Comments regarding Breck's Bulbs

I was surprised to see so many negative comments about Brecks. I have been EXTREMELY pleased with the quality of my orders, the shipping times, and their customer service. My most substantive complaint (and it is a major irritation with me) is that they do not publish hardiness information. That said, I think one of the reasons I have rarely been disappointed with Brecks is that I am careful about what I order. I learned my lesson about what can go wrong with live plants through mail-order many years ago (from Gurney's, actually). I just don't do it anymore - if I want something badly enough, I'll spend a Saturday driving 200 miles to pick it up myself. My other rule is that if I can't find it within 200 miles it probably doesn't want to grow here anyway - that applies to German Iris, Siberian Iris, daylilies, oriental lilies, or any other perennials except true bulbs.The only things I rely on from Brecks are tulips, daffodils, and grape hyacinth, which I started planting (at this house) six years ago. I have not been disappointed with any of those bulbs, and therefore do not object to the price. When my daffodils barely bloomed in the second year I wondered what was wrong - then I found out that no one else's daffodils bloomed in my region that year either. It was just weird climate - the daffodils have been gorgeous ever since. The grape hyacinth have been thoroughly reliable every year, even though I planted some in AWFUL soil conditions (my attention span is too short for proper soil amendment). As for the tulips, the ones from the "economy mixture" have performed beautifully for about five years and show no sign of stopping. My beautiful hybrids (dozens of Esther and Apricot Beauty, and an early one I can't remember the name of) are less magnificent than they were five years ago. And they were TRULY magnificent the first two years - 30" stems with enormous, luminous blooms. Now they are shorter, although there are more, but smaller, blooms. But this is to be expected of hybrid tulips, and I understood when I planted them that I would either need to start over with mature bulbs at some point - or actually perform the maintenance of digging the old ones up, separating the "babies," and resetting them so they can start over themselves. I may not get around to the job, but I don't blame Brecks for that. Occasionally I have ordered other bulbs from Brecks, mostly as an experiment. The hardy cyclamen I planted last fall are blooming nicely today. Once I ordered a dozen giant allium, however - they were extraordinary the first year and have been missing in action ever since.This is probably a function of the soil/sun conditions I planted them in - I wasn't happy about it, but again I think it was more my fault than Brecks (although that's where the missing hardiness and cultural information would be helpful). Bottom line: customer satisfaction has much to do with reasonable expectations - like any other company, Brecks no doubt promises more than it can deliver in some areas, and gardeners should take "puffing" with a grain of salt. I note, for example, that Brecks finally published a catalog this summer with a REAL photograph of their Rembrandt tulips - after years of offering them only with a picture of a PAINTING. When I asked a customer service person about this practice a few years ago, I was told that was the "best way to show the flowers." This was, of course, ridiculous and I said so - the point is that no matter what the catalog or the representative SAID, and no matter how badly I wanted them, I would have been crazy to order something that the folks at Brecks didn't appear able to grow themselves.

Brecks, I have never had a problem with their bulbs except that the kids in the neighborhood keep stealing my tulips (as long as it's for a good cause, I don't mind.

We have ordered a number of bulbs through Breck's and have been very happy with everything we planted. Most recently I ordered about a hundred Dutch Iris bulbs. They were planted last fall and this spring I have not been very pleased with their growth. I called Breck's and asked if I should expect better than this and they politely offered to send me a replacement shipment. So I'm satisfied with their service and will continue to order from them.

Yet another disappointed Breck's customer to add to your list. I ordered a large consignment of bulbs last fall and was holding my breath this spring. All the Arum italicums petered out after producing one leaf. Of the giant hyacinths, only two bulbs produced large flowers; the rest of the dozen were miniscule. Only one gladioli bulb and half the daffodils bloomed. Just the grape hyacinths and tulips did well and looked like the pictures in the catalog. I called Brecks and they promised to send me new bulbs this to replace the non-performers. I am keeping my fingers crossed.

I will never again use Brecks! I have had so much bad luck with them that I almost wound up empty handed in the bulb department last fall. I ordered in August and never heard a thing until I called in Oct. to remind them I was waiting for my bulbs. Their reply was: Oh, we're out of stock of 60% of your order and the other halve has been back ordered. It would have been nice if someone had called me to inform me of this. They did however, offer to sell me bulbs in the springtime! I don't think so. This was unfortunate because my neighbor has had wonderful luck with them. So maybe it's all in who you get on the phone when their is a problem. Maybe they need to train their people more.

I have been a customer of Breck's for several years. I have around 80% success with them. Their bulbs are nice & around here competitive price-wise with the nurseries. I did order some Easter Lilies as gifts once from them & was very disappointed. The plants were in full bloom upon arrival & didn't last very long. I also received from dahlia bulbs from them this spring that failed to root in damp peat moss. They were replaced promptly. I don't order anything unusual or rare from them. I stick with the tulips, crocuses, hyacinths, and daffodils.

I have ordered with good results from Brecks and Spring Hill. Both have good customer service with prompt refunds of plants that aren't satisfactory. Plants usually arrive in excellent condition for planting.

On my brother's advice I tried some other companies who send you a bill when you receive your plants and you don't pay if you are not satisfied. One of these companies is Breck's; I have had very good experiences with them, and when I did have a problem I called the 800 number and was treated with respect and sent a replacement immediately.

I have initially ordered bulbs from Brecks and would have to say that 75% of the tulip bulbs bloomed successfully, 65% of the daffodils bloomed, 20% of the Iris 65% of the grape hyacinth and 80% of the crocus. Of course this was my first time planting bulbs in that wonderful Georgia Clay - so I'd have to say this is pretty good - except the Iris. From Springhill I received many perennials from coreopsis, Russian sage, purple coneflower, rudbeckia, and Canna tubers way, way too early for this part of Georgia (sent them mid to late March). I called and said it was too early but they said it was ok to put in the ground. I put everything either in the refrigerator for roots or in a cool place, the basement (for tubers) or in a sunny window spritzing with water (Russian sage, red husker, coreopsis). Then planted when I felt it was right - around Easter time frame. Everything except one Russian Sage and 2 Red Husker P. has perished and 2 Canna, which are now up to 1 foot tall and healthy looking (the Russian Sage died before I even got it in the ground - I called and they sent replacements but it took around 2 months). I did order a special buy two Wiegela's at a good price and they came in larger 4" pots. I gave one tree to the neighbor and then planted the other. It is doing very, very well. As far as the Russian Sage goes, because they took so long to send the replacement I did not have time to put it in the ground and it has perished as well. I will still purchase bulbs from Springhill and may try some from Dutch gardens just to compare, and will only purchase 4" pots from Springhill.

I had an awful experience with brecks. I ordered what they listed as "Persian BLUE Allium" which was pictured as being almost a nave blue.They were expensive but I ordered anyway. The next spring I had a dozen purple flowers. Not close to the blue on the picture. I called and they did replace them but again with purple flowers. Next I wrote a letter saying that these were NOT close to the color in the catalog, and please don't "replace" them with more purple ones. I got the rudest letter back pointing out that the catalog lists them as "purple sensation" and I should know they are purple. Whatever happened to the customer is always right? I was so mad I took a color slide of my son holding the blue catalog picture right next to the purple flower, mailed it with a letter and asked them how anyone would know from the picture this is what to expect. I also included return postage and asked for my slide back. I never heard from them. No credit, no replacement, no returned slide. Yet I still got their stupid catalog with the BLUE flower pictured. A year later I wrote to them again and told them I would order from them when hell froze over. I still got no apology, but I don't get their catalog anymore either. Finally, several of my friends have told me that even though their bulbs look great and grow beautifully for the first year they don't return as nice the next. I have found that to be true. My dozen, then replacement dozen is down to about four plants. Brecks big beautiful tulips fizzled after two years. My discount store cheapos, on the other hand, look great.

Last year I ordered the pink daffodil collection. This year they came up yellow. I called them and they said they would send the pinks this fall. Of course, they have never come. I will not do business with them again. They haven't changed.

I've been doing business with Brecks and Spring Hill for about five years and I regard them as the best around. I have usually found their bulbs and plants to be of very high quality. But it's their customer service that is second to none! Last fall I received my annual shipment of bulbs and they told me not to bother paying for them because they feared they were damaged in shipment. Those bulbs came up fine this past spring. In addition they sent me free certificates on my next purchase. True their prices are a little bit higher than other places but they back it up 100%+.

I placed an order with Breck's in early August. The bulbs arrived last week. They were large, clean and healthy and I am impressed. I got them into the ground the day before the weather turned ugly; we are in Zone 3 in Alberta. I'll wait and see what comes up in the spring. But really there are enough nurseries and garden centres around that you really don't need to shop by mail-order except for seeds maybe.

Last year, when I was visiting my mother in Ontario, whose thumb is jungle green, I noticed she had catalogues from these two companies; she had placed several large orders that spring which arrived promptly and in good shape, and were flourishing in her garden from what I could see from when I was there in September. After perusing their products carefully, and consulting my garden books, I chose to place smallish orders with both companies, which I felt reasonably certain should do well in Vancouver.In late October, I placed an order by phone to Breck's for $43.75 worth of iris and snowdrops, charging to my credit card. They took the money and ran; I phoned them in November, upon receipt of my order confirmation slip, and they fed me the same line about the bulbs should arrive in March. I followed up in January, and they said they misplaced the order; I fortunately, had not misplaced my confirmation slip, and reiterated my order information and gave them my address and credit number again. They gave me the "shipped from Holland" line; I replied that it was a shame such a large company did such apoor job anticipating their customer base. In March, after reading the reports from other dissatisfied customers, I decided to act: I phoned them and asked for a refund, saying that if I didn't receive my refund by cheque in the mail in two weeks, I would seek legal action. Nothing. Zip. Nada. So here it is, almost June 1st, My husband and I are out nearly $45 dollars we can't afford to lose to greedy garden mongers, our BBB claim has been filed with no action and our "satisfaction guarantee" expires July 1st. I have decided to tape my next phone call with Breck's Customer Service and if I don't get satisfaction, I'm going to see if I can hire a collection agent. I find it ridiculous that a customer has to go to these kind of extremes to get "customer satisfaction" from a company. The only thing we did wrong was to expect a big gardening conglomerate to be ethical, responsible, and truthful to its customers! And I think we all have a right to expect that, no matter what size our order, or where it needs to be shipped!! Breck's has refunded my money in full, after the threat of legal action, and their latest catalogue offers a buy now, pay later option; if people are considering ordering from this company, I would advise taking advantage of this offer, and insuring that your money will be promptly refunded if your plants fail to thrive. Get it in writing if possible. Buyer beware.

I am an avid gardener. I currently have approximately 2,000 perennials. I have ordered several thousand dollars worth of bulbs and bare root plants from Breck's and other companies in the past ten years. The service and quality of products from Breck's has been wonderful. I have had very little problem in timely shipment, or growth. The couple of times plants did not grow they were replaced or my account credited immediately.

I've ordered a great deal from these companies (Brecks/Spring Hill) the past three years, and in every case, the plants or bulbs arrived plump and healthy. It's true I won't buy roses from them again, except from their Select catalog which seems to carry a much higher grade of plant. I just got a bareroot HT from them that had canes two inches in diameter! All the plants grew except part of one shade garden, and it took me weeks to get it in the ground that year so I blamed myself and didn't ask for a refund. Some things I've killed, like the hydrangea I planted in full sun and didn't water enough, but on the whole I've been most pleased.I think their no-questions replacement guarantee is practically the only way for a large mail order company to do business. Can you imaginedealing with novice gardeners and wrangling over what they might have done--or not done? Where did they plant it, how much water, did they take the plant out of its plastic pot??? You know what I mean. Better to just charge a bit more and send out replacements. I don't deny people's bad experiences, but it does make me wonder if it was luck, or if I have spent enough over the years to get on some kind of "special" list.

I will continue buying from BRECKS, who, although I have had minor problems with, ALWAYS send me new items to replace those that have arrived damaged.

In response to Breck's Bulb Catalog, I would like to say that I have been impressed with their service all around and the quality of their stock. I live here in Texas and placed my first order with the company in fall of `96.My shipment of bulbs came in along with my instructions on the way to plant them and care for them. Although I used my own planting methods, everything came up and looked great. This year (`97), I placed my confidence in their company and ordered just about all the Daffodil and Tulip and whatever other collections they had to the tune of almost $900.00.The bulbs have arrived already and I have planted the daffodils and stored all the other bulbs in the bottom of my fridge to "cure" them until January when I will set them out. One more thing is all the Bulbs arrived in excellent condition, so I would highly recommend their company.

Having dealt with this company for the first time this year, my opinion is that I HATE THIS COMPANY BIG TIME!! Enthusiastically ordered $350 worth of bulbs in July of this year from their colorful catalog, and was told by order-taker that shipping to my area (Denver, CO) would be within first two weeks of October, which was okay... but my problem was that I was scheduled to be out of country on business at end of October. Besides, if bulbs arrived in November, they would be somewhat late for our planting zone also. Over a series of phone calls to their 1-800-862-2589 Customer Service number, I got *plenty* of runaround replies that either stated "bulbs are in the mail" to "we do not keep track of where your shipment is, they're shipped directly from Holland" Cust. Serv. call #1 in early-Sept: Was told bulbs would arrive by Oct 15 for my area.Cust. Serv. call #2 in late-Sept: Was told by someone in "Customer Service" that the shipment of 300+ bulbs would arrive "probably Oct 8, but definitely by Oct 10".Cust. Serv. call #3 on Oct 8: Was told by someone in CS that they do not know where shipment is ...just that it has left Holland, will be delivered by UPS, but they do not have any UPS tracking number. When I asked about Oct 8/10 dates previously given, was told that whoever told me this did not know what she was talking about or where she got the dates (and this is supposed to be Customer Service??) Cust. Serv. call #4 on Oct 15 (I decided to call today just to see how many permutations of dates and replies I'd get from Breck's CS): Was told that I should be getting them "any day" now as the shipment has supposedly been in transit for about two months now.Cust. Serv. call #5 on Oct 20: Was told that shipment should arrive by "end of the month". When I then told the person that I have called about shipment status before and had been given dates of October 8, 10, and 15, and how they knew I would get it by the end of the month, the idiot conceded "well I can't be certain that you'll get it then, but the bulbs *have* leftHolland and are on they're way to you". I then told them that I planned at this point to return the shipment (assuming I haven't left the country for my business trip next month) and they had better think they're going to get no payment from me if they try to charge my Visa card on this!In hindsight, I should have never ordered from Brecks in the first place; my disappointment deepened because these bulbs were to go into new gardens of a new house :-( and the constant "check is in the mail" disregard from their Customer Dis-service department.

I have had nothing but excellent success with all orders I have placed through Breck's and Spring Hill. >From bulbs, to roses, to amaryllis, the quality has been great and the flowers huge. I'm a lifetime customer!

…Will I order from Breck's again? Not in this lifetime.

I have been ordering from Breck's & Spring Hill for the better part of 25 yr. The plants are usually great & when there is a problem I have no trouble getting replacements/refunds. My only complaint about them is lately they seem to have a problem with "billing". If I order early & am billed with shipment I start receiving bills immediately after & then comes reminders & then comes nasty letters even though I am paying for the shipments as they arrive!I called last week & was told that customer service has been trying to get the big guys to stop doing this to their regular longtime customers as they've been getting a lot of complaints. The same old answer comes back "BLAME IT ON THE COMPUTER". My husband & I recently decided to stop doing business with companies that we have ordered from & spent money with on a regular basis & receive no consideration in return & there are a lot lately it seems. These two (especially Spring Hill) may be next.

I have successfully ordered from Breck's for years. Recently, though, I have discovered that their "Your Satisfaction is of utmost importance..." claim is meaningless. I ordered a $37.99 pink daffodil collection. The first year I got great healthy leaves. This year I got flowers--yellow. When I called Breck's, their best offer was to send me the collection again at 1/2 off the price. I don't want freebies, I want pink! Never again will I order from Breck's.

I ordered from Breck's before I found this section giving critiques on mail-order catalogs and then began worrying. I shouldn't have. Everything I ordered from; snow crocus to Angelique tulips; bloomed and bloomed wonderfully. I have been completely satisfied with my purchases from them and will order from them again (or was I just lucky??)

I ordered about $100.00 worth of bulbs from Breck's last fall. Delivery was prompt. Bulbs were in great condition. I ordered 30 giant white and yellow daffodils, 10 Angeliques, 80 snow crocus, 36 miniature iris, and 39 tall iris. All bloomed beautifully. Guests commented on the size and color of plants, esp. daffodils (18-20" tall). I also received five free red tulips I have not yet planted. I am very pleased and plan to place a large order again. I am a very demanding consumer. I also plan to utilize Breck's fund-raising program in my school. When considering the shipping and handling costs, one must factor in gas and travel time. I will gladly pay to have plants and merchandise delivered to my doorstep if I am allowed the convenience of armchair shopping. No traffic, parking, clerks, lines, lugging to auto and unloading. Heaven on earth!

I think Breck's is the greatest! Most everything blooms beautifully. People I never even knew have stopped by to tell me our tulips, etc are beautiful! And, if you are unhappy for any reason, they refund or replace your merchandise only one question asked - $ or replacement! I highly recommend them

Ten years ago I ordered a large collection of bearded iris from Breck's. Of seventy-some rhizomes, only three or four actually produced leaves the first year--none bloomed. The second year only two of the rhizomes remained--they both bloomed--but were stunted and far from robust. Ten years later only one remains--it makes irregular appearances in the garden--it's the strangest situation. My garden is full of bearded iris from other sources, which have flourished for years (some up to 20 years now). I'm in California and bearded iris generally grow like weeds in my area. The Breck's rhizomes were really substandard--as was my experience with their customer service department--it took nearly two years to get a full refund. Needless to say, I have never done business with them again.

I have no quarrels with Breck's, of which I also ordered, although I have not received Breck's bulbs yet. I will continue to do business with Spring Hill

Last Autumn, I ordered about 100 tulip bulbs from Breck's, and I have to say that they were excellent quality. Moreover, I had double paid Breck's for the same shipment. The company (after 3 months) reimbursed me without any action on my part. So, I have to say that the company has been very honest with this customer. Which means, that I shall order more bulbs (and I have) for fall planting.

My experiences with both of these companies (Breck's and Spring Hill) have been generally favorable. I live near Seattle, and ordered about $190 worth of different daffodils from Brecks. The bulbs were enormous, but I hurt my back and didn't get to plant most of them until January/February. Some had deteriorated past saving, but the survivors all came up despite the late start. With Springhill, the box of plants I received was a mess, and I was sure they were all dead. With the eternal hope of a gardener, I planted them anyway, and some plants didn't come up. I called them (10 months later, when I was really sure they weren't going to pop out of the ground), and received an immediate refund. In their second year, all the plants are doing beautifully, although one of thePeonies is a single pink, not the double white I ordered. Can we truthfully blame the company 100% of the time when a plant fails, or could it be poor planting, insects, or the weather, too?

I take issue with your opinion on Brecks. Granted their prices are not the cheapest, but I have had the best luck with their tulips (They're the best anywhere!!) and Dahlia's. The daylilies I got from them were the healthiest and had the best looking root systems of any plant I've ordered anywhere. The daylilies that I planted this spring bloomed and are as big this year as my established daylilies. I would definitely order from Brecks again!

I had no problem with these two companies (Breck's and Spring Hill) ...My plants always grew... Once I lost my strawberries and they replace them free. No questions asked.

I have found that Brecks (and others) offer great opportunities to pick up collections for a good price. The trick is to learn to grow their kind of product that they send you. The bulbs need more care than those bought (locally), but they do just fine the second season around. I don't recommend buying what you can't nurture from a mail-order unknown, which I think most should agree that all three stand behind their guarantee without squabbling about how well you might have cared for the new plants rather than how poor the plants were in quality. You get what you pay for, if you like their prices then you must be willing to work a little harder to get what you might buy at a Kmart Nursery.Nonetheless, these companies are trying to make a profit while someone's trying to plant with their product. At the very least, they let an inexperienced gardener try to grow his/her green thumb and with as many retries as necessary to get it right. Why get mad at such a great agreement? Didn't we all agree to it when we signed our check? We expect a lot for very little for being consumers.

(I ordered) bulbs from Brecks last year (1995) with varying degrees of satisfaction. I was not pleased as the daffodils I ordered were not the color I paid for. I wanted pink and wound up with yellow. Some bulbs (6) never grew. My husband was somewhat more pleased--16 of the 20 bulbs he ordered did bloom and were very nice. I will not order from them again--my husband has ordered from them again for a fall planting.

I believe Breck's bulbs are some of the best in the world! I ordered over $80 worth of tulips, dahlias, crocus', etc. I left them in my shed for almost a year and only remembered I had them this March. I planted over 180 bulbs in April (even tulips) and they are all doing outstanding! I will continue to do business with Breck's and give them my highest regards. My garden was in Better Homes & Gardens 2 years ago and they were all Breck's bulbs as well!

I've been very happy with the bulbs I've ordered from Breck's I like their daffodil naturalizing mix in particular. I've also ordered bulbs for forcing inside, complete with pots. What I don't like about Breck's are their shipping rates. $9.00 seems a lot for a $35.00 order. This might be exaggerating, it may be for a $50 order, but I decided not to order from Breck's this year because I can obtain similar quality elsewhere for comparable prices and pay less to have it shipped.

I have had good luck with Breck's. My tulips are beautiful.

I ordered from Breck's in July of 95. It is hard to believe that Breck's, Stark's, and Michigan Bulb are owned by the same company. The Breck's items were great. In some cases I ordered the same or similar items. For example: I received gladiolus bulbs from Breck's that were healthy and large. I received 6 gladiolus bulbs from Michigan bulb. Two of the 6 were average looking but not as nice as the Brecks, and the other 4 were tiny, dry, bruised and beaten. I am very pleased with my Breck's and Stark's items.

Having been "stung" several times in the past, my wife and I resolved to avoid ordering any merchandise from unsolicited catalogues, mailed by companies who've purchased a mailing list that just happens to contain our name. However, in the summer of 1994, on receipt of a Breck's envelope with the beautiful, full-living-colour literature extolling the virtues of "The Ultimate Iris Collection" (and because it's my wife's favourite flower), I'm sorry to say, we "bit" again. Suffice it to say that of the 20 regular and 4 "free gift" rhizomes received, only 1 regular and 1 "free gift" proved viable the following spring. My first letter to Breck's Customer Service, advising of the problem and requesting, as per their guarantee, that the shipment be replaced, elicited no response. A month after my second letter, I received with no covering explanation, a refund cheque for half the amount of the purchase. My third letter reminded them of their 100% guarantee, (replace or refund, our choice). I offered to return the uncashed cheque and again explained that we would prefer to have the shipment replaced.However, should they decree there would be no replacement, I requested a full, rather than a 50% refund. Approximately 6 weeks later, and again with no further explanation, I received another refund cheque for the balance of the purchase price. Perhaps, hopefully, after this experience, we have learned to stick to our resolve.