To warn you all NEVER to buy plants from Thompson and Morgan!!

[Sheepareawesome]

At the start of May, with the garden centres closed, I thought why not order some plants online for the first time. Looked through my Gardeners' World mag and saw some ads for Thompson and Morgan. They looked good, their website was good and had quotes from satisfied customers, so I placed an order for 3 items.

BIG MISTAKE!!

The first 2 deliveries took one week to arrive from being posted, so were obviously dead on arrival. Emailed them (website said phones were off so email only) to complain and ask to cancel remainder of order which hadn't been sent yet as I didn't want to receive yet more dead plants. Got a reply with an apology and then a refund for the dead plants, but she said I couldn't cancel the remaining item that wasn't sent at that time as it was being picked and they couldn't stop it being sent. She said to reject or return the delivery and when they get the items back they would refund.

Hmm, bit strange but I thought OK as they said picking took 5 days so I was expecting them quite soon so should get the refund quite soon. That was 28th May and they still haven't been sent! Or refunded!

I looked into Consumer law as I was sure I had the right to cancel, and sure enough it says online you can cancel any time after placing the order up to 14 days after you receive the items. Since I haven't received the items, nor have I had an email telling me they have been sent, (nor an email telling me they are delayed from the original date of 21 days which has now long passed) I emailed them again 2 days ago, yet again asking to cancel the remainder of the order.

Yet again I was told they can't cancel as it is being picked. I asked them about the Consumer Contract Law in my email and they completely ignored this - just sent the bog standard 'sorry we can't cancel send it back if you don't want it sorry for any inconvenience' email.

So here I am, 6 weeks after ordering items that were supposed to take 3 weeks, still waiting for a company who so far have taken 19 days to do something they said would take 5 days, to send me an order I don't want which I then have to reject or return to them and then wait to get a refund.

If they can pick and post an order they can cancel it. What a complete farce of a company! Looking at their Trust Pilot and the various FB complaints groups, I am amazed they are still in business. Shame I didn't look before I ordered...

And to top it all, I paid using PP so I thought that would be OK so I tried to dispute it. PP opened the dispute and I got an email saying my email was passed to T & M so to wait for them to reply.....not the most helpful!

I expect I will get my money back at some point but for goodness sake how crap a company is this?!?

Anyone who can't get to a garden centre and who is considering ordering online - I strongly recommend you AVOID Thompson and Morgan! AAAARRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!

Do not "ask" them about consumer law - tell them.

Now write a letter of complaint and tell them! Not an e-mail or worse a "twitter" as those are not important; no one takes notice as they are routine.

I too bought some "Jumbo" tomato plants which were about 3inches high and pretty dead. Not from T&M and did at least get a full refund without quibble

@Sheepareawesome

I haven't used them but a Facebook group I'm on are very complimentary of DT Brown.

Luna and cherries Primrose delivered some of my plants (ordered before lockdown) but only half the ones stated on the packing note. I couldn’t even plant those ones because they cancelled my compost and pots. I tried calling the customer service number on the packing note which I discovered after holding for 30 minutes went through to Ryman’s the stationers. I’ve received a partial refund for the compost and pots but not the plants which didn’t arrive let alone the dead ones. I’ve sent four emails in the last two months and had no replies and their other telephone number is disconnected. They are opportunistic and the customer service is non existent. I’m beginning to think Primrose is barely a garden business at all, just some weird scam for ‘borrowing’ money from consumers.

I ordered lots of plants from Hayloft - what arrived was so poor, they refunded straight away. Then another parcel turned up despite it supposedly being cancelled - two massive slugs had chomped their way through the contents! Glad to be able to support local nurseries again.

I have bought plants from CJ WIldfoods....they started out as selling food for birds and have added plants to feed bees and butterflies.

The plants all arrived in good shape quite fast and are all doing well and the bees are happy

It is worth considering how much you can help wildlife just by planting flowers bees love to feed on.

I ordered some plug plants from them, most of which have now died but that might be my fault.

Alternatively I ordered a delivery from a local nursery and the plants were exceptional quality.

I had an order from Hayloft with two delivery dates. Ended up coming in 5 batches and one is still outstanding but they have emailed to apologise for the delay. The plants have been really good though. They’re well packaged and come via Royal Mail.

Ordered one clematis from Primrose and although it took an age to come it was a really good size for the price.

Yep happened to me as well, we’ve emailed them to tell them that they arrived dead but are still waiting to hear back this was 3 weeks ago.

I’ve always had great plants from Thompson and Morgan including through wowcher. I just got three dwarf lilacs that were packed great and are doing well.

Sutton’s on the other hand, have been crap. I’ll never use them again. Got 20 mixed petunias for £35 and all 5 red ones were near dead on arrival and despite tlc died. I emailed them but have had no answer weeks later.
Same with a cosmos order I placed, 4 near dead but I haven’t emailed as I haven’t received a response re the petunias.

I don’t mind waiting for a reply but weeks later is a bit annoying, especially to a nicely worded email asking if anyone else has contacted them regarding the red ones, in case there was an issue with them. A response would’ve been nice!

I think to be fair to the companies, a lot of them are working with reduced staff as some were off, some will be shielding, whatever. Although you can have a poor experience with a plant supply company any time - I'm looking at you, J Parker, and you will never darken my door again - most companies manage a reasonable service most of the time. With Thompson & Morgan, I don't believe they are a nursery themselves, so they will be relying on others to be able to fulfil their obligations. I've ordered from them before with mixed results; the plants are good and healthy but they have had problems with supply, so I have had incomplete orders with some plants suddenly unavailable. I had an email from them recently advising that there was a delay on my two Abelias, but I should receive them soon. I was confused until I remembered I had ordered the Abelias in a lengthy order back in spring 2019 and they hadn't been included. In fact, that whole order came in in dribs and drabs, I think three parcels plus the Abelias that I still haven't had.

All of the proper, actual nurseries I've ordered from have been very very good. There have been delays with dispatch but they were clear about that from outset, so there is no cause for complaint. I did put in an order from Claire Austin and didn't get a confirmation email, forgot about it, then realised three weeks later that I hadn't had anything so emailed them to ask if there was a problem. They replied No, we got your order, will send confirmation email (they didn't) and plants arrived a week later. I was surprised as I'd ordered from them before without any issues. I can only assume their admin errors and lack of apology or communication is down to greatly reduced staff levels and just not enough time. Hopefully they will be back to their usual levels of service next year...

Nurseries I've used tend not to be the annual bedding type, but Strictly Daylilies, Peter Beales, Brookfield Plants and Sarah Raven have all been very good despite covid19. Gosh I've ordered a LOT this year

On a positive note, can I give another shout for David Austin roses. Good customer service and although a longer delivery time than usual, they arrived strong and healthy and are looking fabulous ❤️🌱

i ordered six periwinkles recently from JParkers and that all went well...one of them looked a little weary but they have all taken off nicely now they are planted.

Only gripe I could make is the box was clearly marked "THIS WAY UP ONLY" all over it, but helpfully the plants were laid in two rows of three in a head to toe fashion so whatever happened 3 of them would have been upside down!

I ordered from Rocket Gardens - took a while to arrive but they made it clear on the website and also sent me emails to keep me updated. Everything arrived well packaged, In good condition and alive. Now it’s up to me to keep them going! I think they are on the pricier side though.

At least you got a reply from T&M.

We had 2 different packets of tomato seeds from T&M.
On the packet it says 100% satisfaction guaranteed or your money back.

We had 2 or 3 seed germinate from a total of 40 seeds so my other half emailed customer service.

We have not had a reply as yet, several weeks later.

Oh and I second @goldfinchfan for cj wildlife, I’ve mentioned them on here before and I’ve never had any problems.

Also what @minniemoll said about morrisons plants, they’ve been great years on the trot-especially their snapdragons. Really good, strong plants. Always had good success with b&m too 🌺

You just reminded me I still haven't got a refund or replacement for my dead plants from them either. I emailed them weeks ago.

Agree OP they're horrendous. Didn't have most of my order in stock (until 2021 on their system) yet happily took my money and wouldn't reply to my emails asking for a refund.

I had to threaten them with legal action on social media before they replied to me, but still waiting for the actual refund.

Check out your local garden centres. The ones near me take online or email orders and deliver. My NDN has had deliveries and says the garden centre was efficient and delivered next day.

Can I recommend Secret Garden Club?
I think I can do a recommend a friend thing where you get £5 off.
www.secretgardeningclub.co.uk/

Dobbies = useless. I would be charitable but I ordered in April and I’ve just heard that the bulk of the items (bedding plants) are coming 29th June. Not impressed especially as I live approx one mile from Dobbies and they wouldn’t reply to my attempts to cancel my order.

I've had mixed plants from Gardening express. Waited 6 weeks for my order from the beginning of April. When plants arrived they'd already flowered so wont see the benefit of them until next year now. Some were withered etc. Sister in law in the meantime ordered some plants for my birthday at the end of April. They arrived quicker and in better health. I think they have been overwhelmed.

I ordered from Sarah Raven for my newly renovated garden back in February. Lots arrived after lockdown as that's when it was ok to plant them and every single plant has done well.

May not be cheap but they all arrived watered and well packaged.

Equally I bought from Waitrose garden and was equally impressed. Excellent quality, well packaged, plants have done really well

Can recommend Brookside Nurseries best online plants I have ever bought

I think it's unfair to judge on how things have gone during lockdown. All businesses have had to deal with problems they never could have planned for.

If they're previously been OK I'd give them a second chance when things are back to normal.

I've used them over the past ten years, quality can be iffy but they're usually quick to respond to complaints and give refunds. They've had a difficult year too. Although, to be fair, I ordered from another company this year, anticipating problems but they were fine.