Lockdown plant-ordering problems
We stepped in to help resolve lockdown ordering problems
WHEN we wrote about how gardening brands had dealt with the vast increase in online orders during lockdown, we asked our readers to get in touch with their experiences.
Many of you did – thank you very much! – and your responses were a mixed bag of positive, negative and downright frustrating.
Former SMP Sir Brian Donohoe ordered some black petunia seeds, costing £16.96, from online retailers Eckman, only to be sent Petunia ‘Black Velvet’ plants in September when it was far too late to plant them out!
In his email to AG on September 23, Sir Brian said: “I am perplexed that having ordered two packets of ‘Black Velvet’ petunia seeds, I have been sent plants that, as annuals, are useless at this time of year and an affront to any gardener’s intelligence.”
When he contacted the company, he was asked to return the plants and pay for the postage himself before a refund – for the plants, not the postage – would be given.
Not one to let matters lie, Sir Brian phoned Eckman’s customer services department and said he would take the matter higher if he wasn’t given any satisfaction.
Far from being a novice gardener, Sir Brian plants over 4,500 annuals each year and worked with James Barnes, chairman of the Horticultural Trades Association, to get Scottish garden centres open again after Covid-19.
He said: “When something like this happens, I am like a terrier and I don’t give up.
“At first, they told me to post the plants back, but wouldn’t refund the postage, and when I explained the situation to one person, she put the phone down on me.
“I have a suspicion they basically wanted to offload the annuals that were of no more use to them.”
The principle of the matter
Eventually, Sir Brian talked to someone ‘with a bit of common sense’ and was given a full refund for the plants and postage.
“He said: “I am glad it’s settled, but it’s the principle of the matter that gets to me.” We also received a letter from Derek Robinson, who contacted YouGarden to buy some Dianthus ‘Memories’ plants in memory of his brother who died of dementia.
He had seen an advert for the plants in another weekly gardening publication.
The plants were ordered, but failed to arrive.
Mr Robinson wrote: “I said I had not received them, and they basically said ‘tough luck, we can’t help that’ and said they would do a refund.
“I was very disappointed about this. I have been waiting to contact the magazine with the advert, but they only do emails, and I don’t have a computer.”
As soon as we received Mr Robinson’s letter, AG editor Garry Coward-Williams emailed YouGarden, who immediately said they would contact and help him.
Garry said: “AG was the only gardening magazine that answered their reader’s phone queries during the lockdown. I know many are not on the internet, and I wanted them to be able to get through if they needed help.”
They deserve much credit
“It was an extremely challenging time for the mailorder companies and they have had to supply customers under unprecedented conditions. Every time I got in contact with them, they were always quick to respond and solve the problem for AG readers, so they deserve much credit,” said Garry.
Other disgruntled readers include Robert Maund, who emailed to say he had been treated unsatisfactorily by Thompson and Morgan.
He said: “My order of tomato plants arrived in such poor condition I had to bin it; the other half, a growbag, was to be delivered in October. I photographed the tomatoes and emailed my picture and
complained, telling them to cancel the growbag.
However, he heard nothing back so he emailed again, requesting they cancel the balance of the order.
Under pressure
The growbag eventually arrived in August, despite Mr Maund’s request for cancellation, along with a £5 T&M voucher.
He said: “I will never shop with them again. I know they were under pressure, but their systems are poor and to ignore a customer means you no longer want them.”
Reader Andrew Wyndham placed an order with Gardening Express on 5 April but was told that, due to unprecedented demand, his goods would be delayed, which he thought was ‘reasonable’. However, five months later, they still hadn’t arrived, despite his attempts to contact the company through their website.
He said: “The first messages were ignored, but the next were eventually answered with an apology and an assurance that a refund or replacement would be provided.”
Some good news at last!
He continued: “A month later, I contacted them again and was told they were working hard to resolve my problem.
“This week (it was 3 September when Mr Wyndham contacted us), the tickets were marked on their website as ‘closed’ although I have had no further communications from them.”
We contacted Mr Wyndham in mid-October to see if he had heard anything, and he said the company eventually refunded him after yet another call in September.
He said: “I’ve now unsubscribed from their mailing list and will not order from them again.”
But not everything is bad news. Bronwen Cobell had a much happier experience with an order of plants from Fibrex Nurseries.
She said: “I ordered three pelargoniums from Fibrex. They arrived quickly and beautifully packed in perfect condition. I have seen quite critical reviews about Fibrex, but that was certainly not my experience.”