I was looking for 4 climbing roses, (2 Golden Showers and 2 Joseph's Coat), that could not be found anywhere in New England. Growquest came up on the internet as a company that had both. Being new to and very wary about ordering online I called and spoke to Chris, the owner. He explained that he had the Golden Showers and would get me the two Joseph's Coats. I left him an e-mail 2 days later and he promptly replied that he had the 2 Joseph's Coats but he didn't think they were big enough, (they were only in 2 1/2 gallon buckets, so he was getting me two more but in 5 gallon buckets. True to his word he e-mailed me 2 days later that he had them and all 4 rose bushes were going to be shipped out the next day. I called him that same day to get the shipping time frame and he was very pleasant. He not only explained the time frame but how to care for the roses when they arrived. Again, just as he said they came in on the date he stated and they are just beautiful. I would be happy to deal with Chris anytime, he was true to his word, knowledgable, patient and extremely nice!

I ordered 3 Lover's Lane roses 5-14-2004 and paid for them with an instant PayPal payment. I was hoping for immediate shipment so that I would have them for summer.

I have called, e-mailed and called and e-mailed until I'm blue in the face. All I get is one excuse after another and never a shipment. I have requested a refund on 3 different occasions to no avail. I have never dealt with a company that is so blatant in their total lack of service. It is now July 20th and no response!

Ordered ladybugs and two herb plants June 27th 2004. I was charged right away. Order never shipped. I wish I came here first! I will not buy from this company again and am currently trying to contact someone to either cancel, refund, or ship immediately.

I guess it pays to remember that anything that sounds too good to be true--ISN'T TRUE.

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE TIMELINE OF MY INTERACTIONS WITH ABP GrowQuest:

1) Placed order on April 12. (Rose plants and tomato plants.)

2) They took $98.38 out of my banking account on April 15. SHIPPING WAS VERY HIGH, BY THE WAY - $36.50!!

3) Called them May 12 about not having heard anything or being able to determine what the status of the order was by going online. Their response? The order “will be there next week. Chris is procuring some of your items.” They didn’t know WHAT had happened to my order.

4) On May 17, talked to Chris, who had no idea what that promise was about the last week – HE WAS OUT OF TOWN ALL LAST WEEK AT A CONFERENCE. I canceled the order and requested a refund. It was DEFINITELY too late to plant anything that might come. Also emailed request. Also forwarded the email from Chris, which told the employee to refund my money, back, to make sure they had it in their system. Was told that it would be 2-3 weeks for a mailed refund check, since they no longer had any of my credit card info.

NOTE FROM THEIR WEBSITE //www.growquest.com/contact_information.htm: “Refunds are made usually by money order or company check. Typically we do not keep credit card numbers on file here. After a phone order has been processed for shipment that information is destroyed. Refunds will be made within 14 to 21 days of your written (email) request, often much sooner.” I cannot find any info on the website about refunds on ONLINE credit/debit orders.

5) No refund received. Sent email on June 18 asking for status because no word or refund yet. No reply.

6) June 23. CALLED AT 10:46 AM EDT. Chris said that he would immediately send email to his credit card people, who would handle the refund. He said, "I'll make it right." Said they do not mail checks – that the 2-3 week thing was incorrect. Would get refund within MINUTES after the employee did her part.

CALLED BACK AT 2:23 PM EDT because had received no word or email yet. The female who answered said, “Chris is gone. I handle that.” She had gotten no message or email from Chris, she said. She looked up some info, and said that refund is on its way. Gave me a confirmation number (“so that your credit union can track it.”)

“Why would my credit union need to track something that will happen within seconds?” I thought. I was right to be suspicious. No refund ever came.

7) Called the office for an entire week and got repeated recordings that GrowQuest was moving and would be out of the office for a few days.

8) Reached Chris again on July 7 about 2:20 pm EDT after trying to get an answer for several hours. He asked for the confirmation number for the refund and the original order number. He said that he would get online and find out where the refund went and email me THAT NIGHT. I received no email by July 9.

9) Reached Chris again on July 9 at 9:50 AM EDT. He asked for the numbers again. I told them to him. He went directly to the computer this time and started looking up the transaction. Then he asked me what the date of the transaction was. I said June 24. (Okay, I was a day later than actual date – I didn’t have a calendar with me and I forgot it was 23rd, not 24th.) He said that then he knew the transaction didn’t happen, because after June 17, he no longer did business with the company that was supposed to handle the transaction. (Some middleman, I assume.) WHY DID HE NOT ASK ME DATE OF TRANSACTION ON THE 7TH, AND THEN NOT WASTE TWO MORE DAYS??? I told him that maybe he should get a different employee and/or train his employee. Although, from almost every indication, this “employee” who had made the mistake was also his wife.

He said he would email me instructions on how to get the money refunded. I said I was confused – did they not issue CHECKS LIKE THE WEBSITE INDICATES? He responded that I “might be the 1 out of 100 honest customers, but most would get the check and then dispute the charge and get back two refunds.” He used that statistic at least twice: 1 out of 100. I was personally offended and also offended as a member of the general public. I thought that was pretty ironic AND offensive.

Finally, after I pushed, he told me that the email instructions would be to file a “merchandise not received” complaint. THE TEXT OF THE ENTIRE EMAIL FOLLOWS (with his spelling):

-----------------
We are not able to refund your card as this transaction is not availalble to us.

You need to file a dispute with you card provider, for "merchandise not received."

The card provider will than forward this claim to us for us to approve or disapprove.

Chris
-----------------


WHAT AM I, STUPID? WHY DID HE HAVE TO EMAIL ME THAT? WHY COULD HE NOT JUST SAY IT?

This is the worst experience I have ever had with any company, anywhere. I cannot believe the time, trouble, and stress of this situation.

LET THE BUYER BEWARE. I WISH I HAD SEEN THIS WEBSITE BEFORE I EVER TRIED TO DEAL WITH ABP GROWQUEST.

"An great example of what happens with hundreds of transctions coming in at once and not be prepared to handle it. We since made the necessary corrections for making proper refunds.

chris"

BE EXTREMELY CAREFUL....

Before the Negative comments began showing up here, I had placed two separate orders, one for a 'Memorial Day' tree rose and a subsequent order for a 'Pearl Essence' bare-root rose (that last order was on March 30, 2004). I received confirmations for both orders.

By May of 2004, I was starting to worry. No roses yet.

So, on a Friday, I telephoned the company and got a nice, friendly lady on the line who explained that there had been some problems, etc. etc.

Since I had already purchased another 'Memorial Day' tree rose elsewhere, I cancelled that order, and was assured that the 'Pearl Essence' would be shipped out that coming Monday.

THAT 'NICE' LADY OBVIOUSLY LIED TO ME.

It is now the end of June, 2004. Still no rose and no word from the company. I'm a patient person, but this is ridiculous.

And I am worried, based upon the comments by others here, that my credit card might have been immediately charged for both orders and that this company may not have credited my card for either cancelled order.

I will check into this matter with my bank and with VISA. If my card has not been credited, I will pursue this matter until I DIE.

I am sick of being ripped-off and I am appalled that someone would blithly lie directly to a customer without turning a hair.

SHAME ON THIS COMPANY AND ITS EMPLOYEES!

Thank goodness that this Watchdog exists! If people check on companies regularly, at least they can get a handle on their business performance.... (if the Negatives show up BEFORE they order).

Jean Exnicios

Two week after my order was to be shipped I call Growquest.
I was told 3 out of 7 plants were out of stock. The plants were ordered 5 months prior. After several calls and Growquest will not call you back, I told them to refund my credit card or send a check. It has been 2 months and no refund.

"First of the story as outlined lacks in truth, since all of these roses were in stock, Irish Cream was sent us in horrible condition and we told Mark he would not like it and have since been shipped many times over.

Mark V. asked that his order be cancelled because the bare root planting season was over..
I offered to ship him potted roses at no extra charge.
Jamie said she send him refund, and she did unfortuntaly it was from her personal account that she over drafted while on much need stress relief vacation.
Mark has long since be made whole, has been asked several times to post it as such and would rather leave a less than truthful accounting.

chris"

First they hopped on Gardenweb with the question - Hey has anyone ordered from Growquest? So we all checked it out... didn't realize it was THEM asking about it...

Placed an order 10/21 so I could 'check them out'. Order was automatically confirmed. I was to 'check the website' to see when my order would ship...

Email 1 - April 6 - checking order status - asked if I could 'add' a rose to the order

Email 2 - Extra rose I want is sold out - no response about the first order

Email 3 - April 10 - requested order cancellation and refund

Email 4 - May 4 - requested order cancellation and refund (2nd request)

June 16 - Still no roses, no confirmation of cancellation - no refund

My order still shows:

OnlineOrder_01002199
Order Date: 2003-10-21 02:15:58
Order Status: In Process
Shipping Method: Priority Mail

O R D E R T O L L-F R E E For Orders Only 800 787 2847
ASSISTANCE OR INQUIRIES CALL 1 . 5 5 9 . 7 3 5 . 0 7 4 3 California
F A X 1 . 5 5 9 . 7 3 5 . 0 1 4 9

Postal Address: 4125 West Noble #110, Visalia, California 93277

Email: General Information: info@growquest.com

Sales: orders@growquest.com

Customer Service: info@growquest.com

Am considering filing fraud complaint with Visalia BBB...

"As a matter of fact it was a 5 gallon potted rose in full bud and bloom and a damn nice plant. The rest of the order will be refunded.

Chris"

You do not want to go there. Believe me. I was charged 1/23 for a 294 and a 69 dollar order for tree roses and misc roses.
I have ordered a number of roses from different vendors. Never EVER have I had a problem. These folks have down right lied to me by mouth and by emails.
I was so willing to accept an error. Roses unavailable. Anything. It was lost. But the lady found my order while talking to me on the phone. Told me it was right there and she would have it out that day. This was back in about the being of April.
To me nursery's are hard working folks and rose shoppers are pain in the tail sometimes. We are passionate about our roses. They are our children. Like a bond.
I never had even a rose vendor be rude to me. I trust most rose vendors to tell me the truth and when I talk to them they are my main helpers on advice of a rose.

But never have I been lied too. Repeatly. I contacted them again several times by email. Three times by phone and they always acted like the order was right there. Once she said she was going to go pull it right at that moment.

The last email I waited for the order when he said it would be shipped in 48 hours. After that I emailed him once nice(that is in the email below)
and then another where is the order after it was not shipped 48 hours.

(ME:
There has been no tracking number sent within the next 48 hours.
cindi)

and the last one an email like this below. Sent him the link to GardenWeb where someone is asking about the vendor GrowQuest. Then I was adviced to go to WatchDog by members of the Gardenweb.

It was the last email that made me give up on ever trusting them again. The 69 dollar order is not on this email. It was given over the phone. I was confirming my order in January by mouth because I just could not believe I was lucky enough to finally find some 5 foot tree roses. Most on GardenWeb know I have searched for several years to find me a vendor that will ship a 5 footer. I saw that Buff Beauty. Added it. I had no business adding it. I had over spent. But I wanted it. I made that decision to purge. But that did not give anybody any right to steal from me. I really felt sick. Then I finally got mad. I wanted to call Tom Carruth and tattle. I have not done nothing. I did call my Mastercard. I am suppose to mail papers and copies of emails. I just have not decided what route to take. To read above others have too never got credit on a order is frightening. My order was the highest one time rose order I ever made.

What would you do.

At first I blamed not receiving the order on me. I had no business ordering tree roses. I just wanted them so bad and heard Weeks was not going to make them anymore. But never did I think my credit card would not be credited. But the last email done me in. If I was to receive the roses now I would refuse the box I guess. How can tree roses survive that shipping in this heat.

Here is the email I received on May 20. This is June 16th. No roses. It was like this Chris was talking to me through emails. I wanted to not get upset.

GrowQuest Email to me May 21

Sorry our systems have been overloaded with internet bug attacks for the
last few days. Your order will be shipped or proof of shipment will provided
with a tracking number will be sent to you within the next 48 hours as our
systems bounce back.

chris

----- Original Message -----
From: "Cindi"
To:
Sent: Thursday, May 20, 2004 11:33 PM
Subject: Re: ABP Growquest Order Receipt

> Dear Growquest
> I really need to know if you are going to ship this order. I have never
had
> a nursery not ship me roses I ordered. I really do not like to believe
that
> you would do this after all the conversations we have had. Is there a
> reason for these roses and another rose order behind it. Not to be
shipped.
> The lady answering the phone claims the roses are there.
> Were they sold. This order was placed so early. And there are two
charges
> on the charge card. I am sure you would be upset to if this was your
> order.
> > cindi ard
> ----- Original Message -----
> From:
> To:
> Sent: Friday, January 23, 2004 9:11 PM
> Subject: ABP Growquest Order Receipt
> >
> > Thank you for your business. Check the shipping schedule page for
typical
> departures and arrivals for your area. Remember most beneficial insect
> orders travel USPS, they have the best transport for moving perishable
> products. Heavy plant products usually travel UPS ground. ORDER EMERGENCY?
> CELL PHONES ARE 559-213-4495 OR 805 236 4023
> >
> > ========== GENERAL INFORMATION ==========
> > Company Name: ABP Growquest
> > Date/Time: 1/23/2004
> >
> > ========== ORDER INFORMATION ==========
> > Payment Method: MasterCard
> > Order: OnlineOrder_01002485
> >
> > Item Name: Purple Tiger Floribunda Rose - Bare root #1 grade
> > Item #: BRS0429
> > Unit Price: $16.99
> > Quantity: 1
> > Ship Method: UPS Ground -- Residential
> >
> > Item Name: Passionate Kisses, bare root #1 grade rose
> > Item #: BRS0423
> > Unit Price: $16.99
> > Quantity: 1
> > Ship Method: UPS Ground -- Residential
> >
> > Item Name: Pillow Fight;60 inch Giant Weeping Tree Rose, bare root,
grade
> #1
> > Item #: BRT01013
> > Unit Price: $69.99
> > Quantity: 2
> > Ship Method: UPS Ground -- Residential
> >
> > Item Name: Comtesse de Provence, bare root #1 grade rose
> > Item #: BRS0564
> > Unit Price: $19.99
> > Quantity: 1
> > Ship Method: UPS Ground -- Residential
> >
> > Item Name: Flower Girl;60 inch Giant Weeping Tree Rose, bare root, grade
> #1
> > Item #: BRT01009
> > Unit Price: $69.99
> > Quantity: 1
> > Ship Method: UPS Ground -- Residential
> >
> > Shipping & Handling: $30.80
> > Grand Total: $294.74
> >
> > ========== CHECK ORDER STATUS ==========
> >





--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"This order was one of about 50 out of several thousand that we manage to really blow it on. We have since made arrangements in September for late fall shipping and await her acceptance of her rose order.

chris"

I ordered 2 rosebushes from Growquest on April 12, 2004. I got no response from them even after several emails until May 27. They claimed the roses were shipped that morning. It is now June 16 and still haven't received anything. They billed my credit card shortly after the order was placed in April. For weeks I have been emailing for a refund with no response. The phone number they give you is a waste of time since it's always off the hook. They don't answer emails either. I have never dealt with a company before that shows such little concern for it's customers and has no problem withdrawing funds from customer's accounts without showing an effort to actually make sure that the order is actually shipped.

"Some posted a "credit" to his card without looking to see that they were posting another charge. After learning of this I had all future transcations "verified" by attaching a copy of the adjustment to the customer's invoice. It would be nice it the customer noted that the credit card company has since made him whole.

chris"

I ordered several different types of things from Growquest on many occasions.

I have never had any trouble with my orders (ranging from insects to plants to seeds) and have found them friendly and helpful. The orders have arrived healthy and in a timely manner and I plan on being a long term customer of theirs because the other companies I ordered beneficials from did not provide the information I needed and the quantities were less.

I wish them much success.

Note from the Garden Watchdog editors:

"We were wrong to post such a statement and should have worked harder to get some of the many thousands of filled orders to post a postive comment.

Chris"

I placed an order for several different types of tomato plants. I recieved all plants except one which was also listed with the other plants I did recieve on the invoice. All the plants were very rough, scraggly, unhealthy and half of them were undeveloped. I called them immediately to request them to send me the zapotec slicing tomato plant that was not delivered. The lady asked if it was on the invoice. I said yes but it wasn't delivered with the rest. She stated it would be delivered in 3 to 4 days. I never recieved it within a week. I e-mailed them requesting the plant again. I couldn't get their response because my firewall wouldn't let their response onto my system due to possible virus's. Bad customer response!!

I ordered many roses from Growquest. All arrived in pots, good sized, healthy. Both Chris and his wife Jane have gone out of their way to be helpful and have even gone so far as to seek out some roses on my wish list and find them for me. I have read several negative posts about this company and I can assure everyone that this is an honest and legitimate company who is new to the shipping game with roses. I know that there have been delays with shipping, I even experienced some, but the wait has been worth it. I think we need to give these guys a chance to work out the kinks in their system. It would be a shame to lose a company like this. Just my opinion.

Very bad customer service==ordered whitefly defense kit and garden whitefly zapper. order never arrived. panicked because company has access to my credit card. no tracking information provided when ordering online--all numbers listed except one had voicemail full messages-- finally talked to someone promised they would Fed ex 2 day delivery-i have never received anything-- i have left many voicemails to please contact me about not receving anything. im trying to get a refund but company has not responded. credit card company is now investigating them to see if they are setting up a spam ring where they capture then use your credit card number.. very scary that all the numbers were full so you could not leave a message.dont do business with this company buyer beware

I ordered 6 rose plants from Growquest.com. When they arrived they were very healthy plants. I am so pleased. And they even threw in two tomato plants for free!

I placed an internet order on 3/15/04 for 1 rose bush. Took the payment right away. There is no place to track your order on line. When you leave messages no one calls you back. After several e-mails and saying I was going to cancell,I finally got an e-mail from the owner on 3/22, claiming the order was shipped. When I finally got in touch with the owner the 1st week of April, he told me it had never been shipped and that it was going out that day. As of April 6th, owner claimed took it to the post office himself in the morning to send it priority mail. Found out tonight 4/8, that it was finally shipped after 5 pm on the 6th. I had explained a few times that this was a gift and that I could not understand why you would tell someone something was shipped when in fact it was not. Many excuses given... I think the service was very poor and agree with all comments made by deborah 2003, I will be cancelling my order on Monday, and not looking forward to more poor service. I would never recommend this company to anyone and I will check this wonderful website before ordering again.

Ordered some roses. Had to cancel order due to an unplanned surgery. Company accepted cancellation after repeated unanswered emails but failed to provide refund. Two more emails and another phone call still resulted in no refund.

When speaking to them on the phone was told they didn't know anything about your order/cancellation and could not look it up while speaking to me.

I provided order number and dates of emails with details and dates of their responses with details.. and was promised a check .... Still no refund. 6 weeks after initial cancellation approval and written promise of refund instead of my promised refund they shipped the roses. Now I have to hire someone to plant them as I am on restricted duty due to neck surgery. Very poor customer service. Would discourage anyone from ever ordering from them. They are nice and quickly take your money but refuse to follow through on promised help if there is a problelm.

BEWARE.. DO NOT ORDER FROM THEM

"We indeed offer to pay for a gardener to plant her roses and have the email to prove it. Did we mishandle this order, yes and quite a few others. It was the start of rather unpleasent season for which we apologize to all of those who we not not properly served.

Chris"

In researching places to buy decollate snails, I found people recommending Growquest on a forum. I placed an order for 200 snails which was filled quickly. The order arrived with 2 specials which were being run, free ladybugs and a special specific to the snails which left me with 300 snails =)

Jamie at ABP Wholesale (the related company providing the critters) sent me an email just a few days after I had received the order asking if the snails seemed to wake up ok. She believed she had mistakenly sent an older package. I replied that I had checked specifically on about a dozen snails to see how they were doing and only saw a couple that did not come around. I confirmed that the dates on the snail packages had passed, though I had not noticed until she pointed out the problem.

The end of that week, another 100+ snails and another batch of free ladybugs arrived along with some organic fertilizer! I would have been happy enough with them just bringing my attention to the error so I could keep an eye out for sleeping snails. I was able to wake up some of them with a little extra soaking.

I love dealing with companies that show strong ethics and great customer service. I'll be using Growquest/ABP Wholesale for future beneficial organism needs.