Comments regarding Select Seeds Antique Flowers

Ordered five separate packs of Zinnia seeds, ALL of which had terrible seed germination rates, less than 50%. All of this seed was sowed in a peat lite mix planted shallow set on a heat mat. The seed quality sent was very poor, a lot of chaff and poorly uniform seeds of all sizes were sent. Yes packing small orders of seeds is costly and time consuming for you, hence your high prices. Won't be buying from you again, you ought to be embarrassed with your quality.

Posted on May 22, 2021, updated May 23, 2021
In the last few years, I have ordered many seeds from Select Seeds. They have an interesting selection of flower seeds. Last year, three packets of seeds I ordered from them had zero or very low germination rates. I later figured out that two of those failures were because of the incorrect germination instructions on their packets. The third packet had very few seeds in it -- much less than the stated number. I wrote negative reviews for those products on their website. I received no response and no offer of a refund.

Against my better judgment, I placed another order with them this year for a single packet of seeds (which I could not find elsewhere). After confirming with customer service that I could avoid shipping charges by ordering through the mail and including a self-addressed stamped envelope with my payment, I did just that. I sent that order on 1/20/21. At that time, the item was in stock. My order was not even acknowledged until 2/18/21. Customer service had neglected to mention my order would be delayed by a month if I placed it by mail. Of course, because of the COVID gardening craze, by the time my order was processed, the product was backordered. My order status said, "We will need a little more time to figure out when your order will be ready." I contacted customer support and they promised the product would be in stock "soon." Long after my idea of "soon" had passed, I contacted them again to no avail. I could not even get a promise that I would receive the seeds in time for a fall planting! Though I made it clear that I am absolutely livid, all I get is an inadequate apology and an offer to cancel the order. It is now 5/22/21. I have not received the seeds. Their website shows the product is in stock and has been for at least a week. And yet my order has not shipped.

I consider their customer service entirely unsatisfactory. The quality of their seed is inferior to others, with lower germination rates across the board. Now I know that I can't even rely on them to actually ship the items I have paid for. I don't care if they offer things I can't find elsewhere -- I am never ordering from them again.

"On May 23, 2021 11:39 AM, Select Seeds Antique Flowers responded with:

Hi Rebecca,

Thanks so much for posting your review. I'm sorry that you had a bad experience with your order from us this year. In such an unprecedented year for small businesses in the home and garden sector, we tried our best to serve you and the thousands of other customers to the best of our ability.

On January 19th, you sent an email to us to make changes to a seed order. I replied on January 20th to let you know that the order had shipped and no changes could be made. You suggested to me that you could send in a check for the seed packet and a self-addressed stamped envelope. I agreed that this would be an easy way to make the order without paying additional shipping fees. On February 25th, a few days after we had received and processed your check, you emailed regarding the backorder status. At that time, I explained that international shipping and customs delays make it very hard to pinpoint when we would be able to fill your order. Since you mentioned in your email you would prefer to find another source, I offered to cancel the order at that time. On April 5th, I replied to another email from you offering to look into our seed stock to see if we could get a single packet to send out. Unfortunately, I was not able to process the order at that time. We now have received the product and it is packed up and ready to go. I will have your order sent out free of charge via USPS First Class Mail so that you can track your package.

I have also checked on your account to see the reviews you had left of the seeds you had problems with last year, and I apologize as we have not yet been able to monitor the feedback section as closely as we would like. I have scheduled a free replacement for the three packets from 2020 that you had problems with. If you ever have any issues with our products, we ask that you send us an email through the Contact Us form on our website. We’re more than happy to offer replacements or a refund if preferred.

Best regards,

Allison Barlow"

Posted on May 25, 2015, updated November 28, 2015
I ordered 5 packs of seeds from Select Seeds, on April 21st. I have not received them as of yet.

On May 18th, they did call and say that there was a problem with my credit card. What took them so long to call me?!

My order was mailed out on May 19th. My credit card has been charged, but as of this date, May 24th, I have not received my order.

I've never had this kind of problem from them before, but I will not order from them again.

"On May 25, 2015 11:11 AM, Select Seeds Antique Flowers responded with:

Thanks for your comments, which bring to my attention your disappointment with our service. I understand your frustration, for our responsibility to you is to deliver your orders promptly. I will find out what went wrong this Tuesday when we get back in the office after the holiday, and will respond soon.
Marilyn Barlow
President
Select Seeds

This is the kind of gardening business I love: flowers, scented flowers, heirloom flowers. My primary go-to when I start shopping for seeds. Or it was. For the last 2 years, I haven't got a catalog. Last year I had to go to them and request a catalog. My understanding is that when you order from a company, you are added to their mailing list and kept on if you continue to order. If you lapse, they give you at least one season of catalog before they drop you. Anyway, I have ordered from them but couldn't last year because...? Well, if you're starting seeds, you need to get them before March or April. My 2010 catalog which I had to ask for is post marked April 27th. So I couldn't buy seeds from them (in my zone, 4, you need to start early). This year I'm rummaging about looking at all my catalogs and realize that once again, I have no current Select Seeds catalog. I go to their website to request one and see that they've already mailed out their 2011 catalogs. They are now "taking orders" for their 2012 one. Well, sorry, but I'm not about to "order" their catalog every year. I figure it's a courtesy to the customer to send them the catalog, especially if it's a customer who's ordered before!

I love their flowers, I love their catalog, I love how they describe their merchandise but I will no longer order from them. This is just too bothersome. And there are lots of other companies out there who carry nice scented heirloom flowers who don't require a yearly request of their catalog.

"On Feb 14, 2011 5:46 PM, Select Seeds Antique Flowers responded with:

We are happy to hear from our customers and send out catalogs From December through spring to everyone who loves thumbing through the pages rather than clicking the links. All of our customers are mailed the following year's catalog. More than one thing went wrong here and we will investigate with badjer1's help to correct this.
Thanks for your feedback.
Marilyn Barlow
Select Seeds"

Okay. This post may drag but I want to be fair and make sure I include as many details as possible so that when this negative comment hits Select Seeds, they will see I have maintained accurate and thorough notes of this first-time-buyer experience.

On January 10, 2007 I ordered seeds for Bells of Ireland, Cup and Saucer Vine 'Alba', Sweet Scabious 'Snowmaiden', and Zinnia 'Benary's Giant Lime' online. I received my order on January 16, 2007 without the Zinnia 'Benary's Giant Lime' included. There was no explanation on the packing slip and no email or call. So I called and was informed that Zinnia 'Benary's Giant Lime' seeds would not be available until the first week of February. I waited until February 9 to send an email requesting the rest of my order. This time I was informed by voicemail they would arrive in the "middle of the month". On February 21 I called and was told many of the varieties of seeds offered by Select Seeds are sourced from Europe and that they "definitely will be mailed out by the last week of the month" (of February). You guessed it. No seeds. After sending a scathing email on February 28, I received another voicemail apology. This time an unnamed lady told me the seeds had been mailed out and I would receive them via first class mail by the end of the week. Well, I got them today, almost 8 weeks after requesting them.

My reasons for this negative comment is singular: misinformation. There is no indication on the website or in the catalogue that some seeds are on backorder, or "not in-house" as they like to say. And I feel as though I was willfully misinformed by customer service when I called. Why not just tell me there is a possible 2 month delay from the time they take your money and the date you actually receive your product? I ordered so far in advance to circumvent the rush of early-sowers such as myself. Sure, I still have plenty of time to sow early - it's the principle, folks.

In case you're wondering, yes, they sent free seeds with both orders (Thanks!), and yes, the packaging and quality looks superb. Too bad they hadn't been transparent with the problem and the reason behind it.

"

We appreciate the careful documenting of events by our customer regarding his experience with Select Seeds, however, he is misinformed on one important point. All of our invoices sent with our seeds have the status of each seed indicated in the status column. BO indicates a backordered item as defined at the bottom of the invoice. The expected date given us by our overseas supplier did turnout to be inaccurate. Many reasons can explain this, possibly from late arrival from the field, to a failed germ test which would send it back to be cleaned again, removing additional low germ ( often lighter seed) and going back to retest, (another delay) before sending it out to us. While all this doesn't concern our customer, it is a reality of the seed business. We did expect the seed on our expected date of Feb 6, and when this date passed, we contacted our supplier and we were only able to receive a small portion of what we had ordered. We are sorry for his inconvenience, and we hope this rebuttal sheds a little more light on what happened. Happy Gardening All!
Marilyn Barlow ,Owner, Select Seeds"