Comments regarding Gurney's Seed & Nursery

In early March my wife and her best friend stumbled upon an add in the local paper from Gurney's advertising a set of three citrus dwarf trees (lemon, lime, orange) for $9.95 plus S/H. My wife's best friend had been wanting a dwarf lemon tree, so my wife asked me to order a set and based on the delivery criteria Gurney's website provided based on the "zone" where we live it was determined that they should ship and arrive a week before her best friend's birthday. So I ordered a set online, and then about a week later my wife asked me to order her a set as well, which was also done. Well weeks went by, and the only communication from Gurney's had been the order confirmations, but I had received no further details from Gurney's about the order.

In late May I called Gurney's customer service number, which has an automated system, and was informed that the two orders were set to shipped on June 4th. After a week they hadn't arrived and my wife was getting upset, because we were now two weeks beyond her best friend's birthday already. I explained to my wife that we needed to allow 7-10 business days for UPS shipping before a company will deem it necessary to try and track the shipping. But as I explained this to her it dawned on me that Gurney's had not provided a UPS tracking number for the shipments, hence no way to actually track them. So I tried calling Gurney's back and once again received the automated phone system, in the middle of the day no less. All the system would give me was the same information I'd received the week before. So being a "good customer", I waited until Saturnday June 19th, at which point I called Gurney's and surprisingly received an actual person on the phone.

However during the rather short and uncourteous discussion with one of their "customer service" people (and I use that term loosely) it was discovered that not only had the dwarf trees not been shipped, but now it would be sometime either in the Fall or next Spring before they would be available. Allegedly the farmer that supposedly supplied them with these dwarf citrus trees had a "bad crop" and Gurney's was only able to fill a limited number of orders. When I asked why it was then that their system stated that my orders were due to be shipped on June 4th, and then didn't, well she had no explanation.

So my questions are, how can a company advertise the selling of these types of products and not have them ready to ship and deliver in a timely manner? Why would this company set dates for shipment that fall within their specified "planting/growing" seasons, when are actually when the plants should be in the ground in the first place to take root and grow? Why does this company feel that it is incorrect to not have any form of communication (I.e. phone calls, emails, etc.) with their customers so that the customer is updated on the status of their orders? And in the case of this issue, why aren't the trees in question shipped regularly throughout the year when they are clearly described as having the ability to be planted indoors and outdoors, and it is highly recommended that the customer bring the trees in during the winter months so as to help protect and nuture them?

No, this is NOT a company I will do business with again. Today they are supposed to refund my money to my debit card, so lets hope they do so promptly, given that they have been unable to do anything else in the same manner.

"On Jun 21, 2010 12:13 PM, Gurney's Seed & Nursery responded with:

We thank you for taking the time to post, we appreciate your feedback. We are always here to assist in any way we can. A customer service representative will be contacting you about your order."

My one and only time shopping with them. 1) I ordered a jumbo blueberry plant and paid what I consider a lot for it. When it arrived I felt there had been some mistake. What I got was a short two-twig plant. As Inigo Montoya would say, "Jumbo? I don't think that word means what you think it means." The plant has done poorly since planting. 2) I also ordered a dwarf fig at the same time, and again paid a hefty price. When that didn't arrive I had to e-mail the company and was informed it was backordered. Nice of you to tell me finally. It shipped one week later than the backorder date. It arrived today. I was stunned. It's a twig with three leaves growing out of it. This company is a rip-off. Caveat Emptor.

There are too many good companies out there selling plants. Use Google and find them. Avoid Gurney's

"On Jun 21, 2010 12:07 PM, Gurney's Seed & Nursery responded with:

We thank you for taking the time to post, we appreciate your feedback. We are always here to assist in any way we can. A customer service representative will be contacting you about your order. We do offer a lifetime guarantee on our plants."

First experience with this company. I was tempted by an offer found through web search for $25 off a $50 order. I figured it was an end of season sale and decided to give them a try. I placed order for some ferns on June 13 and my debit card reflected the charge the very next morning. Decided to review this forum and found many negatives posted, so I sent them an email asking when the estimated shipping date would be, as I was aware the cut-off was June 15. I received no reply to the email, so the next day, being unwilling to risk the issues described in this forum, I send a request for the order to be cancelled and my debit card to be refunded. They did so promptly within a few hours. I am grateful to have this forum as a resource.

"On Jun 18, 2010 10:16 AM, Gurney's Seed & Nursery responded with:

We thank you for taking the time to post, we appreciate your feedback. A customer service representative will be contacting you about your order."

GRRR. My mom has ordered from Gurneys since I was a little girl so I decided to give them a try. I received notification of what appeared to be a season-end sale as I knew other nurseries had already ended their spring sales. However, it clearly said on Gurneys site that the last order date this year was June 9 and ther last shipping date was June 15 so it appears my June 2 order would be fine and presumably shipped in 13 days or less. I'm good about taking care of new plants, and it's still rainy here so I wasn't concerned about getting these plants going this time of year.

I watched my order of 7 items (19 total plants/trees) and on June 11 there was an update. The Gurneys site said 2 items (5 plants) had shipped. Upon checking UPS it appears UPS was actually just notified electronically for billing on June 11 and the item actually didn't reach UPS until June 14 (was it sitting in a box those 3 days?).

As of today (6/16) the UPS site and Gurneys' site say the items has been delivered. I was told by the customer service rep at Gurneys it was shipped to my home address (but I'm here and it definitely has not arrived). Thankfully UPS was more helpful, Gurneys paid for 2-party shipping and the items was delivered by UPS to my local post office. I will drive there and pick up my order later so it doesn't sit in a hot truck until tomorrow afternoon.

Now with the 6/15 last day of shipping past, I called customer service about my other 14 plants/trees. Their automated system says the items are scheduled to ship April 2011. What the heck? I called and was told by customer service that they were still going to try to get part of my order out by June 18. But once I pushed further about what "part" that would be, it appears that it would be one more out of the remaining 15 plants, the other 14 would be shipped next Spring.

I asked if she could explain why their system would allow me to order items that clearly they didn't have available. She gave me a story about some crop failure this year (again why would it let me order these items?)... also I told her it was scary if 5 out of the 7 items I had sufferred crop failure. She said that wasn't the case. So I asked what the reason was for the others... she said they were shipping first come first serve so they might have been out of them when they got to my order. Again... why are they selling and even marketing sale prices on items they don't have available to ship.

I'm bummed. I missed an entire planting season and with most of my choices being fruit trees or berries that means an extra year before I'll be harvesting any fruit.

It turns out what they are sending are flowers and a potted blueberry plant. Everything else I ordered would have been bare root, which I admit I was surprised they were still marketing for Spring, but I was excited to still get them and had great luck with bare root trees I had received only 12 days before I placed the order. If they won't ship bare root trees after April or May... why the heck are they putting them on sale and saying they ship until June 15.

It feels like a scam to charge my credit card in 2010 for something they might or might not have in stock in 2011. Will they even be in business in 2011? Or will my money just be gone? I am especially sad that I now missed my local nurseries end of season sales because I was waiting on the plants I thought were goilng to be mailed by June 15. If Gurneys had been honest I could have bought the plants I wanted for this year locally and had my trees/plants ready to harvest one year earlier.

"On Jun 18, 2010 8:48 AM, Gurney's Seed & Nursery responded with:

We thank you for taking the time to post, we appreciate your feedback. We are always here to assist in any way we can. A customer service representative will be contacting you about your order."

Posted on June 15, 2010, updated June 15, 2010
I ordered 2 citrus collections and a dwarf blueberry back in March. Now I understand and totally appreciate the shipping schedule. But what is the point of supplying an email address when you aren't going to be contacted?

My first part of the shipment was sent to me a couple weeks after I ordered it. But I just got off the phone with a very unpleasant customer service representative saying that because the plants hadn't all arrived, I would not be getting my citrus trees until sept! Its JUNE for goodness sakes.

She proceeded to tell me that had I gone online to review my order, it would have told me this. See below and exactly what it says:
Order Date: 03/19/10
Order Number: ***********
Order Total: *******

Ship To:
ERIN HARVEY
*********************************
MARIETTA GA 30064 Items Not Shipped:
2 DWARF CITRUS TREE COLLECTION
Items Shipped:
Shipped via UPS Ground
Track Package Here
1 DWARF TOPHAT BLUEBERRY 6-9"

Do you see an updated shipping address? I don't. The customer service rep logged into the website and saw the same thing. I understand about computer glitches, but yea, I feel screwed for not being informed. How hard is it for their system to send me an email when I supplied an email as contact? She says I will be getting a post card in the mail in a few weeks. Yea that makes me happy. *sarcastic*

So all I get is a refund for being disastified. This was my test order. Something small, something I wanted, but how can I justify spending larger amounts of money on this company for my lawn and garden, if I cant get container plants and satisfactory service? I'm not pushy or high maintenance until someone gets an attitude with me from customer service. Partial shipment as an option would be nice, an actual discount, free gift, whatever, hell just a sincere apology would satisfy me. Not an attitude.

So shop at your own risk. I love their product offering, but I will think twice before doing it again.

"On Jun 16, 2010 8:58 AM, Gurney's Seed & Nursery responded with:

We thank you for taking the time to post, we appreciate your feedback. We are always here to assist in any way we can. A customer service representative will be contacting you about your account."

Posted on April 30, 2010, updated June 12, 2010
This is the second year I ordered from Gurney's. Last year I ordered 2 cherry trees. I received 1, not in a timely fashion and the 2nd one was back ordered. It was a year ago and I don't remember the exact amount of time, but I do remember emailing back and forth with customer service and months later getting a refund check.

This year, I ordered a bunch of seeds, a cherry tree to replace the missing one from last year and some misc plants/sets.

I received a shipping email 2 days later. After not receiving the order and not being able to track it I noticed the shipping zip code was incorrect. My shipping and mailing addresses are different. I emailed them 5 times before getting a reply and having the situation corrected. This was for the seeds. In their defense, the zip code error was my fault, but I thought it was going to take an act of God to get it corrected.

I was told in an email with a new order number for the seeds that the other 4 items would ship in 3-5 days. After not seeing a shipping notice I again emailed them and 4 or 5 days later when I received another reply was told the items were backordered and no ship date was available. Now have you, these items were still on their website.

I emailed them 5 days ago and have still not received a reply. I love your 100% customer service statement. This is the worst customer service in the world, or at least on the planet. I am not waiting around til fall, or months for you to issue a refund in the form of a check. You can refund my card if you're not shipping the order now or I will have the credit card company issue a chargeback. Thank you.

"On May 4, 2010 1:18 PM, Gurney's Seed & Nursery responded with:

We thank you for taking the time to post, we appreciate your feedback. We are always here to assist in any way we can. A customer service representative will be contacting you about your order."

Posted on June 8, 2010, updated June 8, 2010
Posted on June 7, 2010, updated June 8, 2010
Endless emails in my inbox. Finally a few months ago came one that said spend a $100 get $100 off. Good deal right?
Wrong.
Good way for these guys to get some cash to use interest-free for a few months. I ordered 11 "offers" of Lombardy Poplars to plant as wind break. "3 trees per offer" means 33 4-5 foot trees for $135.
I checked and checked and checked and my order was supposed to ship on June 2nd.
BUT NO
Today I get a check in the mail that says they are out of stock and they have cancelled my order. WHO THE HELL GOT THEIR TREES B4 ME ? I ordered and PAID for them months ago? ! ! !
They Ship the trees in stock that sold later (and at full price) and stiffed the sales promotion folks. Nice.
Piss on Gurney's. Jerks
Nice "promotion". I will be adding them to my blocked email list and buying local where i actually get something when they run my credit card.

"On Jun 8, 2010 3:21 PM, Gurney's Seed & Nursery responded with:

Thank you for taking the time to post. We appreciate your feedback. I can assure you that Gurney's does not make a distinction on whether a customer pays full price or has a special offer on their order. A customer service representative will be contacting you for your account information."

Posted on May 4, 2010, updated June 8, 2010
Posted on September 2, 2009, updated May 4, 2010
After many years of not ordering from Gurney's because of bad experiences, I tried them again. I had two orders which went ok and so I placed a third order this fall. On the original order I left specific instructions about when to send iris rhizomes for appropriate fall planting in our area and, not receiving any information to the contrary, I asusmed I would receive them in early August as requested. When they did not arrive, I emailed their customer service department via their website. I received no response at all to my first message, an automated response with absolutely no useful information to my second message, and only after becoming very insistent that they reply immediately did I receive a response to my third message. Their message to me was basically that they would determine when planting time was appropriate for my area and really didn't care that when they planned to send the rhizomes was at least 6 weeks later than trained horticulturists in our state tell us iris need to be planted to survive the winter. When I brought that to their attention, along with the fact that many years of gardening experience in our area tell me that the horticulturists are correct, the response was basically: we'll send them when we feel like sending them and we don't really care what you, our customer, wishes us to do. They were gracious enough to tell me that they have a guarantee on the price of the plants but I'm quite sure they won't reimburse me for the time it took me to plant them or for the fact that the iris that I wanted to have for next spring will die over the winter unless we have an unusually mild winter. Needless to say, I will be returning to my policy of NOT ordering from Gurney's or any of their sister companies anymore.

"On Sep 3, 2009 4:37 PM, Gurney's Seed & Nursery responded with:

Thank you for your inquiry. Please accept our sincere apology for any inconvenience we may have caused. We will be contacting you to help rectify the problem."

In February, 2010 I ordered three fruit trees as a gift- my check was cashed but I never recieved my items. According to the website it would be shipped between March-May. After not receiving it, I emailed customer service and was told that it might ship at the end of the year! I called and kindly asked them to ship it now, since it's summertime in my zone, and the end of the year would be too cold. They finally told me that actually it was not in stock, and they would not get anymore in stock this year. Why didn't someone contact me and tell me that!!!!! I asked for a refund. I'm still waiting for my money back. Extremely poor service,.and very suspect business practices. I will never order from them or their affiliates again.

"On Jun 8, 2010 3:22 PM, Gurney's Seed & Nursery responded with:

Thank you for taking the time to post. We appreciate your feedback. A customer service representative will be contacting you for your account information. We apologize for the inconvenience."

I ordered a set of 50 strawberries and 58 bareroot plants arrived about a week and a half later. They all looked good and all but 4 had some leaves. After letting them soak for 2 hours we started planting. An hour or so later we had all of them planted. The next morning all but 3 had grown a bit. Now 5 days later all but 3 have a good number of green leaves. The other 3 are showing some signs of slow growth. I am very impressed with these plants and will order again.

"On Jun 8, 2010 9:56 AM, Gurney's Seed & Nursery responded with:

Thank you for taking the time to post. We appreciate your feedback. Happy Gardening!"

Posted on May 24, 2010, updated May 31, 2010
I placed large order of vegetable seeds and perennial plants, received seeds within a week, so had plenty of time to get them started. perennials came within shipping schedule, had to wait to plant some because of unusally cold temps, the things i didnt plant, got left in box for week and ahalf, probably not taken care of the way i should have, and are doing wonderful today, very high quality to be able to take my abuse! Had two types of seeds that sprouted and died and two hydrangias that died from the crazy cold we had, should have covered them as they were all leafed out when they came. emailed gurneys and got response immediatly, replaced, no ?s asked. I will definatly order from them again!

"On May 24, 2010 1:30 PM, Gurney's Seed & Nursery responded with:

Thank you for taking the time to post. We appreciate the feedback to better serve our customers. Happy Gardening!"

I ordered a grapefruit and a guava (plus other items) in Jan 2010. I received my other items and the grapefruit was cancelled by Gurneys a few months ago. I contacted Gurneys about when I will get my credit for the grapefruit. Their canned reply was not until the whole order ships and the guava is scheduled to ship in September which the proper planting time for your zone. I live in zone 5. There is no proper planting time for a guava in my zone because it has to be planted in a container because it is not cold hardy. I was charged for my order the same day I placed it. Now Gurneys wants me to wait over 6 months for a refund on something they cancelled. I do not think so. I have requested that they cancel my guava. I will order it from another company that can get it to me in a reasonable time. I don't believe my family will be ordering from Gurneys or their sister companies again.

"On Jun 8, 2010 11:23 AM, Gurney's Seed & Nursery responded with:

We appreciate your feedback. I apologize for the inconvenience. Your feedback is used to help provide better service to our customers. A customer service representative will be contacting you for more information."

Last year I ordered Strawberries, Lupine and Red Hot Pokers. The Lupine and Red Hot Pokers arrived in the fall as bare root plants. I planted them when I received them as instructed, but they never came up in the spring.

The Strawberries came in the spring to be planted, however, they arrived when we were on vacation and when I came home and immediately planted them, they did not survive.

In both cases, I called Gurney's. They immediately replaced my Strawberries, however what they sent were very near death. I have photos of them from when they arrived, just in case I needed to prove my case. I was very fortunate that I was able to nurse them back to health and they are doing pretty well right now.

They told me over the phone that they would send me new Lupine and Red Hot Poker plants in the fall, and then a couple of weeks later, in the mail I received a refund check. I called to make sure that was the way they had it in their records and it was. So, I used some of the money to buy seeds from Diane's seeds.

"On May 26, 2010 10:33 AM, Gurney's Seed & Nursery responded with:

Thank you for taking the time to post. We appreciate the feedback to better serve our customers. We apologize for the confusion concerning your order."

I ordered the Citrus Trio in early March. My credit card was charged immediately although the product wasn't shipped. I checked the delivery time on the web site a month later and found that it was to be shipped in early May. On May 19, I checked again and the delivery was not even posted.
When I called customer service, I was told that the order was out of stock and that there was no back order. When I asked why they would charge me before shipping and then not even have the decency to let me know they weren't going to ship it to me, the customer rep apologized. I am supposed to get a refund in 2-3 business days. I will NOT be ordering from them again. I wonder if this company would have kept my money had I not taken the trouble to contact them.

"On May 24, 2010 1:26 PM, Gurney's Seed & Nursery responded with:

Thank you for taking the time to post. We appreciate the feedback to better serve our customers. A customer service representative will be contacting you for more information."

I placed 2 orders this year with Gurney's. I ordered 2 asian pears to replace 2 trees after one of the competitors sent me pecan trees labeled as asian pears, instead of actual asian pears. Then when they announced their end of summer sale I picked up 2 of the U of S Prunus x Kerrasis trees (Cherry bushes) in their end of season sale. Trees shipped within 2 weeks well packaged.

Bare-root pear trees came in a cardboard box with roots and bulk of tree wrapped in a moist paper-like substance. Pear trees were about 3.5-4 feet tall. One tree was too big to soak the roots in a 5 gallon bucket, other barely fit. Followed the planting instructions exactly for the smaller tree but the larger tree planted without soaking. Both trees are currently budding.

Cherry trees came in a box that reminded me of action figure or Barbie doll packaging.... Trees came potted 18-24 inches tall. Lots of foliage on the live trees and both in good shape. I am curious as to whether they will start selling the other U of S bushes when released for import to the United States.

Website had a place where you could check on the status of your order and they sent an email when the trees shipped with a tracking number.

Prices without a coupon or sale are a bit high though....

Overall pretty satisfied with this company.

"On May 24, 2010 1:23 PM, Gurney's Seed & Nursery responded with:

Thank you for taking the time to post. We appreciate your feedback to better serve our customers. Happy Gardening!"

I Live in Pacific NW, and order seeds and plants from Gurneys all the time. Have yet to have a problem with any products. Just wish they were closer than 2,000 miles away. I came across Gurneys on a Google search, and since have enjoyed their emails and offers. Just wish they would take PayPal, hehe.

"On May 18, 2010 11:18 AM, Gurney's Seed & Nursery responded with:

Thank you for taking the time to post. We appreciate the feedback to better serve our customers. Happy Gardening!"

Gurneys practices deceptive billing practices.

My experience with Gurneys was extremely negative. I gave them a nice order upon Gurneys promise that they would honor a discount. But once I ordered Gurneys did not stay true to their word. Gurneys breached their agreement even though I have it from Gurneys in writing. I recommend you never trust Gurneys and what their customer service reps tell you. Their team seems skilled and coordinated in giving the run-around. It is obvious they have practiced this skill. Gurneys mistates their intenttions which is a very deceptive business practice. I know it is Gurneys standard operating procedure because I have dealt with five different customer service employees up to the floor supervisory-level and they all practiced a common deceptive scheme - the same stated intentions and then the run-around. In conclusion, I recomment you never trust what Gurneys employees tell you even if you get it promised in writing. Gurneys personnel are not worthy of trust. From Mike in Downingtown, PA.

"On May 18, 2010 11:01 AM, Gurney's Seed & Nursery responded with:

Thank you for taking the time to post. We appreciate the feedback to better serve our customers. A customer service representative will be contacting you for your account information."

GURNEY'S- I want to start off by saying that Gurney's customer service is, in fact quite good. They replace plants when they die, and send them along at a reasonable time. That being said, some plants I have received from them have been quite bad, with very little chance of ever growing well. I bought some Saskatoons which were great; no problems at all, and loaded with fruit every year. Strawberries (mixed bag) were also fine, not great, but fine. American Plums were also good, but no fruit after three years.
On the flip side I bought ten Manchurian Apricot plants and have thus far been quite disappointed. First of all, I was sent twigs. They were advertised as 1' seedlings- however this measurement must include the roots, because, by my ruler, all were well under the advertised height. The trees are now in their fourth leaf, and have been cared for perfectly. All are still alive, amazingly, but are now only two to three feet tall. (one is about four feet) I do not expect any fruit for about a decade, much much longer than advertised. Also the American Persiommons have been replaced by them twice, each time the replacement plants were worse. I do expect them to grow, yet gurney's they said will not replace them again, which is I feel they should. Bottom line: only order plants from Gurney's that you've heard good things about, or better yet, order from someone else.

"On May 6, 2010 11:22 AM, Gurney's Seed & Nursery responded with:

We appreciate you taking the time to post. We are always here to assist in any way we can. I apologize for the the problems with your plants and a customer service representative will be contacting you."

Unbelievable. Customer rep decides to start an argument. I sure hope they taped this one.
Sad to say this is the first time I have had a bad experience with Gurney's. In the past they have always been curtious. I called about a shipment status. I had a apple tree die over the winter. I had originally purchased it in 2009. I waited as long as I could, giving the tree the benefit of the doubt. When I was sure it had died, I called for a replacement. The women was VERY KIND and understanding, she would personally take care of the replacement and get it out ASAP. I felt very bad about even having to call for a replacement, but the woman was so kind and assured me it was no problem. I was very pleased. I waited a week and thought I would just check about the shipment since she had mentioned it would be out in a day or two. I called customer service and a very abrupt man told me 'its on back order, it'll be shipped in 2011'. I told him I wasn't to happy about missing the growing season for 2009, and now also missing another growing season 2010. By 2011 this particular tree will be 2 years behind the rest of the orchard. For some unkown reason, he began to argue with me that it wasn't going to be 2 years, that I had ordered the tree in 2009, it died, and I was going to get it in 2011. I told him, 'exactly right. Two years.' He began to get insistant telling me 'its not two years.... on and on. Yes I got angry with him, as he went on and on. As he became more and more unkind,treating me like I was an idiot, I guess I probably did the same to him. He was extremely unprofessional. All I wanted to ask him if there was something he could do to maybe have the tree shipped this year? There is still time for planting here. Couldn't get that out, he just wanted to argue. Very unusual treatment concidering I have been an exclusive customer for the past several years. I am going to go with Burgess in the future. Sure they don't have a lifetime guarentee, but the prices are half. If it dies I will replace it on my own dime without the HASSLE. Sorry.

"On May 4, 2010 11:27 AM, Gurney's Seed & Nursery responded with:

We appreciate you taking the time to post. We are always here to assist in any way we can. I apologize for the trouble you had with one of our agents and a customer service representative will be contacting you to take care of this."

I used a 25$ off for 50$ order coupon. For a 50$ order you have to pay 10$ in shipping, so it was almost 40$ when it was said and done. I sent it off by mail on a friday and received the seed packed a little over a week later, on monday. i got the strawberry plants and gladiolus bulbs on wednesday. All the seeds were there (huge packets, some had 200+seeds) except the giant bell peppers which they said were out of stock, they refunded me the money prorated to the coupon. They didnt have planting information for my zone, but i can google that. The bulbs seemed fine but the strawberry plants were really small. 4 were okay but the rest were small, only 1-2 inches, some with no leaves (just one leaf stem), one with only one root, and even the big ones had yellow/dead leaves. Plus after i separated them i could only find 9, not 10. I called, was not put on hold for long at all, spoke with an american, she said i couldnt get my money back because i used a coupon but they could resend the plants. she even put a rush on it since i said i was moving in two weeks and was worried i wouldnt get it. I never got a tracking number for the first shipment but that didnt matter to me since they came fast. I didnt have to send back the dead strawberry plants so im going to try to go ahead and plant them and see what happens. What more could you ask for?

"On May 4, 2010 1:16 PM, Gurney's Seed & Nursery responded with:

We appreciate you taking the time to post and appreciate your feedback. We are always here to assist in any way we can. Happy Gardening."

I recently ordered a passiflora 'maypop' and it came well packed and the vine was about 5'' and healthy. within 2 weeks it drooped and died. I did not have a chance to harden it due to the fact that I live in Wisconsin and its still to cold here so the plant was placed in my indoor greenhouse. Im not sure if I did anything wrong to cause this, but any advise would help because I do have 5 more varieties of passion flowers and would cry if any more met the same fate! The company no longer carries this species and I have yet to recieve a response from them.

"On May 4, 2010 11:23 AM, Gurney's Seed & Nursery responded with:

We appreciate you taking the time to post. We are always here to assist in any way we can. A customer service representative will be contacting you. Happy Gardening."

I ordered a Highbush Cranberry and three Butterfly Bushes from Gurney's in spring 2004.

The Cranberry has grown from a stick that I was seriously worried about into quite the large, healthy bush. It's never produced a lot of fruit, but I'm assuming that's because I don't have it where it gets as much sunlight as it probably needs. It really is a big bushy thing, though, at least eight feet high now, with multiple big stems.

One of the Butterfly Bushes died early on and I had no problem having it replaced (if I recall correctly, they actually sent me three, since my original order was for three - even though I really only wanted the one). Unfortunately, only one still lives, but that's probably my fault, too.

"On May 4, 2010 11:20 AM, Gurney's Seed & Nursery responded with:

We appreciate you taking the time to post. We are always here to assist in any way we can. Happy Gardening."

I was hesitant about ordering after reading some reviews but was actually very pleasantly surprised. I placed my order 4/15/2010 using the $25 off coupon and received 4 of my 5 items today, 4/22/2010. I did receive a shipping confirmation yesterday so knew they were on the way. The raspberries I ordered are shown for delivery between 5/3-5/10.

Today I received the Blueberry Collection which was 3 different blueberry varieties and a Jackmani Clematis. All 4 plants were very well packages and already budding. For a cost of $26 (including shipping) for those 4 plants, I couldnt be happier and will definitely buy from them again.

I do think this company as well as some of the others which may be connected with this one would benefit from better customer service and communication, specially in the order status area but as for quality of the plants, A+.

"On Apr 23, 2010 9:26 AM, Gurney's Seed & Nursery responded with:

We appreciate you taking the time to post and for your suggestions. If you have any problems please do not hesitate to contact us, we are always here to assist in any way we can. Happy Gardening."

Woah! Reading all the comments above, I understand more. 50 catalogs in my tiny p.o. box, Ugly pink coating of fungicide on the pea seeds. Even as recently as last year, I have had only good things to say about Gurneys. But I don't think I'm going to go there again....

"On Apr 19, 2010 5:14 PM, Gurney's Seed & Nursery responded with:

Thank you for your feedback. A customer service representative will be contacting you for more information and will take care of any problems you are having."

Placed order on April 8. Still not shipped. Emailed to customer services but got no answer expect received many junk emails from them that promoting their products . Terrible services.

"On Apr 19, 2010 5:12 PM, Gurney's Seed & Nursery responded with:

Thank you for your feedback. We apologize for the trouble you are having with your order. A customer service representative will be contacting you for more information and will take care of any problems you are having."

I have placed 2 orders with Gurney's this spring, the 1st order still has not been shipped complete and the 2nd (Larger order) has not had one single item shipped against the order placed over 2 weeks ago. Their customer service is horribly deficient, there is no phone number to call other than an automated system and all e-mails to customer service go unanswered. To sum it up - You cannot check on an order on the web-site. You cannot call and talk to a person and all e-mails to customer service will go unanswered. I saved a few dollars but have nothing to show for it (Plants) other than aggravation.

"On Apr 15, 2010 11:35 AM, Gurney's Seed & Nursery responded with:

Thank you for your feedback. We apologize for the trouble you are having with your orders. A customer service representative will be contacting you for more information and will take care of any problems you are having with your orders."

I'm not sure why I placed an order for strawberries on their website--there was no way to tell when the plants would ship or what sort of packaging/pots they would be in. At any rate, the plants came, but there was no advance notice and it was a long wait for not a great product. I'd rather pay more for better quality and more info about what exactly will arrive and when.

"On Apr 15, 2010 10:49 AM, Gurney's Seed & Nursery responded with:

We appreciate your feedback. Our company is based on 100% Customer Service and we do offer a lifetime guarantee. We guarantee all of our plants to reach you in perfect and healthy condition. What's more, any item that does not grow and flourish to your complete satisfaction will be replaced free, with no time limit, for as long as you garden."

First, they don't tell you that certain items won't be shipped for many months. You have to call and check on your order to find out that an item you ordered in March won't be shipped until October. Then, the items that are due to ship right away take 3-4 weeks before they actually ship. And then they don't arrive for 5-7 days after that because they ship by UPS ground, so be prepared to wait at least a month for your order to come. (How come Amazon can get me my books, with standard shipping, in as little as two days?)

"On Apr 15, 2010 10:07 AM, Gurney's Seed & Nursery responded with:

Thank you for you feedback. We apologize for the inconvenience. We do ship our items in a timeframe as recognized by the USDA, however as it is zip code specific certain elevations and microclimates are not recognized. Feel free to tell the agent when ordering the next time to adjust your ship date to accommodate your needs, and as long as we are shipping that item somewhere in the US, we can ship it to you earlier or later than we suggest.
"

I ordered a red currant, black raspberry, blueberry, and 50 strawberry plants form Gurney's at the end of February. There was a deal going for $25 off an order of $50, so I decided to give this nursery a try. I noticed that their prices were a bit higher than what I'd seen elsewhere, but I figured they were paying for half the order, so they could afford to have higher prices. I also assumed that high prices would indicate high quality plants, but that wasn't quite right. My black raspberry was a twig with a small bundle of roots hanging off the bottom. The blueberry was small, but had pretty nice roots. The currant had quite a bit of roots as well, but was also small. The strawberries were pretty well rooted, but about a dozen of them were dried out. Not bad, but I was hoping for better quality.

When I placed my order, I emailed customer service asking for a shipping date. I waited a week and there was no reply, so I sent another. I finally got a reply which said they couldn't control the shipping date and that my order would be sent at the appropriate time for my area. Then I got another message from a different customer service rep that said my order would be shipped ASAP. It turns out they only shipped the strawberries ASAP and the rest would have to wait. I got the next piece of my order about 2 weeks later, and then the final piece a week after that. The last 2 pieces arrived without any sort of notification from Gurney's, but luckily I was available to plant them when they arrived.

I don't know if I'll order from Gurney's again. I don't know what I was expecting, what with all the negative reviews they have, but I guess I was hoping for higher quality plants. They sent what I ordered, which is more than I was expecting. It wasn't a terrible experience, but my orders from other nurseries were much easier and the size and quality of the plants I received from other nurseries was better and most of them had cheaper prices, too.

"On Apr 13, 2010 4:21 PM, Gurney's Seed & Nursery responded with:

Thank you for your feedback. If at anytime you are not satisfyed with your order please let us know, we offer a lifetime guarantee on our products."

Ordered 100 strawberry plants. They arrived in really good condition. I thought they would just be roots, but they had small leaves and look very healthy with long roots. The roots were moist and well labeled. They got here in perfect time to plant. I had placed 2 orders and had them combine into one to save on shipping and they were very friendly and it was no problem.

"On Apr 13, 2010 12:42 PM, Gurney's Seed & Nursery responded with:

Thank you for providing testimony on our plants. We do pride ourselves on our packaging. We appreciate your feedback and Happy Gardening!."

Posted on April 6, 2010, updated April 8, 2010
I want to say that I rarely purchase from a company with marginal reviews on DG. However, having the 20$ off 40$ coupon, I chose to take the risk and purchase a combo of three citrus plants. I am quite pleased. I received three of the four yesterday-very, very well packed. Though the pruning left a bit to be desired (on one the leaves were cut in half on top!) no real damage was done. Rootballs are very nice, and all the plants were well leafed out with a height of at least 9". Good instructions were included. Not a leaf out of place, except as mentioned above, and the plant were moist on arrival. No stress from transplant noted.

If my last mini fruit is different but at this point I am delighted that I took the risk! (I will repost if any is different.) I received excellant shipping info, and timely delivery. Surprised as I am, I am giving them an A++ on this order, and may again order when sales arise!

"On Apr 7, 2010 9:34 AM, Gurney's Seed & Nursery responded with:

Thank you for providing testimony on our plants. We do pride ourselves on our packaging and our lifetime guarantee. We appreciate your feedback."

I ordered some vegetable seeds, strawberry plants, tomato plants and rasberry plant. It took a while to receive the plants but luckily they were still alive. The tracking doesn't work even with the tracking numbers provided. Customer service was good as long as you don't get the "Indian guy", he just gives you BS to try and get you off the phone. Gurney's are great with sending replacements, I was concerned about not receiving my rasberry plant, and the lady just sent one out again, no questions asked. I will definatefly buy from them again.

"On Apr 6, 2010 4:21 PM, Gurney's Seed & Nursery responded with:

Thank you for providing testimony on our plants and seeds. We do pride ourselves on our lifetime guarantee. Please accept our apologies for the problems you had with our tracking and we appreciate your feedback."

I have ordered a large amount from Gurney's (and other related companies to a lesser extent) in recent years and have been satisfied with the quality and prices. The few times I've had a problem with a product not being up to standard they have immediately replaced it without any hassle. I usually end up placing multiple orders each year and have never had a problem getting what I ordered within a reasonable timeframe.

I will say that they go overboard with the email sales solicitations. I'd pay more attention to them if they were occassional, but when I receive several each week from Gardens Alive companies I often just ignore them.

Overall I've had good success with their products and would recommend them to others as a source for "standard" seed and nursery stock. Generally I only plant open-pollinated seeds and they have a decent selection of the basics at fair prices, which I can then supplement with additional varieties from other specialist seed companies. I've also been very pleased with their fertilizers, particularly the sweet corn fertilizer which gave me good results when I tried it last year.

Cue company reply about striving for 100% customer satisfaction (and probably ten emails trying to sell me something along with it)...

"On Apr 2, 2010 10:27 AM, Gurney's Seed & Nursery responded with:

Thank you for providing testimony on our plants and seeds. We do pride ourselves on our lifetime guarantee and we appreciate your feedback."

Yet again when ordering their Sugar Pearls apricot it was not delivered. I never received a call or email stating that it was sold out even though I ordered it in November of 2009. The other plants I ordered arrived after being diverted to the post office by UPS even though I am constantly getting packages delivered to my house by UPS. The trees were small and of mediocre quality. All were alive this time unlike a few previous orders where some were obviously dead or damaged before being sent. I'm done with the whole Gardens Alive operation and their poor quality. I will give my business to a company that cares about its quality and customer service more in the future.

"On Mar 31, 2010 2:14 PM, Gurney's Seed & Nursery responded with:

Thank you for your inquiry. Please accept our sincere apology for any inconvenience we may have caused. We will be contacting you for your account information and take care of any concens that you have."

Part of my order was sent in a large bag. It contained bushes, raspberries, onion sets, potatoes, and some other items. The large nature of the bag allowed items to move around during shipping to the point that the bushes were all broken off to where I am uncertain if they will survive. Also, the potatoes I ordered contained two pieces that were rotten, wet puddles of slime. I'm currently waiting for the rest of the pieces to dry out to see if any others are begininng to rot or just covered with the crud from the other ones.
Yes, I know that they have a guarantee, but I don't want to send in my original receipt to get replacements on these items until I know if the other things in the order are going to grow or not. So, it looks like I will lose a growing season on the damaged items.
I've order from Gurney's for years and been satisfied. However, after receiving this shipment, I doubt that I will be their customer any longer. Poor packaging and rotten products are not what I look for in a company.

"On Mar 31, 2010 11:44 AM, Gurney's Seed & Nursery responded with:

Thank you for your inquiry. We will be contacting you for your account information so we can take care of this for you."

So far so good!!! I have placed two seperate orders with this company. The first order was a sugar maple, a norway maple,and a few honeylocust. When the bare root trees came it was later in the season and they were no bigger round than a pencil. I promptly called the company, customer service was fantastic!!! She appologized for the tiny trees, said all my money would be refunded which it quickly was. All she asked is that I not throw away the trees. She suggested maybe planting them at a camp or donating them which I thought was fantastic. The second order were very large allium bulbs. When they came two had a little mold on the bottom, again I quickly called incase they did not bloom. Again great customer service. They promptly sent new bulbs and asked me to plant them anyway.I did. It is warmer than usual for March in Upper Michigan. Hurray two out of three with the mold on them are already 4 inches tall. Thank you Gurneys!!!

"On Mar 23, 2010 12:57 PM, Gurney's Seed & Nursery responded with:

Thank you for providing testimony on our plants. We do pride ourselves on our lifetime guarantee "If you are not happy with any item you order from us, or any item does not grow and flourish to your complete satisfaction notify us anytime for a reship, replacement certificate or refund, whichever you prefer."

So far so good with this company. I've put in two separate orders. One for myself and one for my family in texas. (I want them to have beautiful gardens too).

Everything I ordered from Gurneys arrived safe and sound. I was actually impressed with the dwarf fruit trees as I thought they would be rooted cuttings with very little to no leaves. But they were about 7 inches tall with plenty of foliage for so small a size.

The only complaint I have is with their order status and the tracking. When they split the order they only provide tracking info for the first package, which is usually the seeds first in my case. But the subsequent packages don't get a tracking number (At least not on the website). This is very confusing as I thought that the rest of my order was canceled while I had already been charged full price.

Bottom line is that they did right by me so far. And all the seeds I ordered from them germinated. Prices were fair. All that is left is to see if my mom will ever receive the order i put in for her. Keeping my fingers crossed.

"On Mar 23, 2010 1:00 PM, Gurney's Seed & Nursery responded with:

We appreciate you taking the time to post this. If you have any problems please do not hesitate to contact us, we are always here to assist in any way we can. "

Forget about customer service unless you can understand India call center english! I placed my order 12 days ago and recieved 2 different emails with tracking numbers. 1 for USPS with my blue palm and seeds on it but missing my goji berry. The next day the 2nd tracking number came from UPS with a direct link through Gurney missing both my palm and my goji berry but had my seeds on it! Now even though the palm showed on the 1st order as shipped, and not on the 2nd doesnt matter because both tracking numbers were invalid numbers!!!! I had a business untill the economy went bust. I shipped parts out everyday, so I know how shipping works. It was never shipped or scaned anywhere other than in their system. So I called the "to place an order line" at Gurney after I failed to understand the guy in India. I talked to a flunkie at Gurney and then a so-called manager. The rude unhelpful so called manager/employee could not explain to me where or why he didnt have a valid tracking number let alone any helpful info or attiude! He pretty much blew me off and I exploded in unbecoming language. I talked to a total of 3 people who were all as evasive as possible by directly not answering my questions! (They were running me in circles! ) So I said I wanted to cancel my order. He said, "I can't cancel your order because it was already shipped"! I had to wait and see if it shows. The manager and every other person I talked to could not provide me with a valid tracking number, or tell me where it was shipped from or when. In my opinion buyer beware! This can not be the same company my family and I have ordered off of for years! I have spent maybe $2,000 with them over the years. This is it for me, I will never again buy from them! I have had minor problems before but never like this! Good luck to all maybe I slipped through the cracks (more than likely), but I wont support India call centers and take the risk to be treated this way again!

"On Mar 19, 2010 11:06 AM, Gurney's Seed & Nursery responded with:

Thank you for your inquiry. Please accept our sincere apology for any inconvenience we may have caused. We will be contacting you for your account information and to make sure you have received your order. We will also and take care of the other concens that you have."

Posted on December 12, 2009, updated March 12, 2010
I have ordered from Gurney's several times this year. I ordered seeds for my garden which did very well. I ordered their Ka Bluey blueberry bush. When it arrived it was health, green and larger then I expected. I also ordered 3 Blackberry plants which all looked health but one never grew and 6 daylilies which had huge fans. There were a couple of small problems. When the daylilies bloomed the same season as I got them they were not the color I had ordered. I called Gurney and notified them about the problem with the daylilies and the blackberry plant. Their customer service was very helpful. They were responsive and courteous. They notified me that they would send out replacement plants in the spring at the appropriate planting time. I offered to pay for the beautiful daylilies that they sent or to return them, but they said to keep them that it was their error. I have been very pleased with all my interactions with this company. They stand behind there product. They have been more then fair in dealing with me. I am sorry to hear that some others may not have had the same excellent service that I have received, but I recommend Gurney's to all my family and friends. I will continue to do business with them as long as they continue to provide such good service and reasonably priced quality products.

"On Mar 19, 2010 11:14 AM, Gurney's Seed & Nursery responded with:

Thank you for providing testimony on our plants. And, we do pride our selves on our lifetime guarantee and our customer service "If you are not happy with any item you order from us, or any item does not grow and flourish to your complete satisfaction notify us anytime for a reship, replacement certificate or refund, whichever you prefer. Thank you and Happy Gardening!"