Comments regarding Pinetree Garden Seeds

I like the way they package - I have a hobby of collecting seed packets and these are very top quality - my seeds were also top notch! Fine people from a fine State!

A couple weeks ago I placed two orders with Pinetree Seeds and was very happy with the extremely quick shipping (USPS Priority Mail) and good packing of both orders. I ordered 4 books and 2 plastic canning funnels. The books were very high quality and so were the funnels. The prices were great too! The cost of the shipping was very reasonable! These were my first orders from PInetree Seeds and I was quite pleased with the experience. Thanks Pinetree Seeds!!

It sounds like Pinetree may be going through some growing pains this year, or other issues perhaps? I have used them for years because they have great prices on seeds and a good selection. Plus they have gardening books for cheap cheap cheap! I did order a catalog from them this year because I moved and I did have to ask twice and it took a month or so to get here. Very different from my past experiences. I will still order from them, I haven't had any problems with their seeds not starting for me yet. But who knows whats up. I would encourage you to give them a try. Just maybe order early and only a few items to see if they've pulled it back together. Here's hoping they do! There aren't many places you can spread your money out as well as Pinetree. Good if your a plant nut and can't make up your mind.

This is the second time that I have ordered from Pinetree. Both times I have shared with friends because we like to grow a large variety of vegetables and the low cost and small numbers of seeds in each package work well for that. The first time was a couple of years ago and both of us had germination problems. This year we tried again based on the prices and good selection. Again, germination problems.

When I wrote and explained the problem, they offered replacements and said they had done germination tests. I decided to do my own test on two varieties of carrots...cosmic purple and Half long Danvers that were sent the second time. Only 40% of the cosmic purple and 60% of the Danvers germinated. I don't think this is satisfactory.

The seeds may be low in cost but I don't have time to deal with crop failures. Also less experienced gardeners will think the problem is theirs...companies owe it to their customers (and the seed industry in general) to supply good quality seed.

Although I have been a loyal customer for years, I am very unhappy with my order this year. I ordered on March 23rd seeds and potatoes and plastic. I paid the $4.95 extra and received the seeds/plastic timely; altho when I recently unrolled the plastic to cover the beds, it was well short of the 200' I ordered. After not receiving my potatoes (spring shipment) I inquired via email on April 28th and was told my order would ship within 2 weeks (with no mention that they were sold out of anything). I finally received it on May 21, with a note on the packing slip saying that the 10 lbs of burbanks were sold out and my credit card would be credited, although no credit card receipt was attached showing that had actually been done. They were happy to charge my credit card for the entire order back on March 23rd! Didn't they know at that time they were already sold out of the product? The remaining potatoes that I did receive are in very bad shape, soggy, shriveled, with sprouts about 8 inches long, like they have been growing inside the bags for way too long. So I don't expect good results with them. I am considering returning them. But where am I supposed to find seed potatoes locally at this point in the season? When I unrolled the black plastic, which I ordered 200 feet, I realized that I only received 160 feet. They are supposed to send me the balance, but once again, I paid in full for this back on March 23rd, and I need it now, not after complaining about being shorted and then have to wait for some more to show up. They are all full of excuses this year about being overwhelmed and understaffed. Hey, in this economy, I think there are plenty of qualified people more than willing to work. It is the management that is the problem.
They have lost yet another long time customer.

I decided to try this supplier for the first time this year. Just a small percentage of seeds sprouted. I had to scramble to purchase additional seeds elsewhere to keep with sprouting schedule. Shipping time was way too long. I am trying someone else next year.

I have ordered off and on from Pinetree for a number of years. Their strength has been small amounts of seeds for the home gardener at a lower price.
This year the amount of seeds in their packets were a joke. Many were not enough to overcome the mortality of starting seeds at home in less than ideal conditions. Several varieties were not enough to start so I had to go out and buy more at a store.
They bill when they receive the order so I was billed in Jan. and had to threaten to cancel my root stock order if they did not ship it. They promised in April but claim they said April through May! I was also over charged! Never again. I learned my lesson.
Try Fedco also in Maine. A Co-op and a bit nicer.

This is my first and last ordering experience with Pinetree. I ordered the seeds on February 28 and did not receive them until April 7. It took them 5 weeks instead of the 2-3 weeks stated in their catalog. I called them to check on my order and the telephone was not answered.

Order did take longer to arrive this year, but all came in accurately as usual.

Sorry to see they got so overwhelmed this year. They are normally a very good company.

This was my first year ordering from this company and will be my last. I placed an order on February 2nd. I ordered both seeds and plants. I received my seeds approximately Mid-March. On March 27th, I e-mailed the company requesting the status of my plants as I am in Zone 7b-8. (It's already spring here!). I had tried calling, but could never get anyone. On March 30th, I received a reply that the perennials that I ordered were in the garden under the snow and would be shipped as weather permits. Most of the plants I ordered were spring-blooming and will not do much for my landscape this year. Anyway, it's now April 23rd and I still haven't received my plants.

Pinetree Seeds used to be my favorite company to order seeds from - great prices, small packets, great selection.  I recommended them to all my gardening friends.  This year, I ordered on 2/14, which I thought would give a little extra time, "just in case".  After calling (with constant busy signals, but finally getting through one day) and emails, I learned how busy they were, and I finally received my seeds on 3/14 (weeks after the other orders arrived).  I was very unhappy with the slow shipping.  But, I tried to be forgiving - so many factors are increasing the popularity of home gardening, so I accepted that they were overwhelmed and planted them immediately.  I don't have complaints with the germination rates, and the seedlings are doing pretty well.

I just got my potatoes, though a little later than I would have liked.  Much to my dismay, they substituted the Green Mountain potatoes I ordered (for baking and storage) with Irish Cobbler potatoes (best if used fresh).  They did not contact me, though I would have been reasonable and accepted another potato variety - one I could store to feed my family.  To make matters worse, all of the potatoes I received look like grocery store potatoes with NO sprouts, and I need to get them in the garden right away.  Luckily, I received sprouting potatoes last week from another company, but they won't be enough to feed the family for the season.  Hopefully, the ones they did send will sprout in a hurry so that I can plant them by the end of the month.

Needless to say, I'm extremely disappointed with Pinetree this year.  After seeing all of the negative reviews, I will be surprised if they can last as a company, and I really wish it wasn't so.  I wish that they would respond to these posts.  If I do order again, it will be only seeds, and I will order as soon as I receive the catalog.  I won't make the mistake of ordering anything that I need, except maybe just a few items for direct garden planting, and the ones I buy "just to try". 

I can't help but hope that the company will dramatically change for the better.  But, I can't say I'm optimistic.

I ordered Green Mountain potatoes from Pinetree back in February. When I received my other seeds that had accompanied the order several weeks later, I noticed on the invoice that it only mentioned that part of the order (the potatoes) would be shipped later. Just what I expected. I assumed it meant that I would be getting the potatoes I ordered. But no. A few days ago I received a package of Irish Cobbler potatoes with a note that it is a similar to the Green Mountain variety. Maybe in appearance and taste. But Irish Cobbler is an early potato best eaten fresh. Green Mountain is a late potato that keeps well in storage for several months--which is what I was looking for. I never agreed to or was even informed of this substitution. I don't think I will ever order from Pinetree again.

Pinetree is unique among seed companies for their low prices and smaller quantity seed packets. For a home gardener like me, that's just perfect! Less expense, less wasted seeds (for example, I only need to grow a few tomato plants at a time to keep my family supplied for the summer)

This company has a good selection of both heirloom and hybrid varieties. They're not on the cutting edge of all the trendy varieties that some other companies offer; for that reason, I shop from Pinetree for "tried and true" heirloom peppers, tomatoes, squash and beans. The germination rate has always been satisfactory, about 75%.

I discovered Pinetree seeds four years ago. At that time I thought the customer service was very speedy. It's sad to read that is apparently not the experience so many other reviewers have had this season. This season I ordered my seeds a few weeks later than usual and I also experienced a longer delay in receiving my order. A careful examination of the ordering information notes showed me that January orders are supposed to ship in about a week, and Feb-May orders are 2-3 weeks. Well there you have it, plan accordingly.

I recommend Pinetree seeds for the customer who is happy to order popular, time-proven seed varieties (meaning, at least a couple years "on the market" after the other catalogs have introduced them) and especially for those people who tend to plan ahead and don't need their order "yesterday", LOL.

I placed a large order in February and it came 4 weeks later. I called after two weeks (hitting redial repeatedly) and spoke with the owner or manager. She said their business doubled last year and tripled this year, that she had hired an extra 25 people but still could not keep up with orders. She was very polite and sorry about the delay. My order was complete and the seed germination rate is fine.
A note with my order stated that they have put in additional phone lines and computers along with the additional staff.
I have read that because of the recession, many people are turning to growing their food to save money, and companies are running short of seeds/plants.
I plan to order from them again next year, but will do it in January.

I can't believe it; the bastards hung up on me!!! Without even talking to me! I called several times, getting a busy signal every time. When I finally got through, whoever answered the phone picked it up, then immediately hung up. I ordered on February 20, still no seeds on April 13. this will be my last order with them.

Over 40 days to get my seeds is ridiculous. The customer service has been rude. They quickly billed my credit card but still haven't sent the merchandise after 40 days. Business is business and they have lost mine and everyone I bump into. I am contacting my credit card company to get a refund....horrible

I have been ordering from Pinetree for many years, too. I like the fact that their seed packets don't hold as much and therefore they don't charge as much. I often have a lot of seeds left over from other companies and there's no point in spending more money if I don't need that quantity.

I placed my order on the internet on February 5th. I had the same problem as an earlier poster - I had made up a list and accidentally clicked out of the cart page, and when I went back my virtual cart was empty. As a result, when I tried to recreate my order I realized afterwards that I had forgotten to include some things I needed. That was very frustrating.

My order came quickly; the previous year I hadn't ordered that early so my seeds came almost too late to plant, and I learned my lesson! However, I have always had occasional problems with Pinetree seeds not germinating, and this time I have planted my Marconi Red Peppers twice in my flats and only have one sprout to show for it. So all in all I'm not sure whether I'll order from them again. You can't beat their prices, though, so maybe it's worth it.

I have ordered from Pinetree for years. Granted, I always order early, with the objective of receiving all my seeds by Christmas, but Pinetree has always come through for me. I had only 2 backorders this year, one of which was for a house plant. The other I received last week, in plenty of time for planting here in IL. I truly hope their apparent current problems will be solved soon, but in the meantime I intend to remain a loyal customer.

I have placed my order 0n Feb26 and as of today April 6th I have not received my order.I have tried several times to contact them and got a busy signal.
I finally got someone today but as soon as I mentioned my order number she hung up on me.
I have been a customer of theirs for over 25 years and I don't understand what's going on.
You can rest assured that I will never do business with them again.
What a pity!

I placed an order with Pinetree yesterday morning, paid for expedited processing and just received a call (24 hours after my order was placed) from a lady call Anne to verify my postal code and advise me my order will be shipped Monday! I will post again when I receive my seeds, but I am very pleased with the company thus far.

NEVER NEVER NEVER AGAIN!!! I will not order from this company again. I am a first year gardener and heard such wonderful things about them.

I placed my order on Feb 27th and I still have not received it. I got an email from them saying it would take about 4 weeks total...we are now on week 5 and I have nothing from them. NOTHING!!! I have emailed them again since you cannot get through on their phone line at all.

I am sooooo angry right now!

This used to be favorite seed house, but no more. I placed an order March 17 (yeah, a busy time), but based on their email to me will be "about 2 more weeks" which would be "about April 17". That is too late my intended schedule. Yep, you can't beat their prices, but the delays are unacceptable IMHO. I called Johnny's which said that orders go out the next day. I trimmed my order to some special varieties, bit the bullet and paid the high price at Johnny's (their stuff IS good, but you pay). I will buy the rest of my common seed needs at Wally World or Lowe's.

I would still buy from Pinetree in the future, but order in December or January. They need to maybe charge a bit more and hire more help as they are driving customers away.

Ironically, the Pinetree catalog might be the first one I get in late fall. Maybe they are trying to tell us something? :)

Like many of the people here - I am so frustrated at the terrible service from Pinetree this year. I have been a customer for many years, but after the poor service this year, I'll never order from them again!

When I placed my order there was a notice on their homepage about orders taking two weeks to process. It's been more than double that and I still do not have any seeds.
Now the site said it will take a month to process ....

In this day and age there is NO EXCUSE for ANY company to just sit on orders for over a month before they even process the orders, and pull the stock and ship it to you.

If they are SO busy and business is that good, they could well hire more employees to process and pull orders, lord knows there are people looking for employment .... even at minimum wage.

Like others, a more than 4 week wait for a small order. I ordered from 3 different companies on the same day (February 28) My card was charged on March 2. Website currently lists a 3-4 week delay, and I was told today it will probably ship either today or tomorrow. We'll see. The other companies I ordered from all shipped on Monday, March 2 and I had seeds in hand by Friday, March 6.

There are too many good, dependable seed sources out there to try Pinetree again!

Add me to the list of unhappy customers who've been waiting more than a month for the seeds I ordered to arrive. At this point, there's no need to start the seeds indoors here in Central Virginia. (I noticed that my credit card had been charged weeks ago.)

The order was placed on February 27,2009 and my credit card was charged on March 2nd 2009 it is now March 30. 2009 and still haven't received the seeds. I called and finally got a person and she said it would be another couple of weeks. I told her she should hire more people and she said they had and then I said they should hire even more. I think this is so unacceptable they shouldn't charge you till they send your item. I was told they are several weeks behind. I have never dealt with a company like this. I am not very happy.

It certainly seems Pinetree is having a rough year. My seeds were late arriving as well. I phoned the company and spoke with Sharon, who explained they were very backed up. She said she would call me back--and then SHE DID--twice! Frankly, I was surprised. But she found my order and sent it fairly immediately after that. Yes, I waited longer than I wanted to. But I am so impressed that she followed up and stayed in contact, that I forgive all. So thank you Sharon! I'll be back.

Over a month for a seed order is unacceptable. Pinetree has been one of my favorites for many, many years, until this year. The changing of delays in the web site bothers me also. Hopefully, they can work this out in the future. However I won't know because this is my last order.

Placed an order by mail in February and confirmed check was received and cashed by company that month. Contacted Pinetree Seeds on 3/19 and was told they were backed up over 3 weeks. "All the seed companies are having the same problem." was the excuse given. Asked why this delay wasn't relayed to customers and was told "We're too busy to be doing that.". Asked when I might expect my order and was told it would be shipped priority mail on Monday 3/23. Still waiting.

I've always enjoyed looking at their catalog and this was my first order. I can't believe the poor service and now if, or when, I receive my seeds it will be too late to start many of them for transplanting out in mid April. Never had such poor service from any other seed company.

BE WARNED:
At the very best, there is at least a 7 WEEKS DELAY before receiving your order.

Ordered a dozen seeds packets over 5 weeks ago, on February 16th.
Nothing received yet. Today I got a reply (2 days later) saying
my order will ship next week. Yeah sure.
I'm already late starting those seeds, let alone waiting 2 more weeks!
(IF they really ship in one week and since they are using plain USPS,
it adds yet another week of transit)

Most business I deal with ship the same day, or the next at most.
6 weeks later ?! Well, they did do something the following day
of my order -- they charged my credit card in full.

There is no order tracking, no communication of any sort to say
they are unable to ship within a reasonable delay.

So what should I do... Not enough time to order the specific seeds I wanted
somewhere else and I sure ain't trusting a company that is 5 weeks late already
to honor its word of "shipping next week".
I have to fall back on bland local seeds -- because of this unreliable, worthless company.

Not happy at all. Not ordering there anymore.
(actually, sending money there has felt more like being... robbed)

This company - once very good one - is steadily getting worse and worse every year! What is going on with it? This time I placed an order over a month ago, and still didn't get it. There was no email confirmation, nothing. I e-mailed in 2 weeks asking what's up with order, they answered: it will be shipped next week. In 2 weeks I email again, they send me exact the same answer - will be shipped next week. Is it a joke? Is it always going to be "next week"? I want to know where is my order and why in the world it takes them 1+ month to ship it? I'll never order anything there ever again. Yeah, I saved couple bucks, but it's not worth the time wasted, and the frustration. There are other great companies out there and they deserve the business in these hard times.

I placed a $72 order in February via the internet.  When I had heard nothing from them I emailed them.  They did not answer so I faxed them as their phone number is always busy.  When they did not answer I emailed again and this time asked for a cancellation.  They finally answered.  While I have had trouble getting the wrong items or missing items in the past I was able to resolve them satisfactorly.  This year customer service in nonexistent. Their seed packets have always held much less than other companies but I was willing to deal with that for good service, but no more.  They have lost a long term client who has spent hundreds of dollars with them.  They apparently have gotten too big to care about return business.  There is no way to check on an order on the buggy internet site...that might have helped?

when my order arrived it was missing an item and in its place was spring shipping added onto my order instead which did not apply and i emailed them 3 times and yet received no reply i want what i ordered or a refund and i want no more catalogs sent since i will never order from them again

My mother and I both enjoy shopping at Pinetree. I love the unique offerings and the quality.

I've ordered from Pinetree for years and they've always been fairly slow, but this year they were VERY slow. I received my order nearly 6 weeks after placing it. I'd guess that the economy is hurting this (and many other) businesses, forcing them to operate with fewer employees than is optimal. That's why I'm staying positive in my review. I think we're all going to have to be a little more patient and understanding of the difficulties that many small businesses are going through right now. If we can all try to work together, perhaps next year, things will be back to normal. Now, I could be wrong, and Pinetree could just be doing a lousy job of shipping in a timely manner, but I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. They've been good to me before. I hope those who swear they'll never order from Pinetree again will give them another chance. It would be sad to see yet another small business go under in this current economic climate.

Sent order for 14 items in first week of February. Check cashed on February 12. After three weeks and hearing nothing, I left a message on their answering machine. On March 11, I received 9 of the 14 items, and a note that 4 others were out of stock and being backordered. Checked today , 3/19, and the backordered items are still not in. Should I ever receive the backordered items, it will be far too late-- so I will get substitutes (not what I would wish) from the rack at a Home Depot. I have ordered from Pinetree in the past, and they have ocassionally been out of stock, but the combination of excessive delay and out of stock items this year has been the nail in the coffin. I will not order from them next year.

It pains me to give my favorite seed company a negative review, but they deserve it. I sent off my order on 2/6/09, my check was cashed on 2/11.

I still haven't received the order. After checking the website and reading the warning about extended shipping times, I called the company and talked to a worker who said they were currently processing orders dated 2/17. Well, my order was already cashed 6 days earlier, but she didn't explain why it wasn't ready yet.

My emails have gone unanswered, and this really surprises me because Pinetree has always given me good and quick replies before, and I've used the company for years.

Like so many other Pinetree customers I'm behind in starting my plants. If the company knows it has a problem why doesn't it hire additional help to work on the orders? Surely there are people willing to do this job? A timely turnover of orders is vital to the success of a business, I should think.

I'm dismayed that my gardening season is off to such a bad start. Like other gardeners I rely on my home-grown plants, and Pinetree has - up until now - been a big part of this. But since my business is handled so poorly I will take it elsewhere.

I'd like the company to address the lengthy shipping times on this forum. Pinetree has many loyal customers and they deserve better than this!!

To be frank, this company was the slowest of several to deliver my order this year (4 weeks as opposed to days with other companies). That said, the web site did contain a warning about delays. I also have to say that my order was correct down to the last detail. Like others, I'm pleased to be able to pay $1.25 for my first try at artichokes and $1.35 for my first try at Aztec tobacco. When my husband saw the box, he asked me how much I'd paid for it. When I told him $65 including shipping for 4 books and more than 30 packets of seeds (including two large packs of sprout seeds), he just smiled. Ah, yes, it was a bargain. If the seeds germinate well, I'll be ordering from Pinetree again.

I experienced the same delay as several others before me. Ordered on February 16th, did not receive the package until March 12th. I usually send out my orders in January, so the delay was really my own fault; hence the "neutral" rather than "negative" rating. However, I do find fault with the packaging: Everything, including a giant bag of seed starting mix, was crammed into a small box. When I lifted the bag of mix from the top of the box, I could see it had split and left a fine dusting of "dirt" over everything. Also, they were out of the Wall O' Water repair kit and gave no clear indication of when I can expect receipt of the same.

I have purchased from Pinetree many times in the past, but only seeds and only in January. Will order again in the future but will stick to seeds and an early order date to avoid disappointment.