Comments regarding Henry Field's Seed & Nursery

I have now had to contact customer service twice to find out were my order is. They have changed the charge to my bank account 6 time for one order, that was broken up into 3 shipments. The man I spoke to today should not be a customer service rep & when I pointed out that the way he was speaking to me was not appropiate, he became extremely rude.

Today is May 26th, part of my order was shipped May 15th. He would not assist me in tracking down the order, just told me to call UPS, the number he spit out was 1-800-UPS! I told him "It can't be" & he snapped at me.

I have called UPS & they haven't received the plants to ship! I hate the thought of calling Henry Fields back AGAIN!

I suggest all who have problems to only speak to a supervisor. I will NEVER order from them again!

I placed an order on 3/20/09 that consisted of seeds and plants. I expected the seeds to ship immediately and the plants to ship in late April (I'm in zone 6).

In mid-April I checked the website and it said delivery dates of between 4/20/09 - 5/4/09. At that point I figured they were saving on shipping and sending everything out in one shipment to arrive after the last frost date.

As of the end of April, we had not received anything from our order. When my husband called to check we were told that they had a computer glitch right at the time we placed our order and "lost" a lot of them. We were told that a few plants (blackberries, raspberries) had shipped and the rest would ship out immediately.

I went on the website to check my order today (5/3/09) and only one additional plant has shipped. The rest have delivery dates out as far as 6/20/09. I'm not waiting until the end of June to put my pepper plants out.

I called customer service today and they were spectacularly unhelpful. No offer to expedite shipping or refund part of my money because of their mistake. No explanation on why the estimated delivery dates keep changing. I ended up cancelling the unshipped part of my order.

After reading the other posts and a little rersearch, I have decided not to buy from this company; mainly because it is part of a major marketer using this name and many others like Gurney, Michigan Bulb, Spring Hill, etc. All are part of the "Scarlet Tanager" company and will offer the same product at different prices with different sales gimicks. Con job! You are actually dealing with one company trying to act as several companies and this tends to lead to a lack of quality and service although they do make an effort to resolve problems. I am looking for quality product and service and this company shows almost a 50% negative rating from it's customers. Not for me.

never sent confirmation of order as promised. within 24 hours has turned into 10 days. delivery date was today mar 24 and order was never processed nor shipped. sent emails didn't get a single response. Never had problems in the past until this year. This is where we part ways.

I placed an large (at least for me) on-line vegetable seed order earlier this year with Henry Field’s.

When I planted the tomato, pepper and eggplant seeds in flats, they were extremely slow to germinate and the eggplants refused to germinate at all. The seeds I planted directly in my garden were slow to germinate or failed to germinate as well. I did contact Henry Field’s Customer Service and explained the problem and they did replace part of my seed order.

Needless to say, I am extremely disappointed with the seeds from Henry Field’s. Additionally, the seeds were packaged in foreign countries, I.e., Thailand, etc.

I’ve been gardening for nearly 50 years so I think I know what I’m doing when it comes to gardening. This is the first and only time I. have purchased seeds that failed to germinate. Incidentally, the seeds I planted directly in my garden are also very stunted. At this time of year, they should be growing rapidly but they are little runts of a plant..

I will never order seeds from Henry Field’s again as the quality of their seeds are very poor.

"

D-mailed Customer on June 25 asking for information so I could locate their account and try to come up with a possible resolution to satisfy the Customer. As of July 31, no response has been received."

I ordered 18 Raspberry Plants from this company. About 2 weeks before shipping date, the notified me they were out of one lot. I promptly called, and told them they could send XXX instead, in order to complete my order. OH, NO, that would be a substution, and that wasnt allowed. I tried to explain that I was merely giving them a chance to fill my order, and this was refused.
So, my order came short, with a 15.00 credit due me--which they are now insisting that I pay!! They will not listen that its DUE ME, instead of me owing it.
With todays internet, you would think a company like this would strive to have a good reputation, instead of slowly ruining it. I will not order again.

"

Contacted Customer on 4/22/08 for possible resolution; no response."

127993 shipment number

I ordered $ 59.75 of merchandise. I received only $11.75 worth of it.
I want my money back.
The returning slip has been torn away from where it was supposed to be, so I cannot return the item I got
They are just deceiving people into buying stuff from them.I sent 2 emails already and never got an answer.

"

Contacted the Customer on 4/22/08 for possible resolution; have received no response as of 5/27/08."

Mountain Laurel died on me and asked for replacement and they said they didn't have anymore, come to find out on their website that they did. They were nice enough to issue a credit but that will not cover the $7 shipping charges...Maybe put my credits together and try to use them. Guess you get what you pay for. This will be last time using Henry Field & Michigan Bulb

I purchased Calidiums from this company. When they came they were mushy. I called and they sent me more. BUT they were still mushy. I will never buy from them again!!!

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Unfortunately, when dealing with "live" products, such as bulbs or plants, they do go bad during the shipping process; we don't ship out bad products. And, according to our satisfaction guarantee, and the Customer's statement, her caladiums were replaced."

On February 13 I ordered 11 packets of common vegetable and flowers seeds. I kept waiting for the package to ship and it was finally shipped two weeks later on February 26. Seven days later I finally received the seed. The day after receiving the seed I started opening packets to start the seed. The first packet I opened contained only 7 instead of 35 seeds. No problem, mistakes happen. The second pack of seeds contained only 10 instead of 30 seeds - am I starting to see a pattern? The third packet was only 10% short of seeds, so I'm getting better the more I open. The rest of the order all contained the proper amount (or more) of seed. I emailed the company and received an automated email stating that someone would personally reply to me within 48 hours. Six days later I finally got an email saying that replacement seed would be shipped to me. It then took them 2 days after that to ship the seeds. If previous timeline is indicative, I should have the seeds in only seven more days!! In summary I should have all the seed I ordered only six weeks after placing the order. Loooong time to process order, looong shipping time, poor customer service. You just lost another customer.

"

I contacted the Customer on 4/22/08 for possible resolution; as of 5/27/08, have received no response."

Last year in mid-winter I ordered 24 raspberry plants. I was assured they would arrive for correct planting time for my area. I live in Zone 5 Massachusetts. They stated that they ship to my area starting April 15th. Perfect I say. Well March 12th the raspberries arrived. There was 2 feet of snow on the ground and 1 foot of frost in the ground. I called Henry Fields and they told me it was the proper time for my area. They must be smoking something. 90% of the time we have snow into April.

They told me to put the raspberry plants in the freezer until I want to plant them. Sure, I will just toss out all my food for some berry plants.

To my shock, of the 24 plants I planted about 6 survived. A suprising 25%. They did offer to replace the plants for the 2008 season.....I said thanks but no thanks. No need to go through that again.

"

Contacted the Customer on 4/22/08 for possible resolution; as of 5/27/08 have received no response."

I've been dealing with Henry Field's for about two years now. I've noticed that they don't tend to be in a hurry to ship their plants, and their customer service isn't so hot.
For example, I put in an order in July for several types of bulbs and some black-eyed susans. I called two weeks ago to find out why they hadn't shipped, and customer service said everything was back-ordered. I doubted that answer, so I canceled my order for the black-eyed susans. The next week, my bulbs shipped. Obviously, they refuse to ship orders separately, and would have shipped my black-eyed susans far too late in the season for me to plant.
However, they are cheap, so you do get what you pay for.
For my money, I much prefer Bluestone Perennials.

This is NOT a reputable firm. I was offered "$10 off $30 order" as a first-time customer, but the $10 was not applied. I was offered "one plant with each plant bought", but the extra plants were not included. When no one responded to my queries, I checked a customer page and found a note, in teeny tiny type, saying plants would be shipped in OCTOBER, long after the growing season is finished. Now I am sorry I ever gave these guys my card numbers, as I'll have to check my credit statements forever. Caveat emptor.

bought 3 mountain laurel and one columbine... the packaging was fine but the 3 mountain laurel were in horrible shape dried out roots cement like..... leaves are very brittle...will not order ever again

4/02/2004--I ordered 180.00 us dollars) to henry fields company, when I finally received the ordered it came in 2 different deliveries, Everything was dead, the plants had no dirt on them, they look dorment, so I thought thats how they shipped, come to find out its 2 years later after planting and nothing I have nothing its all dead, I ordered several garden seeds and plants, strawberry plants were suppose to be free for ordering over 50 dollars worth of merchandise, well I never received them.
I will never order from here again, I called customer service and they said to give the plants 1 year to come out of dorment and i did but guess what i called and emailed them back and i still dont have anything. This company has always been reliable in the past but for some reason they have become worst ......PLEASE DONT ORDER FROM THIS COMPANY trust me they are not reliable...ALSO GURNEYS SEED COMPANY HAS BECOME JUST AS BAD I LOST 298.00 WORTH OF MERCHANDISE FROM THEM. GOOD LUCK AND HOPE YOU DONT GET TREATED THE WAY I DID

Placed order 08-23-2006 with a promised ship date of Strawberry Plants in March 2007. Then the date was changed to April and then May and now June 2007. No plants and no communication from company. Will never shop here again.

HORRIBLE MATH SKILLS! I ordered 2 sets of the football mum collection and 1 set of cushion mum collection last spring. That was a total of 18 plants. The plants did not bloom at all last year. This spring, none of the plants returned. I contacted the company. A representative stated that a replacement would be shipped. Upon arrival, I was eager to open the box and plant the mums. However, was shocked to see that only 1 cushion mum was sent. Note to Henry Fields: 1 is not equal to 18!!!!!

I am from Singapore and I ordered seeds and bulbs amounting to about US$220 from Henry Fields for shipping to a friend in Ukiah, California. When I ordered, the customer service was very helpful and I was very thankful and posted a hard copy of the order, shipping address and check and even a thank you card to them. A few weeks later, my friend in America received a letter from Henry Fields informing us that the prices on the plants had gone up and they would not deliver a single plant to us. I went back to the website, reordered using the new and more expensive prices to make up the same amount of $220 and emailed the order to them. I also posted a hard copy of the letter to them. In addition, I also requested my friend from Ukiah to post a copy of the new order and the letter we received from Henry Fields to them.

When I contacted the customer service the second time round, I was requested for my order number which I didn't have because I ordered by check. I called them using an international call and asked them if they could locate my order in any other way and I gave them all information (billing address, shipping address) but they still failed to pull out the order.

As a last resot, since no plants were delivered, I went back to the local back and tried to cancal the check. Imagine my disappointment when the bank told me that the check had been cashed. This is completely dishonest. If Henry Fields refused to send us any seeds, they should revert the check to me since I enclose a copy of the billing address in the same envelope and not cash the check and deliver nothing. I had good experiences with all other American nurseries I ordered plants but I will NEVER order from Henry Fields ever again.

I ordered 175 strawberry plants about 3 weeks ago and shortly after ordering them I received a e-mail confirming they had been shipped. They have been in shipping for 10 days and still no strawberry plants. I called them and they told me this was normal, well if it's normal I certainly won't be ordering from them again.

On 2/8/07, I ordered thru the mail a few seed packets,some angel trumpet vines and some peach trees. I also ordered the 71550 peach tru gold std 2-4' and the 71548 apricot sugar pearls sd2 fruit thee. I received my order in the mail today informing me the fruit trees are no longer available.In Addiition, the order states if there is a credit, which my order has, you may use this credit toward another purchase. I had ordered from this company in the past and have been told in
the past that items are not available. Needless to say, I am very disappointed in not receiving my complete order and there is no mention on sales invoice when a refund would be sent to me.
My person feeling is that I will not longer order anything from this company and anyone who does better be prepared to be disappointed.
joe s

Ordered 2 apple trees online (which arrived in good condition). The order total on the website and email confirmation was $28.75. When I received my order they charged $31.80. I was using their $50/$25 off discount. The website included shipping towards the discount.
I don't disagree with a policy where they don't include shipping towards the $50; however, it is criminal to confirm on a price two times (when placing the order & in email confirmation) and then sneak the additional charge in at shipping.
I emailed with my complaint and simply received an explanation of what they had done as far as not including shipping towards the discount.
It's only a few dollars but I am truly aghast at the deceptive nature of how they do business.
-Drake

I hate the bait and switch theme these companies use that are owned by Gardens Alive. This morning I tried to order seeds from Henry Fields using coupon codes. Each time you would click on one using a link, the price would go up on the items. For example, going directly to their site it would say all items are half price. If you used a coupon code, even for free shipping, the prices would revert to full price. I wanted to order 4 packs of seeds and it would have cost me $6. for shipping. If I used the free shipping coupon code, the price of the seeds jumped up and it cost about the same. My suggestion is to stop the promotions and just sell the stuff at a normal profit and stop the nonsense. I didn't order and won't. I also noticed on their site that if they are out of something, they substitute at their discretion, not mine and I don't get a choice. Actually, I do get a choice. The choice is to forget them.

Everything I order from Henry Field's comes in dead, molded, or on its last leg. Some of the "plants" (if you can even call them that) are not worth my time or trouble in planting, but, as service reps recommend, I do it anyway. Neighbors laugh at me, and call me the crazy lady for planting dead plants. Even the kids know the difference, and point.

Henry Field's does have a great gurantee, but you have to get the plant in a condition where it has a chance to survive first. In order to call about this, or any other problem you have with the company, you call a long distance number. I get tired of calling on my dime, so I use my cell phone when it is free after a late hour, only to find customer service is closed, and I need to call back later. Or, you get hung up on after being on hold for what seems like hours.

Overall, the only other company I have had as many problems with is Gurney's. Locally, even the famous international mass discounter has better stock. I keep hoping that all of my berry bushes, citrus trees, and other plants will have fairy dust spread over them, and magically have life in them after they are heeled or planted into the ground, but, "we're not in Kansas anymore, Toto!"

A local club does soil analysis, so I buy the plants for my soil types, and I get potting soil, not just 'dirt' to plant things in. I want these things to grow, and the majority of my plants do, except for the ones from here, and Gurney's. And, the ones with purple flowers because of a certain Schnauzer that likes to have snacks in my garden...... I take blame for things that could even remotely be my fault, but, if I wanted a dead garden, I would not spend money to have it done for me!

Purchased 4 rose bushes last year. When trying to find out about my order last year, received the same form letter via email 4 times-had to call them to get the answer.
A "Nearly Black " rose bush was dead. This year the "Chicago Peace" is dead. Have emailed them about it. Received emails from Lisa, Terry and Victoria- each asking for my account number and order number. Emailed each of them back saying when the invoice was paid, it was thrown away. Faxed a copy of my cancelled check to Lisa. They can not check my account any other way? Have sent a letter to them , they do not stand by their guarantee. Very, very disappointed with them and will never purchase from them again.

I ordered strawberries and asparagus early last spring. The junebearing strawberries and asparagus arrived on time and in good shape. The everbearing plants were backordered. By the time they came it was HOT and only 3 of 50 survived.
The junebearing grew very well and have sent runners throughout the bed. Hopefully they will produce well this year.
The asparagus was the royal Jersey Bargain - Jersey King and Jersey Knight. They grew amazingly well all summer BUT then they produced red berries in the fall!!! NOT Jersey if they produced berries. So now I have a full year invested in all female plants.
I should have known as several years ago I ordered seedless table grapes from Henry Fields, put 2 years into the cains before I let them fruit and they all were seeded thick skinned grapes.
**Do Not Use This Company**
Even if they grow, it's likely to not be the variety advertised.

On 11/20/05 I received the "latest email specials" from this company - seeing a great deal on a heating cable I placed my order the same day. After waiting the "4-6 weeks" no news from Henry Fields, now we're into seedling starting time - I call the customer service people and find that my order had been cancelled. When I questioned why the order had been cancelled I get "sorry no longer out of season/out of stock". Since when is mid January out of season for seedling starting? Or is this a matter of having 1 or 2 of the items actually in stock? Baiting - hoping you order some of the other "wonderful" Henry Fields products?
I've listed their website emailas SPAMMMMMMM - novices beware!

This company's "specials" are rejects or culls. 75% of their Daylilly collection died (locally purchased plants did well). I also ordered grapes, and they came with no water-holding media on the roots and loosely wrapped in plastic. Very dead. Replacement plants the same. Asked for my money back and have received nothing. DO NOT DEAL WITH THIS NURSERY.

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This customer had been responded to on July 19. He was asked to respond with his account information so we could take care of refunding this customer for the order. As of today we have not received a response."

I'm not complaining against a company, but not enough information. I had placed an order to Henry Fields, back in February. It was for a weiglia and a quince. When I received them, I put them in pots, but neither one did anything. I called the number on my Henry Fields packing lable. Imagine my surprise when the phone was answered by Michigan Bulb! The girl I spoke with told me that they were affliated with Henry Fields and they also sometimes answered their phones and took orders for them. Is it possible that they could also fill orders for Henry Fields? The order was taken care of and replacements will be sent out. That isn't the problem, the problem is that I NEVER would order again from Michigan Bulb, or anyone affiliated with them. I have had too many bad experiences with them and had I known that Henry Fields was affiliated with them, I never would have ordered from them.

I have just received my order of a pink butterfly bush.
It is DEAD!!! I am extremely disappointed with this
company. They have offered reshipment of this plant,
but I will not order from them again!

C&NN

I placed an Internet order with Henry Fields in March 2004. I used my credit card to pay for the order. The order was processed online and I assumed everything was fine. I received my order and never thought anything else about it. On January 8, 2005 I just received a late notice letter informing that I owed Henry Fields for the March order. I was given 5 days to pay the amount or I'd be charged a $10.00 late fee. Apparently they do not process credit card orders until the order is shipped. We had switched credit card companies and I had never thought anything about it. Why hadn't Henry Fields ever notified me? I was livid from the whole tone of the letter. Apparently they don't keep their accounts straight. I thought it was horrible customer relations. I told them to take me off their mailing list and I will never orderf from them again. Their credit department should go for P.R. training.

I WILL NEVER NEVER ORDER FROM HENRY FIELDS AGAIN. EVERY THING WENT WRONG. LOST THE ORDER 3 TIMES. IT WAS 6 WEEKS TO GET THE ORDER.

I have had some success with their fruit trees, but they are small and for the price you can find a better value at a home center. I've had below average success on everything else. Over 50% of their product is either dead or dies shortly after arrival. The other problem has been never knowing for sure when things will arrive. It's been my experience that they send to early or to late in the season, and thereby you have to make an extra effort to nurse it to life.

My first and last order from Henry Field's was several years ago. I had placed a small order just to try them out, and I'm glad I didn't spend more than I did. I ordered a Joseph's Coat rose which put out three leaves, then died. Same with the Bleeding Heart- three leaves, dead. The plants that did live were mislabeled. The strawberries I ordered were supposed to be runnerless, but within no time at all they escaped the pot I had them in and took over a patch of the garden. They make a cute groundcover, so I guess it's not all bad. I also ordered a "Grab Bag mystery tea rose", which turned out not to be a tea rose at all. It's a monster of a rambler which has been named "Rozilla" and has torn down every attempt to control it. It's pretty, but not what I ordered. The worst part though, was the free gift with order they sent. It looked like dead sticks in a bag, and it was labled "Fragrant Pinks". Ever the optimist, I planted it anyways. It wasn't dead, but it turned out to be Lamb's Ear, and I'm still trying to get it out of the garden. I got suckered in by the pretty pictures in their catalog, but never again!

Last Summer I responded to their (Henry Field) "clearance sale" and purchased seeds and legume innocculent. The order came ( grab bag ) and were over-stamped as current, but clearly outdated. I complained ( via e-mail) but received no reponse. COMMENT: All of these mergers are killing us poor gardeners. Soon, some India office will attempt to explain my problems with early wilt on tomatoes???? BUY FROM FAMILY OWNED BUSINESSES, NOT THESE MEGA-MERGERS! The merger pile is also growing here in Indiana at Gardens Alive! Check address changes. I note that Shumway, that venerable old line-drawing heritage catalog company has "moved" from Rockford to South Carolina and back to Randolph, WI ( Jung). WILL IT NEVER STOP????

Ordered one blueberry plant and two different Daylilies
this past winter. The blueberry arrived on time in good shape but on the small side. Neither daylilly arrived. In fact they sent a letter saying they would not ship because I was short on the balance due (which I was). Next thing I know still no daylillies but getting past due notices. Tried to contact them with no results. This will be my last order with them.

Ordered seeds last winter. Planted oregano, bunching onion, and parsley in flats and lettuce outside. Oregano and parsley survived, onion didn't even attempt to sprout and same with lettuce. I wrote them about onion (particularly noting that the onion seed wasn't dated for current year), they gave me refund. Thought I had ordered plants from them last fall but was confused to find in my files that they were from Gurney's. The dual companies thing probably makes sense. Plants are growing fine but seeds have major problem with viability.

Bulbs and plants ordered Spring '03 very small and in poor condition (fungus, black, dry, etc.) Many did not survive. About 15 items were ordered via charge card, resulting in nearly as many separate charges to my card as plants are shipped from different addresses. Moreover, they said I wasn't charged for blueberries they ran out of, but the total charged to my charge card was only $1.00 less than the amount that would have been charged had all items been shipped. I called them long distance to resolve, but neither telephone call or e-mails resolved the matter. (They no longer have a toll-free number.) This is not the Fields I dealt with in the past. And for those who don't know, Fields and Gurneys are owned by the same people, and the products and service has declined sharply.

I have ordered from Field's for over 20 years and had good luck with the merchandise until the past 6 years. Live plants and bulbs especially either died or would not come up. I ordered 10 Purple Asparagus Crowns, only 8 arrived and the roots were completely mildewed. They sent replacements, which were in the same condition. I made another phone call informing them of the plant's condition and was instructed to soak plants over night then plant them, that they would be fine. Wrong! Not one grew. The next year only 2 of the 6 Raspberry bushes made it and those died the following year. Last year, none of the flowering plants lived and only 1 of the 3 Astilbes made it (At $4.25 each) The whole order came to around $35. That was my last order with them. It's not worth the aggravation and loss of money.

This company must be related to Gurney's. They both offer coupons, are in Indiana and offer very small plants. Forget the coupon and go to your local Wal-mart or Lowes and get bigger plants for half the cost...oh and did I mention I placed my order in January and half of it is still on backorder...and you cannot contact them via their site do to an error and you can spend some of your hard earned cash waiting forever on their long distance line...you get what you pay for....if you get it at all