Comments regarding Gurney's Seed & Nursery

I had a $25 off when you purchase $50 coupon. The keycode didn't work on their website so customer service told me to make a note in the comments box. So as I got my orders, I added up how much it was costing me and some lesser discount was being applied. It took me over a month of emailing customer service to get my money back. Much frustration and much time lost. I will never order from them again.

In late winter I ordered some plants from Gurney's. I used the $25 coupon to try out the company. My order was less then $25 so I owed them nothing. I received a bill for the amount of the order and they said that they didn't have any record of me sending a coupon along with my order. I called customer service and explained that I didn't owe them anything, because I had used a coupon. The customer service rep said "it would be taken care of". The next month I received another bill for the amount and a $10 late fee attached to it. I again called the company and a customer service rep said that "it would be taken care of. Disregard the notice". Today I got another bill saying I owed them $35 and if I don't pay it, they will turn it over to a national collection agency. I will NEVER order from Gurney's again. It is a very disorganized company who doesn't take care of accounting matters like they say they will. And the plants aren't doing so well either.

I ordered my seed potatoes well over two months ago. I inquired at the beginning of April as to where they might be (soil was warm enough then to plant in zone 5b). They told me potato ship date was 4/3 with 10 day delivery schedule. I inquired again on 4/17 and received a curt reply that they would be shipped 'soon'. It's now 4/30 and still no potatoes. I will not order from Gurneys again no matter how appealing that $25 coupon is...

I placed an order with this company when I got a catalog in the mail with a $25 dollar coupon. The order total was $33. I paid the difference after deducting the coupon. I received my order a month later and it was fine, however, the company said I owed them $25, that I didn't send enough money. I called their customer service line(which isn't free by the way) and they told me I had to spend $50 to get the $25 off. I argued with them because it said nowhere on the coupon that there was a $50 dollar minimum order. They finally agreed to dismiss the bill. Two weeks later I get another bill in the mail for $25. I call customer service again, only to be told again, that they would take care of it. That was 3 weeks ago. Well, yesterday I get another bill in the mail, this time for $l8, a completely different total and a threat of a $l0 dollar late fee if I do not send this amount in. I wrote them a nice letter that I do not intend to pay this and that their customer service better get its act together. I will not bother to purchase with them again. They are no longer the respected company I used to order from before they moved to Indiana.

I placed an order online for seeds only. According to their website, seed-only orders would ship "immediately". I receieved an email NINE DAYS later telling me that my seeds had just shipped. (Apparently 9 days later is "immediately" to Gurneys.)

Five days after my seeds allegedly shipped, nothing had arrived. (Gurney's is a neighboring state, shipping should be very quick no matter how they were sent). The tracking number Gurney's provided was invalid.

I emailed Gurneys about this and received a worthless form letter. I emailed them again, demanding to know the whereabouts of my seeds and a refund of my shipping fees, as we were well past 2 weeks now on an order that was supposed to ship "immediately".

I have not, to date, received any other email replies from them, nor my seeds, nor a refund, nor any explanation. I had no choice but to dispute the charges with my credit card company.

Further, when I placed my order online, I used a 10% off discount code that came with my catalog. However, when I added the code to my shopping cart, the 10% came off, but my shipping fees went from $4.85 to $5.95 for the same merchandise! (I added no other merchandise, but the shipping rate went up after using the discount code!) Nice deceptive business practice there, Gurneys! I contacted them about this too with the same response - NONE!

Ordered seeds, some tomato plants and a peach tree. Online shipping information said the order would come in late May to early June. This is well past our last frost date. I asked customer service to ship late April and was told they could do that. Days later I checked the scheduled ship date, it was set for March 1st. I can not store tomato plants and a peach tree for 2-1/2 months and expect them to live. I emailed to cancel the order. Next day, I was notified the seeds were going to ship. Then I got a second email that Gurney’s was going to cancel the rest of the order, but didn’t catch the seeds in time. They would credit my credit card and I could have the seeds “with their compliments”. Days later, the card was charged. I emailed to ask for the credit. I got some credit but when asked about the other amount, I was told that it was shipping and would not be refunded. This has gone on for about 3 weeks and I have paid more for shipping on 4 tiny packs of seed than I would for purchase of seeds in any local store. I will use my local garden stores and not use Gurney’s for anything.

Last year, I ordered 4 bareroot plants using a $20 certificate that came with the catalog. Only 2 of the 4 plants arrived living. Will not bother with this company again.

I gave Gurneys one more chance to get their act together (again!) this year, and they really messed up. Last year it was the cancelled blueberry bush order with no notification that they couldn't fill it. The year before it was the raspberry bushes that never made it. This year their web site kept giving me error messages when submitting the order, and it ended up being placed in triplicate. I called the company and emailing customer service, and both times was told not to worry, they cancelled the extra orders. Guess what--they billed my card 3 times. Again I emailed, and this time AGAIN was told not to worry, and shown a form stating that the remaining order was cancelled (I ordered some plants too). But what about the part of the order already billed!? I had to resort to calling my credit card company.

Sorry I got kind of long, but it really makes me mad and sad to see a great company like Gurneys from my youth ruined.

When ordering by mail, residents of Missouri, are not required to pay sales taxes on out of state orders. Gurney's will add taxes to all orders. When I called Gurneys, I got the run-around. The Cust. service rep stated, Gurneys had to collect sale tax because they had a company in Missouri. After I inquired as to the company in Missouri, again the run around. I was using a $25 dollar certificate with my order, which was over $100, the net qain after paying their 'sale tax' was $18 dollars. The so called company in Missouri doesn't seem to exist, at least I couldn't find one.

I ordered three times this year: First, early May. This order did not get shipped until the beginning of July. By the time the order arrived, it was past the recommended time to plant most of the plants, some arrived dead, and others (they were late spring bloomers) still have yet to bloom. I contacted Gurney's, and they issued a credit for the dead plants. The second order was ordered late June - two grab bags - and arrived before the first order! Only about 2/3 of those plants lived, so I contacted Gurney's again and they sent out yet another credit certificate. I had already decided not to order from them again, but what to do with the certificates? I received an e-mail with a sale price on daylily collections, so I bundled up the certificates (they have to be mailed in), put the codes in (as directed by customer service) for the e-mail offer and sent it off. I then received a bill for the REGULAR price, telling me to send in money before it can be shipped. In all, I had to contact customer service 4 times just for this final order, which I am unable to track, and have not received yet. Who knows when or in what condition it will arrive?

Last winter (plenty of time), I ordered 6 tomato plants from Gurney's, which were sent at the proper time, but when they arrived two of them were already dead and the others were dried out. At least 2 had stem rot. They were all in a one-inch plug! What little roots there were entwined together. After repeated attempts to call them (no 800 number, toll call only) and not getting through after major wait time, I emailed them. It took days, but I got a response that said they should grow anyway. I answered and said they will not ever, ever grow! Finally, someone else emailed me and said a replacement was sent. That replacement came in the same shape as the first, only a little worse. After emailing again, and waiting for an answer, it was too late to plant them after all. The whole process took weeks. I did get a refund, but no tomatoes! No apology either. The refund took weeks. They weren't interested in discovering or correcting the problem. I won't order from them again, though I do like Gardens Alive - or have in the past.

I ordered quite a number of pieces from Gurneys for this year's planting: a pear tree, 20 lombardy poplars, some trumpet vine, lavendar, liriope, lots of fern, rose of sharon, yucca, and several packets of different types of seed.

First the trees. They arrived bundled together, and sort of dried out. Still I planted them immediately and used a root stimulant on them. Honestly, I shouldn't have bothered. The pear was nothing more than a stick when it arrived, and remained nothing more than a dried stick. Of the poplars, only 8 leafed out, and now we're down to 6. So much for my picture of lovely poplars lining the property line. The trumpet vine looked like it was starting out ok, but then just sort of dried out, as if it was getting no water. Now, we've had PLENTY of rain here in Michigan, and I've watered to boot . . . All but one of the lavender did ok as did the yucca, so no real gripes there, but the rose of sharon and the lirope might as well have been made of wax, or been some stick they pulled off another bush. The ferns did just fine, what they sent me. I had to write to them to get ALL of the plants I ordered. The whole experience was incredibly disappointing.

I wrote to them by e-mail to complain, and they sent me a replacement certificate. Great, except I can only use it by mailing in my order, which they didn't tell me until AFTER I'd made my choice between a refund, rplacement plants or the certificate. This was still do-able, and I called them to ask about when they ship bulbs for fall planting. The person I talked to in customer service said they were done with mailings this year, and wouldn't be shipping out any more items until next spring. I asked her "What about the Fall plantings of bulbs? You offer a lot of bulbs that have to be planted in the fall, are you telling me that you won't be mailing them until spring?" She said, "I'm not aware that we offer anything like that," to which I responded "I'm looking at some in your catalogue online as we speak!" I had to give her the item number and finally gave her a list of items that were all fall planting items . . .

And the seeds never even sprouted, so they're not included on the replacement certificate.

What's up with this company?? It looks to me like no one there knows a thing about what they're doing, from plant care, to plant shipping to customer service and product knowledge.

This was a horrible experience and completely put me off ordering ANYTHING online again . . . though I may chance it again after finding this site. This site will help me choose a really GOOD place to order from.

I ordered because of the $20 coupon. Unfortunately, the wisteria I ordered did not live. I cannot believe what they charge to send a dead twig. I have not contacted them, but plan to send an email. Just not looking forward to dealing with customer service. Also, the seeds I ordered from them were not that great. very few of the seeds even germinated. I am not happy at all with this company and do not plan to order from them again. Glad I had the $20 coupon. At least it was not my money wasted - just a lot of time.

I also had very unfavorable experiences with this company. My order, placed in early April - was for Strawberry plants that were on special, and I added several different flower plants, some potted, some bare root. I did not receive ANY of my order until June, two of the potted plants were mush and had to be thrown away. I never did receive the 25 Strawberry plants, but a refund check for them .... MONTHS after they had charged my credit card for them! I was lied to over the phone several times in early , mid & late May by their reps, telling me that "yes the plants are in stock & my order should ship any day." Of the barerooted plants I did receive, only half of them have shown life & sprouted. Very poor quality plants & terrible service. Wasted an entire growing season waiting for Strawberries that they had no intention of shipping in the first place. I'll never order from them again. Don't be fooled by coupons and sale advertisements from this company - BUYER BEWARE !!!

I too tried this company because of the $20 coupon. Glad I had the $20 off coupon. I ordered 5 red cedar trees along with four other trees and a shrub.

I live in northern Wisconsin and I received my order April 2. Everything was dormant except the cedar trees obviously had green needles on them. But the cedar trees did not look good. They were wrapped together and tortured looking. The needles were falling off and they were covered with what looked like mold. I called customer service and the lady was rather snotty when she replied "I can assure you that is something that is put on as part of the packing." However these trees never seemed to recover. So i emailed them (didn't want to talk to another customer service rep. like that) and they responded within a day that they were sending out a credit. I appreciated that (and couldn't expect more since I had used a $20 coupon) but will doubtfully use it since I don't want to order from them again.

The other four trees and one shrub didn't grow and didn't grow. Finally now here about a week maybe two ago they started growing, in mid-June, two and half months after I received them. Now they are growing hap-hazardly. Leaves here and there. I imagine they will survive with some a lot of extra attention. A little dissapointing since the ones I received from Jungs came already growing.

I ordered some seed and some strawberry plants from Gurney's, and then went to work in my garden preparing a bed for the strawberries. Weeks go by--no strawberries, and no call, E-mail, letter, or anything else. I contact Gurney's, and they say, "Oh, our shipping season is over." They apparently had NO INTENTION of shipping the plants, or refunding my money, or informing me of any of this. VERY arrogant, high-handed, inconsiderate way of doing business--I won't order from them again.

I have ordered from Gurneys in the mid 1990's with good results. But much has changed recently. I placed an order with Gurney's on April 3,2004 for misc seeds, vegetable seeds, tomato, and strawberry plants. Nothing in the catalog, or on their website suggested that there would be any unusual delay. After not receiving the order, or even a courtesy e-mail re: the status of the order for OVER A MONTH, I sent an e-mail on May 6,2004. I received an e-mail on May 8,2004 telling me that they have had "a slower than normal growing season, and an incredible amount of orders". In short, Gurneys customer service said that the order had not shipped yet, but they would put a rush on it. Over the next week, I started receiving e-mails stating that the strawberry plants and tomato plants, along with some of the seeds would ship. I also received these very hard to understand post cards which told me that some of the vegetable seeds were unavailable this season(Huh?!!!! Why do I find this out the hard way and over a month after placing the order? The growing season is in full swing by now!). Bottom line: I ultimately received only part of the seeds I initially ordered(some of the vegetable seeds were unavailable, according to Gurneys). Over 45 days after the order, I did receive the strawberry plants and the tomato plants. Condition of the strawberry and tomato plants? The strawberry plants were dormant, which is what I expected. The tomato plants? I received a promising huge box containing lifeless, brown dead twigs, somehow labeled as tomato plants. Almost two weeks shipping in 90-100 degree weather is not a recipe for live/healthy plants. Never again. I'll buy locally from now on.

I ordered seeds and plants in Mid-March. I specified in the instructions to please ship all immediately and I would plant when the time was appropriate. I received the seed packets within a month. After waiting on the plants, I called Gurney's 3 times at the end of May/begining of June. Each time I was told that they were busy shipping and that it may be a few minutes to speak to a customer service representitive. All three times, I was disconnected. Finally, I got through and was told that my order would be shipped within the next week (almost 3 months after my order).
I received the plants/bulbs today. It is too late to plant some of them this year. The dwarf key lime tree that I ordered was nearly dead as they shipped it June 1st and it made it here today on the 9th (probably not 1st class past). It only has 2 leaves on it, as most of the leaves and the soil were on the bottom of the box. Horrible packing. I doubt it lives.

I've learned my lesson.

I HAVE DEALT WITH THIS COMPANY FOR THE LAST 5 YEARS WITH LITTLE OR NO PROBLEMS.THIS YEAR IS A DIFFERENT STORY,I PLACED 2 ORDERS THIS YEAR,ON 2/19/04 AND 5/7/04.I HAVE SO FAR RECEIVED ONLY 1 ITEM BACK IN MARCH,THEY HAVE NOT RESPONDED TO ANY OF MY INQUIRIES SO I CANCELLED THE REST OF MY ORDERS.THEY CAN'T SHIP ANYTHING BUT I STILL RECEIVE BROCHURES IN THE MAIL,WHAT A JOKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! FROM NOW ON THEIR CATALOGS ARE GOING IN THE GARBAGE.

I ordered three butterfly bushes and a high bush cranberry in the beginning of March. They cashed my check by the end of March. I did get the cranberry a few weeks ago, and it does have a few leaves, but it is growing nothing like the shrubs I bought at Lowe's and Home Depot.

The butterfly bushes have still not arrived. I called at the beginning of May and the customer service rep told me they were expecting a shipment any day (huh? a shipment? they don't grow their own plants?) and the plants should ship by May 14. I still haven't got the bushes and have just been disconnected by their machine three times trying to find out if I'm ever going to get them (they'll probably be bare sticks if I do).

I won't order from Gurney's again.

I am a customer of gurney,however my recent order has been unpleasant.I recieved my full order minus a bird of paradise, invoice stating a back order and was to be shipped out May 25th,also stated I owe them a$4.00 balance with a certain subtotal and I used the $20.00 coupon,here it is june 2nd still no bird of paradise recieved and yet I recieved another invoice in the mail with a higher subtotal and now they claim I owe them $10.95,I will never order from this company again,phone call on my dime,for their mistakes,never again.Two of the butterfly bushes were very dried out,& lavender vacum sealed were sticks.

We have dealt with Gurneys in the past with no problems. I would have to say our comments would have been positive, but this year (2004) is a disaster.

We placed 2 orders, March 24th for Hardy Sweet Lavender, Virginiana Juniper, and the Perennial Sun Garden. April 10th for Penngift Crown Vetch Plants, Shady Places Hosta Mix, and Festuca Glauca.

Well, the 1st to arrive, the Virginiana Junipers (30 plants) were thrown in a box, wrapped roots but nothing holding them in place. Other items marked backordered. All were planted and by May 12th all were dead. Customer service via internet is a joke, don't even bother. I've spent my hard earned dollars and am not about to make the phone co. rich. Replied to one of thier email sales garbage and finally got an answer and was sent a Replacement Certificate.

Hardy Sweet Lavender arrived in a plastic bag in May. Planted the twigs and they still look like twigs today (3 weeks later). Checking their web site as to the Perennial Sun Garden status, could not find it. "No Longer Avaliable". When were they going to notify us?

Second order status, who knows? I've emailed 3 times and get the same garbage auto reply that they are very busy shipping. No replies to any of my emails. The season is well under way and it looks as though the local nurseries are the best bet to go.

After 5 years of being a customer, count on this family never to order again.

Placed order 7 April, 2004. Tomatoes, Clematis, helleborus, blueberry, lavender. All arived 2-4 weeks after they should have. And all are DEAD, except (maybe) the helleborus & lavender. Tried 3 times to call "Customer Service", and their machine hung up on me all 3 times (toll calls). So- no plants, no Customer Service, no hope for this company - JUST A DISGUSTING WASTE OF MY TIME, LOSS OF PART OF GROWING SEASON, AND NOW I'VE GOT TO FIGHT TO GET MY MONEY BACK, AND I'LL PURCHASE REPLACEMENTS LOCALLY. Their "plants" are a joke!

This company is what gives "Mail Order" a bad name. Never should have tried Gurney's, and would STRONGLY suggest that no one else subject themselves to this kind of experience !!!!! I will always buy plants (and bulbs) from local nurseries in the future. I'm MAD!

I am a repeat customer of Gurney's and have had some problems with them in the past, but nothing monumental. Last year's order was a problem because most of the items that I ordered were not in stock. After a long wait and many emails the problem was resolved. This year is another story. This year's order was another "out of stock" problem. One pack of seeds was shipped, but the live plants took an additional month to arrive. In the meantime Gurneys shipped a plant that I ordered last year (and was told that my order was cancelled - out of stock) and charged my credit card! I was totally confused and couldn't get any response from customer service. Their emails seemed to be the standard form letter type that didn't address the problem or answer specific questions. Eventually the rest of my current '04 order arrived. The quality of the plants was undersized and poor. As of 5/10/04 I still haven't gotten an answer to my question about the shippment and charge. Now I wonder if Gurneys will decide to ship other items that I tried to order over a year ago and charge them to my credit card account! I want to give my fellow gardeners a heads-up on what I consider questionable business practices. This is the last time that I will deal with Gurney's Seed & Nursery.

I placed an order for a number of schrubs this year. The first shipment only included 5 of the 13 varieties and was short one item. A phone call received a promise of prompt shipment of that item. I now learn it was cancelled WITHOUT ever notifying me. The remaining items are now over a month late. An email received NO response. A phone call indicated that 7 of these varieties were now in stock and would ship SOMETIME. The last variety was backordered. Selling what you do not have is bad enough, their failure to communicate is unacceptable. No more Gurneys orders for this person.

We ordered plants in March to be shipped to Arizona, knowing that after temps exceeded 100 degrees shipping would be hopeless. The plants arrived today, May 5th and they were all dead. When I called customer service I was told that they would credit my account but would not refund shipping charges. I informed them that this was unacceptable since it was their fault that the plants arrived dead. Now I not only did not get the plants I wanted, but I am out shipping charges and it is too late to plant in Arizona. I will not order from Gurney's again!

I should have known better than to order with the poor rating on this site. I got one of their sale flyers and was too tempted by the low prices. Unfortunately, a large number of the plants were never sent (I had to wait weeks or months to get various cancellation notes from them). The plants I did get weren't sent until over a month after my order. The weather was hot by the time they got here and the plants were all dried out by then. A few of the hardier plants (machurian apricots, chokecherries) survived, but at least half of what we got didn't do anything after we planted.

Their prices are cheap, but I'd rather spend a few more dollars and get something nice from Raintree or Burnt Ridge.

A couple of weeks ago I placed two separate orders and received "Order Shipped" notifications a few days later.

Still not having received the first order weeks later I rechecked the notification and it very UNCLEARLY stated that the perennials (strawberries and asparagus plants) were backordered. The only thing shipping was a packet of oregano seeds, which I still have not received. First of all, I find their online ordering system to be very archaic: It should indicate what is available and what is out of stock at order time. That way consumers can be the judge of whether they want to wait weeks for plants to arrive. Second of all, the shipping notification has an estimated ship date of a few weeks from now for backordered items. Are they kidding me? Those plants need to be in the ground now, not weeks from now.

Now, the second order I actually did receive yesterday (two weeks after ordering). In the box was half of my order: 6 bare-root "twigs", which were supposed to be 1-year black raspberry plants. What a joke. I did plant them, but I doubt they'll ever produce anything. The other perennials I ordered (6 blackberry plants) were of course backordered for weeks. I have since e-mailed their customer service to express my disgust. No response as of yet. They clearly WAY oversell their stock and I will never do business with this outfit again. I would advise others to stay far away also.

I ordered two 4-5' hybrid elm trees at the end of March. I received two concord grape vines. When I called today(not toll-free), I was told the trees were "obsolete", meaning that they don't sell them any more, and they will not be back in stock. Less than three weeks have passed since I ordered them!! The customer service rep was very nice, but couldn't find the trees anywhere. I ordered two different trees that I don't really want - hopefully they won't send me fruit again.

I decided to take the bait and use the 20.00 coupon. That was my first mistake! My order never arrived. I called customer service (now it's costing me money for the calls) and the company said it would reship. It did. On the second shipment, I received about half of my order, and 2 items were back ordered. I checked the order online, and all items I paid for were listed, but the packing list was missing several items I paid for. I'm still waiting for resolution. I will not buy here again. This is unacceptable service. As the old adage goes, nothing in life is for free. Back to Burpees.

I usually order from several companies for the spring planting and Gurneys was the least productive. The berry plants that I received were small and pricey compared to what I could have gotten locally. The original shipment was short a paw paw tree. When they sent that along later it was quickly and without any hassle, but the tree was only 2 inches (no exageration) tall! Since it is advertised as a "No. 1 plant" I called and asked them what I should expect and they could not give me a good answer. They did ship another one out at my request and it's about 2 inches tall as well, with a pretty bad crook at it's base. Don't think I will be ordering from them again...

In December 2003 I placed an order for seeds and Asparagus plants with Gurney’s. In checking the shipping dates I found that they were not correct for my location. I am in USDA Zone 9 not Zone 7 as there web site shows. I informed Gurney’s of the problem and requested a shipping date of mid February at the latest. Here are just a few of the things that have happened so far.

I was told in writing that it would be shipped on 3/9
I was told in writing that it was ready to ship on 3/12
I was told in a letter received on 3/18 that my order was waiting to be shipped as soon as I corrected the error made by Gurney’s charging the order to my credit card which I corrected on 3/18.
I was told during a phone call I made to Gurney's that it was shipped on 3/19.
Now on 3/22 I receive an e mail telling me that it will ship in 2 to 3 days by slow mail.
3/22 second e mail received saying it due to ship any day now.

Will it ever ship and will I have any usable plants?

I heard from gurney today,2-23-04 and they said that they don't have "reliance peach trees".this the most common peach available and they don't have them-come on!
Don't use them.

Half the plants ordered from Gurney's spring '03 did not grow. And several e-mails sent attempting to resolve the matter have not been acknowledged or responded to. Plants and bulbs that did arrive were small, stunted, and generally in poor condition. Many items were not available, though at the time the order was placed they were supposedly in stock. There is no toll-free number, and their customer service people are the same as Henry Field's. Quality and service has sharply declined, and I cannot recommend them. So if anyone knows of a quality supplier for rhubarb plants, please let me know - as rhubard was one of the items out of stock.

Decided to give them another chance after many years of not ordering with them. Nothing has changed, crummy plants. You would think they could ship liriope that wasn't dead on arrival. My first e mail to them was ignored, second e mail they promised to refund the price paid for the plants as they were out of stock. I received the refund, but not for the shipping. All of the other plant varieties I ordered from them were dried up roots or sticks which promptly died. Never again.

At the beginning of May, I placed an order for four different varieties of strawberries. It took about two weeks for the order to arrive, but it was incomplete. One of the varieties was placed on back-order, and I was issued a new order number for it.

I planted the strawberries as soon as they arrived, and most of them grew, but only 9 of the 25 Big Boy plants were viable.

When I checked today on the backorder, the order number was no longer in their system, and I have not been credited for the missing plants. I have requested an explanation and a full refund. They previously issued me a replacement credit for the dead Big Boy plants, but I am not going to be doing any more business with Gurney's in the future, so what good is this?

Although their website looks nice and is easy to use, their plants and customer service have proven to be very disappointing. As such, I cannot recommend Gurney's to anyone.

I recently received six heirloom tomato plants from Gurney Seed and Nursery that were DOA. I was shocked at both the condition they were in and the manner in which they had been packed for shipping. These plants were not potted; they were shipped bare root. What I received were six plants that were nothing more than dried-out twigs with crunchy, brown leaves attached. All had been carelessly bundled together in some plastic material. It was such a pathetic sight, I had to laugh. I immediately phoned the company and spoke to someone who suggested that these tomato plants were shipped dormant. Dormant tomato plants? Now that's an interesting explanation, probably one the staff use frequently to justify the sad condition of what they sell. When I told this employee that these plants were dead and I wanted to have my money refunded, she continued to argue with me over whether they were, in fact, dead. I told her that I have been gardening for many years and am certainly able to recognize a dead plant when I see one and to not insult me further. At this point, the Gurney employee agree to refund my money, although she seemed very reluctant to do so. One more complaint I shared with her was the fact that they don't have an 800 number for customer service. I asked why and the answer I got was, "I don't know." I did receive a refund for the tomato plants, but I intend to never order another thing from this company.

I ordered a male and female kiwi from Gurney's a few years ago. I have been a professional gardener, and have never had trouble growing anytyhing, even resucing dying plants for friends. I paid a great deal of money for two little plants of about 2 inches each, that arrived late in the Spring. They remained stunted until both died. The photos in the catalog look great, and the text makes them sound like good old folk who enjoy their work. The down-home farmer touch is nice, but their products don't support their image. Never again.

They stink.Plain and simple.Bad plants, bad customer service, bad company.