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I was very skeptical about the low prices of this company. My grandmother has used them for years and she is about the pickiest woman I know when it comes to plants. She said she never had a problem with them in all of those years, so I placed my first order in March. My order took about six weeks to arrive, and when it did, it was in a green plastic bag. I did not think anything of it, because of what my grandmother had told me. All of the trees looked like sticks. It was startling, but we planted them and four weeks later, every (for the most part) was alive. The exceptions were all butterfly bushes and honeysuckle. It did not do anything. If it does not come up before the year warranty next spring, I will send them back. Also, the perrenial bargain was no bargain at all. It was very dissapointing for the money I paid. Things I was extremely pleased with: hybrid lilies, weigela bushes, rose of sharon, and the arbovitaes. I may need to add a few things after this long winter ahead of us, but I think if I mulch well eveything will be fine in the spring. I will definitely use them again!
On Jul 13, 2009, Cleaninggirl Bellingham, WA wrote:
Wow! I am surprised at all the bad experiences! I just received my second order from Burgess. The plants look better than I imagined they would. I ordered 60 Arborvitae and 6 "Walk on Me" moss plants. I admit the Walk on Me plants are dry and brown, but this is explained in the catalog and on the website. They are not dead, but dormant. Anyway, the things that people seem to be complaing about are all described in the readings. So, I'm puzzled. Anyway, I am happy and will order again. By the way, my trees from my first order are doing well. Thriving actually. I did have some casualties with the Periwinkles, but am confident about receiving replacements. Also, I left them out of the plastic for a couple of days because I was interrupted during planting, so that could have been the problem with some of the Periwinkles. Get your stuff in the ground asap or store in in a cool place in the plastic until you can plant. Also, shipping in plastic is wise because it keeps the moisture in the plant and is also super inexpensive for us buyers. Well I think I've said all I want to say. Give them a try.
PS The free gifts are great! I received 3 ranunculus, 3 wildflower, 1 packet tomato seeds, 1 packet huckleberry. Excellent!
On May 12, 2009, garagehero South Pasadena, CA wrote:
Not really a bad place to buy plants. Certainly not a bad place to buys seeds. And you have to realize the depictions of the plants in their catalogs are what the plant will probably look like fully grown....which could take as little as a few months or as long as two years. My advice to those who want instant gratification....get thee to your local nursery. They have a plants in a variety of sizes of maturity including fully mature plants and trees. Now.... if you are in the stages of planning and starting from scratch, you're experimenting with color or whatever and you dont have to have that garden right this minute, then internet nurseries like Burgess are a good bet. For instance, I always buy big healthy tomatoes from any local nursery, but I always leave room for a Burgess, Gardners Choice, or Direct Gardening plant, just to see if I can make it grow to the proportions shown in their catalogs. So I would say, for the most part, my experiences with Burgess have been positive.
On Apr 6, 2009, BaltoMoJoe Westminster, MD (Zone 7a) wrote:
I read alot of negative posts in here, and was a little hesitant to place an order, but I thought I'd order small, and was only getting a few plants that are hard to kill, so....
I ordered 12 Shasta Daisies - 12 Red Painted Daisies - 6 Purple D'Oro Daylilies
now I admit that the plants were really small, much smaller than I could have ever imagined, I have a 3 year old Shasta that I'm planning to divide this year into 6 plants, well to give you an idea, from the plant sizes I got, it could be divided into 50, maybe much more, when they arrived the last weekend in March, and it was a rainy day, so I thought that would be a good time to plant them, all the lilies seem to be growing, the daisies are coming up, except for about 4 of them, not sure if they're dead or just slow to get started.
Great for the price. If you've orderred from Arbor Day expect about the same from Burgess. You won't get a 5 foot tree in the mail. Not EVERYTHING will survive. But for the price, if you have time and a bit of patience you can relandscape your yard for a fraction of the cost.
Good for people just starting out. Buy a mass of stuff to fill your yard and supplement it with one or two more expensive things from a local nursery.
I orderred hardier, easy-to-grow things from them (lilacs, trumpet vines, bulbs, peonies) and only lost less than a handful from the order. Again, for the price...very hard to beat.
What you get will be small, but with patience and time will be beautiful.
I ordered 200 trees, 100 hybrid populars (screen) and 100 hybrid willows. Aprox $324. Received order in 3 weeks (end of May 2008. Expecting dead sticks, but was very suprised the "dormont stakes" were sprouting tiny white roots, and yellow/white buds! These were perky stakes! I own a small 75acre farm and I needed line trees. So far all trees have taken root both in ground and 30 are in pots. So far only one Willow (in a pot) did not make it. Now considering that I would have spent over three times that much with a local grower (if I could find the tres I wanted) I made out very well.
The order arived at the post office, by DHL. I have a p.o. box, so I had the postmaster call me when they arived. The order arrived in a large heavy duty green plastic sack. (about 40lbs). The inside of the sack was damp as to keep the stakes moist. (the paperwork was damp too, but so what)
It is now the end of July 2008 and the trees have grown over 14inches so far! (Tom from Mercer, PA.)
ps: I will order from these people again.
On May 5, 2008, muskrat_ranch Alberton, ON (Zone 3b) wrote:
We ordered trees 100 evergreens & approx 25 ornamental/berry/nut trees. Long way to ship, the Northernmost edge of Minnesota, but the trees arrived in good condition. Some of the hemlocks look rough (not fresh, dried out) but the bulk of the evergreens are pleasing, good size, roots, etc. Many of the ornamentals exceeded our expectations for size, root mass, esp. for the bargain prices. Will probably have to replace 3 runty Juneberries that are likely DOA & a maple with some root malady but we knew to save the shipping label & if we eventually get new ones with no hassle I'm cool with that. No breakage at all during shipping, probably getting a whole bunch of trees helped because they were all bundled together? I would not venture to buy more delicate items like perennials but would get trees again. If some catastrophe strikes & everything dies in June I'll post again. Bottom Line: Met our expectations for bargain trees, did not expect filet-mignon at these prices & so far are satisfied with what we received.
On June 13th, 2008, muskrat_ranch added the following:
Mid June: the ornamentals are all doing well except the 3 we suspected (plus one rugosa rose the dog ate). Sadly the Cdn Hemlocks did not survive. Many of the evergreens have died too, will go the replacement route. Ornamentals: thumbs up Evergreens: thumbs down Star performer: the Japanese Lilac
I recently purchased 300.00 in trees and shrubs from this company, they were sent as described and I followed the directions for each tree and plant, I had less than 5 plants out of over a hundred that did not produce, I think that is outstanding for mail order, plus the fact that I have a green thumb (amature landscaper) but the money I saved was well worth the small loss and I will be ordering again next year.
On Apr 15, 2008, gardenerKB Marshalltown, IA wrote:
As explained in the catalog, the items ordered were sent at the appropriate time for planting. The bushes looked green and healthy and had nice root systems; the grasses were green and carefully packaged, also with nice roots. We chose Burgess because of the competitive prices and were not disappointed.
Ordered 10 trees, 3 yuccas and 10 asparagus. All arrived healthy and free of mold. Some of the trees had a few small branches snapped. Overall OK. I think I will risk another order and see what happens.
I was terrified to get my order, because I ordered before I found out about this site. The negative reviews definitely had me thinknig twice, especially since I ordered about $150 worth of products.
The only thing I'll say is that they sent me my products way too early. The bareroot things came when we had 7 inches of snow on the ground, so I wasn't really able to plant them. They also sent me the potted live plants, which I am keeping in a window and won't plant until May, because that's when we're out of danger from frost.
Everything that came was in good health. I ordered 16 carnation plants and they're healthy, and the Hosta and Astilbe roots were quite substantial in size. The Lavender was good, and the Gladiolus bulbs were a good size and healthy. The potted Gaillardia were small, sort of wimpy, and the foliage was yellowish. But, I took them out, planted them in potting soil, stuck them in a window and gave them ample water, and in just about a week they've grown a lot and are green and healthy. I also ordered nine rose bushes, with mixed reviews. Some of them were small and wimpy, but some of them were huge with thick stalks and an enormous root system. Looked fairly healthy, but we'll see about that. Overall, nothing they sent me was dead and I was impressed by the quantity of items I received for the money. I've got lots of work to do!
On Mar 29, 2008, Idahoan Boise, ID (Zone 6a) wrote:
I have ordered from Burgess for years with no complaint. I placed an order this year and the seed portion arrived before the live plants. The live portion arrived today. I ordered creeping phlox and they arrived green and moist with new growth and the bulbs look just fine.
I have ordered from Burgess Seed & Plant in the past. I am fully satisfied with my order and I am getting ready to place another order this weekend for over $150.00 worth of plants. My last order I placed was a smaller order of Colorado Blue Spruce and Wisteria. The pine trees arrived in the green bag, but was moist and all had very strong root systems. The wisteria upon first look I thought I was sent a stick, I did a scratch test and they was fine. I planted the wisteria, wisteria is a very slow growing plant they take about 5-7 years to actually get large flower blooms. They are still alive and about 4 ft tall now, for wisteria that is a very impressive growth rate. Two of the pine trees did die, but that is a chance a person takes even if they are buying from a well known greenhouse. I do not think 2 out of 12 plants dying are bad odds. Some of the pine trees upon arrival was a little rough with black needles and some needles falling off, but again for the price this is to be expected. However, I planted the trees despite some of their apperance looking a little frail gave them plenty of room for the root system and today they are all about 3 ft tall and they all look great. As with the wisteria, colorado blue spruce are slow growing as well but their growth rate has also impressed me. I also planted the free peach seeds and they were not only interesting but very flavorful as well. I will be sending another order to Burgess for some more plants and trees, I am very impressed with the prices and the plants. Buying from a greenhouse costs three times as much and you still take a chance of something dying. I have had great luck with Burgess. I also might add, Burgess cannot keep up with the weather in every state, as many states such as Ohio have many days that are unseasonable, I wait to place my order until it is time to plant, that way I avoid getting plants to early. Thank You Burgess for the great prices and great plants.
I rated my experience neutral, because Burgess fully kept its part of the agreement, which is what I expect when I do business with a company. I gave Burgess my money, and in timely fashion Burgess sent the seeds and plants I ordered. Compared with other experiences reviewed here, mine might be considered positive. On March 9, 2008, I placed an order that included largely seeds and bare-root trees. I was apprehensive after reading other reviews and placed only a modest order (~$40) for inexpensive items. My order arrived in two parts, seeds on March 25 and trees on March 27. The trees were small (appropriate for the price) but alive and mostly well-rooted. Our delivery person drove into our yard to deliver the trees. I was available to process them immediately by planting in a protected area, where they will remain until replanting during fall after they go dormant. Burgess really means 'bare-root'. The trees arrived with no protection to the roots other than the plastic bag in which the trees were shipped. Had my trees sat roadside on a hot day, their outcome might have been different, but since they were processed immediately I am optimistic over their survival. I will mention two minor disappointments regarding my order, the first of which is my issue, not Burgess'. I ordered their 'tree sampler', their choice of inexpensively-priced, overstocked trees. I dreamed of receiving exotic, flowering and ornamental trees that would adorn my yard at a remarkably cheap price. I received a fine assortment of trees, none of which fits well into my landscape. I hasten to add that Burgess did its part by sending live, well-rooted trees. I might advise, though, unless you have a large space to fill with any available trees, you might pass on the tree sampler, since I guess exotic flowering and ornamental trees are unlikely to be overstocked. A second issue I raise concerns a $3.95 packet of watermelon seeds that contained a total of only seven seeds. Instructions included with the seeds indicated that I should plant 3-4 seeds/hill and thin to a single plant/hill. At almost 60 cents/seed, I will not be following their planting instructions! If my seven seeds provide me with all the watermelons I want, I will be satisfied that I got my money's worth. Nonetheless, seven seeds for $3.95 might be a bit stingy, and I will keep my packing slip should ultimately I be dissatisfied with my purchase. Overall, at this point I believe that Burgess fully met my expectations, and if my satisfaction continues I will not hesitate to order from them again.
On June 17th, 2009, rwand changed the rating from neutral to positive and added the following:
My elevation of last year’s neutral rating to this year’s positive rating is based wholly on my experiences with orders to Burgess and not intended as an overall assessment of the company, which according to complaints posted here has problems with both product quality and customer service. One previous reviewer stated in effect that a positive review of this company does a disservice to humankind; nevertheless, failure to document positive experiences does a disservice to prospective satisfied customers who might be dissuaded from ordering plants based on only negative reviews being posted. Fortunately, with neither of my orders during two successive years did I experience the nasty, smelly plants or the rude customer service reported by other reviewers.
In January 2009 I placed a $60 order for largely inexpensive trees, shrubs and seeds. I limited my order because of problems that others have encountered and did not want to invest more than I could afford to lose. My $60 purchased a large number of plants and varieties of seeds. As explained by Burgess would happen when I ordered online, the seeds arrived promptly and the trees and shrubs arrived in April. As experienced last year, most trees and shrubs arrived bareroot in a large green plastic bag. Also like last year, our delivery person dropped off the plants at our house, instead of attempting to cram them into our mailbox at the end of a long driveway. I immediately planted the trees and shrubs in pots, and most came out of dormancy and developed green leaves. Most were well rooted, and some (e.g., forsythia) were very well rooted. A few trees arrived with skimpier root systems; these trees have not leafed out and may not survive. If this occurs I will request warranty replacements.
I only recently planted this year’s Burgess garden seeds, but I noticed since placing my order in January that most seeds of my selection were also available for equal or lower prices at various times and at various local garden shops; based on this experience, I think neither Burgess’ selection nor prices for seeds are necessarily better than can be obtained locally by budget-conscious gardeners in this area. However, I have not seen prices for trees and shrubs that are competitive with Burgess’.
A few seeds (seedless watermelon) and trees (some blue spruce, redbuds, and trees from their sampler) from last year’s order did not survive. (Last season I ordered redbuds also from both the Arbor Day Foundation and from my local conservation district, and every redbud from these sources survived; thus, I believe the Burgess redbuds either arrived in poorer condition or were of inferior quality.) This winter I requested warranty replacements. The replacement seeds arrived promptly, and based on information Burgess provided I expected the trees to arrive during the spring. Several weeks after having received the last of my 2009 order, and after most of my 2009 trees and shrubs had emerged from dormancy, I inquired of Burgess customer service via e-mail regarding the status of my warranty replacements. I received a canned reply stating that my trees had been shipped and would arrive in 7-14 days. (7-14 days?! Considering that their bare root trees are shipped with unprotected roots, I am surprised that the company uses a method of shipping that could have the plants in transit for as long as 2 weeks.) My trees arrived about 10 days after my query, and I found them to be in poorer condition than either my original 2008 or my 2009 order. The roots were completely dry on the redbuds and the tree sampler replacements. The blue spruce were wrapped in a second plastic bag and seemed to be in somewhat better condition. Ironically, a key to bare root planting is not to let the roots dry before planting. Too late! These trees did fit the ‘dead stick’ description frequently used in reviews published here. Nevertheless, I planted the trees in pots, watered religiously, and waited. Almost amazingly, most of the dead sticks have developed a few small, green leaves, and I have some hope for the others. If any fails to survive I will request a replacement and hope any replacement arrives in the condition my original 2008 and 2009 orders were received.
Numerous reviews have been posted here regarding Burgess’ requirement to return the original shipping label for warranty replacement, often from customers who did not keep the shipping label, making me watch for statements on terms of the warranty. The need to return the original shipping label was described on the Burgess website before I placed the order, with confirmation of my order, and again when the order arrived. I will not judge whether or not Burgess’ requirement for the original shipping label is reasonable, but the company makes their requirement readily available at several steps in the process of placing and receiving orders.
As recommended by other reviewers, if a gardener wants immediate gratification from his/her plant purchases he/she might be dissatisfied with Burgess’ plants. If plans are short-term, and a gardener wants beauty from his/her plants already this year, he/she might consider spending more at a local nursery. But if plans are long-term, e.g., landscaping an area for future use, Burgess might allow a gardener to landscape within a limited budget.
If you are the type of gardener who enjoys the challenge of starting with small plants and nurturing their growth, if you are the type of gardener who buys closeout plants from the corner table at your local garden shop and enjoys seeing what you can make of the plant, you may well be satisfied with your purchases from Burgess.
I ordered ten hybrid poplars and ten hybrid willows. When they arrived the shipping bag had been torn and the plants were dry and roots bare and dry. I was slightly panicked but I decided to soak them in buckets for a couple of days, then I planted them in my yard with a little compost, and to my surprise, within a week every last one of them has green leaves on them.
I have ordered trees from more expensive companies, and even the arbor day society, but have never had this kind of success. I have an entire acre to replant, and will definately order more trees from you.
I think a lot of people who order from mail order catalogs, expect these large blooming leaf filled trees to come in the mail, but with a little patience and dilligence, sometimes good things happen to bald dry roots with sticks attatched.
I ordered 2 Tulip Trees, 2 Willow Trees, 2 Concord Grape Vines, 1 Himrod Grape Vine, 1 Canadice Grape Vine, 2 Gooseberry bushes, 3 Heritage Raspberry bushes, and their strawberry collection. I ordered these plants on Feb 26 and they arrived on March 8 (a bit early for my area, NJ, but luckily the weather was ideal for planting). All plants look healthy and fresh. Many had new growth showing. Plants were moist. The plants did not have anything wrapped around the roots to contain moisture, so you really need to act fast to get the plants in the ground when they arrive.
I am keeping a diary of how these plants grow at the following web site: http://www.geocities.com/rbaker31/Burgess.htm for those who are interested. If the web site gives you a data transfer message, please try back later. Thanks!
Well I got the burgess catalog with some prices too good to be true so I came here to check up on them. I saw that the more recent ratings were positive and decided to spend 30 dollars taking a chance. I did get an order confirmation but nothing after that so as the weeks went on I thought well, lesson learned. Today-3.5 wks after the order a green bag was on my doorstep. I was pleasantly surprised: all the dormant sticks were tagged with common/sci name, the thick green bag was still moist inside and some were sprouting, good root systems on the plants and the tubers were each in their own bags with the names typed on the outside. I also had some "bonus items" for my order and each clearly had their guarantee of plants/seed free from disease/insects/pests and will replace any free of charge. I saved my shipping label per instructions here just in case and put them in water while i prep more locations. I was concerned with the weigela but a scratch test gave me some green bark so I am hoping that means they might wake up. I got my feet wet with the really cheap plants (filler plants for my borders really) that look like they are going to do fine and would reach out a bit more now for the higher end things in their catalog with some confidence. I would note that though they have a "burgess guarantee" printed all over everything it doesnt state you need to have your shipping label to do so but from testimony here clearly you DO need it so hold onto it no matter what.
I will order from them again.
Just placed my 3rd order of the year with Burgess. Considering their prices, I'd have expected at least some dead or small plants but everything I've ordered from them so far has equaled or exceeded expectations. As much as I love to gripe about things, I have nothing bad to report about this company.
I ordered 100.00 worth of trees and plants from Burgess in March 2006, received them in April in good condition, and planted them. Over the summer, some died. I didn't panic, I just kept a tab of what died before winter and sent a letter detailing what died and the shipping label in late March 2007. After no response for about three weeks I sent an email regarding the status of my replacements. The 'form letter' I received as email response did little for reassurance, but I held tight and the replacements arrived last week. When I opened them, I was delighted to find that they were huge! Very healthy plants at least twice the size of last years survivors. Burgess was entirely true to their word in every respect. I will recomend them to anyone with this advice:
Order plant species that you are familiar with or that you have already seen growing in your area.
If a plant dies and you want a replacement, forget about it until next season, or pot it when it arrives during hot weather so it can be moved to the best location.
Keep that label!
At Burgess' awesome low prices, a little extra care is worth it.
I ordered over $300 worth fo product from this company. Some of what was sent did not grow. When I recieved my shipment I went over the guarantee and kept my shipping labels. In January of this year, I followed thr guarantee directions and sent off a letter of request with my original shipping label. I photo copied everything before sending. I checked with Burgess via e-mail and they replied that I would be getting a replacement order. It is now April and Burgess lived up to their guarantee and I recieved everything that I wanted to replace. I will definitely have no bad feelings about reordering with this company. Just thought that my experience was quite good.
I am a first time buyer from this company and ordered a large order of items this winter for spring delivery. I then did a little research last month on some items i had ordered and found this website with the reviews of burgess. I was horrified by what i read and decided to call the company and let them know that i had read these reviews and was considering cancelling my order. They talked me into keeping the order. I told them however that if i recieved dead or rotten Items that i would be posting on this site a review that would be so scathing it would make all others seem tame. I told them that if i recieved quality merchandise i would also report that, that they should look at this as a oppoutunity to improve customer relations and have some positive feedback for a change. Well I am happy to say that i recieved my first 7 plants yesterday (all are dwarf citris and bannana trees) They arrived fully leafed out, green, healthy, and wet. Only one plant did not have large green leaves but it had numerous buds and was very green. Overall i would rate the first plants a 4 on a scale 1- 5. They were exactly what i expected to recieve when i ordered. I expected living, healthy seedlings with inmature root systems. I would have rated a 5 but the were so wet they could have developed rot if they had been in transit longer(my plants showed no signs of mildew or mold). I am now awaiting the rest of my order consisting of several nut trees, landscape trees and some flowering shrubs. I truly hope i can report more positive outcomes. If they arrive in good condition i will keep my word and post another positive review.
On Mar 27, 2007, Seedbird Swanton, OH (Zone 5a) wrote:
I have to admint that I was scared to death after reading the watchdog's ratings for Burgess because I had already placed a mail order for over $100.00 worth of plant products back in February. So all I could do was wait and keep my fingers crossed. Today, (3-27-07) I discovered the first partial order via mail waiting at my doorstep. I immediately took it inside and was very pleasantly surprised to discover that all the plants I recieved looked good and were in pretty good shape. The "handful of hostas" were all well rooted and in great shape. The "jersey knights" asparagus were also well rooted and looked good. In addition, the 3 climbing roses were alive and well and sprouting buds. I know I was taking a chance on ordering from Burgess but so far so good. I'm now awaiting the remainder of my order to arrive later on but quite frankly I'm not nearly as worried as I was. Having recieved the first part of my order in such good shape has given me some confindence. Maybe Burgess has heard the complaints and has done something to improve this year? The jury's still out on this but I think it's only fair to share my postive experience so far. I planted my hostas and jersey knights today and will get the roses in the ground tomorrow. I'm hoping they do well and bloom big!
-Seedbird
I've ordered several times from Burgess and overall
would have rated them just as neutral. Plants are
inexpensive but rootsytems tend to be inadequate and
one order had nearly all dry plants. However, Burgess
has always fulfilled their replacement guarantee and due
to my comments and letters to them have improved their
overall service and especially the quality of the plants sent.
Overall I intend to keep ordering from them. My advice to
others is that the price of inexpensive plants means you
just have to expect to file a replacement claim as some
just won't survive regardless of how much care you give
them. SAVE YOUR SHIPPING SLIP to file claims. It's
hard to find other firms that offer as good prices as Burgess.
I think they are improving their operation and I won't
be suprised to see them rated as positive overall at this
site in the near future.
This is the only company I have ever ordered plants from, so I can't compare with others. Last year I ordered 50 strawberry plants. They arrived in a timely manner, but I was surprised to find a rather dead looking mass of mostly dry roots. I didn't know plants were shipped that way. I was busy at the time, and left them sitting on my back porch in the bag for about a week. I finally got around to them--soaked for a couple days in water, then planted. I figured they wouldn't do well, since they arrived looking so dead and then I had neglected them so, but they surprised me and did very well.
So far, I am pleased with my experience with this company.
I ran across this website when searching for the Burgess Seed Co. and read a few of the statements from others. I just want to rebutt the negative comments by saying that I have ordered from most of the companies affiliated with Burgess and have never had a problem with the plants, seeds, bulbs, trees or other items ordered. Success with their items comes with diligent care and understanding that everything in nature, when brand new, like new little trees and shrubs, must be treated with the same tender care that you would give to human babies. I always take my new plants and put them into a nursery bed consisting of purchased Miracle Grow potting soil and I leave them there for one year. After the first year, I dig them up as carefully as possible with soil around them and move them to a permanent site. I have only lost a couple of trees, 1 peach and 1 apple, but it was due to the unusual heat we had one summer. I would recommend any of the Direct Gardening and Burgess websites to anyone dedicated to gardening and improving their property with the items offered by the affiliated companies. By the way, I did return the peach and apple tree order statements along with the shipping label from the package they came in and the company replaced them at the proper planting time. You must cut the shipping label from the package when it is received with your plants and save it in case an item does not survive. Then, when you send it back along with the order, the items lost will be replaced. I always make copies of the packing label and order statement, just in case. Remember, if you properly care for and plant your items, you will get results; either from the plants or from the company you ordered from. Barbara Lee Allen, Gates County, NC.
On Aug 6, 2006, carolinablue Aulander, NC (Zone 7a) wrote:
My experience with Burgess has been positive. I knew I was getting bareroot stock and didn't expect 5 gallon trees for a bargain price.
My order arrived complete and in good condition. I followed advice on soaking and planting and first year care. Despite some terrible weather this summer, my little babies are still alive. ( You really can't expect much growth while a root system is developing.)
Even the bonus bulbs and seed grew as expected. When I recently did statistics on the survival rate of mail order companies I deal with, Burgess had a respectable 80% rate ( better than a much more expensive company).
Trying to make a purchase online failed.
It was a pleasant shopping experience until I tried to place the order.
I called the number listed for "friendly helpful customer service".
I got a surly person who accused me of lying when I said "I am on the eBurgess.com website,
it says so on every page address."
She advised me to close all windows and begin all over again "It took me two hours to shop and place the order;
"I don't want to start all over again;
just help me place the order."
She hung up on me!
I called back and asked to speak with a supervisor.
The same person hung up on me again!
I searched for another number to reach Burgess, and found one answered by someone else.
They were helpful and suggested I mail in my order.
The supervisor for the rude person claimed 'she knew nothing about online support, and could only suggest I start all over again!'
In My Opinion: Burgess needs to train Customer Service personnel to actually help customers, instead of driving customers away.
The rude unhelpful *&^% who hung up on me made me very wary of ever dealing with Burgess.
I await my mail order with hopes for a successful relationship with Burgess. Asuming other employees are better trained than the useless Customer Service person;
I will report here again when/if the order arrives.
On August 26th, 2006, wakinyan81 changed the rating from negative to positive and added the following:
August 24,
My fall planting order arrived.
Everything was packaged to survive the shipping, and all plants seem to be alive.
Many of the trees have leaves budding out.
Only negative was the planting guide was soaked,
but that was because bags of damp mulch were wrapped around roots, and a few leaked.
It dried out overnight on a clothes hangar.
Burgess has called several times in response to my e-mail complaint and my comments posted here, with offers of assistance.
Based on this experience:
I will not shop Burgess online.
I will shop Burgess by mail.
I'm satisfied with this order in all respects!
I ordered four Kiwi vines expecting them to ship this fall. They came in 1" pots in July and were tiny stems of a vine. They were moist but no green was showing. I thought sure they were all dead but I planted and kept them watered every other day. By gosh they all sprouted and are getting larger every day.
On Jun 4, 2006, StephStotler Berkeley Springs, WV wrote:
I ordered $50.00 worth of flowers - and THEN I found this rating website. I was really worried about what I'd done - at least I didn't spend more.
3 weeks later I found a green bag crammed into my mailbox. I was even more nervous. As soon as I got home I took every plant out of the bag. The entire order was accounted for and all plants appeared to be alive - even the bushes (resembe sticks with some roots).
I took the plants out of the bags, soaked each of them in a jar of water for a few minutes and then planted them in separate pots so they could take root before I plant them in the rocky soil we have here.
It's been a month and I might have lost 2 or 3 of the plants (my fault for not watering every day).
I am happy with my purchase and I WILL be doing business with Burgess again!
On May 9, 2006, K_Stormbringer Shambaugh, IA wrote:
I was worried about my merchandise being slow, so I emailed the company. They responded right away, and were very helpful. I got my plants and stuff today 5/9/06...and they all were live, healthy, and are now enjoying some rich Iowa soil.
I will continue to order from these guys in the future. I see nothing wrong with them.
Plants arrived in good condition except one blueberry bush, it was broken at the stem during shipping (still green). It was replaced with no hassle. I Will deal with them agian.
I ordered some plants early in March. They cashed my check over a month ago and still I have not received my order. I sent their customer service an email on March 31 and never got a reply. I think this is what gets me the most, they ignored my request for info on my order. This was my first time to order plants and not pick them up myself at the nursery and after reading all these comments about this company I am not expecting much. If I ever get them at all! Not good customer service, that is for sure. They seem to have the time to type in a response on this forum, but not the time to answer a question about my order!
On April 19th, 2006, coffeecup changed the rating from negative to positive and added the following:
I sent them another email on the day I posted here and it was answered. They said they had shipped my order and I would receive it in 7-14 days. I received it the very next day! I still have 2 items out and am sure they will come real soon. The part of the order I received contained the best hosta rootings I have ever had, from any where! I am not familar with the other plants I ordered as they will be new additions to my garden, but everything looked to be in good condition. All where healthy looking and beginning to sprout. So thank you!On Apr 16, 2006, Burgess Seed responded with:
"
On Apr 18, 2006 8:41 AM, Burgess Seed added:
A d-mail was sent to this customer on 4/17/06. We do respond to our emails usually the following business day, but occassionally some will not be answered until the 2nd business day. It seems the most common reason that customer's will not receive our reply is because they forget to add our email address to their address book and the customer's spam filter will block our response.
At any rate, we are more than happy to check on this customer's order and hope they will respond by d-mail with more specific information so that we can do so."
On Apr 14, 2006, sporks4all Clarksville, TN wrote:
After reading all the negative comments, I too was leery. But I am also one of those gardeners that has to kill things off before I figure out what I'm doing wrong. LOL!
I placed a rather large order (about $80) and received everything in 3 shipments: my roses in one, a few plants in another and then a very large order. I was shocked at receiving the large order in a big green bag; however everything arrived in great condition. Exceptions:the shamrock bulbs that I got free with my order were rotten on arrival and I'm concerned about the Black Eyed Susans that were very wet. Also dry seed packets (also freebies!) were in the huge bag and arrived damp but not sprouting. As a comparison, about a month ago I bought "fresh" Stargazer Lily bulbs from Wal-Mart. Opened them up as soon as I got home and they were rotten to the point that they crumbled in my hand.
In my humble opinion, I think maybe people expect too much from this company. Sure my trees and shrubs arrived as sticks, but based on experiences with other companies, these were beautiful. Every woody plant (and the roses) had an incredible amount of new growth/shoots and good roots. I did encounter a minor issue, I was shorted on my Privet Hedge (packer miscounted?). I emailed the company and within 24 hours I received a response and a promise to correct it. Their customer service is awesome.
If you are a meticulous gardener and everything must be "just so" and the exact color, etc. then maybe you should go to another company and pay $20 -$30 for a rosebush or another $30 for a tree that has foliage already. For the prices that are offered, I would highly recommend this company for the novice/casual gardner. My mother would see a plant that she liked at her neighbor's and take a small cutting or grab a handful of seeds on the ground. That's the kind of gardening I enjoy. BTW, I purchased the Privet to fill in spots in a hedge that I planted from "sticks" about 5 years ago. I plan to repost as things "develop" (sorry for the pun). I would definitely place an order with them again. To avoid alot of the shipping delay problems that I've read about, maybe make sure it is time to plant the things that you ordered? I learned the hard way you can't plant tulips in summer, etc. Happy gardening!
On Apr 13, 2006, smmpmmbsm Taylorsville, NC wrote:
I had a great experience with Burgess. I didn't make an extremely large order, but everything arrived in good condition (and I have the WORST mail carrier in the USA). The packaging wasn't the sturdiest, but even after she dug it from the bottom of the stack in the back of her car, the trees still had blooms and nothing else was damaged. I especially love the hosta's I ordered. They are opening up beautifully!!
On Feb 22, 2006, suelynnes Pima, AZ (Zone 8b) wrote:
I purchased 4 hybrid poplar trees. Received them extremely dry after 3 weeks. 2 of 4 have survived so far, the other 2 were replaced once and after another 3 week delay in receiving the new trees, they arrived as dead sticks. I sent the label back and asked for a refund, but received a certificate for money off any other purchase I would like to make. The problem is, if it takes 3 weeks to get plants here, nothing will survive. Why waste the money. I would rather have had my money back. I will not utilize anyone affiliated with this group again. I can't believe any one would send plants by the cheapest route of snail mail knowing how long it takes.
On April 5th, 2006, suelynnes changed the rating from negative to positive and added the following:
I was contacted by Bailey from burgess via the d-mail on this site and I must say working with him was a pleasure. He personally took care of the issues I was having and arranged for appropriate replacement plants for the poplars. I replaced them with american arborvitae which are beautiful healthy plants and they arrived in a very reasonable time.
I would say if you have had a previous negative experience with this company, and Bailey contacts you via d-mail to correct the problem, give him a chance. Again, it was truly a pleasure having someone look into the problems and correct them. The goal here for me, is to get some healthy trees growing on my dirt lot and I am much closer to that goal now. Thanks for your assistance Bailey.
On Sep 9, 2005, packetboy Feeding Hills, MA wrote:
Wow! Lots of bad vibes on this company! I have had fine results with the plants and seeds and when I have had to contact customer service they got the job done.
