Comments regarding Gardens Alive!

My first thought was to rate Gardens Alive as "Neutral", but decided on "Negative" because of the ludicrous reaction to my recent issue. First of all, I ordered and received Pyola, and it really seems to work well. I had also ordered Nematodes to solve a problem with squash vine borers. The nematodes arrived in early June - too early to be used because my squash had just started to grow. The package said to keep them cool, so I refrigerated them. Upon opening the package, the detailed instructions noted that the nematodes must be used immediately or refrigerated no more than a couple of days.

NOW HERE'S WHERE IT GETS DOWNRIGHT FUNNY:
I e-mailed them to explain that there was no way I could have used the nematodes when they were received.
Priyanka responded "Nematodes are living microscopic ellworms,
and they need to be used within two weeks of receiving them, or they will die (of starvation). If I can be of further assistance please feel free to contact me."
I responded that they should have stated this in their catalog and that I wasted my money.
Raj responded: "I can offer you a reship or a replacement certificate for the nematodes."
I chose a re-ship.
Kawal gave me a re-ship order number, saying it would ship in the fall.
I e-mailed back saying the fall will be too late -- I need to defeat the squash vine borers during the peak growing season.
Mandeep responded: "We ship items according to the proper
planting time in your area. The items in this order are the fall
items, so these can be shipped in the fall only."
I laughed out loud when I read this. Apparently, they don't understand the concept of growing seasons in India!!!

Tried to place an order for Pyola and a couple of other products that came highly recommended. Their price was expensive, but I thought if it works it's worth a try. What a mistake.

I tried to place an order, it vanished into their system. So I called them up to verify the order, no order could be found. No big deal, maybe I made a mistake. I entered a new order and this time I got a confirmation email and all seemed fine. After a week of no news I logged into their system to see if they had lost the order again, or if it was back ordered. Their website says they normally ship same day or next day, not within a few weeks.

Turns out I now had 2 orders in the system, the one they "lost" and the current order. The date on the "lost" order was one week after I had tried to place it. I sent them an email asking what was going on. Overnight they shipped parts of the "lost" order. A reply to email came back that was a useless form email saying they ship within 2-3 days, they had never read my email. So I called to cancel what they had yet to ship. They said no problem it's canceled.

12 hours latter I get an email saying they have shipped what I had canceled. Of course the card has been billed. Trying to call them appears to be futile on Friday, their hold systems waits for a bit then says "our call load is very heavy, please call back later "

Between their customer service and the prices I couldn't recommend Gardens Alive.

I received a catalog with a $25.00 free no strings attached coupon. I ordered a pint of pyola and the total was less than $25 including shipping. Tried to order online but it would not accept my coupon so I mailed it instead.

A week later I received a letter stating that my order was ready to ship but was being held due to a problem authorizing my credit card# (I had never provided a credit card#). The bill was for $0.00. I called the company (at my expense - no 800#) and a lady said she could not help me without the key code from my catalog. The next day I called again at my expense and I provided the key code. I spoke to Katie who told me there was zero due and she would have it shipped today. The next day I called again at my expense and spoke to Debby who said it shipped that morning. A week later I received the product.

Another week passed and I receive a "Late Notice" bill for $13.77. It was marked "$10.00 late fee waived until 6/8/07". The bill was for the pint of pyola although this amount was not the actual cost of the item or the shipping. I called again at my expense and spoke to Alicia. She said I had placed two orders on the web. I explained I only placed and received one order via mail since their website would not accept my coupon. She said she would remove the second order and take the charge off. I asked for her last name to keep track of who I spoke to and she said she could not give me that information. When I asked why not, she said it was "company policy".

Apparently their "company policy" is a lack of accountability. I'm considering reporting them to the BBB because I think it's illegal to offer something free and then try to get your credit card# and send you a bill. A free coupon is just not worth dealing with this mess.

Dead Ladybugs anyone??? I now realize I shouldn't have bought them mail-order, but figured Gardens Alive wouldn't sell them if they couldn't deliver them alive. Was I ever wrong.

They sent 'alive' ladybugs (2 orders), by PARCEL POST!!! Of course, all were dead when they arrived (spring 2006). I called and after somewhat of an ordeal (they must have thought I was trying to get more for free), they did agree to send me two more orders. Of course these were also all dead when they were delivered. Smelled awful!!!

I just dropped it there, didn't bother to try and get a refund.

Well, I received a catalog with a $25 coupon saying that there was no minimum order and if my order was under $25, it would be free. Sounded great, so I went online to order. Their website refused to accept my catalog number and would not give me the discount. No biggie, so I decided to call my order in instead, even though they do not have an 800 number. The operator who answered had what could only be described as horrible English speaking skills. She couldn't understand me (I live in the midwest and do not have a heavy or thick accent) and I couldn't understand her. Finally I figured out what she was asking for, so I gave her my catalog # and name...once again nothing came up. I said that I had the catalog in hand with the $25 coupon, but she wouldn't accept it because I wasn't in their database. So I just hung up and came here. After reviewing the comments, I will not send the order in via postal mail as I had planned because I don't want to end up getting billed extra because they wouldn't take the coupon or had raised rates or whatever. Wow, what terrible customer service. You drive a customer away before he has even tried your products. Boo!

I ordered several items from Gardens Alive and had a very difficult time getting their order software to enter items and charges correctly. Finally I sent my order even though the shipping charges were incorrect and the final charges were even higher ($8.00 + higher). So I sent their customer service a request: to correct the charges and adding that they cancel the order if they did not correct the charges. They canceled the order. I suppose that is for the best, since I did not want to pay the extra incorrect amount, but, it seems to me that they could have instead corrected their mistakes. Gardens Alive used to state in their literature that if you telephoned your order to them before noon they would ship your order out the same day. Twice I telephoned my order in before eight a.m. and twice they sent my order more than twentyfour hours later. They routinely provide an incentive to buy: $25. off any $50. order which helps since their prices are quite high. However, when you add higher incorrect charges and the difficulty in getting them to honor their printed charges, you begin questioning why bother.

I had trouble trying to order online. So sent an order by mail with a form and the prices entered as found. They had my phone number but I never heard anything from them. Then one box arrived and a week later the second. In the mail with the second was an envelope saying I owed them more money. I called to see why. Never got a real good answer except that it could be the prices in my book and the code assigned to me could be different. And they have to go by that code. They never bothered to call to see if I wanted to pay the extra. I now have to send it all back and pay shipping again. I spent at least 10 minutes probably longer on the phone long distance talking to three different ladies and still never got a satisfactory answer. And basically got the feeling it didn't matter if I was happy or not. I consider it a form of bait and switch. If it was a dollar or so it would of been different. I have done business in the past with them and was going to try some products to see about using considerable more but now I probably won't be doing anymore business with them.

Gardens alive has been a great company but with e-mail, mail, and overflow calls being sent across seas its just a matter of time till our loved "american company" will join the ranks as many other companys that dont care about the employee's. I feel the only way to keep this company is to call and not place orders but to let them know that they should stay and that we WILL only buy from a company whos first language is english

Have ordered from them in the past, wasps arrived and never hatched. Never got the compost tea kit. Now I have discovered why. They are affiliated with Brecks. They do not honor your money back or life time warranty. They do not respond to emails. Please refer to comments in Brecks. Try Brent and Becky's. They were GREAT>

In response to a general question to Gardens Alive Website, I received a response from Donna in customer service saying I had a "bad account" and I should call right away.
I did so immediately. The number given was to the credit department.
I explained I had one complete order from over a year ago (spring of 2005) and it was recieved in good condition and paid for.
Oh, no, I was told I had two orders shipped and only paid for one. I explained I didn't recall two orders, and only received one shipment. I was surprised when the response back to me was "we show it in our system". Therefore I ordered it I received it and I didn't pay for it. Who would ever question "the system???"
I was told my credit card was declined. And they didn't call or ??

I was given a phone number for a collection agency (!!) that supposedly had my account at this time. By now I am freaking out in my head but remain calm as this mistake will work out.
I called the new phone number at once and found (thank goodness) this collection agency had no record of me, my husband or anyone else in this household ever being in their files. I can't make my debt good with them as they have never heard of me.
Back I go to Gardens Alive. Same Story. The guy doesn't believe me, tells me I must have been written off by the collection agency and his system shows I have this mysterious order. I explained how I had never recieved one letter, one phone call, nothing from either Gardens Alive or a collection agency. Also my credit record is clean as a whistle. Nope. His records show an order so there must have been one, and I am the deadbeat who didn't pay for it!

read the complaints from Whisperkey and Ibwankenobi - my problem is like a combination of those two.

I gave my CC number to the credit department at Gardens Alive to satisfy this imaginary debt. Worth 38.00 to keep my credit clean, I guess.
I hope they spend that $38.00 wisely as it will be the last dime I ever spend with that company.

my shopping experiences with gardens alive were positive in the past. but, this summer something changed and i have had to put much time and energy and worry over orders that come and are incorrect (i ordered 1 bag of gardeners gold, not 5!) and items that are missing from orders, not to mention back ordered lady bugs. i am still waiting anxiously to find out whether the charges have been straightened out correctly or not.

it saddens me to hear that profit has become more important that employing Americans or quality of service. gardens alive use to have a special place on my list of garden sources, but now i must research looking for a new source. BOO!!!

I have been a customer of Gardens Alive! for several years and generally like their organic products. However, in the last 6 months, the quality of their customer service has seriously deteriorated. Phone calls are not returned, e-mails are unanswered. It is particularly distressing because they do not have a toll free number, so you must call at your own expense when e-mails are ignored. When you do get a live person on the phone, he or she doesn't seem to care very much that you have been inconvenienced in any way. I am now looking for another source for organic products.

This is a local company in Lawrenceburg, Indiana. The owner of the company has decided to hire a company in India to start taking sales calls. This upsets me that another American company is using American dollars to fund foreign companies because the labor costs are much cheaper. I will never spend another dollar with this company and this includes many members of the garden club I am active in. I urge anyone reading this to send emails to Gardens Alive, demanding they keep our fellow Americans employed.

Despite the fact that we are listed on do not call lists, Gardens Alive uses automatic dailers and recorded telephone solicitations without straightforwarded authority. If you do not want to be bothered with recorded sales calls, do not use them.

Good Products . . . Bad Business Practices

My order for two in-stock fertilizer items shipped on March 15. While the shipment indicated being shipped US Postal, it was instead put on trailer 746933 and sent to the APX Logistics Regional Sortation Center in Franklin Park, IL.

When I called Gardens Alive 3 days after their estimated delivery period expired, their representative informed me "Once it leaves our building, we have no control over how long it takes the Postal service to deliver packages". Not true; their carrier, APX Logistics took over 2 weeks to deliver the order as part of a bulk shipment to my regional Postal facility in Philadelphia on April 1. NOW the clock starts with the Postal service. They took an additional 9 days and delivered my order on April 10.

I paid $9.95 for shipping which could have afforded UPS or FedEx ground service in 3 days.

Bottom Line: Shipping time should be measured in days -- not weeks.

Even if you call Gardens Alive to specifically request that your name and address not be rented or sold, it can still happen. And the flood of gardening catalogs will start pouring in.

I once had my husband receive an order at work. (Mind you, I am the gardener, not he, so he is not at all interested in the gardening catalogs.) The box contained seed starting mix, which was in a paper bag, which had ripped during shipping. The box that arrived at my husband's office was leaking soil. A lot of soil. It was a mess. I didn't bother to contact Gardens Alive, because I understand their commitment to recycled and recyclable materials. I apologized to my husband for the mess in his office and in his car.

That was the least of our problems.

This spring, my husband received the latest Gardens Alive catalog at his office. I told him I'd get him off the list. So I called. The person I spoke with seemed to be writing down the address, because s/he had me spell out the entire address. I always get suspicious of that, because little pieces of paper have a way of getting lost.

After a while, my husband started to get catalogs from the Gardens Alive family of companies. I called more than one of those companies to ask that he not receive ANY catalogs, and that his name not be given out to anyone.

Then my husband started to get catalogs from the Jung Seeds family of companies. I called, and his name was in the Jung Seeds database. So I had that removed, and made sure that it was removed from marketing for all companies related to Jung Seeds.

In the meantime, I had e-mailed Gardens Alive to have the name removed, in case my phone call hadn't worked. The person who replied to my e-mail tried to reassure me that the address would never be given away.

I wrote back with my evidence: My husband had started receiving catalogs from companies outside of the Gardens Alive family of companies, and the only source could be Gardens Alive itself, because the address in question is that of a computer engineering firm. I never got a reply to that one.

So the catalogs keep arriving. Yesterday, he got one from the Mantis Tiller people. He wasn't in that database, at least, so it was just a rental.

My husband insists that I don't have to stop doing business with Gardens Alive over this, but all along, I received identical catalogs at home to the ones he received at work. I also received a catalog from Wayside Gardens, and that family of companies sends tons of catalogs. Fortunately, I wasn't in the database, so it was only a list rental. Whew! That was close.

I can only suspect Gardens Alive. I am always very careful to request AT THE TIME OF ORDERING THE CATALOG, mind you, that my address not be given away. All those unwanted catalogs resulted from a couple of orders from a company that doesn't have a clear idea of what its own marketing department is doing. My compost pile overfloweth with garden catalogs.

I just called today, and my husband's name was in the Gardens Alive database. The lady I spoke with couldn't tell me whether the name was or was not going to be sent any more catalogs. She WROTE DOWN the account number in order to have him removed--later. I verified with her that she was actually writing it down, not clicking a box in the databse. Another little piece of paper that could get lost. The database isn't very good if it won't allow a simple function like that.

I'm just gonna hafta wait a few more months, and see if the number of catalogs decreases. I know address are sold/rented months before they are actually used.

NOT ORGANIC!!! BEWARE!!

I ordered the liquid rotenone/pyrethrum mix, part number 8659. When it arrived, the box smelled like gasoline! I opened it up and the bottle was on its side. The bottle said that the solvent was "aromatic petroleum solvents". This is not an organic ingredient. It also said it must be stored and transported upright, hence the foul smell. Would you spray something on food plants that smells of gasoline? I won't. I contacted the company by phone and email. They had no idea why the product would smell like gasoline. They also told me that their products were not all organic. How can you tell from their catalog? Very few items are specified organic. The others are anybody's guess. I've learned to look more closely. As for their Stay Organic Club, I decided to stick with my own Make Sure It's Organic Club. On the bright side, their products are probably less harmful than a lot of other products out there.

I placed 2 orders in August & one in October for spring delivery. In March I had to close & reopen all my bank accounts & debit cards due to a security breach. While I was waiting for my new cards, I got a letter from Breck's telling me my card was declined, but we sent your order, just pay using this coupon. The letter was dated 3/24/05. I wanted to check on my other orders, so the day after I got the letter, I checked the status. Both orders from August were cancelled. So I emailed them. No reply after a week, so I emailed again. I rec'd an automated reply saying I would get an answer in 24 hours. 6 DAYS later, I received a reply saying the other 2 orders were declined so they were cancelled. I figured as much, but I wanted to know why I wasn't notified at all & why they just sent an invoice on the other order? (One order was $7, one was $36 & one was $39, they sent the $36 one.) All I have gotten from them is one lie after another. One person says one thing, then another one says something else. One person said I was notified, I must not have gotten them. Right - yet I got the invoice. Then someone said that these orders were declined by my bank in SEPTEMBER. So, I called my bank - they did not decline any orders from Breck's in September. The declinations occurred on 3/23/05. So, bottom line is that after 9 days of emailing back and forth, I have not gotten a correct explanation, I have gotten various bits of information that I have proved to them are false and their latest claim is that they mailed one invoice on one order and expected me to contact them to fix the payments of the other 2. I got the invoice on 3/28, when I looked at the orders on 3/29 they were already cancelled. If this is the truth, they gave me ONE day. I will never do business with this company or any affiliate again. And as a side note - they have no toll-free number, so if you call them it's long distance, so email was the only option in my opinion.

Good first order. Requested catalogs for friends.

Second order initially placed on the website, but was problematic, so I called it in.

A week later my credit card was billed for a duplicate web order I did not place. With the trouble I had before, more web orders were out of the question. The computer was OFF at the alleged order time.

Customer Service response: "No sir, we show you placed it." Customer Service Manager: "No sir, I see it right here. A web order from you."

Never one word of acknowledgement that the error might be on their end.

I wrote the President of the company, after 10 days I got a terse e-mail from Customer Service saying, "We show you placed a web order on this date. Please send the item back and we will credit your card."

The item had long been sent back.

From the president on down, they treated me like I was trying to get something for free. A lot of Good Will, future business and future recommendations squandered here because of Bad Customer Service.

They must be doing awfully well for even the president of the company to take such a jaded attitude.

I have been a customer of Garden's Alive! for quite some time now. I've tried to use their coupons as my orders can get pretty expensive. Some products, like Escar-Go did not work for me. But I kept ordering my favorites as I was transitioning my yard to organic. My last order did not go through on the internet after several attempts. So I ordered by phone the same day. The operator suggested I not use the web anymore because their site "never works". I asked why they don't fix it, but she didn't know. My order arrived and I was satisfied--except a 5lb bag of kelp never was packed with my order. Their records indicate it was sent, but it was not. Then today I received an e-mail notification that my order is being processed. I checked out what order they were talking about and it was the internet order that finally went through--ALMOST TWO MONTHS LATER and without the coupon discount included. Well, I called to tell them I already received this order since I made it by phone (duplicate items). The customer service rep. took about 30 minutes to sort it all out. She kindly said, "I will send you the kelp free of charge"--I said, "I would hope so...it's already paid for!" ANOTHER CUSTOMER LOST.

Gardens Alive's service seemed to be just fine. Although the coupon didn't work, as others have posted.
My problem is with the product I ordered. I spent $15.95 and with shipping it was about $25.00 to get rid of an infestation of fungus gnats. The product, Knock Out Gnats just did not work. I used as directed. If anything, the product actually encouraged gnat production! I know it is a larvicide and is not designed to get the adult bugs, but after two applications, witnessed the largest larvie hatch imaginable!
My container has the date 11/17/04 on it, so perhaps it has expired.

i got a gardens alive catalog with a 20dollar coupon no strings atatched try us FREE so i used it deducted coupon sent remainder got product in almost 4 weeks a week later got a bill money due for amount of coupon called but they said i needed to spend $40 to use the coupon i saw nothing like this on the catalog OR coupon OR order form if i owed 20 dollars WHY did they ship the product ( their shipping is costly)customer service was rude no satisfaction here im sending the back they said they would pay for the return (wait and see) avoid this RIP OFF stillerfan in PITTSBURGH

I received their March catalog this past week. (I've never heard of them before nor used their products.)

Prominently on the front page was a $25 coupon so that I could "Try [their] products absolutely FREE, no hook, no minimum order"

When I added two small items to my order online basket and tried to apply the coupon, it said "offer is expired". Even though the coupon clearly states it expires 5/4/05 and their is a big yellow sticker on the cover saying "Hurry! Offer expires May 4, 2005"

This is NOT the best way to welcome new customers. My time is valuable - and I hate companies that waste it.

Also to note, shipping and handling on a $25 order is a whopping $7.99. That's almost 1/3 of the total ...

Be very cautious when dealing with this company. I ordered from several of their subsidiary companies before I learned they were all owned by Gardens Alive. My experiences have ranged from great to abysmal, from live plants to sticks in a bag. One order placed with their "free" coupon ended up costing me money in shipping and one never arrived at all. This company really needs to work on getting their act together and being consistant. If they cannot supply good products from the companies they own, they should be closing those down, not continuing to send bad products.

We ordered two products, sending in a $20 coupon plus s/h. After 6 wks. we had no response so I called. They had no record of our order although they had had no trouble cashing our check. After 5 more phone calls and mailing them a copy of the check, we finally received our order. We will not be ordering from them again.

I ordered with the $20 coupon which I think is great so that you can get to know the company. The order came in fairly quickly with the Escar-go and the plant markers that I ordered. However, I am receiving email from both them an Spring Hill(I ordered from them as well) and I had only given my email because they said it was for order confirmation(which I got from Gardens Alive but not from Spring Hill). They did not mention that it was so they could SPAM you all they can! Gurney's same way! Truthfully if I had $20 to spend I would not spend it on the 48 markers I got(was supposed to be 5O, who cheats on plant marker?) and the 1 1/4 lb of snail bait. Too expensive and too much email. I doubt I will order again.
To the person who gets too many catalogs, put them in a manilla envelope and send them all back, it will be worth the postage, lol.

SPAM Alert!
It seems to be impossible to get off the e-newsletter list. I have asked 3 times, and have been told twice that my name had been removed the list, yet still continue to receive the newsletter with a frequency that can only be described as SPAM. The newsletter is in reality just another ad for the company.

Note to Gardens Alive: if mailings were less frequent, say once a month rather than more than once a week, I would not consider it to be spam, and I might then possibly buy something.

I ordered two garden collections in July for fall planting in 2002. Both arrived in early September (dry, hot weather in Los Angeles) The plants were either dried out sticks or mushy, moldy messes. I was instructed to plant them anyway and they would be fine. It is now March. I cannot even find a single shade garden sprout or even the rotted bulbs. As for the wisteria, daylilies and lavender- not a thing even once showed any signs of recovery.

I have requested a refund and sent my original label in- nothing.

I placed an order with them last year for some plants and a bird feeder. The bird feeder was OK but the plants were abyssmal. They all died within weeks of receiving them. They have a money back guarantee posted on their website and I wanted my money back for the plants. Every time I called, the person who answered the phone said the manager would call me back and they never did.

What really bugs me about this company is that they add you to their database and start bombarding you with catalogs without even asking. I have ordered three times, and at last, I have requested not to be put in the database, and then I still get the catalog, plus the catalogs of their marketing network, a situation that they say cannot be corrected in less that 6 to 8 weeks. This means about an entire bag of wasted paper at least, assuming those partner companies are not giving your address away as well. I find this utterly disrespectful, plus it says a lot of how much they care about the environment, in my view. I don't think I will order anything from them in the future. I cannot spend that much time stopping the junk mail they generate.

I ordered 2 dwarf pink elf hydrangea shrubs from these folks several months ago - I wanted to give the plants a chance before I reported. One is dead and the other is questionable....I have seen one flower which was deformed. I will not order from them or any of their companies again. The special pricing seems to mean you get small, unhealthy and ultimately useless plants which won't last.

I ordered two clematis "Flammula". They arrived as bare root and upon planting they subsequently rotted. I was not impressed with their quality. I requested by letter a refund or replacement in June. I never heard from them and called them more than a month later. They said they were sending me a gift certificate. I requested my money back but they said I had to send in the gift certificate with a letter. I will not be ordering from them in the future.

i ordered a special they were running rose bushes for $3.89 you had to order 3 of the same kind so i ordered 3 different kind i should have recieved 9 total but they shipped 1 each i called long distance them told them the mistake the girl reordered i waited 10 days the order came only 3 plants arrived instead of the 6 they owed me. i don't think i will be ordering from them again.

Ordered from Gardens Alive! and received confirmation 4/19, stating UPS order would be received 5-7 days. As of 4/26, not received. Per call 4/29, order had not been shipped and would not yet be shipped. Catalog states, "Call before noon, we'll ship today!" Not in my experience. I called before noon (twice), and they claimed they could not ship today (even though the items were in stock), despite what the catalog says. They stated they are behind and understaffed; customer service has no managers to help resolve customer complaints and is "not allowed" to transfer calls to anyone else. Finally in frustration, informed them I would contact the FTC (interstate commerce issue, false promises on catalog) - they did not consider such a report to be important. If you can, find someone else to order from. I won't ever order from them again.

I've ordered from them before and shipping was rather slow. Email response poor. After checking around I found that their prices are quite high. I recommend shopping around folks.

I have ordered fertilizer and bug control products from Gardens Alive in the past and have always been happy with them. I just received 3 mini roses I ordered from the web site. I was immediately disappointed before I even opened the box. They came from Spring Hill. I know of Spring Hill's reputation. The roses were supposed to be premium potted plants, but they are tiny and they look like a hand full of soil was tossed in the pot when they were shipped. I had planned on planting them right in the ground but I am afraid they will not survive. I went back to Gardens Alive's web page and nowhere do they tell you the roses are coming from Spring Hill. If I had known that, I wouldn't have ordered them to begin with.
I have e-mailed them with my complaint but have not yet received a response.