very positive ones on their website. I found this website after I received my $400 tree and assembled it. First of all, I don't believe these are LED light bulbs. They are exactly like the replacement bulbs sold at any store, cheap and made in China. The description says that the electric lines are inside the branches. No they are not. They just lay on top of and intertwine through the fake branches. Secondly, the branches are thick plastic. They don't look realistic at all even though I upgraded my tree and paid more for "realistic" branches. I have had an artificial tree for many years. I got suckered by an ad I saw on TV. Don't let their advertisements convince you to waste money on these cheap looking trees. Thirdly, no assembly instructions were included in the box. I know it is fairly intuitive to assemble, but really Balsam Hill, you are so cheap you won't even include assembly instructions? And finally, when I called to find out how I can return this tree, I see that it is now marked down by $100 less than what I paid for it less than a week ago. You should have done the honorable thing and given me the reduced price without me having to ask for it. As I said earlier, do not waste your money on this cheap looking artificial tree.”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

“We purchased the 7.5 foot California Baby Redwood with easy-plug color and clear lights in 2015 and we have been pleased until this year. It's a big consideration to spend so much money on a tree but we knew that if it's a quality item the value for use year after year would be worth it. We read a lot of reviews online before purchasing and noticed a lot of negative feedback regarding warranty issues, but in fairness to Balsam Hill we know that readers don't always know both sides of the story so we were not deterred and have been very happy until now. This year, (Oct 2019) we pulled out the tree to do a pre-check of the lighting and find that a partial strand in one of the sections is not lighting. We have spent a lot of time looking for broken bulbs and individually swapping out each unlit bulb with a replacement hoping we can bring the section back to life. Nothing worked. Today I called Balsam Hill to inquire about options to repair or replace the lights or even replace that entire section. Before I called I knew we are out of warranty on the lights and I was looking only for resources available to us at our own expense so we can continue to use this beautiful tree. I was surprised and shocked to find out that Balsam Hill will no longer sell replacement light strands for their trees (individual bulbs yes, but not strands), nor will they sell us a replacement tree section even though they have the sections available. They said if that section of our tree had a foliage defect they would send a replacement section at no cost as we are still within the timeframe for the foliage warranty. However there was no way they would consider selling us that same replacement section to solve our lights issue. We expected to be able to use, maintain and repair this tree after warranty. Not forever, but longer than this. To have zero resources available to customers after a warranty period ends is beyond disappointing. I wish we had known, so I'm sharing to enlighten others.”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

“We bought a tree about 5 years ago. We bought from Balsam Hill because we thought we were getting a premium tree. With a premium tree I would also expect premium service. My tree has all of the sudden gone dark on me. Bulbs burning out left and right - now only about half the tree lit. So I ordered the only bulbs that looked like what I had on my tree, only to discover that they don't fit my tree. When I called they told me it was because they had completely run out of the proper bulbs for my tree. How could a company let that happen? Why wouldn't they have hundreds of thousands of bulbs ready for trees that they sold less than 5 years ago? Unacceptable. The customer service person was just barely intelligible, and didn't even apologize for my inconvenience. The sad thing is, there's nothing wrong with the tree. It's a pretty nice tree. But if you can't keep it lit, it's not a good value. I am tempted to think that they're trying to motivate me to buy another tree. If that's the case, they've failed because I won't be buying another Balsam Hill.”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“As it's Christmas and we're putting up our expensive Balsam Hill tree, I'm once again reminded how much I hate it. It's lovely with just the lights, but you can forget about your prized ornaments on it because the branches are so wimpy they'll only hold a select few ornaments...placed all the way at the back of the branch. Our traditional tree topper that's been in our family for years can no longer be used because the top won't hold anything. Nothing! I'll be glad when enough time has past to justify the expensive of buying a new tree.”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“I ordered a tree in 2013. So this will be my 5th time using it. One single bulb is burnt out. Their replacements are on backorder with no replenishment date. The Customer Care Rep couldn't even tell me if it would be before Christmas. For the amount of money these trees cost, I should never experience a Christmas with a half lit tree. Extrememly disappointing. And unfortunately, you can't use other bulbs. I suggest getting a tree that doesn't require specific light bulbs.”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“I purchased over $400 worth of miracle window candles LED. They look great, but stop working within three months, and Balsam Hill is not interested in replacing since the 30 day return period has run out. This kind of customer service for large purchasers will put them out of business. Beware Balsam Hill!”

Helpful Report

Posted 1 month ago

“I ordered a tree with lights. So I thought. Website had a glitch. Ordered with lights for the price shown. I looked at the email sent and saw no lights. Called to cancel. Said too late. YOU HAVE 30 MINUTES TO CANCEL THE ORDER! Rep said I could send it back for 50 dollars. Don't do it. Plenty of nice trees out there from reputable companies.”

Helpful Report

Posted 1 month ago

“Offered a tree on sale. Tried to order the tree but they said out of stock, we will notify you once when it is in. They did not but when it was in stock they would not honor the price offered when I tried to buy. If you offer a product at a price and I accept then you need to honor the price when it comes in.”

Helpful Report

Posted 1 month ago

“I ordered a tree and never received it. They insist that I did but I never saw it. Then they said they will refund me 30% of my cost. Said they sent that and again I never received it. I will never purchase from this company again. I am very disappointed...”

Helpful Report

Posted 2 months ago

“The tree has many issues. It does not hold ornaments- as the branches are too fluffy to allow ornaments to attach and if you are lucky enough to get one on, the branches are so flimsy the ornaments fall off. I hate our tree. My daughter said, “A Christmas tree has one job, to hold ornaments nicely and this one failed.” I called to return the tree but they said no. Balsam received this review and replied that they reached out to me but they didn’t. They don’t care.”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 months ago

“I had purchased a scent machine a while back. Did not receive and they sent out another one. I have been in contact with them a few + times. I needed a new plastic tube for inside scent machine. I would have purchased it, but when I talked to a guy on the phone he was, oh wow I don't know where you would get one! Not sure a second time. The best one, my girlfriend said check out something (?) another type of gadget from a plug in, that worked for me!! What? Very displeased with customer service. They have no clue! Could it be, they were not happy with sending out another machine. Just needed to put this out there, since I paid $99.00 for this and have not used it in over a year.”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 months ago

Balsam Hill is rated 1.3 based on 421 reviews