Comments regarding Stark Brothers Nurseries & Orchards Company

I am NOT a happy customer..I ordered and paid the extra money for 2 SUPREME dwarf easy start apple trees in 5”x5”x12” pots ( a Fuji & Honey crisp) that were suppose to be WELL rooted for a better start. But THEY WERE NOT WELL ROOTED! The Fuji tree looked ok, it had some branches and a moist root ball that did not completely fall apart when i took it out of the “Supreme” eazy start pot to plant it..BUT the Honey-crisp tree was just a STICK, with green paint on a damaged part of the trunk, what few 2“ branches it had were dried and brittle and upon taking it out of its’s pot the root ball was very dry and fell apart to reveal to my shock there was NO rootball, just a dry single root! Looks like they took a damaged dying tree and shoved it into the Supreme 5”x5”x12” pot and sent it to me! This tree is not worth 20 bucks, let alone the $85.99 plus shipping that i paid for it! I feel ripped off and I wrote to the company and complained the day I got them and have heard NOTHING from them. order #2745756

I ordered a gallon container Honeyberry plant. When it arrived, the plant was healthy. But when I went to plant it, the soil in the pot seemed incredibly loose. So I gave the stem a light tug, and the entire root mass just slid out of the container. It was a tightly packed three inch rectangle, exactly the size and shape of a three inch starter pot. There wasn’t a single root growing beyond that initial mass. The entire pot was just loose soil. No roots. They obviously took a small plant, stuffed it in a big pot, and sent it to me as if it was a large plant in a gallon container. Now I don’t like getting rootbound plants either, but if I buy a gallon potted plant, I expect its roots to be at least essentially filling the container. On top of that, the shipping fee was not small, and given the vast majority of the bulk and weight was just an oversized, pointless pot filled with unused soil, I don’t understand why I’m being charged so much when they could have sold and shipped me a three inch starter for much less. Well, they DID sell me a three inch starter, it’s just they dressed it up as a much larger plant. The value of what they sent me including shipping is around $20 at best. So why did I pay almost forty? This felt extraordinarily dishonest, and I’m not anticipating ever shopping with them again.

This used to be such a fantastic company. I have ordered from them for over 10 years and always gotten plants super healthy and very well packaged and protected. So i was shocked when i received dead grapes because they just threw the grapes in a bag leaving the roots exposed. They send me a replacement with another set of dead grapes, same reason. I realized then that Stark bros has changed and doesn't care about its plants and customers anymore.I asked for a full refund and only got my shipping charge refunded. I emailed them again requesting a full refund and for the next 4-5 weeks, and about 13 emails, they would either promise me a refund or deny it. My refund never came so i contacted my credit card and they took care of this ridiculous and irresponsible company and i finally got my money back.

Ordered plants and was told would ship April - May (I am in zone 5) and would receive an e-mail saying when shipped. I am traveling and a neighbor noticed plants on my porch March 18. Is it that hard to set up an automatic notification when shipping much less ship within the 2 month period they gave me for shipping?

I responded to a 50% off FLASH sale they had on grape vines by ordering 1 Reliance and 1 Marqui grapevine. The vines shipped promptly and when I received them I realized why they were having the flash sale. The vines were dead and brittle. The color Black. I scratched the bark on the stem and the root. There was no green. I planted them anyway giving them TLC. I also immediately sent an email with pictures notifying Stark Bro's of the dead condition of their sale stock. They immediately sent out a "one time replacement." The second set of vines arrived promptly and they were in the exact same poor condition as the first. Now I understand why they were having a flash sale. I put these two vines in the ground also to see if I could salvage them... they are all sitting in the ground dead to this day despite my constant TLC. BTW.... I have 52 other grape vines on my property so I KNOW how to grow grapevines. I would not recommend anyone responding to a flash sale because it's just neglected damaged products they are trying to move out the door and get whatever money they can out of them by shifting the burden of expense loss to the cutomer. Whoever pulled this order is a complete moron when it comes to plant stock or was involved in the scam. Very unhappy.

This nursery is such a scam, my whole experience with them has been nothing short of disappointing and constant frustration.

I ordered a few different plants from them in March 2022, and at the time of ordering it said all but one of them were available and ready and would be shipped asap and the last one would be sent later as it was still growing. Which okay cool that works for me.

I ordered 2 pear trees that arrived in late June, they were very poorly packaged and had basically no leaves and the ones they did have were dead. It was too hot now to plant them in the ground, as they needed to be planted in spring when they should have arrived. One of them was very poorly grafted and was basically sideways.

I ordered different 1 gallon-sized citrus plants, and received them a few weeks after the pear trees, they were so poorly packaged that the few leaves they had were tapped to the cardboard. The plants were also incredibly small they arrived in a 2-quart container rather than 1 gallon but were much smaller than that. Skeleton Plants would be the most fitting name for them.

I also had a Walnut tree that arrived with damaged and spotted leaves and does not look like it will survive.

Do not waste your time with this nursery, they are awful and should not be allowed to sell plants.

Stay far away from them. You will read on many forums these people are a quality outlet, but they most definitely are not. When you actually dig into their reputation, you'll see they often delay plants that show as in stock. I've ordered from a few other vendors and if something is in stock, it ships promptly.

You will be charged by stark and told items are delayed right after. They also don't refund you, but rather give store credit, even on a cancelled order that is a month from shipping. Just talk to your card company and they will be glad to get your money back from these cretins.

Horrible experience all around.

end of 2019 I ordered several bareroot trees to be delivered first week of June 2020. Why? Because in Alaska this is the best time to put a tree on the ground. First week of April, with foot and a half of snow on the ground and a frost line down to 3 feet I get a notification that my shipment is being prepared to go out.

The second I got that email I replied saying 'don't do that'. Two days later they finally emailed me back saying that they could not stop the shipment and that I would receive tracking where I could refuse the package. Once again; promptly responded "refuse shipment where? The fedex site?" A few more days went by and I got my package before their response.

Long story short the plants had to be tossed. My dirt and compost piles were encased in ice with more snow all but certain well into May. Stark Bros did agree to send me a shipment in June.

And again the screwed up... What's the point to pay for 2nd day air if you are going to ship the Friday before a 3 day weekend? And this was the least of the problems; it looks like I received the very bottom of the pile; For half of the trees I have not seen such bad plant material outside of a dumpster. The other half let's just say that when they talk about their professional pruned trees their staff probably sinkers a whole lot. I realize that by June there is not much inventory left but canceling an order is far superior to sending garbage. I contacted them again, waited 3 more days for a response, which was that they were under warranty and that I could contact them if the trees didn't survive the winter.

Surprise surprise, two died. Emailed them again a month ago about the trees being dead. They never responded.

To sum up my experience: Horrible communications, prone to screw up, they have no qualms with sending you garbage plant material that the most cursory of visual inspections should have spotted, and their 'guarantee' is only good if you don't try to use it.

"On Jul 20, 2021 1:38 PM, Stark Brothers Nurseries & Orchards Company responded with:

We’re sorry to hear of your less-than-satisfactory experience with Stark Bro's and hope you will accept our sincerest apologies. We pride ourselves on our customer service and the high quality standards we maintain with our product. We would like to make things right. Since we do not have your account information please email our management team at info@starkbros.com. Attention Tabitha or Tiffany and please reference your order information.

We value our customers' opinions and would like to thank you for bringing your issues to our attention. "

I have ordered from them many times in the past, and always excused their constantly changing delivery estimates because I liked their website features and found their plants to be healthy and well packed, if small. I will be ordering from them less in the future though, because of poor communication with their customer service about the new charge for "split shipping", which is not mentioned anywhere on their site until the very last step of checkout. Every page says "free shipping with $X order", which has been a constant promotion for years. Previously they would immediately ship whatever they had on hand and then predict when other order items would be available to ship. I was willing to wait and they were able to pre-book sales. Starting this year, they want customers to pay for that, which wouldn't be a problem if they actually told customers that before hand. But they don't. The website still says "free shipping with $X order" on every page. I tried contacting customer service repeatedly and they were never able to understand that I was upset about their false advertising.

"On Mar 17, 2021 1:29 PM, Stark Brothers Nurseries & Orchards Company responded with:

On behalf of Stark Bro's, I want to extend my sincerest apologies for the negative experience that you had. I understand your disappointment and recognize that you feel that our new multiple shipment fee was not properly communicated to you when checking out online. Our free shipping offer is for standard shipping excluding Alaska and the multiple shipment fee is a service fee, not a shipping charge. As a token of our apology, we have removed this fee for you this one time since we did not make this change clear when ordering. Again, we apologize for causing you this frustration.

Sincerely,
Tabitha
Stark Bro's Customer Support Manager"

Placed order May 7 2020. Received 2/3 of order over course of '20 summer. One item canceled and remaining 1/3 of order has been pushed back numerous times, now expected in July of 2021. That's receipt of product over a year after ordering!

Hi,
I've contacted Stark's about 3 bareroots that I planted correctly, watered, fertilized and insecticided properly and all died. I even did a scraping and these trees were dead. I have emailed them 4 times to be returned messages to call and a robot told me that I couldn't leave a message or talk to anyone then to receive 3 messages that they wanted more information and couldn't read anything I wrote. At this point I'm at a loss except to report them to the BBB. The bareroots were only 4 months old. I will not purchase from this place again. Does anyone know the email or mailing address for the CEO?

We just recently moved, and were looking for a company to supply new plants for us. We found Stark Bros while looking for a specific type of berry bush that isn't sold locally, so we decided to order it from them as a test to see how they'd do for supplying the rest of our starter needs. We ordered from them on April 2nd, were charged in full, and were initially quoted that it would arrive April 8th. I received an email several days later informing us that the order had been pushed back to the 17th. Days later we received another email informing us that they were pushing it back to the 24th.

At this point I attempted to call them only to find their phones had been turned off, and so was forced to email them telling them that my patience was wearing thin, and that I either wanted my product or a full refund. They replied with a completely meaningless apology letter telling us that due to the coronavirus that the order could be pushed back up to a week. At that point it had been pushed back 2 1/2 weeks. They then pushed it back again, this time without notification, to the 25th. Mind you that this entire time they were still taking orders for the plant, and were still quoting less than a week's delivery time.

I replied to their response only to receive another pointless reply saying that some of their products needed more time to grow. They then pushed the order back, again without notification, to the 28th. It was at that point that I canceled my order.

Nothing but pointless emails and lies. I'll never deal with this company again, and suggest nobody else does either. Other major growers shut down new orders to fill what they had during this outbreak, and as noted by another reviewer, other growers were still fulfilling their order requests. Stark Bros was simply pocketing money and hoping people wouldn't notice/care due to the virus. Total crooks. Awful, unprofessional, no customer service, crooked liars that just give you the runaround. I haven't checked my bank yet, but if I haven't received a full refund I will be taking legal action, and suspect it won't be the first in a series of lawsuits leveled against these thieves.

I placed my order on March 18th 2020 and was given a date of delivery last week in March. When that date came and went I received an email and I was given another date of April 11. After that date passed I was given yet another date at the end of April. Now I can't raise a response from them.

For background, I called when I received the notice of April 11 and was then promised over and over that it would be the 11th. I can see now I was lied to, more than once. Here’s the rub, had I been told the truth all those weeks ago I would have bought from another place (can’t now because they are all sold out). I can name 5 nursery companies that have sent orders out despite the national crisis, the same crisis thst Stark Bro's uses as an excuse to take money and NOT fill and send the orders, That is generally considered fraud and gouging. The crisis only elevates that charge and does not excuse it. Neither is legal in MO or any other state. At this point I have no reasonable expectation of a remedy so I am filing a complaint with the attorney general of the state of MO and will also file a complaint with the task force set up to investigate deceptive practices, gouging and fraud done under the excuse of COVID 19. Maybe that will alert Stark Brothers that actually sending peoples orders is in fact what they are supposed to do. I would buy from any other place that had in stock but SB made that not possible because Stark Bro’s kept up the deception and basically lied over and over and strung me along.

Nothing more I can do except hope the attorney general investigates and I imagine they will because bottom line Stark Bro's have used a national crisis for their own profit. I think most gardening and growing consumers will have the same take away—shame on Stark Bros, America is suffering and Stark Bros is basically stealing and lying to people. I would, if I could, get from ANY other place. In fact it disgusts me to have to deal with people that have exploited a crisis so blatantly as a cover for unethical business practices. I am ashamed to have done any business with Stark Bros. I have called them. I have emailed them and they have not filled the order and kept stiringing it along. I contracted with garden help for the day after the 3rd time they promised and now they can't even do that. I have been ripped off. They basically stole money and because they lied 3 different times. I was stupid enough to wait for them now I can't get what I need anywhere. You might want to take note that in fact Stark Bros is the only company in the mail order and online nursery trade that is failing to fill orders. This I can prove.

Because I have been ripped off and lied to and basically scammed and I am going to alert in detail every gardening and organic gardening site on the internet and on social media and let the community know exactly how Stark Bros destroyed my family’s garden in the most needed season of the past 100 years—disgusting and beyond contempt. They have done nothing to remedy the situation. They stole money and lied and scammed me into waiting for an order they clearly have no intention of sending in time to be planted this season. Now I am SOL. My family garden is trashed because of Stark Bros. what gets me is the fact they should have not taken an order they could not fill but they were so greedy and had so little care about people who depend on their gardens they just kept lying and string me along. If I get rotten dead plants by sometime May I am supposed be happy--whoopy. I have never ever seen any company pull something like it. Let me be clear I ordered from 5 other companies all in Mid and late March and they all sent on time and there were no problems. Stark Bros is really very unethical.

"On May 19, 2020 1:36 PM, Stark Brothers Nurseries & Orchards Company responded with:

We are truly sorry that we made you feel this way. Our entire team of growers, production, shipping, and customer service, have been working overtime to help ensure our customers get the healthiest plants as quickly as possible while still doing our very best to keep our staff safe during these unprecedented times. This is not an excuse and we do operate a very ethical business keeping our customers and staff's best interest in mind.

We try to ship everything by its original estimated shipping date. Our dates are never promised or guaranteed. Due to our growers needing to give our plants more time to grow, weather issues in our area or yours and other unforeseen events, cause orders can become delayed. This is why our shipping dates are merely estimations, however, we do notify our customers of these delays so that our customers, like you, stay informed.

We very much appreciate your business and we are truly sorry for the troubles we have caused you. If you still need assistance, please send us an email to info@starkbros.com.

Sincerely,

Tabitha R.
Customer Support Manager



"

I ordered 12 raspberries on Feb. 3. Stark Bros. charged my card the full amount. On March 18, HALF of the order was shipped; the other 6 plants were "out of stock". Worse, they did not refund my card, they basically stole the money and put it in my "Stark Account". I don't want an account with a deceitful company. After this stunt, I may never order from them again. Now, I'll have to issue a credit card dispute in order to get my money back.

If you want your money disappearing into the bank of Stark, take your chances. I emailed them, asked politely for a refund and they did not comply. The company is going down the toilet, like so many once honorable vendors.

"On Apr 7, 2020 10:27 AM, Stark Brothers Nurseries & Orchards Company responded with:

We appreciate you sharing your feedback. We’re very sorry to learn of your experience. Our credits are definitely refundable and this should have been offered to you in response to your email.

Please feel free to reach out to our customer support manager directly with your account information so that we can make this right by emailing info@starkbros.com, attention Tabitha.

We would love to make things right if you give us another chance."

On January 10, I ordered 3 pawpaw varieties online and was given an estimated delivery date a week in the future, specifically January 17, 2020. That sounded great! I created an account so that I could follow the progress of my order. I logged in on January 14 and found that the estimated delivery date had changed to 01/19. Ok a delay, but only 5 days in the future. However, I subsequently logged in everyday for the next three days and each time found that the delivery date had been pushed farther out by just a day or two, each time the delivery date being from 5 to 7 days in the future.

Here's what I think Stark Brothers does. They give an initial delivery date that is close, in my case a week away, so as to secure the sale, and then little by little they adjust the date farther into the future so as to keep the date approximately a week in the future. They do this to keep you "on the hook" rather than being honest about not having stock available, or order processing manpower available, to fill your order as promised when you made it. This procedure is harmful to the horticulturist because it lulls him or her into not searching for other sources for the particular plant he or she desires. Near the end of the cool season planting window when nursery stocks are low for many varieties, this can result in the horticulturalist not getting the plants at all. Shame on you Stark Brothers. Do you have this deceptive-delivery-date shifting programmed into your order handling software?

"On Jan 27, 2020 12:44 PM, Stark Brothers Nurseries & Orchards Company responded with:

I am very sorry that the estimated delivery date has kept changing on your order. We have made a lot of improvements to avoid situations like this and our team needs to have an in-depth discussion to figure out what the issue is so that we can resolve this immediately. Our relationship with you is extremely important to us, and we never want our errors to set you off track. We never meant to make you feel deceived.

Please send me an email to info@starkbros.com, attention Tabitha, with your order details so that I can get this fixed ASAP. I am committed to making this right.

Thank you for your patience and understanding,

Tabitha R
Stark Bro's Customer Support Manager"

I ordered some raspberries. Half the plants came back dead. I emailed them and told them. I didn’t hear back from them for a while then all of a sudden I get a shipping confirmation. They sent the order again. Ok, not the friendliest (no apology or anything), whatever. Then when the order came again, half the plants were wet rotted. I’m done with them.

I'm having a very poor experience with Stark Bros. I ordered a bunch of blackberry, raspberry and strawberry plants on 5/5/19, with an estimated shipping date of 5/25/19. I did not receive them. When I tracked my order on their site, using my order number, it states that the estimated shipping date is now the end of June, with no further explanation. So, I tried to call them to find out what the delay is. No luck. I was on hold for 15 minutes before I gave up. I do a lot of ordering from online nurseries and I depend on these online nursery reviews when I'm deciding who to order from. So, it may be helpful for others to know that you won't know when your order will show up with Stark Bros and you won't be able to talk to anyone at the company, either.

"On May 28, 2019 5:02 PM, Stark Brothers Nurseries & Orchards Company responded with:

Thank you for taking the time to leave this review. I am very sorry to learn that you had issues contacting customer support to check the status of your order and that your orders shipping date is delayed. Spring is our busiest time of year, and we are all very sorry for the long wait times. When you place your order, we strive to give you the most accurate estimated ship date.

Looks like our growers need to give a few of the items on your order more time to grow in our controlled environment so that you will be successful and since the shipping preference was selected to ship the entire order at the same time during the check out process the entire order is delayed. We will gladly mark the order to ship items as soon as they're available if you'd like. I have asked for one of our amazing customer support agents to reach out to you directly about this situation.

Your planting success is important to us!

Sincerely,
Tabitha R
Stark Bro's Customer Support Manager


"

3rd cancelled partial order in the last 2 years!

Ordered several hundred dollars in trees back in August 2018 and months later got yet another "We’re sorry to report that the inventory we had of the following item(s) you ordered has sold out. " I can understand that some items don't grow to meet inventory but this is a growing trend and am seeing more and more negative posts.

Looks like they don't want to do business with smaller homesteaders or need to hire a new inventory manager!

Will NEVER again do business with them !

It is such a poor experience ordering from this website! I ordered a Moorpark apricot tree on Apr 2nd. Till Apr 17 I didn't receive any shipping information. So I contact the support to check why, and got a very ambiguous answer on Apr 19 only. If you don't have it, tell me you don't have it directly. Then on Apr 20 I check again they tell me that they don't have it any more. So I missed out the planting season and didn't buy from others because of the delay! And no one tell me it is out of stock without my checking!

Since 2015 i have spent nearly $1000 with Stark Bros. Every time i have attempted to do business with this company it has been disappointing to frustrating.
As an example: My last order was nearly impossible to place. Upon placing it there were a few items that they didn't have in stock even though the site registered them in stock. Stark decided to send a different variety as a replacement. This action was not ok'd by me. They sent an email declaring their intensions and i had to quickly call them to stop their mistake. The solution i chose was to cancel those items. After the credit did not post on my account i had to call them again to insure i got my money back.
Recently, i tried to order again (glutton for punishment). Being a fellow Missourian i wanted to invest in local businesses. This was not to be. After spending hours trying - unsuccessfully - to place my online order i contacted customer service.
As with every other time of contacting customer service, i found no satisfaction. In both, phone contact and live chat, they were incapable of resolving the problems with their site, or give a workable solution. In chat today, customer service informed me that the problem is with my system. I find this replete with error. All the different sites i do business with and this is the only one that has trouble taking my order/money.
I would not recommend this nursery to anyone. Avoid at all cost. All of the varieties one could get from Stark can be found on other nursery sites that do work and are operated by companies that understand customer service.

In March of 2014 I purchased from Stark an Idared apple, Damson plum and Green Gage plum. They were delivered promptly and planted right away. All grew well, and still do. That's the good news.

Of course, it took three years to see what was actually delivered. The Idared and Damson produced a few fruits in 2017 and were confirmed as correct. The Green Gage, however, clearly was not. Rather than producing greenish-yellow plums in July as planned, it produced red/purple plums in late August, along with my other plums (which I was intentionally trying to avoid.)

In late August, 2017, I left a message on Stark's site detailing the issue. We exchanged e-mails, including photos of my fruit, and we decided that it was a Santa Rosa tree. (I've had Santa Rosas before, and this seemed likely.)

Stark promised to discuss my issue with "management" and get back to me. This did not occur. I checked Stark's site and found the Green Gage no longer offered. So was this an intentional substitution on their part? No way to know, but that would be disturbing given how much time and effort goes into bringing a tree to fruition. The Santa Rosas are a decent plum, but not what I had planned for.

Not having heard back, early this September (2018) I replied to their final e-mail from a year ago, asking whether anything was going to be done. To date, I have heard nothing.

Not all of my experiences with Stark Brothers have been negative, evidenced by the Idared and Damson. But this one suggests a disregard for the presumption that the customer actually knows what he wants and would know the difference. I'm out four years and the price of the tree, and now feel the need to find another nursery.

Let me start by saying I've never left a negative review on any company and to go through this much trouble and actually spend time in making others aware of how bad the company is, is just ridiculous to me! but here it goes.....
Originally I bought 7 fruit trees from them back in December of 2016. ALL of them DIED! 3 died before the next winter came, they did replace those quickly in the fall of 2017. Come spring of 2018 they were all dead. I called and asked for replacements. Some of the trees were not available so I had to pick another species of tree. I had to persuade the company in replacing the 3 that were replaced in the fall. I did this by upgrading the size of the tree but had to pay for the difference in the two sizes. Not a bad deal, I thought they would make it through the winter if they were bigger. WRONG! They ALL DIED again.
Come spring of 2018 not a single tree lived. I called the company and asked for replacements. Guess what, most of the original trees I bought were no longer available. So once again I spent more time on the phone picking out new trees to order. Approximately 2 months later I received an email saying we apologize for the inconvenience but your trees are no longer available. This happened 3 times!!! The 3rd time I received the same email about my trees being unavailable I called and asked for a full refund. They stated I would receive $50 back. I said excuse me? I ordered $180 worth of trees in 2016 and not one of them are living and your going to give me $50 back.
She asked what do you think you should receive. I told her I have no idea because I've had to call in so many different times and re-order completely different trees, and some I upgraded the size of that I don't know where I stand anymore. I told her I had full faith in the company to do the right thing but they kept putting me on the back burner. I felt as if someone else ordered the same trees I did and they were purchasing for the first time they would push their order in front of mine. Thus me receiving emails that the trees were no longer available and they apologize. Every time this happened I had to call back and re-order and re-order..... She blamed it on mother-nature....
She tried saying that the company policy is that they replace the tree once with no charge. My ADVISE to you is if you order from them and the first tree dies. Get your money back and don't let them keep it on file until your next tree arrives. You'll be waiting almost 2 years like I did and never receive your trees. In the end, after being on the phone and arguing with her, she stated she would give $150 back. I was happier to hear $150 compared to $50 but was still disappointed. After all the of the time and effort I had to put into trying to receive trees I was just fed up with their lack of commitment to a customer. Do yourself a favor and buy from someone else!

Plants typically very tiny, and do not meet expectations.
Actual turn around time if they prosper is more than 4 years from time of planting, i'd be optimistic if i said 6 solid years of continual growth may get you your tree ideal tree start.

The attraction to buying grafted plants is not waiting till you are 75 years old to reap the rewards. Stark Brothers doesn't meet that expectation.
They do have some interesting or unique varietals but that is the most positive thing i can say about them.

Grafting methods are sloppy or haphazard, they apply the if it ain't broke I won't try to fix it methodology.

Height of tree is heavily leveraged on ads and on the site, instead of selling you a thick tree that will prosper faster you get a sick and thin looking plant. Health and condition of plants sold are very unpredictable.

"On Jul 9, 2018 2:40 PM, Stark Brothers Nurseries & Orchards Company responded with:

Thank you for your specific comments. Being able to identify the problem is the first step in fixing it. That said, it seems like you experienced multiple problems, which is an unusual occurrence for our company. We have been in business for more than 200 years and our growers and grafters are very skilled. Consequently, your post raises some significant concerns for us. We’d like to discuss these issues with you personally, so we can make this right for you and correct any internal problems. If you would kindly call our Customer Support Team at 800.325.4180 and identify yourself by referring to your Dave’s Garden post, we will be delighted to speak with you. "

Posted on June 19, 2018, updated July 3, 2018
I ordered Everbearing strawberry plants from Stark brothers 3 springs ago, several of the plants arrived completely dead but I understand that that happens. Unfortunately the plants they sent me were NOT everbearing but June plants! I have consistantly gotten one HUGE crop of strawberries in June and then nothing for the rest of the summer!!!! 75% of the berries go to waste because there’s no way my family can eat them all! As an amateur gardener I had NO way of knowing they sent the wrong plants but as professionals they have to be completely incompetent or just completely dishonest...personally I feel they are just dishonest scum!!! Their prices were also higher than other companies but the other conpanies were out of stock by the time that I ordered and had too many scruples to rip me off...Stark brothers had no problem with it!!!

"On Jun 21, 2018 2:28 PM, Stark Brothers Nurseries & Orchards Company responded with:

Thank you for leaving your honest review. We regret learning that the strawberries shipped to you were the wrong variety. We completely understand your frustration and disappointment as growing strawberries takes time and patience. We truly never meant to send you the wrong product.

Please contact customer support at 800.325.4180 or email info@starkbros.com so that we can fix this. We back our products with a “Promise of Satisfaction” to you.

We very much appreciate your business and hope that you will remain a valued customer.

Your planting success is important to us!

Sincerely,
Stark Bro's Nurseries & Orchards Co.
http://www.starkbros.com
800.325.4180
"

Very disappointed with the packing and delivery of pear trees ordered. I met the FEDEX truck and the driver took the torn box out and said it was received that way--one end had been completely ripped off. Two of the 4 trees ordered had shipped, the 2 not shipped were marked "unavailable" on the invoice, with no prior notice. The 2 trees that arrived had a small amount of damp newspaper at one end of the box, and the roots had dried (for who knows how long). Since I was planting at a location out of state from my home, I had no choice but to put the trees into the ground and hope for the best. This was the worst plant delivery I experienced on this planting venture, with purchases made from several plant suppliers from several locations. I will not order from Stark again, as their performance did not live up to what they advertised. So sorry, as my time and money were both wasted, and planting options suboptimized, despite the effort of planning for 8 months.

"On Jun 21, 2018 2:22 PM, Stark Brothers Nurseries & Orchards Company responded with:

Thank you for leaving your honest review. We are very sorry to hear that your package was delivered damaged and missing trees due to them being unavailable at the time of shipping without proper notification. We strive to fill each order as it is received and completely understand your frustration and disappointment.

Please contact customer support at 800.325.4180 or email info@starkbros.com so that we can fix this. We back our products with a “Promise of Satisfaction” to you.

We very much appreciate your business and hope that you will remain a valued customer.

Your planting success is important to us!

Sincerely,
Stark Bro's Nurseries & Orchards Co.
http://www.starkbros.com
800.325.4180
"

I should have read these negative reviews and followed their advice. I ordered 8 peach trees of different varieties during their promotion free shipping time. I was charged the shipping and when I contacted them regarding this they told me that my order was placed after the promotion was completed (even though my receipt said free shipping). It took a while, but I was refunded the shipping. I then got an email stating that my order had been shipped and that there would be 11 trees delivered instead of the 8 I ordered. When my order arrived there were only 5 trees. I contacted customer service again and they told me that I would need to wait until the fall or spring of next year to get the rest of my trees. When I asked why they didn't notify me they said that I was notified by email about the delivery which was clearly wrong. I know people make mistakes, but there were mistakes made that were avoidable and not remedied very well by the company. It has been a disappointing experience.

"On Jun 21, 2018 2:16 PM, Stark Brothers Nurseries & Orchards Company responded with:

Thank you for leaving your honest review. We are very sorry to hear about all the troubles you’ve had with this year’s order. We strive to fill each order as it is received and completely understand your frustration and disappointment. We value our customers and understand how important it is to offer exceptional service- and we clearly failed to do so this time. There have been some process changes because of your review. Going forward customers will be notified much sooner if we have an issue with our products.

Please contact customer support at 800.325.4180 or email info@starkbros.com to further discuss your concerns if necessary.

We very much appreciate your business and hope that you will remain a valued customer.

Your planting success is important to us!

Sincerely,
Stark Bro's Nurseries & Orchards Co.
http://www.starkbros.com
800.325.4180
"

The fruit trees may survive but it will not be because of the packing. The plants arrived with a wet blob of newspaper at one end of the box and the dry roots at the other end of the box. Very poorly done.

"On Apr 16, 2018 10:21 AM, Stark Brothers Nurseries & Orchards Company responded with:

Thank you for leaving your honest review. We are very sorry to hear that your order was packaged poorly. The wet newspaper does have a tendency to move around inside the box during transit. It should have been wet enough to keep moisture inside the package so the roots would not dry out. This is why we suggest soaking the tree’s roots in a bucket or large tub of water one to two hours before planting.

We take ALL reviews to heart as this is our opportunity to improve our service and your experience going forward.

If you have any issues with your trees, please contact customer support at 800.325.4180 because quality and customer satisfaction matter above all.

Your planting success is important to us! "

I wanted seedless grapes and Now I've wasted another two years. If you don't know what your doing you shouldn't be in the business. Screwing up crops is probably a greater sin then
killing something

"On Sep 29, 2017 1:45 PM, Stark Brothers Nurseries & Orchards Company responded with:

Thank you for leaving your feedback here regarding your grape plants. We are very sorry to hear that there is an issue with your plants. We regret that we have made you feel the way you do and have given you a poor customer experience—it is the exact opposite of what we pride ourselves on. We value our customers and understand how important it is to offer exceptional service. We understand your frustration.

Please contact customer support at 800.325.4180 or email info@starkbros.com to further discuss your concerns.

We very much appreciate your business and hope that you will remain a valued customer.

Your planting success is important to us!

Sincerely,
Stark Bro's Nurseries & Orchards Co.
http://www.starkbros.com
800.325.4180
"

Posted on June 23, 2017, updated July 3, 2017
I ordered an apple tree and a stake. I noticed that I wasn't charged the full amount. I sent a message to find out what was going on, but have not received a response. I have now received only the stake, no tree. There has been no communication from Stark Bros about whether the order for the tree has been delayed or cancelled. I have no idea whether I should wait or start looking elsewhere. I am also surprised that they would send me the stake without the tree. What am I supposed to do with just a stake?

"On Jul 3, 2017 1:14 PM, Stark Brothers Nurseries & Orchards Company responded with:

Please accept our sincere apologies for the inconvenience you have experienced in respect to your order. We apologize for the delay in our response to your email as Spring is our busiest time of the year.

It is never our intention to ship a growing aide without an ordered tree or plant. Customer support will be happy to assist you with your order concerns. They can be reached at 800.325.4180; Monday thru Friday 8a-430p.

We take ALL reviews to heart as this is our opportunity to improve our service and your experience going forward.

Your planting success is important to us!

Sincerely,
Stark Bro's Nurseries & Orchards Co.
http://www.starkbros.com
800.325.4180"

I placed an order for Goji and Honeyberry plants in January, to ship in mid April. Called 4/17 to check on an email they sent 4/15 that changed delivery date to a date we would be on a trip. Then they dropped the Goji's and left the Honeyberries for an unacceptable ship date. Tried to get that straightened out, but delivery didn't occur so I called CUSTOMER SERVICE again, during business hours, but got recorded message "you've called after hours". Left voicemail, but got no response. Finally called the "orders" line and got a bit of help. They order people got some action for me because we were leaving on a cruise. However, only 6 of the ten Honeyberries arrived. When I called yesterday, during business hours, I got the same "you've called after hours message twice. Finally got through and was told they would ship the rest next spring. I'm 79 years old, and waiting another year means I may not live to see a crop from them, so asked for a supervisor. Told "she's in a meeting". Asked to have her call me back. Never heard. Terrible Customer service.

Posted on June 10, 2017, updated June 14, 2017
Posted on May 19, 2017, updated June 10, 2017
Just received my order, have mixed thoughts. First I placed my order on April 23rd, the order wasn't shipped out until May 15th. The package made it from MO to PA and then was sent back to Start in MO because the " shipping label is unreadable". Which made me wonder how that could be possible. Oh well, so it was sent back to MO then made it back to me in NY today. When I got the package I realized why the label was unreadable... The package was a real mess, as if they ran it over, which left me with little hope for the plants themselves. They are pretty sad looking and all the branches were broken off for the most part but I guess time will tell how they turn out.

If they end up doing well I may change this to positive but as of now I'm slightly disappointed.

If you're on the fence about this nursery I would look at the recent review breakdown. It may save you some frustration.

"On May 26, 2017 11:15 AM, Stark Brothers Nurseries & Orchards Company responded with:

Thank you for leaving your review. We are very sorry that to hear that FedEx had issues with your package.

If you have any issues please contact our Customer Support Team at 800.325.4180 and we will gladly replace or refund your order.

We take ALL reviews to heart as this is our opportunity to improve our service and your experience going forward.

Your planting success is important to us!

Sincerely,
Stark Bro's Nurseries & Orchards Co.
http://www.starkbros.com
800.325.4180

In the fall of 2016 I ordered a potted apricot tree. It arrived on time and was very healthy. I planted it and watered it. This spring I realized that the tree did not survive the winter.....I contacted Stark by phone and they immediately sent me a replacement tree. No complaints so far. When the new tree arrived, a couple of weeks after my phone call, I was very disappointed. When I opened the box the packing material and the plastic the tree was packed in all fell out. The roots were all dried out. This was not even a tree. It was a stick that was about 3 feet long. It did not have one branch on it. I did not have much choice, so I planted it. If this thing grows I will be very much surprised.......I sent Stark Bros. an Email expressing my displeasure at what I received as a replacement. I have not yet received a reply other than a note asking me to be patient as this is their busy time of year. If this tree/stick does not live, I will be buying a replacement, but it won't be from Stark Bros.

"On Jun 14, 2017 3:17 PM, Stark Brothers Nurseries & Orchards Company responded with:

Thank you for leaving your review. We are very sorry for the delay in responding to your email as this has been our busiest spring ever. We are very saddened to learn that your replacement tree arrived in this condition.We completely understand your frustration and disappointment.

We take ALL reviews to heart as this is our opportunity to improve our service and your experience going forward. Someone from our Customer Support Team will be reaching out to you directly to offer you a token of our apology. In the meantime, if you would like to speak directly with customer support please call 800.325.4180.

Your planting success is important to us!

Sincerely,
Stark Bro's Nurseries & Orchards Co.
http://www.starkbros.com
800.325.4180
"

Terrible customer service, equally terrible product quality.

Customer service will stop responding to you at their whim.

4 out of 7 fruit trees ordered last spring did not survive a full year, seemingly from bad grafts. The 3 that are alive still are in very rough shape.

Contrast the fruit tree quality from 2 other vendors ordered at the same time (over 35 trees) and ALL of the other trees are doing perfectly well.

"On May 26, 2017 10:36 AM, Stark Brothers Nurseries & Orchards Company responded with:

Thank you for leaving your review. We are very sorry that to hear that a few of your trees have died. Our promise of satisfaction at Stark Bro's is to provide healthy, viable trees and plants to ALL of our customers. Excellent quality of our trees and plants is our #1 value as your partner in growing.

Our limited warranty offers you to a free one-time replacement within one year. Please contact our Customer Support Team at 800.325.4180 and we will gladly replace or refund these dead trees for you.

We take ALL reviews to heart as this is our opportunity to improve our service and your experience going forward.

Your planting success is important to us!

Sincerely,
Stark Bro's Nurseries & Orchards Co.
http://www.starkbros.com
800.325.4180
"

Ask for actual pictures of plants you want to purchase. Also ask the age. We ordered and received 8 one gallon blueberry plants. What we received were 8 2" pot sized bluberries stuck in one gallon pots. All green into the soil. No woody stalks. Base thinner than a pencil with one or two shoots. Local nurseries got their stock in. Plants anywhere from same to half the price. Multiple shoots.. some with dozens of shoots and flowering, Woody trunks and 4 to 8 times larger. Complaint to company resulted in NO response. WARNING: SEE THE PRODUCT BEFORE YOU BUY.

"On May 26, 2017 10:27 AM, Stark Brothers Nurseries & Orchards Company responded with:

Thank you for leaving your review. We are very sorry that to hear that these plants were shipped in this condition. Our promise of satisfaction at Stark Bro's is to provide healthy, viable trees and plants to ALL of our customers. Excellent quality of our trees and plants is our #1 value as your partner in growing. Therefore, we completely understand your frustration and disappointment.

Those berries should have been well rooted plants with a least 6-12 inches of healthy new growth.

Your issue has been forwarded to our customer support manager and we’d like to know if you can send us images. We would like show this to our growers, prepping crew and shipping manager. If you can provide us with images please email info@starkbros.com.

We take ALL reviews to heart as this is our opportunity to improve our service and your experience going forward.

Your planting success is important to us!

Sincerely,
Stark Bro's Nurseries & Orchards Co.
http://www.starkbros.com
800.325.4180
"

I am now tending my third home orchard. In the past, I have worked as a landscaper. I have been planting Stark Brothers trees for almost 50 years and I have enjoyed a lot of success growing their trees.

But, since Stark Brothers merged with Miller Nurseries the quality of the plants has suffered some, and the customer service is much worse. This Spring they have just missed their 5th promised delivery date on the same order. This is particularly bothersome since I have read reviews on this site from other people that have received the same items since I placed my order.

The best time for planting here would have been 2 months ago. I assume they know this since I live 100 miles from their nursery, and they promised delivery then. Had they done this on a fall order I might be planting in the middle of winter.

"On May 26, 2017 10:09 AM, Stark Brothers Nurseries & Orchards Company responded with:

Thank you for leaving your review. We are very sorry for all the delays with this years order. We completely understand your frustration and disappointment as we have been just as disappointed that we had product(s) that were not ready to be shipped on time this year.

We take ALL reviews to heart as this is our opportunity to improve our service and your experience going forward. Someone from our Customer Support Team will be reaching out to you directly to offer you a token of our apology.

Your continued support and suggestions help us grow into a better company.

Your planting success is important to us!

Sincerely,
Stark Bro's Nurseries & Orchards Co.
http://www.starkbros.com
800.325.4180"

Posted on March 29, 2012, updated May 1, 2017
I've ordered from Stark Brothers for years. My little orchard is now 100+ of apples, pears, peaches, cherries, and apricots. I recently moved an ugly apple tree (not a Stark but one I grafted myself) and ordered a Stark Orleans apple to replace it. Now I know we've had an unusually warm spring but their growing rate is ridiculous! I mean that in a good way. A couple of weeks after planting I was walking through the newest part of the orchard and had to think about which tree was the replacement because it had leafed out so well! I've only had to call in for a replacement a couple of times over the past decade or so and the customer service is top notch. No hassles or haggles and the replacements did well. Last year I had an unusual ailment with one of my trees. I sent pictures to Stark asking for help and advice. They responded very promptly, courteously, and were exactly right on the diagnosis! I lost the tree but the new one is flourishing.

How about the fruits? They seem to always produce within at least two years. I've now won two master baker awards at the regional fair using the Montmorency cherries in my pie! Nuf said? Although my mother was a little disappointed over the peaches last year. My father came to help me pick fruit and noticed some of the newer peach trees had their first ripe peaches. Well we stood right there next to the tree and ate them all. None left for him to take home! Maybe I'll save her some this year.

My sister thought she wanted to plant an apple tree so I gave her my catalog. She thought they were expensive but I told her "You get what you pay for. Order the Stark!" I've made the mistake in the past and bought a couple from Home Depot or Lowes. They were dug up and burned. She ordered the Stark and uttered the oh so painful "You were right about Stark" phrase. She has an all-around black thumb but her tree is thriving.

Are they a little more expensive than the local big box stores? Yes. Are they worth it? Absolutely! The customer service alone makes up for the price difference. I will be a long time customer and hope my kids will be one day also.

I have placed a few orders with StarkBros in the past. All of the products I have received so far have been fairly high quality, and arrived in excellent condition. Their Refund & Return policy looks great, but I have not had to use it yet.

Unfortunately, my recent (larger) orders with this company have not been proceeding smoothly, and I am now realizing that they have very poor customer service:

1. Shipping estimates are so misleading that it would be better if they did not provide them. Delays are understandable; however, the shipping dates for some of my orders have repeatedly arrived and were then pushed back by only a couple of days. This cycle has repeated over 10 times on one order. I have spent the last three weeks planning my life around the arrival of a shipment that I'm beginning to suspect may never arrive.

I sent an email to the company recommending they allow customers to select "No ship" dates for online orders. I assume it would greatly reduce the load on their customer support team if people weren't calling to make sure their unexpectedly delayed orders weren't now going to arrive while they are unavailable. Their website already seems superior to their competitors' from a usability and technical standpoint, so I assume they are capable of adding this feature.

2. Their Order & Shipping Policies page states "For products purchased online, customers are not charged until the order has shipped." They apparently do not comply with this policy. Within the past two weeks, I have been charged roughly $1000 for items that have not yet shipped.

They should either update their policy or their payment process, so they align.

3. Orders are not handled on a "First come, first served" basis. I placed an order for a gift for someone in a colder zone than mine, and it shipped immediately, over a week ago. The exact same items in that order were also on an order that I placed months earlier, but nothing has not shipped yet. I selected the option for my order to be split, but they are apparently holding it for some others items in the order.

It may be wise for customers to place multiple small orders rather than one larger order if they hope to minimize long shipping delays and cancellation of items by StarkBros.

4. I recently spent a lot of time on the phone in hopes of contacting them to avoid shipment while I was out of town. After 30 minutes on hold, an automated message told me that I was 9th in line. I gave up, and sent them an email along with my order information instead. It is a week later, but I never received a response. Their customer service department is not sufficiently equipped to deal with the problems their customers are currently having with them.


I hope that ordering from StarkBros does not result in me losing an entire year of growing. I am beginning to wonder if I should cancel everything and place an order with another vendor before it's too late.

"On Apr 24, 2017 3:53 PM, Stark Brothers Nurseries & Orchards Company responded with:

We are very sorry to hear that you have had troubles with your larger orders and with the level of customer service you have received. We appreciate your feedback regarding all of the topics you have brought to our attention. We take ALL reviews to heart as this is our opportunity to improve our service and your experience going forward. This spring has been an unexpected, challenging season on all levels. Our hold times have been high on the phones, we have experienced delays with responding to emails and our orders normally are charged and shipped the same day but we have fallen behind. We seriously appreciate our customers patience and understanding and hope that you not lose faith in our ability to be your partner in growing your own legacy. We completely understand your frustration and disappointment as we are just as disappointed.

As a token of our apology, we will be refunding you any shipping fees that you were charged and we would like to offer you free shipping on your next order with us. Your account has been noted by customer support.

Your planting success is important to us!

Sincerely,
Stark Bro's Nurseries & Orchards Co.
http://www.starkbros.com
800.325.4180
"

placed an order in January 2017 . Now April, 11 days prior to ship date I called and left a voice message. 4 days later, still waiting. when calling the company, was on hold for over 30 minutes each time. I called a few times.
1 week prior to ship date, I get am email that said part or all of my order has been cancelled .It did not say what was cancelled, so, i call again, to wait 45 on hold. Our plans were to plant asasp but, now I must start again. I had never used Stark Bros nurseries before and I will not use them again

thanks for nothing!

"On Apr 24, 2017 11:20 AM, Stark Brothers Nurseries & Orchards Company responded with:

Please accept our sincere apologies regarding your order issue and the long wait time to speak with customer support. This is our busiest time of year and wait times are typically high during our spring season. This year call volume is exceptionally high. We appreciate our customers patience and understanding while waiting.

When you place an order with Stark Bro’s, we strive to give you the most accurate estimated ship date and availability status of the product. Sadly, weather conditions resulted in a crop shortage this year that meant we couldn't produce enough of some varieties. We wish we could immediately manufacture more, but it just takes time for trees and plants to grow.

I strongly suggest that you wait to speak to customer support so that they explain what was canceled.

We take ALL reviews to heart as this is our opportunity to improve our service and your experience going forward.

Your planting success is important to us!

Sincerely,

Sincerely,
Stark Bro's Nurseries & Orchards Co.
http://www.starkbros.com
800.325.4180
"

A fig tree was ordered and delivered well packaged. When unpacked, the tree appeared grafted, which I then expected a odd-shaped trunk and if successful two or more trunks. It appeared dead but have received trees dormant before and didn't believe the worst. I planted it the same day in container with premium soil pre wetted to dampness. After 10 days the poor tree was dead. Two e-mails to Stark have gone unanswered after each assured it was received and "someone" would be getting back to the e-mail address I provided in 24 hours.

"On Apr 24, 2017 10:49 AM, Stark Brothers Nurseries & Orchards Company responded with:

Please accept our sincere apologies for the delay in responding to your email as this is our busiest time of the year. We are sorry for any mis communication regarding the automatic response you received from Stark Bro’s. Our response does not state to expect a response time within 24 hours. It states “we are making our best efforts to respond to all messages in a timely fashion but due to increasingly high volumes please expect a delay in response. If you require immediate assistance please contact customer support by dialing 800.325.4180 Monday-Friday 8a-430p (CDT).”

We are very sorry to hear that your fig was dead on arrival. Not only do we want to make sure that our trees and plant ship during the ideal planting season but the quality of the tree or plant trumps all other requirements.

If you need a replacement for your fig, please contact customer support at 800.325.4180 so that we can arrange your free tree to ship as soon as its available.

We take ALL reviews to heart as this is our opportunity to improve our service and your experience going forward.


Your planting success is important to us!

Sincerely,

Sincerely,
Stark Bro's Nurseries & Orchards Co.
http://www.starkbros.com
800.325.4180"