| Rating | Author | Content |
| Negative | al_the_gardener
Norwell, MA
(1 review)
November 02, 2009 | We placed several orders with Van Bourgondiens this summer and were not happy with anything received. One order for Canna was for 10 dwarf pink canna. We received 10 stubby roots, one died, six produced tiny leaf sets, and three blossomed. Two of the three blossoming plants were small flowered bright orange-red. They issued a credit for the order but when trying to redeem it, I find I have to ADD to the order to make their minimum. Since they also sent eryngium which were clearly advertised both in the photo and the description as Eryngium alpinum but were clearly Eryngium plamum I dug them up and tossed them in the compost when they flowered. I also ordered and received, six Sidalcea "Party Girl" only half grew and flowered, and three Gunnera - all died.
Never again. |
| Negative | imdone
Berthoud, CO
(2 reviews)
October 28, 2009 | I have tried for 3 years to deal with this company and I have recieved dried up or total mush for plants. I once even recieved a small bag of peat moss. Couldn't find a thing in the sack. My last order had 4 out of 9 plants that were dead. The rest were very small bare root and doubt they will make it When I called I was told that two replacements would be sent now but the other two were sold out and would be replaced next fall. They refused to refund my money. I could only substitute something else of equal or lesser value. |
| Neutral | Loligo
Murphysboro, IL
(Zone 6b)
(4 reviews)
October 16, 2009 | My mother ordered me some bulbs from VB as a birthday present -- when I came and saw the reviews, I was terrified! But so far, the experience has not been a total disaster. The bulbs arrived this week, at an appropriate time for planting. Everything she ordered was in there, and the bulbs are firm and healthy looking. They're definitely on the small side (especially the daffodils, which are half the size of bulbs I've received from John Scheepers before), but they do fit the measurements promised in the catalog descriptions.
My only quibble is the daylily: it's a single, anemic, trimmed-down fan, although with a healthy clump of roots. If it were earlier in the season, I would feel confident that it would pull through with no problem. But this late in the year, I don't know whether to risk it out in the garden, or plant it in a pot and keep it in the garage for the winter.
Given the pervasive problems they seem to have with plants not coming up true to name, I'm starting this review out at Neutral, but if everything blooms as labeled next spring, I will come back and change this to Positive. |
| Neutral | pastime
Waterman, IL
(Zone 5a)
(1 review)
October 15, 2009 | Posted on November 11, 2007, updated October 15, 2009
I ordered 6 Destined to See daylily fans and 6 Green Envy coneflower roots from them in the Spring '07. The daylily fans were smallish, but caught up in size by the end of the season. They even bloomed which is great for a 1st year daylily. The Green Envy coneflowers were also small, but grew well over the summer and bloomed.
On April 22nd, 2009, pastime added the following:
In 2007 I ordered 6 Destined to See daylilies. They arrived in good shape and bloomed the summer of 2008. Unfortunately they turned out to be Wild Horses daylilies, not Destined to See. In the fall of '08 I took a chance and emailed them along with a picture of the bloom. The actually wrote me back acknowledging their mistake. Last week 12 Destined to See arrived. They were nice, healthy, big roots.
On June 27th, 2009, pastime changed the rating from positive to neutral and added the following:
The 12 supposedly Destined to See plants are now blooming, and again, they sent me Wild Horses. I emailed them asking "what the heck!", No reply. I take back my positive rating and give them a neutral because the quality of the plants were good, but the company needs to look into why their stock of DTS is mislabeled. I wonder if people ordering Wild Horses got DTS instead.
On October 15th, 2009, pastime added the following:
After numerous emails back and forth since June '09, they sent me another 12 plants labeled Destined to See with a note stating "this is the last replacement". Like I'm the one who goofed up! I won't know until next summer if I indeed received DTS. If they turn out to be Wild Horses again, I will then have 36 of them. Looks like I will be doing some trading on DG. I'll keep my neutral rating because the plants arrived healthy. I hope DTS turns out to be worth all the fuss. |
| Positive | Steve812
Prescott, AZ
(Zone 7a)
(1 review)
September 26, 2009 | I ordered three hundred daffodils and fifty hyacinths through their wholesale branch last fall, and (without stopping to count them all) most or all of them were true to form and bloomed very nicely this spring. I also ordered six echinacea which were DOA.
It has frequently been my experience with bulb companies that one can get great bulbs but only dead perennials; so VBW may be a very good place to get bulbs, but a terrible place to get perennials. Recommended for bulbs, not for perennials. |
| Negative | plantgirl333
Beverly Hills, CA
(1 review)
September 24, 2009 | WHAT A JOKE!!!
I purchased over 36 pieces from the local Wal Mart.
NOT ONE...I REPEAT...NOT ONE grew.
They came in the biodegradeable pots and I was assured by the garden centre boy they had just arrived. This happened back in February and I haven't calmed down enough until now to respond.
DO NOT PURCHASE ANYTHING FROM THIS COMPANY UNLESS YOU WANT TO TOSS YOUR MONEY AWAY.
plantgirl333 |
| Negative | Cinecine
Cambridge, MA
(4 reviews)
August 02, 2009 | In the past I ordered bulbs, mostly crocuses, tulips and lilies, two peonies, several times, and each time only about 30% of the tulips came up, none of the lilies, never the peonies. (I generally have a 90% or better success rate with bulbs of all kinds, so something is wrong with their bulbs - yea it took me a while to figure out it was not my fault.) I stopped ordering from this company several years ago and am very glad I did so. Their bargain prices just aren't worth it if the plants don't grow. |
| Neutral | plant_manager
Lombard, IL
(3 reviews)
July 30, 2009 | Bought a himalayan blue poppy that was half dead on arrival and promptly died when planted. When I contacted VanB they said it was not meant for my zone; it likes cool and moist springs. We had the coolest, wettest spring in decades. I ordered elephant ears and it looked like a dried stone but I planted it anyway; it rotted in the pot. They said they will replace this next spring. Also, I ordered Stutgartt canna; this canna is sold for its variegation. It blooms after reaching a height of around 7 feet. This one has no variegation and bloomed about the size of a dwarf canna. I also bought foxglove, toad lily and hardy geranium and these are ok. I have some tulips and hyacinths from VanB and they are beautiful. |
| Negative | Pozy54
Harrisburg, PA
(1 review)
July 13, 2009 | I had a special color theme intended for a particular garden bed. So I ordered daffodils which were to be whitish with very pick centers. (all turned out orange-ish. no pink there!) I also ordered 10 bags of 7 of a pale pink tulip. Needless to say there was no pale pink there either. I also ordered 5 bags of 12 of a windflower mix. (no mix there) It amazed me that I planted all this stuff in the fall of 2008 only to wait breathlessly for the arrival of spring to see the "pale pink" beauties that would come up in my special garden. Imagine my horror (and I have pictures) of all the plants that came up did NOT have one ounce of pink on them. Oh but lots of oranges and yellows. Pretty....but not what I intended! I did email them but got no response. I will find another company who can guarantee color and start again this fall. I'll dig up the other ones and put them somewhere else. |
| Negative | IndianaMom
Tipton, IN
(2 reviews)
July 07, 2009 | WARNING...CUSTOMERS BEWARE...WARNING...!!!
Catalog stated upright Blk Elephant ear bulbs would be very large, I did not agree to any substitues. So I was very disappointed to have been billed over $36.00 for two bulbs that were not even the diameter of a quarter. We were expecting as advertised 6-7" bulbs. A little note was sent along with the shrunken substitutes that stated...please forgive us there has been an earthquake in the tropical rainforest where these plants originate. I was unhappy that and contacted the company and requested a refund in full. I was told I would have to return the shrunken tiny bulbs so I asked them to send a UPS call tag so that I wouldn't get stuck with the return shipping fees. 5 phone calls and 2 months later I am still awaiting the refund to be credited to my credit card. Customer Service Reps are RUDE and unwilling to investigate my complaint, unwilling/refused to transfer my call to their supervisor or a superior. I am turning this over to the BBB and hope that they will investigate this, in addition to asking my VISA card to do the same. COMPANY IS CLEARLY IN VIOLATION OF FAILING TO ISSUE CREDIT, FAILING TO HEED CUSTOMERS REQUEST TO NOT PROVIDE OR SHIP ANY SUBSTITUTES IF ORIGINAL ITEM AS ADVERTISED IS UNAVAILABLE. FRAUD ALERT START TO FINISH. |
| Neutral | liebran
Valencia, PA
(Zone 5b)
(4 reviews)
July 02, 2009 | I ordered 2 Angel trumpets which arrived in pot, bent but not broken and so far look good in the planting. Also, I ordered two bleeding hearts-they arrived in a plastic baggie filled with potting soil and 2 bright gold stems (I assume from sulfur). I have planted the stems, but no results yet. I am not sure they are going to survive. Only time will tell,but I was not happy with the bleeding heart packaging. Karen Shaver |
| Negative | stevehi2
Toledo, OH
(1 review)
June 22, 2009 | Ordered four plants. All four came looking very rough. I was able to get two of them back to health again. Since I have emailed twice about replacements for the plants that didn't make it and still no answer back. If I could get my replace plants in good enough shape to make it I would seriously think about moving the rating to a neutral instead of a negative. |
| Positive | catloverrachel
Columbia, SC
(Zone 8a)
(6 reviews)
June 15, 2009 | I recently sent a large order of clearance items (mainly daylilies and OT lilies) to Van Bourgondien. Given the negative feedback I've seen on DG, I was rather apprehensive as I waited for my order to arrive. My order arrived less than a week after I sent it, and the bulbs and fans were nice, fresh, and healthy. I think dornancy makes a big difference when one is ordering plants, especially at the end of the season. If the plant material can be refrigerated and kept cool, they should be able to survive the shipping ordeal. There is no way I would order plants with fibrous roots via mailorder at this time of year; I live in South Carolina and they would probably be cooked by the time they arrived. Bulbs, rhizomes, etc., are a different matter, as they can (and should) be kept cool until planted. |
| Negative | Kimmer58
Mason, MI
(2 reviews)
June 11, 2009 | I ordered 4 coneflowers in Sept 2008. They were dead and nasty. I called the company and a gentleman stated they were a perennial and they should be fine come the following spring. Well spring has sprung no coneflowers. 6 weeks ago I called and spoke to a young gal who stated her name was Kathy (which I didn't believe her) and I also emailed this company to no avail. I did request to speak to a supervisor or manager . . they don't have any! This is what I was told by "Kathy." Interesting to say the least. I called on 6-8-09 and requested to speak to a manager again and the person who answered the phone was an assistant manager (Bev). Told her the whole story again and was very emphatic I didn't want a refund I wanted the product. Well she was happy to help me, however the original coneflowers (After Midnight and Double Pink) were no longer in stock or they no longer handled. Ok she went thru what they did have and I picked out my 4 coneflowers. She stated they would be shipped right out and they were. I received them on 6-10-2009. What a joke! I received 4 plastic baggies of what appear to be nothing but dirt. After inspecting them, there 4 tiny roots about the size of a small office rubberband! What a joke! I won't give this company the time of day as satisfaction is not a priority for them. I have a new home and money is tight but I did want to have a larger coneflower bed . . well it ain't happening with this place! I caution anyone who is contemplating ordering from them . . DON'T! $50.00 + s/h is a lot of money when you're younger and getting into that new home. NEVER AGAIN! Learn your lesson from my experience. |
| Negative | hostazilla
Portland, OR
(1 review)
June 11, 2009 | I ordered 3 Jade and 2 Green Jewel coneflowers from Van Bourgondien at the beginning of June: my local nurseries did not have these varieties and VB was offering them on clearance.
They arrived about 8 days later. The Green Jewels had no viable roots and each had a sprout smaller than my pinky nail. All three Jade coneflowers were dead and rotted. And shipping alone for these five dead sticks was $19. And to add insult to injury, their packing list included a note saying that they do not offer refunds on clearance plants. (Now why, I wonder, would they have cause for a policy like that?)
I'm appalled by their shoddy plants. VB might be a great company for bulbs but I'll never know since this first purchase from them is absolutely my last. |
| Neutral | onewish1
Denville, NJ
(Zone 6a)
(17 reviews)
June 10, 2009 | I placed an order that was shipped 3/25/09.. a part of the order was the PENSTEMON COLLECTION (73906)... I contacted the company twice to tell them there is no growth and they appear to be dead ... via there website... both times I received NO RESPONSE
I would not recommend buying from a company that doesn't not even take the time to send a respond to a problem
On June 11th, 2009, onewish1 added the following:
sorry for the typo... I meant response
On June 16th, 2009, onewish1 changed the rating from negative to neutral and added the following:
I did finally receive a reply 3 days ago... the replacements were shipped yesterday |
| Negative | babsgene
Kalamazoo, MI
(1 review)
June 10, 2009 | I am in a daylily club in SW Michigan and we always look for bargains for other "lilies." I found this site, filled my basket with bargain lillium bulbs and was shocked to see double the shipping rate for the cost of my order. I tried removing the fall shipping bulbs, still the shipping was approx. 50% of the cost of the order. I was confused so I called.
I was told it's their policy to charge the amount of shipping that I would have paid for the original price of the bulbs. How absurd! I've been using mail order most of my adult life an shipping has always been based on the price of the products in the cart. That's like paying sales tax on what the car's original price, not the discount. Is this legal?
Sorely dissappointed in Kalamazoo |
| Positive | eyfng
San Gabriel, CA
(8 reviews)
June 08, 2009 | I ordered peony and 6 lily bulbs this spring.
The packing is not that good. The box is a bit oversized. One root of peony broke when I got the shipment.
The peony is growing fast at the beginning. Now the leaves are getting thicker and bigger, but growing slowly.
The 3 gold stargazer lilies are healthy and producing bubs.
2 elodie asiatic lilies are growing healthy. One didn't grow, but I got the replacement within a week, They sent me a bag of 3 bulbs. One replacement is shooting out.
I have to call them for replacement because they didn't reply my emails.
The shipping charge is so high, so I only order when it provides special offer. |
| Positive | brotherlee
Lenoir, NC
(1 review)
June 06, 2009 | Prior to ordering bulbs on line for the first time I researched suppliers. I chose Van Bourgandien in February because of the relatively short distance my order would travel, the reviews I read at DG , and the ease of navigating their website.
While waiting for my first order to arrive Van Bourgandien's customer service e mailed that my card had been compromised ( ID theft). That headsup allowed me to make other arrangements for payment in time to avoid any delay of the scheduled delivery date.
I could not have been more pleased with the care of filling and shipping the order. The quality of the bulbs was such that only one bulb was not viable. The replacement bulb and a backorder arrived just a few days later- both are growing very well.
In April I made another order-this time for well over 100 bulbs. Again my order arrived on time and in excellent condition To date not one one bulb has needed to be replaced.
Here in lenoir we are limited to bulbs sold by big box stores such as Lowes and Walmart. Although their prices are competitive for the few varieties they carry quality is lacking.
|
| Positive | Karldan
Norfolk, VA
(Zone 8a)
(3 reviews)
May 28, 2009 | I wanted a white amaryllis for Christmas last year. I bought a (rather expensive) kit from Van Bourgondiens. It bloomed red. I returned it for another kit, and this one late January bloomed red. Oh well, I was not meant to have a white one.
I complained to our delivery driver, who also delivers to V B,
indeed he is a friend of Mrs V B. She sent me 4 huge (leftover) replacement bulbs, (which bloomed red, no surprise here), a pack of President canna, and a pack of 4 different Summer bulbs. These had in them the hardy fragrant Glads, you know the ones, white with red center, and the little claws of ranunculus. I have never in the past been able to grow these, but upon planting them in my garden, they
postively flew up out of the ground. I can only speak for myself, I am very pleased with the bulb lady's above and beyond gifts to ensure my satisfaction at not having a white (amaryllis) Christmas. |
| Positive | Emma75
Deland, FL
(3 reviews)
May 28, 2009 | We've ordered from this company on and off for quite some time, and have always been pleased. I usually wait until they're having their 50% off sales, and then make a fairly substantial order. I had to utilize their customer service department for the first time on my most recent purchase due to an issue with the website not processing my order; their IT department promptly found my order, and the rep I'd spoken with even called me to make sure I'd received the confirmation e-mail. My entire order arrived yesterday, and everything is very healthy, especially the hemerocallis; the bulbs are medium-large sized stock and have no signs of problems. Though I see they've had very mixed reviews, we have never had one bad thing to say about them! |
| Neutral | sniderj2
Morristown, TN
(9 reviews)
May 09, 2009 | Placed an order in March, 2009. Slow to ship. Some good, some bad: plants were well packed but small. The phlox had not sprouted and I'll have to see how they do, but they looked fine. Coneflower was backordered with NO indication of shipping date. Who knows when it will arrive. I have ordered from this company several times in the past, with mixed results. Some of their plants are very nice, others are marginal at best and don't live well. I have about 60/40 luck with them (60% good, 40% not so good.) Got a "deal" on what I ordered this time so I took a chance. |
| Negative | Nobody
Frankfort, KY
(6 reviews)
May 05, 2009 | I did not expect much from this company, but I ordered Bletilla (6) and Habenaria (really Pecteilis) "bulbs". They initially charged me $16.95 for 10 bulbs, and the size of Habenaria tuberoids (4) are about that of peas. Apparently, Habenaria is not available, but I only found this because they sent me an e-mail. Two of Bletilla rhizomes were shriveled. So I replied to the message asking about Habenaria and the quality of Bletilla received. No reply.
So I called the company and expressed a concern. She told me that I have to grow this 6~8 months before I get a replacement or a refund. She did not know what kind of plants I received but had a nerve to advise me to soak them with water "to give a chance", even I repeatedly told her that I have grown this one before. |
| Positive | cartdog
Idaho Falls, ID
(1 review)
May 03, 2009 | I ordered a variety of perennials, both starter plants and bare root stock, about 36 plants in all. I emailed the company after placing the order to request a specific "not to ship" date as I was going to be out of town for 10 days. I received a very polite reply indicating they would honor my request. My plants all arrived before I left town and all in good condition. I saved quite a bit over buying 4" or larger pots in town, and several of the plants are not offered locally. Overall, a very pleasant and worthwhile purchase. |
| Positive | Cornpatch_IL
Litchfield, IL
(1 review)
May 01, 2009 | Ordered about 10 items ranging from Hostas to Geraniums, and everything looked great. While the packing was dry, it did take 3 days for UPS ground to get it here, if you live further away, you might want to pay for quicker shipping if you are worried.
The only thing I could suggest would be a little more moisture retentive soil mix, but other than that, everything seems to be great. |
| Negative | EastportGarden
Annapolis, MD
(1 review)
April 30, 2009 | I bought 2 hardy fuschias and 2 cana lilies. The fuschias arrived in plastic packaging with a faded label, and inside were roots with no visible signs of life and a few llimp, wasted roots. The canas were in similar poor condition. My email question about their condition elicited no response - I would definitely not order from them again or any "affiliated" site, as it appears to have several different sites/names.
FYI while I got no response, my inbox has been spammed every other day with 50% off sales and a variety of cheesy offers. Beware! |
| Neutral | 17decker
Grand Junction, CO
(5 reviews)
March 04, 2009 | Last April or May of 2008 I placed an order of Gaint Phloxs, Day Lillies, and other plants, thinking I would get them soon. No I didn't get them till that fall. I ended up losing all of the plants except for the day lillies. And even though the day lillies did ok they were not the plants I ordered. I have request my money back for the plants that died and was told that I could only get a credit. Since then I have made another order that should arive this spring and I'll have to wait and see if this will be a waste of money or just a fluke. |
| Negative | echinaceamaniac
(Clint) Brownsville, TN
(Zone 7b)
(9 reviews)
February 10, 2009 | Very negative! This company ships dead plants. I ordered a clematis from them which was very expensive. They shipped it bare root. It never had a chance! If you don't want a bare root plant, you should stay away from this company. Their customer service is also very poor. In my experience bare root plants very rarely grow unless it's a bulb or tuber. I know for a fact that most of the plants they ship bare root will never grow. Some things aren't meant to be shipped in that manner! |
| Positive | drsluggo
Blythewood, SC
(1 review)
January 20, 2009 | I have been buying from VB's for many years, both from their "wholesale" catalog and their standard one. I have always received top quality plants in good condition and shipped quickly. The one time I received some rotted daffodils they were promptly replaced. I can usually get very good plant material here at a fraction of what I pay elsewhere, either locally or by mail. Highly recommeded!! |
| Positive | elegantminx
Eastpoint, FL
(4 reviews)
December 20, 2008 | About three weeks ago I ordered around $100 of clearance bulbs for some landscaping I'm doing. The job is a nonprofit deal for a friend whose health issues doesnt allow them to garden. Being clearance fall bulbs, I expected a good amount of damage and/or rot. I was pleasantly surprised with neither. The ferns and hostas were fat and had nice heathly buds on them. The lillies and poppy I received were equally large and in good condition. I received them about 4 days after ordering, planted them 2 days later. I live on the florida panhandle coast so I'm very lucky to have a very mild winter and I'm thrilled to say the ferns are already starting to frond up and I have nice 3in sprouts on the iris I ordered. My only complaint would be that I ordered a mixed lot (50 bulbs)of daffodils to naturalize the back of her property and they sent 14 pink daffodils in place of them. The price was comparable but I was looking more for quantity in the use. It would have been nice if they had called to confirm the substitution, but overall a very fantastic shipment of very nice healthy plants. |
| Positive | 4trowelanderror
Paradise, CA
(1 review)
December 16, 2008 | As part of a community wide project to plant daffodils I recently ordered 60,000 wholesale naturalizing daffodil bulbs from VB. I used this company on the recommendation of a daffodil planter who has been using the bulbs for 20 plus years. We received outstanding service from the company, including personal phone calls, reduced price and free shipping. The bulbs were in wonderful condition. The bulbs were the size as described and minimal decay or rot was found. Of the 60,000 bulbs, we still have about 10,000 to plant. At this point I am satisfied with the company and their service. If there is need to change my opinion in the spring when the daffodils are set to bloom I will certainly update my evaluation. But at this point I feel certain that the bulbs will preform beautifully in our area as I have seen the VB bulbs in bloom in a local private garden that has a million or more bulbs. |
| Negative | slichtyler
Hillsborough, NC
(Zone 7b)
(6 reviews)
October 07, 2008 | Like many others, I had a poor experience with this company two years ago - about 25% of the bulbs failed to come up, and half of the others were not what they were labelled. This was especially true of the premium bulbs - madonna lilies turned out to be tiger lilies; poet's daffodils were ordinary yellow daffodils; and so forth.
Altogether, I think that my $200 order gave me about $75 worth of ordinary bulbs. (The good news is that I learned to pay attention to reviews of online retailers, but it was an expensive lesson.) |
| Neutral | SonjaSkyles
Elk Grove, CA
(Zone 9b)
(13 reviews)
September 14, 2008 | About 5 years ago I bought a dark blue double tradescantia from them. When it bloomed, it was single and almost white. I contacted them, but I had to wait a year for a replacement, because they were out of them. The following spring I received what was supposed to be a replacement plant, but the plastic bag contained only peat moss and there was no plant in it. I contacted them again and was promised a new plant the following spring. I never heard from them and I will never order from them again.
On December 8th, 2008, SonjaSkyles changed the rating from negative to neutral and added the following:
I made a mistake. The tradescantia order was from Van Dyck's. The order from Van Bourgoundien was in August of 2004 and it was for several bareroot plants, that arrived all black and shriveled up and never came to life. I was promised a replacement in the spring. As of 5/12/05 I had not received them and wrote to them again. I did not receive a reply to that e-mail, but I have now received an encouraging message from Sofia at Van Bourgondien, and hopefully this will be resolved. |
| Negative | SGcvn69
Pittsburgh, PA
(2 reviews)
September 14, 2008 | I fell in love with a double white Brugmansia in their catalog a few years back and caved to my desire by paying $20 for it. When I got it it bloomed single pink. They said they'd replace it, which they did, and it bloomed single YELLOW! So they again replaced it and the buds are starting to open now. I pried one open and I see that it is another SINGLE flower and NOT a double! Not sure what color it is, but I don't care at this point. I will be contacting the company and demanding a refund. I am tired of this charade. I guess I should've check with ya'll first! |
| Negative | tikiblueyes
Collingswood, NJ
(1 review)
August 14, 2008 | This wasn't a mail order experience, I bought 2 grape vines from Home Depot but they are from Van Bourgondien. Seedless Suffolk and Seedless Reliance. I waited 3 years to get fruit and to taste the sweet seedless grapes that I had purchased. 3 years! After reading several of these reviews I'm sure you can figure out where this is going. The grapes were not seedless at all. Did they just dig up anything to fill up an order? And I am surprised that Home Depot got duped by this company. Home Depot has a 1 year refund policy but at this point we are way beyond that. It sounds like this company will just fulfill orders with anything they can dig up! I honestly don't know how I can trust any company with a plant that takes several years to develop! |
| Neutral | p1mkw
Danville, IN
(Zone 5b)
(6 reviews)
August 12, 2008 | This company was recommended to me by a Master Gardener (president of the local chapter, BTW). So I thought they must be good. I placed a sizeable order with them last year. Probably 50% (or even less) survived planting. I figured either I had done something wrong, the plants weren't right for this area (I had check the zones so I knew that wasn't it) or 'something.' Not having learned my lesson last year, this spring I placed another order with them. Same experience as last year. Not one of the ferns I ordered from them survived, several lilies never sprouted and some of the plants that did sprout don't look all that great. The Blazing Star is the only plant that looks like something that will survive and even flourish. I'm sure the person who recommended this company has had good experience, but sadly I can't say the same thing for me. And looking at the other comments out here, I'd say more people share my experience with them than have positive experiences. There are too many other highly rated companies out there ... save your money and spend it with them rather than this company.
On December 6th, 2008, p1mkw changed the rating from negative to neutral and added the following:
I would like to acknowledge that a representative form the company contacted me and is willing to work towards a solution by replacing the plants that did not thrive for me. I would encourage people in the future to contact the company first and give them an opportunity to resolve any issues you might have with them. I am changing my rating to Neutral based on their willingness to work on a solution. |
| Positive | curlyjoe1967
Marshfield, WI
(2 reviews)
August 10, 2008 | I have ordered dahlias, daylilies, and tulips. After they have bloomed, I see they aren't the kind I had ordered. I'm very disappointed, especially about the daylily. I was really looking forward to that one. I won't order from them again.
On December 5th, 2008, curlyjoe1967 changed the rating from negative to positive and added the following:
I was contacted by this company with an offer to send a replacement for the daylily. I really have to say that I was surprised. Most companies don't seem to care about customer service anymore. Thankyou Van Bourgondien. |
| Negative | aoneill
Parkton, MD
(5 reviews)
August 06, 2008 | On May 4th when I received the 6 plants I had ordered from this company they arrived looking quite dead. I emailed them explaining the problem and was given the same run-around that everyone else has gotten. Store credit only. I notified my credit card company of a dispute. Sure enough..they have
rebilled my account. I had taken pictures of these plants and
I can prove my claim. With all of the negative comments they get you would think they would try to change their ways. |
| Negative | morgen
San Luis Obispo, CA
(6 reviews)
July 22, 2008 | I ordered about $75.00 of clearance items from them June 16th. Today I checked the status of the order online because I hadn't heard anything at all since the order confirmation.
They said my credit card was declined and they cancelled the order. I just took that credit card on vacation for two weeks and used it every day-I find it hard to believe. And even if there was an error with the card, wouldn't they have let me know?
I asked if I could re-order and they said they stopped shipping the day after my card was declined.
From reading the reviews, it's probably for the best anyway. |
| Negative | jadestone29205
Columbia, SC
(Zone 8a)
(2 reviews)
July 18, 2008 | Last year I placed two large orders for bulbs and plants which were on Clearance. I have been very disappointed with the company response regarding bulbs/plants which did not perform. They are not willing to replace them. Their policy is not to give a refund, but to give the customer a credit to be used only at Van Bourgondien.
I do not want a credit, I want the bulbs/plants which did not perform replaced!
Because the items were on Clearance, when I order again (as I must if I want to recoup anything) it will be at full price. I am on a fixed income and would not have ordered these items at full price. I love to garden, but I must shop sales.
If Van Bourgondien had replaced the faulty items I ordered I would have been pleased that they stood behind their products. They would have gained a long term customer. As it is, I do not plan to do business with them again after I use my "credit." |
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