Comments regarding Gurney's Seed & Nursery

We have used Gurney's for over 15 years. When my son and I saw the $100.00 off any order of $200.00 on their spring 2013 catalog that just came we were excited. Once we started looking at the prices our attitudes changed fast. Most items in this catalog are double what they would normally be. Why? Do they really think people don't notice? Do they think their catalog is the only one I get in the mail? What has happened to Gurney's? You used to be one of the best out there.

"On Dec 28, 2012 10:48 AM, Gurney's Seed & Nursery responded with:

Thank you for your feedback. Unfortunately due to rising cost with suppliers, vendors and shipping our prices on some items have increased."

In spring of 2011 I ordered two YELLOW trumpet vines from Gurneys.
After training, fertilizing and pruning them onto our new pergola they bloomed this year!

Both vines are blooming in PEACH blossoms - NEITHER are YELLOW.

I emailed Gurneys after the first started blooming the wrong color and they promptly issued a credit. I assume they will for the second as well. I received a credit because they were out of stock of 'yellow'.

While searching online for actual YELLOW trumpet vines I ran across some photos of yellow trumpet vines, and red trumpet vines. Some Gurneys and some Michigan Bulb Company. Surprisingly - the photos were the exact same photos with only the color of the blooms altered via digital editing. The photos were not of actual vines, they were digital fabrications of the colors and blooms.

//www.michiganbulb.com/product/Yellow_Trumpet_Vine/Vines&sid=801077
and
//gurneys.com/red-trumpet-vine/p/10201/

No wonder the vines I received were not true to color - neither were the photographs.

I understand enhancing a photo to accentuate the product, improve lighting and contrast, and just make it look good. But, to completely alter the color is flat out fraud.

I'm very disappointing in having wasted time and effort in a product which was truly not representative of Gurney's photographs. After all, how can their product compete with a fabrication.

"On Aug 7, 2012 12:33 PM, Gurney's Seed & Nursery responded with:

We apologize and we have brought this to the attention of our web department and they assure us that this was not intended to mislead our customers in any way and they are working very diligently to fix this error. Please know that we are continuously updating our website and replacing old photography, that may have existed with the previous owners, with newer and accurate images. Please accept our apology for any inconvenience we may have caused you, and we ask that you consider giving us one more opportunity to provide you with world class service. A customer service representative will contact you for your account information so we can reship the Yellow Trumpet Vines to you."

A few years ago I found out I have a major green thumb like the rest of my family has for many generations. I also found it has made a huge impact on making my depression less visible, or go away. So I decided to take a chance buying plants online instead of in my local store so I could possible get better deals....well I did....but it went south.

I made multiple orders through Gurney's this year, when I should have just made 1 big order and saved the shipping and made it less confusing to remember which plants died for what order. I ordered: dwarf lemon, dwarf lime, dwarf orange, everbearing strawberry(25 bulb count), canby raspberry, anne raspberry, apache blackberry, dwarf northblue blueberry, dwarf northsky blueberry, triple crown blackberry, black hawk raspberry, and a thornless boysenberry(which hasnt shipped yet).

The citrus tree's were the first order and looked great when I received them. I planted them and they did great for a while then the orange tree died so I was sent a replacement, which is doing great still. The lemon and lime started to lose their leaves so I wrote to gurneys and got advice, it seemed to work at first but they both eventually died. I was sent a replacement certificate for them but I dont know how to use the certificates.

Then the other orders just did not work out at all. All my items looked amazing when opening the boxes and planting them. Shortly after I planted the northblue blueberry it sprouted like crazy...then died out of no where(I got a refund for this one.) The canby raspberry and triple crown blackberry also looked like they were doing good then died, I got replacement certificates for both of them.

Shortly after planting the 25 strawberry bulbs they all died and got moldy. I asked for a refund considering I couldnt even keep 1 of the 25 alive but yet my store bought strawberry plants are doing great....they are sending replacement bulbs instead next year.

I still havent written to them that the other blueberry bush is doing the exact same thing the last one was before it turned into a brown useless stick. I have helped my friends plant blueberry bushes so I have no idea how both mine went green full of leaves to all the leaves turning brown within a few days and then the whole plant dies.

I have tested the soils and made sure I have done everything right and have yet to figure out what I did wrong to all the plants. I have bought many plants at my local stores and farmers and have never had this type of problem before(killing plants), I figure it has to do with their end because I have a greenhouse filled with all kinds of hard to grow plants that I have yet to even have a problem with. I figured when I wrote to them about the multiple plants dieing they would just send replacements but instead I got certificates which I didnt want. I just want plants that live, grow, and can stay alive after they start growing. It would be nice to buy more plants from them down the road(I love to give them as gifts) but I need the current ones to survive like all my other plants to trust that the next ones will live. I dont have the kind of money to keep wasting on paying for shipping everytime a plant dies and they just send me the replacement money for the plant instead of a replacement plant.

I would love to give them positive feedback but as it stands their plants seem to do well within the first few weeks then die. Out of all 11 plants I have received only 3 have stayed alive with no problems(yet), and 1 that was replaced which seems to be doing well. Would be nice to have trust in them to make more orders in the furture for myself and for friends.

"On Jul 18, 2012 10:54 AM, Gurney's Seed & Nursery responded with:

We apologize for the problems you had with your plants. We do offer a lifetime guarantee on any of your plants. The replacement certificates can be used on any order. A customer service representative will contact you for your account information to further assist you."

Well I called Gurney's customer service today to tell them that the Pink Pampass Grass I bought for my mom died. It wasnt really a surprise because it didnt look like it was doing that well when it was shipped anyway. They said they could give me store credit and I accepted because I couldnt understand the man because hes probably from freaking India or something! He was nice but his accent was so strong I had to say "what" on several occasions.Then after I hung up, I thought what did I say yes to? I dont want store credit!, I want a new freakin pink pampass grass plant!! This is just irritating! My mom is sad because I got her that plant for Mothers Day and it didnt even survive shipment.

"On Jun 11, 2012 10:50 AM, Gurney's Seed & Nursery responded with:

Thank you for posting and we apologize for the problem with your plants. We would be happy to reship them. A customer service representative will contact you for your account information."

Posted on June 18, 2011, updated May 30, 2012
I have been trying to be open-minded about Gurney's service.

Last year I submitted an order for two bundles of white Candy onions and two of red. When the order came, the count in one of the bundles of the white was only about half what it should've been, due to the fact that they were larger. For one thing, I'd like to see more uniform sizes in a bundle of onions. The teeny tiny ones don't get very big and have to be saved over for the following year, and the big ones tend to bolt unless I hold them till all danger of frost has passed. So both end up being a little more trouble to get them to produce a decent onion. But I realize I could direct that complaint to most any seller of onion plants, unfortunately. I e-mailed Gurney's Customer Service and asked them for additional white onion plants because of the short count. Instead, they completely duplicated my order. By then, all my gardening friends had theirs planted and I just hated to throw all those onion plants away. So I planted them in every raised bed I had, and along the edges of the front flower garden, and the tiny ones went into flower pots. There were some things that I planned to grow that spring and didn't because I didn't have room.

So this spring, because I still had lots of chopped onions in the freezer, I ordered only two bunches of just the white Candy onions, thinking that would give me enough for fresh use through summer and fall, and some to share with friends and neighbors, as I always do. They sent three bunches and again, I was hard-pressed to find places for them all, since we had moved and I didn't have all my beds developed yet.

Yeah, I realize these things happen and since I had the choice of throwing what I couldn't use away, I thought it was better to get too much than too few.

I subscribed to get notices of sales and I found myself getting notices at least once a week, which got to be a little annoying after awhile. Most of them I didn't take advantage of because it isn't worth it to me to pay the shipping charges on just one or two little items since I can get things on sale locally. But the most recent one I took advantage of offered Stella cherry trees and Olympic pear trees for a pretty good price. There were also Josee everbearing lilac bushes. So I ordered two of each. I got the lilac bushes right away. They are small but doing ok.

The pear and cherry trees did not arrive. I had about decided, since it was already so hot here, that they would send them in the fall. So I didn't think anything of it until I got a postcard in the mail saying the pear trees were not available. Yes, they credited my credit card. When I went to check my order status I found that the cherry trees had been cancelled as well.

At this point I e-mailed Customer Service and told them that I would not be ordering from them from now on. These sales that they offer are only good for a certain period of time and I did order within the window. If the item is out of stock the computer can be set up to reject the order when it is placed, or just plain not have an "order now" button at all. Since the website accepted my order it just seems like it ought to be honored.

Barring that, I would have appreciated that if 2/3 of the order (and more than that if you're going by $$) cannot be fulfilled, they might e-mail me of this predicament and give me the option of cancelling the entire order.

At the very least, I would have liked to have received this information in an e-mail, which they do use to confirm my order and to tell me that the order has been shipped. Instead I get this CARD IN THE MAIL about the pear trees and no notification at all, at least not yet, about the cherry trees.

I received an apologetic reply to my e-mail and the representative added that a $10 coupon would be mailed to me because of my inconvenience. Except that I won't be using it because I believe I did say that I'm not going to be ordering from them any more.

The next day I got e-mail notification of yet another big sale, and I unsubscribed. I don't have time to make out orders for plants that they don't even have. Walking away now.

"On Jun 20, 2011 10:20 AM, Gurney's Seed & Nursery responded with:

We apologize we did not have all of your items available for shipping. We will pass on your suggestion about emailing our customers if items are not availalbe. A customer service representative will contact your for your account information."

I ordered four plants: two never did anything, one is barely hanging on, and one has made it ( a grass ). They arrived in poor shape which could be delivery time, but all were very small to be able to reach the sizes stated in the catalog or internet. I have pictures and am going to contact them, because they emphasize100% satisfaction. But how do you reach them other than email which hasn't worked many reviews state. I will try calling and later report how that works.

"On May 29, 2012 4:08 PM, Gurney's Seed & Nursery responded with:

Thank you for your posting. We would be happy to help. One of our customer service representatives will contact you for your account information and take care of this for you."

Posted on April 6, 2012, updated May 27, 2012
Gurney's offers great coupons in the spring, which is the only reason I order from them. I've ordered several years in a row, hundreds of dollars of plants and trees. Unfortunately, their quality is deteriorating. They shipped me a baby peach tree this spring that was literally a dead stick, and were supposed to reship me an Asian pear that died last year, but did not. When I called about the pear, they had no record of the order, and the CSR couldn't find my order or the item number of the tree. I had to go onto Gurney's website, while I was on the phone with the CSR, log in, pull up my own order records, and find the information for the guy.

The reason I'm not giving them a negative review is that they are going to re-ship the peach and pear trees for free. But I am not going to order from them any more. After seeing the quality that Stark Bros. ships for the same price, I'm not going to buy the low quality trees again. I guess I've learned a lesson, and that I get what I pay for.

"On Apr 9, 2012 3:17 PM, Gurney's Seed & Nursery responded with:

Thank you for sharing your experience with our company. We apologize for the problems you had but happy to see it is being taken care of. Please consider giving us one more chance to offer you our World Class customer service."

Posted on May 20, 2012, updated May 23, 2012
Posted on October 8, 2011, updated May 20, 2012
I had purchased a dwarf meyers lemon and a lime tree in June and have contacted them three times in the past two months looking for a shipping date. The first answer I got was the usual "the correct shipping time for your planting zone" My second request has gone unanswered and today I sent a third request. As the account number for Guerneys is the same as for both michigan bulb and springhill nursery I know they are affiliated. Hence the lack of customer service and the stupid answer about proper shipping for zone. Well it is now mid october and since these trees (i am sure they will be seedlings) will be overwintered in my house, I would like to receive my order. I can't tell you how tired of the BS answers i get with these companies. This will be the last order I place with Guerneys. I have received every order from the reputable companies all ready. I am sure these reputable companies know what the proper shipping time for my zone is. Evidently guerneys, michigan bulb and springhill choose to ship whenever they feel like. Awful customer service and will probably ship me near dead trees using the slowest shipping methods available. Don't bother with Guerneys-purchase your plants with your hard earned money from one of the top rated companies where you can chose your shipping date.

"On Oct 12, 2011 11:55 AM, Gurney's Seed & Nursery responded with:

Thank you for your posting, we appreciate your feedback to improve our services to our customers. A customer service representative will contact you for your account information and check into the delivery of your order.

Among a number of other items, I ordered a packet of Scallop Hybrid Mix Summer Squash from Gurneys. I started the seed early inside and planted 9 of these in my garden. Now I have 8 Zucchini and one Pattypan... I sent a note in to the service department and received no answer. Several weeks ago I did a review on the product and never heard back from them AND the review was never posted. I am posting a negative review per day until they either publish or spank my hands. A week ago, I started responding to every sales email sent to me by Gurneys with a request for help on the item. I did get a "standard reply" from Eddy, but nothing meaningful.

"On May 23, 2012 3:25 PM, Gurney's Seed & Nursery responded with:

Thank you for posting. We apologize for the problems you had and we would be happy to help. One of our customer service representatives will contact you for your account information."

flush your money down the commode, and beat your head against the wall. Easier than trying to deal with "Customer Service". Placed on on-line order, site would not accept the coupon for free shipping. So, I e-mailed customer service, received response from "Larry" and "Dave", as well as "Susan" telling me I'd left stuff in my basket. Susan sent me another coupon - used it, and 50% off prices became full price. Called company twice, long distance, hung up due to extended wait times. Called AGAIN, "Customer Service" can take orders, and transfer you to an "immediately available" supervisor - who takes 5 minutes to answer your call, doesn't understand WHY you are frustrated, and hangs up on you. Guess what, Gurney's. Keep your plants, and your coupons, and your Customer Service. I'll pay more to shop elsewhere. I didn't unsubscribe; I just blocked your emails. Catalogs? I recycle at the dump - won't even open them anymore. Do yourself a favor, shop elsewhere.

"On May 23, 2012 3:19 PM, Gurney's Seed & Nursery responded with:

We appreciate you taking the time to post. We apologize for the problems you had trying to use your coupon and our service. One of our customer service representatives will contact you for your account information so we can work on getting this corrected. "

After months of clicking the unsubscribe link in emails, I've been unable to unsubscribe. I finally set it to go into the spam folder, and I see it's still coming.

"On May 22, 2012 9:07 AM, Gurney's Seed & Nursery responded with:

We appreciate your post. We apologize the un-subscribe did not work. One of our customer service representative will contact you for your account information and have this taken care of."

The first plant arrived totally dead. I emailed the problem and got a response within a day or two. They said they would send me another. The second shipment arrived and the plant was alive, but full of bugs. I made the mistake of opening the package near my houseplants. Now my houseplants are full of bugs. Sheesh.
Seriously, stay away from Gurney's!

"On May 10, 2012 9:33 AM, Gurney's Seed & Nursery responded with:

Thank you for your posting. We apologize for the problem with the plants. A customer service representative will contact you for your account information.
"

I had a decent experience last year ordering seeds, so this year placed an order for both seeds and plants -- a collection of three tomato plants and rhubarb.

The tomato plants arrived in April, even though it was 40 degrees and there were still frost warnings for the Chicago area -- so I have to try to keep them alive and healthy indoors for over a month -- not something I'm really that good at. And to top it off, I paid $12.99 for three of the mangiest, puny tomato plants I have ever seen. I wouldn't buy them at Home Depot for $1. I feel ripped off.

I called the customer service line and was offered no satisfaction. In fact, when I told the customer service person that I was disappointed and would rethink ordering from Gurney's in the future, she said "That's fine" and hung up.

"On May 10, 2012 9:23 AM, Gurney's Seed & Nursery responded with:

Thank you for your posting. We apologize for the problem with the plants and for the agent. A customer service representative will contact you for your account information this way we can reship to you."

GURNEY'S SEED and NURSERY-BAD, BAD, and WORSE

Gurney's Seed & Nursery is the worst mail order company I've ever dealt with. If I could give it a worse that negative rating I would. It took the plants 10 months from the order date to arrive. All plants arrived wilted, dead or moldy. Had replacement certificates issued. The customer rep told me that there was no shipping charge for replacements. I tried to order new plants and was told that the rep "lied" and ALL plants were charged shipping even if the original plants arrived dead. Company would not honor the replacement guarantee. I told the guy that I expected them to honor what the rep told me regarding shipping, they refused. Next stop-Better Business Bureau where there are TONS of complaints about this company. I'll be adding one more!! BUYER BEWARE-DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY OR ANY OF IT'S AFFILIATES. It goes under many names including Gurney's, Spring Hill Nurseries, Henry Fields, The Garden Store, The Michigan Bulb Company, Breck's Bulbs, Audubon Workshop, Flower of the Month Club, and Gardens Alive--all companies are held under the umbrella company of Scarlet Tanager LLC.

"On May 3, 2012 9:56 AM, Gurney's Seed & Nursery responded with:

Thank you for bringing this to our attention. We apologize that the agent did not honor what was agreed upon and for all of the inconvenience. A customer service representative will contact you for you account information and take care of this for you."

Don't get on their e-mail list--I couldn't get off of it. Finally called and talked (?) to their customer service in INDIA who couldn't understand me. I requested to talk to his supervisor who said he would have removed. We'll see.

"On May 3, 2012 9:52 AM, Gurney's Seed & Nursery responded with:

IWe apologize for the inconvenience. A customer service representative will contact you for your account information and make sure email address had be opted out."

Posted on September 19, 2011, updated April 26, 2012
When I was 10 years old, I used to sell Gurney's seeds. We could order a minimum order of 20 large envelopes of garden seeds to sell to our neighbors and I was able to make enough money to go to the fair. That was 54 years ago, and since then I've always looked forward to getting the seed catalog in the mail. I have ordered many seeds and orchard trees from Gurney's over the years, and I was always pleased with the quality and timing of orders. I have many apple, pear, cherry, peach, and apricot trees from them. I usually get my sweet potatoe plants sent as well, and they arrive in a timely way. They look a bit shabby when they get here, but a day or two in water, and they spring back and can be planted.
More recently, I have had some difficulty trying to buy a Sugar Pearl Apricot. The first year I ordered it, I sent the order in March. I got conformation for the order, and then later was told that they were out of stock, and I was refunded.
The next year, I sent the order in the day after I got the catalog in December. Again, I got a conformation notice in the mail, but later was informed by mail that they were out of stock, and I got refunded again.
Year #3, I sent the order in early again, and the same thing happened as in year one and two. I was so disapointed that I called a service rep, and shared my disapointment. (Since on the cover of the newest catalog sent were Sugar Pearls on sale) The guy from Gurneys was polite, and told me that they were out of stock, and that the catalogs are published long in advance. He said he was sorry for my disappointment, and would send a $5 gift card, which he did. I wasn't able to use it, as it expired long before the next growing season. Later a funny thing happened, I received an empty box from Gurneys. It was the size of the box the tree would have been shipped in. It had all the paper things that come with a tree, but no tree, and a notice that my tree was out of stock! How cost effictive was that? (I learned that Henry Fields and Gurneys are one and the same company.)
Year #4 Against my better judgement, I sent in my order early for the sugar pearl apricot, (I really wanted it!) And Guess what? I got it, along with another plum tree to replace the one that died. I didn't really know about life time guarantee, but I didn't care about that. The Sugar Pearl was very crooked, and mis-shaped, but it has started growing and with some bracing, I'm getting it straitened out.
Now I'm in year # 2 trying to get a TruGold peach tree. Next year will be #3. I do hope I get it while I'm still young enough to care for it and see it produce.
Advice to Gurneys: I think your sales deparment is doing such a great job marketing your products, that your production department can't keep up. It seems that better internal communication between sales and production needs to occur. You can't make money of you don't have the product to sell. I do understand with plants sometimes you have crop failures. But when you market a product as the best thing since sliced bread, and then can't deliver, it makes for very bad customer relations. Just my opinion. I will update this saga next year.

"On Sep 23, 2011 2:22 PM, Gurney's Seed & Nursery responded with:

Thank you for your posting. We apologize for the problems you have had trying to get the Tru Gold Peach. I will have a customer service representative contact you for your account information and check on the peach tree for you.

Posted on April 26, 2012, updated April 26, 2012
Posted on April 19, 2012, updated April 26, 2012
Posted on April 9, 2012, updated April 19, 2012
I ordered 16 plants and 30+ packets of seeds from Gurney's online in January 2012 after receiving a catalog in the mail with a 50% off coupon attached.

The good:

I am very happy with with the seeds I purchased. All have grown quickly and and have had consistently higher germination rates than the packet indicated.

On the few occasions I have contacted customer service, I have received prompt, professional, and helpful responses. I was especially happy to see that after reporting a problem with the "Check order status" feature on the website, it was fixed soon afterwards.

Most -- about 3/4ths -- of the plants I have received so far have ranged in condition from acceptable to excellent. (I have not yet received two plants I've ordered; one is a tropical that was recently shipped and the other is backordered.) Some that arrived looking quite pathetic (due to severe pruning) have turned out to be viable and vigorous. This is especially true with the dormant raspberry plants I received, all of which were 6" to 12" twigs on arrival but have grown rapidly.

The bad:

Customers have no control over the timing of shipping, although we're assured that plants will be shipped "at the appropriate planting time". The vast majority of my plants arrived at the beginning of March. Technically, I'm in zone 6b, but I live in a remote area on top of a mountain and no one in their right mind here plants anything outside before May 1st. We have frequent frosts in March and early April, usually including at least one hard freeze. I was forced to bring almost a dozen huge pots indoors when we experienced a hard freeze and I had to keep them inside -- taking up a huge amount of room -- until the cold weather had passed. They're back outdoors now but chances are they'lll have to come back in at least once.

When Gurney's says that it has shipped something via UPS Ground, they actually shipped it through the inexpensive UPS "Basic" service where the package is turned over to the post office and the mailman delivers it. This adds at least a day to shipment time because the post office does not deliver these packages until the following business day. It's also highly inconvenient in my case because my mailbox is roughly a mile away from my house and the post office does not deliver packages at all -- I have to pick them up from the post office the next day, adding another day to shipping time. Mostly this bothers me because the statement that most packages were shipped by UPS was a deciding factor in ordering from Gurney's (UPS delivers to my door).

Gurney's doesn't provide as much information about their plants and seeds as I would like to see. For example, they do not state the species of the passion flower they sell and some of the reviews at their website indicate that produces flowers of a different color than those pictured. There is also no indication of what root stock their fruit trees are grafted to.

The ugly:

Earlier I said that about 75% of the plants I received were in acceptable or better condition. The other 25%, well...

A passion flower vine I ordered was shipped in a "bio pot" inside of a cardboard tube. This plant was obviously DOA and had extensive damage despite the outer packaging being in good condition. Whoever packed this particular plant would have had to have been aware of its condition. The biopot was ripped nearly all the way through in two locations and the plant's main stem was broken (inside the intact cardboard tube). As a result, most of the potting soil had spilled out into the main cardboard box, the roots and remaining soil were completely dry and the plant was clearly deceased.

I requested a replacement for this plant and a $0.00 order for a new one was created almost immediately. It hasn't shipped yet but I'm confident that I will receive the replacement.

Unfortunately, it looks like I'll have to request replacements for at least three more plants. I just hope that Gurney's will honor their replacement policy on these and that the replacements will be problem-free.

One of the two maypop (passiflora incarnata) plants I received was in excellent condition when it arrived and has thrived. The other appeared very sickly, with only a few leaves attached, all of which had a "moth-eaten" appearance. Despite considerable TLC, this plant died after about two weeks.

One blueberry plant -- a dwarf Tophat -- appeared to be in reasonably good condition on arrival but rapidly died back and is now deceased after roughly two weeks. The other blueberry plants are doing great.

Of the two grapevines I purchased, one (the seedless Glenora) is thriving and gorgeous. The other, a seedless Concord vine, appears to be diseased or of extremely poor genetic stock. The main stem/trunk is non-viable, the shoots are stunted and thhe leaves are very small, cupped, pale (chlorotic), and dry at the edges.

Suggestions (since Gurney's staff seems to read these reviews):

Please consider offering your customers more control over shipping times and methods. It would be extremely helpful if customers could choose a preferred two-week shipping window (e.g., first half of March, second half of March, first half of April, second half of April, and so on) within your usual shipping schedule. It would also be great if you offered more shipping options, such as allowing customers to pay a bit more to get UPS or FedEx home delivery.

Please provide more information on the plants that you sell. There are numerous passiflora species, but the one you sell as "passion flower" does not indicate which species it is. Nor do your fruit trees indicate the root stock they're grafted to, and in some cases you sell mixed seed packets without specifying the cultivars that are included.

Please implement improved quality control measures. Even in my relatively small order of 16 plants, there has been a huge amount of variation in the condition and packing methods used for the plants I've ordered. Some bareroot stock was shipped out basically dumped into a box with the roots of multiple plants tangled together and only a scant amount of damp shredded paper. Others were clearly packed with great care, wrapped in several layers of cellophane to protect the roots and prevent the damp wood shavings from drying out. Some berry plants were stripped of thorns before shipping; others were not. Some plants were shipped dormant while others (of the same type) were shipped blooming.

"On Apr 9, 2012 3:44 PM, Gurney's Seed & Nursery responded with:

Thank you we appreciate you posting your experience with our company. We do offer the lifetime guarantee and anything that does not do well or that you are not satisfied with we will be happy to refund, reship or send a replacement certificate.

Last year I purchased three twigs which were meant to be a Fragrant Abelia, an Azalea and Butterfly Bush. All these shrubs looked stunted and unhealthy but I decided to give it a try. It wouldn't be the first time a runt has thrived in my garden. They were three inches at the time and now two are roughly 6 inches save the Abelia which is still around 3 inches but happily growing green leaves. I guess that's what you call progress. Anyway they are all odd shaped and barely hanging on to dear life. I have already replaced the Azalea with a hydrangea from White Flower Farm (the Azalea is in a hospice pot) and will replace the BB (also destined for the hospice pot) but will leave the Azalea just for fun to see if its robust enough to grow another inch this year. Just kidding, I'll replace the Azalea as well at some point. I will never purchase anything from this company again. There are too many other nurseries offering healthy robust plants.

I've been buying Gurneys since I was a kid. 35 years ago, they were pretty good, they really suck now though.

They have nice varieties, and really stay on top of that, which is nice. Their catalog is nice. They have nice discounts, although their list prices are so high it brings them down to reasonable. The bad part is, their trees are ALWAYS horrible. They are always seriously defective in one way or another. Normally, they are growing at some bizarre angle that is nearly impossible to correct. You will not get a good tree from them; it's just which shade of suck you're going to get.

On the other hand, some of their varieties are really good, and you can always kill the tree, and graft the scion wood on something else, or bud it on some root stocks.

"On Apr 4, 2012 10:25 AM, Gurney's Seed & Nursery responded with:

We appreciate your feedback and we apologize that the tree you received was defective. One of our customer service representatives will contact you for your account information and reship a new tree to you."

Well where do I start? Gurneys in the past has been a great company to order from but a couple days ago I received my live plants from them, one a arctic beauty male kiwi and a gooseberry bush. Now I understand economically things are tough in the U.S. and I'm a firm believer that quality and volume is the only thing that will hold this country afloat. Today everyone wants to grow their own food and I'm sure nursery and seed companies are gearing up to be busier than ever with the high cost of groceries, but these plants I received were far from fair in their quality for price i paid. I received my 3 inch high hardy kiwi plant in a 1 1/2 inch dried out peat pot. If i saw a 3 inch tall kiwi vine at a nursery with my own eyes with a price tag that said $17, I would walk right past it with a serious laugh! This is what I got and it was so dry the leaves crumbled like dried oregano. My gooseberry plant was 5 inches tall and cost $13, one little twig. I have to say, it was alive though, but still not satisfied! I would rather buy from China if this is the crap we are going to pay for, for some rich guy to sit behind a mail order company desk and give us little cuttings for our dollar! I am really disappointed. Customer service was great though, the lady i spoke with was very friendly and understanding. I should have bigger plants coming and live ones. Hopefully this company will get its quality up to par and start selling plants the real American way with honesty, integrity, and a desire to please customers.

"On Apr 3, 2012 1:18 PM, Gurney's Seed & Nursery responded with:

Thank for for letting us know about the problem with your order. We apologize for the problems and we will pass this along to our Quality Control Department. Our Customer Service Department does their best to help our customers. Thank you for the nice compliment. "

Reading all the comments, like one gal stated. Wish I knew of this web-site before I ordered over $200.00 of plants.
Ordering wasn't the problem, it was "out of stock" after the order was placed, money sent. Dealing with Customer Service, not one but at least 5 different reps with different answers to one problem. I requested a swap for 1 product they were out of stock. Same price, plus I already paid shipping, plus customer service stated I needed to send an extra $7.34 for the shipping, which of course like decent person I sent. Now this past week,l I get an invoice with money due. 1st it was for the total amount of the product, now it turns out they want another $3.34 as of yesterday. Yet last week on email I was told this invoice was paid in full!. Go figure! Bogus, scam or just sloppy book-keeping on their part. Certainly hasn't been a good experience for this ole gal. I read somewhere they are customer oriented, will replace product with an upgrade if out of stock? Really? I will not buy any further plants/trees/seeds from this company. I've explained to them, they can send a complete refund plus the shipping, plus the extra $7.34 (They've cashed all my cks) I will send back their plants I graciously swapped . Customer service should reflect the owners, or do they? No more excuses or promises. I've heard them all

"On Mar 30, 2012 11:50 AM, Gurney's Seed & Nursery responded with:

We apologize for any problem you had with your order and we appreciate you letting us know. A customer service representative will contact you for your acount information and take care of this for you.
"

I bought their 3 dwarf citris plants and the lime tree died. I had no problem with them sending me a replacement...6 months later along with a rose that was on back order. It wouldn't have bothered so much except the fact that the roses were to be "shipped at the proper time for planting". I received 4 at the proper time, but the last one didn't arrive until 2 weeks before Xmas. I live in SLC Utah (ski country) and the proper time for planting is DECEMBER????. The ground is frozen solid!! The rose was not a rose bush. It was no bigger than my dwarf lime tree (about 3 inches tall) and my lime tree died again!! I had no choice but to plant the rose bush in a pot and it has also died. After struggling to keep the lemon alive it has also died. The orange is the only one that has survived. The 4 rose bushes on the original shipment has also survived well, but they were actual bare root bushes, not sticks. It's not a lack of effort or know how. My house looks like a jungle inside because I am very good with plants. The quality of their product is just horrible.

"On Mar 13, 2012 11:45 AM, Gurney's Seed & Nursery responded with:

We appreciate you letting us know of the problems you had with your order. A customer service representative will be contacting you for your account infomation and see what we can do."

I spent about $245 with this company. I ordered countless seeds for immediate planting. Their website states that seeds ship immediately which is what I was counting on. After 6 days, nothing has shipped. Now I'm told that the "immediate" shipping on seeds is "if they're in stock". My gosh. How dishonest. At the time I placed my order I should have been told what was in stock or not. I will NEVER do business with Gurney's Again. I believe they are conducting shady and probably illegal business practices by charging my card and misrepresenting to me the "immediate" shipping claim. STAY AWAY FROM THIS COMPANY. ANY COMPANY THAT OFFERS YOU $100 OF ON A $200 ORDER IS UP TO NO GOOD!

"On Feb 21, 2012 3:16 PM, Gurney's Seed & Nursery responded with:

Thank you for letting us know about the problem with your order. I apologize for any mis-communication. A customer service representative will contact you for your account information and check on your order for you.
"

Posted on October 11, 2011, updated November 10, 2011
I placed an order in February 2011 for strawberry plants. They arrived within a month, but they were bare roots without any tops on them. I planted them and some of them did grow, but not very well. I watered them religiously all summer, but got no fruit and watched over half the plants slowly die. I thought perhaps it was the heat, but I suspect that some of them were dead when they arrived.

I placed another order in July 20011, for more strawberry plants, two elderberry bushes, and some garlic to plant in the fall. My credit card was charged right away, of course. By early September I hadn't received them so I emailed Gurney's to ask. They sent the standard answer "your order will be shipped at the correct time for planting in your zone". I replied by saying that I wanted the strawberries now, so they could get established before winter. No reply. I wrote again in early October and asked about my order and was told that it would ship in "3 - 5 business days". I replied and told them to cancel the order. They replied that my order couldn't be cancelled because suddenly it had already been shipped.

I logged on my Gurney's account and discovered that the strawberry part of my order had been cancelled and the rest had been mailed. Nobody bothered to tell me the strawberries had been cancelled and now it's too late to order and plant from someplace else.

I haven't received their package yet, but I will refuse shipment when it arrives, and will have AMEX recover my money. I wish I'd known about Dave's Garden before I ordered from Gurney's. Never again!

"On Oct 12, 2011 12:19 PM, Gurney's Seed & Nursery responded with:

Thank you for letting us know about the problems with your order. A customer service representative will be contacting you for your account information to take care of this for you.

I ordered 7 aster plants from this company on June 27, 2011. I never received an acknowledgment and the plants didn't arrive until last Saturday, October 15, 2011, three days before the first hard freeze in Omaha! I am now trying to get my money back. Regrettably, I had ordered them before discovering "Dave's Watchdog" list. Needless to say, I'll never order anything from Gurney's again.

"On Oct 17, 2011 11:47 AM, Gurney's Seed & Nursery responded with:

Thank you for your feedback. We always ship our plants according to the USDA for your area. Although fall is the best time to plant asters, we apologize the plants did not arrive sooner. We will be happy to refund you for your purchase. A customer service representative will be contacting your for your account information."

Made and order at the beginning of summer and trying to go native wanted to intro a pawpaw to my NC garden. Ordered 2 potted plants and got 2 bareroot things because they were out of stock and subbed in. Needless to say the hottest July on record took care of the poorly rooted guys. I knew what I had ordered, knew what I needed and didn't get it.
Several other parts of my order were subbed as well and none of the plants really thrived (although they survived). Feel free to take the risk, but don't be surprised when your order is filled with something you either didn't want or know you can't make work anyway.

"On Sep 6, 2011 10:42 AM, Gurney's Seed & Nursery responded with:

Thank you for your posting. A customer service representative will contact you for your account infomation. If you are not satisfied for any reason we will reship, send a replacement certificate or refund you for your purchase."

Posted on May 20, 2010, updated July 31, 2011
Posted on May 11, 2010, updated May 20, 2010
Posted on March 15, 2008, updated May 11, 2010
I recieved my order of 3 apple trees last week--and I was pleasantly suprised! They were over 3'tall, and a VERY nice diameter. I also have a lifetime guarentee. As to how they will grow, I'll have to get back to you on that--but I see no reason at this time not to have success.

"On May 11, 2010 3:17 PM, Gurney's Seed & Nursery responded with:

Thank you for taking the time to post. We appreciate your feedback. A customer service representative will be contacting you for your account information so we can get your reship taken care of.

I cancelled an order for chocolate vines. The refund was for
$34.93. They claim that they refunded the money to my credit card two weeks ago but I do not have the money. They make you wait for days and days to talk to their accounting dept. I still don't know where my money is. I have spent 5 times more labor than the lousy 34 bucks. Sheesh what a run around.

"On Jul 28, 2011 12:07 PM, Gurney's Seed & Nursery responded with:

We appreciate your feedback and apologize for the delay in your refund. A customer service representative will contact you for your account information and check on your refund for you."

I ordered 3 fruit trees early in the season expecting them to be shipped at the proper planting time for our area. I ordered a Cherry Pie North Star, Apple Goldrush, and Apple Pixie Crunch. All three were shipped on March 18, way too early to plant here in the northwest hills of Connecticut, Zone 5. The ground was too frozen to heel them in so I put them in water in the basement and watch them gradually fade away. I did plant the lifeless trees but they never revived. I didn't notify the company because I am so disappointed with a lot of the nurseries these days with their exorbitant prices and bad service; I just gave up. I will order in the future from a reliable orchard product nursery.

"On Jul 25, 2011 1:11 PM, Gurney's Seed & Nursery responded with:

Thank you for your feedback. I was sorry to hear about your trees. We offer a lifetime guatantee on our plants and we would be happy to replace them for you. A customer service representative will be contacting you for your account information."

Back in March I tried to place an order on their website. It didn't go through and I was told to try again.

I tried twice more and the order still wouldn't go through.

I contacted customer service who told me to place the order by phone or mail. I was told the online orders had not gone through and I wouldn't be charged for them.

I placed my order by mail. When I received it an item was missing. I checked it out and found out it couldn't be sent to my state. Ok, my fault for not noticing that when I ordered.

But I was not refunded for the item or even informed that it wouldn't be sent. I had to contact Gurney again and had to argue about the fact that I wasn't even credited for the item I didn't receive.

Finally, after several emails, they gave me a gift certificate for 10 dollars for future orders, which I'm not going to use so I'm out what I paid for that item.

Yesterday, on July 1st, I get a message on my answering machine that they're trying to put my order through but my credit card is no longer valid. What order? I received the order I placed by mail months ago.

Turns out all three identical orders I tried to place online in March got put through on June 28th. Three months after I was told they did not go through and I would not be charged for them. Good thing my credit card company had issued me a new card because they suspected someone had gotten hold of my credit card number. Had my original CC number been valid I apparently would have been charged for and sent this identical order three more times.

Yesterday I sent them an email explaining what happened and expressing my displeasure with the circumstance. I told them I obviously didn't want these orders and was told they hadn't gone through and that I wouldn't be charged for them.

Today I get an email saying that two of the orders have been cancelled but did I still want the third one.

Seriously?

Dealing with Gurney's is like being in a David Lynch movie. It's surreal and bizarre and you feel like they are speaking a different English than you are.

So I'm out the money for the item that couldn't be shipped, because I'm never going to order from them again so the gift certificate is worthless, and three months later I'm still dealing with their website glitches and customer service, which is like pulling teeth to get a point across to.

Unreal.

"On Jul 5, 2011 1:04 PM, Gurney's Seed & Nursery responded with:

We appreciate you letting us know about the problem with our website and your orders. A customer service representative will contact you for your account information and make sure the other orders have been cancelled and also that you have been refunded."

I placed a large order. Never received it. When i contacted them they never heard of me.
They requested I send them copy of both sides of canceled check.They never received it. I sent another by registered/return receipt. They received that one.
Still no refund.

"On Jul 5, 2011 12:57 PM, Gurney's Seed & Nursery responded with:

Thank you for contacting us about your order. A customer service representative will be contacting you for your name and address and look into this for you."

My wife and I have been ordering from Gurneys for the past several years and we have spent several thousand dollars with the company. In fact to date we have never purchased plants from any other mailorder company. This past winter I got a coupon that would take $100 off an order of $200. I really wanted to add one of their Trugold Peaches to my orchard, so I made up an order and kept adding other things to my cart until I reached just over $200. My order was placed at the beggining of winter and when the snow melted I dug a hole and preped the perfect spot in my orchard for the arrival of my new peach tree. When spring arrived I started receiving and planting the other plants in my order as they arrived over several weeks. Then toward the end of the Spring planting season I received a postcard from Gurney's saying that they ran out of the Trugold Trees and have canceled my order that I placed and paid for over 6 months ago! I was very dissapointed. Then months later I received a letter from Gurney's saying my account is past due and I am to pay the enclosed bill if I hadn't allready done so. I checked my E-mails from Gurneys and all of my orders were billed to my credit card at the time I placed the order so I ignored the letter. Two weeks later I got a second letter threatening that they would take action if I didn't pay the enclosed bill! I called Gurney's and held forever before getting someone. I asked the representative to explain the bill. He could not explain what I was being billed for. He put me on hold again for a long time. He then came back on the phone and said he thinks that because they did not send me the Trugold tree my order no longer was a $200 order and did not qualify for the coupon offer and the bill is me paying them back the difference in the coupon discount! I told him if they feel I still owe them money then bill my credit card again and I gave him my card information again! So.... after waiting 1/2 a year to get the tree I was so excited to get I not only didn't get the tree, I also didn't get to take advantage of the coupon after adding all the extras to my order to get it above the $200 level! My wife and I have requested catalogs from a few of the other nurseries that seem to get good reviews here so we can place our fall planting season order.

"On Jun 27, 2011 10:35 AM, Gurney's Seed & Nursery responded with:

We appreciate you letting us know about the problem with your order. We will have a customer service representative contact you for your account information and take care of the problem with the coupon and get your account cleared up."

I am very disappointed with Gurney's service. I ordered from them for the first time this year (taken in by the great coupons) and I do not plan to do so again. Their products seem to be decent, though no better quality or price than elsewhere, and their service is abominable! Here's a quick rundown:

At the beginning of March, I placed two orders on the same day, mostly containing vegetable seeds to start indoors. I was a little late in ordering, but the website indicated that seeds came quickly, so I decided to do it. I got email confirmation of both orders quickly. A few days later, I got shipping confirmation of one order, which came in about a week and was complete except for my onion, potato, and sweet potato sets (as I was expecting). Great. Things were good so far.

When the other order (placed the same day) didn't come within the next day or two, I started to get nervous. I hadn't gotten shipping confirmation so I emailed Gurney's. No response. Next, I tried calling. After sitting on hold for fifteen minutes or so, I gave up and emailed again. No response. So I called again, waited on hold for 20+ minutes, and finally spoke with someone. She was pleasant, but when she saw that my order (seeds only, remember) hadn't been sent 15 days after the order had been placed, her response was basically "oops, I'll do that now." I requested they be sent expedited for at no cost to me, and this wasn't done. I got them about 19 days after I ordered. When they came, they were missing a packet of heirloom tomato seeds, with no explanation. I called back, waited on hold forever, and was told that those seeds were on backorder. When I asked why I hadn't been notified, either when I placed the order or when they were shipped to me, I was given no explanation. I was told they would come "soon." I got them about 25 days after I ordered them, and pretty late to be starting them as seeds.

Fed up, I sent another email in to customer service, expressing my frustration that my second order took so long to come, that no apology or explanation was given, that it wasn't sent expedited as requested, and that it was incomplete when it did come, and that my first two emails weren't answered. I did get a response, apologizing for the incovenience, and telling me I would get a $5 gift certificate for my troubles. The gift certificate never came.

I was also expecting some potato, sweet potato and onion sets, which I expected to be shipped according to zone. I was worried, given my experience so far, that they wouldn't come or wouldn't come on time. However, the aforementioned email told me that everything would be done properly, so I decided to wait and see.

My potato and onion sets were shipped on time, I got a shipping confirmation, and they arrived in late April. They looked fine. Great! So maybe the sweet potatoes will come on time. I was expecting them to come around May 20th. When I didn't get shipping confirmation by the 23rd, I called again. This is the fourth time I had to call for two simple orders, and each time I have had to wait on hold FOREVER. It's very frustrating. I was told that the sweet potatoes were being sent by a vendor and they didn't know when they would come, but they would come sometime. Helpful. So I waited, and started to think about what else I should plant in my sweet potato space.

My sweet potatoes sets showed up suddenly on May 30th, no advance warning or shipping confirmation (I got shipping confirmation several days after they came). Luckily I was in town and able to plant them that night, as I went out of town the next day. They looked very yellow and dry, but I planted them anyway, hoping they would perk up. Within the next few weeks, even with regular watering, all but one died. So much useless waiting and stress (and time on hold with Gurney's) for dead plants. I know I could complain to them and get my money back (or more plants, but I probably wouldn't get them until August) but I'm just sick of dealing with them and sitting on hold and having really inconsistent responses. Plus, there's no guarantee that I'd get my money back anyway, since I never got my other $5.

The product (except for the sweet potatoes) does seem fine. The seeds all sprouted pretty well, and the potato and onion sets all seem to be growing. The product is good, but the price and quality isn't really any better than Johnny's or other seed catalogues, and they all have better service. I won't order from Gurney's again. It's just not worth the frustration.

"On Jun 24, 2011 10:54 AM, Gurney's Seed & Nursery responded with:

Thank you for letting us know about the problem with your order. We apologize for the delay in shipping and the sweet potatoes not doing well. A customer service representative will be contacting you for your account information so we can take care of this for you."

Half the seed did not come up. Tomatos will not produce.
Had to buy local to have a garden this year. Will not buy from them again.

"On Jun 20, 2011 9:18 AM, Gurney's Seed & Nursery responded with:

Thank you for letting us know about the problems with your seeds and tomatoes. A customer service representative will be contacting your for your account information and we can have the items reshipped to you."

Posted on May 27, 2011, updated June 13, 2011
Posted on May 22, 2011, updated May 27, 2011
Posted on May 19, 2011, updated May 22, 2011
I received a shipment of half my order today. The perennial sweet pea vines were yellowed and brown and my rose coreopsis has just a little green among the brown. The soil was dry to the touch, so I'm thinking they got too dry in transit. I'm giving this a rating of neutral at the moment but will change my opinion based on my conversation with Customer Service in the morning.

"On May 19, 2011 10:01 AM, Gurney's Seed & Nursery responded with:

We appreciate your feedback and apologize the plants were not in good shape. A customer service representative will be contacting you for your account information and have the plants reshipped."

Posted on May 3, 2011, updated June 7, 2011
Posted on May 1, 2011, updated May 3, 2011
Posted on March 2, 2010, updated May 1, 2011
I've been buying from gurneys for years and have had nothing but 100% satifaction for this costumer every time. Their 100% gaurantee work as advertized.

"On Mar 3, 2010 8:48 AM, Gurney's Seed & Nursery responded with:

Gurney's would like to sincerely thank you for your support. We strive to do our very best to ensure our service and products are second to none.

Total waste of my time. Item I ordered showed (and still shows) as in stock. My CC was charged right away after placing my order. After 7 days and no shipping notice I called customer service who informed me that the item was in fact OOS but would ship expedited within 1 week. 7 days later and still no shipping notice so another call to customer service. Was now told item was not expected back in stock for another 4 weeks. Cancelled my order and will never shop with Gurneys again.

"On Jun 7, 2011 10:59 AM, Gurney's Seed & Nursery responded with:

We apprecaite you letting us know about the delay in the shipping of your order. A customer service representative will be contacting you for your account information to see what we can do about your order."

I placed my order in Feb, its now June 4th and I'm still waiting for it to be completed. I have called, I have emailed and I get no where. I have an email from April promising me delivery of the rest of my order by mid May at the latest and that my order was being "rushed". Well I'm still waiting. I emailed them again in late May and recieved a response which said my Pampas grass and lillies were backordered. These are not exotic plants - dealing with this company has been an absolute nightmare. I am so disappointed with their lack of professionalism. Never ever again

"On Jun 6, 2011 10:19 AM, Gurney's Seed & Nursery responded with:

Thank you for letting us know about the problem concerning delivery of your order. A customer service representative will be contacting you for your account information and see what is happening with your order.
"

I tried to order twice from them. After 3 weeks, I had to call to check on my order. It hadn't shipped yet. I cancelled the orders. I won't waste my time with them again.

"On Jun 1, 2011 4:21 PM, Gurney's Seed & Nursery responded with:

Thank you for your feedback. A customer service representative will be contacting you for your account information and see what can be done about your order. We apologize for the delay in shipping."