Comments regarding Four Seasons Nursery

I have done business a number of times with Four Seasons. I have never had any real problem. The catalogues I have received from them always had a phone number in them, though it is very difficult to find. (takes hours of searching) The plants I have received from them have come in a timely fashion, but like the mail order places all warn you to do, I order in February for spring and June for fall.My experience has been that you get what you pay for, so when I decide that a specific item is more expensive than I can muster at the quality places, and I need to get them in bulk (color mixtures no big deal) I call Four Seasons. I expect that about half of my delicate little plants will live, but often I get them 5 times cheaper even after the weak ones die off. Good luck to all of you, and remember, you might get what you pay for, but you never get what you didn't pay for, so don't expect the world here.

I have ordered out of catalogs for years, so thought nothing of ordering from four seasons. Unfortunately I read this web site after ordering and WOW was I disappointed at what I read. I sent them a check for over 100.00 and they cashed it rather quickly but, as you might have guessed, I never received my order. I am sending them a certified letter demanding my refund but I doubt it will ever come.

I ordered in the first week of May 2000 - $158.94 worth of plants from Four Season's Nursery. First they got the bill wrong - charged $188.79 and then after all this waiting, and imagining I was going to receive the plants for blossoming this summer, I still have not received 1 shipment. When I have paid and placed my own long distance calls -- told last time that they were shipped (part of the shipment May 24)Well, it is now June 5 -- and still no plants. From what it sounds like. I think I will refuse the order - if it ever comes. What a bunch of hype. Very disappointing.

Well, I suppose I am the latest duped by Four Seasons Nursery. There has to be some way of holding these folks accountable. I'm a minister who relaxes in the gardens. I ordered 85.00 worth of plants for my church. It looks as if we will be stiffed along with the rest.

I, like just about everyone else who has purchased plants from Four Seasons, have experienced a nightmare with them. In the fall of 1998 I purchased 70 hybrid willows and 10 Washington Hawthorns. Obviously, having been mailed in the dormant state, it was impossible to know whether they were alive or not. Well, it didn't take long the following spring to know. The Hawthorns never put out a single leaf, the willows tried but soon died as well, despite being given plenty of water and TLC. Fortunately I kept my shipping label and after sending it back for replacements and waiting forever and a day to receive them I did not even receive what my original order was. I got the 10 Hawthorns, and again they all died. However, I was sent 35 Shade Tree variety Poplars instead of Hybrid Willows. The explanation was that the willows were out of stock and that the poplars were of greater value. I did not want "shade" trees, I ordered the willows to plant as a privacy screen at the rear of my property. Well, instead of fighting with them, (I, too, had gone thru the rude, stupid customer service routine with them), I planted the 35 poplars and SURPRISE!! They all died. I've just chalked this up to a lesson learned, I've lost over $60.00 and will never order anything from Four Seasons or any of their other scam companies again.

I have ordered from Four Seasons for at least two years. After reading the letters on this site, I was more concerned this year wondering how (or if) the order would arrive. My order had not arrived after a month, and like other writers, I had no luck contacting the company by phone, although there is a number listed in their catalog (309-663-9551). However, my order came yesterday (05-22-00), and as before, I find all the items to be in viable condition. I ordered a weeping willow, daylily roots, and glad bulbs. The tree and roots are obviously alive and the bulbs are small but look healthy. Let's face it, the prices from this company are about half of other catalogs. You should not expect top-or-the-line stock unless you are willing to pay for it. I sometimes plant their stock in my own garden nursery for a year or two and then transplant to a permanent location.

I wish that I had known about this web site earlier. I ordered over $73.00 worth of plants. About mid-April 4 plants arrived, which have since died. The remaining 90% of the order has still not arrived. After several phone calls to the nursery (no 1-800#, that should have been a clue) I still get a busy signal. The next step is certified mail and contacting the attorney general's office in Wyoming and Illinois. I won't let this rest until either a refund is issued or the order is placed in full. In the future, the best place for Four Seasons' catalogs will be in the fireplace.

I wish that I had found this web site before I ordered from Four Seasons they are just giving me the run around about when they have shipped my order. I will never order from them again.

Recently I placed and received an order from this company. Part of my order included 50 strawberry plants, 18 creeping phlox and 2 Coville blueberry bushes. None of these were received, instead I got TOO MANY yucca plants, which I do not want nor do I need.

Add me to the 'four seasons' list of complaints! My check was cashed in March - as of today (5/4) - no plants! It's 80 degrees today and getting too late to plant stock that's going to be substandard. How do they stay in business? Forget the customer service number - it's been busy for hours!

I ordered rose bushes about two months ago, my credit card company has already paid them, I still have not received my order. I got another catalogue from them two weeks ago and they thanked me for the order and said they were giving my order prompt and careful attention. Still have not received order.

I ordered from Burgess early last spring and just recently from Four Seasons Nursery, which I didn't know until recently they are the same company. I had very good luck with my order from Burgess, I received my order in a timely manner and everything came in excellent shape (nothing dead and everything lived). I just hope the order I've placed with Four Seasons Nursery this spring is just as nice. After reading which are mostly complaints, I'm a little weary, as I have spent a great deal this year. I tried the number given in the catalog to check on the status of my order but it's ALWAYS busy!!!

I recently ordered 60 hybrid willows, 2 pecan, 2 butternut, 2 chestnut, 2 apple, 2 blueberry and 2 tulip trees from Four Seasons Nursery. They arrived about the 7th of March. As stated, they were (basically) bare root and at first appearance not very exciting to behold. However, after "heeling in" the willows, they began to bud out in about 2 days. The other trees were planted promptly and all are doing well. The only two that have not budded out yet are the 2 pecans. My father has a pecan tree in his yard and it is not budding yet either. His tree is approximately 50 years old. So, no worry there. So far, there are no problems with this order. Wish everyone else had this kind of luck with their order. I will probably be ordering more.

My order was received in May of 1999, during extremely hot weather here in TN, although I had placed my order in March. As a result, many of my plants were rotten in their "special packaging" (plastic baggies). Of the four roses I ordered, one was omitted and another was doubled. Most of the small plants were either black and slimy or crushed dried fragments which looked suitable for making herbal tea. A couple of items were omitted. The larger bare-root shrubs, such as rose of sharon, weigela, mock orange, and the roses, arrived in fine shape and survived despite the heat. I was especially pleased with the rose of Sharon shrubs, which bloomed nicely their first year. The bulbs (lilies) were also fine. I did request a replacement on the dead and omitted items, which arrived in very late June. Again, rotten plants, and the ones which were not slimed were obvious late-season stock... very small and poor. None of my replacements lived. Yet again, I am sending for replacements, this time in Feb of 2000. That should give them plenty of time to arrive in a reasonable time for SPRING planting, if they indeed do send them. All of the shipping labels are included, so they won't have that excuse. I should have been tipped off by the lack of a toll-free phone number, but alas! It wasn't as bad as it could have been, but nonetheless, I think that they are a bunch of ne'er-do-wells. They may my first year of gardening a hassle and a disappointment in many ways.

I have had mixed results from my order from Four Seasons. I got Dwarf Burning Bushes where 90% leafed out. All but 3 are dead now, but that was due to a literal plague of grasshoppers this summer. (according to the extension agent we had 3 times the density of grasshoppers needed to be considered a plague!) On the downside, none of the other plants ever grew and apparently were DOA. These included "walk on me", a thyme ground cover, sedum, lavender and Harry Lauder's walking stick. Much of this is probably due to arriving during hot weather (as if Texas has any other kind), but other nurseries have had much better survival despite similar weather. My order arrived when I expected and was 100% correct

Boy did I get lucky with Four Seasons. In the spring of 1996 I placed my order. The order did arrive late. That would have been in mid June. All of the roots were alive and they had buds on them. My order was Wisteria, Rugosa Rose, and Rose of Sharon. I lost two out of six of the Wisteria and that was all. The summer of 1999 was the year that I saw blooms. They were beautiful. Any of my family that ordered from Michigan Bulb were disappointed. Dead twigs and dried up bulbs. That was why I was pleased with Four Seasons quality. I was planning to place an order next week. Now I wonder if I should.

I ordered (for the first time) from many plant catalogs this year. I was completely disgusted with Burgess and Four Seasons! I should have known it would be trouble with the first clue. No toll free number! I thought since both catalogs had the same number, I could make one call, place one order and pay one shipping fee. No such luck! That should have been my second clue, but, I placed two orders anyway. Burgess and Four seasons took forever to ship and when they did, it was partial shipments. I had to call 7 times (on my dime) to check on my order. Not one time did I get any satisfaction. Not once! So much for customer service. The plants? Out of 49 only 9 show signs of life. The next kick, you must save and send back the shipping label if you want anything done about your dead plants! The prices may be good, but, DO NOT ORDER FROM BURGESS OR FOUR SEASONS!

My order was small--a total of $10.91, but I don't appreciate being given the con treatment for any amount. Apparently orders to all their subsidiary companies are handled through thesame phone bank... Plantron's number was given to me by another plant company, when they didn't have the item I was looking for. I have let them know what happened, and I think I'll send them copies of a few of the other letters, if that's legal?About 5/25, I ordered a Citronella plant (Mosquito Geranium). The price was two plants for about five dollars, the postage would be almost six dollars. I didn't write down the exact amounts, thinking they would appear on the invoice that came with my shipment. They charged the order to my credit card account on 5/27, almost three weeks before shipping. In the course of numerous phone calls, I was told orders take four to five weeks to process, then shipping adds another two to three weeks (U.S. Postal Service). When I asked why it would take so long, I was told that they have acres of plants and thousands of orders to process. When I finally told her I wanted the order cancelled, I was informed that to cancel an order I had to write a letter "and sign it with YOUR signature--the same one as on the credit card"--and send it by snail-mail. My package was shipped on June 14th. Next time I called, I was reminded that the Postal Service takes at least two weeks. This was an order placed weeks before, and for which I was charged almost six dollars for shipping, but they still couldn't afford to send three or four ounces of plant material by any faster mode.My two 4" plants, dry as a bone and dead as two doornails, arrived June 27 (Saturday). Today, Monday, I called to report the fact, and was told to return the label. The only label is glued firmly to the outside of the small box that my "plants" came in. When asked why there wasn't a copy of it inside the box, I was told that it would get ruined from the water! Thepaper advertising materials that were inside show no sign of moisture ever having been near them--the plants were obviously packaged dry to start with. I will have to cut out the portion of the box holding the label, and then try to flatten it in order to make a photocopy before I can send it. The fact that one needs to retain the label is printed unobtrusively on the label, so the customer will be likely to discard the box before learning she shouldn't have done so. My next shock was after I requested a refund, and was told they would refund the merchandise price but not the six dollars in shipping! She pointed out that this was clearly noted in the catalogue. I never had their catalogue and my request for one was never filled. How dare they refuse to refund shipping when the problem was their shipping! Some guarantee! After this experience, and now that I have found this wonderful site with all its great letters, I think I see the scenario. I'm writing my letter of complaint to my credit card company…Thank you for letting me vent. GRRRRRR

I placed an order with Four Seasons in late March, the check was cashed the end of April and as of June 1 I haven't received anything. I will let my friends know who are big plant buyers of my experience with Four Seasons.

Four Seasons Nursery is a poor example of what a mail order company can be. Plants were late, no answer after 10 tries at their customer service number, the plants that I got were either dead or nearly dead (when they did arrive, nearly May 15th). I still haven't gotten an answer after sending them a letter, (with copies of the packing list as per their request). 3 weeks later, 1 out of 20 is still alive (and don't think that I didn't try to keep them that way)

Add another victim to the list. We placed an order about four weeks ago and paid via credit card. The payment was annotated to the credit card on April 30, 1999. We telephoned Four Seasons at (309) 663-9551 and left a message. No one returned our call. We are now taking steps to cancel the order and expect to receive the same hassle we have read about in these comments.

I've read the many complaints on the internet about Four Seasons. I didn't check the web before ordering (my regret.) I'm currently fighting with them. One last remark - LEAVE THEM ALONE.

Received plants that were broken in shipment and others that were completely dried out or dead. Have gardened over 30years and not had this kind of unpleasant experience. I will not mail order plants again regardless of price. It' not a bargain if they are damaged or dead!

In early March 1997, I placed an order with Four Seasons Nursery for a total of $157.00. After waiting eight weeks, I wrote to Four Seasons to request cancellation of the order and a refund. This was on May 2, 1997. In turn, the order was filled and arrived on May 13,1997. I promptly refused the order unopened and once again requested a refund. On June 16, 1997, I received a letter from the Four Seasons Customer Service Department refusing to refund my money but only willing to replace the order. To date, I have refused this offer. I have filed letters of complaint with the State of Illinois Attorney Generals Office, the State of Tennessee Consumer Protection Agency, and the U.S. Postal Service Inspector's Office. All three merely forwarded my complaint to Four Seasons and did nothing positive to rectify the situation. Four Seasons does not have any intention of honoring their guarantee that states: "If you are not satisfied, return the shipping label (which I did), and the statement on the back of the catalog which states: "Your satisfaction is important to us."

I have had a generally favorable experience with these companies, mostly in ordering their "bargain" plants. Got a few mountain ash and pink smoke trees from them 3 or 4 years ago and was surprised by the size for, I think, $2 each. Also their perennial hibiscus roots--a great value, a dozen for something like $3. They have also performed well for me. Drawbacks are their "no refund without shipping label" policy--the label is taped onto the green plastic mailer, need scissors to cut it out. Also their shipping fee (which went up to over $6 this year) is OUTRAGEOUS.

My mother ordered over $45.00 worth of assorted flowers and plants with no success of anything growing. She wrote the company requesting a placement order and was told in writing to wait six weeks, (was in 5th week at the time she sent the initial letter) before seeing any signs of growth. It was towards the end of last summer, so she held on to the returned letter and label. Early this Spring, she returned the shipping label with the initial letter, back to the company informing them again that the initial shipments did not "bear fruit". Finally, after waiting a month, she made a long-distance phone call (at her expense), inquiring as to when the order could be expected. When the order did come, it was a partial order. A second phone call was made inquiring about the remaining order. It was then she was told that only one shipping label was sent and that she would have to send a second label. She expressed to the customer service person that she had no such label. She was then told that she would have to send a copy of the cancelled check, as well as list the missing items. The customer service person was able to tell her what the other missing items were. A letter was recently received from Four Seasons Nursery, aka Plantron, Incorporated informing her that she never requested placement of the other missing items, and if the plants are dead, return "that" shipping label, as well as list how many of each item had died.My mother is clearly frustrated…

Please be advised that we have found the Four Season Nursery not to be a reliable source of merchandise. We had to phone them 3 times, long distance, before we finally received our merchandise, although it didn't take them any time to cash their check. The original order was substituted by them, instead of receiving what we had ordered. Now some of the items have not grown and appear to be dead, we are going to write them in hopes of replacement, but from the notices we have read here at this web site, we are very doubtful of any satisfaction. Their prices are extremely low but getting the merchandise seems to be a real problem for them. The old saying "buyer beware" definitely applies to this company.

I ordered 96 Canadian hemlocks, and several fruit and ornamental trees from them. They arrived eight weeks later. All the hemlocks were dead. The other trees were in pieces - broken, damaged, destroyed, now all dead. I immediately contacted them via certified mail. They mailed back my shipping label and asked me to wait six weeks and see what happens. Six weeks have passed. I will contact them again via certified mail.I am very dissatisfied with the poor quality of their products. They shipped 100 trees via the s-l-o-w-e-s-t, cheapest postage, wrapped in a flimsy sheet of green plastic! My plants must have boiled in a P.O. van over the Memorial Day holiday! They stunk! They were smashed, broken, twisted, and covered with a putrid black slime! Foreign, non-native species of caterpillars and beetles emigrated to my garden from their packages. Luckily, my written correspondence with them was via certified mail. I just contacted my credit card company; now, I will have them contact the company. I will send them another letter today. As far as my credit card company is concerned, a valid dispute exists here; I do not have to pay for this. The bank will send me documents to sign, and they'll be after them, too.

I placed an order for a Dwarf 5 in 1 Pear and similar Apple tree which were sent with just bare roots and no footballs and which I planted the very next day after receiving them. I watered them everyday for 2 months. There was no growth. When a gardener came by he told me that they were dead. I sent a letter and the Shipping Label per the instructions back three weeks ago but have yet to receive a reply. That was the only nursery I found that had these plants. I hope that they will honor their name and reply soon.

I was sorry to see that so many people have had bad experiences with this company, but I have to say mine was completely the opposite. I ordered 64 Rose of Sharon hedges for less than $30.00 and 58 of them have already leafed out. I also ordered 2 Butterfly bushes, 3 pink Honeysuckle, 3 Weigela(1 is already beginning to bloom), 10 larger Rose of Sharon trees, a Snowball bush, a Lilly of the Valley tree, and 50 Liatris bulbs. Everything is doing exceptionally well with the exception of the Snowball bush, which I have yet to see any action out of. I recieved my order approximately 3 weeks ago, and am already seeing an incredible amount of foliage. From the sounds of it, people are having nothing but problems with the potted plants, but I would strongly recomend them for bare root stock. Just don't be shocked when you receive a bag full of twigs. Bare root trees are supposed to look like that, and if you soak them overnight in a bucket ofwater with a little B-1 in it before planting, you should see almost immediate results.

I thought I would add my 2 cents about this company. I have ordered from Richard Owen and Burgess. These two companies plus Four Seasons are all one in the same. I have had good luck with all of my orders. The plants I have are thriving and when I tell everyone that I ordered them from a catalog they can't believe it. I am about to send another order and hope to have the same luck!

In April of 1998, my mother placed an order with this firm. All of the items are ones that require spring planting. It is now May 15th. Four Seasons managed to charge her credit card with alacrity, but they have not managed to get the plants here.A check of the internet revels a number of people with the similar complaints about Four Seasons. From those complaints, a pattern of conduct emerges that is not complimentary of Four Seasons. It is often the case that mail order companies with this pattern of conduct habitually default on their contracts. They rely on the fact that each individual will not have sufficient damages to pursue relief. Even though the sum of the damages the mail order house has caused is large, they avoid all legal consequences because no one individual is injured sufficiently to make pursuing a lawsuit worthwhile. This is exactly the kind of situation for which the class action lawsuit was designed.

I ordered from Four Seasons at the beginning of April, and the only reason I did, is because my mother-in-law orders every year, and never has a problem, a few things have died in shipment for her but she wrote them and they sent her replacements immediately, but she has the biggest green thumb there is; she can make anything live. I see though that they have cashed my check on the 17th, today is April 30th, and I am getting worried about my order.

Last spring I order several plants from them. When the order arrived, you could smell the decay with the box sealed unopened. I immediately called them. The company representative told me to plant them and call back in one-two weeks if they were not growing. Well I did of course because they were dead when I called the first time. Anyway, the next representative told me to mail the packing slip to them. About one week later, I received the original packing slip back, requesting that I send them the (already dead, too-far-gone-to-smell-anymore) plant for evaluation. I did. I hadn't heard from them for about two weeks this time. So I called. I was told they were still being evaluated. To this day, I have never heard from them, nor have I received my money back.

We have ordered twice from Four Seasons and being in Zone 8/9 the plants seem to arrive to late in the season. Our day temperatures at the end of March reach the mid 80's and in May can very well reach the 90's. We do not have an e-mail address or we would notify the company direct.

Sure, they offer a guarantee, but you must have a shipping invoice and my box of horrors did not contain one. You should try telling the difference between a glad bulb and a stargazer bulb…This place is just one step from being a straight-out con. I wish other people who have ordered from this (these) companies would drop me a line and let me know if theyhave had the same problems. I also want to know just how many different names this fraud of a company sends out catalogs under.I have had no luck getting any of my money back, or even replacements (not that I really want them.) I have been trying to get results for 6 months. I had to write and warn others of the terrible service and plants(?) offered by this company. The large 1 year plants were rotten and funguscovered root pieces about 2 inches long. The bulbs were rotted, and very tiny. The butterfly bush had a strange white bug on it, and I (themomentary idiot) didn't throw it away and that little white hopper MULTIPLIED and terrorized my 400+ square feet of perennials. But, the bush lived. Nothing, except a few of the stargazer lilies (which must have been a very rare plant because they were WHITE) and of course the butterfly bush, lived. Nothing came up this year except one of those rare lilies! All this out of a $60 order. I tried customer service. They said mail in the original packing slip. That would not be possible because they gave me a copy that you can't even read because it was so light. Eight calls later and two letters and no results. I did not appreciate the way the service rep accused me of lying about what I ordered and trying to get free plants. Avoid this place if you value your plants and money. By the way, the bugs survived and are busy in my garden again this year. I do organic gardening, butI am ready to hit the heavy chemicals.

I made a large order from Four Seasons and everything died; they replaced some but they are just barely hanging on. The quality of the plants is not good. When they arrive my wife said they had about 20% chance of living. I believe that many of the companies that ship plants do not consider the quality of the plants they are shipping on the proper packing to ship.

I also found this site too late for I regret ordering from their catalog. Their prices were cheap and that is why I tried them. My mistake. The free items they showed in their catalog if you ordered so much were never delivered. Instead, they sent packages of seeds instead of live flowers. The flowers we received were all wilted and looked half dead. I will be surprised if any come up next year. I will not order from them again and would not advise anyone else too.

I am writing to relay my experiences with Four Seasons Nursery. I placed an order with them in Spring of '97 for about $60.00 worth of items. After a phone call to the company after several weeks (they were quite pleasant on the phone actually), I finally received my order. Abouthalf of the items arrived in quite poor condition, although I did receive my complete my order in one shipment! After planting my complete order, almost half of the items did not survive. This was not surprising considering the condition in which they arrived. I kept my shipping label as instructed and shipped it back with an order for replacement items and exchanges.They wrote back to me and said that I owed them more money for my replacement order that was totally wrong! I wrote back and eventually got the correct price worked out with them. After several weeks, I received my full replacement order. I was actually quite pleased with my replacement items! They were much larger and in better condition than my first order. I planted all of the items, and they are all looking quite healthy and hearty. The items that did survive from my first order are doing quite well also. So, I guess you can say that there was a happy ending to my story, although I'm not sure if I will order anything from them in the future.