Has anyone bought from Gardening Express?

[StillMedusa]

(An online retailer)? I ordered a large yukka back in early June.. and its still hasn't arrived and judging by the reviews it seems unlikely it will :(
My fault..I usually check reviews first but I was overly excited at finding the size of plant I wanted! I have emailed, (got a bland' we are experiencing delays' email back) and have now requested a refund.

Just wondered if anyone had actually had a positive experience?!

There was a long thread back in May, about problems with Gardening Express and their failure to deliver - you might like to read:

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/gardening/3908241-Gardening-Express-Primrose-and-Plantsavers?msgid=96662819

Yes they were inundated and very very slow. But my plants did arrive, well packed and lovely

I got really lucky. I ordered two Monterey goldcrest cypresses from Gardening Express which arrived two days later in glorious condition. I couldn't be more pleased. But it was pure luck.

It's crazy that you haven't received your yucca. I highly, highly recommend Charella Gardens. I've had nothing but success with this stellar company. The plants have been gorgeous beyond expectation and they've all thrived in my garden. And they tell you how much they have in stock. Delivery is superb.

Damn, that thread makes for pretty negative reading. I have emailed to demand a refund with mild threats of litigation (I know it's just a plant but it was a big expensive one!)

I've just remodelled my small but beautiful garden and there is a space just waiting for my yukka :(

Yes. My plants were eventually shipped, apparently, about two months after ordering... but never arrived with Hermes. Gardening Express completely ignored any attempt to contact them and turned off their phone lines. The courier were very clear that any contact had to come via the retailer. I had to get the money back through my credit card provider in the end (which, fortunately, was very easy).
Good luck!

They took my money and 3 weeks later have not delivered the products I ordered and do not reply to emails or messages in their chat service. Something very odd is happening - I wonder if they run out with people's money.

Not for a year or so but had lots of orders from them never a problem

I made the order and received the plants, but the plants are quality very poor. I requested return and refund, but they didn’t replied to the emails.

I did once. Never again. Service was awful, took ages to receive the plants. The prices are tempting but resist.

Express plants. Arrive Damaged and one had brown infected leafs won't be buying again.

Buyer beware! Terrible dishonest company. As an expert long standing gardener, I have ordered plants from many different Companies online, over the years. Gardening Exoress are the very worst by far! Substandard, poorly packed plants and no means of contacting them by phone. When I complained via email and sent photos of the poor quality plants, I was just fobbed off. Rogue Traders need to be informed of this unscrupulous company!

That what happened to me one of my plants had to be binned because of disease . Not buying from this company ever again. They say they refund any problems but just fobbed me of to .

I bought from them in 2023, I wasn't happy with the way the items had been packed. Pots were broken, mislabelled, one plant was in terrible condition and a tree had had all its branches pruned off to make it fit into a tiny box. I did complain and they replied politely, but I vowed I wouldn't order from them again.

It sounds like they've got worse!

Oh dear I've just ordered a holly bush from them 😬

Plants ordered easily, they took roughly 2 weeks to arrive (as indicated). Unfortunately, the packaging was an oversized, ripped cardboard box with 2 plants inside. The box ripped in transit (we assume), and was clearly battered. The plants inside were on top of each other with broken stalks, and we do not believe that - even with proper care- they will survive.
We contacted customer service for a resolution (we simply wanted the plants replaced by healthy plants). Levi responded and was pleasant and apologetic (except for insisting that the plants ought to survive with proper care, which was a little insulting to gardeners with more than half a century of experience), but entirely without any decision making ability beyond a £10 partial refund. This means that we are left with plants which are unlikely to bloom in future, and have paid handsomely for the privilege of nursing them to a fairly certain future (the rubbish bin).
Several issues:
-1. Packaging was not suitable. The box was far too big, and poorly constructed. We have regularly ordered from other sites (eg. Farmer Gracy) and have come to expect reasonably robust packaging.
-2. The courier service (Yodel) clearly didn't take the necessary care of the package, and allowed the plants to be tossed around in the back of a van, possibly upside down, resulting in a completely torn box and broken plants.
-3. The customer service agent needs to be empowered to replace plants like-for-like in events like this. We didn't want a refund. We wanted healthy plants. We would have accepted a full refund, but this was not forthcoming either. As it is, we have paid for shoddy products and service. Very, very poor.

Oh dear - I'm awaiting a delivery for around 10 plants that are yet to arrive two weeks after the order was placed. I'm quite worried now.

I’ve been trying to get a refund from gardening express for an order that I placed on the 1st of May this year ! And I have sent lots of emails to the customer service team and eventually they emailed back on Saturday the 28th of October and asked me for the reference number so I managed to find it and I sent it to them and I still haven’t received my refund and I’m disabled housebound and in a wheelchair permanently and the two trees that I purchased cost me £40 and I receive benefits so that is a lot of money to me ! And after I got the two trees 🌴 they died a week later ! So now I’ve been trying to get my refund for just over 5 months ! Absolutely disgraceful ! I would never recommend this online gardening company to anyone ! And I am never going to order anything from them ever again ! A really good online gardening company is called Carbeth plants 🪴 every plant that I’ve bought from this company has been amazing and they are all thriving and are such good quality and they deliver very quickly too

Sorry they actually got back to me on the 18th of October not the 28th