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Posted on May 9, 2013, updated May 10, 2013
Posted on May 9, 2013, updated May 9, 2013
Posted on May 8, 2013, updated May 9, 2013
Posted on May 8, 2013, updated May 8, 2013
My wait for plants was about 4 weeks. I had ordered before and it took 2 weeks. My problem was my last order. It contained 8 old fashioned lilacs, Gila apple, north star cherry. The apple and cherry tree came to me broken with the roots seperated from the stems. They had been tossed into the bag where as the lilacs were tied together. I contacted company. Their first response was send in shipping form and they will replace. Why should I have to pay to send them my shipping form. The way they were shipped its obvious damage would occur. Contacted them again and they told me to plant the roots and they would grow. I did not pay or order roots. I ordered trees. I am still waiting for their next response. I will update with their response. Better business bureau, consumer protection and every complaint board I can find. I will not pay more to get what I already paid for.
On May 8th, 2013, raftcanoefish added the following:
They have 3 times the negative comments as positive. I wish I would have looked on here first. They have no customer service. All they can tell you is when it got out of proccessing and when it shipped. That is their customer service. On May 9th, 2013, raftcanoefish added the following:
Filed a report with the better Business Bureau. Will updateOn May 9th, 2013, raftcanoefish added the following:
They contacted me by email telling me they would not ship me plants without me mailing them a letter and paying shipping. Will update. Do not use this company. I am not spending another penny to receive what I paid for. They keep sending me a form letter about how they are shipped bare root. I know that, I know you have to soak and spend time with them. I want the plants I paid to receive, not roots broken off from stemsOn May 10th, 2013, raftcanoefish added the following:
Nothing from company today. They have 2 weeks to respond to better business bureau. I read some of the positive reviews on here and they look like they are written by someone who works at company. The customer service is the worst. They sent me fruit trees that were broken in half. The stem could be held in one hand and the roots in another. Now they want me to pay to get my order replaced. This company is worthless. I will update. If better business bureau doesnt work I will go to illinois attorney general.
On May 6, 2013, xxrouguexx Farmingville, NY wrote:
I placed an order on April 18th for 23 plants. Its been over two weeks now, so I decided to give Direct Gardening a call to see if or when my plants would be shipped. The line was busy, I called several more times at different parts of the day, the phone line always busy, so I tried calling Four Season's Nurseries phone number instead - again, the phone line constantly busy. I've emailed them as well, and yet to receive a response. If they do not get in touch with me by Friday, I'm calling my credit card company and filing a dispute. Whether or not I receive my order, I will not order from Direct Gardening or Four Seasons Nurseries again.
On May 4, 2013, jessflowergirl Fort Bragg, CA wrote:
Posted on February 27, 2013, updated May 4, 2013
Posted on November 3, 2012, updated February 27, 2013
On October 5th I placed an order for about $65 worth of plants. I ordered 50 periwinkle, 4 blue hydrangea, 1 color in the shade pre-planned garden, 2 butterfly bushes, and 6 english lavender. I found their website through a beginner rose gardener website, and after seeing the prices, I was hooked. Of course I wish I had known about Dave's Garden prior to ordering, I probably would have thought twice about ordering because I am such a novice gardener. My order arrived today, November 3rd in a tiny green plastic bag the size of a fed-ex envelope. I panicked immediately because the bag had been sitting in the sun on my porch for who knows how long before I found it today. I rushed it inside and opened, the plants were sweating but everything seemed ok. My order was complete, nothing missing and no substitutions. I am relieved to report that everything seems to show some sort of life. Here is what I have found:
Hydrangeas: small, came potted, new life sprouting, great roots
English Lavender: look questionable, appear pretty weak, bareroot, decent roots
Periwinkle: not sure I got all 50, planted 40 in peat pots to build up the roots as they were very small, but good foliage, bareroot.
Butterfly bushes: really disappointed in size (little stick no bigger round than a piece of straw), but these were really cheap so it's ok, plant looks very very dormant, but scratch test shows green, bareroot, not holding out too much hope here.
Color in the shade garden: hostas are not recognizable, lily of the valley are just pips, ferns look like clumps of bark- no green on these, columbines, trinity, and astilbe all show life. All bareroot.
Freebies: all freebie bulbs were received and appear to be in good condition!
The only thing of the whole order which actually resembles a plant are the hydrangeas (barely). I suppose if you wanted to get your plants one step ahead of starting from seeds, this would work. I would have liked to at least recognize some of the plants (thank goodness they came labeled!!) I would have been more disappointed if I have planned on landscaping the whole yard with this as it's going to take a while to get them to a decent size. Luckily for me it's more for filling in spaces and we'll see what ends up living! I also think I timed it right for shipping, temperatures are cooler this time of year and I can see how that green bag could cook those plants in the time it takes to get here.
I'm giving a neutral rating for the lack of communication from the company about shipping, the legnth of time it takes to get here, the small size of the plants, but my order was complete with no substitutions.
I'll keep everyone posted!
On February 27th, 2013, jessflowergirl changed the rating from neutral to negative and added the following:
4 months later, here is where I am at:
Periwinkle: 6 left, no growth but not dead.
Hydrangea: all 4 still alive, but no growth
Color in the shade garden: the only plants alive are the astilbe. Nothing else even began to show any growth.
Butterfly bushes: both dead twigs.
Lavender: All 6 dead.
Freebie Bulbs: iris are growing, no others.
So I know we just went through winter, but where I live in Zone 9 plants are coming out of dormancy and starting to grow. The only plants growing from direct garden are the astilbe and the iris bulbs. All other plants on close inspection are very very dead, brown to the scratch test.
I am going to wait until around June to make sure I've given the proper chance for any plants to wake up before I make use of the replacement guarentee and until then I am just keeping track. I am most disappointed about the lavender and butterfly bushes.
I would not order from Direct Garden again, I think if the photos in the catalog actually depicted what you were recieving in the plastic bag most people wouldn't be lured in by the low prices.
On May 4th, 2013, jessflowergirl added the following:
This is just frustrating. Out of my entire order the only items still alive are 3 hydrangeas and 1 columbine. I will not bother with requesting replacements, I don't want any more of DG bad nursery stock in my yards. While everything else is sprouting life and growing and thriving, DG's plants are just taking up valuable real estate in my small garden. YOU ARE WASTING YOUR MONEY IF YOU ORDER FROM THEM. Stick with the Dave's Garden Top 30, and you won't be disappointed. There are some excellent companies with prices not too much higher than DG with much better quality plants. On May 4, 2013, Direct Gardening responded with:
"On Nov 6, 2012 8:24 AM, Direct Gardening responded with:
We are happy to hear that the order was received in good condition! Many of the items are bare root and dormant and will need some time to begin showing signs of life. If for any reason the plants should not live we do have a 1 year replacement guarantee available on all of our plants. "
Honestly, nothing more than a scam. I placed my order and allowed for the 1-2 week processing, I received nothing. I contacted them via phone and was informed that they didn't know when my order would ship. I gave it a few more days. I called to cancel (I'm NOT a novice w/ mail order plant places or internet sales (I have a business myself) and was told I had to cancel via the POST OFFICE w/ a WRITTEN request. I said that's insane, so I got another customer service rep. named Melissa. She told me I can cancel via email, so I sent in my cancellation request. Guess what they did??!?
They sent me out ONE plant yesterday out of a $187 order. Why? This way I have to pay return shipping PLUS my shipping would no longer be refundable. I spoke w/ a supervisor who told me she can't cancel my order, she doesn't know where in the process the rest of my order is and that yes the other plants may be sent anyway and I would have to pay to return them.
I belong to many garden forums and several plant clubs locally and will be sure to warn EVERYONE to NEVER do business w/ this company or any company affiliated w/ them.
I wish I had started here on Dave's Garden before ordering with Direct Gardening. I started my sad odyssey with them last spring, ordering a single Persian Lilac tree. I received a dry stick in a plastic bag with no packing material or soil. I followed the directions included to no avail. I followed their guarantee process, sending a letter and the original packing label. I received a second dry stick in the same condition as the first, followed the telephone rep's advice to pre-soak for 24 hrs before planting and again, I ended up with another piece of dead wood. This item cost me $16.99 plus S/H. Spring is here again and I've no desire to repeat the process and receive yet another dead stick. What a total waste of time and effort!
On Apr 6, 2013, Direct Gardening responded with:
"On Apr 11, 2013 12:57 PM, Direct Gardening responded with:
A customer care representative has contacted this customer for further information. We do hope to hear back from the customer as we would like to help resolve this problem"
I ordered some nursery stock from this company once. It was very inexpensive (I think I paid more for the shipping than the stock) so I thought I'd take a chance. What I received was three bare root saplings in a plastic bag without any kind of moisture holding material around the roots. Consequently, the roots were completely dried out and the trees dead. I planted and watered anyway, but got the expected result. I did not exercise the guarratnee option because receiving similar replacements and trying to plant them would have been nothing but wasted effort.
On Mar 2, 2013, Direct Gardening responded with:
"On Mar 5, 2013 4:15 PM, Direct Gardening responded with:
A customer care representative has contact this customer for further information. We do have a 1 year replacement guarantee on all of our plants and do hope that the customer takes advantage of this guarantee."
I placed an order for bulbs with this website back in the fall and was notified that they weren't going to send my items until this fall. I forgot about it until this weekend when I found the receipt in some paperwork. I called the company to cancel the order because I have already found what I needed from other sources and have no need for any more.
I was told I had to send in an email requesting cancellation. Ok, seemed odd to me since I was on the phone and had my order number handy, but I did what I was told and I sent an email with my name and order number.
I was told that they needed my full name and shipping address. Ok, again, I thought that was odd since I gave them the order number and my full name, but I replied with my name and address.
I was told that they were only holding part of my order until fall and would be sending the other items when it is time to ship those items to my area. I told them that I wanted the entire order cancelled and a full refund.
Now they tell me that my order is already in shipping and they aren't sure they can refund my money.
I work for a company that ships items all over the world. We are not allowed to charge a customer's credit card until after the items ship. We definitely don't claim we can't cancel an order because it might be in shipping. Unless that order has physically left the building, there is no legitimate reason not to cancel an order and refund the customer's money.
I have ordered from this company a few times and never had a problem. Yes, some of the items didn't grow, but I figured that, despite their so-called guarantee, it's just not worth the hassle of following up on those items.
However, they haven't sent me a thing even though they've had my money in their account for more then four months. Yet, when I have made every effort to cancel this order, I am still getting the runaround almost a full week later. I hope I eventually get my refund eventually, but I have a guarantee of my own. This is the last time I purchase anything from this site.
On Feb 28, 2013, Direct Gardening responded with:
"On Mar 5, 2013 4:13 PM, Direct Gardening responded with:
A customer care representative has contacted this customer for further information. We do hope to hear back from the customer as we would like to help resolve this problem."
I ordered apx 15 oriental lily bulbs from the company. The bulbs arrived loose in a large plastic bag that went thru the US Postal service. Most were bruised, smashed and/or broken AND moldy! I returned most of them with a note asking for better packaging so the bulbs wouldn't be damaged. I received replacements in the same manner and condition, including the mold. Not worth pursuing further!
On Jan 21, 2013, Direct Gardening responded with:
"On Jan 24, 2013 9:01 AM, Direct Gardening responded with:
A customer care representative has contact this customer for further information. We do have a 1 year replacement guarantee on all of our plants and do hope that the customer takes further advantage of this guarantee"
On Jan 17, 2013, mzanders Upper Marlboro, MD (Zone 7a) wrote:
I placed two substantial orders with this company (more accurately, front company for a shady group that changes names frequently to escape bad feedback; look above for a partial list of the aliases). Their MO is to blanket the mails with multiple catalogs with enticing write-ups and "deals". It was only after I was in their fraudulent grip that I discovered this website and found out how screwed I was. I won't bore you with the blow-by-blow details. Suffice to say that I've had the same experiences as others here: horrible customer service, outright lies about when things have shipped, partial orders trickling in over months with no tracking provided, delays when I tried to cancel the remaining part of the order so they could then shove them out the door days later and say "too late", dead plants, seeds that don't germinate. Of the hundreds of dollars I spent with them, I don't have a single live plant to show for it. How these cons can stay in business is beyond me. Hopefully, word of mouth in the marketplace will do what the Illinois state government is unwilling to do.
On Jan 17, 2013, Direct Gardening responded with:
"On Jan 24, 2013 8:48 AM, Direct Gardening responded with:
We are sorry to hear of this customer’s experience as we do take pride in our customer care. We do have both a refund and a replacement guarantee which is clearly posted on our website and we stand behind them. We are affiliated with other companies but these are separate companies, not aliases.
A customer care representative has contacted this customer for further information. We do hope to hear back from the customer as we would like to help resolve this problem"
Well, I bought a bunch of roses last summer. I did what was prescribed for me to do in planting. I have both a lot of patience and a lot of experience in gardening.
I know that a large amount of mold on a rose is a bad thing when it first arrives. I had some roses in my bunch that were so rotten, they literally fell apart.
The only thing that lived was a "freebie" daylily that I got.
Don't buy from these people!
On Jan 15, 2013, Direct Gardening responded with:
"On Jan 15, 2013 12:39 PM, Direct Gardening responded with:
A customer care representative has contact this customer for further information. We do have a 1 year replacement guarantee on all of our plants and do hope that the customer takes advantage of this guarantee."
Posted on November 7, 2012, updated November 10, 2012
I placed more than one order with this company. Each was a substantial order. The plants they send are not what I would term as "quality" plants, especially compared with other similar or same plants I'd ordered from other companies such as Michigan Bulb. Also, the orders do NOT arrive in a timely fashion & they rarely provide an explanation to this IF you can even get a reply, which usually takes several days to get, again IF you get one. Each time I did receive responses I received a "canned" response until I elaborated that the canned response wasn't acceptable. And even then, the explanations and service fails miserably.
As an example of merely one issue (trying to get this last part of an order):
I am still waiting on November 7th for part of an order I placed July 9th. In one email on October 10th they stated it would take 1-2 weeks. On October 24th they stated it was sent. Again, I still have not received the items, nor a valid explanation as to the status of the order.
In light of the horrid customer service and the plant quality they offer I seriously doubt I will order from this company again.
Sadly, they do offer many unique plants that seem affordable & wonderful to have & it is a HUGE disappointment.
I do have hope that the items I have received and planted will survive & come up in the spring but at this stage, after everything I have experienced with this company, I have huge doubts.
On November 10th, 2012, dumbobaby added the following:
As an update.....I received an email from this company after stating I had not received the order they said had already shipped. Their reply was: "Thank you for your email. We apologize for the confusion, however, our
records do show that these items were crossed off on the package with a sticker stating that they would be scheduled to ship in the Spring."
Confusion??? LIES is what I call it.
I have now insisted the order be cancelled and a refund given by the end of the week or I will contact the BBB. I'm not sure how that is done for an online company just yet but if I don't receive the refund I am sure I will figure it out!!!
I will NOT order from this company again!!!!
If you are considering ordering from this company, BEWARE & proceed with caution!!!!!On Nov 10, 2012, Direct Gardening responded with:
"On Nov 13, 2012 9:46 AM, Direct Gardening responded with:
A customer care representative has contacted this customer for further information. We do answer every email received and try to do so within 24 hours of receipt. We do hope to hear back from the customer as we would like to help resolve this problem"
On Oct 29, 2012, Larrys_Gardens Castle Rock, WA (Zone 8a) wrote:
Re: Order 33734848 for various plants total cost $90.
The order was placed in mid April of this year. The order did not arrive in a reasonable amount of time, so I contacted customer service, and was told me that the order had been shipped weeks before I had called. But, I had not received the order.
I later called and they said that they would reship the order. Several weeks later the package did arrive, but it was obviously the original package that had been lost. All of the plants were rotted, except I did manage to save 4 butterfly bushes that were only partially dead.
I have been too busy to document this complaint earlier in the year.
On Oct 29, 2012, Direct Gardening responded with:
"On Oct 31, 2012 8:45 AM, Direct Gardening responded with:
We are sorry to hear of this problem. A customer care representative has contacted this customer for further information"
On Sep 23, 2012, hpeake6 Lauderdale Lakes, FL wrote:
I must first say, I wish I had found this website before becoming involved with Directgardening.com! Everything written here is right on track! I ordered two roses and sundry from them in mid-July. I received them the second week of August....not good, not outrageous late. I opened the package and noticed there was no packing slip, but I did have my email receipt. I planted what I received. My plan was for two orange-gold roses in a certain prominent spot in my small garden. As I do all shipping labels for ID protection, I shredded the shipping label before tossing the plastic bag in which the order came. I then discovered that I received one rose that I ordered, per the tag on the rose and one I did not order as a "substitution." Looking at their website, I discovered that it was a small pink rose...I complained. After much ado about destroying the "invoice" they agreed to, "on a one-time basis," to ship the rose I wanted when (and IF) it became available. Of course, I've not seen it.
This week, my "correct" rose bloomed...I ordered a bright orange "Tropicana." I received a pitiful, pasty-scrubby, pink rose with a thin lipstick red edge. Nothing like the elegant Tropicana I've known for 30 years or their photo represented.
I will NEVER do business with this company again and told them so in no uncertain terms. Anybody want a couple of K-Mart quality roses? HLP
On Sep 23, 2012, Direct Gardening responded with:
"On Sep 24, 2012 1:45 PM, Direct Gardening responded with:
A customer care representative has contacted this customer for further information. We do hope to hear back from the customer as we would like to help resolve this problem.
Posted on September 10, 2012, updated September 19, 2012
I just received my order of 3 Blue Festuca Grass, 10 Russian Olives, an Empress Wu Hosta, 6 Walk on Me Plants, 100 Periwinkles and I'm not happy, at all, about the condition of my plants. The Festuca Grass is black and severely rotted. The Hosta was broken in half and the leaves were stapled to the cardboard. The Walk on Me is dead, black and dried out. All 100 periwinkle are black, rotted and congealed into this sticky goo. The entire oder is dead. I understand about how most of the plants come in a dormant state but black and rotten is unacceptable.
On September 19th, 2012, Wellford added the following:
I understand that 'stuff' happens and I always try and give the benefit of doubt but I tried to go thru customer service just to be met with a poorly trained staff member who can't doing anything but spout words from a script over and over again. I get the same response.."wait 6 weeks and see if they grow but we are only going to refund your money if you return them within 2 weeks" or "we have a one year replacement policy or credit voucher.' To be honest, I would rather drink gasoline and piss on an open fire than continue with the headache of dealing with customer support. On Sep 19, 2012, Direct Gardening responded with:
"On Sep 18, 2012 9:59 AM, Direct Gardening responded with:
A customer care representative has contact this customer for further information. We do have a 1 year replacement guarantee on all of our plants and do hope that the customer takes advantage of this guarantee."
This is a very poorly managed facade of a company, it is truly highway robbery. They give you no dates as to when to expect things (some of the plants I ordered came 4 months later, when I was on vacation and then died if they ever were alive). You cannot request dates nor track your orders. For the plants that died (over 90%) you just get another batch of poor quality plants that also do not live, and no idea when they will arrive. The 14 day return does no good because you have to wait 6 weeks to determine that the stick they sent you is truly just a stick by then you are trapped to just order another $30 stick. I am now left going through the process with the BBB and Attorney General to try and get a refund as I am tired of waiting all summer for dead sticks to arrive. Avoid at all costs!
On Aug 31, 2012, Direct Gardening responded with:
"On Sep 7, 2012 2:25 PM, Direct Gardening responded with:
We are sorry to hear of the problems this customer has experienced. We do have a refund and replacement guarantee, both of which we stand behind. We have sent a Dmail to this customer to request further information. "
On Aug 27, 2012, Johnsonssophie North Corbin, KY wrote:
I ordered plants several months ago,as of August 27,2012, no plants or reply from company. When I emailed I was told order was in shipping.This company is a joke with bad business practices. I could not get a refund because order is in shipping. PLEASE take it from me DON'T order from this company.You may get your order and you may get empty promises.
On Aug 27, 2012, Direct Gardening responded with:
"On Aug 29, 2012 11:30 AM, Direct Gardening responded with:
A customer care representative has contacted this customer for further information. We do hope to hear back from the customer as we would like to help resolve this issue."
Ordered plants in June 2012. My credit card was charged, but no merchandise was shipped- this is illegal under federal law. I inquired several times was was told either my order was just about to ship and in the shipping dept, or that they were waiting for more plants from the grower. Subsequently cancelled the order, but was told it may take 1-2 weeks to cancel it, so it may ship anyways. Unbelievably, I received part of the order in less than a week. Had to refuse the package, and dispute the credit card charge with my bank.
--do not buy from Direct Gardening--
Ordered 4 dwarf fruit trees in 2011. All four looked like sticks one might pick up in a park - no branches and no life. Followed directions but none grew. Direct Gardening replaced these "trees" with 4 more. Two showed some life on arrival and did grow. The other two, like the first four, were dead. Direct Gardening refuses to replace them. The replacements don't get the 1 yr warranty. Nice stick business.
Buyer beware. They would cost about $30 or more to replace at Direct Gardening. Lesson: Take business elsewhere.
On Aug 17, 2012, Direct Gardening responded with:
"On Aug 21, 2012 10:30 AM, Direct Gardening responded with:
We are sorry to hear of the problem with the trees. A customer care representative has contacted this customer for further information. "
Plants took over a month to arrive from the time of order, but I was not in a rush.
=======
Upon receiving the plants in a plastic bag, I provided a simple feedback to DG.
"The delivery I received last week was in horrible shape. The carnation was still mostly green, but the "daisy" was a bunch of completely dried plant material. One of the [2] rose plants had the main root snapped off right at the base of the trunk. Overall a completely unsatisfactory experience."
=======
Perhaps I could have been more descriptive, that the "daisy" looked like dried herbs that was roasted in the oven for days. Regardless, DG responded with a cookie cutter response.
"Thank you for your email regarding the plants you received from us. You stated that some of your plants appear "dead" or have not yet started to bud and leaf-out. Please keep in mind that much of our nursery stock is shipped in a dormant, bare root condition or in starter pots that require transplanting. Also your plants may be stressed by shipment. Therefore, the plants may look "dead," be droopy upon arrival, have lost leaves in shipment, or may leaf-out later than an established plant.
If you have not already done so, please plant all plants immediately following the instructions in our planting booklet. Water them regularly. Give them a chance. In nearly every instance the plants will grow and thrive.
If after six weeks of planting, your plants do not leaf out or if you are certain they are not alive, return the original shipping label from the package as required by our guarantee. Upon receipt a replacement order will be scheduled for you. Please include a full explanation of the problem by item and quantity.
If you would prefer a refund instead of a replacement, return the plant, postage prepaid along with the original shipping label within fourteen days in accordance with our guarantee. Please include a full explanation of the problem by item and quantity. The refund guarantee applies only to the original nursery stock and not replacement items.
Thank You
Customer Care Department "
======
I have dealt with a number of vendors this year; I was quite happy with most, and will return next year (or this fall season). On the other hand, poor plant quality, careless (high profit) shipping, lazy response: DG is one of the two that is on my "stay away" list.
On Jul 9, 2012, Direct Gardening responded with:
"On Jul 16, 2012 10:22 AM, Direct Gardening responded with:
A customer care representative has contact this customer for further information. We do have a 1 year replacement guarantee on all of our plants and do hope that the customer takes advantage of this guarantee."
I placed my order on April 16 and was told it would take 1-2 weeks to process. It arrived 3 weeks later. I specifically ordered from them for the bare root cinnamon ferns. They arrive very small and looked like they were broken off pieces of larger rhizomes and put in individual bags. Of the 20 I ordered, only 2 grew and they died soon after. Of the 150 dutch iris bulbs ordered, NONE even sprouted. The bulbs arrived mushy and I can't believe I even went through all the trouble of planting them, but I did with no success. They do offer some fun 1 cent sale items and to be honest, most were ok except the lily trees and their free plants all grew. I am in the process of requesting replacements. I mailed back my original packing label 10 days ago, no email or word from them yet. We'll see. I would not order from them again. They take TOO LONG to ship and the plants I was mainly interested in were not of good quality.
On Jul 7, 2012, Direct Gardening responded with:
"On Jul 16, 2012 10:23 AM, Direct Gardening responded with:
A customer care representative has contacted this customer for further information. We do hope to hear back from the customer as we would like to help resolve this problem."
On Jun 14, 2012, shortnorth Kennett Square, PA wrote:
Do not order anything from this company. We ordered some plants from Direct Gardening and it was an impossible experience. It wasn't a big order - 24 plants of Boston Ivy of all things, nothing complex but something I wasn't able to find locally. We placed the order and never heard back. After a month I called the company and was told I would need to call back the next day because the person in charge had already gone home. I called the next day and customer service said they don't have access to the order status (really?) and I would have to email customer service (wasn't that who I was talking to?). So I emailed and was told the delivery was now scheduled for the fall. They said they sent a post card saying that but I never received it. (Why send a postcard if they have my email address?) I emailed back to cancel the order and they said they would forward that request on to the 'appropriate department'. I emailed that I would expect to hear back in the next few days and they said to allow 1-2 weeks to process the cancellation. I am still waiting for the credit to appear on my card. Again - don't even try to buy anything from this company. The run-around from customer service just isn't worth it.
On Jun 14, 2012, Direct Gardening responded with:
"On Jul 3, 2012 9:16 AM, Direct Gardening responded with:
We are sorry to hear of this customers experience. Unfortunately we have exhausted our supply of Boston Ivy for the summer, however we do expect to receive more this fall. We have been in contact with this customer to inform them of the refund that had been processed.
These people are brokers and, as such, acquire planting material from actual growers. While their website is very nice and features good prices the availability of the plant material is based on the schedule and availability of other companies which may not fit in with your planting requirements.
They make order cancellations difficult which, I'm sure, is designed to make one resigned and giving up and letting the order be completed.
Their business tactics remind me of the Brooklyn, NY camera brokers.
Personally, I will never do business with this company again.
On May 29, 2012, Direct Gardening responded with:
"On Jul 30, 2012 11:23 AM, Direct Gardening responded with:
We contacted this customer by Dmail, but never received a response. We grow some items here at the nursery and work with wonderful growers and farmers all over the U.S. and Holland for many other items. Plant availability can vary based on many factors. Plants are a living product with unique and individual characteristics. Weather can affect growth patterns and whether or not an item is established enough to ship or is able to be dug safely from the ground. Weather also affects whether or not we are able to safely ship to an area or part of the county. We carry over 1,500 products on are site. We work hard to keep costs down for you, our customer and try to provide a wide variety of beautiful plants. Occassionally, there might be a crop failure or we might oversell on an item which can cause a delay in shipment. Our spring availability is usually known in January, but we do not start shipping live plants until March. If an item is to be delayed past the season in which it was ordered, we do notify customers. In addition, a lot of work and preparation goes into preparing an order for shipment. If an order has already entered our shipping schedule, it can be very difficult to stop.
On May 20, 2012, basilandbella Valdosta, GA (Zone 8b) wrote:
Posted on April 26, 2012, updated May 20, 2012
Posted on April 25, 2012, updated April 26, 2012
Posted on April 11, 2012, updated April 25, 2012
Posted on April 11, 2012, updated April 11, 2012
Posted on April 10, 2012, updated April 11, 2012
Placed order on 03/27/2012, and received order confirmation. Emailed company through their website this morning for an order status, since there is no way to track your order status through their website. So far, have not received a response. Checked here to see if this was normal, and am now very concerned due to the past bad experiences of several others. I will update as more information becomes available to me. Hopefully this will turn out as a positive experience. I am very anxious to receive my plants.
On April 11th, 2012, basilandbella added the following:
Received response email from company:
"Thank you for your email. Your order is currently processing, which can take
1-2 weeks. Once processed, the order will be scheduled for shipping based
on availability."
Um, not helpful, considering my initial email stated very clearly that it had already been over two weeks since my order. "Customer Care" doesn't really seem to be an appropriate title for this division of their company. On April 11th, 2012, basilandbella changed the rating from neutral to negative and added the following:
Decided to just go ahead and call the company to save some time. Even after over two weeks, my order is still "processing," and I'm being told again that it takes one to two weeks for processing. "Customer service" has no information regarding my order, but tells me that it will be THREE TO FOUR weeks for delivery. I asked why it took so long after processing for delivery, I was told they didn't know. I asked when it would ship after "proccessing," and was again told that they didn't know. The only thing he offered was that I could write a letter to request my order to be cancelled. A letter? Really? To an online company? I asked to speak to someone that did know, and was told that "she" was on the phone, and I could hold. I said that was fine. A similar sounding man picked up and called himself a supervisor. He didn't know anything more than the first guy (if it even was a separate person). I asked why shipping would take so long, and was told he had no control over the postal service. In my frustration, I used the word "damn" and got a stern lecture about how he would terminate the call and I needed to calm down. Fair enough, I shouldn't have said it, just give me some answers. No one knows the answers. I AGAIN asked who did, and was told the shipping department. I asked to speak to the shipping department. The shipping department "doesn't take correspondence over the phone." I asked how they do take correspondence, and was told by mail only. Really? Not carrier pigeon? Sounds like a really good way to skirt having to actually deal with customers at all. This is a terrible company, and I see now that my fears of ordering from them were well founded. Never again with this company. I'll be honestly surprised if my plants arrive showing even a shred of life if they're going to be in a box in the mail for two weeks (oh, wait. It might *only* take a week).On April 25th, 2012, basilandbella added the following:
Received correspondence with whomever monitors this company's bad press on this site. I was assured that my order was going to ship early part of last week, and that I would be kept updated with my order. I was not updated with anything, and my plants arrived today. Every one of them dead.On April 26th, 2012, basilandbella added the following:
And by "dead," I mean DEAD. I got an email from the company saying the plants are just "dormant." My plants showed up in individual layers of plastic, so I got eight bags of brown, moldy, musty, mush.On May 20th, 2012, basilandbella added the following:
Don't bother to engage their customer service. They'll hound you with reasons it's your fault they send moldy crap to your house after a MONTH of waiting for shipment to try and boost ratings here. On May 20, 2012, Direct Gardening responded with:
"On Jul 30, 2012 11:24 AM, Direct Gardening responded with:
Our website from which the customer ordered explained that processing for orders was taking 1-2 weeks and then orders are scheduled to ship based on weather as well as plant availability. Length of time in the mail varies based on several factors. All of our plants are covered by our one year guarantee which we have explained to the customer through dmail and hope they take advantage of.
On May 15, 2012, Fretto2 North Plymouth, MA wrote:
I have ordered several time from Direct Gardening over the past two years. My first 2 orders were ok, lots of substitutions but the plants grew.
One order from last year came in ok, however this year half of the plants did not grow.
The other order from last year came in all moldy and the bulbs were mush, no way they could have grown. I asked for a replacement order, they took over 2 months and still nothing, at which time I cancelled the order and asked for a refund. It was getting into September and there is no way I could have gotten them into the ground and established prior a frost. They would not refund my money, however offered a replacement gift certificate to reorder next spring. ok fine.
So this year I tried to reorder, the gift certificate states I have to mail in the order and cannot place it online. I call customer service and explain my situation and ask for a catalog to Direct Gardening so I can mail in the replacement order as required. She says ok I will get that to you. I waited 3 weeks, nothing! I call again several times and kept getting a busy signal or no answer. So I email the company and was told they are solely online and do not have a catalog (so I wonder what the hell the other person was going to send me and why she did not know this???) I asked how do I place an order with the replacement certificate? They stated I order online. I tried to order online and the certificate number would not work at check out. So I email them back again and this time I am told I have to mail it in. Again I ask how to do that since you do not have a catalog or order form to use? She says write it on a piece of paper and send it with the certificate via mail. (unprofessional but whatever)
This process took a month and a half since they take several days to respond to emails.
I wrote up the new order, due to price changes and some items no longer being available, I could not get it to match the exact dollar amount, so I sent a check for the dollar and change difference. To date they have not cashed the check, or sent the order. I tracked the envelope through the post office and know that they received it weeks ago.
They are unprofessional, do not supply quality products and do not care about their customers.
The worse company ever…A scam…don't buy!!
I ordered some bougainvillea's and I got 4 little twigs (for $ 8 more I could have bought them at Lows). I planted following their directions and they never developed , not one leaf.!!. A few months ago I requested a replacement … still waiting.
I had another order of plants, I called them to find out why I didn't get a delivery and I was told I had to wait another 2 weeks. I requested to cancel the order …. I was told they couldn't do it because the system would not allow that... I will have to wait to receive the package and then follow their procedure for returning merchandise.
This cost me another $10 to send the plastic bag back. I'm waiting to see if they refund the money. They are a bunch of crooks!! Never again will buy from Direct Gardening.
I joined Dave's Garden just to be able to leave a comment as a warning to other people who are thinking of buying from them. Silly me for not having thought about doing my research on Dave's Garden, before I bought from Direct Gardening. As with other customers, there is no follow up or shipping alert from the vendor. This was a large order and the plants arrived in a BAG, with practically no protection. The size of the plants is a joke. The shrub plants are so minute, I will be collecting my pension before they attain the size of a small nursery bought plant (I am 9 years away from collecting SS). I ordered 120 walk-on-me (i.e. creeping thyme) plants. I could literally fit all of them in a 5-inch pot. the cost : $60 !! What a rip-off. I will call them today and send everything back and request a refund. DO NOT BUY FROM THIS COMPANY.
After reading the posts on this site I feel as if I'm beating a dead horse. I must say PLEASE DO NOT BUY ANYTHING FROM THIS COMPANY!!!!! The order took an unusually long time to process (I order a lot of things online, including plants and I usually receive prompt shipping or an email to explain if there will be a delay); When I called to inquire, the customer service representative was quite rude, after I requested the order be cancelled and submitted a dispute to my credit card company they shipped the order!!!!! Now this is the icing on the top of the cake, I received a medium sized plastic back that was supposed to contact 54 shrubs and 14 plants along with some quick start fertilizer pills. The only thing that I recognized in the bag were the pills, the "plants" if you can call them that were nothing more than dried, dead twigs. I took pictures of the smelly mess (shipped via USPS) and forwarded the pictures to my credit card company as evidence with my dispute. I put everything in a box (they say if you ship it back within 14 days they give you a refund but they must have the original label) took it to the post office and sent it back with confirmation and insurance (as they seem like the type of characters who would say they never received it).
Unless you want to go through a lot of grief when you could be planting your shrubs and plants don't deal with this company.
I can recommend a couple of great online garden companies:
Hirt's Gardens - fair price, super fast shipping via USPS Priority, great product (rated AAA+); you can buy from them on Amazon, eBay or on their website. This is definitely someone that stands behind their product and does business fairly. Consumers would be well served to buy from this company. I was really impressed!
American Meadows - good prices, super fast shipping via FedEx, great product (rated AA)
Great Garden Plants - super fast shipping via FedEx, switched product without advising me, sent a cheaper lavender plant, when I realized what had occurred call and received a quick refund of the difference between what I was charged and what I found the plants for at another online retailer, I'd do business with them again for this customer service, expensive (rated A)
Direct Gardening - see above (rated F), don't waste your time or your money, I don't know why this place is still in business someone needs to start a WHY I HATE DIRECT GARDENING FACEBOOK PAGE, hmmm that's a thought!
Do NOT order from this company! Customer service is horrible and it takes AT LEAST 4 WEEKS to get your order even though the site says 1 to 2 weeks to 'process' it then takes 2 more weeks to ship. This is by far the WORST online site I have ever dealt this.
Hey, Direct Gardening, you are in some serious need of adopting some basic LEAN principles. Your processes are killing you.
Several months ago I placed an order with Direct Gardening. One of my mine reasons for placing the order was to get an Almond Tree.
They charged my credit card immediately. After waiting over a month, I had to contact customer service to see when the order would arrive. Then about 2 weeks after the email the order arrived.
When opening the order, they had substituted (without asking me), Small Chestnut trees for my Almond Tree. Not only did I not have room for a Chestnut tree, but they are not even Suitable for my heavy Clay soil.
When I emailed them about i did not want the substitution, I only wanted an almond tree, they emailed back that if I did not want the substitution they sent (without asking me), that I would have to mail back the packing at my own expense and when it was received their customer service would supposedly give an $8.00 refund.
How ridiculous, to substitute an unrelated tree without asking the customer first, and then tell the customer to mail back an envelope for an $8.00 refund.
Now I cannot help but wonder if the rest of my order is what I ordered?
No more will I order from this company.. The sticks they sent are not even healthy looking.
On Nov 26, 2011, Direct Gardening responded with:
"On Jan 25, 2012 10:29 AM, Direct Gardening responded with:
We are sorry to hear that the customer was unsatisfied with the substitution. We have contacted the customer via Dmail. We will have the almond trees available in the spring and can ship the almond at that time if they wish. We do not require the return of a subsituted and would be happy to issue a refund for the item in question. We do not require that the item be returned and do hope the customer takes advantage of this offer.
I ordered plants from this company last year, some died but I did nothing of it because I lost the label which I needed for a refund or replacement. But I appreciated that some bonus bulbs were provided with that order. Thus, I ordered again earlier this year and my experience with this company was terrible. I was not satisfied with the product or service. My order included several purchased trees, but only two trees (both dead) were sent to me. The rest of the order was subpar. I tried asking for a replacement order or refund several times via correspondence. I followed their policy by returning the label, explaining the situation of the dead trees (one missing from the order) and the rest of the subpar order. They had my order number, date of purchase, items purchased, etc. All I got was correspondence from them creating petty obstacles in obtaining a refund or replacement order.
On Nov 8, 2011, Direct Gardening responded with:
"On Jan 25, 2012 10:28 AM, Direct Gardening responded with:
We have attempted to contact this customer via D-mail and have received no response. We are sorry to hear that some of the plants have died. Our 1 year replacement guarantee covers all of our plant products. If correspondence was returned to the customer it would be to request further information necessary to process the replacement order. We do hope that the customer returns this information with the answers to our questions so that the correct replacement can be processed."
On Nov 8, 2011, DeborahRuth LAKE PLEASANT, MA wrote:
Awful customer service if anything is wrong.
I have ordered from them a couple of times and most of the plants have survived. When I ordered peonies, for example, about half of them survived, I couldn't get a replacement because I had not kept the shipping package and they do not accept copies of the order confirmation and credit card invoice as proof of purchase; only the shipping label. but I still thought it was a good deal for the price, so no big deal.
This time I ordered paw-paw trees and kept the label. They were not viable plants (I have ordered bare root dormant plants before and have had good luck with them.) These were snapped in half and when I called about them I was told that they would be ok and that I could not return trees for 6 weeks because they can take that long to come out of dormancy. When they never grew and I wanted a refund, I was told that I could not get a refund because they would have to be returned within 14 days for a refund. They tricked me into missing the refund period!! I took the replacements which also did not survive. They are still refusing to refund my money.
As I read more about them, I keep seeing the same story from so many people.
Some things from them are ok. 70% of the plants from them will survive, but the minute there is an issue and you need customer service, they are pretty awful to deal with. They are snappy on the phone no matter how nice you are with them. They will not issue a refund.
On Nov 8, 2011, Direct Gardening responded with:
"On Jan 25, 2012 10:28 AM, Direct Gardening responded with:
We are sorry to hear of this customer’s experience as we do take pride in our customer care. We do have both a refund and a replacement guarantee which is clearly posted on our website and we stand behind them. For a refund, the plants need to be returned within 14 days of receipt. In doing further investigation, we did find that no peonies were ordered from our company. A replacement order for the paw paw trees was shipped on 09-15-11. We have tried to contact this customer via Dmail and have received no response. "
One: I ordered almost 300 bulbs... 120 mixed mini daffodils were in my order which I placed in August. And was billed for in August. When I received the order it included 120 lavender mtn lily instead of the daffodils. Not as a subsitution, just an error. I have been told that I must mail back the original shipping label for the replacement warranty to be valid. But I am not asking for a replacement of my purchase, I simply want to receive the correct product that I ordered and paid for.
Two: After the error with product, I reviewed my e-mail receipt and noticed that the "total charge" when I place the order was $5.94 less than what my card was actually charged. I have been told from their customer service that I was charged the correct amount. Really? This is not an acceptable way of doing business...emailing receipts with one total and charging another? How many orders have a similar error? How many dollars does that add up to?
Just received my order $15 day lily was rotted and I mean well rotted. Emailed for replacement told I needed to return mailing label for replacement which of course had been thrown out. Since there is no exception am out the money. Should have read previous reviews when will I ever learn? Buyers beware!
One of the reasons we ordered from them was because of the one-year guarantee. But, when we asked for a replacement for some of the plants, not only did we not receive them, we didn't even hear from them.
We won't be ordering from them again since there are others that stand by there plants much better.
Posted on August 26, 2011, updated September 13, 2011
This feedback is in regards to:
DirectGardening.com Order #33498522
I STRONGLY recommend AGAINST doing business with this company!
I placed an order on 7/13/11, and received an order confirmation via email. My card was charged right away. As of 8/17/11, I had not received any further communication from this company, nor had I received my order. When I called customer service, they claimed to have shipped the order on 7/26/11, that most orders take 7-14 days after shipping to arrive, and that there was no tracking information available for this shipment. I was told that nothing further could be done until 30 days after their claimed ship date. Today is 8/26/11, and I still have not received my order. I called to request that they cancel the order and refund my money, as it has been a month and a half since they charged my card. The customer service rep indicated that he would send a write-up to another department that would attempt to trace the package. The rep also indicated that it would be realistic to expect that it would be another month before I receive a refund. When I asked about follow-up, the rep indicated that I should not expect any sort of follow-up call, but that I might get a postcard in the mail after they have finished tracing the package.
I am very dissatisfied with the lack of communication and inability to resolve this issue in a timely manner. This was supposed to be a birthday present for my wife. It is now well past her birthday, and I can't even get a timely refund to go buy her something else instead.
I wish I had read the reviews about this company before I ordered - from the other reviews here, this is a typical experience with this company.
On September 13th, 2011, Jeremiahd added the following:
UPDATE: 9/13/11. The customer service that I received after posting the negative review was much better than over the phone. A refund was issued as requested, and then the lost plants arrived a few days later. I will keep the plants and have them charge me, but will likely not order from this company again. Leaving the review as negative due to the poor telephone customer service, and not receiving any help from the company until after a negative review was posted.
OMG!! I wish I had found this 3 months ago!! I too ordered roses and a couple of other plants. When I opened the package the roses had mold on them. I was told they were dormant so I went ahead and planted with some others that I had ordered from another source. They never even got a green leaf!! none of them. I contacted the company and they said to send my original label back with a request for replacement or credit. I asked them if they wanted the dead plants back and the response was no, we don't require them. NOW, I get my request returned in the mail wanting the dead plants!! I have already thrown them out since they did not want them. I am sure I will have to fight this battle to the end. I believe I will call the better business bureau also. This is an outrage! I am so mad!!! BTW: the other roses from the "other company" our doing great!!!! DO NOT BUY FROM THIS OUTFIT!! GO TO MB IF YOU WANT GOOD PLANTS.
I placed an order on July 26 and my credit card was also charged on this date. I buy a lot of plants from mailorder sites, and generally my credit card is not charged until it is shipped. When it was charged on July 26 I assumed it would ship right away. Was I wrong! It is now September 8 and they will ship the plants "as soon as they get plants from their suppliers and prepare them for shipping, sometime before the end of October". Seriously - they took my money and did not have the inventory to fill the order? In my book, that is dishonest. I contacted my credit card company and disputed the charge and they issued me a credit. NEVER AGAIN!
