Gardening Express

Read all the reviews here before you part with your hard earned money!
The description of the plants on their website doesn't live up to what you actually receive. I'll give you an example of what happened to me!
I ordered the following plants...
Pair of Cordyline Pink Passion - Stunning Hardy Torbay Palms Normally £59.95... LOL Now £29.95. I ordered them on the 3rd June and they turned up on the 24th June.

The description on the website reads as follows.

Pack of two individual plants, each supplied in approx 2-3 Litre containers at an overall height of around 50-60cms tall, these are great value for the size and will make an instant dramatic impact in your garden.

They are in fact 38cm and 40cm. Now this may not seem a lot of difference but they are very small and DEFIANTLY don't make an instant impact.

I contacted their "customer service" team on the same day by raising a ticket. Antony advised me he will pass this on to their Head of Horticulture for comment. Two days later and no reply from Antony despite me sending him another email.

I will be reporting this to Trading Standards as they are clearly deceiving people by false descriptions on their website. My advice to you is AVOID these scammers and go to your local Garden Center.

I never got my delivery and the company were not interested and impossible to get in contact with them

Bought a cycad advertised as 'HUGE…
Bought a cycad advertised as 'HUGE GIANT Cycad'- EXTRA LARGE 80cm-100cm. Barely reached 80cm in height including pot and will be considerably smaller when the leaves drop lower, as the they were held upright in the packaging. Unhelpful and uninterested customer service. Scam overselling of products, definitely won't use again

I received a number of plants over the year from this company, without a complaint about any of them. However this year I received a consignment where a clematis was in "dormant" state in January and accompanying leaflet said to wait for it to leave this state. Certainly my other clematis were not showing signs of new shoots in January. However, at the end of February it was clear that, unlike each of my other clematis, this new one was in fact dead not dormant. I asked the company to replace or refund and that has let to a protracted and rude and repetitive unhelpful stance by the company. They will only communicate by online chat and said their T&Cs said I should notify them within 14 days of receipt which I had not done and now they could do nothing I pointed out that the plant was dormant and had I contacted them I would have fully expected them to refer me to the leaflet and wait. I further pointed out that I had contact them in what I considered a reasonable time to realise the dormant state was erroneous as it was dead. Response was that a variety of things could have cause this failure including customer not treating the plant properly! Whilst this might be true, not in this case as I unpacked it and stored in a heated greenhouse and kept it regularly watered. The plant is DEAD. I have since reviewed the company and got a response that they do not deal with complaints in this way and that I had not contacted them within 14 days. And so it has gone on for 4 days. Emails are received and responded to as a no-reply address and to talk on Online Chat. Round and round in circles. I have written and emailed the CEO but this email also is a no-reply address. All for the cost of £8.97 refund or replacement. Avoid this company, they have proven they want to be contacted ONLY by online chat, online chat staff fail to understand the T&Cs are overridden by Consumer Rights Act and Consumer Contracts Regulation. A V O I D. Arrogance and the attitude the customer is a nuisance and always wrong.

I would absolutely never use this company again. I bought two small trees. The online description states "Hardy Evergreen Photinia serratifolia PINK CRISPY Standard Topiary Tree" and that the tree will be "Supplied as super strong plants in approx 5 litre containers, with a 'lollipop' head of foliage diametre approx 40cms on top of a clear stem, with a total overall height of around 125-135cms." The photo I sent them of the trees cannot be described in any way as "topiary" or supplied as a "lollipop head." or with the measurements. I received three emails from the company after making several complaints and all of them just have a standard response saying the "Nursery manager" has reviewed photos and the trees are healthy. Honestly I wish I could upload the photos here they are diabolical. Two scraggy old trees that look anything but what they are described as. Company refusing to pay for product to be returned They are basically breaching the Consumer Standards Act 2015 but they don't seem to care all. Avoid!

After attempting to contact Gardening Express using their online form, I have heard nothing from them since I sent it nearly 2 months ago... I ordered a number of plants and, although some of them were ok (& the prices were attractive), I sent them photos of: 3x LEWISIA, 1x DELOSPERMA, 4x Echinacea Breeders Mix - all of which were dead -- or nearly dead -- on arrival. I am an experienced gardener, but I am really disappointed with their customer service/support as well as with these plants. I can't recommend Gardening Express as they have made no attempt to resolve the problems with the plants they sent and, since hearing nothing (& they cannot be phoned), I have had to go elsewhere to buy the plants I paid Garden Express to deliver.

Date of experience: 23 July 2023

Think twice before using this Company. First time I've used them & wasn't good experience so will definitely be the last. Received an email from Yodel saying the plant we ordered had been delivered. Got home later to find no sign of it. Contacted Yodel twice & each time they failed to get back to me. Contacted Gardening Express through web chat who after lengthy delays finally said I had to print & complete claim form for Yodel( already told them I didn't have printer) & also said I had to contact Police to get Crime Report Ref no. Really think Police have far more important things to do than check up on courier who probably left it at the wrong address. Citizens Advice website confirms retailer is responsible for chasing up courier & if they fail to do so are in contravention of Consumer Rights Act so if a replacement plant is not received as per the letter sent to them I will refer this issue to Trading Standards. Their Customer Service is abysmal & don't think they understand the concept of customer service ie to help their customer. Think the extremely low rating given on various independent review sites says it all. THINK BEFORE PARTING WITH YOUR MONEY

**UPDATE**

FOLLOWING ON FROM MY REVIEW I ORDERED A BLACKBERRY NIP ROSE MONTHS AGO. WHEN IT FINALLY ARRIVED IT HAD WILTED AND ALL OF THE BUDS HAD BEEN CUT OFF. HAVING NO JOY CONTACTING GARDENING EXPRESS AS THEY DON'T ANSWER, I PLANTED IT TO FIND THAT WHEN IT FINALLY STARTED TO GROW IT WAS A PINK MINIATURE ROSE (DEFINITELY NOT PURPLE) AND EACH FLOWER DIES 12 HOURS AFTER IT COMES OUT. SURPRISE SURPRISE MY MESSAGES CONTINUE TO GO UNANSWERED. THIS WAS FOR MY PARENT'S ANNIVERSARY AND WAS VERY EMBARRASSING.
THEY EVEN PUT AN ORDER SLIP IN WITH BLACKBERRY NIP TYPED ON IT! NEEDLESS TO SAY ITS NOW SHOWING AS OUT OF STOCK ON THEIR WEBSITE!
PLEASE DON'T BUY FROM THIS COMPANY. THEY ARE A DISGRACE!

IF I COULD GIVE THIS COMPANY A 0 RATING I WOULD.
I ORDERED A ROSE FOR A GIFT 3 WEEKS AGO, IT WAS SHOWING IN STOCK, APPARENTLY DELAYS WITH DELIVERY DUE TO COVID, EVEN THOUGH I'VE HAD NO DELAY WITH ANYTHING ELSE THAT I HAVE ORDERED.
3 WEEKS ON HOWEVER THE ITEM IS NOW SHOWING OUT OF STOCK, THEY WONT REFUND MY MONEY, WON'T TAKE CALLS, SEND AUTOMATED MESSAGES FOBBING ME OFF, TOLD ME I WOULD RECEIVE IT IN THE NEXT FEW DAYS AS IT WAS BEING PREPARED (EVEN THOUGH IT'S NOW OUT OF STOCK) BUT I STILL HAVEN'T RECEIVED IT.
PLEASE READ THESE REVIEWS AND TAKE YOUR BUSINESS ELSEWHERE. THEY ARE AN ABSOLUTELY AWFUL COMPANY, THEY KEEP YOUR MONEY AND DON'T DELIVER.

JUST WANT MY MONEY BACK!

My order took so long that it went past the date needed and had to go to a local plant center for the items I needed. I have tried to ring to cancel my order many times and cant get through. I couldn't believe that they said to cancel an order you have to write in for security reason. I spoke to the fair trading standards and they said there was no need for that and that an email is proof enough and so this is what I have done and heard nothing. I want a full refund immediately for order *******

16/05/17I requested cancelled order and refund so what did they do they finally sent it out today against my request to cancel. This is the worst company I have ever dealt with and will keep posting every day until they give me the refund I requested. DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY!
Just seen another review on Gardeners corner where many others were complaining of the same problem and would you believe that the address they give is not even a a centre with walls its actually just an internet service. Unbelievable, they are all having problems getting their money back if you dont believe me read them for your selves!

Poor Quality Plants, Non-Existent Customer Service & Worthless Guarantee

I find it illuminating that Gardening Express feels the need to bolster their reputation, and refute the very many ‘negative' reviews offered here (and elsewhere) by customers dissatisfied with their plant quality and poor customer service.

In my experience, like that of many others who have taken the time to write of their experience, I found Gardening Express' offering best summed up as ‘Poor Quality Plants, Non-Existent Customer Service & Worthless Guarantee'.

To claim that their net promoter score suggests that mine and other reviews are motivated by anything other than customer dissatisfaction is revealing in itself.

Like others have said the plants I received today (only my second order with GE) arrived in
An extremely poor condition, diseased, dead (or dying). Described on their website as 'in bud or blooming' is flagrantly misleading and false.

The plants delivered can, in no way, be described as in bud and/or blooming.

Thy are simply dead, dying or possibly diseased.

To raise my concern via GE ‘chat' function on their website resulted in a 20 minute wait and then as soon as I began ‘chatting and made clear my concerns' the agent ended the chat… not just the once but twice.

My recommendation is twofold… firstly do not waste you time nor money with Gardening Express as their product is inferior and customer service is inadequate. Secondly, do let your gardening friends know about your poor experience. It is only through customer pressure (and dwindling revenues) that companies like Gardening Express can learn from their customers.

To justify the delays on Covid and blame the delays for the poor quality is unacceptable.

In summary: poor customer service, poor quality products and lack of accountability and responsibility… a worthless guarantee too!