Comments regarding David Austin Roses (US)

I ordered Eglyntyne as an own root grown, and received a grafted model. ugh. I did call and inquire and received nothing but a curt attitude and a fare-thee-well. Sorry Charlie and all that.

What recourse do I have if they deny that anything is wrong?
Sheri

"

Dear Sheri,

I apologize profusely if staff responded to your complaint in the manner you describe, though I'm hard put to imagine which of them would do this as it is certainly not in line with our high customer service standards. Did you get a name?

Of course something is wrong if you didn't receive what you ordered and weren't even offered an explanation or refund.

We no longer offer own-root varieties as that supplier dropped us for not ordering a high enough quantity and we have not found another supplier to date. If you will phone or email me with your order number or address, I'll be happy to refund the money you paid.

Again, my apologies for the service (or lack of it) you received.

Best Regards,
Jo VonBargen
800 328 8893
us@davidaustinroses.com

Dear Sheri,

We first replied on 17th January but as I have not heard from you, I am writing again to clarify and hopefully to encourage you to contact me directly.

We are really sorry that we didn’t make clear to you that we are no longer able to offer own-root roses. All our roses are grafted onto Dr Huey, which is one of the most popular rose rootstocks used in the US. We have added this information on to our home page, it is also in our latest catalogue and our customer service team will take care to advise anyone who tries to order own-root roses in future.

We have had so little demand for own-root roses that it is no longer economic to offer them, but we should have informed you of this before proceeding with shipment. If you’re struggling to find an own root supplier you might like to contact http://www.heirloomroses.com who may be able to help you.

I am very sorry for your poor experience and David Austin Roses will give you an immediate refund. Please contact me directly toll free on 800 328 8893 so I can apologise personally and arrange to send the refund to you. Alternately if you post your customer number on this website, this will allow us to trace you.

I can see from your garden diary that you are planning to create a rose garden over the next few years and hope you can find a corner somewhere in your garden for the grafted Eglantyne, which you can of course keep with our compliments. Hopefully it will flourish and fill a little corner while the garden is still under development. We hope in time you’ll become so attached to it, you won’t be able to dig it up!

With Very Best Wishes,
Jo VonBargen
Manager, US Office
us@davidaustinroses.com

"

zepherine drouchin a lovely rose and wonderful climber and no thorns a rose which was told to me by a Mastr aGardener in new hamshire and i bought me some 2 did not return after winter and i called tyler and they were replaced with a smile
i am considering on getting at least 4 for my 4-H bed i chair out at the extension grounds. this is one tough but beautiful orse

My roses arrived in excellent condition. Most are doing well and blooming in their first year. Two haven't even produced even a leaf but the stalks are still green. I spoke to cust svc regarding one of the plants and they stated that they'd save a replacement for me if it continues to fail.

After pouring over my David Austin catalog for several months, in April, I finally decided to purchase 3 Tradescant roses, to plant by my deck. The roses arrived in fairly good condition, although the box was a little damaged -- the carrier's fault, obviously -- and a few of the roots on one plant were broken as a result.

The plants looked to be in fairly good shape. Due to heavy rains in Tennessee in April, it took me two or three days after their arrival to get them into the ground. They started leafing out and looked very good, initially, but then I noticed some black growth on the canes of each of the three plants. After getting on rose forums on gardenweb.com, I determined that the roses had cankar and set about cutting off the diseased parts of the canes and applying Daconil and then sealing the cuts with Elmer's glue (suggested by many of the rose forum members).

It seemed to take care of most of the problem, however, there are still black spots down low next to the crowns on all of the plants. There is still one strong cane on each of the plants and I have beautiful growth on them and the first flush is coming on strong. The buds are pretty and they're opening up well. Although, the color is not as crimson as it looks in the catalog, it's more of a light red...I don't know if it's really Tradescant or not? They plants are in full sun until about 2:00pm every afternoon and then they're in shade, so I don't know if the blooms fade in direct sunlight or not. The catalog said that this cultivar does not readily burn in the sun...we'll see if they get deeper crimson as it ages.

The first flowers are beautiful and the fragrance is lovely. I shall have to wait and see if the cankar continues to grow now that the daytime temps are consistently above 80 degrees here in Nashville. I did email DA customer service and got a response back in a day or two, but they didn't mention anything about cankar. They just suggested that I deep water more often (every 4 days) in hot weather.

All in all, I am fairly satisfied with the roses, but am concerned for their long-term success. Even so, I am determined that I will purchase more DA roses for next year.

This is a great site and I appreciate the feedback from everyone. Thanks!

Sheri

I purchased 5 roses this year. All arrived in great condition and are now thriving in the garden despite the cold spring we are having here in New York. I also have 6 from last year that are doing well after a severely cold winter. 3 of the Mayflower and 2 William Shakespeare were infected pretty bad last summer with blackspot and took a severe end of season pruning,were frozen all winter and then I had to hack them back severely this spring - really thought these plants were not going to make it - they are (SURPRISE) doing great and I hope they are healthier this year. Heritage is doing fabulous! Also have Evelyn which I bought as a mystery rose at my nursery(they had lost the tag) which froze almost to the ground - rebounded great. All of the new plants look great so far. Trying 2 of the 2005 - Love DA roses- cant beat them for fragrance and that old rose look.Only negative - did not find customer service( or whomever takes the orders) very friendly at all!!! But the way I see it the product is what matters most!!! Thanks for a great product.

Every rose I've gotten from David Austin has been healthy, correctly labeled and has done great in my garden. I recommend this company if you are looking for DA roses. They have a good website and some great sales, too.

I ordered 2 roses this spring. When they arrived, they looked to be dehydrated. After a few weeks, one was leafing out heartily and the other was just as it was when it arrived, and I was certain it was dead/dying. I emailed the company and they promptly send me a replacment without question. Now, the rose I thought dead has begun to leaf and is catching up to the other. I simply was not patient enough, but because I wasnt completely happy, they sent me another. Very pleased with the customer service, and the roses Ive received are all healthy and showing the promise of buds. Excellent vendor.

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We do apologize profusely for the email slipups! Due to a server problem we lost several days worth of emails and also lost phone messages when the system got zapped by a lightning storm. As recovery was impossible on these, we can only wait til someone contacts us again. We have also been experiencing a very high volume of calls the past couple of weeks and people are finding it hard to get through. We do appreciate your patience and are working to remedy the staffing issue for next season, so this will not recur. Once again, we appreciate all our customers and thank you very much for your business.

Best Regards,
Jo VonBargen
General Manager
us@davidaustinroses.com"

2/05 I ordered several roses from David Austin. After I placed the order I lost my credit card and when I was called by customer service to verify the card number I explained what happened. The woman I spoke with was so helpful and understanding she went above and beyond to help me. I appreciate good customer service and a good product. I am very happy with my roses 2 of the bushes have taken off and the other 2 are struggling but whether they live or die I will always be a loyal customer and supporter of David Austin Roses.

I ordered several roses from David Austin in Texas. One that I ordered was Hansa and I was sent a Handel instead. I called the company and they were exceptional in the way they handle my complaint. They apologized and sent me the correct replacement rose and told me to plant or give the rose to a friend. I would highly recommend this company.

My husband ordered a Mary Rose for my Valentine's present 2 years ago. Unfortunately, it arrived in late March, far too early to plant in West Michigan. I called the Texas HQ, had a lovely conversation with CS, and was told to go ahead & save the rose in a cool storage place if I had one (I did, a second fridge), keep it slightly moist, and if it survived, I would have an extra as they sent a new one out in May. As good fortune would have it, both roses are thriving in my garden, and this year for Valentine's Day, my husband ordered two new roses for my cottage garden.
While I have other Austin roses from different sources, the ones from the main nursery are especially fine & hardy specimens. I will continue to order from them, since the experience with their CS was SO positive. I understand many companies can make errors, it is how they deal with the customer that sets DA apart from the less desirables & that make me a loyal customer. I may not make them wealthy, but I actively promote their business to other gardeners.

I have placed several orders with this company over the past few years. All orders have arrived in EXCELLENT condition. All roses had large, well developed, and healthy root systems; all have thrived in my garden (photos in database, more to come). Each year I look forward to receiving my new catalog. I will definitely order from David Austin Roses again and will recommend them with confidence!

I have ordered David Austin roses from several other companies as well as purchased them from a local garden center. I currently have over 60 roses in my beds the majority are David Austins planted as bare roots. This spring I ordered 10 from David Austin in Tyler, Tx. These bareroot roses were in top shape, all produced blooms and are healthy. When I have emailed this company with questions their responses have been prompt and helpful, their order takers also were well-informed & polite. I will order from them again.

I was amazingly disappointed with the customer service this company offered. I eagerly ordered a number of rosebushes to arrive in Spring. I live in Massachusetts. Imagine my dismay when the roses all arrived in the middle of a snowstorm on March 16. The ground was still frozen.

When I called the Tyler, Texas office to protest their early arrival, I was informed that it was the appropriate time for delivery for my area... and I could soak them, repackage them and then plant them in containers or heal them into the ground when it unfroze. I asked to speak to a customer service supervisor, was told none were available...I could ship the plants back at my expense but they couldn't guarantee that I would receive my choices at a later date AND I would have to pay shipping charges again.

I wrote an e-mail the next day to the customer services department asking for contact. No one has ever replied. I nursed the roses for 3 1/2 weeks before I was able to plant them. Lovely product, very poor service.

"Gosh, I can certainly understand how you feel if this is indeed the experience you had with our company this past season.

To be honest, we did get caught by that snowstorm in March and many customers had to have replacement orders sent later on.

I do apologize for the way your call was handled and will go over these points with my staff immediately. Unfortunately, I was out of the office quite often during that period as my elderly parents were both very ill. I did have some temporary help here and assume that you probably spoke with one who was not fully trained (my fault, not yours).

As for the email, I always respond personally to email inquiries, so I'm wondering if it maybe didn't come through as we were also experiencing phone and data line problems during the same period. I wouldn't like to appear to be making excuses, but am merely trying to find an explanation for things that occured as this is not typical of the service we strive for here at David Austin's.

I am very, very sorry for your negative experience and perception of our company and would certainly make it right for you if you will email me at jo.vonbargen@davidaustinroses.com . We would definitely replace any failed plants at our own expense and there is no charge for the shipping on your part. This is our standard guarantee.

Again, I apologize for the misinformation that apparently came from staff here.

Best Regards,
Jo VonBargen
General Manager, US Office
David Austin Roses"

My daughter wanted to know what I wanted for my birthday, which was April 9th. I told her a David Austin rose. Wayside told her it was too late to ship, so she contacted the Texas site. They sent me 4 roses, bareroot, very clean and very fast, only a couple of days later they came. By June lst all 4 were blooming, and they started leafing up within l0 days. We are very happy with them.

Ordered 3 roses - lilian austin - blythe spirit - sophy's rose - received large bareroots right on schedule.

All plants were potted in pots, and have leafed out and flowered beautifully. Would order from again...

p.s. Lilian Austin is 'gorgeous!'

DECOBUG

My wife and I ordered 15 bare root roses from Austin US this spring. Our order was late so we were unable to get all of the own root roses we wanted. However, DA was very good about telling us what was available and suggesting substitutions. The only problem with the order was timing. We were told several times that the order was being gathered and sent, only to have the actually shipping occur about three weeks after we were originally told. That said, when the plants arrived they were absolutely gorgeous. The own root plants had multiple thin but mature canes and the grafted plants were monstrously large. All plants were well packed and there was no significant damage. They have now been in the ground for two months and are flourishing. First bud set for two of the varieties was yesterday. Granted that we spent an enormous amount of time preparing holes and amending soil, I am extremely happy with the results so far. DA costs money and shipping plants that large costs but the results have justified the expense, and we plan to order from them again. Overall, an excellent experience. DA should be commended for their quality.

Made a first time purchase via their website. Site excellent, photos great. Only neutral comment is that order did not include an email confirmation so I had to hope that my order was received and shipped. Emails to the company were replied to quickly in a courteous and informative, frank manner. Roses arrived very quickly in VERY excellent condition with strong canes and healthy buds and strong roots.
I have respected the work of David Austin for many years and am glad that his hybrids are now being grown under his guidance personally instead of by a secondary grower who may rush the process.

Last year I ordered 16 of the bareroot English roses to plant as a hedge at my vacation home in Western North Carolina. I was very specific that the plants had to arrive during the five days I would be there in late April. Very few mail order houses will honor such a condition. The roses arrived exactly on time, all with good roots and healthy canes.

When I came back for the fourth of July, I was stunned by how well the plants had thrived in two months. I had a gorgeous thick three and a half foot hedge in full bloom, the roses shading from pure white to deep pink as planned. The scent was to die for.

By Labor Day, one of the white Winchester Cathedral, a sport of the pink Mary Rose, had developed a cane that was producing pink blossoms. Their customer service answered my e-mail within a day and replaced it free of charge.

All the David Austin roses have survived the mountain winter and have begun to set out new growth. Some of the roses I purchased from local nurseries have not made it.

I placed my first order with David Austin this year. The roses arrived in outstanding condition! They are large, healthy and have the beginnings of new growth on them. They were far better than Jackson & Perkins - the only other company I've ordered roses from.

I just received my first order of roses from David Austin in Texas. I ordreed 6 and they were all very healthy with nice root systems. I was very pleased with what I received and will order again. I will check back in when growth begins.

I am not 100 % sure that I can state that I dealt directly with this company since my roses arrived from Wayside but all had David Austin tags on them. I will also post these remarks on the pages dealing with Wayside.
I received 8 plant grown and harvested by David Austin LTD, Texas. I had never seen or received roses so substandard and with so severe infestation all over. 3 of the 8 plants were tiny twigs that would not qualify to be called grade 1.5 and as far as I know it is not customary to sell lower grades in the USA. But I am sure it is unheard of calling them garde 1. They would not make the cut even a 'dollar' store.
Neverthleless receiving some substandard twigs was the minor problem. All plants had crown borer tunnels all over in every single plant and when we cut back the canes to save the plants it turned out that the tunnles were deep down in the crown, and that means that they would disintegrate and die in 1-2 months.
Not only these plants are unacceptable but to plant them in a bed with other healthy roses would mean to infect the rest of those plants in the garden. These Austin plants should have been destroyed, burnt, and under no circumctances should have been forwarded to vendors/distributors and later to customers.
I simply do not understand how a company bearing the name of David Austin could and would risk its reputation by selling plants that are close to death and would endanger a whole rose garden if th purchaser does not notice the brown tunnels and decay inside the canes.

I assumed 'noblesse oblige' means something for a company bearing the name of David Austin. After seeing this wretched plants, I came to the conclusion that it does not mean anything.

"I'm afraid those plants were not grown by David Austin's in Tyler, but were propagated by the licensee. Unfortunately, we only have strict control over the plants we sell here, but I will make sure the home office in England hears of this.

Does Wayside have any sort of guarantee? I would think some sort of recompense would be in order here.

I'm very sorry for your experience. It's certainly not something the company wants to see at any time. The roses we sell here are two-year, healthy plants that are subjected to the strictest virus indexing program available. We only ship grade 1 plants and those such as you describe would definitely have gone on the burn pile. We try very hard not to ship anything out of here that we would not have in our own gardens.

Thank you for your feedback, however. We respect all customer opinions and experiences and hope that all of it can help us to improve service and licensee issues in the future.

Best Regards,
Jo VonBargen
General Manager, US Office

"

Ordered around 10 rose plants. All arrived healthy & have grown & bloomed very well. Some of the colors different than in the catalog/photos, but that's mainly the "red" varieties, and soil conditions do affect colors (as well as photo processing!). Would buy from again.

In early Spring 2003 I ordered several hybrid musk roses from this supplier because they do well in our foggy and damp climate. I also ordered a couple of their "David Austin Roses" to try based on a recommendation from their rosarian that they would probably be ok. I have been VERY pleased with with everything from this group: All of the roses have survived and, in fact, thrived and look quite beautiful. They were healthy and strong from the very start. Highly recommended.

Best and biggest rose plants, will order from again, they are thriving while all my locally purchased roses have died. The higher prices are well worth buying.

I order 3 Mayflowers. The plants arrived in good shape. My only complaint is they're more expensive than most mail order companies.

I have only ordered one bareroot rose and it was from this company. The roots were very large and the canes nice and plump and green. The rose has been in for about two weeks and is sprouting and growing well.

I was very leary of ordering from David Austin after seeing the other responses here, however I had a great experience. I ordered 5 roses, and the plants that came were HUGE, in booth root and cane size. They were clean and nice and no problems what-so-ever. I have never bought roses bare root so big, and I've bought many, so they get my positive rating. The roses have been in for a few weeks and seem to be coming out of dormancy fine. They size of the plants definitely warrant the price, along with the gorgeous flowers I am expecting.

Ordered lots of roses from this company, nice sized and healthy plants, some didn't quite fit the description when bloomed but it was OK. They also exchanged one of the roses they sent me in error and I received it just recenly, great size! Good company and very good Customer Service!

We've been fairly pleased with both the quality and garden performance of their roses. They did inform us late in the season that a variety was backordered (to the following year!) and they also did substitute a variety without consulting us first but it was a comparable variety.

I just love ordering from this catalog. When one plant was smashed via the USPS last year, I received another within 2 days via UPS that was great. The plants are high quality and grow fabulously. I have purchased David Austin roses in pots and think they do better bare root. I highly recommend this company.

I bought 5 roses from them last year. 2 of the 5 never sprouted so much as a leaf - and these were Austin roses. Overpriced, too. They did refund my money.

Last spring, I ordered six rose bushes from this company all shown in their beautiful catalog. My bed plantings depended on the placement of these roses. At the same time I ordered roses from two other houses with no problems. The David Austin roses came in plastic bags, all black, moldy, soggy wet and leaking. I immediately called their office in Tyler TX but was told by the customer service people, "That happens all the time; just hose it off and they'll be fine." I couldn't believe it, really, as my grower's instinct said 'these suckers are dead' but she insisted I plant them and if they don't come back, they will refund my money. I wasted my time and did that only to confirm what I already knew. I pulled them out six weeks later, wrote a letter and eventually, they issued a refund but the haughty attitude and reluctance to issue an immediate refund or replacement was a big disappointment as I erroneously assumed this company was a top rated rose house. It's not in my book.

I just received my order yesterday of three bushes. I was impressed- They appear very robust and generally of a higher quality than other mail-order roses I have purchased in the past. From the moment I placed my order, I could tell that theirs is a ""slick outfit""; an email query was answered promptly, the person who took my order on the phone was very friendly and courteous, I received a snail-mail confirmation of my order in 4 days and the roses arrived well-packed shortly thereafter. I would definitely choose to reorder from them.

I ordered a ""Golden Celebration"" David Austin English rose from the David Austin rose company in Texas. The bare roots rose bush arrived by UPS in a sturdy cardboard box, and the bush was moist within thick plastic wrapping inside. The bush has 6 green canes, one of which has a branch, and a good root system. The invoice had instructions for planting on the back, which I am following. After placing the bush in water for a few hours, I notice numerous leaf buds are producing leaves. The bush is expensive, but the previous Golden Celebration bushes which I bought from grew 5 to 6 feet in one summer and produced an astonishing number of large golden pleasant smelling roses all summer. Also, the bush seems to be highly disease resistant, so I think the bush is worth the price.

What a great experience! So far, we've ordered 15 roses from David Austin, all arrived in great shape & have rewarded us with wonderful, abundant blooms. While Austin roses may be a bit more pricey, they have more than lived up to the price. We will be buying quite a few more roses & David Austin will be on our shopping list. First class plants, first class operation.

I ordered roses from 3 different companies last spring, and David Austin Roses sent me the best ones. I ordered five roses, and they were all strong, two year-old plants and arrived at the time I specified. All have done well, and when they leafed out, looked superior to the potted roses that the local nurseries were selling. Their English roses were a bit pricey, but I think I got my money's worth. This year when I decided to order several old garden roses, David Austin Roses was my first choice. I ordered a couple of hybrid musks and a rambler, all $12.95 each, which I consider a bargain because you can pay more for one-year-old plants in 1 gallon containers. All their roses are two year-old plants. I only wish their selection wasn't so limited! Both this year and last year, I have found their customer service to be excellent.

I order two bareroot roses, a Graham Thomas and a Sunsprite mid-March. I was told they would be shipped right away for planting in my zone. G.T.was a little pricey, but I also considered this rose being shipped direct from the hybridizer, so the additional cost did not bother me.The Sunsprite was priced accordingly with other rose vendors. Two weeks passed, and still no roses. I called DA and they said they were shipped on March 24 via USPS. But since I still hadn't received them, they would dispatch replacements right away via UPS. Seventeen days from the original shipment date, my roses arrived via the wonderful United States Postal Service. You have never seen such heartbreaking roses! The Graham Thomas suffered powdery mildew, and 4 of the 5 canes were totally black. Sunsprite fared a little better, with 3/5 canes dead. The roots were brittle and dry. Since it was two days from my phone call with DA, I called to let them know I received the initial shipment, and how sad these roses were. They were incredibly apologetic, even though it wasn't their fault the post office decided to hang onto a box clearly marked LIVE PLANTS all over it. I received my promised replacments via UPS and they look gorgeous. DA advised me to go ahead and soak the first roses in some water and pot them up ... they may just survive. For all you catalogue collectors, you have GOT to get a DA catalog. The pictures are simply gorgeous, and info on the roses is topnotch. DA also adds information about the background of the naming of each of his roses, which is humorous, interesting and sometimes heart breaking. He is also honest about which roses are prone to certain diseases and anticipated growth for different areas (these roses are "born and bred" in the UK, and growing habits are different in the US). But the pixs are truly stunning!