Balsam Hill Reviews

1.3 Rating 421 Reviews
4 %
of reviewers recommend Balsam Hill
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
E.Graham
Balsam Hill 1 star review on 28th August 2023
Jon
Balsam Hill 1 star review on 28th August 2023
Jon
Balsam Hill 1 star review on 17th February 2023
Mary Beth O'Brien
Balsam Hill 1 star review on 23rd December 2022
Lynn G.
Balsam Hill 1 star review on 23rd December 2022
Lynn G.
Balsam Hill 1 star review on 23rd December 2022
Lynn G.
16
Anonymous
Anonymous  // 01/01/2019
Balsam Hill did NOT make me happy. Some years ago I bought a 10ft garland for my mantlepiece. It came quickly but when I opened the box it was far too small for the garland which had just been stuffed in. Lots of the decorative parts were detached and loose in the bottom of the box. It looked to me as if it had already been sent out to someone else and then returned. The return address was in Holland so it would have been a lot of hassle to return it. I fixed all the loose parts back on and put it down to experience. I will not buy from them again. I posted a review/complaint but never heard from them again.
Helpful Report
Posted 2 weeks ago
We purchased wreaths, tree topper, numerous sections of garland, a tree, etc. etc. with the exception of the tree all the prelit lights are out with two years. You receive a 1 month warranty and their customer service refuses to make it right.
Helpful Report
Posted 2 months ago
Ordered a wreath for the front door. Balsam Hill known for their realism in trees, garland and wreaths advertised it as Fresh Evergreens & Juniper Berry Wreath. To pay $115 for a live wreath that MAY last till Little Christmas then to be put out in the trash is SO disappointing. Noticed many complaints about other customers confused and not realizing their purchases were for a single holiday season. Hopefully your advertisement dept will address this - possibly with a disclaimer that these are live wreaths and garlands that last one season only. I have purchased several $1,000 + trees and do so because they are beautiful and last many years. For $115 I could have purchased an artificial wreath that I could reuse for several years. Thank you for hearing me out. Paul Daly
Helpful Report
Posted 3 months ago
DO NOT BUY PRE-LIT TREES! I purchased a clearance tree last year. I didn't want pre-lit, but that's all they had in the tree I wanted. I got the tree, set it up in my garage, and LOVED it. Sadly, I was in the middle of my 4th move in one year and misplaced the remote control. I was excited to set the tree up this year, but to my dismay, I realized I couldn't dim the tree without the remote. I called customer service, and after about 30 minutes of holding, a 10-minute delay in getting the information, I was told there were no replacement remotes for my tree. I could order one online. I have since tried 5 remotes, and NONE of them work. I now have a beautifully decorated tree, but can't have it lit at night because it's so obnoxiously bright! I can't believe a company of this caliber would charge the amount they charge and not have backup components such as a remote control to be purchased. I will cut out all the pre-lit lights and use my own dimmable lights in the future. Balsam Hill really let me down. Side note: The remote control was a tiny plastic thing that could easily be lost under any circumstances. If you buy pre-lit, which I don't recommend, DO NOT LOSE THE REMOTE!
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Posted 3 months ago
They all have the most unresponsive customer service I’ve ever encountered. Completely inflexible to satisfy the customer or make any adjustments. They keep you on the phone for upwards of 30 minutes with no satisfaction provided. I would never use this again.
Helpful Report
Posted 4 months ago
I paid $900 for a skinny tree (don’t remember name) that in my estimation did not have enough branches to cover the tree. Would not buy a Balsam Hill tree again. Overpriced and not full at all.
Helpful Report
Posted 4 months ago
I am not a hard customer, I do not write bad reviews...but I think before you make this huge purchase you think about it. NO tree topper light plug so you are stuck running the plug through your tree. It required hours of fluffing. I don't find it ANY better than my 450 dollar tree in the other room and it is 2500. It does look really nice, but not better. Customer service, after sale is call center quality and knows nothing about the trees and are reading off the screen. My cc rep couldn't read it correctly. Beware that they have a policy that you can not return for any reason after 6 months. Is this a highend experience...no. good marketing, don't get fooled.
Helpful Report
Posted 4 months ago
Very disappointed with this Company. I ordered the Santa Sleigh Topper after Christmas last year. Put it away for this year. We were looking forward to this Topper. We have seen others but this was the one we wanted. We put it on the Tree and it worked great. After a few hours it cuts out. We unplug it and then have to plug it back in. Seem like something is definitely wrong. I called Balsam Hill and they said that they can’t do anything. That makes me so angry. After Christmas I paid $85. Normally costs $150. So now I have an item that doesn’t work properly. Very poor customer service that they aren’t able to do anything for me. Will never purchase anything from them again.
Helpful Report
Posted 1 year ago
I purchased a Balsam Hill tree in 2020. There was a problem that first year with the lights going on and off or switching colors on their own. I called the company on 12/28/2020 to register my issue. They immediately told me I could not return it. I didn’t want to return it, I just wanted the issue resolved. They contended it must be the remote which I did not think was the problem as it occurred without my using the remote. Two years later, 2022, I no longer use the lights that came on the tree but instead use my own lights. This week, 2 years later, a new remote was sent to me. Two years later. No other correspondence. Just a box with a remote. And, when I went on their website to try to write a review I was unable to find where I could write one. Terrible customer service. I would not recommend this company.
Helpful Report
Posted 1 year ago
This is our second 9 ' Vermont Spruce . Each tree was in excess of $1200.00. The first tree developed lighting issues after five years. We contacted the company requesting replacement lighting. We were advised no replacement lights / bulbs are available. Our second tree (2022) developed remote control lighting issues. We were granted a warranty remote replacement then further advised the production season for parts is over and our remote is expected to be available in September 2023. No more trees from this company.
Helpful Report
Posted 1 year ago
I was surprised that their products are made in China for the price they charge, we have a tree and every year have to hot glue branches back on. We tolerated it but when the lights started going out (expected) and we went to order replacements they did not carry them for trees only a few years old, totally unexpected for the price we paid. Overall a terrible experience, had to replace the tree after 4 years. I wrote their customer service about replacement bulb support and received no response.
Helpful Report
Posted 1 year ago
Brand new tree with lights that flicker sometimes and are fine at other times. Also the lights go real dim then come back real bright. I called for a replacement but was out of stock and was told they could only replace with same tree. Also was told from 1st call to CS that the flickering was suppose to be like flickering candles. My tree was up it was December my new tree wouldn’t come till September. After asking for a supervisor I asked for some suggestions as to what the problem could be, she suggested checking the fuses and replacing them. I had no extra fuses in the bag with other items and the plug they showed in the booklet was different on my tree-it did not open for replacing fuses. I asked could a different tree be sent, again there was nothing they could do except send tree back for refund or wait 9 months for a new one. I had spent a long time researching tree quality and companies, I thought I had succeeded-I was wrong on both counts. Even understanding that I could have a defective tree the fact that their CS is so very poor is a huge disappointment and has left me very upset and unwilling to recommend them to anyone. Beware!
Helpful Report
Posted 1 year ago
This is our second year using this tree. A LOT of the tips are snapping off the branches! I got it on sale but expected a lot better quality than what I got. If many more of the tips fall off, I will have a bald tree. Not the quality I expected, not even close!
Helpful Report
Posted 1 year ago
I purchased a tree from Balsam Hill in 2015. The tree branches do not spread like they advertise. After the first year the needles and branch tips started to fall off. I stored the tree in a cool dry basement with nothing stacked on it. The past two years the branches that are wire attached started to break off. After this year a total of 8 upper branches are broke off. I have a different tree from that is not Balsam Hill and it is over 11 years old and it has no broken branches and its not shedding plastic needles. I had to zip tie the branches to the center post for the tree to look halfway decent. Needless to say, after spending over $400 and thinking I was getting a quality tree from Balsam Hill, I am very disappointed on the longevity of this tree. The customer service basically said the tree is out of warranty too bad. So much for Balsam Hill taking pride in a quality product that can't even last more than 4 years! Will never buy or recommend Balsam Hill!
Helpful Report
Posted 2 years ago
We have purchased a 9ft tree and a battery powered wreath. The tree is beautiful and we enjoyed it for 4 years. However, on December 29, 2021 the tree suddenly started burning really bright in the top section for a few minutes and then two rows of lights went out. We attempted to replace bulbs, fuses, etc. to no avail. When I called customer service, I was hastily informed that the tree was out of warranty. I was also told I could not purchase just the top section of the tree. I would have to purchase a new tree or live with the one I have now. Honestly, I am afraid to use it after the episode. I fear it may burn my house down! Horrible customer service! I could have purchased a tree for half the price that would have lasted this well. I don't recommend.
Helpful Report
Posted 2 years ago
Non existent after sales care We purchased our pre lit tree around 4 years ago and it is a beautiful thing. This year sadly the lights packed up due to the transformer suddenly not working. I contacted customer services and asked their advice. Unfortunately our warranty had expired, I understood this so wanted to BUY a new transformer to return our tree to its former glory. I was told that there were no replacement transformers available as they were out of stock and wouldn’t be available for quite some time (certainly not this Christmas!). I felt so let down that there was no chance of a swift replacement being sent to me and after spending such a considerable amount of money originally I would expect better after sales care and for the longevity of its function to last considerably longer. Since reading reviews online and comments from others over social media I can now see that I am by far not the only customer who has been very disappointed by Balsam Hill.
Helpful Report
Posted 2 years ago
I ordered a 9ft Silverado Slim tree with candle light lights after Christmas (2020) in January. I just got it out of the box and out it up. I know I can't return it, but I am so disappointed in the lights. They are so dim, you can hardly see them. Not real happy with the plastic branches either. My expectations were much higher. ☹
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Posted 2 years ago
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.
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Posted 3 years ago
Balsam Hill is rated 1.3 based on 421 reviews