Comments regarding Breck's Bulbs

I have ordered from several companies this year. Because of the comments Breck's makes about the size of their bulbs I
was willing to pay the high price they ask for them. I seem to be having the same problem as the last person to write a review. I live in a Zone 4. I have been informed that my bulbs are on their way from The Netherlands and they will arrive around Thanksgiving. The ground will be completely frozen. I guess I could dig the holes and put some dirt in my garage to cover them. FUN! I did receive a partial order a few days ago and the bulbs were not as large as those I bought from a local nursery for a much lower price. Their catalog does not give information about zones. I had to call before I could place an order. Now I wish I hadn't placed that order at all. I'll let you know about the quality of the other bulbs when they arrive if my fingers are not too frozen to type.

4-28-03
I received a catalog from this company a couple weeks ago, and was concerned about the negative comments on this site regarding them, so I went to their online site first and e-mailed them. I simply inquired about the bankruptcy issue. As I said that was a couple weeks ago, and I've never heard back from them. I would be cautious about doing business with any place that doesn't respond to a customer inquiry.

same as Gurneys and Wayside.

This company states bulbs will grow in certain zones that the DO NOT survive in. Poor quality also. Fine they will reimburse but a waste of good time planting things that don't grow.

I select my rating only on whether I would buy from a company again. I've decided that I've made my last purchase with Brecks. The product just doesn't match up to the cost. Rather small for the price. They made an automatic sub on an order rather than contacting me with the problem. At the same time, I was charged for the original product. After contacting customer service, they did take off the charge, so that was resolved. However, I was left with an overall decision not to place another order. To leave on a positive note, customer service was prompt in their response.

Absolutely unreliable. Never buy from them again. Wasted our time and effort! Mailed in order in late August explicitly asking to have them delived no later than mid Oct '02. Haven't received and still waiting. Customer Service told me it could come tomorrow or as late as mid December!!! The ground will have been completely frozen in a few weeks. Told me I could refuse the package for refund but that's no service at all because we lost our planting time and the selection.

I represent a local Girl Scout organization. The mothers of this troop decided to do the Breck's fundraiser and followed all procedures. We sent our money and waited. We have since been attempting to contact Breck's and were unsuccessful. The web page was constantly unavailable as well as all phone lines busy. I just found out about this bankruptcy from your web page. Isn't there a procedure they should have followed in notifying anyone doing fund raising with them, since these groups are non-profit organizations? Thank you for the information and please let us know if we have any recourse.

I have ordered from a variety of gardening catalogs for years, among them Breck's. Admittedly, my orders were never huge or costly, but they were a splurge for me. At first all was well. But then when an order of tulip bulbs costing over $40 failed to bloom, I requested a refund or replacement. After waiting almost a year for a response I wrote again, and received, after another long wait, a letter informing me the company had declared bankruptcy and had gone out of business. I was basically informed not to expect anything for my loss. I wrote a couple of complaint letters, to no avail. Sometime later I received in the mail another Breck's catalog proclaiming new ownership glibly regretting they could not (I say WOULD not) be responsible for debts of the "old" company and inviting me to trust them and become a customer: talk about reopening old wounds and adding insult to injury! It was like a slap in the face! They are putting their profits over their responsibility and their word (their guarantee) to their customers. I urge any who read this to use caution when ordering by catalog and apologize to those gardening catalogs (which must be out there SOMEWHERE) who do care about their customers and keep their guarantees and run impeccable businesses.

I have ordered for about 10 years from Breck's with no problems, until 2001. I also feel I have contributed to their liquidation accounts. I am out $79.32 for bulbs that never arrived. After FINALLY reaching a real operator, I was informed that they shipped only UNPAID orders and not PAID ones! Oh well, live and learn; no more BRECK'S. Could not believe they had the nerve to send another catalog, and no toll free numbers!

I have been trying to contact them about an order and not one of the phone numbers works. This has really turned me off to catalog shopping no matter what the item might be. No wonder the company went bankrupt. If I ran my own company the way Breck's runs theirs I'd have been out of business long ago.

I placed an order 5-3-01. Called to cancel on 9-19-01. Was told not to worry because there was no order shown. I asked what to do if shipment arrives. Was told it wouldn't because none was shown. Order arrived. I tried three (3) 1-800 numbers and all were continually busy. Tried two (2) web sites and neither would load. Began receiving letters for payment. Letters said, "We trusted you and you have not sent payment." FINALLY, spoke to a person on 11-23-01 and was told to mark the box ""Return Refused"" and she would make a note on my account. I have sent copies of all correspondence three (3) times. I am still receiving letters. I did all could to prevent shipment, returned the shipment, and in return they keep sending letters. I was a 1st time customer and I am sharing my experience and treatment I received.

My situation is that my Breck's Bulb order was not filled properly and of course I can not get in touch with anybody about it for obvious reasons. Do you have a phone number or e-mail address in Holland for Breck's or for the outfit that is taking over? After reading all the e-mail I can understand why they went belly up. Their billing system was for the birds and not requiring money up front is a lead in to financial disaster.

My "Unique Daffodil Collection" is a major disappointment. Only about thirty percent bloomed and they were not quality blossoms. Sorry I did business with Breck’s. Looks as if I threw away$68.88.

Well I just today found out that Breck's filed for bankruptcy by reading all of your comments above. I ordered bulbs last spring, received them a month ago and sent them a check Nov. 5th, along with all my other bill payments. On Nov 21st I received a letter from their collection manager demanding payment or they would damage my credit! I have been trying ever since to call them - four different 800 numbers and one at area code 309 and of course got busies at all numbers.I have just finished writing a letter that I will mail through the Post Office since there is no e-mail for these people either, who knows if anyone is even there to read anything. I told them to call me before they did anything further and that I should at least be able to reach them at the 888 number on their collection letter! I know my phone number works; let's see if anyone calls me. I was fortunate to get my bulbs and in good condition but maybe not so fortunate if they mess with my credit report. By the way, I just looked at Breck's web page, it did come up but the only message, in very large letters is "WE'RE RETURNING SOON". Good luck to you all!

Never had good luck with this company,Poor and small bulbs,not worth the trouble.

I ordered various tulips, alliums, Iris, and Hyacinths from Brecks for Fall 2000 planting. I couldn't wait for my Rembrandt tulips to come up since there were 12 in the collection! To my dismay, I had 4 tulips, none of them the Rembrandt collection. None of my 25 Dutch beauty iris came up or the allium drumsticks. I called Brecks and told them about the bulbs. They were supposed to ship me 12 Rembrandt tulips, 16 allium drumsticks, and 25 Dutch beauty iris. As of today's date, 11/28/01, I have not received anything from Brecks. I have tried to call MySeasons for 4 months, but all you get is a busy signal. I paid my bill when I received my bulbs; all I want is replacements for the wrong bulbs/ defective bulbs they sent me!

Brecks and their parent company have issued checks that are not honored. It is the last time I will buy from such companies.

In the Spring of 2001 I placed an order with Breck's for bulbs to be received for fall planting. I received a letter from them on 10/15/2001 telling me that my account in the amount of $132 was past due and they were sure I had received my shipment by now. I was totally taken back by this letter because I had not received any shipments from them. I tried calling them for hours and only received a busy signal. Yesterday, October 25, 2001, the mail person delivered a box of bulbs, much to my surprise. When the box was opened, the moldy odor was very strong. I pulled out the invoice enclosed and noticed it was dated 9/8/01. The post office has advised me that this box was not sitting around for a month and a half and that more than likely, Brecks processed the order but did not mail the bulbs until recently. I spent another couple of hours trying to reach them by phone and still get a busy signal. I now find out that they have filed bankruptcy. I guess I will just send them a letter and tell them the above circumstances and request a credit on my account. It probably won't happen but it is worth a try. I certainly will not pay for moldy bulbs and I will now only buy my bulbs and flowers from local nurseries.

This is our second year ordering from Brecks and I would not recommend them to anyone at this point. I didn't have half of my bulbs bloom from last year. I called in the Spring and I still haven't received them to plant for the spring. I was stupid and placed another order not thinking anything would happen. Apparently they are still in business just not answering their phones. We received bulbs 2 weeks ago and then again yesterday (13 Oct). And well, some of them need to be replaced. If anyone knows how to get a hold of this company I would really appreciate an email. But, so far they owe me about $50 in replacement bulbs. This is the last time I order from a company like this. I think I will stay with our local nursery's for our bulbs in the future!!!! Regardless of the "LIFETIME WARRANTY"

I never thought I would add my complaint about Brecks bankruptcy. I lost $48.82. I was wondering why the bulbs did not arrive. I had good luck with them. I thought they were very expensive and by accident while shopping I discovered beautiful Dutch Bulbs for a great price. Also a huge variety. I went nuts and bought $150.00 worth of bulbs and now I am glad I did. I received the card yesterday with the bankruptcies on them. I called to no avail. I am sorry for everyone who lost out.

I just received a nasty surprise today form my bank when my rent check bounced. Turns out I was charged $82.92 for an order from Brecks - one I did NOT purchase. I last purchased form this company around March or May, and spent quite a bit of money for a dead garden. I now have to wait up to 90 days for the bank to clear this matter up. I have been trying for 3 HOURS to get through to SOMEONE at the company and have received a busy signal. To say I am highly upset is an understatement: I want my money, my account closed, and I want it done YESTERDAY!

On Friday, I called the 800# on the Breck's catalogue. The woman that answered was very nasty with me but did say that mySeasons was purchased by someone else that is supposed to honor fall orders. I told her the book that I used to order looks like Breck's so she appeared to be trying to look up my order with no success of course. I'll just have to wait and see if anything comes. I realize I'll never get my money back but it was worth a shot. No more ordering from catalogues and internet for me unless I really know the company.

I got a refund check from Brecks in June 2001 for bulbs which did not grow. I deposited the check and it was returned to my bank unpaid. Tried to contact Brecks for over 2 months by phone, website. Finally, after I received a collection notice from them for $6.00 for products I never even received, by certified letter with a copy to my lawyer. Lo and behold, 2 wks later in late Sept 2001, my bulbs were on my doorstep. Am I paying them for these bulbs? Not on your life, they owed me over $45.00 from my last refund! I sent them a very nice thank you letter letting them know I will not pay for the bulbs and they now owe me only $19.00. Live and learn and spread the word, these people don't deserve to stay in business.

I just found your website; all I was trying to do was find the brecks website to order their catalogue as I have not received one this year and I have an $80 credit with them.Yes - I too am a victim of the Brecks so-called customer service and I think this website is a great idea for consumers to read and be aware or beware the pitfalls of mail-order bulbs. I quit Michigan Bulb company years ago after consistent bad products and customer service. Springhill was next - their products were superior but they cost too much and were not hardy enough for the climate I lived in (Memphis) hardly any of their products survived. I moved to Maine and ordered from Breck's last year for fall bulb planting. I received the order in late October after calling about the order twice. I could not plant them in the ground when they finally arrived as it was frozen and had a foot of snow on it. After Thanksgiving, we had a thaw and I planted a few hardy crocus and tulips to see what would happen. I put the rest of the bulbs in my refrigerator as recommended by customer service - who also assured me I would get a refund if I was not happy with the results. I planted the rest of the bulbs in late April - it was a hard winter and the ground was still snow covered by mid-May. As you can guess nothing came up!! I wrote Brecks about my refund and got no answer for several months. A couple of days ago I received a postcard from Brecks informing me that I had an $80 credit - I specifically asked them for a refund - no credit! It looks to me like I am out a lot of hard-earned money. I am so disgusted with them.

I just found out about the Bankruptcy filing of these companies. How funny that I keep getting harassed about an already paid bill (and threatened with collection) and no wonder that when I call or try to write for an explanation, there isn't anyone who can correct this.

I too ordered a collection from them, and did not receive it, and did not receive a refund.

Color me disappointed. The several hundred bulbs that arrived from Brecks were only of so-so quality, many were rather puny, and the resulting blooms were average at best. Not at all like the gushing descriptions in the catalogue. The bulbs I got at Costco of all places were bigger, better and less than half the price. Go figure! And since that one Breck's order the catalogues have been arriving thick and fast. Sorry, the "Michigan Bulb Company" looks too much like a cheesy sweepstakes brochure. Anyway, I won't be biting again.

I placed an order from Breck's in August. It is now October 29, 2000 in Colorado and to date I have not received my bulbs. I would like to get out and plant them before the real cold and snow arrives. I have already received my bill (they're quite prompt on that) but no bulbs. I would not recommend anyone ordering from this company. This is not my first time ordering with them. Each time the bulbs either don't come up or they arrive too late to plant. They're catalog is a great selling point for them. Stay away from Breck's if you want to plant bulbs at your pace.

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 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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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 ordered a large variety of bulbs from Brecks two years ago (Spring 1993). I was charged before my bulbs ever arrived, they arrived late (for Colorado) at the end of October, five months after I had ordered. The "plant experts" on the phone knew less than I did, and tracking down a phone number to talk to a live person was difficult at best. The bulbs did not all come up, and the ones that did were of moderate quality (you get what you pay for - these were CHEAP).

I ordered a spring bulb collection and a dahlia collection from Breck's. Three out of over fifty bulbs came up from the spring bulb collection, and three out of 10 dahlias came up from the dahlia collection. They did reimburse me for the entire spring bulb collection, and for seven of the dahlias with no hassle. I will not order from them again.