Thanks again, Remy- Dave's Garden is indeed a good place to check if unsure when considering a new vendor. My bad lettuce seed was from a place I've ordered from for 25+ years without many problems until the past 3 or 4 years and I had bad packs of peppers and beets from them, too. I should take the time to complain at the time but often haven't bothered. It's not so much the $ as the wasted garden space and sometimes the lack of continuity in succession with a crop that is so annoying when you sow seeds that just never come up or that germinate poorly and leave you with a spotty row that you're not sure to just leave or rip out and try again. I've also had miserable results with watermelon, peas, sweet corn, spinach, onions and tomatoes before from various other vendors. I've been gardening since the 70's and every year I usually plant several varieties of a crop to trial and the problem has always been with just one pack, so I know it's the seed.
You're right that most companies are reputable, and when I think of all the packs of seed I've bought in all these years, most have been just fine. Maybe it's that only recently have there been any problems that it bothers me so much. That and the fact that now you pay so much for some of the packets! I think this year not getting a single plant after 3 sowings and using the entire new packet of tomato seeds was the proverbial straw...
Ok, rant over.