Comments regarding Gurney's Seed & Nursery

I had emailed this review to Gurney's privately about a week ago, but received no response, so I am posting it here.

I had high hopes for Gurney's. I placed an order in May for a bundle of 25 Sparkle Supreme strawberries, and a Deluxe Standard Contender peach tree. I was told that the order would arrive in 2-3 weeks. The strawberries came about a week and a half after I placed the order. The estimated delivery date of the peach tree kept getting pushed back first from early June, to early July, to late July. Now I look on the estimated delivery time, and it says that my peach tree order has been canceled, which they gave me no notice of. I am really rather displeased that the peach tree order was pushed back and back and back and then canceled without notice. It is too late now to order this tree from anywhere else. And I will have to wait until next year to try again. An extra year of waiting is quite a long time since the tree already takes 4-5 years to bear fruit. They still have this tree listed for sale on their website. In addition, they had it listed for sale on an insert that came with the strawberries. I'm out of a peach tree, which I had hoped to have in the ground this year being that they take so long to mature.

I keep debating whether to rate this experience negative or neutral. The strawberries did arrive in a timely manner and are doing well, however it was primarily for the peach tree that I placed the order to begin with, as strawberries are available through many catalogs. I had so been looking forward to having the Contender peach tree, with its resistance to late spring frosts and good flavor. And I thought that by ordering the deluxe, I would perhaps get better service. I certainly didn't expect to have it canceled without even a notice. If I had known that they were not going to send the peach tree, I probably wouldn't have placed the order with them to begin with. Prior to placing my order with them, I had also had a copy of their catalog sent to my neighbor, which now I'm thinking I probably shouldn't have.

I am willing to change my rating to positive should there be a good resolution to this situation.

Gurneys is an incompetent and unreliable company. I garden organically using the bio-intensive method, which relies on companion planting. Thus, although I prefer to get my plants from local nurseries some items like potatoes and garlic must be ordered via catalog. I naively thought that I could trust Gurneys to fulfill my order, or at least communicate to me in the event that they would not be able to do so.

I placed my order May 16th. As of June 17th I had not yet received any part of it except for my fennel seeds. Outstanding items were, Red Pontiac Potatoes, Pioneer Soft Neck Garlic, Northsky Bluberry, Sweet Bell Pepper Mix, Potted Mint Mix, Asparagus. I decided that I should call and see what was up, considering that planting this late would barely net me a good harvest before frost.

You know what they told me? "Ooops. We stopped shipping on June 13th. You won't be getting your order." What jerks. I know you can't control the weather, but you can certainly control your level of communication. If they weren't planning on sending the plants, they could have let me know so that I at least could try to get them from some where else.

I will never order from Gurneys, Spring Hill, Michigan Bulb, or any of their affiliates again. They are a young, fly-by-night operation that can't even properly communicate with their customers.

If you want to make sure you are going to get the plants that you order, don't order from Gurneys. Not only will you never get your plants, they won't even bother to tell you that. They will let you wait until half way through the growing season to find out for yourself.

I am mad at myself for naively believing that these jerks were eventually going to send my plants, instead of buying them elsewhere sooner. Now I will not be able to plant garlic or potatoes this season. But hopefully, I will still be able to get some sweet peppers.

I repeat, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER order from this disorganized and incompetent company. They can't handle your business and you are better off going with a more reliable company. Some how Burpee managed to fulfill my order completely and on time.

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Emailed Customer for possible resolution; they did respond, but furnished no information so I could look into their account."

I was worried about my order, because I found this site after I had placed it. I must say, that my experience has been a positive one. I ordered 6 raspberries, 6 blackberries, 20 asparagus and 50 strawberries. One raspberry and 1 blackberry did not come up and they are replacing them. The strawberries and asparagus were 100%, and I ended up with 62 strawberries and 23 asparagus, so it was a nice little bonus. The raspberries and blackberries shipped within a week, but the strawberries and asparagus took a month. The delayed shipping would be my only complaint, but it was worth it for the good value and quality plants. They often send bare root stock, so it isn’t always pretty, but take care of it and have some patience. Customer service was also very friendly about replacing my two plants that did not grow.

I will never order from Gurney's again. In the past we have ordered many MANY trees for our acreage (we keep falling for the "coupon") and we end up with spindly stock that can't seem to make it through one Iowa winter. I've HAD IT! I went to the nursery this year and laid out the cash for some hardy saplings and evergreens and from now on, the Gurney's catalogs will go in the woodstove.

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D-mailed Customer on June 16 to see if I could possibly come up with a resolution/compensation for the Customer's inconvenience, but as of today, have received no response from them."

I use Gurney's for planting supplies only.

There are much better places to order live plants, even other Garden's Alive companies (Brecks is superior).

Always use a coupon!

I ordered my plants in mid May, and now they say they will not be delivered until July

Wish I had found Daves Garden before I ordered

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D-mailed Customer on 6/16/08 and 6/25/08. The Customer's items that can be shipped in the fall are being shipped at no charge, and the Customer was also sent a gift certificate. "

Though my order caused me a LOT of frustration I have to honestly give them a positive because in the end - the problems weren't their fault and the plants they sent look healthy and were packed nicely.

I do, however, wish they would stop shipping things via UPS's "Basic" service.

The first time my order was shipped it got to within 30 minuts of my house and mysteriously dissappeared somewhere between the local UPS and my Post Office.

Gurney's replaced what they could (they were out of the asparagus I orderred) and I had to wait another two weeks to get the blueberry bushes and brugmansia. However, they both look healthy with only a couple of brown spots on the blueberries (due to shipping time). Everything was carefully packed in cardboard supports and plenty of shipping peanuts.

Thank you.

Hello Boys and Girls, Let's play a little game...

Look at the order date, then look at the estimated ship date, and then look at the posted information about when they ship and why:
- - - - - - - -
Order Date: 05/15/08
Order Number: XXX
Order Total: $35.50

Ship To:
MAJISTO
XXX
XXX NY XXX
Items Not Shipped:
2 CALADIUM RAINBOW MIXED /3
Delivery Estimate: 07/01/08 - 07/22/08
2 CALADIUM ELEPHANT EAR
Delivery Estimate: 07/01/08 - 07/22/08
1 CALADIUM BLACK MAGIC
Delivery Estimate: 07/01/08 - 07/22/08
2 CANNA / DWF PINK BEAUTY
Delivery Estimate: 06/11/08 - 06/25/08

Spring Shipping Schedule
All Other Plants & Bulbs

7B Feb 23 - Jun 13
7A Mar 2 - Jun 13

Last Order Date June 9th

*Due to hot weather conditions, we are unable to ship most plant items July through August
- - - - - - - -
Does anyone see a problem with this??
I wish I would have found this site earlier. I wouldn't have wasted the money. It's almost a half a tank of gas! :P

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Emailed Customer on 6/16; received their response on 6/24, but they provided no information so I could look into this matter."

Order sent by FAX to the FAX number listed on the order form on May 8. Received confirmation from my fax that it had gone through. Didn't hear anything from Gurney's for 4 days, so I called and spoke with someone in customer service. I don't have a record of your order, sir. However, the FAX/input group is VERY busy as this is our busy time of year. what number did you FAX it to ? Oh no, that isn't the right number, try this one instead". I did that...it was NOT a fax number, it was actually the customer service voice line.
Waited almost a week and called back. No record of your order sir, but they behind inputing order. What number...etc. etc. etc. same routine....Called May 22...I'm sorry sir, no record of your order. What number did you FAX it to ? I don't know what to tell you sir. I asked to speak to a customer service manager and was told one would call me back. By the next afternoon I called them back and spoke to a nice man who told me supervisors don't call customers back, they are too busy. I told him about the FAX number "error" and he explained what they had told me was incorrect that the number they were giving me was the OLD fax number that in fact I had FAX'd it to the right number. I explained to him my situation and suggested he take my order over the phone, pay for shipping and expedite the order. Of course, by now they were out of a number of items I had ordered three weeks earlier ! My seeds finally did arrive, though I am not sure they were expediated. Gurney's has LOST me as a customer forever. BAD BAD BAD customer service. I don't understand how a company with such bad service can stay in business. I cannot reward bad service and behavior with my business in the future.

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Customer was contact (via phone) by a Supervisor on 7/1/08 to resolve the issue. Customer was also issued a Gift Certificate."

I order in place an order in April, and recieve half the order and am still waiting for the rest. When I order off the web site show that items were in stock. I probably will not order from this company again as they keep pushing my shiping date back father even after I talk to customer service!

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D-mailed Customer on 6/16/08 to get their information to see about a possible resolution. As of today, I have received no response."

I expect more from an online company in 2008. I ordered tomato plants, strawberry plants, some ground cover, and vegetable seeds on May 8. On May 20, I checked the status of my order. It said the tomato plants would arrive the second week of July! Around here we're getting tomatos by then. It said the seeds would arrive by May 19. I sent an email--big mistake. They said the plants would ship within 2 days, and give the seeds 10 business days to arrive. It's May 29, and nothing. I emailed again. The reply said:

"I apologize for the inconvenience. A reship has been issued for the item(s) requested, as it was lost in the transit. Your order number is 81500438500, and your order should ship by June 13."

OK, so now my packages of seeds will arrive the end of June? I replied and said, "Please cancel my order. I'm not planting carrots in July. Thanks for your help." The reply? "Thank you for your email. I have deleted the carrot from your order, as per your request." She ONLY cancelled the carrots? I checked. Sure enough, everything but the carrots was still coming.

I called the non-800 number. I didn't receive any apology, and in fact, the rep couldn't understand why I wanted to cancel my order. If it were a roll of paper towels from Amazon.com, I'd have it in 2 days with free shipping. A month and a half for paid shipping on three flat weightless packages of seed is inconceivable. She could not cancel my order for plants, because "That order has already printed. It's packed and will ship tomorrow." She then said it would take a week by UPS to get here. If I were about to lose a customer, I would ship it 2-day at least, but they didn't seem to care.

At this point, I can't even get the plants around here, because they're gone. I didn't buy locally, because I'd placed the order with Gurneys. I've got all these raised garden beds with nothing. I'm missing the season, and if anyone should understand that, I would think it would be a plant company that's been around for 100 years. Even worse than Gurneys' terrible shipping arrangements is the complete lack of customer care. I'm very disappointed, and unfortunately my hands are tied so that I can't even cancel the remaining order or get it in a timely fashion.

One thing about this company I have always had good customer service when I have called there. I have not always been happy with email responses, but customer service is excellent.

I have ordered from them several times and yesterday I received 2 reliance peach trees that arrived in excellent shape very thick and at least 4 to 5' tall. One tree looked like the roots were damaged, but I am hoping it will still survive. Over all it was a good experiece. I have ordered from other copanies and all I got was sticks!

I ordered a Jackmanii clematis, dwarf pomegranate, and a smokebush from Gurney's.

-I received all three in one order.
-The smokebush was shipped bareroot and basically looked like a stick, however after following their planting instructions, it's now happily growing leaves in my backyard
- the clematis and pomegranate were small, in 2-4 inch containers, but I believe this was made clear in their product descriptions
-the clematis sat and did nothing for a couple weeks, but is growing slowly now
-the pomegranate is doing great.

If you have the patience to nurture the plants that come in small pots, this is a great mail order website.

I placed an order in March for 3 items, I received 2 of the 3 items in the middle of April reasonably close to when they originally stated they would arrive. They were small plants but respectably packed and reasonably healthy looking,I wasn't expecting anything that large for the price and they have grown since being planted. The third item they claimed they were out of stock and could not supply it. They however never notified me of this fact but at least nothing else was substituted and I was not charged for it and they didn't charge my credit card until the plants were shipped. Overall I would say my experience with Gurneys was OK, not probably good enough to order with them again but certainly not as bad as other on-line companies.

I ordered a Tree wisteria and 5 live Maximillian Sunflowers. I was surprised at the packing of the Maximillian Sunflowers, wet disintegrating newspaper on barerroots - but they all came up and are doing fine. The tree wisteria was very slow to leaf out - but has now come on strong. I will order from them again.

We placed a relatively small order this year and it arrived in stages. The first part of the order included a packet of peas that was supposed to contain 225 peas. It didn't seem to have very many peas in it, so we decided to count them: 71 peas. When I called Gurneys (no toll free number) I was told that they are packaged by weight, not volume. Well, this wasn't even close. They agreed to replace the peas and they arrived a few days later. The second part of the order arrived yesterday. The box contained a package of blueberry food and a 6-pack of live groundcover (plumbago). The plants were laid on their side on top of the blueberry food with packing peanuts tossed on top. No additional protection whatsoever. I paid $15.95 (sale price) for the plumbago and the plants are so tiny that I will have to mark them somehow to even find them in my garden. The blueberry bush we ordered was no longer available, so we're still awaiting a refund on that. We've ordered from Gurneys for years, but I'm sure this will be the last order.

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Because the Customer was not satisfied with the size of the plumbago plants, he was also issued a refund for the purchase price."

DO NOT FALL FOR THE $25.00 COUPON SCAM or the BUY ONE GET ONE FREE PROMOTIONS! I did and boy am I paying for it now! I placed my first order in February for vegetable plants then placed another order for a variety of flowering plants in March. After the orders had been placed is when the problems began! I had to cancel the order for vegetable plants since they took forever to send them out (even after they agreed to place a RUSH order on them - twice!) Before I knew this company's bad habits, I fell for the BLUE FLAX - Buy one, Get one Free scam. They all arrived dead looking. I decided to plant them anyway since the packaging said they were "dormant". (I was being optimistic). They have yet to show any signs of life! I also ordered and received the LITTLE BUSINESS DAYLILY and STARFIRE GARDEN PHLOX. Three of the eight DAYLILY plants never sprouted and all of the STARFIRE PHLOX are lifeless. This is the FIRST AND LAST time I will order from this company! I should have checked this site before ordering - HINDSIGHT! I'm sure I could call to get replacement plants but I would probably just get more dead stuff. So I will move on and tell everyone of my experience. PLEASE BEWARE OF THIS COMPANY and their sister companies. If you've already ordered and have not received your product yet then I wish GOOD LUCK TO YOU, YOU'LL NEED IT!

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D-mailed Customer on 5/17 to get information so I could locate account and come up with a resolution to satisfy the Customer. As of 7/31/08, no response has been received."

Ordered shrubs, plants and seeds online. Coupon offer was rejected. Seeds were shipped promptly but fewer than the "30" per packet (did have prompt service to replace). Then phlox plants arrived: dead. Shrubs were to ship by early May; but when checking order status, I saw my order was canceled. Over 10 days I sent 3 emails to cust. service; NO RESPONSE. When I phoned (no 800 no.!); on hold 8 mins., then told: well, they had sold out, so my order was canceled; and that I "would be getting a postcard" telling me that---(this, 7 weeks after my order, which I placed ONLINE where they had my email). Note: they had a shrub promotion of the variety I ordered AFTER I placed my order. No apologies, no replacements, no excuses, unbelievable. Some of the worst service I have ever experienced. Meanwhile, it is too late to order what I want locally. When I asked if Gurney was a member of BBB or Chamber of Commerce, the Customer Service Person "did not know." Glad I found you: Caveat emptor.

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D-mailed the Customer on 5/17 to apologize and asked for information (name and address) so I could locate account and check into the situation. The Customer responded back (not very pleasantly) on 5/19, but furnished no information, just telling me to "LEAVE ME ALONE". I then again d-mailed, saying that I would remove them from the mailing/email list, but I did need to know who they were in order to do this. As of today, there has been no further communication from the Customer."

I wrote a review recently for my experience with Breck's Bulbs and now I have the same type of experience with Gurney's. I have been gardening for a lot of years and mostly my experiences with gardening companies has been good. I am seeing a trend here. So many of them are connected. These companies supposedly have a gaurantee for lifetime. BUT, if you have too many failures they apparently get suspicious of you. I had emailed Breck's last year regarding failed Day Lilies and received seperate answers, one saying I would get replacements, one saying I would not and stated that I was not a good match for their company. Now I have received the same email from Gurney's! Word for word the same email except for filling in some information! I am "not a good match for them", I have had so much percent of failures. I realize I have had more than normal amount of failures but I'm beginning to think it has more to do with the companies than me. In the past the only time I had trouble was when I ordered from the cheap places like Michigan Bulb. Now I get plants from Gurney's and they seem to struggle to grow. I don't get it. I have enough experience at my age that to get an email like that is an offense and makes me feel like they distrust me.

This has been my second year ordering from Gurney's and I have had great service. Last year I ordered english aster and bee balm. This year I ordered 30 canadian hemlock, 10 japanese yew, 10 caragana, hostas, lilies, and various vegetable seeds. My first order this year I asked the shipment to be shipped in May and it arrived May 5th. The second order I asked to be shipped as soon as possible and it arrived a week before the shipping date on the confirmation. Very impressed. Everything I have ordered has been healthy and grown nicely. Although, you are receiving plants at a pretty cheap cost (compared to local nurseries) that have been packaged and shipped to you. It takes a little work to get them to five star quality. I live in zone 4 and find most of the plants I've ordered to be pretty hardy. Don't order from a mail order company and expect to get what you see in the high buck local nurseries/stores without a little green thumb magic first.

I ordered on 4/25 and in the remarks asked to have shipped quickly as we were ready to plant. As of 5/5, none of my seeds had been shipped. They had shipped the Asparagus on 5/1 or I would have cancelled the order. I called and was told to expect 3-4 weeks. I checked my order status on-line and it says I will receive them 5/6 to 5/10 and they aren't shipped yet. I suggested that their website should state shipping times.
The representative had a hard time believing that over 95% of what I order on-line is shipped (not received) within 2 days. She just said that's how long it takes.
With something like seeds that one needs to get planted on a certain date, this company should properly quote shipping times. Who would think seeds would be backordered?
I just got the seeds and they are all in Gurney's envelopes, no brand names. That's fine as long as they grow well. The big question is, why such a delay when it is their own product. I have ordered hundreds of things on-line and this is the slowest to get something shipped that I've ever faced unless it has been clearly stated on the site that the item was backordered.
I'll find somewhere else to buy my seeds next time and read reviews on purchases from now on even for large companies.

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Emailed Customer on 5/17/08 for possible resolution; have received no response as of today."

I too fell for the $25 free gimick, and ordered a number of items in March. The seeds arrived ok, along with the lavender (small but ok) and the coneflowers. I ordered three basil plants- one was very dead upon arrival and the other two were rough. I called to ask for one more basil plant to replace the one that was dead, and she did send me another- which was also dead. Apparently these plants don't ship well. I also ordered 12 tomato plants and 6 bell pepper plants. The shipped 6 tomato plants in late April, but according to their own site, I was not due to get the remainder of my tomatoes and peppers until JUNE! I live in Virginia! People start harvesting in JUNE! So I called to cancel the rest of the order, but the rep said they had shipped, so he couldn't cancel it. Which is not true, but he said he was unable to cancel my order. Eventually, after emailing, another service rep did cancel the order, and no, they hadn't shipped. The experience was a pain. They probably aren't bad all the time, but shipping tomatoes and peppers that late in the season is inexcusable. I won't be re-ordering.

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Emailed Customer on 5/17/08 for possible resolution; have not received a response as of today."

I ordered from Gurney an American Elm, diesease resistant, as well as other seeds. I am happy with all. The tree had a great root system, and is now 3 weeks later, leafing out. The seeds have not all been planted, but so far so good. I am very pleased

This the first time I've ordered from this company on the recommendation of my dad whose been ordering from Gurney's for years. I ordered a seedless grape vine and some shallot bulbs. I figured I'd place a small order just in case this company isn't all that great. So far, I've received my grape vine which was really large with very large roots. That's a good sign. It was also tagged with the name of the variety and packaging was okay. We'll have to see if it grows over the next few months.

Gurney's said my shallot bulbs are on back order. I really want them for my Earth Box this summer. (Have you seen the price of shallots in grocery stores lately???) Hopefully they will arrive soon. I am rating Gurney's a "Neutral" for now until I get the rest of my order and see what happens with my vine.

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I emailed Customer on 5/17/08 to get information so I could check on their order; received no response."

I ordered some strawberries that are supposed to be as big as peaches...I was slightly sad that I couldn't order them in smaller amounts, but I could find room for fifty,so I ordered. The order was sent out on a Thursday...well, first off that is dumb, send my plants out right before the weekend so that they can sit in a post office for a couple extra days! I might add that I placed this order on monday or tuesday morning i believe. Well anyways, the package literally sat in Sharonville, OH in the post office until the next monday, before it even started on its journey, I know this because of the tracking number I was provided. So every day I just kep thinking, they will be dead. And nine days after beginning their journey, the strawberries are here. They are a bit worse for the wear, but they are healthy, and have great root systems, and I planted them immediately. I'm sure that for the most part they will be ok. I'm looking forward to some big strawberries! I would be scared to spend a lot of money here, because I have seen the bad reviews on these companies, but they are worth a try. My experience was good, after I got the package and realized that the plants were safe and sound!

Used the "free" coupon and was ready to post clever comments about "you get what you pay for." After all the negative comments on this site, I was shocked. Ordered 25 Ft. Laramie strawberries, received 34. All 34 are doing fantastically (2 or 3 took a little coaxing, but hey...) 136% success - not too shabby! We ordered lettuce seeds and they sprouted 3 days post-planting and it sure looks like most of them germinated. We have okra seeds, too (the expensive variety) but it'll be a while before I've got any feedback on them, way too early.
One of the best mail-order experiences ever :-)

On 3/17/2008 I placed an order with this company. Since I live in Northern Maine and we have had a very bad winter, I added a note not to ship until the first week in May. On April 8th they shipped half of my order. 3 Cherry trees to an area of the country that still had 5 feet of snow! I called Gurney's and told them I had put a note not to ship until May, the woman on the phone said the note WAS there but it was too late because it had already been shipped but they would replace it if I couldn't keep it alive for 6-7 weeks indoors. Since there is nothing I can do now, I asked that they don't ship the rest of my order until the requested date of May. Well, I just received an email that the rest of the order was shipped April 23rd! I don't care if they will replace dead plants or not. Who wants to go through all the hassle with a company who will not listen to a requested ship date. Stick a fork in me.....I am done. I will NEVER order from them again. I should have listened to all the negative reviews!

I placed an order with this Co. and have had nothing but great results. My order was shipped in three shippments , seeds, then the plants. I used the online coupon and cannot say enough good things about this Co. My strawberry plants look great, the bulbs are big and healthy and my hydranga start is green and lively. I wil order from this Co again in the future. I encourage all online shoppers to remember that we live in an instant age, with high speed everything. But some things still require a human element, and we are all subject to mistakes. HAPPY PLANTING !

For all the negative reviews, I felt obligated to share my recent experience with Gurney's. I bought several fruit trees from them last spring. I nurtured them the best I could yet they died. Thought I would wait and see if they might come back this spring, but unfortunately they did not. I e-mailed them of my predicament. I didn't hear back from them real soon. So I dug up my receipt, ready to make copies, and to take pictures of my dead "sticks" expecting a hassle. But then I was e-mailed back and told my refund was credited back. I called my credit card company and sure enough they had refunded my money--no questions asked. I certainly appreciate the way they refunded me. They seemed to be fair to me. But for the record, I don't think bare root trees are the best way to go as the shock seems to be too much for them. I will try to buy container plants if possible, but I still plan on buying more trees from Gurney's too.

I too, used the 25.00 off coupon. I ordered:

two orange butterfly plants -these were bareroot, but not exactly what I expected. I'm hoping they'll do fine.

one empire blue butterfly bush- this looks really wonderful and I can't wait to plant it.

a josee lilac- this is a little wimpy seeing as it was 19.99 but it looks to be in decent health, already leafed out.

a packet of the royal flush sunflowers- I'm going to direct sow these in a few weeks

two saskatoon blueberries (order one and get two)- these were bigger than expected, still dormant.

a lb of the shade champ grass seed-I've put this in the appropriate area, now waiting for growth.

It came in three seperate orders, but I was made aware of this when I made the order. My final part of the order came a smidgen earlier than I would have liked, but all in all I'm satisfied with the products I've ordered and the service I've been given.
I will update with any pertinent information.

Gave them a try this spring with coupon. I am up in the air as of now. While the plants that I got do seem healthy, they were VERY small, even for mail order plants. Their shipping was very quick and I did get everything that I ordered, I will just have to wait and see how these grow in before I will know if it was worth it.

I ordered several items from this company recently. It took quite a while for them to send the items (much longer than other companies I ordered from after this company's order), and when my order finally arrived, half of it was missing (even though the invoice showed they were shipped). The items that WERE sent were all waterlogged. Most of them died within the first week due to root rot. The one item that was dead on arrival (a Purple Horn of Plenty) took them well over a month to replace. There was no notation on my order that the missing items were actually backordered. The site's order status showed the order as shipped complete. The backordered items (a gardenia and a blueberry bush) finally were shipped late, and have already died. I am a proficient gardener, and all my other items from other companies are doing well. This company is awful. I won't purchase from them again.

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Contacted the Customer for possible resolution, because we do have a guarantee. Received no response from this Customer."

This was my first time ordering from Gurney's. I am not at all happy with this company. And I gaurantee that I will NEVER order from this company again. I placed an order for over twenty items on 2/29/08. The original amount came to over $70.00 dollars and after the $25.00 off coupon in the catalog it was still a grand total of $52.60. Weeks went by and my order didn't come and it didn't come and I could not seem to track my order status. So I wrote to customer service many times. Inquiring about my order and all that. If they wrote me back at all they didn't say anything helpful. Most of the time all they said was that "your order will be processed when we recieve it"! So as far as I am concerned the customer service (through email) is pretty much useless. Well then I called and I called. I talked to several different people. No one could seem to even find my order. The funny thing is that the check I wrote for $52.60 went thru my checking account on 3/10/08. They can't find my order, or any record of my payment, yet the check has definitely been cashed??? Well, the woman I finally talked to yesterday said that my order was probably put on some one elses account and sent to them. How exactly does that happen. My information was on the order form and my information was on the check. I was originally going to give Gurney's another chance. I am suppose to send in a copy of my check front and back and with it I had intended to send my order once again. But I have read the reviews and it is because of them I have decided not to order from them again. They had 158 negative, 158 positive, and more than sixty neutral reviews. Which means that I have less than a 50% chance of being a satisfied customer. What a joke!! I don't understand how a company as large as this can goof up that bad or that often. Its not that hard to send an order to the correct address when it is all printed out there for you to see. Yes they will give me my money back, but I would have rather have had my order. I don't live in a place where I can just run to the local walmart or where ever and buy what I need. I am looking at like a 2 and 1/2 hour drive to go any where to get these things. What urks me the most is that I was just in the city a couple of weeks ago and I could have gotten all of that stuff then. But I didn't because I thought my order would be coming!! YOu people had better figure out what the problem is and start getting your ducks in a row or you are going to start losing business. I will never order from you again and I fully intend to tell people I know who plan on ordering from you to forget it.

My order took so long to ship I had already moved to a different address!
Also, none of the bulbs ever sprouted...actually two of them did..and then died.

First : they lost the first order!
Second ;that put me 10 days behind.
Third ; I planted my tomatoes and pepper seeds as I usually do.
NOTHING SPROUTED
Replanted 10 days later with NEW SEEDS I BOUGHT FROM LOWES, EVERYTHING GREW!
tried the Gurney's seed in a sprouting tray, nothing sprouted.
The Gurney seeds have put my garden back almost a month.
Called Gurney's , they were very quick to return my money for the bad seeds.
They acted like this happens ALL THE TIME.
They did not want to here my complaint, just return my money.
I will NEVER BUY FROM Gurney's again.
Glad I found this site and all it's good things.
Ray

I placed an order and then more catalogs arrived with sweet offers. I noticed the prices were questionable with the sister catalogs - Gurney's sells Little Business Day Lilies for about $8 each, where Michigan Bulb sells the same for $5 and Henry Fields is somewhere in between. Same issue with raspberries and a bunch of other similar items. It seemed terribly deceptive as no one could explain any differences in quality, just warranty
I became uncomfortable with this, as well as not being able to get a clear idea when the items would be shipped, and decided to cancel the order.
They couldn't have been nicer about crediting the seeds that had already arrived, but I don't think I'll order from them again. And I truly resent requesting my name and address are not sold nor shared with other companies and still having that happen.

I have ordered trees from them 4 times. Most of the time about half my order never starts growing. They will replace them, but even most of my replacement order was dead too. If you want trees try musser forest. I have had better luck with them living.

I emailed them to cancel my order twice since I found a better deal elsewhere. Two weeks later, they finally emailed back and said that they could cancel it because it was being prepared to ship. They had moved the ship date up a month. The items have shipped and the ground is still rock solid up here in Michigan. I'll never order from them again.

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There was a delay in answering this Customer's email, which was our fault. However, the ship date of his order was not moved up a month; we ship plants according to USDA zone opening guidelines. A portion of this Customer's order was cancelled, so he was not charged for this part. He has received a full refund for the part that was shipped. "

My seed shipment has been pushed back fo rthe 3rd time today, I have contacted them before this last pushback and they assured me i'd recieve my seeds this week, well, I checked my order status and all they did was push my seed order back ANOTHER 2 weeks, they have completely screwed my indoor planting schedule and consiquently my outdoor planting schedule. The least they could do is say they dont have product and cant ship to me so i could cancel my order and make another with some other company. I have the feeling they are screwing me on purpose now. I now HATE this company and will NEVER use them again. Tell your family and friends, Gurneys is BIG corporation and dont give a sh**t about people who depend on seeds for survival, Find someone else. I HATE GURNEYS

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We do care about our Customers, and we do offer a satisfaction guarantee. The Customer was contacted for a possible resolution, but never responded back."