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Comments:Displaying the 50 most recent comments:
| Rating | Author | Content |
| Positive | ienvan
(1 review) | On March 10, 2008, ienvan Nakusp
(Canada) wrote:I have nothing but praise for this company.
Plants arrive in good shape after being trucked all the way across the country. Service is prompt and friendly. The catalogue and website are full of information and a total joy. | | Positive | tkueny
(1 review) | On January 18, 2008, tkueny Vinton, IA wrote: My experience with Richter's over the last 10 years has been 9 positive and 1 negative. Overall, they are an excellent supplier of foil packed herb seeds and the have largest selection of potted herbs that I have found. Each year the live herbs arrive quicker and in better shape than the year before.
My order of 2 years ago was an overall disaster, including very late shipping and and a greenhouse failure causing cancellation of some of my live herbs. Steaming, I called their toll free line and spoke to customer service. She listened and assured me that they would make every effort to correct the problem. Since then my orders have been perfect.
Their website is the most complete and easiest to navigate that I have found. I actually use it as a reference source in the off season!
I think that they are a good outfit and will continue to receive my order for seeds and plants each year.
| | Positive | StarrLover
(1 review) | On June 29, 2007, StarrLover Sandpoint, ID wrote: Boy, I was surprised to see so much negative about this company. Today, I received 23 herbs and all in great shape. I live in North Idaho and herbs were sent 3 day UPS select. Now, UPS DID mess us and cause them to come a day late, but even with this, the herbs were green, lush, all there, and great customer service on top of it.
I did hear a rumor where the last couple of years were tough on Richters. And, I've been buying from them for five or six years and they did have trouble with an order two years ago. All herbs were dead, shipped wrong. But, they stood up and sent all the herbs again.
I know they're coverting over to a new computer system as well and this may be causing some errors, but really, everyone I speak with has been incredibly helpful.
I do wish they'd offer to send overnight. I'll pay for it. It'd be worth it to me not to have to worry about the herbs.
I hope everyone gives Richters another chance. Their selection is SUPERB and their prices are the best around.
Sparrow Ivy | | Negative | NatalieMartin77
(3 reviews) | On June 22, 2007, NatalieMartin77 Beverly Hills, CA wrote: Great selection but the worst customer service. Frustrating and awful if there's a problem with an order. If you're lucky and everything goes right, the seeds are wonderful. | | Positive | egm
(7 reviews) | On May 17, 2007, egm Ottawa
(Canada) wrote:I have been ordering herbs from Richters (plants and seed) off and on for over 10 years and have always been happy with their interesting selection (I love reading their catalog). The seeds and plants have always grown well indoors and out. Earlier this year, when placing my order, I had a few issues with them and was considering not using them again (apparently they are switching over to a new computer system), but I just received my plants. They are vibrant, healthy, bushy little plants that are off to a very good start. (rosemary, tarragon, sweet cicely, lavender and basil) They arrived just a few days before the Victoria Day long weekend (the time to plant in this area). Great plants and great timing. I do hope they get their computer system running well, since I put a high value on great service as well! | | Positive | cyra
(5 reviews) | On April 8, 2007, cyra Central Valley, CA
(Zone 9a) wrote:I've had pretty good experiences with Richter's; reading some of the comments here makes me wonder if there are two companies by this name....!
I originally ordered plants from Richter's, because they happened to offer lemon verbena, which my favorite herb supplier didn't happen to have at that time. Normally I wouldn't order plants internationally, as the amount of time spent in shipping (customs, etc.) could be too much of a strain on plants. Surprisingly, my lemon verbena plants, as well as the rest of my order from Richters, arrived in fairly good condition, from Ontario CA, all the way to the Central Valley, here in CA, USA. Yes, some of the plants suffered some yellowing in transit, this was not unexpected, but a few afternoons on a shady porch perked them right up. I still have those particular lemon verbena plants going strong, now, two years later. I ordered some lemongrass seed from them, with misgivings, as lemongrass in my experience has a rather low germination rate. I was both surprised and pleased to find that pretty much all of the seed sprouted, I even had plantlets to share with my neighbors!
I was missing some orange mint plants from another Richter's order, and customer service gave me the option of a replacement for them this year, or a credit, which seems fair enough. In a different order, I ordered a CD, that arrived, but was inoperable, I contacted customer service, and was promptly sent a replacement. They are a larger company, and, as with most companies, shipping errors will occasionally happen, but customer service at Richters has always resolved any difficulties in my orders promptly, and politely. Any herbs that I cannot find locally, here in the US, I would definitely consider purchasing from Richters, although I do wish they were located a wee bit closer to here:)
On April 24th, 2007, cyra added the following:
I received the rest of my latest order from Richter\'s Herbs last Tuesday; (two roses from the order arrived first, separately). I was pleased with the condition of the plants, in spite of the slight yellowing on some of them due to time in transit. They are relatively small plants, but because of this, they don\'t suffer as much transplant shock, I find, and rebound more quickly than most larger plants. I have no casualties, so far, and these plants have been in the ground for a week now, excepting the passion fruit vines, which required warmer weather.
I will order from them again, in the future, any plants that I am unable to find stateside. | | Neutral | RichoCech
(16 reviews) | On November 24, 2006, RichoCech Williams, OR wrote: Have tried to work with this company for more than a decade, and would like to say a little about Richters to other gardeners.
For those of you who expect fast shipping internationally, let me point out that it is not their fault if customs holds up an order--Richters has no control of that. Also, I don't think a one-week turnaround between receiving an order and shipping out the seeds is unreasonable--the idea is to deliver quality, and doing things in a rush leaves the door open for error. So, if you are ordering internationally, it really does make sense to allow 6 weeks for delivery, even if its "just seeds." However, I think that ordering plants internationally is a long shot at best--the normal delays at customs are very stressful to live material that needs sunlight and water to thrive. I would caution people not to jump for live plants delivered across international borders. My opinion is that you will be lucky to have good results, regardless of the expertise of the shipper.
I have a problem with "SowNatural tm" seeds. This is an attempt to circumvent organic certification of seeds. Organic certification is good--it assures a customer that the seeds are untreated, not genetically modified, and grown without herbicides and pesticides. Apparently these are similar to the claims of "SowNatural tm," a self-prescribed category that is not supported by third-party verification.
My feel is that Richters for the most part does not grow their own seeds, and that when they buy seeds they keep selling the same lot for years. This is a good way to reduce costs of running a seed company, but it often results in poor results for the customers. How do I know this? Because if they were growing their own seed, they could more consistently deliver from the new harvest every year. I'm a seed geek, and I examine seed shipments microscopically. Under high magnification, I look at the seed, and I look at the chaff. Most species of newly harvested herb seeds (e.g. hyssop) will look very bright for the first year, and eventually take on a patina of age. Also, if the chaff is bright green (or whatever color it is supposed to be), then the seed is probably recent. If the chaff is off color, then its just like those herbs in the jar on the kitchen shelf from three years ago--looking greyed out--and this often means that the seeds are quite old. Most of the seed I have received from Richters over the years has exhibited a patina of age, and my results with it have been mixed. For instance, I bought an ounce of Rosemary seed from Richters. When it arrived, the seed had a dull patina, and I could tell from the chaff that it was at least 2 years old. I composted that seed on arrival. Rosemary seed is a low germinator at best, and old seed in my opinion is dead seed. Granted, herbs are often herbaceous or woody perennials and in comparison to annual vegetables, the seed of such plants can be slow and difficult to start--it can take years of oscillating temperatures or special circumstances for such seed to germinate. I'm taking this into account. What I'm saying is, that even giving them the benefit of the doubt, and admitting that I sometimes blow it (I have problems with voracious pillbugs and my arch nemesis, slugs), over the years I eventually learned not to expect high germination or vigor from seeds purchased from Richters. I've let my account cool, and haven't ordered from them since the Rosemary seed experience.
I've tried twice to correspond with Conrad, once by letter and once by e-mail, and he has never replied. That's too bad, because I think we would have a lot in common, and could share information that would be of benefit to all. Or, perhaps our motivations for doing this work in disseminating diverse herbal seeds are not the same, and actually we have nothing in common. Perhaps this neutral posting will catch his attention, and he'll do me the honor of getting in touch.
Richo
| | Negative | renwings
(6 reviews) | On October 17, 2006, renwings Sultan, WA
(Zone 8a) wrote:I ordered from this company before I looked at garden watchdog. Last time I will ever do that again!
Their catalog is very impressive and they offer a lot of hard-to-find herbs. But that is the end of the good impression I have been left with. Their website is clumsy to navigate and lacks pictures on a lot of their herbs.
After I placed my order and received a confirmation number I waited and waited and waited. So after 2 and a half weeks and after having received all of the other seeds I had ordered that day from other companies, I called to see where my order was. By the way, they have no toll free number, so you have to make a long distance phone call to canada. Their website does not offer customer service, just an oportunity to leave feedback.
The woman I spoke with was pleasant and helpfull, but informed me that my order was shipped a week after I had placed my order (for seeds that just seems silly) and that I could expect it in ANOTHER 5 WEEKS. Since it will get held up at the border for inspections. I wish someone had told me that before I paid $5 to ship my seeds. Which is ridiculous for $15 worth of seeds! But I wanted those herbs so bad . . . ALL of their shipping costs are outrageous, ESPECIALLY for plants.
I also wish they had let me know that some of the seeds I had ordered were not available. Most other websites do this.
Anyway, I'll update when my seeds come as to their condition and other such important info.
On October 31st, 2006, renwings changed the rating from neutral to negative and added the following:
I won't be doing business with Richter's again. My seeds did come yesterday, October 31st. It took a month. Everything was there, but I was sorely disapointed when I opened the envelopes to look at the seeds. They are very stingy in their quantities! I paid $3.25 for Agastache "apricot sprite" and it looks there was less than 20 seeds.
It's crying shame.
On July 9th, 2007, renwings added the following:
The seeds they sent have been planted. The soapwort never germinated and the annual poppies were very sporadic. The rest did well and are growing nicely.
After all this is really just seems like the icing on the cake and I\'m not surprised.
I\'ll be doing business with someone else from now on. | | Positive | DonShirer
(13 reviews) | On July 20, 2006, DonShirer Westbrook, CT
(Zone 6a) wrote:Ordered seeds. They came within a week and germinated readily. | | Negative | florabell
(1 review) | On June 12, 2006, florabell Wichita, KS wrote: Richter's Herbs didn't ship a January purchased order until June. Our climate only allows for a short planting time til heat becomes extreme. I called four times explaining this only to be told April 15, May 15 and finally "It's backordered" and then "It's impossible to get everything out in time". Why be in business then?Email inquiries were never responded to. Finally my incomplete order arrived black and cooked, the box stating "do not expose to extreme heat". If I hadn't lost time and money it would be funny. | | Negative | deann
(5 reviews) | On June 4, 2006, deann Au Gres, MI
(Zone 5a) wrote:I ordered plugs from Richters......after sending two emails and no one responding, I called them to inquire on the delivery date, they could not find my order.....After I insisted they resolve this problem here and now....they finally found it....and will not get sent out till next week.....needless to say I am not a happy camper. The gal gave me the direct line to Conrad Richter who is CEO of the company. I called and left a detailed message, and yeah, you guessed it....he has not called back....Here is another company I shall never do business with.
It has been two weeks since I called Richters, and still no plugs. I will call them tomorrow and cancel this order.
Deann
| | Negative | Cottage_Rose
(13 reviews) | On May 17, 2006, Cottage_Rose North of Grand Rapids, MI
(Zone 5b) wrote:I placed my first order with Richters in Canada and received my mint and thyme plants today.
They were ~very~ securely packaged and all look green & healthy. The soil in their pots was moist.
I will most likely order from them again.
On May 24th, 2006, Cottage_Rose changed the rating from positive to neutral and added the following:
Update.
I guess I spoke too soon.
For whatever reason about half of the plants I ordered croaked. While some of them were a little wilty when I got them they were green and I thought they would bounce back after I watered them but they suddenly were all dried up. I'm not quite sure why. I emailed Richters for a refund and while theres been enough time for them to reply they haven't.
On June 4th, 2006, Cottage_Rose changed the rating from neutral to negative and added the following:
Still no reply from Richters.
Any reputable company should respond to their customers complaints or questions.
You\'ve lost another customer Richters. | | Negative | washuchan
(1 review) | On May 10, 2006, washuchan Saint Louis, MO wrote: I bought a number of seeds and plants a few years ago from Richters, over two seasons. Most of these survived and did fine; I bought a large expensive bag of seeds of a particular umbel that had zero germination under any treatment regime, but that species is known to be difficult. As others have noted, the billing was a mess. I'm at an institution from which others have also placed orders, and they just could not comprehend that we were different people with different addresses and would not pay for each others' orders, etc -- so that's not a recent problem. My biggest criticism of Richters is that two of the seeds I bought turned out to be misidentified (right genus, wrong species). That's just unacceptable, and it will keep me from buying from them again. | | Neutral | margored
(7 reviews) | On April 3, 2006, margored Syracuse, NY
(Zone 4b) wrote:Richter’s has one of the most amazing herb selections in North America and their prices are quite reasonable. Their staff is also extremely friendly and attentive. I’ve e-mailed Richter’s with several herb-specific questions and I always get a knowledgeable, reliable response in a timely fashion. These people know their stuff!
There’s room for improvement, though. I recently received a package from Richters only to find one of the seed packets poorly sealed. Consequently, about half of those seeds spilled out in transit. The packaging on the seed packets could definitely be improved.
Their website design could also use some tinkering. Only about half of their herb descriptions include pictures, so you’re forced to guess what various plants look like. The plant care and hardiness information for each herb is also in a completely separate section of the website from the catalog section. That means that if you’re wanting to order, say, some creeping thyme but doubt its hardiness in your zone you have to navigate to another part of the website, check that info, and surf back to the catalog. Really inconvenient.
Some other reviewers have complained about the Richter’s customer service. Hopefully it’s on the up-swing. When I called Richter’s at the end of January to check on an order status and add a few items I found the place in an incredible state of disarray. Richter’s was switching computer systems, which meant there were problems tracking orders between the office computers (manned by customer service) and the packing warehouse (filling orders). The woman I spoke with was very nice, but obviously frazzled. Hopefully this new computer system is up and running now and it’ll make ordering, tracking, and shipping services much better than in the past. Cross your fingers that this will head off the types of problems past posters have had with Richter’s.
On May 3rd, 2006, margored added the following:
i received some bay leaf seeds from richters a few weeks back and planted them immediately. few other companies offer seeds. the shipment took 10 days to reach my house, though - probably held up in customs. as a result, several of the seeds were no longer viable. most seeds from richters are great. i had good germination rates on the thyme and basil seeds i ordered from them. if you\'re wanting plants or other time-sensitive materials and you live in the states, however, i\'d skip richters. living things just won\'t get to you in a timely fashion and there\'s a good chance they\'ll be doa. other than that, a good company. | | Positive | slubberdegulion
(33 reviews) | On December 15, 2005, slubberdegulion Roanoke, VA
(Zone 7a) wrote:My experiences with Richter's have generally been favorable. I've accepted that I can't get plants from them here in good condition, but the packaging suggests that people closer to them probably receive great plants.
Seeds and items I've ordered have been competitively priced and arrive in good time. The seeds have always had excellent germination rates and have produced the correct plants.
And I love the catalog, it's packed full of interesting things. | | Negative | johnsonjrbm
(12 reviews) | On April 28, 2005, johnsonjrbm Olympia, WA
(Zone 7b) wrote:Ordered seeds & plants from Richter's in 2003, and was pleased with everything. Didn't garden in 2004, but if they have something I can't find locally, I would order from them again.
On November 28th, 2005, johnsonjrbm changed the rating from positive to neutral and added the following:
Changed rating to neutral after 2005 season. All seeds I ordered were good, but two of the plants received were DOA. I received no response from my email for a refund. I will continue to order seeds from them, but will no longer order plants.
On December 16th, 2005, johnsonjrbm changed the rating from neutral to negative and added the following:
| | Positive | greenmum
(1 review) | On February 1, 2005, greenmum Abbotsford, BC
(Zone 8a) wrote:For at least three years (maybe four) I have been ordering plants from Richters. Every year I have been quite pleased with the arrival of my plants...just like Christmas in April - very exciting...the packaging enthralls me, and the plants are usually in wonderful shape. On the rare occasion that a plant (eucalyptus in this case) did not make it, a phone call to their Customer Service department helped resolve the issue. I would have preferred a new plant sent to me; however, they were still willing to refund my money for a plant that expired almost a month after it was received.
Yesterday afternoon, I had a pleasant surprise delivered to my door...my partial order from Richters. Included in it were the books I had ordered and my seeds (only the second time that I have tried growing plants from seeds). As always, I perused the invoice to make sure that it all matched up with my records and with what was on my desk in front of me. Unfortunately, there were a couple of discrepancies. I called Customer Service and spoke to a very pleasant lady named Sandy. After going over my concerns with me, she informed me that she would need a little time to figure out exactly what had happened and that she would get back to me by tomorrow.
Less than one hour later, my telephone rang and it was Sandy on the other end. She explained that she was astounded by my situation; she hadn't seen anything like this one before. Not only did she refund me monies overcharged to my card, a credit was given for the shipping as well.
Thank you Richters for having such a great selection of plants and seeds, and especially thank you for having a great staffer like Sandy.
| | Neutral | paracelsus
(12 reviews) | On July 5, 2004, paracelsus Elmira, NY
(Zone 6a) wrote:I have been buying seeds from Richter's for several years and like others, I got frustrated because they would just not ship things (never got the order) or the order would come two or three months later. I have learned how to get them to send what is ordered in a fairly timely manner. Don't order off the site. Call them up. Have the person check every single item to see if it is in stock. If it is not, tell them you do not want a backorder. They now have a deal where you can pay extra, I think $5, to have your order put on the top. This is worth doing, because they are very slow otherwise. If you talk to a real human being and have them check that things are in stock, you will get your seeds, and their seeds are generally pretty good in terms of viability, so it's worth it. I haven't ordered plants from them and so can't speak about that.
On May 16th, 2006, paracelsus changed the rating from positive to neutral and added the following:
In March 2006 I ordered 9 plants from Richter\'s that I couldn\'t find elsewhere. I was charged when I ordered them. Today I got three of them. They were in fine shape and very healthy looking. Three of the others there was a crop failure, and the last three were \"unavailable.\" I was disappointed. Surely they must have known back in late March about the crop failure.
I was not able to understand the invoice. It appeared that they were keeping all the money I had paid although they had sent me only 1/3 of my order. I would have a \"credit\" on my account with them. I didn\'t want a credit; I wanted a refund for what I didn\'t get, and I called them. I was automatically disconnected three times. When I finally got someone, I was told that the customer service person would have to call me back about a refund. Would it be today? Well, maybe, but she was \"very busy.\" Oh come on.
I really don\'t like it when a company charges me for something and then wants to keep the money for what they didn\'t provide as a \"credit\" to my account. A lot of credit card companies don\'t even allow this.
Also, this is the third year Artemisia pontica turned out to be unavailable. And yet you can go to their site right now and order it. I can understand running out of something, but why allow people to order it if you don\'t ever have it? It makes me wonder how many other things of theirs are not ever available. I wanted to try a bunch of their scented geraniums, but forget it.
Even though the plants I that I did get were in good condition, I will not order any other plants from them. | | Negative | ourpet
(1 review) | On June 29, 2004, ourpet Chattanooga, TN wrote: We ordered some lavender plugs from Richters. When they shipped the order of one flat each grosso and provence UPS left them at the incorrect address. They were left at our neighbors who where out of town. When the came back 2 days later they brought over the package. Over half of the plants, at that moment, where rotted from sitting in the box in the driveway while it was hot and sunny each day. We didn't at that point have a problem with Richters since it was UPS. I called them the next working day and left a message. No answer. Later that day I left and email. I never did get and answer to that. The next day my husband called and got a person on the phone. To make a long story shorter they wanted us to ship the plants back to them, paying for it ourselves, and they would then file a claim with UPS and refund us the money for the plants plus the 11 dollars it cost to ship them back. We called back to see if a notarized statement from our neighbors would be ok but it was a no.(Funny because when I called David Austin Roses a few weeks after that to tell them I got a white rose instead of a pink they said no problem and refunded it within 2 days onto my card) After a number of weeks we started calling again, because we had recieved confirmation that they recieved the package, but there was no refund on the credit card. When I finally reached someone (same problem as before, it takes them DAYS to respond to an email and not at all to phone messages) she said no problem she would at that moment refund my 109 dollars (that included the 11 for shipping) I said wait a second, the charge to my visa initially was for 123 NOT including the 11 we paid to ship back the plants. Oh, she said, there must be a mistake, she didn't understand why they had charged that it was not the correct price. Anyways she gave me to another lady who said she would straighten it out and refund us the rest of the money of which we have never seen and are disputing on our credit card. This company is a complete and total hassle to deal with and I won't do it again. There are others who sell lavender plugs. | | Negative | debles
(7 reviews) | On June 16, 2004, debles Tulsa, OK wrote: BUYER BEWARE!
I have ordered from Richters off and on for several years because of the selection. I generally order plants during the winter for shipment the following spring because if I wait until spring to order, the ones I want are often sold out. In the past the plants I received from Richters were alright. Not great, but not bad and most survived.
I placed an order for seeds and plants in November of 2003 and the seeds were shipped and received in a reasonable timeframe. Since the company is located in Canada, I know that they generally do not ship plants too early in the spring so I wasn't concerned that I hadn't received my plants until the beginning of June. I live in Oklahoma and the weather gets hot here fairly early. After 3 emails, with the third being sent to several of their company email addresses, I finally got a reply yesterday from someone within the company concerning the plant portion of my order. This person in "Customer Service" informed me that an office manager had cancelled my order and expected me to reorder in 2004.
WHAT!!!!! What kind of moron would cancel an order and not even inform the customer that they've done so. It's now too late in the season to obtain the plants I want from another source and I'm still having to spend time and effort to determine if I in fact PAID for the plants and shipment of the plants that they do not intend to send me. I've asked for some evidence that I was NOT charged or was credited for the cancelled portion of the order, but so far there's been no response.
They call this customer service? Anyone who has ever gardened would realize that plants ordered in the dead of winter are desired for shipment the following spring. Their company information indicates that plants will not be shipped until the weather and climate are suitable.
I am furious! Although they have a huge selection, the quality of items received from them in the past has never been superior so after this experience, I will NEVER order from them again! I would not recommend this company to anyone unless perhaps you live close enough to select and take home your plants. There are too many good companies out there who actually do provide quality plants and customer service.
Lover of herbs and old roses
On June 21st, 2004, debles added the following:
Followup to earlier posting. I have emailed them twice more requesting information regarding the transaction that someone \"cancelled\". I want to know if they charged my credit card for the entire order amount last November or just for the seeds that they did provide. If they charged the entire amount, I want to know if they\'ve issued a \"credit\" for the majority of the order that was cancelled without ever telling me. Although I sent the email to 3 email addresses at Richters AND to the person in what they refer to as Customer Service - there has been no response. I will call their 800 number today and try to get some answers. For those of you having trouble with this company, the number is (800)668-4372.
This has been a horrible and unforgetable experience. I will NEVER order from this company again.
For those of you considering it, do yourself a favor and search for another source or even several other sources if you are seeking specific herb plants. There are many other suppliers with decent inventory and who do provide customer service. Just a couple are Lingles and Nichols.
PO\'d in OK
| | Negative | kathy_ann
(23 reviews) | On June 7, 2004, kathy_ann Judsonia, AR
(Zone 7b) wrote:Plants were diseased, covered with plastic, and dead, Although they did refund with out any problem at all, it's discouraging to have to reorder from someone else because all your plants arrived dead. I will not buy from this company again.
kathy_ann | | Negative | heelpin
(1 review) | On May 29, 2004, heelpin wrote: I have not received an order I placed 30 days ago by phone and was told the seed would go out that day because I had expressed concern about it being late in the season. I inquired by email 6 days ago and have not received a response. My credit card was charged the day I place the order. I am very disappointed with the service and will never order from them again. | | Negative | oldbiddy
(1 review) | On May 27, 2004, oldbiddy Taylor, TX
(Zone 8b) wrote:I ordered seeds, only, from them at the end of April of this year. First of all, I did not know how to use their website to add to my order which hadn't shipped yet, so I had to call them to correct that. I was told that several things were not available even though the website listed them as available. So after the call to them, I expected to get a confirmation by email as I had paid for it over the web with a credit card...it took at least three days to receive the confirmation which was my only invoice or receipt of the transaction. Then it took at least a week or so for them to charge my credit card. I finally received the seeds last Saturday which was on May 22. But according to the invoice which they sent, they still got the order wrong after me having called them 3 times and emailing them more about it, they charged my credit card for 3 different types of seeds that I did not receive! There was nothing on the invoice to indicate that the seeds would be sent later or were not available...it said that they were sent with this order! Inside the package were spilled seeds which didn't seem to be from anything inside the package; plus they put my mobile phone number on the outside of the package on the mailing label for the whole world to see! So I have now emailed them 4 times about the order and they have not answered back one time...the first email was on the same day I got the package (about May 22). What I want to know is, do people commonly loose seeds on the border when customs inspects the package? The seeds not in there were: Schisandra, Hops and Snake Gourd...not like they are drugs are anything or weapons of mass destruction??? On the outside of the package was the phytosanitary certificate plus an indication that it was seeds...but it also said that they could open and inspect the package...how would I know if that is what was done here? In other words, how would I know if customs inspectors had removed some of the seeds from the package at the border, or that Richters just did not send the seeds but did charge me for them??? I am sure that many people here will read this and think that I am making much ado about nothing, but this is the very first time that I have ever ordered any seeds and I am startled at the unprofessionalism of a company that I have heard to be so highly spoken of for their professionalism all of these years! If they did not send the seeds at all and don't ever intend to then they need to credit my credit card for the ammount that they charged me for those same seeds and send me an email stating that that is what they are going to do! | | Negative | siaucie
(1 review) | On May 20, 2004, siaucie wrote: Richter's has a lot of rare plants that is not available by other seed sellers, but their customer service is horrible. I order 30 type of seeds one month ago. When I email them 2 weeks after the order, they said the order is in process, so I wait another 1 week and called. When I called they told me that the credit card didn't go through. So when they called, I give them the credit card number. When I gave them the credit card number they said the order will ship that week. As I find out 1 week after that week the order is not yet shipped. I was very upset on how they handle the order. The worst of all, I order only seeds from them. I was waiting for the seeds diligently because I need it for a school project. This is the worst online merchant I ever dealt with. It seems that they take 6 months to fulfill a little order as seeds. I will never buy from them again. Nor will I recommend my classmates or my teachers to buy from them. Their customer service are horrible, they lied, they delay, and they don't fulfill your order. Beware buyer, their online order safety is in question. The weird thing is they can loose credit card number in cyberspace. If I ever find this website and their negative feedback, I will think twice before ordering from them. This is the worst nightmare online buyer can have is losing their credit card number in cyber space. | | Positive | Petsitterbarb
(5 reviews) | On May 14, 2004, Petsitterbarb Claremore, OK wrote: I rec'd my order of several different herbs from Richter's about 10 days ago, and I was extremely pleased with the quality and health of the plants, and really amazed at the packing. They arrived in perfect condition. I wouldn't hesitate to order from this company again. | | Positive | Beavers
(1 review) | On April 13, 2004, Beavers Valdosta, GA wrote: Richters' Herbs ia a wonderful plant and seed source. And their staff are so friendly and easy to work with.
Just remember they start shipping plants again after the winter about April and it is first come first serve. So get that order in early! And if you are in the hotter zones, order the plants in the fall before for better success. Because, since they do not ship spring orders until April, it may just be too warm for those baby plants by the time you get them in the ground. Zone8-9 here,so I order plants in the fall and seeds throughout the year depending on what season they will do best here. | | Positive | zippyag
(3 reviews) | On April 4, 2004, zippyag wrote: I think this company has a wonderful selection of herb seeds. I placed an order that was quickly filled. There was a problem with my card and instead of delaying my order they just billed me with my delivery, which I thought was nice. Good germination rates on the seeds too. I would definately order from them again. | | Positive | broots
(20 reviews) | On August 13, 2003, broots Cochrane, ON
(Zone 2b) wrote:I ordered six salvia guaranitica 'Black & Blue' this year as soon as the catalogue came out & I couldn't believe the size, they were at least 12" high. They arrived in great shape with good root development. Last year I had placed an order for some echinaca 'Ruby Giant', but it was the end of April when I ordered. When they arrived they had very little root growth. But they did flower & are doing great this year. The other plants I ordered at the same time were fine. My advice is to order early. I will be a returning customer & will always order as soon as I receive the catalogue which is packed with great info. | | Positive | greenmaja
(1 review) | On August 4, 2003, greenmaja wrote: I've ordered plants and dried herbs a number of times from Richter's and have never had any problems although some of the items I wanted were out of stock. Be warned though that their dried herbs (regardless of being organically grown) are expensive vis a vis quantity received and book prices are also high. However, if you're interested in rare or hard to find medicinal herbs, this is the place. Some of the plants were a bit small, but with proper care, they flourished. Contrary to a lot of reviewers, my plants arrived perfectly intact. Perhaps it just depends on who packs the order? At any rate, I will continue to deal with them without hesitation. | | Negative | pienbee
(2 reviews) | On May 30, 2003, pienbee wrote: My order took over three weeks to fill. When I e-mailed the company, they took 4 days to respond. While waiting for them to respond to my e-mail, I called the company to find when my order would ship. In neither case - in the e-mail or the phone conversation, did they notify me that one of my seed packages (patchoulli) was unavailable. I have checked their web-site and find that they still list this seed as available. | | Positive | val0822
(4 reviews) | On May 14, 2003, val0822 Media, PA wrote: I have been ordering seeds from Richter's for several years now because they carry such a wonderful variety. Never any problems. This was the first time I ordered their plug packs. They arrived just at the beginning of May very well packed and in excellent condition. Perhaps they have improved their packaging recently in response to complaints. The shipping date was just right for here (zone 6). The only other time I ordered plants was 3 Apothecary's roses several years ago. I don't remember how they arrived, but they are growing well now and always bloom. | | Negative | ewaters
(7 reviews) | On May 7, 2003, ewaters wrote: I ordered $114.75 worth of merchandise in Feb. thinking that I would receive it to plant this year before it got so hot. As May approached I decided to cancel the order because it is getting too late and I changed my mind. Their customer service gave me a hard time and acted like they had never heard of anyone changing their mind and cancelling an order. They finally gave me a credit for only $93.75 after a lot of kicking and screaming on their part. I don't know what the $21.00 they are trying to keep is for. I guess they are trying to charge me for cancelling the order or service charge of some sort. Their catalog says absolutely about their being a charge if you decide to cancel an order. I'm sorry I ever made the order but believe me, it'll never happen again. Be warned that you should check in advance about their cancellation policy and/or associated fees. I believe that if a merchant takes 2-3 months to fill an order the customer likewise has the right to change his mind in the meantime and receive a full refund without a pile of static. | | Positive | KristenMarie
(10 reviews) | On May 5, 2003, KristenMarie Llano, NM wrote: I love Richters and I think they are my favorite seed company. Three times I have put in big seed orders (never any plants) and all three times I have received everything I ordered, very quickly. I think their prices are really pretty good and their packages contain many more seeds than I expect (heck, I didn't have to buy more basil seed for 3 years). I will definitely order from them again and plan to order some plants in the future, too (although it sounds like they are weaker on plants- but shipping plants is harder to do, especially young ones). *Very* highly recommended by me. | | Positive | graffixalley
(3 reviews) | On April 21, 2003, graffixalley Laurelville, OH
(Zone 5b) wrote:This is a limited positive rating. I ordered many seeds, 6 plants and a package of purple seed potatoes. My seeds arrived within 10 days of ordering but they noted the plants and potatoes will arrive later. I might not have ordered live plants had I seen the previous comments, but hindsight is 20/20. Waiting to see... | | Neutral | aileen
(3 reviews) | On January 26, 2003, aileen wrote: Now that they have a full on-line catalogue, I'd sure like to see more pictures on it. They have the best selection of unusual thymes I've ever seen under one roof --- they all 'sound' great -- would sure like to see more photos on their on-line catalogue. Not too many photos in the catalogues I receive either. | | Positive | hillfarm
(24 reviews) | On December 27, 2002, hillfarm Quesnel, BC
(Zone 4a) wrote:Have ordered seeds from Richters numerous times over last 15 years - am a small commercial nursery/market garden so am fussy about seed quality/quantity. Richters gives good (though sometimes slow) service; seed packet quantities are usually generous.Caveats: 1.Shop around, a few items are overpriced. 2.Several years ago I made one plant order, it was OK but not great, plants came very late, some were unavailable, and they could have been healthier. (All eventually thrived, though needed nursing.) But in general: A very good source for hard to find varieties;adequate germination info given;reasonable prices;generally good quality & quantity in seed packets. I will continue to patronize Richters gladly. | | Neutral | GardenOfMu
(3 reviews) | On November 20, 2002, GardenOfMu wrote: I have mixed feelings about this company. They have an unbelieveable selection and if they were not the sole source for many different mint varieties I likely would not order from them. My orders have been very well packed, but take forever to arrive. Waiting 3 months or more is not uncommon. Once a plant or two died just after arrival and they were replaced, though again, 3 months later. I've also had half my order end up out of stock a time or two, but they were sent later in the year. The plants are usually of good size and healthy. The one pack of seeds I ordered did not generate a single sprout. | | Negative | tanner
(3 reviews) | On July 1, 2002, tanner wrote: My experiences with Ricters have lead me to be a never to return again customer. I have ordered several times from them, always a little frustrated with the order but willing to give the benefit of doubt. The last time was the final straw.. I ordered two plug trays of oregano that I had ordered almost 6 months prior to receiving. When they arrived, the plugs were more in the box than in the tray. There were some of the plugs that didn't have a root one on them and the ones that did were smashed. The box was way to large for the trays and no packaging material was put in to reduce the space. What a mess....Never again Ricters | | Neutral | dsrtgdn
(2 reviews) | On May 23, 2002, dsrtgdn Lancaster, CA wrote: My experience to date has been positive with a statement to be "wary". This is the 2nd year ordering herb plants. They have the largest collection of thymes I've found and so like a bee I keep going back. Their plants are generally smaller than I'd like to see but with some extra care they will prosper. Unfortunately, 2 of the plants ordered this year (Orange Spice thymes) were very young. Barely started root growth. They died 2 days after arrival. I called and complained. RHS offered me a refund, well of course if I wanted my money I wouldn't have ordered anything. I insisted on new plants. They countered with a 6 plant min purchase requirement. I countered with a "did that already, it's your problem fix it" sorta statement. They agreed and re-sent the plants. They arrived yesterday and have MUCH better root growth. Look extremely healthy and will do fine I'm certain. IF they don't it'll be my fault not theirs.
Chris
On January 11th, 2003, dsrtgdn changed the rating from positive to neutral and added the following:
| | Positive | blindblonde
(3 reviews) | On May 14, 2002, blindblonde wrote: Ordered my plants and seed-what a great selection. I was VERY impressed on how the plants arrived. Packed EXTREMELY well. All very healthy. I don't mind spending a bit extra for healthy hard to find plants. |
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