Gourmet Seed International

I visited their website in march and was excited to find seeds (rampion and scented violas) that I was having trouble locating elsewhere. Having vague recollections of ordering seeds from here before I ordered from them without hesitation. It is now August and my seeds were never delivered. My card was charged, but after that...crickets. I tried contacting this company through email, the phone and even Facebook and everything bounces back. I would say that I was unsure this company is still in business, but i know you have to pay to continue to own a website and domain. In short unless you wish for much frustration while you wait for your nonexistent seeds to arrive and then the difficulties of trying to claw your money back, I would not recommend this company.

I was excited to find the web site for Gourmet Seeds as I was unable to locate seeds for a particular Italian Cuke from my normal go to "Seeds from Italy" (who are wonderful BTW!). Gourmet seeds had the variety in stock, so I ordered those plus 4 additional seed packets. Received the payment confirmation from PayPal, but never the order confirmation from the company. Emails to the company or through their contact us link are returned as "no such address". Also unable to reach by phone. I have opened a case via paypal but will not have a resolution until at least 3/18/2020. I wish I had waited for the variety to be restocked with Seeds from Italy as their customer service is impeccable and I have had tremendous germination rates with their seeds. Also Wish I had found Dave's Garden before ordering. Glad I only ordered a few packets as opposed to a large bulk order.

My experience was similar to scented08's below. Ordered seeds on November 19, but never received them. E-mails bounced back, and phone calls led to an inactive voice mail account. I have filed a claim with PayPal. This is my second dealing with current ownership. Several seasons ago I received from them a packet of lettuce seed that contained not a single viable seed. I didn't complain----but, after reading reviews from others who had received old and/or possibly poorly stored seeds from them, simply wrote it off as a relatively inexpensive lesson and moved on to other companies. Then, last fall---thinking they might have improved---I foolishly decided to give them another chance . . . Gourmet Seed was once a great company and a reliable US retailer of Bavicchi seeds. After it changed hands it went entirely to pot. For all practical purposes, Gourmet Seed International is defunct.

Very disappointed in this company. I have purchased from them for over 12 years and hadn't ordered in the recent past, so I wasn't expecting such horrific issues. Placed a fairly large order from their website and never received any form of confirmation of my order. I could log in and see it stating "processing" but no notice at all. After several other orders I placed arrived from other companies, I sent an email that was returned. I logged into their website and sent an email via their webform, also returned. Called the number listed on their website - goes to a voicemail that has never been set up. Checked out their heirloom-organic.com website and attempted to call that number (same area code in Hollister, CA) also goes to a voicemail that has not been set up. Forwarded my returned emails to that email address - no response! Started looking on web for complaints...OH MY! Anyway, I had to charge back my purchase and have yet to hear a word from them. Be careful!

I have been ordering from Gourmet Seeds International for years and was disheartened when they announced they would be going out of business due to retirement of the owner. I loved ordering from this company because the prices and selection were awesome. I also found it interesting to order seeds from Italy. A few years ago, I was very pleased to find that the company was sold to Heirloom Organic Gardens, a company based out of California. I do not know anything about the company but If you visit their web site, you will find that it leaves much to be desired. The Gourmet Seeds International web site has changed but it still looks professional. With all of this being said, I am giving this company a negative review because I noticed that some of the seed packets I received were one or two years old and had the last number crossed out with a pen in the year date and changed to the current year. I realize that you can use old seeds but obviously this is unprofessional. I would have understood this if they would have 1) Received permission from the customer to substitute 2) Guaranteed customer satisfaction and 3) Given a discount for older seeds. Apparently they were getting rid of old inventory. At this point, I do not know if those seeds germinated as I plant many many seeds. I have had seeds from other companies with the current year's date not germinate while older packs have germinated. FYI, I am going to give Gourmet Seeds International one more chance this year but will keep records of packet dates and germination rates and submit another post to this blog. I noticed some comments about the expensive shipping charges on this blog. They do not make it cheap for small orders but order over $75 are free. It used to be $50. NOTE THEY DO NOT GUARANTEE CUSTOMER SATISFACTION AND WILL ONLY ACCEPT RETURNS UNDER CERTAIN CONDITIONS AND MAY CHARGE A 10 % "RESTOCKING" CHARGE AND SHIPPING CHARGES.

Of 10 packets of seed I received 7 were past the expiration date, some by more than a year. I called and spoke with the owner who was very nice and said the seeds would still grow. He saw nothing wrong with sending out seeds past the expiration date! I will NOT order from him again. I will write the Bavicchi seed company in Italy who he is the US distributor for and tell them what is going on.

I should have known better than to order from Gourmet Seed based on the reviews here, but they had one specific seed that I could not find from a more reputable source as well as another that I wanted, in bulk, for an excellent price. My complaint is that at least one packet of seed (the one that I most wanted to begin with!) was packed in 2013, with a printed expiration date in 2015. I emailed Gourmet Seed, requesting a replacement or refund, but have not received a reply. Though their prices range from reasonable to fantastic, and the shipping is very prompt, I find it unacceptable that a company sell old seeds, particularly seeds (like beans, for example) that don't have a good chance of germinating several years after they are harvested. I will not be ordering from Gourmet Seed again.

I placed an order with Gourmet Seeds International in January 2016. 1) The prices listed on their website for some items are incorrect and misleading. When I went to check out, I was charged more. Called customer service to bring this to their attention, yet as of to date (almost a month later), they have not corrected the discrepancies. 2) Shipping charges are high. The least expensive option I was offered was USPS Priority Mail for $6.75, even if I wanted only one pack of seeds. I emailed customer service asking them if they could mail my order regular first class mail instead of priority (I was in no hurry to receive my order), they ignored my inquiry, I received no reply back. 3) They sell old/expired seeds. I received a pack of seeds that was harvested in 2013 and printed with an expiration date of June 2015. Final note... I believe this company has recently been sold or has changed hands and is now based out of Hollister, CA.

Posted on June 9, 2015, updated June 28, 2015 Seem to have gone - offline and possibly out of business.?

Placed two orders so far this year and received the seed promptly and without problems. Gourmet seed carries a selection of seeds that are difficult to source elsewhere and have been one of the main suppliers for my vegetable garden seeds for many years. In years past they have never failed to deliver what was ordered in a timely manner and I was pleased to see the change in ownership has not changed their excellent service. I recommend them highly.

I have ordered from this company several years and until this year my transactions were satisfactory. I ordered an ornamental (coleus) and the seeds came and at some point before I was to plant them I noticed the package seemed very light. When I opened it there were perhaps 10 seeds in the large hermetically sealed container. I called the company and the person I spoke with identified himself as the new owner of the company and while I waited on the line he checked on another seed packet at his facility and informed me there should be 600 seeds in the packet. He then said they would be sending me a replacement. I have never rec'd the replacement even though I sent a follow up email. Obviously customer service is not their concern and I will not be doing business with them again. Also another Bavicchi product I bought at the same time, verbena seed, had non existent germination. A mail order business only gets repeat orders from satisfied customers. I am saddened to not be able to buy the Bavicchi seeds in the US, but I will look for another vendor internationally if necessary.

Had a similar experience to the fellow below. Attempted to deal with an error on their part last season and was met with the overly aggressive Phil the manager instead. Poor, poor service...decent seed list.

Great company to do business with. Been buying from them for several years, now. Quality is good, packaging is amazing, shipping is incredibly fast. Only one glitch of an incorrect item on an order a year ago, and they were friendly and quick to fix it. Always get great results in the garden, too, and I like trying the unusual mix of varieties.

Posted on April 2, 2013, updated April 7, 2013 Posted on September 8, 2010, updated April 2, 2013 This is my favorite seed company and website. I am from Italy and I am always looking for vegetables that remind me of growing up in Padova, Italy. Gourmet seeds has all the vegetables I love. they came in very large quantity. MY FAVORITE WEBSITE FOR SEEDS

I've ordered twice from Gourmet Seed and have been very pleased with their service and products. Lots of interesting varieties, huge packets, and very fast shipping. The seeds I've received from them have always been among my highest germinating seeds; the Italian Red Pear tomato I ordered this last Spring had almost 100% germination (and was a huge hit...love it), and the Tuscan kale and Charantais melon seeds from 2007-08 still germinated very well in 2012. The difference in germination rates from other vendors' seeds is noticeable.

I ordered from them early tue and received my order of corn on fri. It shipped from NM and I live in SC. I had no problems and the shipment came in an air-tight package with the exp. date, purity, and germ. rate on the package. If I need anything else, I will not hesitate to order from them again.

I bought three items a pocket knife with two blades a pair of goat skin gloves and some mesh bags the only serviceable item were the mesh bags the gloves would not last a week in normal garden use, and too small for a medium. if you saw these gloves at a flea market for $1 you wouldn't buy them the pocket knife's blades were so compressed within the tang of the knife the only way to extract them was with a another tool—either that or have titanium fingernail transplants. the original call to customer service was pleasant enough, the women said she had a knife and tried it and it worked fine and offered to send it as replacement and would send a mailing label for return of the gloves. replacement knife arrived with exact same problem—apparently the women at customer service had a problem with truth telling. I called and spoke to same customer service agent who was very defensive and went to her supervisor whose approach was to launch into a belligerent tirade never taking a breath and drowning out my efforts to communicate and then he hung up. bottom line I've been making purchases online for more than a decade from businesses large and small and this without reservation the worst in terms of products and service. on a scale of 1 to 10 this out fit is -10

Love getting my "PRESENT" from them every year. Packaging is so colorful and fun! Seed packages are so generous--surprised at how many seeds they contained. Germination rate is always good and I had the best eggplant I ever grew last summer. Absolutely a keeper!

I've ordered from Gourmet Seed for several years. The service and germination are great, but the best part is the fantastic selection. I can always find something(s) that I find no where else and can rarely resist buying. I've found some great varieties that my garden will now never be without.

First, they have a good seed list. Lots of things that are difficult to find elsewhere. However, quality control issues, such as the lettuce germination problems listed below, are common. After several years of ordering they have screwed something up every year. Usually treated seed listed as non-treated, incorrect cultivars (which they are then hostile about returning), and poor germination. This may be worth it to access difficult to find seeds and then grow out and save your own. A poorly run company representing a respected one, Bavvichi. Bavvichi needs to find a competent distributor. The last straw was this years antics, in which customer service wants to tell me I ordered treated seed while I am staring at my receipt which says otherwise. Very irritating. I advise taking your business elsewhere. Try sementi seeds, which has access to many of the same cultivars, but is well run.

This was my first experience with this company. I bought 15 different seeds. None of the 2 Lettuce (May Queen or Ciucca) germinated. I wrote the company and they claimed to have experienced 100% germination on these seeds but nevertheless offered to reimburse me. I said OK but never heard from them again... Since then things hardly improved; only a few of the Bush Snap and none of the Leeks or the Onion seeds came out either. I have grown a substantial garden over the last 25y and never had an experience like this. By the way, my 2011 garden is otherwise doing very well in spite of some challenging weather conditions, but not thanks to Gourmet Seed.

I order about 3 or 4 packets of rare, hard-to-find vegetable seeds from Gourmet Seed International every year and I'm always happy... thank you!!! GENEROUS SEED QUANTITIES PER PACKET!!! LIGHTNING-FAST, PRIORITY MAIL SHIPPING!!! REALLY EXCELLENT GERMINATION RATES!!!

I've had excellent results with Gourmet Seed. I was really impressed with the amount of seeds per pack. The fact that many of the seed packs are hermetically sealed is a plus, too. A great source for European varieties, many not available in the States. Shipping is prompt. And I don't believe I've ever had a backorder, a definite plus!

I've ordered from them and always been satisfied. They carry a great variety of seeds and the packets generally contain more seed than many companies. I love the mini hobby greenhouse things they sell too. Great for starting your own plugs/plants in a small amount of space. Once they're developed, they can easily be transplanted to individual pots. Just placed another order yesterday.

Interesting selection. Did a small test order: easy ordering, prompt shipment, order filled correctly, no problems. Assuming the seed does well GSI is certainly a candidate for future orders.

Very pleased with my purchase from Gourmet Seeds. Good selection of seed. I received my seeds about 4 days after I placed my order, which was great. I ordered onion seed, arugula, and 2 types of tomatoes. I have planted the arugula and the tomatoes, and germination rates on both have been very good. I would definitely order from this company again.

I was surprised and pleased with how fast I received my seeds. I placed on order with them on the evening of Saturday, February 20. They shipped the package out Monday and I received it Wednesday February 24. A very impressive time. I have not opened the individual seed packs but I expect the seed to be in very good shape as the appear to be foil envelopes. An invoice was included and the seeds where in the box in the same order that they where on the invoice which made it very easy to confirm that they where all there. Be aware that some of the envelopes are primarily labeled in Italian.

Posted on December 5, 2009, updated February 8, 2010 Ordered my seeds on the 2nd of December, received them on the 5th, that's pretty fast! All the seed packets I ordered were in the box, perfect! The shipping was a tad on the high side in comparison to some other seed companies, but they make up for it by having interesting varieties of seed. Great experience, will order again!

This is the second year that I ordered seeds from Gourmet. Like the hard to find seeds, last year had good germination. Have always received fast service when ordering.

First time ordering from Gourmet Seed Int'l. Chose to order from them for the unique varieties being offered. Placed my order Sunday January 24th around 11pm, received confirmation Monday by email and my order arrived by priority mail on Wed January 27th. Extremely fast considering they came from New Mexico to New York. All 17 varieties ordered arrived well packed with no mistakes. Excellent service and communication. All seed pack appear high quality but the real test will be germination and growth. Will post again in several months on germination. As for variety and speed of delivery can highly recommend this company.

Hello, I recently made a negative comment on Gourmet seeds Internationally due to how I was very angry on the past company "Harvest Moon Farms". I was aware they did a merge and honestly thought they would still be in it. I did contact them and thought they wouldnt give me support due to how it might not be their problem but after contacting them they did help me out!!! I was able to contact the manager and he was able to help me out with my past problem and i was able to purchase some seeds from them in February and they arrived great, they are of very nice quality and I love the mini greenhouse they have for sale...it just eliminated the weak plastic ones you buy in lowes, or other nusurys(burpees, etc) These should last a long time for me. Thank you very much Gourmet Seeds, and Please continue giving great customer service, discounts, and gifts as well.

I just placed my first order with them last week. Service was certainly excellent, received the order (about $60 worth) 5 days after submitting the order online. I was pleasantly surprised with how generous the packages seem to be on the seed count. I haven't opened any of them, because they're all plastic, hermetically sealed packets. I've noticed some of the comments here about about the dating on the packets -- I think a lot of the concern is just a misunderstanding by the customer of the dating system. Many of my packets came with a "packed on" as well as a "use by" date. I don't have any concern about the fact that seed might have been packed a year or so ago, as long as they're still within the "use by" date -- a lot of technology went into the hermetic packaging and special seed preparation prior to packaging to ensure freshness and viability. I used to work at a commercial greenhouse prior to changing careers, and this type of packaging has been pretty standard for commercial grower for a while now, but the retail consumer hasn't been fully educated about it yet, I guess. So, I'm happy with my order, looking foward to spring sowing of their products, and I'm glad I found a new source of unusual varieties.

I ordered 'Norli' peas from this company last year, and they delivered my seeds promptly. They were the only company I could find that carried 'Norli', so I was pleased. I was also tickled that they are right here in NM, my home state. So I was discouraged when I read of the negative experiences others have had with the company, especially as I had just placed this year's seed order with them. Happily, my seeds arrived today (Tues) after I had ordered them Sat.! I only ordered 6 seed packets from them, but the order is correct. Two of the packets are dated for this year, the others for 2010 or beyond. As for the remarks about the packaging... 4 of the packets were obviously packaged in Italy. They do things differently in other countries... get over it. If you're a relatively new gardener, the cultivation instructions are in Italian, so maybe this isn't where you want to start? LOL My one disappointment with this company is... no current catalogue in the box. I haven't received this years catalogue yet, so I was ordering from last years, and I was hoping I'd get a current one in my order. GI, if you want to compete, you've got to get your catalogue out around Xmas... that's when I got Cook's Garden (you're better than they are for European seed selection) I'll be ordering again... if I can get a catalogue! =o)

I have had the pleasure of buying form this company for years. I must say that their seeds have been of very good quality and their customer is outstanding! I would gladly recommend this company to any gardener.

I've been searching for a "French" Tarragon plant to cook with for quite some time now. When I found Gourmetseed.com I noticed they sold the seeds I'd been looking for so I bought those and a few others to make the shipping and handling worthwhile. Well, shortly after ordering, I started reading a lot of testimony about how you can't get viable seed from a true culinary Tarragon. The appropriate variety you cook with HAS to be cloned. There are a million dissatisfied customers out there who got duped and not one good review anywhere about anyone successfully growing tasteful Tarragon from seed. When I contacted them with my concern this was their reply: "We do have a test garden where we grow new varieties and periodically check some of our standard varieties, but we depend greatly on the community of growers we have as our customers to help us in our descriptions... To be honest, we've never been in a situation to compare this to other Tarragons." That doesn't sound like a committed answer. It sounds to me like I just got duped by a snake-oil salesman. If you want a professional seed I would go somewhere else, seeing as the man who responded also made this statement erroneously spelling the plant's common name disrobing whatever faith I had in their knowledge before now: "The Italian seed supplier we get the Terragon from assures us it is the type you are looking for, but..." All the controversy and misspellings aside, this company's seeds are advertised to be kept in hermetically sealed envelopes to last longer, yet the Tarragon seed I received expires two months after I received it. Hardly professional. I shouldn't even have to ask for a fresh packet, it should have been a given. The other six packets I recieved all expire next year, which is typical despite the "extra neat-o space packaging". If you ask me, it looks like they buy bulk seed and just seal it themselves. Further, when I asked customer service to reassure me that this is the variety I wanted (which a professional botanist informed me was the SATIVA variety) they skirted around the issue and told me that they were sure this was the one I wanted and that the nomenclature was dubious all around. What?!?! So now they're telling me that they're sure even though they just informed me that they didn't know, can't even spell it, and relied on customer feedback? Just remember, a square is a rectangle, but a rectangle is not a square. This may be the same species of Tarragon, but it is not the culinary variety you would expect from a distributor who goes by the moniker "Gourmet". They told me then, that if I wanted I could ask for a refund... which I most certainly did because I wouldn't have bought ANY of the seeds from them knowing the Tarragon was the bitter, non-culinary variety. They responded daily to me emails until I asked for my money back, and now I've heard nothing. If you buy Tarragon from seed, the merchant will tell you the typical lie that "Russian" Tarragon is labeled A. dracunculoides and theirs, A. dracunculus, is the edible kind... which is only half true. Their "edible" Tarragon, A. dracunculus, is not the tasty variety you cook with, rather the plant must be a particular strain identified as "A. dracunculus var. Sativa" to have the essential oils you are looking for!!! So now you know. Don't let it cost you $26.

We attempted to answer the questions this customer gave us in several emails, and at every step offered a refund or replacement if the customer was not happy with their purchase. The following is a copy of our latest response where we informed the customer we were issuing a refund:
Dear Customer,
We're sorry to hear that you are dissatisfied with your purchase, but as we have assured you in every communication with you, we continue to be willing to offer a refund or replacement for your purchase.
You are correct in that there does seem to be a lot of confusion on how to classify varieties, and in particular there is a lot of controversy over what truly constitutes 'Russian' or 'French' Tarragon, so that is why we attempted to assure you that although our Italian supplier classifies this product as they do, we are always open to any additional feedback we can get, and we are always willing to offer a refund or replacement if you did not receive what you thought you purchased, or if the product was not up to our normal standards of quality.
A partial answer to your question on the additional designation of 'sativa' is that it is not one the Italians apparently make. Part of the problem is that botanical classification is not uniform nor consistent, which is why so many plants have multiple aliases as botanical names. Not only do resources disagree when discussing the actual ability of Tarragon to produce seed, but they disagree on how to classify the various types, including the 'French' (such as adding the 'var. sativa').
Again, it does not do us any good to try to deceive our customers or refuse to offer a solution if they are not satisfied.
Regardless, you are obviously not happy with your purchase. Although you have not relayed any similar questions or other problems or issues with the rest of the purchase, we will issue a refund for your entire purchase.
We wish you well in your efforts.

This is my second year ordering from Gourmet Seed and I'm pleased with both orders. I'm still using seeds from last year's order too. Quick turnaround time as they are mailed to my US forwarding address to be airmailed to me here on Saba, Dutch Caribbean. I like ordering seeds in bulk packaging and the prices are great too! I would recommend this company to anyone wanting fresh seeds.

I have ordered from this company for years, (Harvest Moon Farms before?) and it is now the company I buy most of my seeds from. I buy some seeds from Native Seed Search, and sunflowers, potatoes and second crop peas elsewhere, but the rest come from here.

I've placed several orders from GSI. Each time, something is slightly amiss such as wrong size packet/ wrong variety/ forgotten item. In each case the company has corrected the mistake in a fair way, but it's a hassle to have to deal with. My most recent order was for one 100g packet of seeds and several hand tools (they sell nice quality no-frills tools from Italy that are a much better value that the Chinese garbage peddled by the box stores). The tools all arrived in a timely fashion, but no seeds were enclosed, and no indication of the status was provided (out of stock, back-ordered, or just plain forgotten). An e-mail to customer service was not acknowledged within 1 week, so today I made phone call to CS (again). Helpful as usual, and maybe I'll get the seeds I need for fall planting, but I'm just not sure that it's worth the hassle to have to follow through and get every order corrected...This would be a great company if they were just a little more detail oriented.

We thank this customer for his business and apologize for the error in filling his order. Here are the details of this transaction:
He placed the order on 11 July, and it was delivered to him on Thursday afternoon, 17 July. He sent us an email 9:26pm that evening. We responded to his email on Friday morning (apparently he did not receive it) telling him that we would send the missing item right away. It was shipped out that afternoon (Friday 18 July).
The customer called us this morning (Monday 21 July), and as the person answering the phone was not aware of the details, they offered to call back with any information, which they did. However, before they made the call, the customer filed this report.
We erred in filling the customer's order, and for that we are truly sorry. Not only do errors of this type not please the customer, but they cost us greatly in correcting the problem. However, as is true for any merchant, we appreciate it when any customer will give us a reasonable amount of time to respond and fix the problem.
Phil
Gourmet Seed International, LLC

Online order #05014326 The ordering was easy and the seeds arrived in about 8 days. The counts of mature seeds were good, even though there are a lot of small immature seeds in the packs. Only one isssue here with my order. The packages were all marked "Untreated". However, the "Moon's Super Bush Beefsteak" seed had a pinkish red coating on them. I'm not real savvy on a lot of this stuff, but I have 93 other tomato seed varieties and none of them are red. So, I have to believe the package was incorrectly marked as "Untreated". Treated or untreated is not a major problem to me, because all I want are enough tomatoes to properly save the seeds from my harvest. The rest are for trading to increase the number of varieties I have to grow from and save seeds. I'm not really into all that organic stuff, but there are others out there who DO care a great deal. So this comment is for them, plus, I don't like ANY mistakes on correctlly identifying what's inside the package. Surprises are for birthdays. Anyhow, I've already repackaged the seeds to physically fit into my inventory and storage system, and I have thrown the original packaging. Yes, I will probably order again in the future.

We thank this customer for their business and their feedback, although we wish they had told us directly of the error so that we could have swiftly corrected it.
Although we make every effort to double check our work and offer quality products and services, we do depend on our customers to notify us immediately of any error on our part or any quality issues they may discover.
We do stand behind the quality of our products and services, and offer a guarantee. As such, we would like to extend an invitation to this customer to contact us for a refund or replacement, since the seed was not to their satisfaction.
Regards,
Phil Winteregg
Gourmet Seed International, LLC

Last year a friend ordered seed from this company and complained that it "wasn't dated for this year" but had a "use by" date. I bought the seed from her, and nearly every seed germinated. I got good crops and was very satisfied, and ordered from them directly this year. Their selection is excellent and I like the airproof packaging, since I think it's very wasteful to throw away seed that is still in perfect condition.

I just received my first order and was I ever pleased ! I love the foil packaging . This allows for the seeds to be viable much longer then the paper envelopes most companies use. I will be buying my LONG TERM STORAGE seeds from them for sure. I got prompt replies to my questions and fast delivery of my order. TWO THUMBS UP !

In January 2008 I ordered 11 packets of vegetable and herb seeds from Gourmet Seed International. When the order arrived, it contained 5 seed packets dated 5/2006, and one seed packet with no date at all. I emailed the company, expressed my opinion that fresh seed was my expectation and asked if they could replace the seed with fresh 2008 seed. They replied with an email talking about how seed remains viable for years after it is packed, etc. I again told them I had never been sent 2 year old seed by any other company, and asked to either have fresh seed sent, or my money refunded. They have said to return the seed and they will refund the money. This is disappointing, as it now means I must take the time to go back to the post office to send it, and must place another order and pay another shipping and handling fee for another order with another company. I think they also should refund their shipping and handling fee ( $6.29 US, the highest of the 5 companies I ordered seed from this year), as I certainly would not have even ordered from them to start with if they had posted on their web site that they send seed packed 2 years ago. And, of course, my time and energy to handle this return as well as time off work during the business day to get to the post office is not something they will reimburse.

We are sorry that this customer is unhappy with the seed that we offer, and did offer to refund their purchase price, which is normal for any company.
We did explain that although most domestic seed companies use simple paper packages which only allow for a 1 year expiration dating, much of our seed comes from some of Europe's finest seed houses packaged in long-life, hermetically-sealed packages, which allow for a 3 year expiration date. In fact, we have followed this example as it provides the customer with much fresher seed. Also, much of what is being sold as '2008' seed here in the US was packaged in 2007 from 2006 harvests. In other words, still 2006 seed.
After we offered our explanation, we did extend our offer for a refund, as it was obvious that the customer was still not happy with the seed. We did not hear anything further from the customer until they filed this complaint, and were never aware that the customer took exception to returning the seed. If the customer will contact us, we will be happy to arrange for a pickup of the seed at their convenience.

My sister living in New York has ordered on my behalf various seeds from Gourmet Seeds in December 2007(over 30 varieties) which she brought to me when she came to Turkey for Christmas. To my suprise most of the seeds were with expiration date 2007. My intention is to use these seeds in 2008 (some of them end of 2008). In my view sending seeds with less than one month validity is neither fair nor correct and I think the customer is entitled to freshly packed seeds when ordering in December 2007 and not receive seeds from old stocks. Even if Gourmetseed tells me that I will not have germination problem because their product has longer germination validity from the one indicated on the package, I still think that it is a really negative points on their behalf. FYI, I have also ordered in the same manner from Baker Seeds. the grains I have received were with the sticker "packaged for 2008". Taking into account past experience, their customer service, variety of seeds they have, I will still keep ordering from them. (Because of past good experience I graded them neutral and not negative) I strongly suggest their management to take necessary steps to prevent such situation in the future.

We want to thank this customer for their business and their comments. They bring up a valid concern that we are trying to resolve that will genuinely benefit the customer.
We strive to provide 'current' season seed whenever possible to our customers, meaning that seed we are packing now was harvested in 2007. This means, however, that we are a bit later in getting this on hand, tested, and packed than many seed companies, especially since so much of our seed is sourced from overseas. In fact, some of our overseas seed is still in transit to us. To resolve this problem and to get a jump on packing seed for the upcoming season, many seed companies almost exclusively use previous season seed, which for this example would be seed harvested in 2006. This means the seed is already one year old, so although the germination dating may make the seed appear to be fresher, it simply means it was packed later. For most seed, this is not a huge problem, as most varieties, if stored properly, will handle this extra year and still pass germination testing easily. We've avoided doing this as we feel it isn't being quite upfront with the customer as to how fresh the seed really is. As to Baker Seed, we can't say what their practice is, and trust that as a quality company, they are ensuring their customers are getting quality seed.
We've struggled to balance getting the freshest seed possible to our customers, and still have it available for those early shoppers. For next year, we're working with our growers and seed sources to expedite the arrival of fresh seed, and are working to streamline our processing here to get the current season's seed on the shelf as quickly as possible. Our plan is to have a larger percentage of current year seed available for those who order early for the next go around in the winter of 2008/2009.
We welcome any comments or thoughts from our customers on this subject at: customerservice@gourmetseed.com.
Regards,
Phil Winteregg
General Manager

The range of varieties is quite interesting, the seeds arrived in a timely fashion and have been germinating reasonably. But many of them are treated seed; which I don't use, so it ended up being rather a big waste for me. Even one of the packets that was clearly marked "untreated seed" is treated - seeds aren't that color naturally. I was also not thrilled to see the carrot seed packet marked "packed 05 expires 07" - this was in 07- I'd like to think I'll get seed that will be good for a couple of years after I get it.

We want to thank this customer for their business and the feedback. With thousands of products on the shelf, it is nearly inevitable that a mistake will occur on occasion.
We would like to hear directly from this customer so that we can trace down the labeling error on the treated seed to be sure that there are no more of this variety on the shelf mislabeled. Also, since we have no idea when a customer plans on using the seed they purchase, and we have many greenhouse customers, we can only assure that the germination dating has not expired at the time of shipment. When placing an order towards the end of the year, many of our customers will let us know they need seed dated through the following year, and we will try to fulfill their needs as best as possible, depending on current availability and where we are in rotating our stock. Since we use long-life, hermetically-sealed packaging, store our seed in a climate controlled warehouse, and periodically test it as it is stored on the shelf, our germination test dates are for longer periods than the single season dating allowed by paper packaging. We were pleased to hear that in this case the germination was fine.
The bottom line is that we do stand behind the quality of the seed, and we look forward to any direct feedback we can receive from a customer, positive or negative, as this is what helps us to improve our products and service. If any customer has any issues with our products or service, we request they contact us immediately so that we can have every opportunity to make it right.
Phil Winteregg
General Manager

This is the second year I have placed a small order with Gourmet Seeds for unusual and hard-to-find vegetables, and I am very pleased with their products and their customer service. Seeds arrived within a week of ordering, and my written request for one variety was filled even though the on-line ordering system said it was out of stock. It doesn't appear that I was charged for the extra item either, though I am quite willing to pay for it. The seed packages are often in German or Italian but I don't care, as the quality, and quantity, of the seeds surpass many American companies. It's nice to have a company that cares for small orders - and I will definitely be making larger ones after this.

This is a great place to get unusual veggie seeds from Europe. For instance, they have a bunch of old-time British turnip varieties I have never seen anywhere. I really like the large and very beautiful seed packets from the Italian seed companies they carry too. The art of the seed packet has obviously not been forgotten in Italy. They also include a very generous number of seeds. Rarely am I contacted by a company when they are out of something, but this company did. They were out of a yellow bush bean I ordered and emailed to ask me if I wanted a substitute. I said yes, and they sent me a double amount of another yellow bush bean. They also shipped priority mail, which is unusual in the seed biz. I really like this company for European veggie varieties.

I love this company to get unusual seeds. The European seed packets in general are much larger than the usual American ones. The prices are very good if you factor in the European seed counts.(I hope the company keeps it this way!) I have no problem not being able to read the packet info. I would rather receive them in their original packets than pay more for repackaging into packets written in English. Cultural info can easily be found here and on other places on the internet. The shipping may seem high, but seeds are delivered quickly by Priority mail.

I have ordered several times from this company and have enjoyed the selection of European seed which is hard if not impossible to locate in other companies in the US. The European seed packages are lots more generous than American ones as well, it seems to me. The only problem that I have had is that their web site would not my perfectly ordinary credit card that worked everywhere else. I even called them and had the person on the phone try to enter it and she couldn't either. So, I had to mail them a paper order and a check. Bummer. But I got great seeds from them!

We want to thank pajaritomt for their kind words about our product line. We continually search to find new varieties to enhance the culinary experience you can get from your garden.
As to the credit card issue, we are sorry that the card would not process, but as any online merchant will tell you, we do not have control of this nor is this type of issue normally caused by the website itself. When paying for an order online, there are several players 'behind the scenes' involved with the secure processing of that payment, and for any number of reasons a payment can fail, even ones as simple as a key server being temporarily down or the security code being incorrectly entered.
If any of our customers have difficulty processing a payment, we invite them to contact us as this customer did, and we will attempt everything we can on our end to resolve the problem. However, as we do not actually process the payment (which is similar to a regular walk-in store), we are at the mercy of the various gateways and banks involved.
Again, thanks for the kind words, and as always we will continue to strive to provide an exceptional product at a fair price with exceptional service.
Phil Winteregg
Gourmet Seed International, LLC

They substituted an item without letting me know if I wanted it or not (they have my email address). I had to emailed them three times trying to ask them whether the item they sent me was the same one I ordered/paid for because the seed packet was in Italian. They finally emailed me back on my third email to them and said that they did not have my first two emails and did not know what happened to them???? Then I got another email . . . . .from their warehouse telling me that they have already sent my order??? DUH. . ...That was not my question. The next day got another email and this time they finally told me that they had substituted the item. Well . . . . duh. . . . . I would not buy from them again for the lack of customer service, gave me the run around and their S/H is extremely high.

We're sorry to see this posted, as we made every effort to respond to the customer and reply to the emails that were received.
We received only two emails to Customer Service, both of which were responded to (we keep all emails on file for at least 6 months for reference). We can only guess as to why the customer did not receive our first response, perhaps there was a problem with a spam blocker.
In any case, when we received the first email, we acknowledged that based on the information the customer had relayed to us at that time, it appeared there may have been a error in the warehouse in filling the order. We asked for more information to be sure we understood exactly what was wrong, and to ensure that we would be able to correctly solve the problem, we also asked the customer to let us know how they preferred to resolve this, whether by refund or replacement. We received no response until a later email arrived, where it seemed obvious that the customer had not received our first response.
We again responded to the customer, but since we were afraid they would again not receive our response, we went ahead and reshipped the seed in question to the customer. Meanwhile, the customer did respond to a shipment confirmation email, at which time the warehouse directly responded by confirming that a replacement was being sent.
As to our S/H rates, for domestic orders, we charge $4.95, plus 5% of the order. Our standard shipping is either USPS Priority Mail, or UPS Ground for larger and bulk orders. We normally ship within 2 business days of receipt of the order. Given that postage rates for Priority service start at $4.60, we feel we do a good job of providing exceptional service at a fair rate.
We again apologize for the inconvenience this customer experienced, and are reviewing our SOP to see what we might do in the future to minimize this type of problem.
Situations like this can be very frustrating, as emails can occasionally be unreliable. Spam blockers, while useful to reduce the junk emails we can potentially receive, can interfere with necessary business communication. Whether that was a factor here or not, we don't know, but it is important to add the names of the companies you do business with to ensure you receive all the information you need.
We stand behind the quality of the product we provide, and continually work to improve the level of service our customers receive. In spite of their perceived experience with us, we thank this customer for their business, and wish them well.
Philip Winteregg
General Manager

I have traded with this company for a few years now and find them to be one of the best. They don't waste time with flashy catalogs like Burpee's, and their selection is unique. The seed quality is excellent, as well.