Balsam Hill Reviews

Name: Balsam Hill
Rating: 1.25

1.3 Rating 490 Reviews

4 %

of reviewers recommend Balsam Hill

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Metrics

1.3

Based on 490 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 1 star review on 1st January 2025

Anonymous

Anonymous // 01/01/2019

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

“I placed an order on 19th November and had a tracking number given on 22nd November. It is now 4th December and now they are telling me they are out of stock and if I ordered another tree I wouldn’t get one by Christmas. Absolutely shocking customer service as I kept ringing because the tracking hadn’t moved from ready to ship and they fobbed me off with It takes up to 10 working days. Never have I experienced such poor customer service and now I am waiting on a refund which will probably take 10 working days. I’m so disappointed and gutted. Thank you balsam hill for ruining my 2020 Christmas”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“Ordered and paid in full, for a somewhat expensive tree skirt on 11/18/20. Received a tracking # 2 days later on 11/20/20. As of 11/3/20, the tracking # shows the product is “awaiting USPS”. So I tried calling balsam Hill customer service this morning, and waited on hold for 53 minutes before reaching a live person to speak with. I also tried the live chat feature on their company website, only to discover that there were 36 people waiting in the queue ahead of me. Once I reached that person, I was informed someone will respond with a status within 48 hours. The customer service rep said she had no idea what the status was for my order. Based on what I have read on BBB complaints, this poor level of customer service seems to be inherent within this company and they have done nothing to address the systemic complaints since at least 2007. I will never place another order with this company ever again.”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“I absolutely hate this tree! We purchased a 9' Colorado Spruce Easy Plug which I'm sure everyone knows is not cheap. It has not done anything but created anxiety since we purchased it 3 years ago. The first year, we had a bad receiver, so they sent a replacement. Secondly we had sections each year that would not even light so they would send a replacement section. In each of the 3 years that we have put up this tree, we've had nothing but problems. This year, one half of the bottom section will not even light. We have worked hours and hours replacing main bulbs, fuses, and checking individual lights to no avail. Customer Service said there's nothing they can do since it's now "out of warranty." The rep suggested buying more lights from them or a big box store to buy more lights and simply plug in to the other plug and the remote will still work. Problem is if you unplug the line, it takes out ALL the lights on the bottom section, so we had to plug in an extension cord into the tree plug to be able to plug up replacement lights AND the original plug so we wouldn't lose ALL the lights. In addition, the bottom row of the top section doesn't work either. Again, we replaced the main (grey) bulb and the fuse to no avail. Don't waste your money. Also, I was going to upload a photo which the review site offers, but it doesn't have a upload icon. Go figure.”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“Buyer beware (especially when purchasing tree after Christmas!) Initially purchased a 6 ' Spruce on sale 12/26/19. Tree looked fine on receipt. Tree was defective (branches unhinged ...as I would become in dealing with the Company!) upon being assembled 11/15/20. Had calls with 5 different Reps between 11/15 and 11/22 nearly 3 hours trying to get a replacement/refund etc. Outsourced call center or home based with poorly trained reps. giving mis/contradictory information. One call sounded like the rep was drunk or I had gotten him out of bed. Various human/system errors etc. Service was the worst I ever experienced. Jesus' who I spoke to on 11/22 seemed to be the most experienced and informed. I was to receive two refunds (2nd return received in their warehouse on 11/23 per tracking and I am still waiting for this refund confirmation) If I recommended product, it would be with caveats. Given the obvious cyclical nature of the business (and please do not use COVID as an excuse) the service issues were in excusable.”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“I ordered a 42" LED Balsam Fir Tabletop on Monday night and purchased 3 day shipping with expectations that the tree would arrive by the weekend (for family photos for our holiday cards). I did not receive a tracking number and reached out to BH's customer service, only to find out that they had no idea when the tree was going to ship. After spending a few more minutes discussing, BH offered to file the case for a refund of the shipping fee (needs to be reviewed and approved). They did not offer any overnight shipping options or any assurance that they would address the issue to make sure the tree arrives on time. I am VERY disappointed by BH's customer service and false advertising of shipping expectations. I'm going to be leaving reviews where I can to help other consumers not fall into the same trap. Do not purchase a tree from this company if you need it by a certain time frame (shame on me for waiting too long) and definitely do not pay for the expedited shipping because you will not receive your tree on time and will go through the same headach.”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“Second year for this tree. Major light problems, lower sections are so loose had to use wire to hold them up just to get the tree to look half way decent. Still has huge gap’s between branches. I followed the instructions and it still Looks like a Charlie Brown tree. Spent probably 4-5 hrs on it. Waste of money Home Depot has better trees for a lot less money Ready to throw it in the garbage.”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“My tree came defective. Contacted customer service who was unable to help. I requested someone who knows about the tree construction to contact me. We corresponded via email but since I’m not a mechanic, all the videos they sent were useless. I just wanted to speak with a live person and they could not provide this. For the cost of the tree I was expecting to be wowed and not see a Charlie Brown Christmas tree. In addition, I’ve been trying to cancel the tree collar I ordered which after 2 weeks have not received. Been on numerous phone calls and emails to no avail. What a horrid company to deal with. I can’t believe you are still in business!”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“Balsam hills products are wonderful. The customer service on the other hand is dreadful. They shipped me the wrong stand for my Christmas tree and refused to take it back and replace it with the correct one as I contacted them too close to Christmas. Will never buy from them again. Too many good alternatives now. So sad to treat customers so poorly.”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“These trees are cheap Chinese plastic so bad Walmart trees are much better I spent 1700 boy did they screw me KEEP away junk and I mean junk”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“Worst customer service experience of my life. Because of their extremely misleading website (you have to click behind tabs to see that only some trees have features that are advertised on the main page) I received a tree that did not have the "Easy Plug" feature. They sent me an email letting me know I could return that tree and they would send me another promising me that the "Easy Plug" would be included. They repeated over and over again that this tree i ordered "Always has an easy plug". I called them two times and responded in email that I was concerned they would send the wrong tree. The reassured me that it would have the "easy Plug" ....tree came, NO easy plug. they then told me I could pay an extra $300 to get the easy plug and they would give me....15% yes FIFTEEN percent off for my trouble. HOURS were spent on the phone with them HOURS and HOURS.... Then they sent me two shipping labels to return the two mistake trees.... telling me in emails I could call fed ex and they would schedule a pickup. Well I called fed ex, and they don't do pickups for this type of label. So now because Balsamhill messed up I get to ask a neighbor to use his truck so I can haul two huge tree to fedex to return. Sooooooooooooo....yeah beware.”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“I ordered a tree and they said it shipped on 23 November. When I followed up they kept blaming the delivery partner. After asking customer service three times to look into the matter they kept just sending a standard reply. Nobody did anything. Now (1 December) they have told me they looked into it and the tree is ready to ship ...the same tree that shipped on the 23rd. It might get to me 8 to 10 business days after it ships. Whoever that occurs. Christmas is nearly here, I have spent many hundreds of pounds for what is supposed to be a premium product, and have no tree, no refund, and a company that simply can’t be bothered to help. Don’t order from them. You are just a number and they don’t care about your business at all.”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“I ordered a very expensive 10' tree from Balsam Hill. In each of the three years we put up the tree it leaned a little more every year. When I used the tree in 2019, I secured it to the staircase railing because the tree had developed a 10 degree tilt. I contacted BH and was told they would ship a warranty-replacement tree closer to the 2020 holiday. End of October 2020, I confirmed my address with BH at their request. I heard nothing back from them. Around Thanksgiving 2020 I contacted BH regarding the warranty-replacement tree. I was on hold for well over an hour, both on "customer service" and on chat. The tree has traveled more than Santa's sleigh. It was shipped to my west coast city, then for reasons no one can explain all or some of it was shipped back to the east coast, then shipped back a couple of hours from my home where it has sat for a week. BH advised me the tree would need to be picked up, which I have no ability to do - the boxes are massive. If I can not pick up the tree it will be returned to BH after 5 days. Warranty replacement should not be this difficult, or this frustrating. It's December 2020. I have no Christmas tree. I have no idea if or when I will be receiving the warranty replacement. Avoid this company at all costs. The trees are nice. The warranty is useless. The customer service is non-existent.”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“Would not recommend this company Ordered the tree nothing arrived. Sent email to track order and they sent an email back to say they were out of stick and in return sent me a 10% voucher to buy another one but much more expensive. con artist at their best.”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“We purchased a 7 ft slim pre lit Frazier fir. It was nice the first year. After that the lights seemed to always be out. Very disappointing. We bought this cause we don’t like putting lights on. They didn’t help when we called customer service! Would never purchase a balsam hill trees again. Too pricey for what you get”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“Second year we set up our tree the bottom section went out! Replaced over 50 bulbs before they would come back on. Many were smoke colored. I does stay lit after bulbs go out but it has a limit. So tree was great again after 2 hours of pulling and changing bulbs! Decorated and enjoyed for 2 weeks! Top went out! This year was going to order bulbs. Site said contact customer service if ordering more then 3 packs. I did they sent me a case#00988551 They said someone would contact me. I received an email in troubleshooting! REALLY! I called customer service. After holding for 25 minutes I left a call back request. DO NOT BUY!”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“My experience with Balsam Hill has been an absolute nightmare. We were so excited to receive our first tree. We opened the box to find a dusty ripped bag. Once opened we found it had another shipping label in it, they shipped us a tree that had previously been returned. No problem, we can get a new bag and understand that sometimes people just return perfectly fine items. Well we set it up and half the top portion lights don’t work. One that does is backwards (green on white setting and white on color setting). We call and start the exchange process. The agent was nice enough and we were able to print the label, re-box the tree, call fedex and return it. Second tree arrived, we go to set it up and the fancy base is broken. We realize this stuff happens and call, they offer a replacement base. We aren’t thrilled to have to replace a base on a $1500 tree. We go along with it. Next day, we call as we see the tree is now $1200 vs $1500. Since we have had such a poor experience we hope they will price match. The supervisor chose not to, so we decided to return the broken tree and get a refund. We do the whole return process again. A week after still no refund, I call and they have no record of a refund that needs to be processed. Over $1500 I spent and I have had hours of time returning, emailing, chatting and calling. They now want me to send the shipping label proof, etc. I just can’t even. I’m in a dispute process with PayPal- avoid them at all freaking costs. Oh and the tree wasn’t even that nice. We bought a nicer looking one for $300 at sams. No fluffing needed and great return policy. Merry freaking Christmas.”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“Sorry to hear that you had a bad experience with Balsam Hill, What went wrong? Help future customers by talking about customer service, price, delivery, returns & refunds. I’ll talk about it. Believe ALL OF THE NEGATIVE REVIEWS. When you invest $1200 for a tree, you shouldn’t have problems that start in year one and continue to get worse. Terrible customer service. Terrible product. There should be repercussions for such a TERRIBLE. and DISHONEST company.”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“DO NOT BUT A TREE FROM BALSAM HILL!!! Wanted to give ZERO stars, but this was not a choice. I can echo all of the reviews concerning lights. This is year three and the frustration is real. We have had light issues since the first year, and now with year three we have 3 complete sections of non functioning white lights and several limbs of no color light sections. PLEASE TRUST THESE REVIEWS AND DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY!!!! I purchased my mother in law a tree from Lowe’s the same year I purchased our tree and her tree is up and beautiful in her home with NO LIGHT ISSUES. Disappointing is not even a fair review. More like DISGUSTED.”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“Do not buy a tree from Balsam hill. Trouble with lights year three and customer service said it was not their problem. Now year 4 and three sections of lights out. This tree is only a source of complete frustration and a total waste of money. Paid $1200 thinking we would have a ten year tree. What a horrible product and company that takes advantage of their customers. DO NOT BUY!!”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“Purchased 7’ balsam hill tree with lights. Three years later, after warranty runs out, most of the lights do not work the day we unpack the tree from its original packing which we repack every year. Balsam hill will do nothing about it and didn’t even offer an apology. Will never purchase from them again. Hundreds, if not, thousands of complaints about this company. Shut this company down. Terrible product.”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

Balsam Hill is rated 1.3 based on 490 reviews