Beware of Sarah Raven

[Cr01ssant55]

They are sending out plants that aren’t those ordered without informing customers , they’re impossible to contact and don’t reply when you do. Lots of issues online with quality too.

Im actually really shocked with what they’re getting away with. I have two sets of plants that are absolutely not what I ordered and others I’m questioning. I complained re one set weeks ago and they haven’t replied. They’re impossible to contact. Went online and found loads of disgruntled customers with really poor plants pictured.

They seem to have rapidly downhill this year. The complaints on their Facebook page are off the scale.

The plants I bought this year were delivered months late, they haven't really thrived since, and some were tiny and had to be brought on in the greenhouse for weeks before I could plant them out them in pots. One container mix never arrived at all, after being delayed for 3 months.

I won't be using them again I'm afraid.

Why people buy any plants online apart from bulbs and seeds is beyond me.

You have no idea what you'll get, or the size or condition of the plants. They tell you the size of the pot (as if that is any indication - not) and when the stuff arrives, sometimes months later, it has undoubtedly been thrown around by the couriers anyway and got bashed about. That's if you get the exact variety you ordered even.

Just go to a garden centre, look at what they have, and choose the best and heathiest available. Cheaper too.

@Yamadori if you haven’t got a car then getting to garden centres is usually very difficult, and if you want something specific then a given garden centre might not have it. I’ve always had good plants from the online RHS shop.

I don't use that company any more. Their seeds were not coming true, and it was a pain in the arse. I also got some very dubious cheap tat which obviously photographed well, and they totally fucked up other bits of that order. They did put it right for me when I contacted them, but really?

There is also the thing that I don't really like lining the pockets of the landed gentry. So an easy swerve, since they're not great.

Usually the plants I get online are in great condition! Only had duds from Thomsons.

I stopped ordering from them some years ago.

The final straw was when we ordered 50 English bluebells. Dh planted them all.

We got Spanish hyacinths. The first clue that it was the wrong sort was that most of them were pink...

Argh. And then you have to eradicate them... (assuming you wanted to)

We gave up in the end. I think we maybe had three genuine English bluebells among them and I did try pulling up the Spanish, but...

I did phone Thomson's and got a half-baked apology but pointed out that this really didn't cut it. I think we were offered a refund, but they didn't seem to take on board that they needed to investigate their supplier.

I had a good experience last year with dahlias.

The reason I never ordered from this company is exactly what you are experiencing. On the product page it says something along the lines of 'on occasion we may send you a different variety'. And given I take a lot of time to choose the exact variety I want, it put me off.

So they do warn you they may do this, but it's not acceptable to me and I never ordered as a result.

It's an odd policy - it must cause so many complaints and chargebacks.

I buy 99% of my plants online and am very happy with them.

Only company that has been rubbish is Sarah Raven.

I now look at her website for inspiration, note down the plants and buy elsewhere.

I've never got on with Sarah Raven. Photos look amazing on the website but products are really poor quality and delivery times equally poor.

Of all the plants I've ordered, only one has survived a fortnight but its never thrived - remains the scrawny weakling in my garden.

I've had a couple of homeware products that have arrived looking so cheap and poorly finished they look like they'd come from a high street bargain bin.

I bought some Sarah Raven branded gardening tools for a family member, which snapped in half after very light use.

Customer service is poor, too.

Never again - I sometimes use the website for ideas, that's it. In terms of tools & homeware products, you can often find some products elsewhere without the ridiculous markup.

Have ended up with little respect for Sarah Raven, it's just a money-spinning scheme, a vanity project for a rich woman with good publicity.

Gardening Express is equally bad, if not worse.

Bought a lot of stuff this year, mostly bare root from Farmer Gracy. Most of their stuff did ok, a few arrived half dead but they replaced them. A bare root cherry tree from Roots was a dud which never sprung to life and they replaced it.
Got 3 salvia nachtvlinders on sale from Sarah Raven that came well packaged and have thrived, are one of the nicest things in my garden. Was sceptical when ordering given the negative reviews I’ve heard. Sounds a bit hit or miss with her.

“Just go to a Garden Centre” isn’t an option for everyone though. We have several in the area but I can’t think of a single one I could get to on public transport.

Yes I ordered a certain variety of sweet pea plugs (a variety which I love and have a sentimental meaning) and got completely the wrong ones and was very disappointed. Of course I didn’t know they were incorrect until they flowered so it was too late to complain. I also got 2 packs of seeds which not one single seed germinated from, out of both packs!

The thing is this isn’t ok. If I want a particular plant and they haven’t got it they need to say out of stock not lie and take your money. At the very least tell you that they are sending something different so you can cancel the order.They are surely breaking the trade description act. One of the ones I’m disputing is a completely different colour!

Crocus is fantastic and better quality than my local garden centre which never has much variety.

I recently received five plants I hadn't ordered. I recognised the name but there was no way they'd know I'd moved or why they'd send these plants for free. Turned out a friend had ordered them as gift but they hadn't bothered to attach the thoughtful note she'd asked for. So she got no thanks, I was confused, and eventually she had to ask me. Plants doing well except for one though.

Does anybody know how I can take the sending completely different plants thing further as they must be breaking the trades description act.

I always keep the labels or box or packet for this reason, I take a photo of the label/box/packet with the wrong thing and then go back to them and complain. most of the time I get a refund or the correct thing sent the next time it is available.

@WearyAuldWumman

Did you contact them about the bluebells?

Sorry I see you did.

I found SR useless last year particularly...my dahlias never flowered! After a number of underwhelming flops from SR in addition to the dahlias I have given up with it apart from looking at the pictures for inspiration, like a pp said.

Farmer Gracy have been ok this year but again, not been overwhelmed with the quality. Some of my bare roots have died pff...all but one eryngium and the echinacea seem v piddly. Disappointing. Again, dare I say, style over substance.

Best dahlia tubers I ever bought were from a cheapy pack at the local nursery. No fancy names or shades but they were prolific beauties!

I have had the same with Sarah Raven. Took weeks and weeks to come, then incomplete order came. Then I received the second part of the order where there were literally no seeds in the envelopes!
contacted them numerous times and zero reply will never order from them again.

Got the pots and photos however cleverly there is no way of contacting them only an online form that gets no response.