A really bad day, and some good

Warning, rant.
Ok, so my ebay buyers know about the unreasonable buyer who claims I sent her crappy rhizomes. Actually she called them trithomes or something. ( you get the feeling she doesn't know what she's talking about?)
So she claims I sent her worthless rhizomes, and in all caps yells I WANT MY MONEY BACK.
Oh, and she doesn't send me an email first . She files a claim on ebay.  (one more reason ebay is history for me after this season. I'm tired of their nazi-ruler game and encouraging scammers.)

Now this really upset me. Because I work damn hard keeping the iris healthy and getting these flowers out as quick as one middle aged woman can. How many days in a row can she dig 90-100 iris? I'm exhausted and sore. I spend NO time with my family or grandkids all summer.  We have a pool that goes unused. My house...Oh you don't want to see my house! We have um...*cough ...several cats. (NO, not TV show several!) Hubby helps a lot, but when I'm done shipping orders I expect to be cleaning for a week!

So, instead of a reasonable email where I could educate her on how Iris grow, and how they do differ around the country because of the weather they have to endure, she goes for the gut. Hits me where I try to do my best with what I have to work with.
If I had known last April/May that it was going to not rain a drop for over two months this summer, I probably wouldn't have listed the Iris. For sure not the border/intermediates.  I watered and pampered them as much as I could. The temps were in the 100 range for weeks. Even with rain that would have worked on them.

Yea it gets even better today. I had told her I wanted proof. I wanted pictures, and they had to show my writing on the rhizome. She said she'd already sent them back. Posted a tracking number. I didn't even bother to try it because I figured it was bogus.

So today, I get pictures! (chase down the mailman??). She said they were black and rotten and teenie and the roots were "barely threads".
I'll share them here. You tell me what YOU think.  Granted, they were not all as big as I would like. But they were ALL intermediates/border iris who survived the drought . And ALL were ready to grow and bloom for her. Another thing she hasn't a clue about.  *rolling eyes

Here is a "comparison"  she says.
She KEPT the one on the left. Another  only-bigger- is-better idiot.  Sorry for the harsh name, it just pisses me off. 

I see green leaves, lots of roots,firm rhizome, several shoots (more than one fan , I could have separated this .) But I didn't because it was a smaller intermediate/border.  But she didn't like the brown color.!!! !
????????

This one isn't brown, looks like pretty healthy roots to me. Nice firm rhozome. Oh dear, I bit of yellow at the tip of one leaf. tisk tisk. ...I bet she'd look a little yellow too if she spent a few days in a box with no water.
  And can you see at the top, it says 2-2. That means we sent  TWO roots.
How much you wanna bet, I only get ONE back.  If any at all.

Oh no, the dreaded brown/black? (color blind?) rhizome!!!! eeeeek!! Doh
See the shoots on the side? See the white roots?
 Lesson to newbie-new roots grow at the back of the fan, see the new roots growing?
Ok, it's not huge, I'm sorry,
 I can't seem to get mother nature in a better mood this year.
She must have dealt with this buyer too!

Ahhhh this is a good pic.  Ok, SHE sees  that dark color "trithome'..... pfffttt ,  I can't even spell it how she did!  It's not rotten, it's a brown ROOT, goes under the DIRT.
And there again, I see shoots on each side, healthy green leaves.
BUT WHAT I SEE are those fingernails. White french tips, fancy stencils.....  Gardener? Absolutely not!
Bratty self centered gimme-it-all  20-30 something,? most likely.

This one got a little dryer leaves in the box. Otherwise, I don't see the problem. The rhizome is firm, white inside. I know this one wasn't so  "tiny".  Nice and plump for an intermediate/border.
She says it was "black, thread thin roots"? What kind of thread?  Apparently not a sewer either.  

Oh no, the oldest leaf turned yellow, and it's got dark skin.
I'm starting to see she has a serious bit of rhizome racism !

  Well, that's it then, must not be any good at all.
*sigh

So, feebay and their buddy preypal were going to give her ALL her money back.  For the ones she's keeping and these that she supposedly is sending back. ( I'll believe it when I see them. ) Oh and don't forget the postage that I don't have. I sorta gave it to the USPS when I mailed them! I already refunded EACH ONE w/o the others she wanted to keep. 
 Unless in their all mighty power they just take the other money too.  I wouldn't be surprised. 
Then she will not only have the rhizomes... yes, pita, they are rhizomes not trithoms....but EXTRA cash too.

I'm thinking she figured that all along.  Or she bought them and didn't really want them, or overspent. I'm guessing this because she didn't pay for over three weeks and it went to non-paying bidder. So she panicked and got all excited then. 
I told her it didn't mean anything unless she actually didn't  pay.  Being an ebay newbie she must have at least known 8 no-pay strikes on her less than 10 feedback woudln't be good. How could she get stuff for free if she can't bid??

Ok, this is my second vent and I'm sure my iris buddies are sick of it.
 One told me they didn't want to be my therapist. I apologized, that wasn't my intention of the email. 
 But MANY of you were super nice and lifted my spirits again. I thank you for that.
  The ones who know this is a hard job, and depending on Mother Nature during her obvious menopause is stressful.

If you get your iris and they aren't what you want, just send me an email. I will work with you, I know this year isn't  the best. Every farmer in states around me are suffering the same issue. Don't yell at the grocer when the produce is small, yell at Mother Nature!! 

OH! And the GOOD NEWS   :)
We got some RAIN!!! yipppeeeeeeeee
Last night our usual tenth, but this morning it really rained for a bit. I think we might have gotten between a quarter and half an inch. We haven't had this much since May. Crazy summer. It's looking dark and rainy again. Crossing my fingers! I can almost hear the iris cheering :p
 I could dig this afternoon, but I think I'll let them soak it up until  tomorrow. I hope you don't mind, but they really need it, and I honestly do want to send you the best rhizomes I can.  Many times already this year, I've left myself only a teenie sprout of a color. I probably won't have any next year, but the customer will.  :)

Happy Blooms to all!  *and some rain!

and I promise a better post next time. I took some pics of the process and will show how I work. Don't expect many pics of me, I look like one of those rhizomes! Never a good picture. :)