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On Dec 8, 2008, SonjaSkyles Elk Grove, CA (Zone 9b) wrote:
In the spring of 2004 I bought a dark blue double tradescantia from them. When it bloomed, it was single and almost white. I contacted them, but I had to wait a year for a replacement, because they were out of them. The following spring I received what was supposed to be a replacement plant, but the plastic bag contained only peat moss and there was no plant in it. I contacted them again and was promised a new plant the following spring. I never heard from them and I will never order from them again. The order number was 3005672.
On December 17th, 2008, SonjaSkyles changed the rating from negative to neutral and added the following:
I have been issued a store credit and changed the rating from negative to neutral, since they are working with me and doing all they can to solve the problem.
I was going to look through their catalog this season to check it out. But what do I get but the Van Bourgondien catalog that I didn't ask for. Apparently for the worse Van Dyck's is associated with Van Bourgondian. Glad I never got anything from Van Dyck's. It would've been a waste og money.
I recieved an email offer for free shipping in late October and decided to place a very small order for 5 daffodil bulbs which I had wanted to order but did not want to pay the high price for the bulbs as well as shipping. I placed the order, and in checkout it did not list any shipping charges, however when I received an email 2 weeks later stating they had charged the amount and the bulbs were being shipped they had charged me for shipping. I decided that it would probably be more bother to try to get the money back then it was worth so I did not call to complain about the shipping charges. The order arrive around a week or so later, and they had sent me a catalog, an invoice with the item checked in pencil...stating that it was packed, but no bulbs! I understand that mistakes happen but I was somewhat blown away that a large company like this could actually forget to include the bulbs ordered and send just an empty box with a catalog an invoice. I called the customer service and they did refund me the full amount within a couple days, I will be avoiding this company in the future however and send my business elsewhere.
I ordered a number of plants from Van Dyck and about 3 (mouse plant, hosta dream weaver, astrantia moulin rouge) that didn't look like they were worth planting but I went ahead and planted them anyway. They have not come up and I’m sure they are dead.
I just emailed them about 3 days ago and I have not heard anything back yet.
The other platns are looking good and growing well so I will give it a neutral for now until the dead plants are replaced.
On Mar 23, 2005, messygardener Brightwaters, NY wrote:
I have never had any trouble with this company.
Last spring, I ordered some begonias from their 50% sale. I wasn't expecting too much since I knew I was taking my chances with an end of season sale, but I planted their begonias anyway. Needless to say, I was so happy to see the gorgeous blooms light up a very neglected shady area in my garden. The red ones were brilliant and the white ones were equally as nice. I was really happy with the result, especially since I have never planted begonias before!
I also like that they give people a chance to win gift certificates to their catalog - $100! That is very generous if you ask me. I plan to submit some pictures of my garden this spring, and once I think of a good gardening project - I'm sending that in too!
Anyways, I like Van Dyck's and would recommend them to others too.
Note from the Garden Watchdog editors:
This comment was submitted from the same IP address as several other customer comments for Van Bourgondien, including three that were determined to have originated from company representatives. It is the stated policy of the Watchdog that companies can NOT submit customer feedback to inflate their own rating. The rating, originally positive, was changed from positive to neutral so that it would not affect the overall rating given by customers.
On Jan 27, 2005, bbc Chesterfield, NJ (Zone 6b) wrote:
In the fall of 2002, I ordered 30 pink daffodils (mix), 24 golden bell narcissus, 30 apricot beauty tulips, and 20 tulips of the "Apple Blossom" mix from VanDycks. The pink daffodils were successful, and have emerged both years after. The golden bell narcissus gave a very lackluster emergence the first year, and many had no flowers the second (yes, they were properly fertilized, and yes, they are in an ideal setting for daffodils).
As far as the tulip bulb size was concerned, I was not impressed. The apricot tulips were simply pathetic the first year, and did not return the second. The Apple Blossom mix never showed. In their defense, the AB mix was planted in a known mole area, and may have been eaten, but 20 bulbs is a lot to gobble up!
I ordered again in the Spring of 2004, purchasing the Hosta mix, Anemones, Brodiaeas, and three blue butterfly Iris. The Hostas were very nice albeit small. Hopefully they will continue to spread nicely. The Anemones did show very good response initially, but never flowered. I may try to move them to a sunnier location to see if that gets them going. The Brodiaeas were disappointing, and I thought these would be foolproof. Most of them just shot out their grass-like foliage, but few flowered. It looked like a grassy area that needed to be mowed rather than a flower bed. I'm hoping to get some better action this year now that they have properly wintered. The Iris never showed, and I sensed that they were not healthy when I received them, but there were only 3, so no big loss.
My conclusion is that this is a hit or miss company that provides some decent plants and bulbs, but doesn't do it for all selections, and good luck guessing what is going to be top quality. I may try them again in the future, but I doubt it considering that their prices are no bargain.
They would not give me a refund on my credit card for a bulb that failed to grow. Instead I was told I had a Merchandise Credit($18.35) I could use on my next order. I ordered a few things to use the Merchandise Credit and - WHOOPS - they forgot to apply it! How convenient for them! No response to several emails in almost a month.
I guess a little more profit off of me is more important than my future business.
On June 28th, 2004, timed100 changed the rating from negative to neutral and added the following:
A credit was made to my card. THANKS! But they took a week to inform me.
This year I ordered the "Destined to See" and David Kirchhoff dayliles along with the echinops ritro veitch (globe thistle) I received one fan of the David Kirchhoff, and an empty bag (globe thistle) and no Destined to See, it is on back order. The customer service rep could not have been nicer, she sent me the replacement of the Globethisle, which I promptly place in water because it was bare root shipped and looked awful. I planted it this morning and have hopes that it will survive. Am still waiting on the Destined to See. I will update once the plants have had an opportuntiy to perform.
On Oct 27, 2003, nevadagdn Sparks, NV (Zone 7a) wrote:
My order was delivered in a reasonable time frame (two weeks from order to receipt), and the products are in good condition. I ordered three Oriental Poppies and some daffodils. The Oriental Poppies are the largest roots I've ever received by mail order, so I expect they will do well. The cost for my order (plants and shipping and handling) was reasonable.
On October 30th, 2003, nevadagdn added the following:
update: I planted the poppies yesterday, so I had the opportunity to inspect them (and the daffodils) more closely. The daffodil bulbs were a bit smaller than I expected, but perfectly healthy. The poppies were also a bit drier than I would have liked, but I won't know for certain whether they are healthy plants until next spring. I seem to have the best luck with the rattiest of plants, so these might just be spectacular come May.On March 22nd, 2004, nevadagdn added the following:
The only poppy that may have failed was one that is currently buried in daffodils from previous years. I'm not sure whether it's there--I can't see through all the foliage. The other two are doing well. The daffodils are doing well.On November 9th, 2004, nevadagdn changed the rating from positive to neutral and added the following:
I'm downgrading my rating to neutral based on better customer service from other companies. Van Dyck's could have retained the positive rating by providing me email notification when my bulbs shipped.
I assume the bulbs have shipped, because their policy states that credit cards are charged at the time of shipping, and my credit card was charged on 11/3. That means the bulbs should arrive some time today or tomorrow, if UPS, FedEx or the postal service was used, based on delivery times for merchandise for other companies.On November 11th, 2004, nevadagdn added the following:
I had HOPED to be able to upgrade my rating, because the parcel did arrive on 11/9. However, as I planted, I noticed that the quality of the product varied widely. Some of the bulbs and plants were fat and healthy. Some of the bulbs were shriveled and bruised, a couple of the plants were very small, and one had rotted away entirely.
Had all of the bulbs and plants been of average (Home Depot/Lowe's) quality, I would have upgraded my rating. The reason I'm not downgrading to "Negative" is because I got what I paid for, and I paid very, very little for what I got, and I bought at end-of-the-season sales. Had I paid full price for these items, I would have been incensed.On March 9th, 2005, nevadagdn changed the rating from neutral to negative and added the following:
I'm downgrading (again) because two out of three poppies and the one unrotted hellebore have all failed to emerge, even though planted in areas of the garden which happily support those varieties. I'm not going to bother to ask for replacement or refund. I'll just make a mental note to not succumb to the end-of-season sales in future.On March 10th, 2005, nevadagdn added the following:
To their credit, Van Dyck's did offer me replacement or credit upon reading my latest comment. I turned both offers down, because I just don't want to keep trying with subpar stock, even at incredibly low prices. I guess I'm getting old--I'd rather pay more for a plant I know will survive than pay less for one that's questionable.On October 20th, 2005, nevadagdn changed the rating from negative to neutral and added the following:
I know this is d----d by faint praise, but as I thought about my rating, I thought that since Van Dyck's did make an effort to make things right, negative was a little too harsh. That said, I've found myself sticking more and more with those companies where I've had a long history of good quality plants/bulbs/seeds received, and unfortunately, Van Dyck's is no longer one of them.
I ordered from them for the first time in the fall of 2002. Loved the catalogue! I used the website to order. Although I would recommend they hire someone to work on the navigation on their site (minor nit), ordering was seemless. I received an acknowledgement with a planned ship date and the bulbs and roots arrived right on time. The packing was adequate, although with the plastic bags I would recommend getting things into the ground asap. Two of the three sets of gladiolus bulbs I ordered were mismarked. As they were bulbs, I didn't find out until this week that instead of the pale pale pink gladious I received a batch of bright orange ones and instead of the soft apricot, I received garish orange and yellow ones. I had ordered quite a few of each. My bed looks like a hot dog stand - very disappointing. The asclepias tuberosa roots had no planting instructions...I took a zonal-chance with them, anyway, so it was questionable what they would do in my climate. The geraniums, on the other hand, are doing well. Overall, it was a neutral experience -- the disappointment with the bulbs is somewhat off-putting in terms of ordering from them again this fall, but the geranium choices sure were nice...
I ordered glads, calladiums, canna, and tigridia for the 2002 growing season. Nothing grew. Although replacements were promptly sent, these did not grow either.
On May 29th, 2003, LK changed the rating from negative to neutral and added the following:
Van Dyck's contacted me after reading my negative comment. They sent replacements for some of my failed order which I have planted. I cannot yet judge the viability of the plants, but their customer service seems geniunely interested in fulfilling their guarantee.
