Comments regarding Rockwood Gardens

I remember Rockwood Gardens as a kid. My sister would always purchase from them, so when I was Googling mail order seed and bulb companies, and Rockwood Gardens popped up, I said 'Hey they're still around". I placed an order with them with a prepaid credit card that I purchased (as I won't use my personal one on the internet), it came back NSF, as their shipping charges are phenomenal. I removed one of the items I ordered, sent them a message stating to cancel the previous order. With the excitement of spring in the air, I made another order from them. That's when I started reading this forum; my stomach flipped and I became nervous. I requested from Rockwood Gardens to have my order shipped asap, considering it was payed for, and I own a small greenhouse in which I could place the plants until it was time to put them in the ground. I spoke to a customer service rep, whom by the way had absolutely no idea about the zone I am in (4b), but informed me she would do her best to have it shipped. In the meantime I sent several emails to the company, with never any response. My frustrations got the best of me, and I called to cancel my order. Next thing you know, my inbox was filling with responses from the company, finally answering emails from 2-3 weeks prior; each one apologizing for any inconvenience, and that they pride themselves on Customer Service. WHAT A JOKE! I have never seen a more inconsistent company as Rockwood Gardens! Here's the kicker...yesterday I went to use on of my prepaid credit cards, which was refunded by Rockwood Gardens, and one of them was declined...why you ask? Well, Rockwood Gardens, the kings of Customer Service decided to process the original order that I canceled!!!!!!!!! Can you believe the audacity? This is after one of their emails to me stated that they NEVER KEEP CREDIT CARD INFORMATION ON FILE!!!!! You can imagine my disgust and anger. So when I called them this morning, they got an earful from me. The funny thing is, the woman I spoke to barely spoke English, perhaps the calling center is not even on this continent! In conclusion, I recommend that no one should waste their time and money on this company, as in my eyes they are crooked!

"On Apr 16, 2011 11:09 AM, Rockwood Gardens responded with:

Thank you for letting us know about the problem with your order. I apologize for the inconvenience. A customer service representative will be contacting you for your account information and find out why this order was processed."

I placed an order in the Spring of 2010. Kept waiting and waiting and waiting for plants to arrive. Finally got a notice saying they were having problems with their delivery service. In the meantime, I nearly killed myself digging up gardens in my backyard in time for the arrival of these plants. Orders came at different times. I received some of the plants and was informed that the rest were out of stock. I sent them a cheque with my order form and, of course, have never heard from them regarding any refund for the plants that were out of stock. I will never order from this company again!

"On Apr 8, 2011 1:01 PM, Rockwood Gardens responded with:

I apologize for the problem with your order.A customer service representative will contact you for your account information so we can check on what happened with your order and your refund."

I ordered over $200 worth of plants early this year. The date for shipment kept being put on later and later. Since the plants in my area, Brockville, ON, should have been planted in April or May, I was very frustrated and finally cancelled my order. Also, the person I spoke to lives in Florida and, of course, knew nothing about the seasons in Ontario, Canada.

I decided to give your company one more chance, since I have been satisfied in the past. Again, today, I found that my Fall shipment of plants was not going to be shipped until mid-October, even though when I placed my order, I was told they would be shipped beetween Sept 13 and early Oct. I told the manager that I wanted them shipped ASAP because now is the time to plant them(though sooner would have been better). Frankly, if I do not receive my order very soon, I will again cancel and never order from your company again.
Beverley Matthie

"On Sep 13, 2010 10:58 AM, Rockwood Gardens responded with:

Thank you for taking the time to post. We appreciate your feedback. A customer service representative will be contacting you about your order to make sure your order will ship as soon as we can."

I sent my first order to Rockwood in February 2010 for a May delivery date. In June I tried to contact them and my phone call was answered by a woman in India. She couldn't understand me and I couldn't understnd her. I asked her to give me someone who could speak good english and she transferred me to a lady in Indiana USA. After talking to her for a couple of minutes I was told that my delivery dates had been changed and that I should receive my plants shortly. To sum my experience up. I have sent numerious e mails to Rockwood, talked on the phone to people in India, Indiana, USA and Ohio, USA. When I asked to speak to a representatiove in Canada, I was told that the Company ( a Canadian one ) didn't have anyone that I could speak to in Canada ??? Finally, I started to receive a few of my plants but, was informed that a number of them would be shipped in September 2010 and some of them would be shipped in May 2011. I requested that my money be refunded and finally some of it was. NEVER - I swear NEVER will I deal with this Company again. And to top it all off, I am still getting mail from this stupid company asking customers to order their plants from " Rockwood Gardens, Oakville, Ontario, Canada - ha, ha.

"On Aug 25, 2010 10:39 AM, Rockwood Gardens responded with:

Thank you for taking the time to post. We appreciate your feedback. A customer service representative will be contacting you about the problems you had with your order."

Posted on June 21, 2010, updated July 9, 2010
At the first of May, I placed an order for several Hydrangeas, Azaleas, Hibiscus, and other shrubs. My credit card was billed immediately but I didn't receive any form of confirmation that my order was placed. I finally, had to call customer service to get an order number or account number that verified they had taken my order and not just my money. Finally, I was able to go online and check on the status of my order. Since then the delivery date has been pushed forward every week and in addition every week I receive another notice that one or more of the items I have ordered are out of stock. I am now to the point where I have no confidence that anything will be delivered to me. When I call customer service I am always told that my order is in the process of being shipped. What is bothering me is that they will not refund my credit card for any of the out of stock items until the order has been shipped. Their reason is that they don’t want to have to do multiple refunds, so they will continue to hold my money until they actually ship something. When will that be, who knows?

I have told them that the ship date they have now given me (next week) will be the last and once that passes I will be cancelling my order. It will be interesting to see what happens. I will post the results.

"On Jun 21, 2010 2:14 PM, Rockwood Gardens 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."

My experience so far is extremely negative. On March 28/10 I ordered from Rockwood Garden's on line $41.69 of merchandise consisting of 5 items. I've received one and when I look at my account on their web site they have no delivery date for the remainder of my order and today is June 21/10. I've sent 4 emails requesting information on my order and they have managed to completely ignore me.

Took my money and ran kind of thing. Rockwood Gardens does not list a contact phone number but thur a Google search I've found one for them just now. I shall call them tomorrow and see if I can resolve the situation. I live in Northern BC and some of the things I ordered needed an early planting. It's already too late for a successful blooming. The phone number which is good is, 1-888-484-0066 for anyone else out there that would like to talk to these cheaters.

"On Jun 21, 2010 1:59 PM, Rockwood Gardens 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."

I won't order anything from rockwood gardens in the future. This company is really disappointed. I placed an order in April 9, and everytime I checked the order status, the estimated shipping day was constantly pushed ahead. The ordered item was finally shipped in June. All of I ordered are plants, but most of them they sent roots. The rest of plants they sent were half-dead. I don't think they can survive. I will not deal with this company again.

"On Jun 8, 2010 3:07 PM, Rockwood Gardens responded with:

Thank you for taking the time to post. A customer service representative will be contacting you for your account information. We apologize for the inconvenience."

I placed an order with rockwood gardens on march 26 and was given a shipping date of April 19.The date was constantly pushed ahead, when it hit May 24 I phoned rockwood to cancel (this is B.C.,I start my plants in Mar,Apr not in June).They said the order hadnt shipped, would cancel and refund my credit card in a couple of days.They had charged my card the day of the order, but still havnt refunded, its been over a week. I had noticed this company was owned by Brecks so I thought it would be reliable,but apparently not.

"On Jun 8, 2010 3:06 PM, Rockwood Gardens responded with:

Thank you for taking the time to post. We apologize for the trouble with your order. We appreciate your feedback to better serve our customers. A customer service representative will be contacting you for your account information."

I am so frustrated with Rockwood Gardens. I placed an order on March 4th. They had no problem charging the full amount to my credit card on that same day. I enquired right away about a shipping date as we are having a really early Spring and I wanted these plants a month ago. I was assured that the order would be expedited shipped on April 12. Well I noticed on April 21st that they still hadn't shipped the order. I contacted them April 27 and they say the same thing they said April 21st. My order is being expedited. Currently it is being processed, but allow 2 to 3 business days to process the order, and then another 5 to 7 business days to ship it.
I have sent numerous emails and they even contradict one another. One guy says it will be 3 to 5 days to ship and then right after that the next guy tacks on another 2 days.
I feel that I am getting stalled over and over and doubting whether the order will ever get shipped.
I specifically enquired about early shipping since we are having such a great early spring and I was told that the latest it would be shipped was April 12th. I feel like they took the money for 2 months under false pretences

"On Apr 28, 2010 1:50 PM, Rockwood Gardens responded with:

We appreciate you taking the time to post. A customer service representative will be contacting you for more information and make sure your order is shipped. We apologize for the inconvenience."

Bandits. If you want something small, this is the place.

Of all the gardening companies to buy from in Canada this is the worst!!!!! They have a very bad reputation and it is best to stay away from them. Their plants are inferior and sometimes even mislabeled! I have never seen such small plants and bulbs before. Most are dried up or rotted. How they stay in business is beyond me. Ask any Canadian Gardner and they will tell you the same.

I just found this site. I wanted to add my two cents worth. I wish I had been online several years ago and found this site, before I spent money at either of the above-noted nurseries. What they sent was half-dead. The perennials that survived only did so for that season and didn't come back the following season. Some of the bulbs survived, but many of them weren't what they were supposed to be. The free bulbs did nothing. The poplar trees, which allegedly grow 6 feet a year -- well, a few of them survived, but haven't grown more than 6 inches in 2 years. I advised them of the problems, and was sent a replacement certificate, but thereafter never received any more catalogues, so couldn't redeem it. Live and learn, I suppose. I will not deal with this company again, and it has put me off of ordering by mail from anywhere else.

My plants had short uneventful lives as well!!! When I finally found the information to apply for a refund from Rockwood they graciously sent me a certificate for the dollar value of my lost plants. The very strange thing about this is that since that time I have not received one catalog, or junk mail from them. Consequently, I also cannot use my gift certificate if I don't get a catalog! So, if you want to know how to stop the junk mail, get a refund for greater than half your order and they never bother you again!

I ordered products from Rockwood in March 1999. I was highly disappointed with the products when they finally came, as they looked dead when I received them, and never revived after being planted. And yes, the junk mail still comes. I think these folks put good mail order Canadian seed and plant companies to shame!

I have contacted this company numerous times and asked that the immediately stop sending there junk mail to my parents. My parents are quite elderly and they think they are going to win everything that is sent to them. My father has spent hundreds of dollars with this company and yes some of the plants have survived but you wouldn't believe the size of the garden compared to the amount of money they have spent. They could have hired a professional and had 10 times the gardens and not had to plant these tired or half dead plants. Is there any end to the leeching of the elderly?

Boy, I wish I had seen your site before I got involved with this company. Rockwood Gardens is the most unethical, least customer satisfaction driven company that I have ever come across. As a Marketing Professor, I have seen some good ones but Rockwood takes the cake. I unfortunately placed an order with them in March. As May rolled around and still no sign of my order, I found their phone number (which they don't publish as they don't want you to call them) and found out they had not shipped the order and couldn't tell me if it would be shipped anytime soon. So I cancelled it. They told me tough and they were going to ship it to me and charge me for it anyways. So come June, sure enough the order came and I refused it. Also sure enough charges were laid against my credit card. So here it is now late July, and the company is still placing entries on my credit card account without my authorization and I am battling with the credit card company to have these charges removed. What a headache. Also their junk mail could fill a landfill each year I am sure.To everyone reading this: DO NOT BUY FROM ROCKWOOD. They are unethical and are ripping people off and trying to get your money even if you don't have any merchandise.

I have been ordering from Rockwood Gardens for a few years now. Like most people who have responded, I've received many plants that did not grow, received Sticks in many cases, but I have always sent them a letter outlining the replacements I request, and/or the credits I request. I had recently ordered Mini Rose Hedges (6) and they did not flourish. They replaced all 6, which again did not grow. I therefore listed numerous items I wished that they replace them with, to the total of the cost of the hedges (and requested that they pay postage and handling on them). I have received most of the items requested, and those they did not have, I received a cheque for the amount remaining. I find a letter works well with them,I haven't tried calling them. (This latest letter was sent by fax to them, with a follow up fax requesting response) I have ordered all sorts of different things from them: Bulbs, Roses, Rose of Sharon etc, and some items flourish, others do not. I have given them the benefit of the doubt, however it becomes frustrating always having to request replacements.

I was searching for Rockwood Gardens on the net, trying to find them and get a number to call. Instead I found this site of all the unsatisfied customers of Rockwood Gardens. What a shock. I thought I was the only one that had a problem with them. I too have had bad experiences with this company. I have received merchandise credits for items that did not survive the winter etc., unfortunately I can't use them because I haven't received another catalogue from them since the credit certificates were issued. Of course they have to be used within a year. What a laugh! I have received all the junk mail, all the info and prize stuff. They should realize that their customers don't care about all that; we just want good products and service. I could get long-winded but from what I have read it has all been said. I guess just spreading the word will be the best way to prevent others from getting ripped off like we were. In addition I would suggest to by from the honest business people who sell the same product in our own community. Gardening is great way to get out your stress and frustrations so lets get out there and enjoy the great plants we have and buy our new ones from the people we know.

We ordered Lavender mountain Lilies On May 25, l998 and they turned out to be yellow. I am very disappointed with the company as we have been dealing with them for years and don't get any satisfaction when complaining to them. I suggest from now on people go to a good garden outlet in person to get bulbs. It pays in the long run and the contest for big money is like any other --you get what you pay for and the odds of winning are too great to put up with the fustration of inferior plants.

Like everyone else, I have been deluged with junk mail and winning prize forms and every other mail-order company's catalogues until the paper is almost unbearable! I started out pretty optimistic about it all, way back in January and February, even into March. Then I received confirmation notices saying I was short by $11.00, and assumed I had miscalculated the S&H, so I sent more money. By mid-May, I expected to receive notification of delivery, but that never happened. I was still hopeful two weeks ago: after all, in Calgary planting time is generally the Victoria Day long weekend. I planned to plant everything during my week of vacation May 24-30. By May 20, still no delivery notification, so I tried them by phone. I have the Call Again feature on my phone, and since the number was busy, I kept trying. I'm still trying to get through.My vegetable garden is in, my perennial bed dug out, I'm all ready to plant, the Victoria Day weekend has come and gone, and I still have no perennials! I've been told at least 5 times that I am a "Preferred Customer" (at least that's what all their catalogues and order forms stated). So if I'm such a valued customer, where are the perennials I ordered!!! I wonder how the "un-preferred customers" are treated?

I have been attempting to get a simple reply from Rockwood Gardens regarding an order I placed with them in 96 and 97. I had placed alarge order for shrubs and ground cover among other things, and when the order eventually arrived it was short by a very large amount. 75% of the shrubbery was missing and 75% of the ground cover. The other order was of such poor quality that practically the entire order neededreplacement, about 105 plants of an order for about 130 plants. Rockwood never even acknowledged my letters requesting a refund orreplacement. I have reached that point where Rockwood appears to like to have their clients so frustrated and disgusted, that they would as soon write off the thing for the sake of my own sanity.I find it surprising that such a company is still in business in the waning days of the 20th century. Yet Canada seems to have adopted theAmerican model of doing business - let the buyer beware!! Surely, all of these media that place their advertisements must be also answerable for the promotion of a company that has such a legendary history of dissatisfied customers. Pity!

AARRGGHHH!!! I wish I had found this site prior to sending my order to Rockwood. I just mailed it a week ago as a present for my parents. Ithought I was doing something really nice for them and now it may end up being a depressing nightmare. I sent them a cheque for over a $100 and I am sure that will be cashed no problem!! I do appreciate that I was able to get a phone number from your site. I have been trying to find that. I was wondering if anyone had ever contacted the Better Business Bureau about Rockwood Gardens. I think I'll start by calling Rockwood themselves, now, and see what they have to say and see how they treat me. I'll keep you updated. Talk about closing the barn door after the cows have gotten out! Thanks for providing this site! {update] Since the email I sent you last night, I have contacted the BBB in Rockwood Garden's area and they provided me with the name of the person in charge of Rockwood Gardens and their fax number. If anyone wants the BBB report, contact the BBB - Mid-Western Ontario, 354 Charles Street East, Kitchener, Ontario N2G 4L5, phone: (519) 579-3080 fax: (519) 570-0072. Their business hours are 10-3. They will email the report to you. And they are really quick at responding. I sent my fax around midnight and received a reply from them at 9am!!

I went on a long drive last spring to go buy seeds, bulbs and plants from Rockwood Gardens in Rockwood Ontario. My Dad went there many times over the years rather than ordering by mail. They have closed their doors to the public and are exclusively mail order now. I wonder why? why won't they deal in person anymore? I don't trust mail order companies. No one at Rockwood Gardens would even answer the door, just a slot to put your mail order into. No thanks Rockwood.

I placed an order in January for what I thought would be spring items; credit card payment was taken in February. Come May, I was a little anxious so I called, only to be informed that the order was in the shipping area and no way to cancel. Well I finally received my order the end of June. Needless to say the cannas and others were very late coming up and flowering. On top of this the cannas (two different varieties, not yellow) all turned out to be yellow. I will never order from this company again.

My mother ordered plants from this company in April, it is now almost the end of July and still no plants. When she contacted them a couple of weeks ago they said that they didn't receive payment; when she checked she found that they had cashed the $70 money order a couple of days after she sent it. She sent them a copy and is still waiting for a response. If they were a legitimate, customer-oriented business they would have a web site but I guess then their customers would be able to contact them. It seems that this is what they are trying to avoid. I would suggest that anyone reading this advise all of your gardening friends to avoid being sucked in with their flashy brochures and discount prices and deal with a company who treats their customers fairly. I hope that their buds all rot.

Below are three letters which I have sent to Rockwood Gardens in the past six months. I thought you might want to add my comments to your web page regarding their poor service. Anne

I made an order to them; the bulbs and shade garden package arrived late. I thought that I had planted it wrong. Okay. I made another order in spring of 98. The plants and bulbs arrived NOT!!! That is however 2 months after the planting time!!! What good is that?? I wrote to Rockwood explaining that it was too late to plant these bulbs etc. and that I wanted my money back, plus the plants were dead that I ordered. NO RESPONSE. I wrote again twice and no RESPONSE. How can a company do this kind of business?? Please DO NOT ORDER FROM ROCKWOOD GARDENS!

The first order I placed with Rockwood Gardens came when it was supposed to, but it was full of bugs! Aargh! I sent it back and got a complete refund with no problem. (That could have had something to do with the nasty letter I sent when I returned the plants.) After hearing a few good things and being enticed by the varieties I decided to order this year. I planted my order, and BARELY anything came up. The only things that came up were the roses. I have tried calling and I have to pay for it, "all operators are busy please wait" 3/4 of an hour later, still nothing and I have done this 3 or 4 times. I spent a good pile of money on these plants and I want them replaced, or preferably a refund. But it doesn't sound to promising after finding this web site.

I ordered materials from Rockwood Gardens last fall, looking forward to re-building some flowerbeds this Spring, and have yet to see anything but junk mail. Stay away from these scam-artists.

We sent off an order in March 1998. After calling several times, we finally received our order. Of the six items [my wife] ordered, one was sold out and not available, the other five were substituted for something else altogether. I suppose I wouldn't mind if the substitutions were close, but to order a 3' shade plan and have a 15' full sun plant in it's place, is just stupid. I think that if they were to at least offer some reasonable plants, we could put up with the junk mail. I hope that we can find many more sites that copy this information too, in order to save others from becoming involved.

We are having a similar problem with Rockwood Gardens: no delivery of product, cheque cashed, unable to raise them on the phone…

How the heck do you get them to answer their phone? I have been trying for two weeks to get them on a telephone!

I guess the old saying "if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is" applies to Rockwood Gardens. Think about it. If the plants are so cheap, there must be a reason they can afford to charge less. That reason is that they use very young plants with scant packing methods. They also count on most people not bothering to try to get their money back or have their plants replaced when they don't grow. This morning (July 1) I counted the number of plants that grew versus the number I planted. Only 50% came up. I'm writing a letter to get replacements but I've learned my lesson and will not be ordering from them again.

I've been trying to get hold of someone anyone at there office for 2 weeks. I've got a busy signal for all that time. The phone company contacts me within half hour if their phone line is not busy. It's always busy. At 2 in the afternoon when I phone their office is closed. Since last September of 1997 I've written Rockwood Gardens several times. I've ordered over $200.00 worth of plants. 95% of them died or never came up at all. I even bought a Bird of Paradise plant, and of all plants it survived. The free bulbs one gets are laughable. I truly gave all these plants a fighting chance. Other than the Bird of Paradise plant I only ordered plants that were for my zone. I not only brought in sterilized dirt I went to the greenhouses around where I live and asked people there how I should care for these plants, where to plant them, what to feed them, etc. We had a very mild winter and still nothing survived. Ironic thing is I went this spring to a greenhouse and bought basically the same plants and they are flourishing. As far as I'm concerned, Rockwood Gardens is a rip-off and guaranteeing their plants is a joke. The only thing they guarantee is you'll never get hold of them by phone to complain for a replacement or a refund.

I requested that the bulbs be shipped in early April for planting in a greenhouse. The plants arrived dead on June 2. We have had begonias and mosquito plants in bloom for over 4 weeks. These bulbs are the size of peanuts, local large bulbs the size of a small egg costs only one loonie (much less than the Rockwood Peanuts). As for the freebies, well if you have a magnifier, good luck. Same as last year - nothing came up. I will try and plant the bulbs and hope & pray. Never ever will I order from these people again. I am sending a letter to them for whatever good it might do. DO YOURSELF A FAVOR THROW AWAY THE JUNK MAIL AND SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL SUPPLIERS.

They somehow got hold of my name, sending me a catalogue and a chance to enter one of their interminable contests. I sent them a letter telling them they were a GRAND FINALIST for the prize of a supply of TOP QUALITY ORGANIC FERTILIZER courtesy of my large dog, Bud. All they had to do to qualify was send me another catalogue package. Presto--no more junk mail!!

I placed an order with this company on April 1, 1998 sending a money order along with the order form. It is now May 22nd and we have not heard anything regarding the order. Don't I feel the fool having placed a large order with this company without investigating their business practices first. So much for EVER trusting mail order again. This I am afraid is my first and LAST experience with Mail Order.

After reading other people's experiences with Rockford Gardens I can't believe they are still in business. We ordered a garden in a roll thing (seeds stuck in a mat.) [Our] $35.00 cheque was cashed but we never received anything. I sent them a letter; still haven't heard anything and this is over a year ago. Well I guess I know better now - buyer beware of Rockford Gardens.

Several members of my family have ordered (separately) plants from Rockwood Gardens. Two orders never arrived and the cheques were cashed immediately. Despite letters and calls asking for refunds nothing has occurred. Another order arrived and most if not all of the plants enclosed were either dead on arrival or arrived in a state not conducive to surviving being planted (i.e., plants were very unhealthy) I'm sorry to say that I cannot recommend this gardening company to anyone due to poor business practices (and shoddy customer service)!