3 weeks ago, I purchased in cash an orchid plant from a woman setup
in a shopping center, outside of the "Sand People" in downtown
Hanalei.
The name of her business was "Jen's Orchids".  I recieved a receipt
for
the purchase, including a $10.00 shipping fee, that was suppose to be
for
FedEx shipping of the plant to the mainland (Northern California). 
Both
the receipt and her business card had the phone number, but not the
address
of her business.  Three weeks later, i still have not received the
orchid plant,
and repeated calls to the phone number have remained unanswered.

Questions:
a.) What is the average shipping time from Kaua'i to the mainland
through FedEx of an orchid plant.  Is three weeks too long?  Have I
been had?
b.) Contact information for the Better Business Bureau which handles
Hanalei?
c.) Address (snail/email) of "Jen's Orchids".

I once spent three years wrestling with a concern on the Island of
Malta and finally through the intervention of the United States
Embassy finally got that suit of armor I had ordered. I CAN empathize.

a.) What is the average shipping time from Kaua'i to the mainland
through FedEx of an orchid plant.  Is three weeks too long?  Have I
been had?

Average shipping time is around 1 week. Three weeks is probably too
long. Honestly can't say if you've been had, but I would be personlly
concerned.

How to get the answer to part a.):

Start with:

	Fedex Rate Finder
	http://www.fedex.com/us/rates/

You can find out specifically the transit time by filling in the
necessary information about size and weight, etc. I used the following
to get a general idea:

	From: Kaua'i zip code 96749
	To:   St. Louis, MO zip code 63132

	10 lb package, 12 x 12 x 12 inches

	delivered to Fedex dropoff

	Fedex Ground - My Packaging

Entering the above information, the Fedex Rate Finder returned a
"transit time" of 7.0 days which should give you, in general, how long
shipments to the mainland would take. Fedex Ground indicates "delivery
in 1 to 5 business days to most U.S. cities" so an extra 2 days to get
from Hawaaii sounds right (but NOT an extra 14 days).

You may want to use the Rate Finder to find the specific transit time
for your sized package (if known). Three weeks sounds well outside the
normal range of Fedex deliveries, even from the Hawaiian islands.

b.) Contact information for the Better Business Bureau which handles
Hanalei?

The State of Hawaii Office of Consumer Protection appears to be the
most likely resource for consumer complaints regarding all Hawaiian
businesses:

	http://www.state.hi.us/dcca/ocp/

Address:  Leiopapa A Kamehameha Building
235 South Beretania Street, Suite 801
Honolulu, Hawaii 96813  
Phone:  (808) 586-2630  
email:  ocp@dcca.state.hi.us  

They also have online complaint forms that you can file at:

	http://www.state.hi.us/dcca/ocp/forms.html

They are in PDF format and might require that you have the appropriate
browser plugin.

A good place in general to look for other resources would be at:

	State of Hawaii Dept. of Commerce and Consumer Affairs
	http://www.state.hi.us/dcca/

c.) Address (snail/email) of "Jen's Orchids". 

After EXTENSIVE searching I can find no address for any concern
located in Hawaii called "Jen's Orchids" I can give you the contact
information for "Sand People" and suggest you contact them explaining
your plight (i.e., ask them if they have any contact information re:
Jen's Orchids):

	http://sandpeople.com/contact_us.htm

Sand People Main Office
5517 Waila'au Road
Koloa, Kauai, Hawaii 96756
1-808-742-7123
e-mail info@sandpeople.com 
 
Sand People
Hanalei Center Store
Hanalei, Kauai
1-808-826-1008 

Since you DO have the phone number I recommend a Reverse Phone Number
Lookup via:

	Reverse Phone Directory
	http://www.reversephonedirectory.com/

If I DO find this business (or any other Google Answers researchers
do) we will post that information. I am pessimistic here, but think
the reverse lookup, and contacting Sand People are your best bet.

Aloha! 
fugitive-ga

I'm glad to know I'm not alone.  Thanks for the information.  Still
alas the Orchid has not arrived.  I contacted the Office of Consumer
Protection and am filing a report, it has now been well over a month
and not a word.  And the "Sand People" store has not seen "Jen's
Orchids" outside their store in several weeks.