The scoop on 'Burpee (W. Atlee Burpee)'

Company Profile   Burpee (W. Atlee Burpee) Mailing Address: 300 Park Ave. Warminster, Pennsylvania 18974 (United States) Phone: 1-800-333-5808 Fax: 1-800-487-5530 Catalog Order Page: Hyperlink Paper Catalog Cost: Free Visit Burpee (W. Atlee Burpee) at: Burpee Garden Store in Warminster, PA » E-Mail them » Visit their website Recent reviews: Past month Past 6 Months Past 12 Months Positive 1 19 30 Neutral 0 2 7 Negative 0 2 11 This company is affiliated with 2 companies: The Cook's Garden Heronswood Nursery This company offers a variety of plants and seeds. This company specializes in: Seeds: Perennial flowers Seeds: Vegetables Other helpful information: Member of Mailorder Gardening Association Member of National Garden Bureau

Feedback History and Summary   144 positives 51 neutrals 79 negatives

Comments:

Rating Author Content Positive lawexpress East Falmouth, MA (1 review) November 06, 2009 I have been a Burpee mail order customer for over 50 years. I have never been disappointed. All plants and products I have received have performed as advertised. I have been thrilled with the quality of the packing of live plants which gives me plants which arrive in a condition similar to that I would find if I were shopping for them in a quality nursery. When I have had questions, such as, I ordered a recycler years ago and didn't finish putting it together. I emailed customer service and they researched the product and sent me assembly instructions. I would strongly recommend Burpee to the novice gardener as well as the person who has years of experience. One will always find a plant or a product that they haven't seen before that they can't resist adding to their garden. Positive ikea88 Fairfax, VA (3 reviews) August 23, 2009 I only bought seeds from burpee, so I can't comment on the plants. Their seeds are great even though the price is a bit higher than the other vegetable seed companies. On the other hand, their selection is very good and the seeds stay viable a long time. I have had great success with 4 or 5 year old tomato seeds. Positive cmc306 Springfield, MO (1 review) August 12, 2009 I had bought the Burpee Burpless Cucumbers and have had a bountiful season . The cucumbers are absolutely delicious . I have shared these with the neighbors , since I have had so many cucumbers . These are absolutely fantastic and will continue to buy Burpee Products as well as recommend them . Positive Martiradonna Orland Park, IL (1 review) August 11, 2009 I am very happy with the new seedless tomato. It is seedless and with a great balance, one of the most delicious tomatoe I ever ate. It is great for me since I can not eat any seeds due to medical problems. I buy many Burpee's seeds, some from the catalog and many from Hardwares, Walmart etc, I never had a bad experience, the plants always produce what Burpee advertises for. Franco Martiradonna Positive sojerseyusa Manahawkin, NJ (1 review) August 11, 2009 William Beuckman Sr. 1058 Rudder Ave. Manahawkin NJ 08050 8/8/09 To whom it may concern @ Burpee Signature; This letter can not really express how I feel about your product or how well it really works. It has worked so well that I’m going to expand another garden just for this product all by itself. The product that I am referring to is Wildflowers, rainbow colors mix, bar code #041530960501. My yard is 75 ft by 150 ft. I like to garden and do themes in my yard to make it interesting and fun. My yard is a certified Animal Habitat and a certified Monarch Relay Station. I am very specific and cautious in what is in my yard and what does not go in my yard. I’ve tried a lot of products to attract and keep wild life in and around my house, and some of the products on the market are rip offs just to get your money with little return to you. I bought your product being skeptic of just what it was going to do. Needless to say it has greatly surpassed anything that I have used before for many years that I have been doing this. Preparation was minimal. I cleared an area that I wanted to plant. Shook the seeds out of the can onto the dirt. Used a leaf rake up side down, once, to lightly cover the seed and than lightly water. The rest was up to mother nature. Results was nothing less than fantastic spectacular. The variety of flowers and colors seemed endless and constantly changing. When you think that you have seen all the flowers you had put in your can , there are more, and then more. It seems as soon as one type of flowers bloom and die there is another set just starting to blossom. The height variation and thickness of the garden keeps getting higher and fuller. People who have come to my yard and see this are absolutely amazed at what they see and can not believe how I had done it. Look at the date on this letter and it is still going strong from spring. I have taken pictures of this from the beginning to present, just to show my friends what was going on with this product, who have the same interest as I do. The application started next to my fish ponds as a garden, and then some flower pots mixed with bulbs, then to the flower boxes on my arbor. I had a little left over and a spot in the front yard that needed a cleaning and planting, so I finished it up there as a filler till I get some perennials in it. So as a filler, or a garden it does great. This product is everything it should be and more. It adds lots of colors and lots of varieties to any garden or pot arrangements project that you are doing. One can does cover a lot of area and I was surprised at this. I thought that I might have planted too much and kind of backed off in shacking the seed out. It was more than enough and the results are fantastic. The product does bring the nature to your yard in living, colors by way of butterflies and humming birds. Thank You ….Bill Beuckman Sr. Positive howie24 Oakville Canada (4 reviews) July 22, 2009 I was a first time Burpee customer this year. I ordered 8 varieties of tomato seed from them. The order arrived within a week and the seed germinated well. No problems at all with this company. Positive jim1961 (3 reviews) July 12, 2009 My first buying experience with Burpee was positive. I ordered 3 packs of Marigold seeds and sea magic. The order arrived very fast. I ordered from 2 other companies the same day and i'm still waiting for there items to arrive. If I order again in the future, i'll let you know how it went. Positive dsuttr Clifton, NJ (1 review) July 09, 2009 This spring, for the first time ever I purchased tomato plants from Burpee. In my garden I have 27 tomato plants, 6 from burpee, 9 from a friend, and 12 from a local north Jersey nursery. To my amazement the Burpee plants are my most vigorous and productive . I will next year buy all 27 from them and to my usual delight their California Giant Zinnias seeds are a heavy provider for our cuts flowers. Bravo Burpee. Clifton NJ Positive deewaring Clayton, IN (1 review) June 09, 2009 I have been a Burpee customer for about 30 years. This year I ordered tomato plants. One set of three came through just great. ONe set of three was broken and showed the inward signs of the outward box being crushed on one side. When I complained to Burpee about this, they were so kind as to replace the 3 tomato plants that were destroyed in shipping. The new shipment came within days and it was fine. I am a happy gardener this time and will continue to shop with you. I think Burpee should seek other shipping options besides United Parcel Service. They don't seem to be able to read the "THIS SIDE UP" words on the outside of the box!! Thanks again, Burpee!! Positive losttrailranch Creede, CO (1 review) June 02, 2009 I am so pleased because I feel the courtesy with which the folks at Burpee treat their clients is with old fashioned respect. That's how I like to do business, and will remain faithful to Burpee because of that. Recently, I placed an order for tomato plants. Since we live VERY far off the beaten path, the UPS delivery person often leaves packages in a neighbors shed in town, and when we pass through town every couple of weeks, we check for mail. Well, with a box that said, "Live Plants," I would have assumed the delivery would have been made all the way to our remote ranch, not left in the neighbors shed. But it wasn't, and the fault is mine as much as anyones for not checking up on this. So of course, weeks later when we found the package, the plants were dead. I was sad, but knew I was as responsible as anyone for this mishap. But just the same, I wrote the folks at Burpee and told them this story. Rather than just a quick, "oh well, sorry," as I assumed they might say, they gave me a full refund for the tomatos. That's honoring their word. That's how I like to do business. Positive Gardener6078 Cleveland, OH (1 review) June 01, 2009 If I had read all the negative comments I would've been afraid to order from Burpee, but I had a fantastic experience with the company. I ordered Little Mama tomatoes, Big Beef tomatoes, Banana Peppers and Pinot Noir Peppers, Eggplant, plus cucumber seeds, bean seeds, swiss chard seeds and lettuce seed tape. The seeds of course, came first and then the plants arrived on or about when they were supposed to. I was very pleasantly surprised at how well they were packed. One package had two tomatoes that were damaged, but I called customer service and had plants at my door in 3 days. I call that fantastic service. I've planted everything and they all look great. The seeds started sprouting within three days! You've made me a very happy gardener! I will always be ordering from this company. Thank You Positive nathanhamm Leavenworth, KS (1 review) May 27, 2009 I just received 9 tomato plants and 6 pepper plants. Most arrived in good shape in the green packages that kept the plants from moving around too much. The Pinot Noir peppers, however, lost most of their leaves, and some of the tomatoes looked a bit tired out. It all looks like it will bounce back with a bit of care, and if this foray into mail-ordered plants turns out well, I'll give it another whirl next year. On May 28th, 2009, nathanhamm changed the rating from positive to neutral and added the following: On second thought... I checked on the plants again today. The Pinot Noir and Ancho peppers are looking fairly good, and the Black Truffle tomatoes are recovering nicely as well. However, both the Sugar Snack and Tomande tomatoes are starting to look like salad that has been left on the counter for a week. I don't know if that's because leaves got caught and smashed in the packaging or if these just don't handle shipment well, but they're looking like a loss. On June 4th, 2009, nathanhamm changed the rating from neutral to positive and added the following: Customer service got in touch with me and were great. They arranged a refund for some plants and sent out replacements for others. Positive randallrea Eastman, WI (1 review) May 23, 2009 I will ALWAYS order with Burpee! I just recently purchased a LARGE order from 4 Seasons Nursery & received a bunch of dead roots in baggies & I was missing items from my order. Customer Service was terrible & rude. They wouldn't do anything unless I paid to ship everything back with a note of what was missing & what was dead & then they would reship the items (if they have them), ALL MY HASSEL for something that is their fault! I placed an order with Burpee within days of ordering from 4 Season's & received beautiful, green plants (in dirt)! They exceeded my expectations & their customer service is wonderful! VERY FRIENDLY! Thank you sooo much! Your now, loyal customer Positive szcalder Mohnton, PA (1 review) May 22, 2009 I have ordered plants from Burpees for many years. This year I was pleasantly surprised with the new packaging on the tomato plants - not only did all of my tomato plants arrive in perfect condition, but the plastic containers they were put in were also recyclable!! All plants are doing well, and I plan on ordering again from them next year. Positive Karldan Norfolk, VA (Zone 8a) (3 reviews) May 22, 2009 I planted the 5 mixed variety Hot Pepper seeds, mixed Banana Pepper and Bulls Horn, and the Biker Billy Pepper. All germinated about 95%. "Biker Billy" Hufnagle also devotes a lot of time and energy for charity. Last year I planted Candy Cane zinnias from Burpee, and the new colors, especially the primrose and pinks, were fantastic. Positive lily_bud Indianapolis, IN (Zone 5b) (2 reviews) May 22, 2009 I ordered tomato plants from Burpee this year with some trepidation, as I have had mixed "luck" in the past. In the last 2 or 3 years, I've gotten some plants that are only about 4 inches tall, broken, and half (or more) dead. One year I called about my dead tomato plants and was offered a refund, but I was left disappointed because there were no more of the heirloom tomato plants that I had wanted. Another problem has been untimely delivery. With our last frost date at approximately Mother's Day, my garden was ready and waiting for the tomatoes to arrive but I did not receive them until the very end of May. I was told that the orders are sent out not only by zone, but by the date that the order was placed. With this in mind, I ordered tomato plants in mid-February this year. I was delighted to see my plants arrive, just on time, in mid-May. I was even more ecstatic when I opened the box. The cardboard packing system inside has been replaced by clear plastic cases, each holding 2 tomato plants, with the pots and soil pretty much intact. The plants were all of reasonable size. None were broken or bent, and all were perfectly healthy. This is a significant improvement in service. I will not hesitate to order again next year Negative thahalibutt California, CA (Zone 9a) (2 reviews) May 20, 2009 With burpee you don't get what you pay for. I bought some sunflowers last year (don't remember the name) they were supposed to be 4-5' tall & dark red. They turned out to be 10' tall & yellow. I bought some rudbeckia goldsturm this spring & have been babying it for months. This was going to be my first blackeyed susan. They just bloomed today at 4" high & its a stupid purple verbena! NEVER again! Negative awoodle Knoxville, TN (Zone 6b) (1 review) May 20, 2009 I ordered 3 Dahlia showtime plants. When the order arrived, the plants were broken, overwatered and brown. I called for a replacement and when those arrived yesterday all three of the plants were dead or dying and two had been completely broken off where the stems joined the potting soil. I've never received such poor quality plants in any mail order gardening! And these three cost $15.95! I will not order from Burpee again. Positive revclaus Denver, CO (Zone 5b) (25 reviews) May 20, 2009 I ordered from Burpee for the first time this year. The first part of the order arrived, an astilbe for $10.50 and a Broadway Lights Shasta daisy for $9.95. The astilbe was the smallest plant I have ever received by mail order, and I've ordered by mail for 20 years. I received another astilbe from Bluestone Perennials a few weeks ago, lower price, much, much bigger plant already budded out. The Burpee daisy was battered, but eventually recovered enough to plant. Again, though, I had ordered the same plant from Garden Crossings a couple of years ago and it came as a much larger plant already budded out. I complained to Burpee. They responded appropriately by refunding my money, although it took a few days to hear back. However, the second part of the order came today, a flat of impatiens. As somebody else said, some of them were in great shape, but most looked like cooked spinach after being in a blender. Even if they refund my money I'll not order from Burpee again, too iffy. I could have bought impatiens locally or from some other mail order plant house and had them planted by now. Now it's back to the drawing board with that part of my planting. I'm really disappointed, and will be asking them not to send me a catalog next year. The catalog is seductive, but the plants -- not so much. On May 21st, 2009, revclaus added the following: Here's the Burpee reply. I'm disappointed that I won't have the impatiens -- I've coveted this variety for a long time, but I'm happy with how well Burpee responded, except I'm not sure how it could be a shipping problem. ------------------------------ Dear Ms. Clausen: I believe I had addressed the issues with the Astilbe and Shasta Daisy plants on 5/18/09. It is very unfortunate that your impatiens had also arrived in bad shape. The nursery would not put damaged plants into the box, so the damage is occurring during shipping. Your information is being sent to the nursery. A refund is being issued for the impatiens. Please feel free to email me at custserv@burpee.com if you should have any other questions or concerns. Respectfully, Marsha Customer Service Department W. Atlee Burpee & Co. On May 23rd, 2009, revclaus changed the rating from negative to positive and added the following: Okay, time to change my rating. Burpee performed "over the top" Nordstrom type customer service for me and restored their good name in my eyes. I can't ever remember somebody going out of their way so much to please a customer. I grew up in Minnesota and the Burpee name was the gold standard in garden seeds. That's why I was so disappointed at my initial experience. But no more! Today a Fedex overnight shipment arrived with 7 flats of beautiful, perfect impatiens, 2 perfect Snowcap astilbes -- one in bloom, and 2 perfect Broadway Lights Shasta daisies. If I could post pictures here I would. They arrived in two large boxes ready to be hardened off for planting. It was like Christmas! It was a difficult day for me, since I had just placed my husband in a rehab center after 4 days in the hospital. I was feeling pretty depressed about everything until these beautiful packages arrived. It lifted my spirits, and my sincere thanks go out to Burpee for the lengths to which they went to make me happy. Neutral brandywinefran West Chester, PA (3 reviews) May 19, 2009 Used Burpee for years and years. No problem with their products, but their shipping charges for seeds are just ridiculous. Almost $8 for shipping a few packets of seeds, which arrived for under $2 in postage. And they are local to us besides. I understand handling charges, but it seems that the larger the seed order, the more you are "penalized" by high shipping costs. They need to provide a shipping charge specifically for seed orders, as I have seen other companies do. Positive imagal49 Monterey, TN (Zone 6a) (3 reviews) May 14, 2009 After years of dealing with Burpee, I happily placed my order in early January of 2009. I was miffed at the tacked-on 'fuel surcharge' which they hadn't rescinded even though fuel prices had bottomed out at around $1.75 a gallon. Ok, I'll give them that one. My initial reaction after waiting 3 1/2 weeks was, where's my order? I'd received no communication from them, and checking their website for status is an exercise in futility. Another 1 1/2 weeks went by, and I received part of my order. As with other comments here recently, the balance dribbled in 1 and 2 packets at a time. As planting time arrived, I was surprised to find that many packets labeled '50 seeds' contained, in fact, 20-25 seeds. What's up with that? In all fairness, I have to give them kudos for the asparagas roots - though pricey, they were huge, clean and worth the price. Even so, I've definately crossed Burpee off my list of future seed suppliers! On May 19th, 2009, imagal49 changed the rating from negative to positive and added the following: I owe Burpee a huge apology -- my sister and I placed multiple orders and in the confusion of sorting things out, I erroneously attributed my comments to Burpee, when they should have been for Park Seed Co. Mea culpa, Burpee. Neutral lilygrandma Ellijay, GA (11 reviews) May 11, 2009 With some trepidation after reading the reports here, I ordered 12 tomato plants at a whopping price of almost 60$ including shipping. They arrived about 2 weeks later (good) but 4 of the 12 (one third!) are completely ruined. They look like they have been through the blender! The others look fair or okay--only a little broken and messed up. Three are iffy; the others should make it. I think their shipper must have used the box for baseball practice and then put it by a heat vent in 90 degree weather. The ruined plants were just SLIME. The packaging appeared to be sturdy and the box was not damaged, so I think the shipper did not take the proper care. For the price of shipping they should have HAND carried to me! We will see tomorrow what kind of reply I get from customer service, and I will post back here. On May 15th, 2009, lilygrandma changed the rating from negative to neutral and added the following: I am changing my rating to neutral. I am pleased to report that Burpee contacted me through this forum quickly. I also (after about 20 minutes on hold) got to speak to someone who promised to refund the money for the ruined plants, and encouraged me to call back if the others, which were not in great shape, did not make it. I am coddling them, but a couple look pretty iffy. I will post back on how long the refund takes. Unfortunately waiting another 2 or more weeks to get the plants replaced was not feasible, and the service rep could not promise I would ever get some of the plants. So I chose the refund. I really think Burpee needs to look at their shipping process. It hurts to see plants mistreated so badly. Next year I will get seeds from Totally Tomatoes, probably, and grow my own. I did some this year for plants I could not get, and it worked out pretty well. My previous experiences with Burpee in years past have been good. I hope they can get some of these bugs (heh heh) worked out. Positive Tarrytowner Tarrytown, NY (1 review) May 10, 2009 I have been buying seeds and seed-starting formula from Burpee for 25 years and have never had any problem with any of their products. I am especially appreciative of their tomato seeds. I have bought tomato seeds from a broad range of companies over the years, but always find that good old Burpee's comes through best, especially for disease resistance. The information provided in their catalog is thorough and clear. I also recommend their cucumber seeds "Burpee pickler" which always provide a bumper crop. Positive lickstone Waynesville, NC (1 review) May 08, 2009 I did receive the tomato plants that I ordered from you at Burpee's. They are lovely! And I want to say that I am extremely impressed with the green plastic containers that they were enclosed in. They were well from the shipment due to the containers. Who ever thought of that idea for shipping deserves a medal. Thanks again, I am honored to do business with Burpee. Suzanne Hendrix Positive WVAnne Elkview, WV (1 review) May 08, 2009 Received order of peach fusion impatients that were securely boxed and delivered by UPS. Plants are in fantastic condition, far better than any I've seen in local nurseries.I ordered annuals in 2008 that thrived so I had no qualms about ordering again this year.I will continue to order annuals from Burpee in the future as they guarantee your satisfaction unlike local box store garden department.If a person has a problem they should contact Burpee rather than leave negative comments. Positive RDZinny Mechanicsville, VA (1 review) April 27, 2009 I ordered some seed and Perilla plants from Burpee. Everything arrived as promised and the perilla plants were packed well and looked great. I have been ordering from them for 35 years and never had a problem. Negative Bubba33 Gig Harbor, WA (9 reviews) April 24, 2009 Ordered a package of pole beans from Burpee shortly before I left for a two week vacation. On my return, I discovered that they had sent me a hellebore, Kingston Cardinal that I DID NOT ORDER. If I had, I would have alerted the lady who helps me in my yard -even while I am gone- to be expecting it. As I only ordered the seeds, I did not feel it was necessary to tell her about it. When I called Customer service, I was told that I had ordered the hellebore. I kept telling her that I did not do so as I was going out of state and would be gone for two weeks. I would never order a plant and expect it to do well after setting so long in the box inside my home. She told me that I must have ordered it. I said NO WAY. I had just bought five lovely gallon size hellebores at one of our "local big box" stores. I did not need anymore. My shade space is almost full. I got no where with CS. This is not the first time I have experienced such poor service from a company Burpee owns. I had very bad luck with Heronswood this year. Was sent three plants of grass (Purple love grass) which someone in Alexandria VA ordered. Three years ago, I was called a lier even though I had the paperwork and tag that said Corydalis, Blue Heron. The lady I spoke with said that they did not have such a plant. Seems that as long as your order is what you wanted, you are ok in ordering from Burpee , Heronswood and one other company that I am not familiar with. As for me, this is the last time I will ordered anything, including seeds, from Burpee. To much frustration, won't get your order straight, call you a lier when you tell your side of the story, etc. Not worth it to me. Goodbye anything and anyone associated with Burpee. Negative growingranny Dutton, VA (Zone 7b) (10 reviews) April 21, 2009 I have used Burpee most of my 50 years of gardening. Last year I ordered 3 ferns from them, they came and were dead. I called and was told they were dormant...in early fall? They said they would replace them...so far they have not. I put the three pots into the heated greenhouse for the winter and one teeny little sprout did come up, about two weeks after that. The other two must still be "dormant". Later this spring I remembered I had not ordered one variety of Marigold I wanted. I had ordered all of my other seed from another company. I got the seed, planted it, put it on the heat like I do all of my seeds...not ONE marigold came up. Other marigolds from another company came up 100%. I was a professional nurseryman for years and know how to plant a marigold seed! In talking to other people on another garden site they all had horror stories to tell about this company in the last two years. This will be the very last time I order from them and according to a lot of my friends it is their last time too. I spend too much money on plants and seeds in a year to mess with a company that doesn't believe in quality and customer service. Positive Seedpotato Fairhope, AL (1 review) April 19, 2009 I ordered several tomato plants as well as a few peppers from burpee. They arrived 3 days before the shipping date for my zone, and the plants looked very healthy. Instructions for planting were included. My plants are in the ground and off to a great start. Neutral jjsges1 Bonners Ferry, ID (6 reviews) April 09, 2009 I JUST WANTED TO LEAVE A COMMENT....I BOUGHT TWO PACKS OF BURPEE PETUNIA SEEDS ONE PACK SAID 50 PELLETED SEEDS......I GOT 34 SECOND PACK WAS 15 PELLETED SEEDS.....1 GOT 4 FOR A $1.50 PRETTY EXPENCIVE SEEDS..... I SENT BURPEE AN E-MAIL BUT NO COMMENT ......I DIDN'T ASK FOR MY MONEY BACK JUST WANTED THEM TO KNOW. On April 29th, 2009, jjsges1 added the following: After posting my comment Burpee contacted me by email and was very nice and said they would replace my packs of seeds.....and indeed they did, the problem is there were no pelleted seeds in either package they sent, just yellow powder. I think that shipping pelleted seeds are very hard to ship because the get crushed........I don't think they can correct that and I don't want any more seeds......Thanks for trying. Joyce Positive greyslate Baltimore, MD (3 reviews) April 07, 2009 Burpee was the first mail-order garden company I was introduced to when I first developed an interest in gardening some years ago. Over the years I have ordered seeds and seed starting supplies from the company, which were always promptly delivered. I have had good luck with varieties of tomatoes, cucumbers and basil from seed. I have also ordered basil plants which were very healthy and had great root systems. As a beginner, this company was a great place to start out. Negative wordsilk7 Norwalk, CT (Zone 7a) (3 reviews) April 06, 2009 Ordered the Burpee Money Garden collection. Received it just fine, except that when I went to figure out when and how to plant the tomatoes and peppers, found there were no sowing instructions whatsoever in the packet or on the seed envelopes. Went online to look for instructions there and could find nothing. Went to customer service to contact them and found they're not open on weekends (pretty crappy policy for a garden company, I think -- I garden mostly on weekends since I work during the week). I managed to send them an email about getting sowing instructions for the Money Garden. More than a week later, I received a response from Burpee -- was told that the sowing instructions were on the seed packet and gave me a link to a webpage with sowing instructions for the Money Garden. Since I am neither blind nor illiterate, I assumed that the woman from customer service who answered my email didn't bother to check the product and I wrote her back and told her so, cc'ing the woman in charge of Public Relations at Burpee (they don't list anyone in charge of customer service), explaining that 1) the instructions are NOT on the seed packets for the Money Garden and 2) I don't use the Internet in the garden and 3) I can't print out the instructions and 4) I've been a Burpee customer for 25+ years and don't appreciate being treated like an idiot. I received an email back from the same customer service woman saying the instructions are included in the Money Garden package and if I like, she'll mail them to me. Duh. Hopefully I'll get them before autumn. The woman from PR did call me to get the story and allegedly will try to figure out what went wrong here. She apologized for my confusion. I told her I wasn't confused -- I was ticked off. It took entirely too much time and energy to get instructions for planting my tomatoes from seed -- what a waste of time. Company representative comment on April 07, 2009: On Apr 7, 2009 10:17 AM, Burpee (W. Atlee Burpee) responded with: We are very sorry for the error and for the inconvenience caused. The instructions for the Money Garden are being inserted with the seed packets. The web link for instructions is: http://www.burpee.com/contentarticle.do?itemID=100126 Our phone hours for Customer Service and Ordering are: January - May: Mon-Sat 9am to 5pm ET June -December: Mon-Fri 9am to 5pm ET Customer Service Department W. Atlee Burpee & Co. Positive HolFort Folcroft, PA (1 review) April 05, 2009 I ordered the ultimate growing system and some tomatos and peppers, along with beans & lettuce. All of the items were shipped quickly. The growing system was easy to setup and kind of neat to watch the little pellets expand after adding water. The tomatos and peppers germinated very well with Burpee's system. The bottom of the tray holds extra water, so you don't need to worry about the soil drying out. Nice indoor seed sowing system. Had a good experience with this company - will order again. Neutral gfm Melrose, MA (8 reviews) March 31, 2009 Similar to someone below, I placed an order for seeds in late January and when they arrived one packet of seeds was packed for 2008. I sent a complaint via e-mail. Customer service very quickly apologized and said they would send a new packet of seeds. When these arrived over 2 weeks later, the replacement seeds also were packed for 2008. Spending several dollars more for a packet of seeds directly from Burpee rather than at retail, one would expect the seeds to at least be fresh. The reason this is neutral rather than negative is because their customer service seems to be quite good trying to rectify their error. They definitely fell from my order first list to order only if I can't find it elsewhere list though. Negative LOVIE2 Boston, MA (5 reviews) March 30, 2009 I always thought highly of Burpee - but Burpee.com has changed that completely! I placed my order online 3/17, I called to check on the shipping date and the $5 off coupon that did not come of on the online order. I was told on 3/19 that the order "is in the warehouse and would probably" go out by the end of the week (which would have been 3/21) OK fine. I called back on 3/24 because the status online never changed to "shipped".Again I have been told "it's in the warehouse and will probably go out by the end of the week" This has been 2 different weeks! This is not acceptable and I requested for this order to be cancelled. The rep that I spoke to then says she will see if she can "catch it" from shipping today. I find it very odd that prior to my requesting a cancellation, the order would ship at the end of the week and now she's trying to keep it from shipping out today all within the matter of 5 minutes. I felt that Burpee's reps were making things up as they were going along, as there was a lot of "uh's and I don't knows" coming from them. I felt very uncomfortable and demanded the order be cancelled via email on 3/24. I recieved my refund on 3/27. I will never use Burpee.com again as the customer service is not what it should be, and that is not acceptable. Positive blueberrytom Medfield, MA (3 reviews) March 30, 2009 I've done two orders this year with Burpee and both were professional and came with no errors. I'd have no reservations about ordering with them again. Positive ndps99 Holyoke, MA (9 reviews) March 27, 2009 My family and I have ordered from Burpee since time immemorial without any negative or neutral experiences. For this year's planting, I ordered several vegetable seeds and, as usual, they arrived very quickly. Burpee always tends to put full labeling on their seed packets which can eliminate a lot of note-taking or re-researching when it comes time to remember what needs to be started indoors or not as well as where, when and how seeds need to be prepared and planted. I have always had very good germination with them and don't foresee anything different this year. Likewise -- perhaps because Burpee is so big -- I don't ever remember receiving any substitutions or being told something I ordered was out of stock. Neutral figaro52 Oak Lawn, IL (Zone 5a) (28 reviews) March 24, 2009 This was my first and LAST order with Burpee. First of all I took advantage of their coupon for $5 off a $30 order. I placed an order in the amount of $35.30 BEFORE SHIPPING. An item in the amount of $9.95 was out of stock (and I was never notified). Needless to say, they took away the $5 discount. Had they contacted me I could have added something else to my order. I made the mistake of being lured by the glitzy catalog. The seed packets are very skimpy compared to other mail order seed houses, and twice as expensive. How big of them to include a new $5.00 coupon good on my "next" $30.00 order. Well, there won't be a "next" order. Burpee products are so much cheaper in the retail stores. W. Atlee Burpee would be very disheartened if he knew how today's customers are being treated. What a fool I am to have actually paid $8.95 to have 5 packets of seeds mailed to me! On April 1st, 2009, figaro52 changed the rating from negative to neutral and added the following: In all fairness to Burpee, I am changing my rating from negative to neutral. After I posted my original comment, Paul Hofer contacted me and offered to make good on the $5.00 coupon. A credit has been issued (although it's not yet hit my credit card account!). Even so, they've lost a mail order customer. If I use Burpee products going forward, I will purchase at the retail level. Positive gmap Santa Cruz, CA (Zone 8a) (1 review) March 23, 2009 Recently I ordered several plants from Burpee and selected a ship date. The plants arrived in a timely basis and were in great condition. They were small but very healthy. Negative beachhead2 Hollis, NH (2 reviews) March 20, 2009 I ordered one packet of seeds. I called their 800# ten days after placing my order. I was told that my order was cancelled because they're out of seeds. No explanation as to when they might have contacted me. They never emailed nor have they changed the order status on the website. And the same item still says "In Stock" on their website! Poor customer service and on such a simple order.

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