Comments regarding Spring Garden Canada

I placed an order with Spring Garden in early February 2010 for plants and a non-plant item.

Mid-April they shipped the non-plant portion of my order, so everything seemed to be okay. It was packaged appropriately. Then I didn't hear anything or receive anything from them for a long time.

I started logging into their website regularly to check the status of my order in May. The estimated shipping date/range was constantly being updated and bumped back to about 10 days or so away every time I logged in.

I finally had to contact them in early June to ask for a refund on the remainder of my order since I felt it was far too late for planting in my zone this year.

I sent an email to them at 1am on a Friday. When I hadn't received a response yet by the late afternoon on Monday, I forwarded my email to them again and requested a response. I finally received a response in the evening on Wednesday and the customer service rep told me that she had cancelled my order, as requested. She said she had issued a refund for the remainder of the order (plants) to the credit card and was issuing a cheque for the difference in the shipping cost and gave me an estimate for how long it would take for the cheque to arrive.

At least a week or two later (possibly more) I received a letter by mail apologizing for the delay with my order and explaining that a supplier had gone bankrupt and they would have my plants shipped to me at the proper planting time for me in the fall. This made me concerned that I wasn't getting my refund as promised. When I checked the credit card statement though, the refund had gone through and the cheque did eventually come, just a bit later than she had estimated.

Also worth noting is that as soon as I placed my order with them I wound up on the Rockwood Gardens mailing list and was receiving shady advertising--saying we won in their sweepstakes (which we had never entered in--I had never ordered from them before either)... that sort of thing.

I hope they are able to climb out of this hole they seem to be in. Sometimes they offer a plant here or there that isn't offered from other catalogues or local nurseries and if it would come, as described, I would be delighted.

"On Oct 27, 2010 8:42 AM, Spring Garden Canada responded with:

Thank you for your input. Your comments are very appreciated and are used to better service our customers. A customer service representative will be contacting you for more information on the problems you had with your order and your emails that were sent to us."

Posted on August 13, 2010, updated October 14, 2010
Posted on August 13, 2010, updated August 13, 2010
Oh I wish I had found this site before placing my order on a few different sites (Breck's, Spring garden, and Vesey's) on Monday. The flowers I ordered some were for my mother so both of us are not too thrilled.
I placed the order Monday for some plants using the Guest checkout since I didn't have much time to start filling out forms. When I checked out - at the very end it said that I would get an email confirmation. Two days later still no email confirmation from either Spring Garden nor Breck's. So I sent them emails. No one has yet to reply. When I tried going back to the website, well, it no longer exists!
I really hope that they have no yet charged my credit card because I will really not be happy. Will be calling my credit card provider to ensure any transactions no be processed.
So far, my experience has not been the best. I also noticed that Spring Garden's website is almost identical to Breck's (except for the flower selections). I kind of thought that was a little weird.

"On Aug 13, 2010 8:44 AM, Spring Garden Canada responded with:

Thank you for taking the time to post. We appreciate your feedback. A customer service representative will be contacting you for your account information. We apologize for the trouble you had with getting your email confirmation and we will have this checked out."

I placed my internet order in the middle of August. In the middle of September I sent several emails to the company, asking to provide details of shipment since it was written in my membership area that the items have been shipped. I received no answer to any of my emails. Following the advice gived by someone at the blog, I called the company early in the morning and spoke to a nice lady, who informed me that they are working on my order. Last week I got the shipment. The plants were nicely and professionally packed and in good conditions. Thanks! Hopefully, the company will improve the website service and provide more exact information about shipment and respond to emails.

I have been a customer of Spring Garden for years. Never had any problems. I would say that over half my plants in my yard are from them. The odd one dies, but they are plants, not rocks. Can't wait for this cold winter to end and to get back out into my yard. Will from Toronto.

I had also ordered bulbs from this company this year. They did not fail to cash my cheque, but did fail to send me any bulbs. I was unaware that they went out of business until I found this site, and a letter from another disgruntled customer. I guess it's true what they say "Caveat Emptor".

Over 3 months ago I sent this company a money order which has since been cashed. I recently went on-line to ask when I could expect my order and lo and behold they have been out of business for ages. Nice of them to still take peoples money!! I am currently in discussion with Industry Canada, the Postal Office and the bank. I have every intention to have either them and/or their parent companies and any management(and I hope some of you snake oil salesman from this company are reading this)charged with fraud, mail order fraud and any and all other charges the bank, government and the post office can charge them with!!!

I received a catalogue from Spring Garden, at the same town and postal code as Rockwood - the same slick ads, same offer of freebies with minimum orders. [Update] To anyone out there who has received a catalogue from Spring Garden, of Port Burwell, ON do not, I repeat DO NOT deal with these guys. According to The Vancouver branch of the BBB, Rockwood Gardens has had so many complaints registered from dissatisfied customers that they've folded up their act. But before you all heave a sigh of relief, they have regrouped under a new name: SPRING GARDEN. Don't get taken in just because they say no money down, and have a new toll-free number.