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

I thought it was me. Park Seed Company has to be the worst experience I have ever had with a seed order. Most of the Items were back ordered and arrived late for planting. All the packets were short seeds. When you are paying $4.00 for 20 seeds and nothing exotic mind you that is pretty pricey. Every packet was short 4-5 seed short and that's 20- 25%. I complained to customer service telling them I was not looking for my money back but was trying to make them aware of the problems. I got no response. I used to be a wholesale grower and purchased a lot of my seed from Parks and never had a problem. Of course that was 25 years ago. How times have changed. I will be looking for a new vendor for next year.

I placed my order for flower and herb seeds on May 17 and received them on May 23. The order was well-packaged and complete. I'm very pleased with this experience.

My 1st order with Park Seed was for 20 crowns of Jersey Knight Asparagus, an all male cultivar that rarely produces female plants. My shipment arrived late for my zone, out of dormancy and every crown is now flowering/has berries on it-all female plants. The wrong product was obviously shipped.

Complaint by phone was well received. Money to be refunded back to card, not including shipping amount. Offer was made to replace asparagus except I only need and have room for 20! I expected the correct item sent in a timely and dormant condition the first time.

I ordered a blueberry plant through Park Seeds for my mother, for Mothers Day, but my mother never received it. Instead of sending another plant, they told me to contact UPS. UPS claimed it had delivered the package, but would investigate. If they were found liable, in their own investigation, they would reimburse me.

So instead of taking some small amount of responsibility, which would have retained my trust in the company, they just passed the blame on to another company.

I tried Park Seeds because one of their competitors did the same thing the last time I ordered plants online.

I would recommend going to local retailers.

After years of dealing with Park's, I happily placed my order in early January of 2009. I was miffed at the tacked-on 'fuel surcharge' which they hadn't rescinded even though fuel prices had bottomed out at around $1.75 a gallon. Ok, I'll give them that one. My initial reaction after waiting 3 1/2 weeks was, where's my order? I'd received no communication from them, and checking their website for status is an exercise in futility. Another 1 1/2 weeks went by, and I received part of my order. As with other comments here recently, the balance dribbled in 1 and 2 packets at a time. As planting time arrived, I was surprised to find that many packets labeled '50 seeds' contained, in fact, 20-25 seeds. What's up with that? In all fairness, I have to give them kudos for the asparagas roots - though pricey, they were huge, clean and worth the price. Even so, I've definately crossed Park's off my list of future seed suppliers!

I was really surprised by all the negative comments, since my orders this season (seeds) were fine. I have ordered seeds from them for quite some time.

In fact, I needed to add two types of seeds to my second order, and my request was handled with no problem by a helpful CSR.

Maybe I was lucky, but honestly, I have no complaints. Hope these negative trends are addressed soon, they've been a good source for me.

YOU CAN GET YOUR MONEY BACK FROM PARK'S. Here is how.

My experience with Park's is dismal. After more than 40 years as a regular customer, this was my final order. My story is similar to everyone else' on here. After dealing with Customer Service on the phone and by emails, the promises never materialized. Eventually I received a merchandise credit which I would never use after their downfall. I reported this to the BBB which is a very easy online effortless way to complain. Within 4 days, my credit card account was credited. They do respond to the BBB since they are a member.

It is illegal for them to charge you until the items are shipped. That is the law. Read their guarantee. Make them honor it. You will get nowhere with Customer Service, although pleasant people, their hands seem to be tied. Complain to the BBB and you will get results. Do not accept a merchandise credit. Demand they refund your money. If you hit them where it hurts, eventually they will either go under or be forced to improve. With the current ownership, I'm betting my money on them going belly-up.

Do not allow them to rip you off. Take action and report them to the BBB and your credit card company. You will get the proper results. Justice is sweet.

Be warned this company is practicing unethical (possibly illegal) practices holding your money while they never plan to ship your merchandise & then taking forever to refund your credit card. **** Buyer Beware ****

I ordered some seeds on 3/2/09 on the internet. It informed me that they would ship in the next 2 weeks. When 2 weeks passed I checked the online status and it said "shipping soon". I called them and they said it was back-ordered and would ship Friday. 10 weeks later they are still saying the same thing. They did ship the "free gift" right away so that they could charge me the shipping and order fee right away while I endlessly wait for the product I really want. When I called on 5/18/09 to cancel my order since I was never going to receive it they said it would take 30 days for my credit card to be refunded. Can you believe this for a product that was never shipped. I am notifying Visa of this practice and encourage everyone to do the same. The best way to prevent a company like this from operating is to keep Visa/MC from allowing them to use their credit cards. //www.mastercard.com/us/personal/en/contactus/merchantviolations.html

I wish I had known about this website before ordering from Park Seed!! They are giving out incorrect information regarding planting times. My local extension office advises planting potatoes mid to late March - when I did not receive them by the first of April I called customer service. They said I would receive the potatoes "at the proper planting time for your area, which is mid to late April". It is unbelievable to me that a large company like this would make such a major error. I cancelled my order and asked for a refund, which I have still not received. It has been well over a month ago. It also took me 2-3 months to get some of the seeds I ordered. In fact, I ordered some seeds in February that I still have not gotten! I emailed customer service about this also, since the website said the seeds SHIPS NOW, and she actually told me that SHIPS NOW means AVAILABLE FOR SPRING SHIPPING. What?? Also, I ordered Jersey Giant asparagus, which are suppose to be 99% male, and at least 30-40% of my bed is female. And, I also received my onions a month late and they are looking pitiful in my garden. I will never order from Park Seed again, which is a shame since I don't live very far from them and would like to be able to support a local company. But not anymore.

I should have checked Gardenwatchdog for ratings before ordering from Park seed. First of all, my order took 3 weeks to recieve. How hard is it to stuff seeds in a mailer and send it?? Second, I have been gardening all my life and growing professionally for 5 years. I have germinated the hardest of seeds to germinate, including passionflower. I paid almost $5.00 for 35 seeds of the Kossak kohlrabi and another fortune to have them sent. Only 4 out of 35 germinated.....I am displeased to the fullest and should have known if they were affilliated with Wayside gardens, (I have had a bad experience with them as well) I would have RAN WAY FAST!

Wow, I wished I'd have read the reviews before I purchased from Park Seed. I ordered about $40 of seed from them on April 11th, 2009. I called them directly because every time I tried to click the "pay now" button on their website, I would get a message saying my cart was empty.

They told me on the phone that the begonia seeds weren't expected in their warehouse until the 17th, so they would ship in a second shipment. By the end of April, I still had not received any of my seeds, so I called again. I was told by a lady that they were packed and ready to be shipped, but for some reason they were just sitting on hold. She said she would release the order.

By May 8th, my seeds had still not arrived, so I called again. I was told that my debit card had been declined and that accounting had a hold on my order. My card couldn't have been declined, it's had plenty of funds, but I was told by the nice rep that she would make sure my card info was correct and get with accounting to release the hold that day and the order should be shipped ASAP and should get here by Tuesday. They did however, remove my shipping charges after I repeatedly asked to speak to a supervisor about getting my order at least SHIPPED free of charge in exchange for their poor service.

It's May 13th and they promised my 2-day priority service. When I called them today to inform them that my seeds had still not arrived, they said they were awaiting packaging in the shipping department and would ship "in the next couple of business days. I should have them "by the weekend." If they come before Memorial Day weekend, my traditional weekend to plant, I will be surprised.

I ordered about 10 different kinds of flowering seeds from this company more than 2 1/2 months ago. It took them longer than a month to ship the seeds, which was really disappointing since I wanted to get a head start on planting the seeds indoors. Since they took forever to ship the seeds I had to directly sows them in the ground. I just planted them last week, so we will have to wait and see if anything grows. I can understand not shipping plants out right away if its not time to plant them outside yet. But seeds, who cares? Why do you have to wait until growing season? A lot people like to start there little seedlings early. I probably wont order from them again, because I dont like waiting months for my order to be processed and shipped out to me.

I had placed an order on March 5 2009 for 5 different species of ferns. Today, May 5, exactly 2 months later, I get an e-mail saying that 2 of those ferns shipped today, and the others will be " Shipping Soon ".
What I can't understand.....I realize that a lot of these nurseries get their plants and seeds from other growers and therefore they can't fill orders till the growers send the plants. But, don't the growers use greenhouses to grow these plants in ? So, therefore, saying that the winter was exceptionally cold and or wet etc.etc., should not be an excuse for delay. But maybe they use that excuse, thinking that we are too stupid to know better. There is, in my opinion, no excuse for it taking 2 months to get part of an order, and will probably take another two months to get the other part.

Placed order in mid February with hopes to plant bulbs in the beginning of March - perfect for Florida! 1/2 way into March, no shipment. Decided to cancel 6 weeks after order was placed and found out that they issued me a "credit." I called and asked for a refund. Three weeks after that call, still no refund. I was told it takes 30 business days (6 weeks!!!) to issue a credit. If they can do that with enough customers, they can make some serious returns in 6 weeks. I've never experienced such poor customer service with any web vendor before. Extreme ship times and extreme refund/credit times.

I ordered seeds through their website in February. It's a very nice website, easy to use. I found varieties other companies didn't have. The order was quite large and I needed the seeds for my job as a gardener for a private estate. I thought I could trust a name like Parks. I have a greenhouse to start the seeds in and the website said "ships now". I even added the comment I wanted them shipped right away since I had a greenhouse to start them in. All seemed well, I thought, a few days, maybe a week and I'll be starting seeds...nope. After a couple weeks I checked on my order and was told they would be "shipping soon". What's soon? I don't remember the exact words, but something like, we have 3 weeks from the time of the order to ship. Really!? That was news to me! The website states, "SHIPS NOW" no where did it say, we can hang onto your money for 3 weeks and ship at our lesiure! I did FINALLY, after 3 weeks, recieve my seeds. The order was mostly correct and the seeds performed satisfactorily. But, I will never order from Parks again. Seeds? 3 weeks to ship seeds! Why? I thought these were plant people who understand plants and the need to start seeds in a timely manner. I guess not. And no, I won't plan accordingly and order 3 weeks earlier. Their job is to ship when the order is placed and it can be filled.

On January 22, 2009 I placed an order for the Park Seed Victory Garden collection of seeds. I finally received the seeds on April 28, 2009 - 3 MONTHS after placing the order. And this was for SEED. Further more, two of the seeds were replaced with different varieties than what they said the collection would contain (cucumber and pepper). It's now to late to plant the peppers and tomato in my area. Those needed to be started indoors several weeks ago! A seed company that takes 3 months to deliver seed....I don't think so.

On April 4th 2009 I received 2 sets of plants out of 9 sets of live plants and bulbs that I order in early Feb. Invoice said other items ordered are sold out. I called Park Seed and requested a refund as I did not want other items from them. Customer Service was nice and said yes of course refund to be sent out with in 30 days. In one week I received notice of a credit to my account. After more phone calls and a bump up the line to accounting. I was told my refund (93.71) would be issued with in six weeks. Unacceptable and one more bump up the line, I was promised check with 7 to 10 days. I received it yesterday. Last time I will ever purchase from this company.

I ordered seeds and live plants on March 2, 2009. As of April 27, 2009, I have not received my completed order. Its almost two months waiting on seeds and live plants. I have a small greenhouse and would like to get the seeds started before it gets too hot. When asking via email for shipping dates and items, the reply is "Shipping Soon". This is an acceptable and unprofessional answer. They may need to hire more people to handle their "busy time of the year". I know they will not be busy next year with my business.

After having ordered last year with a small seed ordered, I reordered this year in January 2009. When I received my order, about 30 percent of the order was missing. After checking the website which stated it was waiting to be shipped and many many phone calls, it took until the middle of March before I saw most of my order. I finally ended up cancelling what had not been delivered as those in customer service could not tell me when the seeds would be shipped. Some of the missing packages were for early spring sowing (hence the Jan. ordering) and I was nearing the end of planting time for these varieties. I cancelled the remainder of my order because I was told it could be several more weeks before they would ship. Although I have ordered from Park's in the past, I had so much trouble getting my seed order this year, I will not be ordering from this company again.

I ordered, among other things, bean rings (a support system for pole beans) in January. I received confirmation on January 9th that they were SHIPPING NOW. My credit card was charged at that time. The rest of my order was delivered promptly, but not the bean rings. I have called and emailed repeatedly and have been assured over and over that the bean rings would be shipping shortly. Wednesday, April 22 (already 3 1/2 months late!) I received yet another email that they had shipped. Friday I received a package containing the bamboo-stake supports for the rings, but not the actual rings themselves. I have requested a complete refund and will never do business with Parks or anyone associated with them again. I used to trust them. No more.

Even if I eventually get my order it is to late to be a positive experience. My wait trumps most people: Over 3.5 months from Jan of this year. Every time I checked web site I got 'shipping soon'. My mom wanted a picture of the fig I bought her so I went back to the web site recently and sure enough, it is labeled "Sold Out". So I phoned a nice woman in CS, gave her my order number and was told; ~'Your order was never transferred from the web site'. This is ignorant fertilizer to tone it down a bit. While I am a chemist by trade I had enough book keeping to almost use it as a minor. This just doesn't happen in a double entry book keeping system. That is, you close out the books, prepare income, accounts receivable, and balance sheets et cetera on a monthly basis if not more often. When I did some moonlighting as a bookkeeper we balanced the books to the penny every day. There are things like inventory tax, quarterly withholding, and income taxes!!! No book keeper worth spit would not see the discrepancies.
So I tell the woman "I see on your web site that this is Sold Out. I guess this means I won't be getting my fig tree?" She replies `"Well it is coming up as in stock on my computer. We will ship it our as soon as possible." Needless to say it is not here yet and my order is listed as 'Shipping Soon' on the web site.
None of this rings true, especially in light of the other problems people are having.

I placed an order several weeks ago for various items. The seeds arrived in a timely fashion. The rest of the order was on back order, but nothing that I had to have immediately. The two plants arrived a couple of weeks later. The day I called in my order, they included a free Lord Baltimore hibiscus. I didn't realize what I was getting until I looked it up on the Internet and it is a beautiful plant that should actually live through our cold winters here. (All of my tropicals froze last year.) The Rose of Sharon I ordered arrived in good condition. It is a young, healthy plant with good roots.

When I called in my order, I was helped by an extremely friendly and knowledgeable young lady by the name of Sarah. She went out of her way to accommodate my needs and make suggestions.

I liked the fact that they did not charge my credit card until they shipped the items. There were three different charges. I don't like paying for something weeks or months before I receive it.
With the negative reviews, I was skeptical about ordering from them, but I couldn't be more pleased. Last year I ordered Disco Belle hibiscus seeds from them and they did so well that I wanted to order more this year.

I filled in the "Negative" button above, but the truth is that my experience has been RIDICULOUS!

I ordered azaleas in June 2008. After giving me the runaround for NINE MONTHS, the clueless Customer Service at Park Seed told me that they weren't going to send me my shrubs after all, although they had charged me for them nearly a year ago.

Not that they had bothered to let me know this — I had to call them a dozen times to find this out.

So I said, "No, I don't want store credit. I want my money back!" And I should have demanded interest, but whatever.

That was a whole month and a half ago. They told me initially it would take 2-3 weeks to get the money back in my checking account, but nothing happened for 4 weeks. When I called them back, they acted concerned and said it would take only 2 days more. I waited a week and called back. Same story.

Let's just say I've probably called them a total of six times AFTER they told me they're not even sending my plants, and I still haven't been refunded.

Plus they are only giving me back the price of the azaleas, not the shipping and handling they charged but didn't even use.

This company is a joke. They're quick to take your money but won't give it back.

PLEASE AVOID! It's not worth the hassle to even gamble on such a disorganized, sleazy business. They need to get their act together.

Here's a start — stop charging people before you've even shipped their plants!

I placed a small order and received them promptly and had nearly 100% germination.

Very poor order fulfillment this year (2009). Ordered flower seeds, wooden plant markers, and seed starter trays 2/17. Got the seeds over 5 weeks later; got the markers after 7 weeks; still don't have the seed trays over 2 months later. They're using "supplier problems" as an excuse. Pretty sure that translates into poor management or financial problems. The other 5 seed companies I ordered from this year had normal shipping times - about 2 weeks. Won't be using Park Seed again.

I had placed an order 3/10/09 for 4 seperate flower seeds and 2 groups of seeds for children ( unique plants for children).

Have gotten my flower seeds.

I have not recieved the seeds for children. Which has been a BIG disappointment for me and my daughters class. I had talked with her teacher before order and we thought it would be neat for the children in her class. No show on seeds as of today and I have made 3 calls.

Call 1: 3/20/09 The seeds are in the bin and would be sent shortly.

Call 2: 3/24/09 The seeds should be in Friday and since they were for a class would be put on priority.

Call3: 4/6/09 Final call having problems with suppliers. Would ship very soon. Again priority because of class and my complaining.

Checked and was charged for these seeds on 4/13/09 even tho' I have been told they can not deliver.

Oh yea that class I need them for are handicapped children and they were told this.

I wanted an early start this year and ordered from Parks. I did not order any live material, only seeds and supplies. It took 1 month for my order to arrive. No notification was given to me about the delay. I will not order from them again. On the positive side I love their BioDomes, but the price has gone up $5 this year.

I placed my order with them on February 28. I got a shipping confirmation without a tracking number on March 6. The seeds came today, on April 13, more than a month later. Way too late for my plans.

This is not a good year for Parks --- one for the vendor failure history books. I had my order in status of "shipping soon" for three months now. Supposedly, they are having trouble with their suppliers -- not a good excuse. They are just getting in the Cauliflower seeds -- and it's April! What a mess. They sent me a packet here and there and then sent me a card that I was being refunded for some seed that is sold out. Of course, the card nor the website informs you of which one. I feel sorry for the CSRs but whoever is responsible for the massive breakdown in getting the products from the vendor to the customer should be demoted or fired. They spend a lot sending out pretty catalogs but this year they literally can't deliver. They owe their customer a big sincere apology. This is a difficult business environment and I bet you that Park's has lost a lot of customers this year. They did me.

I received my black magic elephant ear "plant" and nine canna bulbs this past week, the "plant" is three leaves. The bulbs appear to be okay, but no planting instructions as to the depth or spacing for them. My future purchases with this company will depend on my success with growing these items. will report back later this season.

Once upon a time when you placed an order with this company, you received your order all at one time or no more than two separate mailings. That would happen if you ordered plants and seeds. I placed an order for three packets of seeds and one plant on 2/11/09. First pack of seeds shipped 2/16, second pack 2/18 and the third 3/14. The plant, understandingly, will arrive at proper planting time. Sure is a waste if time and energy. Thankfully there are better companies out there as this will be my last order from them.

I ordered online and my order was acknowledged right away.
I requested three corkscrew vines and the order was for
plants.

I placed the order on 3/30 and had a shipping confirmation
on 4/07. That's quick enough.

The plants arrived and are absolute beauties. I have had
these before from other sources and these are as good
as the best I have had and better than others.

I will use them again. I have for years, I know they time
orders, and they have in the past even gone ahead and
sent me things sooner than they had planned because I
asked.

Ordered 10 packs of seeds March 25. Shipped March 31. All of that is o.k., and as advertised.

Here it is today, April 8. No seeds. Tomorrow is Good Friday, traditional planting day.

Call the customer service number, which is of course a call center (asked that question). They said that they shipped the seeds USPS "and of course that takes longer." Well, maybe. I'm a whole 95 miles from Park Seed, and even USPS doesn't take that long. They do not have a response to that, except "wait 15 days."

They say that I have to wait 15 days, even though the shipping policy on their website says 5-7 days. They don't know nothing about any website.

Just so there's no doubt, here a quote from the website:
"BestWay- This is our standard shipping option. Park's BestWay is always your least expensive option and may take about 5-7 days en route after leaving our building. "

So can I get my money back. Well I have to "refuse" the shipment. Well, exactly how can I refuse a shipment that I haven't gotten. So when will I get my money back. "It will show up in 30 days on your next statement."

Uh -- I paid with a debit card and I'd like to get it back as quick as you took it out. "It will show up in 30 days on your next statement."

So I want to speak to a supervisor. As usual, "she" is busy helping other customers. O.K. I can wait. Put on hold. "It will be a while before she can help you, can I have her call you back." "Sure, who can I expect to call," Well, we have many supervisors, it might be any one." WAIT A MINUTE -- I thought "she" was busy" "Oh, all of our supervisors are busy helping other customers."

BTW, for the Park's People who are supposed to read this, The person at the call center insisted that she was a Park's employee, which is a lie also.

This used to probably the best seed company in the South (other than Hastings, which they bought) you would talk to someone right there in Greenwood, but like a lot of other companies, I guess they've sold out to lowest common denominator.

NO DELIVERY -- NO REFUND -- LYING EMPLOYEES-- DON'T CARE.

I admit I was hesitant to order from this company given all the recent negative comments I read here, but I have used them many times in years past and never had any major issues. I also had a credit to use, so I gave it a shot.

My order consisted of some vegetable and herb seeds and supplies. I placed my order on line on 3/30. A notice there said something to the effect that due to heavy demand, processing time would be 7-10 days. I was notified that one item I wanted was out of stock so I deleted it from my order. Well, I got everything today which was earlier than I expected given that I chose regular shipping.

As an aside, I've never experienced problems with germination. In fact, depending on the variety, I've had success with some Parks seeds that were 7 years old!

Count me in as another disappointed customer. Shame on me, because I read all these negatives and decided to still take a gamble and hope it worked out...not. Take it from me, DO NOT gamble that you won't be one of the unhappy ones---you will! I ordered strawberries from them on March 3rd. I called on March 13th to check the status and was told they'd be arriving in the nursery and shipping out in the middle of March--so, a few days from when I called. Since then, no word, no nothing. I called today and was told that they are back-ordered until the end of April. When I mentioned that it is kind of getting late for planting, the (admittedly very nice) girl on the line said I completely understand, but we are back-ordered. She was nice, but I'm still not getting my strawberries for at least two months after I ordered. Oh, and yes, of course my card's been charged already. Truthfully I've given up all hope that I'll get them at all. I wish I had gotten them from someone else---I was suckered in by the cool hanging bags that Park's offers that I didn't see anywhere else.

Don't take a risk--find your stuff somewhere else! It will save you a lot of frustration.

Placed an order for asparagus plants and strawberry plants in February, website said they would ship mid March. Called 3rd week of March, was told it was not shipped, not sure why since it was in stock. Was told it would ship on the 1st of April. Called again on April 4th, not yet shipped and now one of the items is on back order.

So disappointed. I have ordered from them for 10 years, never had a problem. Use to be a great mom and pop place, great plants and seeds.

Obviously in a whole lot of trouble now. Hope they make it, as this economy will not forgive this large mess up. I now I will not order from them again if these plants to make it here in the next week.

I placed a small order in Dec for a spring delivery of strawberry plants and my charge card was immediately charged. After not receiving my plants I checked my account and it said your plants will be shipped soon...but soon never happened. I then emailed to receive an email saying this is their busiest season and they could not return my email..Duh! After steaming over this a few days I called and spoke to a man that never gave me his name. He said yes..they had my order but they didn't have the plants and he didn't know how my order had fell through the cracks..he was very polite and said he would personally see that my credit card was credited. Ok...only it hasn't happened yet. I received my card statement yesterday and it wasn't there. I will wait til next month and then report a complaint to the card company. I have since ordered with another company and received the plants in 4 days. I was told by that company that it is not legal in New York to charge a card before the item is mailed. I told the man at Park's this and he told me it was easier for their company to go ahead and charge..yeah right! I guess the law doesn't apply to him. I will never order from this company again but I will not let up until my money is returned.

I ordered before reading all the reviews and was totally bummed out cause the order was for $75 worth of seeds. Lucky for me, they came in as planned and none were backordered so I have to give them a positive review for this order. But after reading all the comments, I'd be CRAZY to re-order anything so that is a negative comment which equals out to neutral!

In the past Park Seeds for me has been a little better than others describe tho it appears they are getting worse. Their customer service is unreliable and will give varying answers for which the candor is in question. In my last order to them originally to be delivered 2/14, still has not arrived by 4/1 - ONE packet of seeds. I was told several times it had shipped, that it was backordered by an affiliate of theirs, that a similar seed would be substituted, and most recently that they would reorder the seed. Lastly they gave me two "tracking" numbers that I could use for the US postal service and that somehow they could not track their own order. I agreed to call the US post ofc and was told the two tracking numbers were invalid and not their format. I won't be doing business with Park Seeds in the future. I would like to somehow get other poster's opinions on what flower seed companies are well thought of however....Thanks.....