GILBERT, Ariz. — Christmas tree lots around the Valley are expecting this weekend to be the busiest time for shopping ahead of the holiday.
Several business owners tell 12 News that while many shoppers are buying their tree last-minute, others are not so merry. In fact, there are some scrooges trying to scam these businesses out of a few bucks.
Eric Stalker, lot manager for Valley View Christmas Trees Queen Creek location, explained one of the suspicious scams that happens at local farms every year.
"I have had people like go to Home Depot, get a tree from there, and bring it to us and try to trade it in for a different tree or even get a refund off that one," he said. "It doesn't happen often, but it does and we know all our trees. We mark them so when they bring one in and it's not marked, we of course know it's not one of ours."
Another way tree lots are taken advantage of:
"We do occasionally get people who try to do this, they’ll bring in just a bag of pine needles and say all the needles have fallen off a Christmas tree they claim we sold them," Stalker continues. "But it's just a baggie, like how do you prove that? So we just ask them to bring the whole tree back, take the ornaments off, bring it back and usually that stops them."
If you genuinely have a lot of pine needles prematurely falling off your Christmas tree, that doesn't necessarily mean it's bad quality. It just needs some tender love and care!
Stalker says a common myth is that Aspirin and soda like 7-Up helps.
"Some people say put Aspirin into the water but I'm not sure when the last time a tree had a headache, I don't think there's any record of that," he joked. "I heard people pour sugar water or 7-Up, just go with regular water if you want you can put some plant food in there."
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