Comments regarding Burgess Seed

Posted on April 25, 2018, updated May 8, 2018
I placed an order on March 6, 2018 for:
2 Hazelnut Trees
2 Thornless Blackberries
4 Yellow Trumpet Vine
1 Clematis Vine
1 Goji Berry
1 5-n-1 Peach Tree

My credit card was billed immediately, which I don't mind if product ships immediately. But, the generally accepted modern practice is to not bill until shipment.

On Mar 19, I requested an update via their website. I was emailed a notification of my request, but never received a response.

On April 8, I had not yet been given a shipping update nor heard from them at all, and I was tired of waiting. In the interim, I had twice ordered from fast-growing-trees.com and received large, healthy plants within two days of ordering. I emailed Burgess to express my disgust and that if the option was available to please cancel my order and refund my money. The following day, they wrote back:

"We are sorry to hear that you wish to cancel your order. Your request for cancellation will be forwarded to the appropriate department. We will do our best to cancel the order, however, since the order is already in the shipping department we may be unable to cancel before shipping occurs."

Three days later (April 12), I email again to ask whether I will be shipped my order or refunded my money:

"Please update me as to whether my order will be cancelled and refunded or shipped as agreed. If you are going to ship my order, thank you. Please provider an estimated shipping date. If you are not going to ship, please provide an estimated date when I will see my payment refunded to my card."

The following day, I receive this response:

"It an take 1-2 weeks for your request to be processed. Please allow more time."

That doesn't answer my question, had a typo, and was sent via email in Comic Sans. #smh

On April 17, I receive email notification that my order has shipped.

I receive plants on April 24th at approximately 4pm. I'm SHOCKED at what was in the package. With the exception of the goji berry which was in a damaged clamshell package, everything is leafless. The trumpet vines were each in a small baggie of soil, but everything else is bare root. The two hazelnut trees were taped together, and the label on the Peach tree was nearly impossible to remove without damaging the trunk.

This peach tree had no branches. In fact, the only plants with branches were the hazelnut. There are supposed to be 5 varieties of peaches growing from the root stock of the peach tree, and although I can see the 5 graft scars on the trunk, without any actual growth from the grafts, what confidence can I have that *anything* will grow?

I immediately soaked the trees, and had everything planted within 4 or 5 hours of delivery.

In the mailing package were several pieces of junkmail including AARP literature, hearing aid brochures and "money saving coupons." I mean, really? Why?

Bare root trees can die in as little as 30 minutes. How can a week of shipping time even be in the realm of consideration!?

I believe I would have been better off to spend my money somewhere else, ANYWHERE else.

I placed a $200 order with Burgess and before it arrived, I noticed a "free shipping" offer on an ad, so I entered the free shipping code to place one more order. The website took my free shipping code and deducted the price of the shipping. As is my habit whenever I'm buying anything, I took a screen shot of what I ordered to have a record of it before the payment is made. It clearly showed that shipping had been deducted.

When I clicked to complete the order, the website kept taking me to the wrong page, and some weird code popped up. I was very upset since I had spent nearly 2 hours choosing the varieties carefully, in order to take advantage of the free shipping. So I emailed Burgess and sent them a copy of the screen shot.

A representative contacted me the next day and started off with, "You may have pressed the wrong button, because we don't have any free shipping offers going on at the moment." He went on to say that, in effect, I probably did something wrong. He ended by saying, "However, we have had some problems with the website lately, so perhaps you should try later."

He did not offer to honor the shipping discount. He blamed me right off the bat for the problem. At the very least, I would have expected, "I'm very sorry that the shipping code was invalid. If you like, I'll email you the next time we have a free shipping sale." It wouldn't have cost them anything and they would have saved a customer.

I was very angry. I'm a 67 year old female, and not used to impolite customer service reps. So I wrote back and said to please cancel the $200 order that I placed earlier, since I will not do business with a company that blames customers for problems.

To add fuel to the fire, the representative then wrote back and started off with "I don't know what you expected me to say. I gave you the information without rudeness." Well, to be honest, saying that "you don't know what to say" after you blamed the customer for the problem IS RUDE. Don't these service reps know that? He said he would "transfer my request to cancel to the appropriate department."

I've heard nothing back about the cancellation for the past month and I've emailed three times to confirm the cancellation. They have answered none of these three emails. I'm beginning to think they'll still try to ship the items and are just being closed mouth to pretend they didn't get my emails. I'm thoroughly disgusted with them and I haven't even gotten a single item from them yet.

I've ordered plants from Burgess 3 times (3 different years) with pretty good results on the plants other than having Strawberries shipped with spider mite infestations. I've spent hundreds of dollars with them...

This year has been different. Recently I requested that they ship me part of my order that hadn't been shipped out with my other "Garden Supplies" as advertised on their website and in their catalogs. My order was placed Jan 6th. I received part of my order on time, but part never showed. This was the part I requested they ship.

Via email they assured me (Feb 6th) that this would be done. I emailed back and forth with them 3 more times. Product never shipped. Finally after sending 3 more emails that went completely ignored, I called (14 days later exactly). The Girl on the phone was very friendly and told me my order would ship that day and I should receive it by the end of the week. This was a Tuesday and I waited until the following Monday before I tried to contact them again. Of course it Never came.

So 2 more emails to "Customer Care" that went unanswered. Yesterday I called 14 times. 13 of those times the phone was Busy, and the one time I connected they hung up on me. Tried to call them again and busy again.

Yesterday I emailed again, requesting to be contacted by a manager. No return call or email. Yes that's 7 ignored emails. So today I called again. This time I spoke with what had to be the worst customer service person I've ever dealt with. Her name was Liz and she was rude, would not let me speak with management, and never even asked me about my order.

When I said that other customer service people had promised it would ship (I have this in writing) she said they were lying. So either she lied, or the people who sent me 3 emails and spoke with me over the phone previously did. She said the only way I could speak to management would be to write a letter. So write a letter I did. It's in the mail today for Grace Avery (who Liz told me was her manager).

The products this company sells are worth 4 stars. However; This company doesn't care about your business. The people who work there don't care about you. Never been treated this way in 40 years. I wouldn't do business with them again if it were free, because they'd have to pay me for the hassle. I highly recommend avoiding this company

"On Mar 13, 2018 12:06 PM, Burgess Seed responded with:

We are sorry to hear of this customer’s experience as we do take pride in our customer care.

A customer care representative has contacted this customer for further information. We do hope to hear back from the customer as we would like to help resolve this problem

"

I ordered some seeds recently, plus a couple of trees. Then, I saw that there was another tree I wanted, but I didn't want to pay the fixed shipping fee again. So, I logged in online, tried to amend my order, and, not being able to do that, I tried to cancel it and reorder. I was told this can't be done, ... even though I had just made the order. I sent an email to them, no answer, no comment, nothing. Finally, I called them, and the answering person told me that no one at the company reads any emails regarding an order until that order ships. Guess what, my seeds shipped, but I have not heard a thing from them since. I'm hoping they do amend my order, but I'm not hopeful, since their phone answering must be a service, and no one answers emails. If they do not at least email/call regarding my request, I'll pay a lot more in the future instead of depending on this undependable service.

"On Mar 13, 2018 12:09 PM, Burgess Seed responded with:

We are sorry to hear that you were given this misinformation. We do our best to read and answer all emails within 24 hours. A customer care representative has contacted this customer for further information. We do hope to hear back from the customer as we would like to help resolve this problem.

"

Posted on January 17, 2018, updated January 17, 2018
I was planning to order a climbing rose from Burgess that I have wanted for a long time. But I checked here at DG to find LOTS of negative reviews. So I didn't order it. If anyone has ordered this rose, Zephrine Drouhin' and has had a good experience, please post here where you got it from. BTW, I want this rose badly because it can tolerate a somewhat shady spot.

I ordered about 200$ worth of plants last spring. I'm aware that they are shipped bare root. Well my strawberries grew . Also my asparagus roots grew.a couple of my dwarf cherry trees grew. the citrus tree i got for my friend was ok. our yellow christmas cacti were alive on arrival.But everything else I got died i do not know where the invoice went on the bag all my stuff came in went. I do however have my email receipt of what I ordered. Also the rare yellow Christmas cacti. What a joke my friend gave me money for 3 for presents for family and I bought 1. I kept the one that got mostly broken during shipping. Well they are certainly not blooming yellow despite what the tag on the little green container said. They are ALL blooming pink. I emailed them about this and still have not received a response. I didn't expect to get anywhere about my dead planted plants because I cant find plastic shipping label. I dont think i will order from here again. I spent almost 200$ for a pink "yellow" Christmas cactus a citrus tree some asparagus strawberry plants and a couple dwarf cherry trees. If someone contacts me and says they will reship it all in the spring that might change but as of now I am a dissatisfied customer.

"On Dec 11, 2017 3:35 PM, Burgess Seed responded with:

A customer care representative has contacted this customer for further information. We do hope to hear back from the customer as we would like to help resolve this problem"

I called Burgess BEFORE I placed my order to make sure they had everything I wanted. The lady on the phone said if it was in the catalog or on their website, they had it in stock. Being particular on details like I am, I insisted that she verify each item, which she supposedly did.

I also made it PERFECTLY CLEAR on the phone that if I ordered and for ANY reason an item could not be shipped now, I did NOT want any item "back ordered" and I did not want any "substitutions" of any kind, instead I wanted them to just cancel the entire order. The lady on the phone said if I'd send my instructions when I ordered that they would follow them.

So I wrote a long letter in notepad CLEARLY explainng in detail that if my ENTIRE order could not be filled immediately, to CANCEL my ENTIRE order. Then I placed my order for 45 plants. Almost immediately I got an order number, which I immediately copied and pasted into my letter, so there would be no confusion on which order I was referring to, then I copied the whole letter and pasted it into their contact form and sent it. Then I also sent the letter as a reply to my order confirmation email. They should have gotten 2 copies of my instructions within 2 minutes of getting my order.

All of this happened on 10/14/2017, so imagine my surprise when 2 days later on 10/16/2017 I got an email, in response to the email I sent through the contact form, saying that they were going to send a partial order. To paraphrase, they said they would send what they had and I could wait until next year for the rest, whether I liked it or not, and furthermore they would bill my credit card for the entire amount, not just what they had in stock. I couldn't believe it. Keep in mind, that was in response to the email I sent within 2 minutes of placing the order, explicitly FORBIDDING them to charge my credit card unless they could fill the entire order. So, on 10/16/2017, I immediately replied to that email and again VERY STRONGLY told them if they could not fill my ENTIRE order to cancel my ENTIRE order. SEVERAL times since I've VERY STRONGLY stated to them that they were FORBIDDEN to charge my credit card, that I wanted my order immediately cancelled.

On 10/18/2017 I got an email saying that a partial order had been shipped, the rest would be shipped next year, and if I had a problem with that to send a hard copy letter by snail mail to their office manager, Grace Avery, because she didn't do email. What a f'ing joke!! Apparently they think once you send your credit card number they can charge you for stuff that they don't even have and promise to send it some time next year if and when they do get it. I've got news for them though. I talked to a lawyer here already and next week I'll be filing charges of credit card fraud in Bloomington where the company is located. Apparently they think Bloomington Illinois is too far for someone from Nancy Kentucky to reach them.

Just so EVERYONE reading this knows.... If you walk into a store and ask for a blue shirt and a pair of jeans, and the store owner says I have the jeans but not the shirt it is YOUR right to leave without buying either. And if the store owner says I have a red shirt, it's YOUR right to say I don't want red, I want blue like I asked for. The store owner can NOT force you to buy a red shirt, and he can NOT force you to take only the jeans and let him charge your credit card for both and send you the blue shirt when he gets it. If he charges your credit card for ANY thing that you did NOT ask for, or ANY thing that you did NOT walk out the door with, it IS credit card fraud. And the lawyer I spoke with says it works the same way for Internet orders, catalog orders, phone orders, etc.

Burgess seems to think they can "reserve" a right that they don't have. They have ONLY the right to be honest.... to send EXACTLY what you order, when you order it, or else NOT charge your credit card for it. No law or person or belief or anything else gives them the right to do ANY OTHER thing with your money or credit card, unless YOU give them that right. And in my particular case the only "right" that I gave them was to send my ENTIRE order or CANCEL my entire order..... which FORBIDS them to do anything else at all with my credit card, regardless of the non-existent rights they think they have.

Credit card fraud goes WAY beyond a squabble over whether a plant lived or died. My advise to anybody even thinking about ordering from this company is simply, don't. My advise to anybody that thinks they have a case for ANY kind of fraud against this company is to call the McLean county sheriff's office at (309) 888-5034. That's the county Bloomington Illinois is located in, where Burgess does business. If Burgess won't listen to their customers, maybe they'll listen to the law.

Posted on October 6, 2017, updated October 13, 2017
Posted on September 11, 2017, updated October 6, 2017
I ordered some plants last fall figuring if they had a one year warranty at least I could get the plants replaced. As others have said the plants looked dead and some were rotten but I planted them. This year, not surprisingly, very few came up. At the beginning of August I mailed my shipping labels and a printed excel list (including description, sku, and quantity) of almost the whole order since most plants did not grow. Two weeks later I received a letter that I was not clear on what needed to be replaced. I emailed back and forth and sent the same excel list again and asked what more I could possibly give them. They said they would forward it on and get them replaced. Another two weeks have gone by and I received another letter that it is unclear what needs to be replaced. If I ever get replacements it will probably be too late in the year to plant them. Don’t count on the warranty they don’t seem to want to stand by there products.

"On Sep 29, 2017 7:58 AM, Burgess Seed responded with:

A customer care representative has contacted this customer for further information. We do hope to hear back from the customer as we would like to help resolve this problem.

This is a terrible company to buy from. You are not saving any money buying their "bargains". Much better off spending a few more dollars and getting quality plants. Burgess plants arrived dried out and dead; crumbled to the touch. Customer service is a name only; they do absolutely nothing to resolve the issue and you get verbiage straight from their advertising/catalog. Total waste of money.

"On Sep 29, 2017 7:59 AM, Burgess Seed responded with:

We are sorry to hear of this customer’s experience as we do take pride in our customer care. We do have both a refund and a replacement guarantee which is clearly posted on our website and we stand behind them.

A customer care representative has contacted this customer for further information. We do hope to hear back from the customer as we would like to help resolve this problem


"

Posted on August 10, 2017, updated September 5, 2017
Posted on August 6, 2017, updated August 10, 2017
Posted on August 6, 2017, updated August 6, 2017
Posted on March 30, 2011, updated August 6, 2017
This is the first time ,I have ordered from Burgess,,My order was sent very quickly,,The plants were very small,,but alive,,i have planted them in pots ,,They are the citrus collection,,Inside during colder months ,,Out side in the warmer months,,I will order from them again,,

"On Aug 10, 2017 7:32 AM, Burgess Seed responded with:

Many of our items are shipped bare root and dormant as this allows them to be transplanted with much higher degrees of success. It does not mean they are dead, but since they are dormant, and not leafed out, people unfamiliar with bareroot nursery stock may they mistake them for dead. We suggest soaking in water overnight or for a few hours before planting. Then keep well watered after planting and within 6 weeks of warm weather, the plants should break dormancy and show signs of leaf.

We do have both a refund and a replacement guarantee and stand behind them.

A customer care representative has contacted this customer to see if we may be of assistance
"

Ordered 200 Vinca groundcover plants. The firm shipped dead on arrival plants, with ea. 25 plants tied in a knot (apparently from their supplier...that makes trying to untie, separate to get at individual plants....IMPOSSIBLE.). This firm ships using USPS to deliver and if there are lengthy delivery times, this firm tells you to take matter up yourself...with USPS. Twice, it took 7-13 days for my plants (and replacement via warranty) to arrive...All were black, dried out and in summary, DOA. After wasting many hrs. preparing planting area/soil and planting the DOA plants....I then had to spent many hrs. on phone and emails to try and resolve their furnishing unsatisfactory plants. I eventually filed claim with VISA bank card and finally received a refund for my original purchase. Note: The refund was NOT due to any assistance from Burgess....The refund was via only MY documentation and bank card agreeing with me.

I suggest all future possible purchasers rel. this firm, read carefully the many negative reviews on this website. They are accurate!

In march I ordered the fast growing evergreen trees and contacted the company numerous times and I told the item was shipped and I never received the item and the company blames me for not contacting them so they could track the item which does not make since they state in the email i received that if I would have contacted them sooner they could track the item and in the next line they said they have no tracking number and they are going to issue a voucher. STAY AWAY FROM THIS COMPANY AND LISTEN TO THE BAD REVIEWS i IGNORED THE REVIEWS AND GOT SCAMMED. If you order and have to call customer service they have no one that can or will make a decision. I urge as many people as i can email the attorney general of illinois to investigate the company. Last attempt to contact by phone as told to send back the voucher and request a refund and they might authorize it.

"On Jul 26, 2017 10:53 AM, Burgess Seed responded with:

We are sorry to hear of this customers experience as we do take pride in our customer care. An email with a tracking number is now sent to the customer when the order has shipped. This way the customer has the ability to track the order. We have contacted this customer via D-mail to see how we may be of assistance."

2 of the plants I received were dead twigs, I watered them and waited months hoping they would show some sign of reviving and growing leaves, no they instead became brittle and I knew they were dead. I contacted their customer service and they said I would have to ship them back to them and must have the original shipping label, which was discarded months ago. No plant company I have ever dealt with unless it was a local nursery, has this kind of rule. I told them forget it, they lost a customer, as who wants to, even if I still had the original shipping label, who wants to dig up dead plants and ship them back. I would never buy from them again.

"On Jul 14, 2017 10:49 AM, Burgess Seed responded with:

We are sorry if this customer misunderstood. You do not need to return the dead plants when requesting replacement. A customer care representative has contact this customer for further information. We do have a 1 year replacement guarantee on all of our plants and do hope that the customer takes advantage of this guarantee."

This company is difficult to deal with. Late one evening I placed and order for raspberry stock which I decided to cancel the following morning. I have contacted the company multiple times regarding my decision to cancel the order. They can't even track the order with their own order number!

This company asserts they have no method to cancel a 12 hour old order, however they stock wasn't shipped to me until 5 days after the original order was placed.

In addition I am quite dubious that the sorry dead sticks that were sent could possibly be revived to become viable raspberry vines. A huge waste of $50+. Although they claim to have a warranty in place that allows me to return the stock, it will be at my own expense, a senseless trip to the PO, and there was no return label in the packet shipped. All in all an unpleasant experience.

"On Jul 6, 2017 2:51 PM, Burgess Seed responded with:

We are sorry to hear of this customers experience. It does become very difficult to cancel an order once entered into processing. We do have a refund guarantee and we have contacted this customer via D-mail to see how we may be of assistance."

I ordered numerous roses and trees from this company in March. They all arrived in questionable condition. So I watered and planted immediately and everything is blooming and or growing. Fortunately, in South Jersey you can plant a dead stick and it will grow.

At this point I would have gone with a positive review.

I only had one minor issue, the red rose that I ordered turned out to be white. I did not discover this until it bloomed 3 months later. Needless to say, by then I had tossed the shipping label out.

So I called them to get the correct rose. Here we go, they want the shipping label. Because the order/invoice on their website is not sufficient proof that I placed an order. Well then how did it ever get there?

They want me to start jumping through hoops to get the correct $6.00 rose. The representative told me to snail mail them a letter stating the above, a picture of the rose (which is no longer in bloom) as well as a bank statement showing payment to them.

Lets talk rational for a moment. The order and payment information is available to them on the backend of their website. They can also check with their payment processer. I run a website, I know. They would spend less time answering phones and dealing with disgruntled buyers if they elected to serve their customers.

So why are they doing it. There is only one reason.

Their demands are designed to frustrate you and nothing more. Most people don't have the time or inclination to jump through all the hoops. So they let it go.

What I find fascinating is that this company can't comprehend that frustrating buyers is counter productive to business.

Congratulations this negative review is well deserved. The sad thing is it could have, should have, been positive. I would have been a repeat customer. For what a $6.00 rose. DUH!

"On Jul 6, 2017 2:54 PM, Burgess Seed responded with:

We are sorry to hear of this customer’s experience as we do take pride in our customer care. We do have both a refund and a replacement guarantee which is clearly posted on our website and we stand behind them.

A customer care representative has contacted this customer for further information. We do hope to hear back from the customer as we would like to help resolve this problem"

My aunt ordered a gift for me from this company- two mulberry plants. The plants arrived bare-root without any protective coverings in a plastic bag- they were dry and brittle and damaged in shipping. What a waste.

"On Jun 15, 2017 1:43 PM, Burgess Seed responded with:

Many of our items are shipped bare root and dormant as this allows them to be transplanted with much higher degrees of success. It does not mean they are dead, but since they are dormant, and not leafed out, people unfamiliar with bareroot nursery stock may they mistake them for dead. We suggest soaking in water overnight or for a few hours before planting. Then keep well watered after planting and within 6 weeks of warm weather, the plants should break dormancy and show signs of leaf.

We do have both a refund and a replacement guarantee and stand behind them.

A customer care representative has contacted this customer to see if we may be of assistance


"

Don't trust this company or it's affiliated companies....while they do replace their plants if they don't grow the first year....they don't guarantee that their plants will grow once you plant them even if you follow their planting instructions to the letter. Shipping bare root stock without proper protection leaves the roots subject to damage by the USPS when they are shipped in plastic bags and once planted their chances of survival are poor. I will never deal with this company again and advise all gardeners to steer clear of their scam business practices.

"On Jun 15, 2017 1:47 PM, Burgess Seed responded with:

We are sorry to hear of this customers experience. We do have a refund and replacement guarantee available. We have contacted this customer via D-mail to see how we may be of assistance"

Early in 2016 I ordered 24 Canadian Hemlock to form a hedge and send a message to my noisy neighbor. They arrived the last day of March and were promptly planted. I thought late March was a bit premature for NE Ohio but nonetheless they were in the ground and off to a healthy start. Two weeks later a freak but not uncommon snow storm hit the area. In the coming weeks I watched as each of plants died off. I contacted Burgess. I rec'd some conflicting info like a postcard that promised replacement plants in the Fall. Later I rec'd a refund certificate, only redeemable for merchandise. I reordered the Hemlock in mid-April 2017 and here it is mid-May when the replacement plants showed up. Upon opening I noticed the plants looked considerably different. A small strip of paper wrapped around the plants noted these were "substitute". I now have no recourse but to spend a day planting a hedge row that I really don't want. All Burgess related material will now go directly into the circular file. Very dissatisfied.

"On May 31, 2017 8:41 AM, Burgess Seed responded with:

A customer care representative has contacted this customer for further information. If a subsititute was received we do not ask that you return the product if you would like a refund or to be put on the waiting list to receive the item when it is available again.

We do hope to hear back from the customer as we would like to help resolve this problem."

THEY SELL INVASIVE SPECIES for profit! What reputable nursery actively ships autumn olive all over the country? Disgusting!

WARNING: If you close the account you paid with,
EVEN AFTER RETURNING ALL MERCHANDISE,
you will not get a refund.

THIS COMPANY IS HEARTLESS! Flowers are a symbol of love and life, and this company has taken the death of my mother in law as an opportunity to benefit their bottom line.

My mother in law placed a $600+ dollar order the week before her death. When the first box arrived a few days after she passed away I returned the box and contacted the company to let them know it was being returned and why. I asked them to please cancel any remaining shipments and was informed that 5 other boxes had just shipped. I told the representative that those boxes would be returned as well once they arrived.

This company uses MANY names. Dutch Gardens (the name I ordered from) refunded the contents of the first box, but when I called to find out why the other 5 boxes hadn't been refunded, the representative confirmed that all the merchandise had been returned, but told me that the company would only refund to the debit card that paid and since the debit card was no longer valid (checking account had been closed due to death) they had no way to refund the orders. I requested they issue a check to the estate, or simply give store credit for the remaining amount. I was told that the request would be forwarded on the the appropriate person.

It has now been 9 months, I have called several times, and each time I am told the request for refund has been made, but the company stands by their policy of not refunding returned orders if they are unable to refund to the card that placed the order.

Basically, this company does not dispute the fact that they received this entire order back. They simply refuse to issue a refund in any form other than to credit a debit card that is not valid, and won't accept a charge or credit.

I wish I had kept the plants and spread them around to her many gardener friends and planted some of them with my girls in our own garden to remember their grandma by. I was just so overwhelmed by the unexpected death that anything other than returning the boxes seemed more than I could manage.

The death of a loved one is a very emotional and exhausting time, and this company has made what should have been very easy, a difficult and enduring challenge.

Positive experience, positive feedback. Ordered peony trees in the beginning of April, received in beginning of May (not a problem!) , they are saying on website about delivery time, it’s depends on weather, what zone you are, what zone they are, plants condition and other “plant related things”.
It’s not like you ordered something that can be shipped at any time, it is live thing – plant, so you have to adjust to it. I worked with plants for many-many years and I knew they will deliver when they are ready and weather and plants are ready.
So, I waited, checked with customer service email couple times, got very nice response back, and checked again like 10-15 days later, got update. And I received what I ordered, in great condition, all alive, nice size plants, not just something started this year, peony has good roots, leaf buds, all packed nice, roots are in plastic bags , not dry. I planted them and now couple days later they are doing fine, hope they all will stay.
One thing I can say : do not rush delivery, it’s not like you ordered table or clothes, it may not come next week. And think a little about people who are working there – 100 years in business! It’s not 5,10 or 50 years, with bad plants and bad service they will not be able to survive, so …
And they are taking good care of plants, they are not sending them right away, we all in different states, weather, temperature...
And different plants has different sensitivity, or how to say that…Some will survive trip, some not so good, some will not…We cannot be sure…the same with seeds, we are not sitting inside the seed to know if it will grow or not. So, it’s like a lottery, a little.
When I don’t want to wait or to take a chance, I am going to nursery, one or other; they will have what I want , eventually.
Plants are in pots and nice condition…the only thing is – they can die also.

All the Best to All Gardeners!

"On May 17, 2017 10:12 AM, Burgess Seed responded with:

Thank you for your kind posting on Garden Watchdog. Your experience is more typical of our normal customers as we do ship hundreds of thousands of packages to satisfied customers each year. We just wanted to thank you for taking the time to post your comments."

I placed an order for strawberry plants, blueberry plants, and several trees. Having lived in east central Illinois for a long time including college and graduate school I assumed a company from the area would be a reputable one. I couldn't have been more mistaken! Long after planting time had passed my order still showed processing so I called to find out when it would ship. The woman I spoke with at the call center was incredibly rude but did indicate that cancellations had to be in writing or via email. So I sent an email which was completely ignored. A few days later I sent another email which took them several days in which to reply. Much to my dismay a day after they replied the first half of the order arrived. The plants were in a terrible state. One of the treed was in a plastic box that crushed all of the leaves at the top. That was the best of the lot.

I immediately called and was told I would have to pay to send their dead plants back to them but that I should wait until the rest of the order arrived. So I wouldn't have to pay twice to send their compost quality items back to them. The day the first half of the order arrived, it was still listed as not yet shipped on their website!

I certainly will never do business with them again. It is impossible to actually speak to anyone at Burgess. All calls go to a call center staffed by unprofessional rather rude people. I did speak to one person who was actually polite but one out of 4 does not speak well even of their call center.

Supposedly you can write to someone named Grace Avery but after all my interactions with this company I doubt that is an actual person. More likely that it is the name to give out so you know which mail is a complaint.

Bottom line poor quality plants and even worse quality company.

"On May 17, 2017 10:14 AM, Burgess Seed responded with:

We are sorry to hear of this customer’s experience as we do take pride in our customer care. We do have both a refund and a replacement guarantee which is clearly posted on our website and we stand behind them.

A customer care representative has contacted this customer for further information. We do hope to hear back from the customer as we would like to help resolve this problem
"

Ordered plants & seeds over a month ago; website indicated shipping would be 2-3 weeks. My inquiry email was met with a rude response that there was 1 day left to be 3 weeks. No shipping date.

Called - it is now over a month - and asked if my order was shipped and if not, when will it be shipped.

Answer: no idea, but they expect it will be soon, probably, maybe.

Contacting my credit card company to reverse payment so I can cancel order.

I should have read the reviews before I placed an order with Burgess - this was my first & last experience.

"On May 17, 2017 10:30 AM, Burgess Seed responded with:

We are sorry to hear of this problem. It does state on our site to allow 1-2 weeks for the order to process. The orders are then shipped based upon weather and availablity.

We have contacted this customer via D-mail to see how we may be of assistance."

This company is nothing but a joke. I ordered 2 roses and the order came in a plastic bag and both "bushes" were broken in several places. I was told by the company to plant them anyway. So I did, and I wound up with bushes that were much smaller than they would have been, but they grew. When they bloomed, they weren't at all what I ordered... not even close. I emailed and they said I had to have my original shipping label. Why would I still have that?
Then after a little more back and forth with them, they agreed to make an exception on the shipping label if I provided them with my CC statement proving I paid for them.

Are you KIDDING me? Is this a JOKE? You want me to disclose all my financial transactions to you so you can verify something you should already have in your records? I mean, you keep records of your business, right? I even sent them my receipt in the email and they said they could only do it via snailmail. OK, now I know there's something wrong with these guys. I mean, who does business on the internet and won't take one of their own order receipts as proof? Just check it against your system to make sure it's accurate. No dice. They won't budge. Either I disclose all my financial information in my CC statement or I can't get the plants I ordered.

Nobody is this dumb. This business has to be a scam. I've now seen some of the other reviews on this site and one of them said that customer service said things had to be one via snailmail because the manager didn't use phone or email? Do they think we're morons? Who refuses to use a phone?

I order things from dozens of other sites all the time, many of them nurseries and I've never been treated this way. And I see that their customer service has come on here many times to say they're sorry and that they take pride in their customer service, etc. That's garbage. Nobody who takes pride in their customer service tells you to physically write them a letter because their boss doesn't ever use a phone or email. Nobody who has good service makes you save a shipping label for months on end until you're sure the order is right. Nobody who has good service expects you to dig up plants and pay to ship them back. Nobody who has good service expects you to disclose all of your financial transactions to prove you bought something when they should have a record of the transaction themselves. Nobody who's proud of their service sends live plants in a plain plastic bag so it can be crushed. Nobody who has good service takes weeks to answer an email.

This company is a fraud and I guarantee you that's why they have to do business under to many names. And I'm sure that someone from customer service will come on and give the same boiler plate crap about being sorry that things went poorly, blahblahblah. I don't care. If you were really sorry you would actually do something about it. I don't believe it for a second. I can see through that kind of cover-up. Get a negative review, and then go online and make a semi-contrite statement to make it look like you're actually handling the problem. It's the formula for controlling damage without having to do anything about it.

So Burgess, if you're thinking of writing a reply to this review, put it in a letter with a written copy of the review you're replying to and send it to the owners of this site.

"On May 17, 2017 10:37 AM, Burgess Seed responded with:

We are sorry to hear of the problems with this customers order.

Our guarantee regarding replacement is as follows:
If any item you purchased from us does not live, or if you are certain that your plants are dead, for a FREE REPLACEMENT just RETURN THE ORIGINAL SHIPPING LABEL along with your written request within 1 year of receipt. Replacement guarantee is VOID unless the original shipping label is returned.

This is stated on our website, on email confirmation as well as on the label itself. We assure you this is not a scam and we stand behind our guarantee.

We have contacted the customer via D-mail to try to help with this situation.
"

I was pleasantly surprised to receive my Burgess order today. I placed an order for one lemon tree, one dwarf banana tree, and 10 asparagus roots. Based on the negative reviews I had read on the internet, I expected my trees to be "dead" and scraggly. Yes, they are small, but they both have beautiful green leaves and a healthy root system. I planted them right away and have them in my little outdoor greenhouse now. I'm hoping for the best.

My asparagus roots look like...roots. :) But, they are healthy enough they are even trying to grow through the plastic package they came in. I do not know how they will all grow or how it will turn out, but I got more than I expected, and I'm hopeful I'll get a good return on my investment.

"On May 17, 2017 10:12 AM, Burgess Seed responded with:

Thank you for your kind posting on Garden Watchdog. Your experience is more typical of our normal customers as we do ship hundreds of thousands of packages to satisfied customers each year. We just wanted to thank you for taking the time to post your comments."

I am going to sound like a broken record!! I should have read reviews BEFORE I ordered from Burgess. But as you all know their plants are gorgeous IN THEIR CATALOG!! What you receive is completely different, twigs and roots. I NEVER would have ordered from them knowing what I would receive. First, my order-there were 3 "live" plants, poker primrose. They were beat up, crushed and a mess, maybe 1 might survive, but it looks terrible-only $8.79!!! 1 lavender plant was missing, and calling them plants isn't really correct, twigs and roots, and 2 lily of the valley plants were missing!! I did plant the twigs/roots about 10 days ago, 1/28 looks ok, 8/28 have a bit of green showing. Bottom line, after contacting Burgess, they told me to wait 6 WEEKS, to request replacements!! Do you really want to wait 6 weeks to get your garden going?!?!? And you have to send them your shipping label, you've got to be kidding, don't they know what they shipped and to whom. So for $48+, I may get a couple of actual plants!! Go to a LOCAL garden store, give them the business AND if your plants don't live or thrive, they will replace them without all the hassles and waiting. I think Burgess is a rip off and would NEVER order from them again.

"On Apr 24, 2017 12:37 PM, Burgess Seed responded with:

Many of our items are shipped bare root and dormant as this allows them to be transplanted with much higher degrees of success. It does not mean they are dead, but since they are dormant, and not leafed out, people unfamiliar with bareroot nursery stock may they mistake them for dead. We suggest soaking in water overnight or for a few hours before planting. Then keep well watered after planting and within 6 weeks of warm weather, the plants should break dormancy and show signs of life.

If the items were received crushed in the mail we do not ask that you wait the 6 weeks. We do have both a refund and a replacement guarantee and stand behind them.

A customer care representative has contacted this customer to see if we may be of assistance
"

I wish I had read these reviews before ordering! Ordered 1st of March, called at the end of the first week to get tracking info. They told me to wait two weeks to process the order. I have been waiting almost 2 months and have nothing. I called today and asked when they would ship and they said they had "no idea"....gah! How can they run a business like this? At the very least they can send email updates in case something is backordered or not available. Just taking the money and providing no information is just shady and inexcusable in this modern age of computers. Even a form letter would do, something....anything! To just take peoples money and refuse to give them product or communication is just criminal. Glad I'm only out $100 but still an expensive lesson learned. Let's see if I ever get any plants, I really wanted to do a lot of business with these folks, their catalog was so wonderful. :(

"On Apr 24, 2017 12:35 PM, Burgess Seed responded with:

It does state the following on our website:

"Please allow 1-2 weeks for your order to be processed. We will then ship based on weather and availability of the plants."

We are still getting a lot of nursery stock in from the fields and are shipping as soon as the plants are prepared.

A customer care representative has contacted this customer for further information.
"

order # 34716368 Included seven roses and two types of watermelon. One rose was delivered dead and the remaining six roses were very scrawnier sticks with some tiny leaves. Arkansas has mild winters but I just dug up four of the roses that are dead. So 5 out of seven died in a year. Watermelon I had two runts. Not enough to eat.

Replaced the five dead roses with healthy bare root roses from Home depot. Have done this in the past but thought I would get "exceptional" plants from Burgess Seed and Plant Co. WRONG - Stick with what works.

"On Apr 24, 2017 12:33 PM, Burgess Seed responded with:

A customer care representative has contact this customer for further information. We do have a 1 year replacement guarantee on all of our plants and do hope that the customer takes advantage of this guarantee.
"

I have ordered several years from Burgess a couple plants at a time. They all were received "dormant" and never did anything. To be completely honest I didn't take great care of them so I didn't contact the company regarding their guarantee. However, last year we had just moved into a new house on 10 acres and I needed a lot of plants to put in several areas. I was unsure about ordering from them but I needed so many items and their prices were a lot less expensive so I order about $200 worth of plants and I was very careful about planting, watering, etc NONE of them grew. I was very disappointed however, I did keep all of the packing information and have sent it to them regarding replacements. So far, I have not heard anything back. I am waiting to give them time to send me replacements before posting a negative.

Sharon Dozier
St. Stephens Church, VA

"On Apr 24, 2017 12:31 PM, Burgess Seed responded with:

We are sorry to hear of this customers experience. We do have a replacement guarantee available. We have contacted this customer via D-mail to see how we may be of assistance."

We wanted to order cucumber seeds but had a question. The book simply listed as small or large packets. No information on how many ounces. We tried calling multiple times and only got a busy signal.

Decided to just order the large packet online. The item finally arrived and the envelope only had maybe 10-15 seeds! The purchase for the seeds only was over $20 with $10 shipping fee. I emailed for an explanation and never got a response. Phone line is still busy.

This company is ripping people off! Not just the price they charge for the seeds, but even the shipping fee of $10? Postage on their envelope to send them to us states 99 cents!

We normally order from another company and spend hundreds of dollars with them and only went to this one as a "test". I can tell you that they will NEVER GET A SINGLE DIME FROM US AGAIN. I ALSO PLAN TO TELL EVERYONE I KNOW HOW DISHONEST THEY ARE!

"On Apr 24, 2017 12:29 PM, Burgess Seed responded with:

A customer care representative has contacted this customer for further information. We do hope to hear back from the customer as we would like to help resolve this problem"

I placed an order with Burgess Seed for several things including vegetable seeds, strawberries, and multiple flowers on March 9, 2017. I did not read reviews on the company prior to purchasing, my mistake. I received the vegetable seeds in the mail a few days ago but have yet to receive the strawberry plants or other flowers I ordered. I have emailed the company.to request an expected delivery date of my order. I live in NC and the strawberry plants should have been planted already. No respone to my initial email. I sent an additional email advising if the original strawberry plant I ordered was unavailable it would be acceptable to exchange for another. Still no response. I attempted to call them multiple times on Saturday only to receive a busy signal each time. The status of my order online only states received and not yet shipped. After spending a significant sum with this company I am concerned I may not get my remaining order

"On Apr 24, 2017 12:27 PM, Burgess Seed responded with:

We are sorry to hear of this customer’s experience as we do take pride in our customer care. As many know the weather this year has been very unpredictable. While it may be warm in your location we have to take into consideration the transit. We want to make sure the plants reach our customers in the best condition possible.

A customer care representative has contacted this customer for further information. We do hope to hear back from the customer as we would like to help resolve this problem
"

I placed an order for strawberry plants with Burgess on 03/12/2017 based on the reviews by a producer of a YouTube video. I had not checked the online reviews...my bad. Burgess states that they ship in early March to the southern states. I live in Texas and received my order within 3 weeks on April 1st. My order was complete and in apparently good shape. I transplanted the strawberry plants to net cups for the hydroponic system we are building. I placed them in tubs with nutrient solution and my the next morning they were already looking great. So I can state unequivocally based on how the plants are responding that they were in good shape when they arrived and were ready to be planted.
My one and only complaint is that Burgess doesn't keep the order status up to date and I had to call to find out the actual status of my order. Every time I checked it only said "Received". The only time they responded to an email was when I sent an email to tell them they could substitute a different variety of strawberry if they could not fill my entire order with the variety I had ordered. I emailed another time after I had read the negative reviews and after checking my order status....again. I stated that I feared I might not get my order as promised, but they shockingly never responded to that one. LOL. I noticed they are open on Saturdays so I called this past Saturday and spoke to a man who told me that my order had been shipped. Really? Not according to the website so I asked for the FedEx tracking number and was given two. Then I checked FedEx tracking and lo and behold they were in my mailbox according to the tracking information. The Friday postal carrier did not deliver my order even though it was in their possession so it stayed an extra night at the post office but that is something I will have to resolve with them.
At this point I don't know if I will order again from Burgess or from their myriad sister companies that are all owned by Gardens Alive. It seems like most of them have negative reviews. Maybe they are too big to care about the individual customer. The least they could do if they are that big is to hire people who will respond to emails, update the status of orders, AND send customers the tracking information so we don't have to call and ask for that too.

"On Apr 7, 2017 10:35 AM, Burgess Seed responded with:

We are sorry to hear of this customer’s experience as we do take pride in our customer care and try to answer emails within 24 hours.

We do assure you that we care about our customers which is why we do have the guarantee available. While we are associated with other sister companies we are not associated with Gardens Alive.

Please feel free to contact us at any time as we would be happy to keep you updated on the status of the orders."

Schlocky customer service that doesn't appear to really put great emphasis on customer care or satisfaction. I can't comment about quality of plants because I never got mine. I placed an order at the beginning of March for bare root trees. I was fine with them saying the order would take 1-2 weeks to be processed. Okay, it's their policy, I reasoned. Then a few days later I saw my credit card had been charged. Possibly my order had been processed and had been shipped, I thought. I called a few days later and asked the status. I was told the order was still processing. I explained that because my credit card had been charged, I thought my order was at least processed. No, they said, the order was still processing. The next day I received a slight glimmer of hope. An email from customer care arrived, stating that they had started to ship to my zone, and I should receive the order within the following week. Great! Apparently the order was processed, and things were moving along. Well, the anticipated week of arrival came and went. Curious as to what was going on, I called. I was told my order "might" ship within 2-3 weeks. The customer service rep claimed she had no way of knowing where my order was, when it would be shipped, or who I could speak to to find out. I then said I would cancel the order, and would do so through our email correspondence. Quite simply, something just wasn't "right" with all of this. After not getting a confirmation of the cancelled order, I called yet again. On that occasion I was told to call back in 2-3 weeks. Finally I just called my bank and explained what happened to the bank. A dispute was filed and the bank dealt with them to have my refund issued. I won't be ordering anything ever from this nursery again. Terrible experience. Caveat emptor concerning Burgess Seed.

"On Apr 7, 2017 10:14 AM, Burgess Seed responded with:

Our website does state 1-2 weeks to process and then the orders are shipped based upon weather and availability. We are currently shipping hard goods and seeds to all areas. We have begun to ship nursery stock to the warmer climates and are working our way to the cooler climates as weather permits.

A customer care representative has contacted this customer for further information. We do hope to hear back from the customer as we would like to help resolve this problem"

I ordered some stuff from Burgess last spring over half my purchases were either dead or died shortly after planting. I did as told wrote letter sent with order form asking for voucher not same order replacement because I needed apple tree sooner to pollinate other tree I already had didn't want risk another dead stick that would not grow or take forever to help. They sent replacement dead apple stick and more dead phlox. I called explained again the problem wrote another letter requesting voucher not replacement thinking I would be better off using it to get vegetable seeds instead of dead plants. This time they did send voucher. So I waited for spring catalog and ordered 17 packs
of seeds on February 9th . About 4 weeks got half seeds ok. I called ask about other half and was told call back every week find out when they will be shipped. So I call a few times not shipped. Then was told they were just waiting on one pepper seed that just came in should ship couple of days. Ok I call back after about a week and they can't tell me why not shipped yet. It is now March 27 the and I call and they say now they were just waiting on one lettuce seeds and should ship couple days. Being that they are a seed company you would think they know we need 8-12 weeks to have them ready to go out. I am 3-4 weeks from time put out plants. So I guess I will have to go buy plants from local nursery which will cost much more than had I just grabbed seeds from store before now. So yeah I am pretty mad!

"On Apr 7, 2017 10:10 AM, Burgess Seed responded with:

Many of our items are shipped bare root and dormant as this allows them to be transplanted with much higher degrees of success. It does not mean they are dead, but since they are dormant, and not leafed out, people unfamiliar with bareroot nursery stock may they mistake them for dead. We suggest soaking in water overnight or for a few hours before planting. Then keep well watered after planting and within 6 weeks of warm weather, the plants should break dormancy and show signs of leaf.


A customer care representative has contacted this customer to see if we may be of assistance
"

I received all products ordered over a few weeks. They explained in their catalog it would take a while to ship all ordered to Florida. No problems with anything. All onion starts, shallot starts, garlic starts, in excellent condition and are all taking off already in the garden. Robust and healthy!The best onion starts were the candy apple red ones. I have ordered from Burgess in the past and have never had any issues. This most recent order was also good and I had no problems. Thanks, Burgess!!

One of the worst retail experiences of my life! I ordered four trees from the company. They came wrapped in plastic and were like twigs, not trees. The trees were the diameter of a pencil.

I planted these in Oregon - where the weather is not that cold or harsh - despite this, they all died after 5 months. I ordered other trees from a different company and they were all MUCH thicker and healthier looking and they all lived and are starting to show signs of early spring growth already.

The worst part was my experience afterward.... I called 8-10 times and received a busy signal each time. When they finally reached them, they insisted that I send the shipping label back for a refund. Who saves a shipping label for 5 months??? When I told them I did not have that, they told me I needed to get a receipt from my credit card company and mail in a letter asking for new trees. I told them that their trees were poor quality and were like twigs compared to other companies, they lady on the phone LAUGHED !?@!@

No email service available, hard to reach by phone. Poor product and a customer service that literally laughed at my dissatisfaction. I mailed in my request with credit card statements and am waiting for a refund, I suggest avoiding this company at all costs!!!!

"On Apr 7, 2017 10:08 AM, Burgess Seed responded with:

We are sorry to hear of this customer’s experience as we do take pride in our customer care. We do have both a refund and a replacement guarantee which is clearly posted on our website and we stand behind them. We do also have a customer service email that is available and typically answered within 24 hours.

A customer care representative has contacted this customer for further information. We do hope to hear back from the customer as we would like to help resolve this problem
"

I've always had good luck with Burgess. Last year I ordered 4 shrubs. All were a bit scraggly and slow to emerge, but that has been my usual experience with bare root plants. The all lived through the season and I expect to see them back this spring.

Similar to a review further below, I created a log in just to give a positive review to this company and the Direct Gardening family of companies. I also saw a lot of reviews about people being unsatisfied with the return policy, with the quality of the plants, shipping timing, etc. I took a chance on purchasing 2 different variety of blackberry bushes, hydrangea trees, strawberries, and grape vines, along with the free gifts. I've ordered a variety of live plants from other sites, and was very pleased with the pricing, timeliness of shipping, return policy, and quality of plants from this company, and will be placing a larger order this spring. Most of the plants I purchased have already come out of dormancy (unseasonably warm winter unfortunately, hope they make it when the cold weather hits), and have thrived. The company is very clear about their return policy (which is the best return policy I've seen with online nurseries) and the fact that the plants are dormant, and you can't reasonably expect full size, fruiting plants when you're buying 3 blackberries for $5. They shipped much quicker and much more affordably than a lot of other sites that I ordered from (I waited 5 months for some grape vines from a different company that gets great reviews here). To anyone that wants to try this company, please do so (after educating yourself about the return and dormancy policy)! I continue to tell everyone about how great these companies are to garden on a budget. To be fair, I have not had to deal much with their customer service (outside of a few questions, which are answered promptly), but the majority of the reviews I see are from being either uneducated about their policies, or unrealistic about the size/immediate liveliness of the plants.

"On Jan 20, 2017 8:37 AM, Burgess Seed responded with:

Thank you for your kind posting on Garden Watchdog. Your experience is more typical of our normal customers as we do ship hundreds of thousands of packages to satisfied customers each year. I just wanted to thank you for taking the time to post your comments."

I placed an order for over 60 various bare-root plants with this company in the spring. After placing the order, I read a number of negative reviews on the company, so i really didn't expect much to show up. When the plants arrived I planted them right away. Approximately 70% of the plants began growing and still look fine. 30% of the plants never showed any signs of growth (including some items they substituted for out-of-stock plants). I mailed them the packing label and requested replacement plants in the fall, To my surprise, I received all the replacement plants, including the originally requested out-of-stock plants, within 3 weeks. I will have to wait until spring to find out if the replacements survive. So far, so good.