Comments regarding Gurney's Seed & Nursery

After ordering from Gurney's for almost 15 years, I had the first and worst experience from any seed company ever. I ordered a Hanson's Bush Cherry plant and a packet of expensive seeds w/ $9 s+h fee. Received the seeds later than expected (after 3 weeks), but no plant. Nothing on the order form even hinted that it wouldn't be sent. They certainly charged me the $9 s+h, tho.
And so, I waited, thinking they'll send it/info on the status along later, knowing seed companies sometimes ship separately, etc. And I waited, and waited. Finally after almost a month, still not a peep re: the plant's status, so emailed them to enquire. They replied they weren't selling Hanson's Bush Cherry anymore. That's it. That's it? No notice whatsoever I wouldn't be receiving an order, after sending them some pretty hefty cash after 15 years worth of business?
I was totally insulted Gurney's hadn't sent a word re: such and told them so; reminding them planting season only lasts so long, and now I had to scramble to obtain one! Still no hint of apology. Gurney's then sends me a measly $5 off coupon with no apology of lack of service. I re-emailed them back re: shock at their surprisingly total lack of alerting a longtime good customer that an advertized product was no longer available, and most importantly, no alert I would not be receiving it. Why put it in their catalog if they weren't going to sell it any longer, and now had to scramble to find a Hanson's bush from another vendor (sent within two weeks, looked great, and rushed to plant it within hours of receiving it; more expensive than Gurney's non-existant bush, but well worth knowing it has a year's start.) They didn't care. No acknowledgement of their bungling.
Sent Gurney's a final email telling them so, and wondering why they'd still charged my credit card the $9 s+h for a single packet of seeds? Then and only then, they "readjusted" the s+h fee. Huh? Had to remind a "professional" business to do this?? That was the last straw.
What happened to that great customer service we used to enjoy at Gurney's? Seems having relocated to Illinois from South Dakota they've gone thoroughly downhill, having seen the high number of negative comments. Were they bought out by a lesser owner? Who knows. Won't be ordering anything from them ever again. If they can't admit, let alone realize their customer loyalty and service practices is at best horrific, why set yourself up for further frustrations?

I wished that I would've seen this website before ordering from Gurney's. After reading many of the posts here, I have decided to cancel my order because it will probably not be worth the wait. Below are the details of my order.

Order Date: 07/07/08
Order Number: xxxxxxx3700
Order Total: $35.65



Original order detail.

Items Not Shipped:
1 BANANA DWARF
Delivery Estimate: 08/15/08 – 05/17/09
1 LIME DWARF KEY/3G
Delivery Estimate: 08/15/08 – 4/19/09
1 ORANGE DWARF VENOUS û
Delivery Estimate: 08/15/08 – 0914/08
1 STRAWBERRY GUAVA/1
Delivery Estimate: 08/15/08 – 09/14/08


Order Date: 07/07/08
Order Number: xxxxxxx3700
Order Total: $35.65


9/18/2008 Delivery dates.

Items not shipped:
1 BANANA DWARF
Delivery Estimate: 05/18/09 - 10/09/08
1 LIME DWARF KEY/3G
Delivery Estimate: 04/20/09 - 10/09/08
1 ORANGE DWARF VENOUS û
Delivery Estimate: 10/15/08 - 10/09/08
1 STRAWBERRY GUAVA/1
Delivery Estimate: 10/23/08 - 10/09/08

As you can see, I placed my order on July 7th. It has been well over two months and I have yet to receive any shipment. Many of you have mentioned that the delivery date of your order was changed a couple of times; well, in my case it was changed everyday. There were days where I checked the status of my order for days in a row.

I'm finally fed up with waiting as I wanted to order the banana tree for my husband's office and the orange tree for my sister to bring back to school but it did not arrive in time. She has moved back to school and won't be returning until next year when she graduates.

Gurney's had all of my personal contact information and yet, they failed to informed me that they decided to push back two of my items until next year. What kind of customer service is that? They didn't need to contact me in person, an email would have suffice.

I spoke to a customer service agent named Chuck, who informed me that two of my items are "ready to be shipped any day now" and the other two will be ship in the spring. Because I have no confidence that they could be shipped "any day now" and the others wil be shipped in the spring, I have decided to cancel my order. All I want now are definite dates and I can't get that, who's to say that they won't push the delivery even further back.

In all, I will never, ever order from Gurney's again.

My first order with Gurney's went well so I placed 4 more orders.

I didn't receive confirmation for 2 weeks on all 4 orders. I checked my orders on line and noted that the dates kept changing. I was concerned and called customer service and was told by the young lady on the phone that the dates on the on-line orders are computer generated and "don't mean anything", that the end of August date "really meant" October.

I was getting concerned about the constantly changing dates and was checking my orders daily.

Then I found one of my orders was canceled by Gurney's. I did not authorize the order to be canceled nor was I notified it had been canceled. When I called Gurney's the young man told me that they "thought" I made a mistake and canceled one of my orders. When they corrected the order they overcharged me and I had to call them again to correct the overcharge.

Today was the last straw, I received a letter in the mail telling me one of my four orders couldn't be shipped due to "improper credit". I was furious and called Gurney's yet again. The young lady told me that Gurney's had a "computer glitch" and sent out this letter in error. I asked about the status of my orders and requested assurance that my credit was in tact as I have an excellent rating. I was placed on hold for 10 minutes. Finally the young lady picked up the phone and rudely told me everything was fine and "they made a mistake."

Her flippant attitude was out of line, so I asked to speak to the supervisor, again I was placed on hold and another rude employee explained that this was Gurney's busy season and things like this happen. I asked for addition contact information and was rudely told I was speaking to the highest authority and they would not give me any additional names.

My experience with Gurney's:
1. They didn't confirm my orders for 2 weeks.
2. They canceled an order without authorization and never notified me.
3. They overcharged me when they corrected the canceled order.
4. They send out letters telling their customers that they have improper credit "by accident".
5. When you ask to speak to someone else or for a name to file a complaint with they won't give you any more information using "security" as the excuse.

I will not order from them again.

Gurney's obviously is very poorly managed and has very poor customer service.

I used the website to order seeds. No mention was made that they might be out of seeds for fall gardens and that they might hold my order for as long as 9 days, which would make it 2 weeks before I would get the seeds.

When I didn't get an email saying the seeds had shipped, I tried to contact the company by email, but it bounced back as a server unplugged. So I called on my dime since they don't have and 800 number I could find, and discovered they were holding the order. I cancelled since I don't have the luxury of waiting 2 weeks to get some of those seeds in the ground.

STAY AWAY!! Worst customer service I have EVER seen. I literally have had better experiences with the Department of Motor Vehicles in all 3 states in which I lived. They are rude, disorganized, uncommunicative and apparently unable to ship ONE SINGLE PLANT to us even though they had confirmed our order in writing. Maybe the DMV should take over their business - it would be an improvement.

We ordered $260 in vegetables from Gurneys, consisting of 9 different varieties; all were quite expensive, but they weren't carried by our local garden store and we wanted to pay the premium to get these in time for this summer.

We ordered in May, and were promised delivery of everything by June 13th at the latest. They kept pushing our delivery dates back every time we checked the status of our order, including pushing some back to OCTOBER. The original delivery confirmation and the delivery schedule published on their website list says we should have had our plants by June 13th.

Then, 7 of 9 plants disappeared from their confirmation system entirely!!! The 8th was canceled by post card, and the 9th (Garlic) was pushed back a YEAR!! The customer service agents were completely dismissive and casual about this in spite of our obvious disappointment - they just didn't care.

We called their telephone number June 30th, and the rude reps told us that everything we ordered was out of stock when we ordered it (!) even though they listed ALL OF IT in stock on their website at the time. In fact, their website STILL SHOWS IT IN STOCK!!!

They weren't even apologetic! The customer service supervisor said that we should be understanding because they would have sent us cancellation postcards "someday". I can't warn you strongly enough to avoid Gurneys.

I ordered blueberry plants & food, rhubarb & some perennials in early June because they were having a sale. When I first checked my order status it said most of the perennials would be shipped in fall. I was gardening NOW, so I called & cancelled those items. BTW - no 800 number.

Then two weeks later I checked again because I was going on vacation & didn't want the plants dying on my porch. Also, I'd pre-dug huge holes in the yard for the blueberries. Only one item showed on the order - the Blueberry Food. I emailed asking what was going on & received no response. I had to make another call on my $$ to be told that they'd cancelled the plants & my Blueberry Food was on the way. I said that I certainly didn't need it if they weren't sending the plants. Was told to refuse shipment & return.

So now I've lost a planting year on two plants that don't produce for a couple of years. I will NEVER order from these people again.

I ordered red lillys and when they bloom they were yellow.Several other bulbs i ordered didn't live either.

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.

"

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

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.

"

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 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

"

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. "

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

"

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.

"

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!

"

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.

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.

"

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!

"

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.

"

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.

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.

"

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.

"

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

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.

"

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

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 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.

"

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.

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 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.

"

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

"

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."

My experience with this company is appalling. I have ordered from them in the past with minimal complaints, yet this time around was unacceptable. On Feb 28 I sent out my order for a Contender peach tree. I got an e-mail requesting my mailing address on March 5th. I replied and sent the requested info and then got a confirmation e-mail confirming my order had been processed. I thought all was well until today when I got an invoice in the mail saying they had not received my payment. I called customer service and they said I needed to fax them proof from my bank that the check had cleared. I called my bank and they said that the check had indeed cleared and that I had to pick up a copy of the check in person as proof that it was cashed. I have a farm to tend to and I cannot just drive 20 miles to the bank without it being a big hassle. I do not feel that it should be my responsibility to prove I paid for something if Gurney's messed up the order. The lady at customer service was polite and sympathetic, though that did not fix the problem. I order from many different mail-order companies and have never had this problem. I will not order from this company again.

I recently placed an order with Gurney's. They had a special in which if you ordered $50.00 worth of materials, they would deduct $25.00. I made sure that I had the $50.00 total, although it meant that I had to order some things that I really didn't need or want. When I submitted my order, their web site deleted the last item in my list, bringing the total to about $3.00 less than the mandatory $50.00, which meant that I was charged for the whole order (over $60 with shipping and handling).
Not that that was not bad enough, but when I got my confirmation email concerning the order, the item numbers and the names of the items did not match. I was not sure of what I would be receiving.
About the only thing good I can say about my experience with this company was that when I called the next morning to cancel, they apologised and immediately canceled my order.

The blueberry plants featured in the Sunday circular are really little sticks. They are cheap and you get what you pay for.

"

Valued Customer: We do ship starter plants (whether they are potted or bareroots). We also do have a 100% lifetime guarantee, so if your plant(s) do not live/perform, all you have to do is let us know."

I placed a first time order with Gurney's several weeks ago and have been waiting for shipping confirmation. I noted online that one of the rose bushes I ordered was scheduled for delivery March 08, so I called to ask if I could add 2 additional rose bushes to my order. Operator tells me "Mamn you are not going to receive any of this order you are on our BAD cancelled account list for too many replacements." Since I had never placed an order with this company before I began questioning this.
Well, they take phone calls for "all" companies. This is connected to the problem I had with Spring Hill Nursery when they sent dead plants and closed my account because I requested replacements as per their unconditional lifetime guarantee. So, this is just a warning to check and see where you might be ordering your plants from before you place an order. And, how rude not to even notify me when I have been waiting for shipment of this order.

My husband wanted to surprise me. He ordered 20+ plants for me. (It has been several years ago, I forget the number.) They arrived, but they were so small, they fit into a mailbox less than 1 cubic foot square. They were spindly. I sent them back. We also accidentally got an order for beet seeds. We sent them back and requested return postage, which we never got. Even though they are a 100-200 miles away, we will not order from them again.

I have been using Gurney's for a couple of years. I bought 2lbs of Gotta Have It sweet corn in anticipation of the corn they are so proud of. Less than 30% germinated and what did never got taller than 3'. They refunded the purchase price but not the shipping even though that was all I ordered on that shipment. I left a feedback on their website but they left it off. There are some negative feedbacks on the corn but when they send you a link trying to sale you the corn, only the good feedback is accessible. I guess that I will be looking for another seed company.

Gurney's sent my seed a month late, causing me to plant Brocade Sweet Corn from Stokes in less "choice" places anticipating the arrival of gotta have it sweet corn. Then after completly giving up on my order I planted over the "reserved space" with more brocade much later than I should have. That same day the Gurney's order finally came in. I would have had to till it under to plant the late seeds from gurney's. Very disappointing. The gotta have it sweet corn was a huge flop. Both plots of Brocade out performed it by leaps and bounds. Brocade had consistant 2inch diameter ears 8 inches long, intensely sweet flavor pollinated to the tip, on 7 and 8 foot stalks. The gotta have it grew 2 to 5 foot stalks and 1to 1 1/2 inch diameter, sparsely pollinated ears 2 to 6 inches long. I was too ashamed of it to give any away to the neighbors.

I ordered numerous plants and seeds from Gurney's in the last two years. The tomatoe plant arrived, completely dried out, they had been shipped standard and arrived 2 weeks after they had been mailed. Out of the six rasberry bushes, only one has leafed out, even with the mulching and watering. The plants that I bought from a local nursery are doing wonderful. My snow peas did not germinate, maybe only 25% did. I bought two apple trees, two pear and two plum also. The apple trees are doing extremely poor with only a couple of budded leafs at the base of the trees. The pear are doing well and only one plum is doing good. When I placed the order online it was easy to do, unfortunetly the products did not live up to what I expected. Customer service states that they cannot replace the plant until the end of the growing season, so i have not received a credit nor any plants. I have four perinniel gardens and a large vegetable garden, but will not order from gurneys ever again.

Half of my order was not good. There is 50% chance that plants received from this company will not be good.

I ordered 50 strawberry plants, 12 raspberry plants, 3 blueberry bushes, and 3 blackberry plants. Ordering was quick and easy off the site. Items were shipped in two deliveries. Delivery estimate for the first delivery was June 9, 2007 the date of the second delivery was June 13, 2007. The Strawberries arrived on June 8th with strong roots and a bit of new growth with no sign of disease. Unfortunately, only 26 of the 50 strawberry plants arrived. Customer Service was quick and polite and the rest of my strawberries were ordered that afternoon with an expected arrival date of June 14-16.

On June 12, 2007, 3 blackberry plants, 3 blueberry bushes, and 6 raspberry plants arrived. Once again, customer service was called. I was told that the replacement raspberries would not be shipped until early spring 2008. I informed them that I was not satisfied with that response and asked to be put through to the supervisor. The supervisor was out so I left my number. After 20 minutes without a call back, I returned the call and left another message after receiving the same answer about my replacement raspberry plants. After 45 minutes I called back and was told that my replacement raspberries would be shipped on Thursday. After checking the order status and still seeing the same ship date of March 2008, I called back this time getting to the supervisor who told me that they were out of stock of the red raspberries.

On June 13, 2007 I received a phone call from Gurney's apologizing for the mix-up and consequent delay. I felt that the apology was a salve for sore nerves, though it did little to convince me to order from this company again. I'm officially done.

I received a shipment of sweet potato plants at the end of May. They looked as if they had been in a dehydrator - all the leaves crumbled off immediately. I called Customer Service right away and was assured that replacements would be shipped out (I assumed, in a timely manner). Now I'm told that the plants won't arrive until sometime toward the middle or end of the first week in July. Since that's too late to plant sweet potatoes, I canceled my order and will find something else to plant in the bed that I had prepared. That's not what I call making things right. I realize that damage can happen during shipping, but when a customer is counting on an item and ordered it 6 months in advance, it's up to the company to quickly replace the damaged item - at least in time to plant it. I will never order from Gurney's again.