Comments regarding Gardener's Choice

I ordered the tomato tree. It finally arrived and it was dead! I emailed the company and never heard back from them. I would never reccommend this company or use them ever again. Thank goodness I only lost around $15. Buyer beware! They are ripping off America!

I just recieved my plants yesterday - 3 lavendar plants, 3 tomato trees, 2 broccoli plants, 2 cauliflower plants, and 1 indoor strawberry hanging plant. Everything looked nearly dead if not dead except for 1 lavendar plant. I am posting this as neutral for now and give the plants some time survive. they did not look any better this morning, maybe to early to tell. i will comment back if i need to change this to positive or negative. Just like so many others, i saw this AFTER i ordered. what was i thinking, i usually do my research.

I ordered the basic $10 deal and when my credit card statement arrived the amount was $61.85.

On a conference call with Gardener's Choice and the credit card dispute department, the gardener's choice rep agreed to cancel all charges if I refused the shipment.

I refused the shipment but the post office trail shows no arrival at gardener's choice.

I believe there is something dishonest going on.

Gardener's choice may have been doing the scanning and discarded the shipment.

I have the refusal receipt from the post office.

I am complaining to:
FTC
USPS
a US senator I went to high school with...Kay Bailey Hutchison
multiple online complaint sites
craig's list
many many many blogs blogs

I am retired and have plenty of time.

Online I saw many complaints from people who got fouled up with the telephone order and was billed $60+ instead of $10.

I want my $61.85 back!

There are several complaints like mine. I wanted the $10 deal and got the price boosted to $61.85

I must admit, when I first found this site and read all of the negative comments about Gardener's Choice, I panicked because I had just completed an order with them! I called the customer service number and spoke with, admittedly, a person who clearly did not like their job and surely did not care one way or another if I was worried about my recent order. She was not rude, mind you, just not very helpful. At any rate, I had already made the purchase and really wanted to believe that I would soon have 10' tall tree tomatoes, producing 60 lbs of tomatoes annually. Wouldn't you? To my great pleasure, they were shipped within the week of my order! I was well on my way to tomato nirvana!

Okay, it took a couple of weeks to finally receive my "plants". I did not realize that there was a slower method of shipping than USPS First Class but, I suppose I should have assumed the existence of a second and third class though, truly, my mind was overwhelmed at the thought of gargantuan tomato trees, bursting with delicious, sweet, juicy and firm tomatoes! It just never crossed my mind. So, 7-14 business days (seemed like a year!) after shipping, I got my order.

I, like many of you leaving negative comments probably, expected to find a crate of spring-loaded little plants that, given only a few moments of sunlight and water, would burst forth in awe-inspiring growth and quickly start dropping me tomatoes! This was not the case my friends. I, instead, found little "nurseryman's pots", packed with soil and seed along with a single page of instructions. Once again, the expectations exceeded reality. Was I mad? No. Even when my wife, skeptical all along about these "wonder" tomato trees, giggled at my completely anti-climactic package (insert joke here), I kept a smile on my face. Why, you ask? Because I got exactly what I had ordered and I got it in exactly the time I was promised.

It is true that the video of these products make them seem magical and wonderous but, if you read and look carefully, there is an abundance of fine print. Things like "your tree tomatoes will be shipped in ready-to-plant nurseryman's pots". They, indeed, are in those very pots! The kind of paper-pulp pots that can be planted directly in the earth, without disturbing the young roots. Yes, you have to germinate them first but, if they told you all the bad news in the loud voice that they use for the good aspects, would you still buy them?

Next, please note the "please allow 4-6 weeks for delivery". I got my order in far less than 4 weeks, although it seemed like an eternity! Sometimes, an online nursery will hold your shipment until it is optimum planting time in your area, even if you are on the edge of your seat. They are just protecting us from ourselves and ensuring their plants have the best-possible chance at achieving a successful outcome for their customers while, at the same time, reducing the number of returns.

Anyway, I am currently germinating my plants. I have 3 of the Giant Tree Tomatoes and two of the Big Early tomato plants ("free if you pay shipping" but really they're obligatory as they do not give you a choice.). I gave one of the Big Early plants to a friend to try.

I will follow up on this review as the plants mature but, so far, I have gotten exactly what I was promised. I hope others will be encouraged to give this company another shot, we may all be surprised. And, if I forget to follow up and you are driving in Northern California and happen to glance out the window and swear you see a tomato tree the size of a telephone pole, you know my tomato dreams came true!

Ordered Tomato seeds from Gardeners Choice. Received shipment within 7-10 days. Read instructions. Planted seeds sprouted mutiple healthy plants in each pod within 7-10 days. I see most of the complaints have to do with dead plants and difficulty making contact with the company for refunds of the same. I can't imagine ordering a live plant through the mail - especially vulnerable young plants - sorry folks, not a good idea. Unless you want the thrill of germinating your plants from scratch, stick to your local nursery. JB from CA

I originally placed a small order for six asparagus plants, while I was still hoping to get my full order from another source. The six turned out to be twelve beautiful crowns, and when I cancelled the Parks order I immediately ordered another 24 from Gardeners Choice. They came quickly and are absolutely gorgeous, large plants. I also got pepper plants which arrived well developed, healthy and at a very reasonable price. I will be giving this company the business I formerly gave to Parks. (at least till they let me down)

I ordered trees....and had excellent results. They were low priced and small, but healthy. My "Cherry Hedge" prunus tomentosa...were very nice. I've ordered a few each year for the last 5 years and now have a beautiful and productive hedge. I've also received their Monroe peach trees and their "strawberry trees" which are cornus kousa. The ones I bought last year are budding out and look good.

My 85 year old father recently purchased $132. worth of tomato plants by check. We opened the box when they arrived to find poor root stock some with no leaves. In addition he was shorted 24 plants. My attempts like those of others to find anything that resembles customer service has been futile. Emails phone calls and no responses. I intend to file several complaints with the BBB and to contact the Attorney Generals office. This company is a rip off and should not be allowed to do business. Unfortunately they use UPS if they had used the Postal system complaints could put them out of mail order business for sure;.

This is the worst email order that I have ever made! The website is totally unfriendly. Making the order is a chore because of the poor website. Once the order is placed, you can't get in touch by phone or email. Finding the place called status of order is easy - but then you get nothing. You call the number and wait and wait and wait, and then you get a dial tone. After several weeks, you finally are allowed to actually see something that indicates the status of your order. It says your order has been shipped. Several weeks later, you get an email from UPS that says your order has just shipped,and then that it has been delivered. Guess where it was delivered - another address which turns out to be the post office. The only telephone prompt that will answer is the one to place an order. They will give you no information and tell you that you must call customer service who will not open for another 1 1/2 hours. We are about to go on vacation, and still do not have our plants. Getting in touch with this company is impossible - never again will I order from Gardener's Choice.

The website to order from is confusing. They ask the same question many times and when you think you have ordered the $10 version a window pops up, thanks you for your order without a chance to confirm. Then you look at the total of the order and now it is $60. I emailed of the misunderstanding, no reply. I received the product in a timely fashion but soil was tossed about in each pkg. I went ahead and set them up as instructed. Several did not sprout at all, some shot a small sprout and died, and a few lasted a week longer and then died. I hcall the customer service number to try to get replacements and I am prompted to push numbers but when I do I am diconnected. Three emails later still no response from company.

My grandmother ordered from this company and had similar complaints as many of you have listed. She tried to return the order and asked for a refund which never arrived. I helped my grandmother get her "refund" by doing the following: if you ordered with a credit card (even if it's just a debit card) call Visa or MasterCard (or which ever card you used) and tell them you want to file a claim. They will ask you what happened and you need to explain to them that you were not satisfied with the product and the company is not working with you to obtain a refund. They will likely send you paperwork to fill out and sign. When you return the paperwork to the credit card company, they will take steps to contact the company on your behalf, if the company does not comply, Visa, MasterCard, etc...will "take" the money back and refund it to your card. It generally takes about 30 days, but the wait is better than not getting the refund! (Often times, when a company is contacted by the credit card company they rush to issue you a refund so they do not endanger their ability to accept credit cards.)

A couple of weeks ago my husband and I saw the info-mercial on TV and decided to get online and order the Giant Tomato Tree. So we got online and ordered the tomatos and some peppers. When all was said and done we ended up with 30-40 misc. items and an ending price of 67.00. We did not want this entire order and did not want to pay the price so the next morning I called and tried to cancel or make the order right. They told me that the order was already on the truck and would be here in 7-10 days. I was told that I could send the entire package back if I wanted my money back. So I waited for the order to come. When I saw the small box I couldn't believe how so many plants had fit inside. As I opened the box to my suprise there were tons of planters with only dirt inside. Where were the plants. We had just spent 67.00 on seeds. I called and wanted to know where my plants were. Everything said it would be plants(magazine, TV, web-site). When I told the man on the phone that I didn't receive plants he just said "that is how they come." So dealing with what I had I did what the instructions said and after two weeks there was nothing. We decided to dump a couple of them out and investigate. There was nothing!!!!!! but dirt. I packaged them up and decided on Monday to call and get my money back. I talked to a nice man who said he would refund my money to the credit card within 3-5 days. I wanted to know where to send the dirt filled containers back to and he said to keep them. If these were real seeds then wouldn't they want them back?? I guess we'll see if I get my money back.

Placed 2 orders each stating $7.95 shipping charges. Received one small item from each order(in 2 boxes) and was charged $9.95 shipping for one box and $14.95 for the other. Could not get through to cust serv on their web site(timed out repeatedly), was disconnected each time I pressed #2(cust serv) when calling them..Nor do they respond to emails. I have reported them to Consumer Reports. I agree with others that this company should not be in business.

no custumer serv and a rip off over charging and olny sending a small portion of order

I have had a similar bad experience with Gardener's Choice as the other responders. I only wish I had read "Dave's" before I ordered from them. Their lack of availability either by website or phone is totally reprehensible and they should not be in business. Reporting them to BBB is probably useless. I thnk the idea of a class action suit may be the only solution. Does anyone out there have any idea how to go about this?

I ordered the tomato tree, and Topsy turvy tomato hanger. I received dirt in a box, crushed peat containers and couldn't find any seeds; and flower bag hangers.
I called got hung up on, called back thinking at that time I might have gotten disconnected till I read the reports. The next person said it wasn't their department; and I would have to find the complaint department on my own; she could not transfer me or give me their number. After reading I am glad I only spent $34.50 I was tempted to buy more with economy being so bad so I could give food to my neighbors. This company is BAD NEWS. . . . . . .
Any body know a good attorney; we all could have a class action suit.
It is just being taken; this is almost as bad as AIG's CEO and their bonus with taxpayer money.
Thanks

I had tragic results ordering from Gardener's Choice. I ordered one tomato tree from their automated computer, but it sent 6 orders and hiked the price up to about $65!!! A huge rip off!!! Instead of plants they sent seeds in planters which looked about like two egg cartons partially crushed upon arrival. Very irresponsible. I called them and got very lackadaisical response after waiting 20 minutes or more. I put a dispute in on my credit card on them. Will contact BBB. Their TV Infomercial is a SCAM. Where's Uncle Sam?!? He should put them OUT OF BUSINESS!!! NOW!!!

At the risk of seeming redundant: Gardener's Choice STINKS!!!!! After "timing out" umpteen times trying to track my order, I called and called - finally talked to a person who was rude and just outright nasty. Today I called the number I found on this site and spoke with an actual human (Elizabeth) who possessed a triple-digit IQ and a civil attitude, who promised to cancel the order - which I'd been assured last week was already shipped. I will dishonor the charge to my credit card and I so wish I'd seen all these comments before attempting to business with this firm. I have little confidence that the transaction will be cancelled from their end. I advise all and sundry: NEVER NEVER NEVER do business with this company. They are the gardening equivalent of MapQuest, which I'm convinced is the spawn of Satan. But that's just me.

I placed an order online for three items on Janurary 29. I live in South Texas, so I expected my order sometime in early March. Today I checked with my credit card company and the cost of the order had not posted to my card. I assumed that the order had not yet shipped. I went to their web page to check on the status of my order. The page is inoperable, kept timing out. So I called the company. After 30 minutes of being told someone would be with me shortly, I hung up.
Now after seeing all these negative comments, I am ensuring that my credit card company does not accept the charge should it come in later.

Does anyone have negative comments regarding "Gardener's Supply Company??

My first time on this site and my first posting. My post is a Positive towards those members who took the time to warn others of the practices of this rip-off weed ridden company. Unfortunately, Gardener's Choice is just one of many scams taking advantage of good honest people, so please, before you buy anything from anyone, take a few minutes to check the company or the product out and look for feedback, comments, reviews, and comparisons. You'll end up saving time, money, and aggravation.

Yesterday a friend of mine gave me a copy of the Gardeners' Choice catalog, telling me that she had ordered a tree that grows various kinds of fruits. I read the catalog and became a little suspicious when I couldn't find any details about the individual plants or the company. The pictures and descriptions made me laugh. I especially liked the Golden Egg tree along with the other giant zooming bigger mammoth plants and vegetables.

I never buy anything until I've checked it out and when I Googled Gardeners' Choice and their products one of the sites I found was Dave's Garden. The feedback confirmed my suspicions. So to those of you who shared their experiences, thank you. I will be sure to pass on the warnings. There is a very active gardening club here and I will make sure that everyone knows to stay away from this company.

I don't know that anyone checks with the BBB before doing business with a company, but you really should file a complaint with them when things go sour. It's important because the BBB is supposed to log each and every complaint received and share this information when asked. But don't put any faith in them resolving anything because they have no enforcement teeth. Those belonging to the BBB pay dues, so in the interest of preserving BBB income stream, they try to get everyone to work it out amongst themselves. I would copy any complaints made to the BBB to the State Attorney. Oh yeah ... and just because someone is a member of the BBB doesn't make them trustworthy.
_________________
Gardening and music .... curative therapy. If I knew the world was going to end tomorrow I'd still plant something.

March 22, 2008 I ordered the set of 3 Giant Tree Tomatoes w/ free 3 Big Earlys and 3 Indoor Tomatoes w/ free 3 Sugar Baby Tomatoe Plants. I waited and then checked my order status which their web site said they would ship all orders in time for the proper planting time. So, I waited. Finally several months later I called and was told I must be lying because All of their orders are delivered and all of their customers are happy. The customer rep. inferred that my order would be re-shipped. Here it is nearly a year later and still no plants. I just tried to phone them but kept getting cut-off. I E-mailed them about my unhappy customer relationship. Now I'm going to file a grievence with the Texas State Attorney Generals Office. I wish I had read the On-line reviews about this company before I ordered. They are the First to RIP-ME-OFF.
I will never do business with them again.

The worst thing about this company that I experienced was the long delay in shipping. While i ordered the tomato plants in april, they stated that they will ship them when appropriate for my growing season. By the end of may, I received these cheap cups with soil and seeds in them. They did not clearly state whether or not I would be getting plants, and they apparently shipped seeds. with the growing season already going, I had to start these seeds and have them grow outdoors, but they were already at a size disadvantage versus the other tomato plants that I had bought from a local greenhouse. of the ~12 "plants" that I bought 2 of them actually made it to full size tomato plants. they were not anything special either. I did not see any credit card charge problems in my order despite what other complaints are. Despite the delays and getting seeds so late in the season, all that they gave me as "compensation" was coupons for 2009's plants. I dont think I am going to order from them again and I strongly recommend that noone else does.

received dead twigs for trees, that I ordered. no response to emails sent.complete ripoff.no answer on phone.etc.

On May 10 I ordered two planters from Gardener's Choice. When I had recieved no response from them after 2 weeks I began to e-mail (almost 20 times) and call them. After a month and a half with no response to any of my e-mails and being unable to reach them by phone, I called Spring Nurseries and proceeded to talk to a representative there who explained that my item was backordered. I told her I wanted to cancel the order and she said it was no problem and I thought I was done with Gardener's Choice. In late August I received a charge on my Credit card for the planters that I had cancelled. When I called the customer service line I talked to representative who told me that there was nothing about a cancellation and proceeded to deny my claims that the ompany was difficult to reach. When I began to question their business practices, he hung up on me. I called back and asked to speak to supervisor and was put through to the same person who hung up on me previously. Even though my order was not shipping until the following day he refused to do anything to stop it and told me mark the box refused and send it back and then when I asked a question he hung up on me again. I filed a complaint with the BBB, but the response from Gardener's Choice was basically calling me a liar and untruthful in my statement to the BBB. They have received over 650 complaints with the BBB, yet are still endorsed by them. I have definately learned my lesson in regards to companies endorsed by the BBB. Check out their complete history rather than go by a seal on the site.

I am having problems with them also. I only live 117 miles from them and plan to visit. Did all of you know that not filling or only partially filling orders is wire fraud and a federal offence. If I do not get what I paid for or the gaurentees I will contact the FBI.

On July 10,08, I order1 package of grass seeds. I order the seeds over there automatic phone line, which was a dumb mistake. I thought I was paying about $19.95 for a 5 pound bag, instead I recevided 3/ 1pound bag of seeds and my account was charged $187.96. I received no invoice in the box with the seeds.

I called 269-621-2481. I told them that if I didn't get my money back I will contact my personal attorney. Taylor asked me to stop cusing and maybe we can figure something out. He didn't understand why they didn't send me the right order and said that he was sorry and he would refund my money to my account in two weeks (August 7). He was very nice and I will check back with you after August . I will also tell you if the grass growns.

I placed a small order on June 25, 2008. I have not received it yet and it is July 21. I have sent two e-mails to Customer Service -which have not been responded to as of yet, as well as several phone calls - always a busy signal.
Has anyone turned them over to the Better Business Bureau?

Big mistake ordering from this company. I trusted their tv commercial....first mistake. I called them up and got an automated voice taking credit card numbers.....I was insane for giving them mine. I thought I was ordering their tv special amount and price......the automated voice continued trying to sell me more and there was no option to talk to a real person, so I hung up. I figured this scam outfit would bill my credit card, and lo and behold they billed me for over twice the amount and I haven't received the product yet. I called cc company and put their billing into dispute. State Attorney Generals or the Feds should shut this outfit down.

I'm glad I found this site before ordering the 2 bags of grass seed I was falling for. The only place I've seen it advertised is the TVG horse racing channel on Dish network and I hope RFDTV doesn't get involved with this outfit. I'm sorry for all of you that were ripped by this company but thanks to your comments it saved me some grief. Pays to research these scam ads.

Ordered 2 bags of grass seed , they said will take 2 -4 weeks but it has been 2 months and after countless emails to them , and tried to call customer sevrice, not working so I called the line to order , took forever to connect without any success, NEVER BUY FROM THIS HORRBILE BUSINESS!

They should close!

I had an absolutely terrible experience with Gardner's Choice. I have ended up having to file a complaint through my cc company. I seldon write reviews, but in this case I think it merits one. I will spare you the details, but I highly recommend that you do not do business with this company. Find another business to order your plants from. If not, you will likely be disappointed. Just look at all the negative reviews listed here....I'm not alone.

I ordered a fruit salad tree in 06. The first one came with totally dried out roots and did not live. It was replaced...however the ad...which I still have, said the tree would be sent at 3-4 ft. ht. The ones sent were about 1 ft. Last year, no blossoms and all the leaves are the same shape...I still have the grafting tapes on the tree...and was told by a customer ser. person last year to leave them on and wait to see what would happen this year. Here we are at 08...all the leaves are the same, and no blossoms. I doubt that there are 5 different kinds of fruit grafts on this tree...probably was never grafted...they probably just wrapped tape at intervals to make it look like grafts. None of the leaves look like any of my peach trees leaves as I was told the root was from. Actually looks kind of like a box elder tree. Like most of you...busy signals were all I got from Gardener's Choice. I did send an email with pix of the tree...and two follow-up email letters...NO RESPONSE.
I found Dave's Garden and the alternate number, (269-621-2259)... thank goodness. Finally spoke to the cust. serv. head. She was a tough cookie. Even though I have the printed statement from their website of two seasons ago stating that..."full money back guarantee or free replacement at any time!"...Wanda said that wasn't going to happen. I could not have my money back. They were finished shipping for the season...so, no tree, either this year. My name/address was taken...we shall see what 09 brings. (Wanda also said I had no right to be angry). I wish one of the choices for the experience could be VERY, VERY Negative!!!

I am so very unhappy with this company. Not only did they overcharge me by over $12.00, they sent me dirt clods! No plants, dirt clods with a packet of .tomato seeds is all I got. The same for my pepper plants. Just clods of dry dirt with instructions to soak and plants would be growing within a week. Right a month later and not even a sprout.. I received no invoice in my two tiny boxes these dirt clods came in. Oh but they did include a if you are not satisifed, we will double your order next year warranty. If 10 clods dont grow this year why would anyone think 20 will next year. UGH! I have emailed and called numerous times with nothing back. I finally went to my bank yesterday to have the charges reversed. We will see how that goes.

Early this year, I ordered a total of 20 tomato plants. When they arrived, they had been baked by the heat of the shipping environment. Placing the plants in my ICU area, I managed to bring 14 of them back from the brink. An email from me brought a phonecall from Deborah. We spent a lot of time on that call discussing the plants and the shipping via US Postal. She promised to send replacement plants via UPS and did so. When I opened the box, the new plants were the best. She also had sent several extra tomato plants of other types to try. Delighted with the company, I placed a second order for Tunbling Tom plants. These didn't survive the US Postal trip either. Another Email, and this time, I received a refund. I'm going to give a neutral rating, because my problems with the product ended up not costing me money. However, I did lose precious growing time. I'm 40 miles northeast of Atlanta, and it's important to use the early time to get the plants going before the weather shows us how "Hot-Lanta" gots its name.

I placed an order in April, the website said my order would be here by May 31, 2008. I received my order today June 11,2008 even though I had emailed them on three occassions telling them if the plants were not here by May 31, 2008 to cancel the order, they ignored my request and billed my credit card the first week of May. The plants I ordered, tomato asparagus and lemon grass, all dead. The count was not right and the asparagus, I don't believe is even asparagus, as it came in dried up root form , no plant. You can never reach anyone by phone and they never email you back. Save yourself a lot of trouble and do not order from them.

I ordered 2 # of fast growning grass seed from a TV commercial. Received the merchandise which has not grown -- not even sprouted. Today was looking at my bank statement and they've charged me an additional $60 for stuff I have not ordered. Tried calling and was either placed on hold with horrible music or reached a busy signal.

Finally -- with help from my banker, called a different number and the lady told me they would credit my account only upon receipt of a letter from me.

Very unhappy with my buying experience from Gardner's Choice. Wish I'd read the reviews BEFORE ordering.

Feb. 2008 I placed an order for topsy turvy tomato planters.
They charged my credit card for the full amount i april, 2008.
I have made four phone calls and five e-mails to no avail.

raymondcharles3@aol.com

On 5/14/08 my credit card was charged $41.89. This should then have resulted in me receiving my full order. I have not yet received my strawberry tree. Additionally, of the 12 cherry hedges they sent, only 10 of the 12 arrived healthy. Two have yet to show any buds, and the stems are dying despite my efforts to save them. I order 12 cherry hedges from Carol Wright 2 weeks prior to order the dozen from GC and they all came in healthy--and were twice the size of GC's.

The issue of you them not sending me the free giant sunflower seeds, and instead sending pumpkin seeds and flower seeds isn't important, though of note to mention.

I received an email from GC yesterday advertising strawberry trees. This is what prompted me to look into why mine hasn't arrived. I've been trying to call their phone number for several hours now, but whether I press option 1 (order dept) or 2 (customer service), I get a busy signal. If I push nothing, and just wait, I get an automated voice saying that their voice message system is currently unavailable, and to "try back later".

This only adds to my dissatisfaction with this company.

I contacted the number provided by someone here on 5/13, and they offered to refund my account. Further, I contacted another company found on this website (Whitman Farms, in Oregon), and found a wonderful woman who is now out trying to find a tree for me. I'll follow up with a positive review on Whitman Farms, whether or not she can locate a tree for me, because I appreciate her effort.

Bad plants. I recently received an order consisting of some 15 tomato planrs such as Purple Cherokee, Black Crim, Siberian and Black Russian. I also received some eggplant, cucumber, cabbage and squash plants. All were decomposed and mushy on receipt. Of the order, I expect only 3 of tomato plants, one eggplant, one cucumber, 3 squash and two cabbage plants to survive. Besides being received in a state of advanced decomposition, it was readily apparent the plants lacked chloraphil as they were very yellow. I think I will stay with Gurney, Burpee, Henry Field, Parks and Victory in the future. I seldom lose any of their plants. The attraction to Gardener's Choice had been the specialty plants, such as black tomatoes.