Those of you that complained to Sarah Raven last year did you ever hear back and should I try complaining again?

[Springf3v3r]

So last year I was sent completely different plants to what I ordered. No explanation .These geums as opposed to Mai Thai and the same re Agastache. They were labeled as Mai Thai when they’re clearly not.. I did multiple online complaints and then tried direct via email. They ignored every single complaint. Don’t even acknowledge them .

Then read they temporarily shut down and now I see they’re up and running again. I will never ever order from them again however I would like the plants I originally ordered as I’m feeling very ripped off.

Is it worth trying?

I found her salad seeds a bit hit and miss with germination last year. I have bought some lovely sale items in the past that have done well.

I’ve left the uk now but I probably wouldn’t order from them again
if I had the chance. There are so many good small seed companies around.

All fur coat and no knickers.
Beautiful photos on the website but the most useless and rudest customer service I have ever come across in a gardening firm.
So bad that I came to think that anyone sacked by British Gas went to work at Sarah Raven.

Excellent marketing, poor quality overpriced plants. I use the catalogues and website for inspo then go buy from Hayloft, Claire Austin and Hardy’s Cottage Garden Plants. Burncoose for shrubs and trees.

😄at those of you saying you look at the website and then shop elsewhere.

Here's a quote from this weekend's FT article I mentioned upthread:

"I now look at her website for inspiration, note down the plants and buy elsewhere" a commenter on Mumsnet wrote last July.

What would journos do without Mumsnet!

I had ordered from them for several years with no problem, but last year was a train wreck. Orders delayed and delayed, then cancelled at the last minute. The plants that did eventually arrive were underwhelming. I did get a refund but it will be a long time before I go back to them.

I think it’s the arrogance that gets me. You can have shit service, shit plants, the wrong plants and zero customer service - because it’s Sarah Raven!

Here's the FT article --- edit: MN unhelpfully misformats the link, go to https://removepaywalls.com/ and paste https://ft.trib.al/yvp9ovq

There has very recently been a Radio 4 You and Yours feature on Sarah Raven - not very good, I'm afraid. I've been waiting for seeds for some time now. Trouble is, you just can't speak to anyone there, it's all chatbot stuff, so pretty useless.

There has very recently been a Radio 4 You and Yours feature on Sarah Raven - not very good, I'm afraid. I've been waiting for seeds for some time now. Trouble is, you just can't speak to anyone there, it's all chatbot stuff, so pretty useless.

I received 3x Salvia 2 months late and only one survived , I just can’t be bothered to complain and won’t shop there again .

Very glad I came across this thread as had planned an expensive shop as the website looked great. Any other suggestions for good bulbs I've given in and doing a lasagne pot of tulips etc

She’s known as Sarah Rip-off Raven in our house. We still get the bloody catalogues through our door despite bad experiences.

😱😱 well I certainly won't be buying anything

Do try Chiltern seeds. Have been very happy with them, quick shipping, great choice, good germination.

Ugh, literally just posted about their shite customer service and then saw this. Wish I’d seen it before I ordered!

Definitely don't order from Sarah Raven! I wish I'd found this thread earlier. We ordered on 29th May, stated delivery within 10 days. We realised the 10 days was pie in the sky as they failed to dispatch. The plants were a birthday present so we cancelled, via the chatbot. No refund arrived, so we chased via e-mails - as others have said you can't call them. No response. Then yesterday a large box of dead plants was left on the doorstep and when I say dead, I mean beyond recoverable - utterly unrecognisable, foliage had dropped off as they were dry as a bone. Awful to see plants like that and all 2 months on from the original order which we'd cancelled anyway. They still have our money too. Bafflingly bad!😠

I have just had a delivery from Sarah Raven. The plants were the wrong plants or the wrong size pot and one lot were out of their pots and all over the box. The order was also incomplete. I have another order which they have put through my credit card but not delivered. They are completely uncontactable and I'm worried I have wasted a lot of money. Be warned! Do not order plants from her site, I think she is going to go bust owing us all money.

Contact your bank/payment to get your money back @Unhappygardener and @Hiff, should be an easy chargeback.

After several attempts to contact them, I emailed them to say that if they didn't refund in 48 hours I would initiate a chargeback with my credit card company. I got an immediate reply (so fast that I'm pretty sure it was also from a bot) to say that they had refunded, and the refund came through soon afterwards. So I'm afraid threatening a chargeback looks like the way to get something done - presumably too many chargebacks is bad for their financial reputation in some way.

I’d never order from them again. Broken, sad looking plants. That was the first and last order.
we now use a small local nursery who grow what they know will work in our local conditions

I ordered from them once a few years ago. My plants all arrived completely dehydrated, some were actually broken, and most did not survive. I did get my money back but I've never ordered from them again.

I do wonder, in light of all this, how she has the brass neck to be still doing the videos about flaar-arranging and her ebs’lute favourites and doing podcasts etc. when the whole thing is clearly a shoddy operation? Is it because she’s posh and well-connected? 🧐

It’s all very odd. So much work goes into promoting the website (via the podcast etc) and clearly a lot of thought goes into the design, range etc- and then the most basic thing- actually delivering the plants- is completely hopeless. Presumably that side is all outsourced but why put your name to it when it’s so shonky? There clearly are nurseries that can grow and deliver to schedule- why not outsource to one of them?

Hope she was a better doctor.

The podcast is on hiatus until the spring.