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!!!!!!!

[KnackeredHag]

I ordered online from Gardening Express on March 19th and still no delivery...I contacted them to ask for an expected delivery date, understood mid pandemic would mean delays. I had an email back which said 'We can see your order was placed and was successful, a courier will be in touch when ready to despatch'. No date mentioned! Never again will buy plants online.

[ChubbyPigeon]

Ive normally had really good service from them. I didnt order anything this year though

I think its a bit unfair to slate a companies customer service right now.

Also I believe with regards to your rights for goods bought online the 14 day cooling off period starts when you take ownership of the goods.

[wowfudge]

You definitely get what you pay for with Sarah Raven - by far the best packaging and best quality plants I've had this year. They despatch as things are ready to plant so I had three deliveries for five different items. Mind you, I did manage to buy the world's smallest shrub from Sarah Raven, but it was my own fault for not realising it would be tiny!

[AnnoyedByAlfieBear]

My mum has had the same issues with Thompson and Morgan. Dreadful service.

[HowLongCanICallitBabyWeight]

Same experience! Won't use again

[WindFlower92]

Well I've had excellent service from Mr Fothergills! They said at the start of lockdown they would process orders in different stages depending on dates, and actually everything I ordered arrived within a couple of days, all in good condition. Recommend them!

[Bluemoooon]

They've all been over run with demands. All the seed suppliers, garden centres etc
T&M took weeks to get my my order for tomato plants and seeds but I got them all in the end and all are now thriving in my garden and greenhouse.
Poor buggars give them a break.

[beethecrackon24995]

i ordered a few plug plants from them, nothing much. ordered end of march, still waiting (mid june). ffs.....

[NelliePig]

Yup.
Ordered a clematis. Dead.
Ordered some jasmines. Dead.
Got refunded for both. Waited a few weeks and assumed the long postage rush had died down.
Ordered 2 summer bedding mixes, should of received 40 mixed plants. Recieved 40 mixed delosperma? Order refunded.
At the same time as the bedding mixes I ordered trailing lobelia. 6 weeks later and after contacting customer services it's now a July dispatch. So like over 2 months for delivery of them.
So cancelled and they refunded for me..

Honestly, I would never order from them again now 😂

[Gunpowder]

It’s nice to hear the positive reviews for Sarah Raven. I’ve got a 20% catalogue somewhere and I didn’t know whether they were good or not. I’ll use them if my local nursery doesn’t have what I want in stock.

[Foxyloxy1plus1]

I ordered bedding plants mid May and a couple of tomato plants. The confirmation said the bedding plants would be delivered end of July. So no point really, two and a half months after ordering and towards the end of the season.

It took them two weeks to respond to the cancellation email I sent and haven’t had a refund yet. The tomato plants arrived last week. They had been six days in transit, so we’re pretty rubbish when they were shoved through the letter box.

I want to leave a ship it review,, but don’t seem able to do that. I’ll never use them again.

[FlamingoAndJohn]

Here we go. 20% off at Secret Gardening Club. www.secretgardeningclub.co.uk/pages/voucher/WFPSJBLN

[Msmcc1212]

Never as good quality as Sarah Raven but so much cheaper. I’ve had a few hits with T&M and few poor experiences. Bought house plants and some ok but badly packed so some a bit damaged. I think you do need to cut the some slack though. Especially as they rely on post service delivering promptly.

[TrainsandDiggers]

The best place to buy online (house) plants I find is //www.stupidegg.co.uk. Weird name, but amazing variety of plants and really excellent customer service! I’ve had quite a few from them.

[woodhill]

Mine have always been pretty good

[nodogz]

T&M awful quality plants (2019 order)
Sutton's rubbish customer service and delivery (2019 order)

Gardening Express 2020 - ordered early May still not arrived or any communication despite contacting customer service.

Used a local nursery who advertised on Facebook who delivered to my door in three days. The plants were outstanding and the price was great. I'll buy so much from them in future!

Also I bought two banana trees on eBay for hardly anything and they are going brilliantly!

[Fcukthisshit]

I@mrsrhodgilbert I ordered from gardening express too - placed the order on 5th of April. My bamboo (all 20cm of it) arrived last week. Cost me £25 and was expecting something much bigger that what I got. I wouldn’t use them again.

Farmer Gracy on the other hand, arrived quickly, was good value for money and came beautifully packaged. I can’t wait to order from them again!

[didireallysaythat]

I buy plug plants on eBay directly from nurseries. Sure you can't get every single plant under the sky but I've only had great plants

[drivingtotestmyeyes]

So glad I saw this, had literally filled my basket with these, will try somewhere else! Thanks OP

[Bootikin]

Just to provide recommendations - Sarah Raven plants ordered at Easter were excellent and very well packed. Took a while but worth waiting for. David Austin roses ordered at height of lockdown arrived much earlier than expected, beautiful plants. “Mail order trees” order took six weeks to arrive, had to keep chasing them, half the order was great, a couple of plants pathetically poor and rubbish, so I wouldn’t use them again but SR and DA were totally worth the prices. So at least some places are good!

[mrsrhodgilbert]

I’ve just received an email from Gardening Express asking for a review. Hmmm...not sure they’d publish what I’d like to say

[greathat]

The best place I've found to buy plants is hayloft, but they are pricier

[Magicpaintbrush]

I can reccommend Sienna Hosta for anybody wanting to buy hostas - we ordered 3 from them and they arrived promptly and in perfect health.

[TheSpottedZebra]

Another vote for Secret Gardening Club! Today they're doing a mystery box offer of 15 plants for £20 see
I probably need this.

[Loveislikeamothnotbutterfly]

Always was going to be dodgy ordering plants 🌱 in the middle of a pandemic!
I’ve stuck to art and fragrances and I think I’m developing an online shopping addiction.