Comments regarding Gurney's Seed & Nursery

I have positive, negative and neutral points in my first Gurney's experience. Mathematically a neutral, 2 positives and 2 negatives would be a sum of zero and logic would say that is a "neutral" rating. The negatives are pet peeves of mine and slightly overwhelm the positives and while I most likely won't patronize Gurney's again the reason is simply taking a stand as a consumer ideologue just on principle and what I wanted from them I won't need to plant again.


Positives:
1. Web site - The site is truly awesome, compared to others, and the ease of navigation as well as the information listed for each product is more "professional" and informative than photoshopped pictures of models along with a few sentences that say absolutely nothing.

2. My order arrived earlier than initially estimated. At first it was 22APR09 and then it got moved up to 11APR09-13APR09. I was fortunate but since I'm discussing shipping I'll move onto the negatives....


Negatives:
1. Shipping - Gurney's uses UPS "BASIC" shipping for no reason other than lower costs. I understand cost cutting, especially these days, but cost cutting with live plants is probably why I've read about so many DOAs.

I got my UPS ship email on the 8th and on the 9th my plants arrived in the Dallas area. On the 10th UPS had it listed as "in transit to final destination" - headed from Mesquite (east) going past my house to DFW Airport (?) and this status didn't change from the morning of the 10th to noon on the 11th so I called UPS to find out why.

The UPS rep told me that with UPS "BASIC" shipping UPS delivers to a local USPS "snail mail" center in your area and your regular letter carrier does the actual delivery portion. I asked the nice lady what my estimated delivery date was and I was informed 15APR09... IN OTHER WORDS... those LIVE PLANTS would sit in a box drying out for an ADDITIONAL 5 DAYS simply because Gurney's CHOOSES to use UPS "BASIC" instead of UPS "GROUND" like everyone else who, apparently, believe the least time in a dark box for live plants is the best way to conduct this business.

The GOOD NEWS is an hour or so after I called UPS on Saturday 11APR09 my USPS letter carrier delivered my dry root strawberries... which were dry enough on the 11th and probably wouldn't have made it 4 more days drying out in that box.

I like to think that some kind-hearted plant lover saw "live plants" on the box and got it out immediately because according to the "schedule" UPS had I probably be posting this a few days from now talking about dead plants - they were really dry and no so much as a single moist or even dried out polymer crystal in any of the bags... just dry, dry roots.

I think they'll survive but adding more days of darkness and dryness leads to stress and even though I lucked out it seems asinine to use "BASIC" shipping... especially when the CUSTOMER wasn't given the choice and where Gurney's says "we use UPS or USPS" it needs to be amended to using both and illustrate what "BASIC" shipping means.

I'm certain if given the choice CUSTOMERS would opt to pay a little more for "GROUND" shipping to both get their plants planted sooner AND to make it easier for them to get live plants instead of dead plants... ESPECIALLY when they're shipped dry root. IF Gurney's was giving free shipping, as in paying the bill, then there might be some logic to cost cutting with "BASIC" shipping. It makes no sense - if I'm ordering seeds, supplies or something that won't dry out and die then "BASIC" is sufficient unless I'd rather have it quicker but giving me the OPTION would be excellent service of this customer and IF I ever ordered LIVE PLANTS from Gurney's again I can only do with with UPS "GROUND" because I don't want the hassle of refunds/reshipment that I've read so much about.

2. Customer NO Service:
I called Gurney's once and unlike some others my call didn't go to the Punjab Province. My call was answered by a female with a distinct American accent... the problem is that while I detest outsourcing especially with over 5 million unemployed if what I got is the BEST an American can do then I'd rather listen through that thick Indian accent if the Indian person would actually answer my question and at least PRETEND that I wasn't annoying the hell out of them at their job. I literally almost said to the lady, "I'm sooooo sorry I bothered you". Silly me to think someone paid to answer the phone and help customers would actually be helpful. I've been treated more enthusiastically at the DMV and the Veteran's Administration...

Gurney's site didn't say, unless I'm mistaken, that I was getting dry root plants but with the package weighing 4 lbs for 75 plants dry root seemed obvious. I informed the lady that I was a new customer and I had NEVER planted dry root plants and WITH MY PLANTS ARRIVING (I thought) within a few hours I had a few questions:
1. Are there instructions in the box?
2. Is there anything I need to make sure I have before they arrive?

I explained that I had time to run to Lowe's and pick-up anything I DON'T KNOW I NEED and if she'll tell me I can go get it. She told me I need fertilizer and I asked what kind and after an audible long sigh and an even longer and uncomfortable silence I jumped in and said I know they sell strawberry fertilizer but that does me no good a few hours from delivery.

Her response was (verbatim), "Well..... you'll just have to ask your local garden center what to use."

To my credit I bit my tongue and just got off the phone. I didn't even say that at my local garden center they actually answer my questions which is why I've spent thousands with them in only a year and just $30-something with Gurney's. Other than seriously not wanting to be at work I'm sure she wanted to sell me Gurney's strawberry fertilizer but unless Gurney's had a retired SR-71 Blackbird handy and could fly their fertilizer to Dallas at Mach 3 departing immediately it does me no good. Something like suggesting _N-_P-_K of some sort or a website, etc. would have been sufficient. In the end I used Google and went to Lowe's.


Neutral:
I think the price for 25 everbearing and 50 junbearing strawberries is more than fair if not generous BUT my only reference as a control for the assumption is the $9 potted strawberry at Lowe's. I'm not complaining but 20% of each were significantly smaller and a few of the everbearing were even itty bitty within the 20%. I'm sure there's a range of acceptability and a margin for error in packaging, I actually got 2 extra junes because of a "packaging error" but 20% of the everbearing were small and about 15% of the junes were smaller... but I got 2 extra AND they were on sale so, again, I'm not complaining.

This phone call is THE REASON my review is neutral when I happen to luck out and although I'm less enthused about the "deal" I got than I was when I bought it, less enthused than before I called they all seem to be good to go having gotten planted and watered on Saturday verses on Wednesday as UPS told me. *I* didn't have a shipping debacle but using UPS "Basic" I see why I've read about this. I *was* going to post a negative but while posting I changed my mind and edited it to a neutral thinking I was being too harsh... I may not buy from Gurney's because of a phone call but my rigidity over a personal pet peeve probably doesn't warrant an overall negative.

To be perfectly honest... HAD I posted my review before they miraculously arrived on Saturday when I was told they'd be in that box an EXTRA 5 days because of "BASIC" shipping it would be a negative. HAD I posted after that phone call it would be negative. HAD I posted immediately after I opened the box and planted them it might be negative. But, 2 days in the ground and while there's not much above the surface and maybe a few too many with not much below the surface what is above the surface is standing strait up so I take that as a good sign and thus I'm letting the phone call slide some.

SUGGESTIONS:
I'd suggest Gurney's revisit the UPS "BASIC" shipping and if the CUSTOMER wants to save on shipping then let them do so, inform them of the extra time and the possible risks to live plants but if the CUSTOMER is more concerned about expediency and minimization of plant stress than they're concerned about a few dollars let them CHOOSE UPS "GROUND". Adding a shipping drop down menu on their website would take 5 minutes and I'd bet money that it would reduce negative ratings related to shipping. I'm brand new and I already figured this out so it seems simple, easy, cheap and in the best interest of Gurney's to make a minor adjustment and see a major difference.

I'd also suggest that whomever is in charge goes over the image they want to portray to customers who need customer service. We all have bad days but I don't expect anyone to really want to remain my customer if I or anyone else blows it on the phone or email. Customer service is the ONLY thing that can really set any business above its competitors.

FYI:
This is my 1st post but I also ordered from 4 other places (one is an Amazon store so I don't know if it applies here) but I'll post the other 3. One, a "Watchdog 30" got here too fast (lol) so I have to post about it and the other 2 I'll post after they get here. I'm appreciate the input on this site and since I found it helpful I hope others find mine helpful.

I placed two separate orders with Gurney's to take double advantage of the $25 off (with a $50 purchase) offer. But I messed up the first time and didn't hit the $50 minimum. I found their customer service (via email) to be very helpful. They immediately added the requested items to my order to help me qualify for the discount. That's impressive to me because they took the time to add items that generated no extra charge. Let me say that again. They spent extra time on my order to give me free products. That's why, no matter what else happens, they automatically get a positive.

The plants I recieved are the exact size described. They came rather poorly packed as bare root plants in a plastic bag with clumps of loose, damp newspaper not necessarily on the roots and plenty of loose space to bounce around in the box. Out of the six raspberry plants I ordered, one was clearly dead, and showed no greeen when clipped. The native plum trees are perfect specimens.

I'm still waiting on my Carmine Jewel cherry tree and my dwarf meyer lemon plant, and I'll update this review as needed.

Ordered 2 year asparagus heads on March 11th. Saw nothing about ship date after a few weeks so checked back the estimated shipping date awas early November. I wanted to plant in April, not store the roots through winter to plant a year later. I'm disappointed that they did not send me a note saying they were out of stock and I would have to wait 8 months for my order.

I canceled the order, crossing my fingers that they credit my card. As mentioned before, customer service was obviously over-seas. Guy could not even pronounce asparagus. I'd prefer using a company that has home grown customer service. Not using Gurney's again.

MAR. 30 2009

I THOUGHT I WOULD TRY GURNEY'S AGAIN. IN THE PAST I HAD MIXED EXPERIENCE WITH THEM BUT THIS YEAR EVERYTHING I ORDERED CAME. AT DIFFERENT TIMES (WHICH WAS O.K.) I RECEIVED MY BLACKBERRIES AND WAS VERY PLEASED..THE PACKING IS A LITTLE SPARSE BUT THEY LOOK HEALTHY.

My order was filled and billed correctly, and seeds arrived quickly. However, I am concerned about the packaging used on my live plants. I ordered raspberry plants, and nine plants were wrapped loosely in heavy plasic with what appeared to be a single sheet of barely damp newspaper in a multitude of pieces loosely thrown in. All of the roots appeared to be dried out. I potted them up immediately with damp potting mix and watered them well, as I am unable to plant outside for another week. I hope they survive, and I have never received plants so poorly packaged before. I ordered currant bushes from Jung, and the difference in packaging was amazing. If my plants survive, then I guess there is no problem. If they don't it's not only a hassle to look forward to, but it's a season I've lost to start my berry garden. I won't order any plants from them again. I ordered from eight companies this spring, as I am just starting a vegetable and fruit garden, and of all those Gurney's had the worst packaging of plants.

My first and second experiences with Gurney's have come in rapid succession and both have been very positive. I was a bit nervous since the grape vine, raspberries, blueberries and blackberries I had ordered were said to be on their way last week. I was nervous because we are nowhere near being able to transplant "awake" plants in this area yet. But they arrived and, fortunately, were still dormant. The grape vine cutting had a better than Class 1 root system. Amazing! The blueberry and blackberry plants are larger than expected, obvious green wood and very nice roots again. The raspberries are just twigs at the moment but have nice roots as well. So far, everything is fine! Let's hope they all "wake up" heartily!

Mrch 25th 2009
We recently purchased from Gurney's, Most of the plants arrived DOA.
After several attempts by email to request a refund or replacement plants, I was finally dissapointed so bad with their Overseas customer service and couldn't understand their English, We requested a Full refund not by Check but by credit card refund.
We will not buy from company's that place american workers and american clients this low on their satisfaction list.

In January 2009, I ordered some Nanking Cherry Trees, Hanson Cherry Trees, Sweet Cherry tree and was told that they would be shipped on March 19, 2009. Well, I never did receive an email saying they were shipped so I wrote an email to Gurney's on 3/23 to see if they were shipped. I did not get a response to my inquiry so I called on the phone number on the first email confirming my order, on 3/24.

I spoke with a representative that answers the phone after you have to listen to a robot phone, and I was told that the trees were shipped on March 6 th and that they were delivered on March 20th...lol , well, I am home everyday and no-one came to deliver anything on March 20th at 8:23 AM. If they were on the truck since the 6th (bareroot) they are probably dead by now, I don't know where they were delivered to.

I was promised a new shipment that would go out on 3/24. I will post any news of my wandering cherry bushes/trees.

I did read the negative remarks before I ordered but thought they should be given a chance. Well, I was wrong.

I have ordered from Gurney's several times over the course of the last five years and have always been very happy with them as a company. Once, I received the wrong variety of raspberry, and so called them up. The customer service was great, and they sent out the correct variety right away, so I ended up with three extra raspberry plants. Another year, a potted blueberry I received late in the fall didn't survive the winter- due possibly to my ignorance of, and their lack of instruction about, what to do with it. I didn't call them about it until about two years later, when I moved to a milder climate, but they still agreed to send a new one without a problem. I recently ordered a variety of plants from them including their dwarf lemon tree, dwarf pomegranate, and some native plums and bush cherries. The plants all arrived in great shape and are doing really well. I plan to continue buying from Gurney's, and look forward to watching my plants grow.

At the beginning of January I ordered the famous apricot sugar pearls from Gurney's. On March 13th I received an e-mail that my order has shipped. Today, March 17th, when I got home, a little before sunset, I opened the carton and noticed, to my dissapointment, that the bare roots of the tree were dry. The tree had not been packaged properly - the few pages of the newspaper that were supposed to keep the roots moist were floating all over the carton. I did plant the tree immediately and watered it thoroughly, but I am not sure it will survive. I called Gurney's right away and initially they said they would send me a new tree, but later they backtracked, and said they were out of stock. You can imagine my disappointment. I hope my tree will live, but I doubt I will order from them again...

The abundance of negative comments concerned me, but Gurneys was the only source I could find for Blue Star Sea Holly (bareroot), so I gave them a try. To take advantage of a "order $50/save$20" offer, I also ordered Poker Primrose (potted plants) and some Lily bulbs. I placed the order in Dec, emailed in Feb to check on status. They emailed me back within 24 hours to say they would ship in a couple weeks. It was actually closer to 4 weeks (okay by me for my climate). They sent me an email with advance notice of shipping and it all arrived in good shape a week later. Plants are small, but seem healthy and were packed in these awesome plastic sleeves that kept them from bumping around. The Lilies and Holly appear okay, but will have to plant them to find out. All in all, as good as any other mail order company I have worked with. I prefer to buy from a local nursery where I can actually see the plant I am buying, but if Gurney's were the only source I could find, I would buy from them again.

I ordered vegetable seeds and growing supplies and got my order promptly and correctly. I am also the proud recipient of more spam.
This is a neutral because I learned many, many years ago not to order plants or bulbs from Gurney's or most other resellers, they import the stuff, they do not grow it and it is often wrongly labeled or of poor quality.

I ordered seed starting supplies, 2 lilacs and a set of hybrid tomato plants two months ago. Seed supplies shipped promptly. One lilac showed up yesterday & was 10 1/2" tall, below their 12-18" claim. It also is just one stick with no branches.
I checked to see the status of my other two items and saw the tomatoes ship in 3-4 more weeks which is fine, and the other lilac was missing from my order.
I emailed customer service and got a response saying it was "out of stock" and I should "check back on the website" to see if it was ever available. I was very unhappy because they didn't notify me of this until I asked, and there was no mention of a refund or replacement, or even a customer service # to call.
I hunted down the number here and called to ask for a substitution of a same priced lilac. They seemed clueless and had to ask me if I'd been charged, and told me they did not do substitutions. I was also told that I should get a refund but they had no record that I'd been refunded and didn't offer to give me one. After that I was a bit of a bully to my chagrin and demanded another lilac be sent. Supposedly it's on its way.
I'll keep my fingers crossed that the rest of the items I paid for arrive, but I won't be taking a chance on them again.

Shipment arrived today--on time and in excellent condition.

I ordered several seed packets as well as 25 strawberry plants from Gurneys. The shipping wasn't fast but the seeds arrived in a reasonable period of time. The strawberries arrived and after counting and planting the crowns, I realized that I had received 23, not 25. I called the company and they shipped out an additional 25 plants to me within 48 hours for free.

I am impressed with the company's company service and after seeing so many negative comments on this site, I had to post my experience.

I ordered 50 bare-root strawberries, some shallots, some horseradish, a mint collection and some seeds. Everything arrived yesterday (within a week of their estimated delivery), and was in good shape (it's all in the ground now).

I used the email link to take advantage of the spend $25 - get $25 offer. The link directed me to the site and allowed me to order the items I wanted. The total met the requirement so I place the order. I did not get the discounted price. I contacted customer service and after three weekdays received a reply that because one item was given at a sale price, the whole order didn't qualify. This is deceptive and has caused me to decide not to order from Gurney's again. I picked up ordering from Gurney's when growing up and my parents ordered from them twenty plus years ago. I am, however, going to hold them to the satisfaction guarantee. I have also typically had 70% success with their products, not the 100% they boast.

As a result of the high number of negative comments on this site I have opted out of ordering what I was going to order from Gurneys.
I liked what the catalog had to offer but was put off by the negativity surrounding the company. I will be sure to give them a look next year.

I have been shopping with Gurney's for years and have had very little trouble with them untill recently. Last year when I ordered and look online or called to see when my items would be shipped they would tell me a date thru a date and then my items wouldn't show up. I would call or go online again and a diffrent date would be said for shipping. This year when I ordred ,my first order was taken then about a month later I wanted to order some more things that I forgot to order the first time . My first order showed up as ordred and my second one did not. When I called customer service I got a person that had a bad accent ,like from India ,and I could not understand her. I asked to speak to someone who spoke english and got a supervisor that was no better to understand. I hug up and emailed them to cancle my order. I refuse to do business with a conpany that is here in America and outsources American jobs and My money that I spend with them goes to a forgin country. I ordered from Farmerseed.com the things that I was going to get from Gurney's and when I asked them if they outsource thier work they said no. So my money will go to the American workers.

We placed an Internet order on 1/18/2009 for $200 of garden seeds, as well as various bushes. Today, 2/1/2009, I called Gurney's customer service to find out the status of our order. I gave the woman our Account # (found on the back of our catalog), as well as the 8-digit order number from our order confirmation. There is no record of our order nor do they have our updated address information (which I updated when I placed the order). I was told that our order number should start with a 9 and be many digits long. When I stated that this was from the order confirmation page, she told me that she had no idea what this number was for. She said that many times the Internet orders will not go through. She stated that she "hated when that happens" and she tells customers that if they don't get an order beginning with a "9" followed by a bunch of other numbers, the order didn't go "take". What???? I've now written to Gurney's customer service, so we'll see what story I get. We won't be reordering from Gurney's at any time. We'll be getting our product from local nurseries and Home Depot.

I have no problem with Gurney's products or their packaging, I would even like to order from them again EXCEPT. They claim to use zip codes provided by the USDA pertaining to the USDA hardiness zones. They have me in Zone 5. The problem is I live in Northern Wisconsin. When I put zip codes into their website I find that there is NO zone 4 here. The zones go from 5 to 3 ~ just 20 miles northwest of here is zone 3. I usually receive plants and trees in late March when we still have a foot of snow and several feet of frost. I have received fall product in late October, 4 weeks after the first average killing frost. Customer service ( 4 different people so far ) gave me the same speel about the zip codes. And then tell me 'no problem mon' they're all guaranteed. I guess I'm expected to chisel them in.
They told me to ask for a different shipping date when I order but still ship them at zone 5 time. I returned merchandise last year at their expense and included a note and they did reship a few weeks later. Henry Fields is the same way, so far only the Michigan Bulb branch will ship as requested but I did cancel a order last fall when I received a shipping date of Nov 1-5th. (No problem with a fast refund). I have read of other folks in the upper midwest getting plants way to early or late. You would think with the cost of replacing these they would get the message. Thank goodness Jung's has a zone 4 in Wisconsin. They get the largest amount of my business now.

I placed my seed order 24 Dec 08 and received shipping confirmation 6 Jan 09. The tracking number did not work. I emailed customer service 16 Jan and got a pleasant reply from "Harry" stating that "Our records show that your order was delivered on 01/09/09 at your nearest post office, please collect your order from there." It was not at the post office and they could not track it either. 23 Jan I found their phone number online (513-354-1491) and called. A not so pleasant person (Brandy) took my call. All she would do to help was to give me a tracking number that showed they had shipped by UPS, a package 5 Jan which was delivered to Dallas USPS 9 Jan. Tomorrow will be 24 Jan. I am working my soil and prepping the greenhouse but am not sure if I will have seeds. I will get my seeds elsewhere in the future.

This is my first time ordering from Gurney's, and so far, I have no issues. I ordered during an email sale on 1/13/09, and got shipping confirmation on 1/15/09. The seed portion of my order arrived on 1/20/09.

I have cancelled the other (plant) portion of my order due to incorrect ordering for my garden spaces, but within minutes of emailing to cancel, I received confirmation from "Karen" that it was cancelled. They said to allow 30 days for the refund, but that's typical, and I truly expect that it won't take near that long. I will assume this is 'case closed' and a textbook positive transaction all around. Hopefully, I will remember to come back and follow up with actual refund time for DG feedback records.

Recently I ordered some blueberry plants and strawberry plants over the Internet expecting to receive the coupon rate. I made a mistake and failed to see that my order didn't total what it needed to in order to qualify for the coupon. I called their office the next day and added some corn seeds to my order. When I was quoted a price over the phone it reflected the coupon savings and was correct. However when I checked my bank account I saw that I had been billed for an additional $11.95. I called that evening and tried to find out why. The person I talked to just insisted that I hadn't been billed that much. This person did not speak very good English and so I was unable to make my concerns understood. I waited until the next day to talk to someone. They assured me there was a mistake on their part and they would send me a refund. I then got an email saying my refund would come with the rest of my order (a month later). I was really upset by this time because they took no time at all taking extra money from my account and now I had to wait a month to get it returned in the form of a check. I called again and the lady said she would make sure I would get a check the next week. I did not. I am hoping I get one. This company used to have good customer service but beware. They have changed their policies. No longer do they wait to ship the product before they bill you. They take your money immediately and if there is any mistake you are going to be the one paying for it! I urge caution when dealing with them. I am going to find another seed company to do business with.

I have ordered seeds from Gurney's several times in the past and never had issues. However, 2008 was different. I ordered twice (I forgot not to order from them again).

The customer service was fine and my seeds were fine. The shipping was awfull! It took a lot longer than I expected to get my seeds. What was really annoying was that my order was shipped via UPS in an untrackable format. Not only did the seeds not come when expected, no one knew where they were.

What was worse: they shipped a plant that way. I was expecting the plant to come UPS but it came USPS. By the time the plant got to the post office, I received the pick-up slip, and managed to get to the post office for some unexpected package the plant was on its last leg. It died.

Oh well. I am gaining a lot of experience and have found other seed companies that I am extremely pleased with.

I used Gurney's to buy a few apple trees that I lost this year in my orchard. There customer service was awesome, and the trees were delivered earlier than expected. They tree were the size they were suppose to be but I would like larger ones, I have a hard time waiting for fruit production. I would use Gurney's again for 2ft apple trees and would recommend them.

I have shopped with Gurney's several time over the last 20 years, but this is the first time in a couple of years. I ordered seeds on Dec, 28 2008 and had the seeds by Jan. 8, 2009. Everything is as ordered. My only complaint is the shipping price is somewhat high. (6.95) for seeds.

I've ordered from Gurneys, MI Bulb etc.. for years, have about a 70% success rate with the plants, seed and bulbs.
I think the "free" offers are a joke-with the cost of shipping added in it's just not that good of a deal. Perhaps some knows how to become a member and save 10% as stated in the print catalog order form?

I have been a customer of this company and many of their affiliates for years now. I have Many wonderful fruit trees and grapes vines, not to mention all of the perrenials that surround my home. I have a brand new home so I did mostly my entire landscape with their products. I have not had a single complaint yet. I have had things that did not survive but that was because of my lazines of not watering on time, and still they have replaced it. I realize that every company has problems with orders no matter who they are. With the amount that they sell I am curious to know what the ratio of orders to complaints they actually have. It is easy to say that they have more complaints but do they also have twice the amounts of customers? I will continue to do business with these companies even if I have difficulties at times. that is life, humans make mistakes and sometimes no matter what the company does to fix then is never good enough. Unfortunately we are living in a world that is quick to judge and quick to sue when we think we have been wronged.

I ordered several items from Gurney's in 2008 - I started in spring with a 4-in-1 apple tree which leafed out so nicely that I went back and ordered another 4-in-1, a pear tree, a peach tree, a grapevine, a carmine jewel dwarf cherry, blueberries, and some raspberries. Everything but the cherry was delivered promptly and sprouted/grew quite nicely.

The cherry order was moved to autumn because they ran out of stock. I inquired about it on the form on their website, and received a prompt, helpful, polite response from a customer service rep (Sandra, I do believe). The cherry was just lovely when it arrived, and I consider it worth the wait.

After receiving the cherry tree I went back and ordered some seeds - cold set tomato, and forono beet -- and some other supplies, such as peat pellets and floating row covers, and they arrived promptly and all in the same shipment.

With Gurney's as with many other businesses, there is a trade-off: lower prices (coupons) are available at the cost of convenience. I'm in no hurry to receive my plants as long as I can save a few dollars; I'm young and have the rest of my life to perfect my garden.

On 7/4/08 I ordered 1 Blackberry Triple Crown Spec Value, which was an order for three thornless blackberry bushes. From my order status it said they would be shipped in early October. I never received them. I checked the status again, and the date had moved to mid-October, and I never received them. I checked the order status and it said they'd be shipped in early November. I sent an email asking why the date keeps moving, and why they aren't filling the order like they advertise they will. They didn't care enough about me as their customer to respond to me. Now when I check the status, it says cancelled. I wasn't notified that it was cancelled, and I have no idea why. It must be because they can't sell what they advertise. I am so disgusted with their company that I will not order from them again.

After ordering from Gurney's for almost 15 years, I had the first and worst experience from any seed company ever. I ordered a Hanson's Bush Cherry plant and a packet of expensive seeds w/ $9 s+h fee. Received the seeds later than expected (after 3 weeks), but no plant. Nothing on the order form even hinted that it wouldn't be sent. They certainly charged me the $9 s+h, tho.
And so, I waited, thinking they'll send it/info on the status along later, knowing seed companies sometimes ship separately, etc. And I waited, and waited. Finally after almost a month, still not a peep re: the plant's status, so emailed them to enquire. They replied they weren't selling Hanson's Bush Cherry anymore. That's it. That's it? No notice whatsoever I wouldn't be receiving an order, after sending them some pretty hefty cash after 15 years worth of business?
I was totally insulted Gurney's hadn't sent a word re: such and told them so; reminding them planting season only lasts so long, and now I had to scramble to obtain one! Still no hint of apology. Gurney's then sends me a measly $5 off coupon with no apology of lack of service. I re-emailed them back re: shock at their surprisingly total lack of alerting a longtime good customer that an advertized product was no longer available, and most importantly, no alert I would not be receiving it. Why put it in their catalog if they weren't going to sell it any longer, and now had to scramble to find a Hanson's bush from another vendor (sent within two weeks, looked great, and rushed to plant it within hours of receiving it; more expensive than Gurney's non-existant bush, but well worth knowing it has a year's start.) They didn't care. No acknowledgement of their bungling.
Sent Gurney's a final email telling them so, and wondering why they'd still charged my credit card the $9 s+h for a single packet of seeds? Then and only then, they "readjusted" the s+h fee. Huh? Had to remind a "professional" business to do this?? That was the last straw.
What happened to that great customer service we used to enjoy at Gurney's? Seems having relocated to Illinois from South Dakota they've gone thoroughly downhill, having seen the high number of negative comments. Were they bought out by a lesser owner? Who knows. Won't be ordering anything from them ever again. If they can't admit, let alone realize their customer loyalty and service practices is at best horrific, why set yourself up for further frustrations?

I wished that I would've seen this website before ordering from Gurney's. After reading many of the posts here, I have decided to cancel my order because it will probably not be worth the wait. Below are the details of my order.

Order Date: 07/07/08
Order Number: xxxxxxx3700
Order Total: $35.65



Original order detail.

Items Not Shipped:
1 BANANA DWARF
Delivery Estimate: 08/15/08 – 05/17/09
1 LIME DWARF KEY/3G
Delivery Estimate: 08/15/08 – 4/19/09
1 ORANGE DWARF VENOUS û
Delivery Estimate: 08/15/08 – 0914/08
1 STRAWBERRY GUAVA/1
Delivery Estimate: 08/15/08 – 09/14/08


Order Date: 07/07/08
Order Number: xxxxxxx3700
Order Total: $35.65


9/18/2008 Delivery dates.

Items not shipped:
1 BANANA DWARF
Delivery Estimate: 05/18/09 - 10/09/08
1 LIME DWARF KEY/3G
Delivery Estimate: 04/20/09 - 10/09/08
1 ORANGE DWARF VENOUS û
Delivery Estimate: 10/15/08 - 10/09/08
1 STRAWBERRY GUAVA/1
Delivery Estimate: 10/23/08 - 10/09/08

As you can see, I placed my order on July 7th. It has been well over two months and I have yet to receive any shipment. Many of you have mentioned that the delivery date of your order was changed a couple of times; well, in my case it was changed everyday. There were days where I checked the status of my order for days in a row.

I'm finally fed up with waiting as I wanted to order the banana tree for my husband's office and the orange tree for my sister to bring back to school but it did not arrive in time. She has moved back to school and won't be returning until next year when she graduates.

Gurney's had all of my personal contact information and yet, they failed to informed me that they decided to push back two of my items until next year. What kind of customer service is that? They didn't need to contact me in person, an email would have suffice.

I spoke to a customer service agent named Chuck, who informed me that two of my items are "ready to be shipped any day now" and the other two will be ship in the spring. Because I have no confidence that they could be shipped "any day now" and the others wil be shipped in the spring, I have decided to cancel my order. All I want now are definite dates and I can't get that, who's to say that they won't push the delivery even further back.

In all, I will never, ever order from Gurney's again.

My first experience was with pretty bad. I called because the first part of my order showed on their website that it had shipped. It being a week later and I'd not received my order I called ( you can't track your orders online?) and spoke to NICKY. I gave her my order number right form the website and she kept saying she could not find my order. She was very short with me. I suggested she look up my orders by my account number. She hung up on me. I called back and told all this to a nice older woman Jane? She was extremely apologetic and told me if I did not see my shipment ( she found my order right away) I should call back in a week. I did call back and they will be re-shipping my first order. I see they also resceduled
my other shipment? I don't think I will be doing anymore business with them. I work on the phone with customers all day. If I spoke rudely or hung up on anyone I'd be fired on the spot. Good customer service goes a long way.

My first order with Gurney's went well so I placed 4 more orders.

I didn't receive confirmation for 2 weeks on all 4 orders. I checked my orders on line and noted that the dates kept changing. I was concerned and called customer service and was told by the young lady on the phone that the dates on the on-line orders are computer generated and "don't mean anything", that the end of August date "really meant" October.

I was getting concerned about the constantly changing dates and was checking my orders daily.

Then I found one of my orders was canceled by Gurney's. I did not authorize the order to be canceled nor was I notified it had been canceled. When I called Gurney's the young man told me that they "thought" I made a mistake and canceled one of my orders. When they corrected the order they overcharged me and I had to call them again to correct the overcharge.

Today was the last straw, I received a letter in the mail telling me one of my four orders couldn't be shipped due to "improper credit". I was furious and called Gurney's yet again. The young lady told me that Gurney's had a "computer glitch" and sent out this letter in error. I asked about the status of my orders and requested assurance that my credit was in tact as I have an excellent rating. I was placed on hold for 10 minutes. Finally the young lady picked up the phone and rudely told me everything was fine and "they made a mistake."

Her flippant attitude was out of line, so I asked to speak to the supervisor, again I was placed on hold and another rude employee explained that this was Gurney's busy season and things like this happen. I asked for addition contact information and was rudely told I was speaking to the highest authority and they would not give me any additional names.

My experience with Gurney's:
1. They didn't confirm my orders for 2 weeks.
2. They canceled an order without authorization and never notified me.
3. They overcharged me when they corrected the canceled order.
4. They send out letters telling their customers that they have improper credit "by accident".
5. When you ask to speak to someone else or for a name to file a complaint with they won't give you any more information using "security" as the excuse.

I will not order from them again.

Gurney's obviously is very poorly managed and has very poor customer service.

I've read great reviews of those of this company, so I thought my bumpy experiences were the exception. My shipping date always moves into the future just as it becomes time for them to ship. It was annoying before, but I wasn't trying to put in a "real" garden, so I overlooked the problem.
My latest order, which was placed on 7/29, has already changed dates at least 2 times now. I am in the process of trying to landscape an area for a much deserved party my brother will throw when he gets to come home. So, I need reliable info this time. (It is fine if some plants are coming in Oct, but I needed some degree of certainty there.)
I called and explained the situation to the rep (how the date kept changing, etc). Her solution was to read my invoice aloud in a grumpy tone twice. Again, I explained that I had that info, but I just needed to know if the order would indeed ship according that estimate or would it continue to change. She didn't like that question and told me they couldn't promise anything b/c they don't know if the plants will grow, etc.
That's fine I appreciate the seasonal/delicate nature of plants, but other companies seem to have their stuff together. I just cancelled my order. So now I've lost 3 weeks of time I guess I should have spent starting seeds of my own.
Additionally, their email contact form did not work. I sent it, and received a no server message the following day. Instead, I had to contact them via their toll number.

I ordered from Gurney's last year. I purchased 2 dwarf blueberry bushes as I live in a town house (I have neighbors on each side of me in the same building so to say.) so I really have to be considerate of my neighbors and can't really plant trees. I just so happen to have a bad downfall for blueberries. Well the plants died on me. I did contact Gurney's. I got the blueberry bushes the following planting season and they where doing wonderful but unfortnuatly the "deer cat" (my ignorant rude neighbor's cat) got to them and bit them in half. This year I ordered some dwarf northsky blueberry bushes. The only thing that upsets me is that they keep pushing the delivery date up. But hopefully I can trust them as they have proven so far that I can.

I used the website to order seeds. No mention was made that they might be out of seeds for fall gardens and that they might hold my order for as long as 9 days, which would make it 2 weeks before I would get the seeds.

When I didn't get an email saying the seeds had shipped, I tried to contact the company by email, but it bounced back as a server unplugged. So I called on my dime since they don't have and 800 number I could find, and discovered they were holding the order. I cancelled since I don't have the luxury of waiting 2 weeks to get some of those seeds in the ground.

I ordered some vegetable seed tapes from them because I haven't been able to find them here in UT and I used to use them in WI. Am glad to have found a source and will probably order again next spring.