Ok, I just come across this post and since I just drove 4 hours to Jackson michigan to visit this store in person a few days ago. I'll throw my 2 cents in, if they matter.
As far as the beans go, I just germinated 4x Durban poisons, which I chose because of its mold and pest resistance and short flowering time (8-9 weeks, for a 100% sativa?!?!?!, it's because Durban comes from South Africa, shorter days later in the year)
So the Durban seeds I got all popped and they provided great instructions on germination (I have experience growing, this isn't my first rodeo)
I followed their instructions instead of doing it the way I usually do it.
They were very knowledgeable on what strains were resistant to mold and pests, although I went in there with the goal of obtaining Durban poison and another strain. I only paid for the Durban and they gave me a discount even though they weren't running any specials that day aside from the book of old seeds they have (they have a book of old seeds that are 40% off, but with them being old = more of a chance of not popping)
They hooked me up with 3 freebies of gorilla and 2 freebies of a different strain. So I got 4 duban, 3 Gorilla and 2 of the other strain. I think it said zweet og x something else. They were extremely kind and laid back and overall I found it to be a great experience.
As far as the whole 'counterfeit beans" thing, I wonder how one would even know that this is the case? As far as I'm concerned I'm happy as long as they pop and I get strong mothers out of them. We will see if I got Durban poison in the coming weeks. Even if it's not real durban I'll be happy so long as its mold resistant and flowers in 8-9 weeks.
For some context I'm in Ohio, we just recently legalized rec marijuana and homegrow is now allowed, albeit I've done this for almost a decade already. Heh..
Seeds used to be so much harder to get, you had to use Bitcoin, order from the dark web and sent it to a P.o. box
Last time I did this, the seeds got seized and so did my t-shirt ;(
So I've been weary of ordering seeds online every since and I'm just happy I found a place that had an in person store.
This place was recommended to me by some guy in battle Creek at one of the dispensary as I originally drove to battle Creek to find out the place I went to was shut down recently.
See the funny thing is the guy complaining about "counterfeit beans" didn't even get any freebies and it makes me think maybe they thought he was rude and wasn't trying to let him get anything good, because they definitely hooked me up.
An in person visit might be different though as you are there, they get to judge you and see if they like you and if they do they are gonna look out for you.
I'll try to update my comment here in a few weeks once my mothers get established. (I can't wait to get rid of my current mother, I don't even know what it is, just that it's 100% female and is decent stuff)
I would say, get your seeds wherever you have found you trust and are satisfied with the results.
Just because a bean is "counterfeit" doesn't mean that you have bad seeds. A "counterfeit' could wind up being better than you could ever imagine, vice versa. You could get something "official" and it doesn't even pop.
Only time will tell on my end, so far I am happy with my experience with this place. I trust an in person store way more than anywhere that is online order only. You pay with cash, your card # ain't gotta be out there and you get to feel out the place
In my opinion, the in person store seemed very legit. They had the largest selection I have ever seen. It's smack dab In Michigan. A state where it's 100% legal so I wouldn't see them having a problem with getting good seeds to sell. Here in Ohio we don't really have any seed vendors yet, aside from if you have a license to grow for the medical side of things (we have had medical for a few years, I have a card. But our medical program prohibited anyone from growing at home)
Here soon we will have seed vendors in Ohio, but I wanted to go get ahead of that curb and go get new seeds right away.
I will be so excited if these seeds grow up healthy and I have viable durban poison mothers. Durban is one of my all time favorite strains. Funny enough though it's not popular here like it is on the west coast. At least not yet, you can 100% get some from most dispensary's though.