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I would just like to thank all of you who have taken the time to write and save other gardners the trouble of ordering from companies that do not deliver what they advertise. I wouldn't order from this company after reading these reviews. Even the positive ones! You should not have to send anything back. A note to Royal Dutch- If you are going to respond to the reviews you should hire someone with a professional mannerism, most of the customer service responses sounded snide and that is one of the reasons I wouldn't order from you.
On Oct 28, 2006, duece4life West Orange, NJ wrote:
I purchased plants from Royal Dutch last Spring. I had a very Horrible experience in the fact that I had a very disappointing experience with them. My climbing 9 climbing rose bushes were a disapppoint. Only 4 of 9 grew. I only got 1 rose out of the bunch. I asked for and was given a merchandise credit. You have to send them the original shipping label and send a letter with it to ge t proper credit.
I ordered all my Tulip bulbs for next year and, lo and behold, they sent some really nice bulbs!! I also ordered their Hosta Garden and they look okay. I will update this posting next spring. Even though Customer Service is not that BRIGHT (MORE TRAINING NEEDED), at least, with a LOT of nagging and demanding, this company does come through. We'll see next spring.
I orderred Sedums and hybrid poplar. The bareroot Sedums were in mediocre to poor shape; time will tell if they grow. 75% of the poplars appeared to be in good condition (and I delayed planting longer than I should have), and are currently sending out nice shoots. 25% of the trees were either broken, or lacked roots, or looked obviously dead.
Cheap prices, poor packaging. I'm happy enough with the trees to give them a try once again.
I had ordered from this company before I found your website, so I am petrified of what I will find when (and if) the order arrives. I'm going to try to cancel it.
I was wondering, though, about something I saw in the "thread" of conversation about this company. How can you know what a company's affiliations are? How can you know if a company keeps changing its "identity" to avoid people knowing who they are? How can you know what all the Richard Owens companies are, for instance?
I'm curious because I want to track down the affiliations of another company and I would like to know how to do it.
On Feb 12, 2005, SeagovilleSue Seagoville, TX wrote:
I received a catalog from Burgess/Royal Dutch of Bloomington, Illinois, claiming such great prices and quality. I purchased $105.15 of Siberian Elms, and sent my order form by mail back in December 2004. Finally, I received a charge on my credit card 012605 for the full amount, but no plants or mail received from the company, so I emailed them. I received an email back asking for my name and address so they could access my account. I replied back by email, with the information. No resonse has been received yet. I sent off another email today with the same response attached as before, and will wait and see. I advised them I will dispute this if I do not hear from them. (Boy, am I'm sorry I didn't find your site sooner!) I intend to dispute the charge as soon as my credit card bill comes in the mail, if my plants are not here in good condition. What I see is that I have 60 days to dispute with the credit card company once the charge shows. If I wait on Royal Dutch to play their back/forth games, the 60 day deadline may pass me by. I will dispute and cancel the dispute when and if I receive my plants. I don't think I would use this company again, due to the comments I read about it.
So far, my only complaint is that my order arrived too early. I have mailorderd from many different companies and have always been sent the plants at a time when it was safe to plant them. There is still some snow on the ground here and night temperatures remain low. since the plants are packaged in plastic, I felt I had to get them out to prevent rot. I currently have them acclimating in a paper bag in the garage. There was no packing slip or invoice that I could find until I saw a list of contents on the outside of the big mailer bag. There was not specific planting guides or info on returns or warranties.
On the other hand, the bareroot plants look healthy enough and the jury is still out regarding dependability.
So far I've only ordered 3 roses, some bulbs and a hydrengia. Two roses died, one did well. I had no problem replacing the roses and so far so good with the new roses but it's only been a week. The hydrengia came dead looking & wilty and a stow-a-way (baby slug) but I planted it in a pot and within two weeks it was healthy and thriving. I just planted the bulbs so we'll have to see about those.
My biggest complaint is customer service. I've needed help with some products and I've had to contact our own nursery for help.
