Comments regarding Park Seed Company (aka Park's Gardens)

I placed my order on 12/28/2008, was charged the full amount of $348.42 on my credit card. It is now 2/27/2009 and I have only received $78.12 of merchandise. I have been very patient and not called until this week (2 months) to inquire about my remaining order, however seed starting time is approaching and I need this order. I will never deal with this sorry a** company ever again.

If anyone from Park seed is reading this, let it be known “You just lost a very valuable customer”. I will be getting my stuff from Lowes’, Home Depot and my local garden center.

Park Seed I hope you made good interest off my money you thieves.

I placed an order on 2/5, after over a week of seeing "in stock and reserved" I sent an inquiry as to the status. The following day I received a return email stating there was a problem with my credit card. The email gave me two numbers to call. I contacted my credit card company and they informed me that the incorrect 3 digit pin was used and that is why the charge was refused. I called the 800 number; the recorded message said it was the credit card department. Left a message with my order number and the correct pin. I also responded to the email stating I had left a message with the corrected information and requested an email confirmation that the order would now be processed.

As of this past Saturday I had received no response and the order status still says processed yet there is no charge posted on my discover card. That leads me to believe that the order is still in limbo status.

Last year I ordered from this company and it seemed to take an exceedingly long time for the order to be processed and shipped. Their service is considerable worse than my experience with other Internet stores I've used. I thought last year might be a fluke and decided to give Parks another chance. I can't understand why if there was a issue with the credit card when I placed an order, it was not until I asked Parks for status was I told the charge was refused (business must be good if they can let orders hang until the customer asks status). There prices are low, but I guess it's another example of you get what you pay for. Buyers beware.

I ordered a bunch of stuff in November, hoping to give a seed starting bio dome as a gift. Everything was listed as "Ships Now". I received the Biodomes in early February. I also ordered some butternut squash seeds at the same time, listed as "Ships Now" also. I have yet to receive them. On the website, it still says "Ships Now". On my order it says "to be shipped," which is Park Seed talk for "not in stock". I have called to inquire many times, each time given some shipping date that comes and goes and no seeds. Planting starts indoors in a couple weeks. I have spent a good amount of money at Park. Those dollars will now go to other sources like Baker Creek.

Not a fan, significantly lower germination rates then Johnny Seeds, slow shipping and deceptive "in-stock" status', young plants were anemic and never took very well. All-in-all there are better options out there.

Placed an order for 10 different items, being careful to select ONLY in-stock seeds.

Right after placing the order, it shows 2 of the items as "To be shipped" instead of "In-stock" ! Questionable to say the least...
Same thing happened last year, so it's not an isolated incident (definitively not, seeing the number of negative reviews here!).

Writing about this produced a weird canned answer, 2 days later -- but no explanation or solution.

The web site design is great, but unfortunately, it stops there. I wasted time (and probably money) and have to re-order my seeds elsewhere.

Not doing business there anymore.

Ordered a heating mat and thermostat controller online on January 28, 2009. Both items showed "SHIPS NOW" on Park's web page. Order total over $100 bucks. Park charged my credit card right away. Checked order status on Feb. 6 and it said "To Be Shipped." Sent email inquiry on Feb. 6 and received reply on Feb. 10, saying items are on back-order and estimate "replacements" may be available "likely in 7 - 10 business days. I placed the order with Park because the items were listed as "Ships Now." Park IS STILL SHOWING the item as "SHIPS NOW."

I will do without rather than order from Park again.

On January 18th, I placed an order which included various vegetable and flower seeds, 2 bags of refills for my BioDome, and a heat mat. I received the veggie seeds and some of the flower seeds, as well as the BioDome refills in a timely manner. The other flower seed (a Cosmos) and the heat mat were not shipped. Well, now I have an e-mail from them that they are shipping the packet of Cosmos (at a big whopping $.95 that some carrier will have to bring to my house) but still no heat mat. I just e-mailed them to tell them how silly I thought sending ONE packet of seeds was and to cancel the rest of my order, which is the heat mat. It does me no good to have the growing medium and the seeds, but not the heat mat. I will not do any more business with them!

I placed an order 5504072 on 12/31/08 for several flower seeds. The website said they all ship immediately. A week later I received all but 1. The order status says in stock. My credit card was charged. So I e-mailed them and they said 5-7 days I should have it. Last week I e-mailed them again because I still hadn't received them. Five days later they e-mail me back and say 2 and a half to 3 more weeks. That makes it Feb 16th for something that ships immediately. I will never order from them again. Then I read on here poor germination. I hope I have better luck. I also work in sales and it is our busy time to and 5 days is really unacceptable to e-mail someone back with a question on there order.

I placed an order for 2 types of Algroflash fertilizer (4 bottles) on or about 9/30/08 and got a reciept that they would ship immediately.
My charge card was charged for the full amount.

I emailed a bit later when I didn't see anything ship and was told that the fertilizer was not available but would be sent shortly. They did ship 2 of the 4 bottles. Since this time I have been trying to get this resolved. I finally gave up last month and asked for my money back. They have said in one email that the refund would take 30 business days as they were not set up to process refunds. A subsequent one said that they had posted a partial refund and the rest would show up shortly. No refunds have been posted on my credit account.

They took my money 4 months ago and have not made me whole yet. Do not order from this unscrupulous company.

I placed an online order in early January 2009. I received an order confirmation that everything was available as "ships now". After several days, I checked order 5506730 online and saw that most of the items were marked as "In Stock and reserved", with two items marked as "to be shipped".

I waited several more days and checked online again online to find that there was no change in status. When I called, I discovered that all shipments were on hold due to inventory and would be held for several more days and that two of the items I'd ordered were actually backordered with unknown availability.

I'm rating negative since there was no indication that my order would be held for at least two weeks or that there was a backorder on any items. Had I known the seeds weren't available for shipping immediately I would have ordered elsewhere. The seeds ordered are almost all cool-season and need to be started asap. This delay may affect my ability to complete my garden.

I ordered veggie seeds from several different companies this past year to plant a smaller market garden. I don't know if it was just a bad year for them or what, but I had horrible germination rates from only Park seeds. One watermelon plant out of 30 germinated. Several different types of squash/ zucchini had at best 20% germination rate and as a last resort I planted some five year old walmart seed in the same spots and got closer to 80%. Out of 12 yellow crookneck squash plants three turned out to be a winter type tasting patty pan looking something that produced a heck of alot better than the crook necks. Anyway, I was disappointed and most likely will not be ordering from them again. They cost me money this year.

My wife and I placed a large order with Parks. The germination rate in general was rather poor but the cucumber varieties had a disapointing 2% germination rate, the corn (several varieties) a 10% rate. There are too many excellent seed companies out there to waste your money at Parks. The other problem was that they made a number of substitutions that were completely inappropriate.

I ordered seeds from Park several years ago and had a 'bad experience'. At that time I wasn't aware of Dave's Garden Watchdog. Since then, I only order plants and seeds from Dave's top 30. By doing that, my online ordering experience has improved drastically. Why would anyone order from a company that has over 40 negative reviews in the past 12 months? Check out Dave's Watchdog top 30 companies and start ordering from them. Try Onalee's seeds. You, too, will be pleasantly surprised.
Seasons greetings everyone!

REf: Online order #5469607 [2870161:3394617] Amount $ 406.49 on 10/20/08
After 3 1/2 weeks , 6 or 7 calls ( employees named Jessica , Amy, Courtney. Frances and 2 emails, questioning why credit card had not been billed and where was the order? Everyone lied to me saying they would find out status and call back which no one did. one said it had been shipped. last call told me the item might be " out of stock" and would I like to wait another week or CANCEL? This was one Nov. 14th 4:00 p.m. central. I said cancel. She said would credit my card and email me of same. As credit card never billed which one email said would be within 48 hours of order, have not received replay as to day. 11/30/2008. Suggest fire lying employees.

This is the second year I have ordered seed from Park, and was again really disappointed. I ordered pastel zinnia seeds to plant along the 100 foot fence line which faces a real busy road. I can't tell you how upset I was when all of the zinnias bloomed bright red!

Last year I ordered petunia seeds....it was just awful. The germination rate was so bad, I had to use 300 seeds to end up with about 30 plants.

I have a very large yard, so every seed is really important to me. I really do know how to use my greenhouse!

I have e-mailed Park long ago and have not received a reply...at the very least is would be nice to receive an apology about all 200 red zinninas I planted and did not want and later just used my weed wacker on.

"

I have reviewed your above posting and I am seeking the opportunity to address this matter. Unfortunately, the information contained within was not sufficient to locate your order in our database. In order to rectify the problem I must request that you e-mail us with your billing information, including zip code and order number if available.

Jay Johnson
Customer Contact Representative
[e-mail:JJohnson@parkseed.com]
"

I have loved ordering seed and supplies from Park Seed for years now. They have always had great germination rates, and in the few instances where they didn't, I called and they immediately sent a replacement packet, no questions asked.

That being said, I ordered a group of roses this spring from Jackson and Perkins, after they were taken over by Park Seed, that I didn't receive until the beginning of July. When I asked customer service what was going on while I was still waiting, I was told that the plants were guaranteed, don't worry. What I finally received contained a couple dead plants straight out of the box, and a couple that are still barely alive. (Planting roses in SC in July is just crazy!) After being told a refund (in an amount that won't even replace 1 of the 3 plants that are completely dead) is on the way, I called again 2 months later, and again, it's on the way... I'm extremely disappointed in Jackson and Perkins, and I worry about what is going on with the customer care overall in the company!

"

I have reviewed your above posting and I am seeking the opportunity to address this matter. Unfortunately, the information contained within was not sufficient to locate your order in our database. In order to rectify the problem I must request that you e-mail us with your billing information, including zip code and order number if available. We apologize for the delay in processing your refund, and hope to have this issue resolved for you as early as possible.

Jay Johnson
Customer Contact Representative
[e-mail:JJohnson@parkseed.com]
"

Look out! Park Seed Company may take advantage of you. Last year Park issued a credit to me because they couldn't ship an item. Park never did issue the credit to my credit card and did not send a check.
This year I phoned Park and ordered several items. No mention was made by the Park representative that they would take the liberty of substituting other types of plants for the ones I ordered. And, that's what happened. Here came in these plants I didn't order and don't want. One item has not even yet arrived.
I phoned Park and Park did say they would issue a credit. Now, that's what they said last year, but I never did receive a credit card credit and no check in the mail. We will see what happens--if the other plant will be shipped and if a credit or check arrives.
Beware! Park is operating its business in a way that is not in the best interest of customers.

"

I have reviewed your above posting and I am seeking the opportunity to address this matter. Unfortunately, the information contained within was not sufficient to locate your order in our database. In order to rectify the problem I must request that you e-mail us with your billing information, including zip code and order number if available.

Jay Johnson
Customer Contact Representative
[e-mail:JJohnson@parkseed.com]
"

DO NOT ORDER ANYTHING FROM PARK SEED. This spring I placed 3 orders with Park Seed. The first order was great! The second one looked fine but EVERY PLANT soon died! The third order was from a special sale they had…. EVERY PLANT was in poor condition or already dead!!!! The Canna bulbs never even sprouted. I complained immediately and they sent replacement SEEDS!!!! I called again and they agreed to send other replacement plants. These plants did not arrive until September and they, too, were already dead!!! On September 13th, I called for a full refund and was told that they would not refund the $24.90 in shipping costs!!!!! I insisted on speaking to a supervisor. They told me that the supervisor was too busy and would return a call to me. It became necessary for me to call 3 more times. I NEVER did get to speak to a supervisor. Finally the sales person called me back to say that a full refund, including the shipping costs, was approved by the supervisor. Yesterday I received 2 postcards listing a merchandise credit for my each of my 2 orders, minus the $24.90 cost of shipping. I checked my American Express credit card and NO refund has ever been issued. I do not want ANYTHING from Park Seed except my money. Why would anyone want to pay high shipping costs for dead and dying plants?
My advice is to shop elsewhere. I hope American Express will intervene to help me get a full refund for these inferior plants.

"

I have reviewed your above posting and I am seeking the opportunity to address this matter. Unfortunately, the information contained within was not sufficient to locate your order in our database. In order to rectify the problem I must request that you e-mail us with your billing information, including zip code and order number if available.

Jay Johnson
Customer Contact Representative
[e-mail:JJohnson@parkseed.com]
"

My problem with Park Seed began last year (2007) when I ordered a corkscrew vine from them. It had not bloomed by fall, so I contacted the company asking for a refund. They never contacted me back but I later discovered that I had been given a credit (I had to call customer service to find this out). In the winter of 2008 I placed an order for a honeysuckle vine. When I hadn't received it by late spring, I called the company. (Of course, they had charged me back in the winter.) I was told that it would be sent as soon as it was available. I called again in August and was told that it would be sent in September. I called in September and was told the plants weren't big enough to ship so it would be sent in the spring of 2009. By this time I was fed up with the excuses and failure of the company to initiate contact with me to explain what was going on so I asked for a refund. It remains to be seen if I receive the refund. I will probably never do business with Park Seed again based on these experiences. They did send me some free clematis vines but they were not what I ordered.

"

I have reviewed your above posting and I am seeking the opportunity to address this matter. Unfortunately, the information contained within was not sufficient to locate your order in our database. In order to rectify the problem I must request that you e-mail us with your billing information, including zip code and order number if available.

Jay Johnson
Customer Contact Representative
[e-mail:JJohnson@parkseed.com]
"

What a waste of money. I have ordered from Parks several times. They take forever to send your order, and then half of what they send is useless. I will never order from them again.

In the spring of 2007 I purchased 2 daylilies from Park's. They were very small and seemed to be younger than the company seemed to advertise (they said blooms the first year). In 2008 my first Rainbow Candy bloomed. Not only was their just 1 bloom but it wasn't Rainbow Candy. I do not know what this daylily is but it is not what I ordered. I wrote to Park's and asked for replacement plants because when I first ordered these daylilies I made sure they understood that I would accept no substitute plants. A few days ago I recieved the replacement plants. I have no idea what kind of daylily they might have been because they are dead. It looks like they have/had crown rot. I guess I will do without the beautiful Rainbow Candy because I won't ever deal with Park's again. This is truly sad to me because I grew up in South Carolina and my family always purchased from Park's. Boy have they gone downhill. Jackson and Perkins has Rainbow Candy, does anyone know whether or not this daylily is worth purchasing from them? I've had good luck with them in the past. Thanks for the input.

"

I have reviewed your above posting and I am seeking the opportunity to address this matter. Unfortunately, the information contained within was not sufficient to locate your order in our database. In order to rectify the problem I must request that you e-mail us with your billing information, including zip code and order number if available.

Jay Johnson
Customer Contact Representative
[e-mail:JJohnson@parkseed.com]"

I've ordered from Park Seed for years and never had any problems with their customer service, until now. I ordered bulbs that were delivered in May and were supposed to bloom in 10-12 weeks. The bulbs never broke ground so I emailed last week to report that and requested a refund. I received an email telling me that I wasn't entitled to a refund because the "guarantee" had expired. The supposed "guarantee" is 90 days or the growing season. Seems to me that this would still be considered the growing season since these were summer bulbs. It is still summer, afterall, and just past the 12 week period during which the bulbs were supposed to bloom. I subsequently called and was told the same crap but after insisting, was given a credit. I'll use the credit but it will be the last time I order from this company. I don't call that a guarantee. That's just riduculous.

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I am concerned that I have not yet resolved the issue at hand and would like an opportunity to do so; however, I have not yet received a reply from you concerning this matter. Please contact us at your earliest convenience. Customer satisfaction is very important to us.

Jay Johnson
Customer Contact Representative
[e-mail:JJohnson@parkseed.com]"

The last time I ordered from this company, the sent me a product that was defective. I called them and told them this and they said they would send a new one out right away. I never got it so I e-mailed them twice before they ever replied and told me again it would be mailed out in a week. A week went by and I never got it. I e-mailed them again, then they told me they would have to back order it! Apparently they never had it in stock and were lying to me instead of just telling me they didn't have it in the first place! I cancelled my order after that. I never used to have problems with this company and was a loyal customer for years...but this year something has definitely changed with thier customer service!

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I am concerned that I have not yet resolved the issue at hand and would like an opportunity to do so; however, I have not yet received a reply from you concerning this matter. Please contact us at your earliest convenience. Customer satisfaction is very important to us.

Jay Johnson
Customer Contact Representative
[e-mail:JJohnson@parkseed.com]"

I strongly recommend that Park Seeds update their computor system (that is if they have one) I have had different themes and variations of the posted complaints. The thing that bothers me the most is the "back ordered" that you do not even know about untill the order is processed and paid for. If you try to get a "status" update it tells you the order number is not correct.(even if you cut and paste it)
I am from the era that you sent in box tops etc. to get your "decoder ring) and it actually came. (without computor help).
I am going to find a company that will bring me back to those days of waiting for the mail to deliver my order the same as my decoder ring

I've ordered from Park and Wayside several times over the years and have always been pleased with their products until this year. In April I ordered seeds and plants from Park (order # 5279899) and plants from Wayside (order # 5280715). Park split the order and shipped the seeds very promptly and I have no complaints about that. However, both companies were a problem in regard to the plants. I checked the order status online occasionally but it really isn't that meaningful other than saying some plants would not be shipped until fall, but I couldn't tell when they were going to ship the others. After nearly a month with no plants received and as the Texas weather was getting hot, I sent an email to each company saying where's my stuff? Then they finally shipped some of the plants at the end of May when it was around 100 degrees. The plants were much smaller and of poor quality, not at all what I was used to getting from either company, and some did not survive. Company communications are poor. I'm still waiting to see what they do with the fall shipments of the remaining plants; their online order status feature didn't tell me anything meaningful tonight. I had recommended these companies to a couple of colleagues at work and after I saw what poor quality plants they were shipping this year, I contacted my colleagues again and told them not to buy from these companies and why. I'm not sure what happened at these companies in the last year, but I'm no longer recommending them to anyone and I have shifted my gardening purchases elsewhere where the plants are better and the staff are more easy to deal with. I have a busy work schedule and don't want to spend my limited gardening time dealing with mail order problems like this.

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I have reviewed your above posting and I am seeking the opportunity to address this matter. Unfortunately, the information contained within was not sufficient to locate your order in our database. In order to rectify the problem I must request that you e-mail us with your billing information, including zip code and order number if available.

Jay Johnson
Customer Contact Representative
[e-mail:JJohnson@parkseed.com]

I have located your order and I am in the process of reviewing your information. I would like you to know that I will be contacting you via e-mail shortly. We will make every effort to resolve this issue.

Jay Johnson
Customer Contact Representative
[e-mail:JJohnson@parkseed.com]"

I ordered, among other things, 2 daylilies from Park Seed Company on March 3 2008. My credit card was charged immediately on March 3. My zone 6 was open for shipping in mid-March. Park Seed Company has yet to ship the daylilies. The other plants in that order arrived two months after my zone opened up for shipping.

Until I emailed them on August 4, they hadn’t contacted me even once to say that the plants weren’t going to ship in the spring. I asked them for a full explanation of their failure to ship these plants. This was their reply:

“Your remaining items are currently on backorder. You may have these items cancelled and receive credit or wait for the shipment to arrive this fall. Please readvise.”

Not even an apology. This is what you get from Park Seed Company. You place an order, they immediately charge you, you wait for your plants to arrive whenever Park Seed decides you can have them.

I’m not that picky when it comes to the plants I receive; I don’t mind getting smaller plants because I like watching them grow. However, I do actually want to receive the plants.

Two similar things happened with Park Seed-owned Wayside Gardens as well. Park Seed has left me no option other than to file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. There is such a lack of customer service going on at Park Seed Company and Wayside Gardens that I will be very cautious about ordering again from either company.


Marsha Ravenscroft

"

I have reviewed your above posting and I am seeking the opportunity to address this matter. Unfortunately, the information contained within was not sufficient to locate your order in our database. In order to rectify the problem I must request that you e-mail us with your billing information, including zip code and order number if available.

Jay Johnson
Customer Contact Representative
[e-mail:JJohnson@parkseed.com]

I have reviewed your above posting and I am seeking the opportunity to address this matter. Unfortunately, the information contained within was not sufficient to locate your order in our database. In order to rectify the problem I must request that you e-mail us with your billing information, including zip code and order number if available.

Jay Johnson
Customer Contact Representative
[e-mail:JJohnson@parkseed.com]"

In August 2007, I ordered a few "live" plants as well as quite a few packs of seeds from Park Seed.

I had good success with the seeds, however, the quality of their live plants I received were questionable at best. I ordered miniature lamb's ear and when it was time to ship, they showed up as a pot of decomposing goop. The plant was fried. Thankfully, I ended up getting a refund.

I also ordered some shrubs last year as well, they came in good condition and I planted them. Well, a few weeks ago, I noticed one was fried, kaput, dead. When I called about getting a refund, the representative told me my guarantee expired in May 2008. Well, we had a cool spring, particulary in May, and things were late blooming and coming out of dormancy. So by the time I noticed anyway, it was too late. The other shrub that I got, which was the same type is fine, it is actually thriving. But the other one is dead.

Now most local nurseries offer a one or even two year guarantee on shrubs to let them go through their seasonal cycle at least once. But to hear that I only had what amounted to six month guarantee, as I do not think the winter time can be counted here, I was extremely disappointed.

I will not order any 'live' plants from Park or it's subsidiaries ever again. I even question if I will oreder anything from them ever again. For a company in business over 100 years, I am extremely disappointed in the quality of plants and its service.

I will be going local or ordering from a few of the Watchdog Top 30 Nurseries in the future.

What a disappointment.

"

I have reviewed your above posting and I am seeking the opportunity to address this matter. Unfortunately, the information contained within was not sufficient to locate your order in our database. In order to rectify the problem I must request that you e-mail us with your billing information, including zip code and order number if available.

Jay Johnson
Customer Contact Representative
[e-mail:JJohnson@parkseed.com]"

The absolute worst mail order company (including non garden mail order companies) I've ever dealt with. Every time I've called, the person on the other end sounds like a robot with no compassion or empathy what so ever. I placed my order back in March '07 only to get a 3 pack of plants (bulbs) that doesn't bloom true. They offered me a refund. My refund never came. When I saw that they advertised the plant again in Aug '07, I called them and explained that I never received my refund and that I wanted the plant again. This person said she would have to charge me shipping and handling again. I asked her why should I pay for S&H on an item they shipped incorrectly. She was finally able to find a way not to charge me. I finally get my replacement bulbs but only one of the 3 grow and again it doesn't bloom true. I call today only to get the same robot response, no empathy, no compassion and was told that I had already received my refund yet I can't find a record of it. I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS COMPANY TO ANYONE INCLUDING MY WORST ENEMY. I think I should get more than a refund for the time and energy I've wasted with them. Do NOT buy from them unless you like agony and disappointment.

"

I have reviewed your above posting and I am seeking the opportunity to address this matter. Unfortunately, the information contained within was not sufficient to locate your order in our database. In order to rectify the problem I must request that you e-mail us with your billing information, including zip code and order number if available.

Jay Johnson
Customer Contact Representative
[e-mail:JJohnson@parkseed.com]"

I ordered four moses fire daylilies, and 3 sedum autumn charm. After one winter two of the three sedum came back, and two of the daylilies died, and the other two bloomed differently. I have contacted for a replacetment

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I have reviewed your above posting and I am seeking the opportunity to address this matter. Unfortunately, the information contained within was not sufficient to locate your order in our database. Therefore if this matter has not been taken care of at this time, I must request that you e-mail us with your billing information, including zip code and order number if available.

Jay Johnson
Customer Contact Representative
[e-mail:JJohnson@parkseed.com]"

I have always done business with Parks in ordering seeds and never had a problem. So when I saw some annuals that I wanted, I didn't think twice. I ordered a 6-pack of torenia and a 6-pack of bacopa. Total bill for 12 PLUGS was $34.

The torenia was Raspberry Ice whose catalog description was raspberry red and white. When the plants came, they were VERY puny, about 6 leaves each. But 3 of the plants had a bloom on them. A very purple bloom. I checked the tag. It said Raspberry Ice, gave the same description of red & white, and even showed a picture, but they shipped purple plants. I did contact them immediately by email and they responded quickly saying they had no more plants. They would not issue a refund but would give me a $9.99 credit. Of course no credit on shipping. I might add that all 6 plants bloomed purple, and then promptly died after the first bloom.

The bacopa was also very puny and the few tiny leaves on each plug were very yellow and anemic looking. I attributed that to being without light for a few days. So I potted them up in good potting soil, gave them a dose of root stimulator and hoped for the best. Well it's been a little over a month and only 1 of the 6 is left. It has 8 very light green leaves, and I doubt if it will ever get any bigger. I might add that I work at an independent garden store and have potted up more plugs than I care to ever count. So I know it was not my potting methods that caused problems. I did not bother to contact Parks regarding the bacopa. I would only get another credit that I have no plans to use.

I since found happy healthy red bacopa at my local store. They are thriving and are at least 5 times bigger and covered with blooms.

I will not be using my $9.99 credit. Shipping alone would cost me more than that for one plant. So basically I have paid $34 for one sickly bacopa that is never going to grow. I have learned that I will buy local or I will not buy at all.

I was sadly shocked by the size and condition of plants I received. A Sambucus Black Beauty and an Alcea Old Barnyard hollyhock were so small and hardly worth the price I paid. A daylilly didn't survive. The Helleborus were shipped finally months after I had ordered them and didn't survive either.
I should have known better but the next spring I ordered two New Dawn roses. One of the roses (bare root) looked decent but the other unbelievably had barely the slightest bit of roots. When I called customer service they tried to talk me into planting it and seeing if it would grow. I told them no way that I wanted a replacement - a plant that was sure to grow. It took a while but I was finally shipped a plant that was in very good condition with plenty of roots. I can't believe that they would even send out that first rose with no roots. Do they think the customers are stupid and don't know what a good plant should look like?
I will never order plants anywhere again without checking Dave's Garden Watchdog site.

I tried to order on-line from California on June 9th but the automatic shipping charge on about $70 was about $40. Called Customer Service and placed the order but forgot to mention the free upgrade - called back the next day and was told the order was being packed and it was too late. Noticed my order status indicated that a number of plants had "shipped" status but not the roses. Called back on Thursday, June 12th (told they would be shipped the next day). Called today, June 17th and told they've been packed for the last week and are awaiting manager's inspection, and MAY ship at the end of this week, by June 20th. Hmm, I know it was really late to order bareroot roses but if they've been in the box for a week already I wonder what kind of condition they'll be in by the time I get them.

I ordered the Basket of Berries collection that included the 25 strawberry plants, 3 blackberry plants, 3 raspberry plants and a blueberry plant.

All the strawberry plants died shortly after planting and the blackberry and raspberry within a week of being planted. The only thing that survived is the blueberry bush which I put in a container.

I am very disapointed with this particular product. Yes, it was only $35 with shipping for the whole lot but if I had known that 90% of the order would die so fast, I wouldn't have bothered getting it.

I placed 7 orders in Feburary for plants after careful planning of my gardens, and here I sit in mid june missing shipments. They offer to upgrade you to 2 day shipping however they don't select saturday delivery so the shipping dept sends my plants out on thursday before the memorial weekend and I get a box of slime the following Tuesday. I called in, got a credit and guess what? They did the same thing the next week with 9 Coreopsis plants. I was so disappointed and angry I didn't even call in for the credit. My neighbors had their gardens in WEEKS before i had my first plant of 500.00 worth of orders. They sent me seed mats on June 2nd...what good is that? They should have been in the ground in April. When i call in they give me a different story on why my things aren't shipping, horticultrist hold, backordered, sold out (sold out??? i ordered in FEBUARY!). One rep told me my order was shipping in the fall....passionflowers in FALL in Brooklyn? It's June 13th, still missing plants, half of what I had was DOA and the rest I could have bought at the big box garden center and had half the headache. If you love reading the words "to be shipped" over and over, you'll love Park Seed.
Avoid!!!!!!

Without exception all that I have ordered from them has died or failed to sprout. The only redemption is that my cc was fully refunded. Would not use nor recommend. Much more success with their sister companies, Wayside and J&P.

I walked away from a credit of around $35 (random amounts of random cash cobbled from shipping errors, plant substitutions, etc. Grrr.) or so rather than deal with Park again.

I ordered achillea, hellebores, a pink pussy willow, a hydrangea, and several other plants that I've since forgotten the names of last year. The achillea and the other plants (not all of them, just the ones that they weren't sold out of) arrived dead and rotted, flung in paper bags together with the pussy willow tree in a box. The pussy willow also died a few weeks later. I called and complained, and they sent me some more rotted achillea and a few beautiful stokesia that were wonderfully packaged (and are still growing in my garden today.) ???

I wrote the "???" because I never ordered the stokesia. Park "replaced" something that I had actually ordered with them. The pussy willow tree was a different one from what I had ordered as well. As for the rotted plants in the shipments, the customer service rep blamed the shipper when I called again. At that point, I asked for some, not all, of my money back for the plants that arrived dead twice, and got a sharp response from the customer service rep in a very rude tone. I decided to leave it be and think of the money as payment for a lesson well-learned.

Well, I received a teeny-tiny twig of a hydrangea (no leaves) after the weather was diabolical, and well-after it was safe to plant. I could have slept with that twig in my arms for months, and it wouldn't have made it, dear friends. It died within two weeks - a slow and painful death. Then I got a bare-root hellebore several weeks after that, when I'd ordered a plant. Sigh. Thank you for the $3 credit on that one. I guess Park figured that I must have wanted $3 and a sad bareroot (that didn't come up) far more than a healthy plant.

I loathe this company and all of its subsidiaries (Boo on Wayside Gardens as well!) for their lack of understanding of gardeners. We love plants, unlike you! Nothing hurts us more than to open a box of plants that we've longed for and dreamed of growing in our gardens and see death and destruction. It makes us very angry people. Not only that, what proper plant nursery ships plants with such timing that they haven't a chance of surviving in the Zone in which they were ordered from? All of that led me to conclude that Park is certainly NOT a company run by gardeners.

This was my first experience ordering from an online nursery, but luckily, I found the Garden Watchdog, and followed your recommendations for quality online nurseries. My subsequent good experiences with other online nurseries has led me to simply regard this company as part of a very bad dream. I'd blocked it out of my mind for a year, but it still made me angry when it popped up, so I thought I ought to share my experience and help other gardeners avoid the pain.

Avoid Park with all of your might.

This is my first time ever, to leave a negative review for a website I made a purchase. Believe me, if I could give a <0 rating I would! My experience from Park Seeds is way below expectation!

I placed my order on 8/07. My credit card got charged right away, but the plant never showed up. At first I thought that I need to wait, because Park Seed would only ship my plant on certain months of the year depends on the climate zone. And my order status on website showed as "to be shipped". However till the end of last year nothing happened. I wrote several emails to Park Seeds, but never got any response.

Finally I called 3 months ago, was told that my order was cancelled. They never bothered to tell me, and never bothered to return my money. Till this day, almost 10 month after my initial purchase, I still haven't got my refund. I am about to disbute this charge via credit card company instead of talking to them again - I can't afford to waste more time and effort.

The bottom line: TAKE YOUR OWN RISK!

I was disappointed in their packaging materials and shipping costs, and also their replacement policy. Park is overall much higher priced than other catalogs and it's obviously not because of quality or customer service. I bought an expensive shrub that did not survive, but they only gave a 6 week guarantee so I was out of luck. They sent a perennial that was dead on arrival, then I got a replacement of the same that was also dead on arrival!

"

I have reviewed your above posting and I am seeking the opportunity to address this matter. Unfortunately, the information contained within was not sufficient to locate your order in our database. In order to rectify the problem I must request that you e-mail us with your billing information, including zip code and order number if available.

Jay Johnson
Customer Contact Representative
[e-mail:JJohnson@parkseed.com]"

Problem: Plants shipped A FULL YEAR AFTER THEY WERE ORDERED!!

I brought this to their attention by email. They never offered to refund my money, AND they actually ended up saying that it was MY FAULT for not noticing their error sooner because, "it is incumbent upon the customers to keep up with what they've ordered and what has been shipped."

I have always been annoyed with Park's routine of accepting orders that they don't have the stock to fill but I have ordered with them several times simply because I like their seed starting things and while I'm ordering that I often order plants as well. Last year my sister and I ordered a lot of things together. They were slow to arrive and came in numerous shipments. I had a baby last spring and ended up telling my sister she could have my flowers because I didn't have time. Because of this, I didn't personally keep track of what we received from Park and when. I guess I assumed that they would send it all and that I didn't need to oversee the whole thing. Well they didn't. This spring they finally sent four phlox plants (not exactly exotic or rare or hard to find elsewhere) that I had ordered last year. I didn't even realize that they'd never sent them in the first place. I'm cutting and pasting below my email exchange with Park to give you an idea of their "customer service."

Incredible.

===============
-----Original Message-----
From: "Katy XXXXXXXX"
Received: 4/25/2008 10:45 PM
To: orders@PARKORDERS.COM
Subject: Re: Ship Conf. - Order #XXXXXXXXX

Today, I received a call from a person that bought my house that I sold last fall, saying that I had a package from Park Seeds there. I went there and found a package containing four plants labeled PHLOX DIVARICATA LONDON GROVE BLUE. These are plants that I ordered LAST YEAR --in 2007-- and they just arrived this week!!

Any idea what happened here????

=========================

Park Info wrote:

Dear Katy,

Thanks so much for contacting us! Your concern is important, and we're glad you took the time to write. If plants cannot be shipped when ordered, they are often back-ordered for future shipping unless canceled by our customers. I was not able to locate the order mentioned but the address on previous order was most likely not updated when you moved so the plants were shipped to your previous address. If you will send me your previous address, we would like to update our records to reflect your move. I apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.

If you have any more questions or comments, please don't hesitate to give us a call or send an email (number and addresses below). Thank you for sharing your garden with Park!

Eva
Park Seed Customer Contact Team
1 Parkton Ave.
Greenwood, South Carolina 29647
Telephone: 800-845-3369
Fax: 800-275-9941
//www.parkscs.com
email: info@parkscs.com

===========================

----Original Message-----
From: "Katy XXXXXXXXXX"
Received: 4/28/2008 9:48 AM
To: "Park Info"
Subject: Re: Ship Conf. - Order #xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

This has to be a joke. I can understand not shipping plants right away, but a YEAR!?! Park seeds actually thinks it is ok to just hold on to an order, accept payment and send them a YEAR later?! This is totally ridiculous. I ordered a number of things this year and was, as usual, rather annoyed at how many different shipments it came in. But now you're tellng me that you will just hold on to an order for a year? That is a terrible practice. When a gardener orders something, it is to plant THAT year. If you don't have it, you need to inform them that you are out and refund their money --you don't just send it a YEAR later!

For your records, my old address was
XXXXXXXX

my new address is
XXXXXXXX

My name is XXXXXXXXXXX

Thanks,
Katy

==================


From: "Park Info" Add Mobile Alert
To: "Katy XXXXXX"
Subject: Re: Order #4570009 [2543621:2847080]
Date: Tue, 29 Apr 2008 14:05:29 -0400
Dear Katy,

Re: Order # 4570009

Thanks so much for contacting us! Your concern is important, and we're glad you took the time to write.

I'm sorry that you're unhappy with our method of allowing backordered items. We find that most people prefer to keep their orders intact when an item is backordered because the item in question may be difficult to get or hard to find. Those who do not wish to wait, cancel their orders. Either way, it is incumbent upon the customers to keep up with what they've ordered and what has been shipped. If you have other items that are backordered from previous orders and you would rather not wait for them to become available again, please advise and we'll be happy to cancel them for you.

If you have any more questions or comments, please don't hesitate to give us a call or send an email (number and addresses below). Thank you for sharing your garden with Park!

Nell
Park Seed Customer Contact Team
1 Parkton Ave.
Greenwood, South Carolina 29647
Telephone: 800-845-3369
Fax: 800-275-9941
//www.parkscs.com
email: info@parkscs.com

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