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

I really should of read about this company before I did business with them. So my bad. Anyways, It has taken 3 and half weeks to get my partial order from PS. Everything in my order said it was in stock and when I call them I get a completely different story. The kind southern lady Barbara, had not a clue to any of my questions. Do you have my order? "I don't know sir" , Did you get my order "I don't know sir" , When should I expect my order? " I can't be sure sir" , Do you work at Park seed? "I don't know sir". I wonder if Barbara is a vegetable herself. Oh, the best part is that my complementary banana pepper seeds are on back order. I bet they charge me shipping on those.

Do not deal with this company! Otherwise, you will get your orders after the season has come to pass. Plus, it's just all around pain in the Ass!

Ordered seeds on 03/11/09, and didn't get them by 03/30/09 so I called to find out the status.
The operator said they'd "gone to print".
What does that mean? I asked.
She said they would be shipping soon!
How soon is "soon", I asked.
She could not tell me, but it would be soon.
She was unaware that Park Seeds had already shipped one package of the 8 different items I ordered. Some German Chamomile seeds advertised that there would be 100-seeds in the packet. There weren't. At best there were 50.

By from Park Seeds at your own risk.

I have ordered from Park's for many years. Only last year did the service get so bad. They made totally unacceptable substitutions and claimed they would issue a credit. Then they did not do so.
This year, they charged my credit card twice and I am still waiting for my lettuce seeds. By the time they come, it will be too late to plant them for a spring crop. When I call, they assure they're being shipped. They have also assured me they will issue a credit for the extra charges on my credit card; I'll believe it when I see it. I won't be doing any more business with Park's.

It distresses me that Park Seed has had so many negative reviews, and that I am adding one after many years of satisfactory dealings with them. It is the same scenario as others - briefly, I ordered (and was charged) on 12/23/08. All seeds except the herb collection (which I needed a month ago for starting in the greenhouse) shipped - one or two at a time over many weeks. The latest correspondence (of many) indicated that the herb collection was "due last Friday." When I asked if it actually arrived, of course, it had not. "Apologies for the inconvenience, etc." My order number is 5498204. It's sad that Park has followed Wayside's example....

Another negative comment. I ordered seeds 8 days ago online. The online shipping information says they are still "shipping soon". I emailed a cancellation of my order and asked for acknowledgment when they credit my CC, as they state they bill the CC at the time of the order.

BE PREPARED FOR SUBSTITUTE TREES OR SHRUBS OR SEEDS. PACKETS OFTEN FALL SHORT ON SEED COUNT. GERMINATION IS LOW. PLANTS OFTEN DIE, I HAVE YET TO HAVE A ROSE BUSH LIVE THAT I GOT FROM PARK SEED. I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND PARK. 10CENT AND 25 CENT DOLLAR STORE SEEDS GROW BETTER THAN PARK SEED.

On March 5, 2009 I placed an order with Park Seeds out of Greenwood SC. The order had a total of 109 seed packets of vegetables, herbs and flowers. Last week I received 1 seed packet -- still missing 108. This evening I received an e-mail that said 2 more seed packets had been shipped -- so that means that there are still 106 left to be shipped. When I called Park's this evening to find out about the 106, the gentlemen told me that my order had been in processing since March 10 and to think it is now March 24. I wonder if next week I will get 4 more of the packets I ordered?
I have always had very good service from Park's as did my father before me and my grandfather before him. My great Uncle's and great grandparents in Lexington County, South Carolina swore by Parks. Growing up I remember how everyone "poured" over the Parks Catalog when it came in. Park's no longer has the seed selection that it once had for Southern farmers and gardeners, but they do have seeds that I have not been able to find easily elsewheres, but if I can not get the seeds in a reasonable amount of time -- then it does not matter if they have them or not.
How disappointing it is to have a company that my family has ordered from for generations go from being a top notch seed company to one that loves to take your money and then make you wait and wait - almost like they hope you forget that you placed an order with them. I guess since it is taking the order so long to come in, I will just freeze the seed and have it for next year crops.

I made my usual order on Feb 25,(30 packets of seeds) on 3/15 I called and asked where my order was? I was told they were still waiting for their online exclusive packages that I had ordered. I told them if they didn't send me the total order by 3/18 then cancel it. on 3/18 they email me stating they sent out a partial order. (the day I said to cancel if they didn't ship the total package). I received this partial order 3/24 six days after the order was allegedly shipped. I live 6 states away from them. That's 1 day travel per state. What seed company doesn't stock their seeds in the Spring? especially their online exclusive items. It has taken them a month to package and ship a partial order. I find that totally unsat.
Who knows when they intend to ship the rest of the items. My seeds should be planted by early March for a May transplant. I emailed them 3/19 with complaint, received an automated response with a 48 hr. return response. No response to date. Over a $100.00 of seeds were ordered and I receive this is the type of treatment . This is not the Park Seed company of yesteryear. Time to find another company with another company that keeps their customer's best interest in mind. Unfortunately Park seeds deserves to fail if they don't want to treat customers right.

I also have been a customer of Parks for well over 20 years. The service has not always been perfect, but in the end I was satisfied, and continued to come back year after year because of the wonderful variety of seeds. This year, however, has been a total disaster. I placed my order three weeks ago, and it still has not been shipped. My emails have all gone unanswered. There have been no notifications of delays or items out of stock. My first phone call resulted in the customer service rep saying she'd put a "rush" on my order. No results. My last phone call(yesterday) resulted in a very nice rep saying that she was making a list for her superviser of people whose orders should be shipped immediately. She also told me that my order had been packed on Mar. 10 and was just sitting there waiting to be shipped. I have no clue why it hasn't been.

I'm about at my wits' end. To make things worse, my order was paid for with a gift certificate given to me by my best friend, and now she is really upset too, as she thought she was giving me a great gift. Actually, the email gift certificate itself took over a week to arrive, which was bad in itself. I don't know if my order ever WILL be shipped. I intend to call every day until the end of the week, and then I am going to file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau if my order has not been shipped. I will also cancel my order and never order from Parks again. It's a shame to see a good business destroy itself like this.

I ordered blackberry plants from Parks and have waited over a month for them. When I checked my order status, it says "shipping soon", yet they have had my money for over a month. I see from other commentors that "shipping soon" means they have no idea when it will ship. I tried to log onto my account and received a message saying that they have changed their site and my old password won't work. They said they would send me a new password after which I sign on and can change my password again. Well, I've been waiting quite some time now and they have not sent me the temporary password, so I cannot access my account. I think they have done this deliberately to lock me out of viewing anything. I won't deal with these people again, and I recommend that no one order from them in the future.

Placed an order online March 8th for seeds and fertilizer. Checked website a week later and saw that the items would be "shipping soon". A week later I still had not received my order and checked online. It still said "shipping soon". I called the company and they told me that the items were "being processed". After a few days, I called back to see if it had been shipped only to be told that the order was "being processed". I ask what the problem was and was told they always wait approx. 14 business days to process an order. I told them that was unacceptable to me and I wanted to cancel my order. They said they could not do that now because the order was "being processed".

I have ordered from Parks for many years and have
NEVER had this much trouble with an order. Needless to say, I won't be ordering from them again. There are too many other good companies out there that will take care of me as a customer.

I have been a customer of this company for years but this year I have been saddened by my experieince. I placed a large seed order and also ordered some starter equipment. I phoned to be sure it was in stock and was assurred it would be shipped right away. I got a nice order confirmation by email saying it was being shipped....NOTHING was said about anything not being in stock.A few weeks later a package arrived with a few packages of seed and most of the order missing. When I called I was told that the missing items were not in stock and it would be weeks more before they "would probably" get them in....I asked why I had been told both on the phone AND by email that they were shipping . The answer was that they were working on fixing the confirmation notice . A bit later a few mmore items arrived but the order was still incomplete. Again I called. I was further upset to find that my credit card was charged immediatly upon placing the order even though I eventually had to cancel much of the order as by the time they said I might get it, it would be too late to be starting the seeds. It seems very wrong for them to take our money and use it for weeks before they ship...especially as the products may never become available. I just hope the promised credit actually shows up.

I reluctantly will join the chorus of negativity about this company. I placed an order online, and weeks later the promised 'order number' has yet to arrive, and email to the company goes unanswered. Needles to say, no product either.

It's sad. I'm a long time customer of this company, and have regularly visited their plant in Greenwood to tour their flower and vegetable show beds. At one time they were a fine company. It's sad to see a venerable old seed company trash its heritage, but that's what has happened here.

I would advise everyone to go elsewhere for their seeds. Thankfully, there are reputable, competent sources to replace Park's.

Sad.

I placed an order with Park for 8 items on Tuesday. I was really hopped up on the Bio-Dome. A friend of mine has one and she said it works great and she needed refills.

Anyhow, after checking the order status of my web order daily, today it still says will ship soon; so I called to find out what the deal was.

Half of my items are not in stock I was told.

The customer service rep was nice enough as I explained to her that I find it rather disturbing that a company of Parks magnitude did not have a web system that lets one know that the item is back ordered.... AND even worse that I was not e-mailed that items were back ordered.

I asked her to remove my name from their snail mail and e-mail list, which she supposedly did.

On December 28 I placed an order, and was immediately shipped the Park Starts kits, one package of tomato seeds and one package of (free) sweet banana pepper seeds. Other seeds, which also were marked "ships now" have still not arrived and this is March 16. I also ordered asparagus and strawberries, which were supposed to be shipped in late January or early February. I have since been told the plants would ship on March 15, but the status still says "shipping soon". They are ignoring my questions about the rest of the seeds.

Here is some info. that might be helpful to those who negative issues with Park Seed Company. I have just placed two orders with the business and will keep you all updated with my experience. Anyway, if you go to the Better Business Bureau US Organization you will find some helpful numbers and find that Park has a "B" rating, due to number of complaints, and there head honchos name, Mr. Chas Fox. Hope this helps those frustrated, and might I suggest that in your future communiques with Parks, you mention the BBB.

Park Seed needs a course in communication. I placed an order on Jan 30, 2009 for their "Right Light Collection." When I placed the order, the status for the item was "Ships Now." This was my first experience with Park Seed so I thought now meant, well, NOW. Not so.

It is now March 11, 2009. I have called three times and was told all three times the order would ship the next week. I called twice in February and just today. Same answer.

There were no emails to explain the delay, no communication whatsoever. I am a patient individual, but it'd be nice to know why the product has not shipped. Most reasonable people understand delays as long as they are kept apprised of the situation.

The order status for my order on their web site has a comment "Ships soon." Soon meaning when exactly? Next spring, I'm thinking. Too late for this year. Unfortunately I had also ordered a large variety of vegetable seeds and supplies on a separate order before I discovered what "now" and "soon" means to Park (maybe never) and I am experiencing the same type of delay on some of their seed and supply orders even though all the items I ordered had an ordering status of "Ships Now." It didn't. But, hey, it does say "Ships soon"...which is not at all encouraging.

I also agree their web site is excellent and informative, their newsletters timely and educational, but it's mere window dressing for poor customer service lurking within. Luckily it was my first (and last) Park experience. I'd order elsewhere if I were you.

I ordered various items from Park Seed in October 2008... I ordered quite a few flower seeds (monarda, shasta daisy, blanket flower, larkspur, snapdragon, foxgloves)... they arrived about 2 weeks later in envelopes with individual directions on each as to recommended sowing instructions. It seems like they have difficulty when something isn't in stock and they are still selling items.

I just recently placed another order for more seeds and still haven't received them yet. I called and talked to someone saying that they expect delivery in mid March... so I'll update everyone as to how that turns out.

All in all I love their website, the variety of what they offer, and the sales they have on a lot of seeds, etc. I realize it is frustrating for people who anticipate their orders being sent right away however.

If my order ever gets here or the status changes, I will amend my review as needed.

I ordered fast...way ahead of my local area garden curve..on Jan 16, 2009. All I ordered were 3 packets of Sea Magic, 1 trellis net and one of their strawberry hanging bag specials.

Now, knowing that the strawberry plants will ship in feb, I didn't expect to receive the other items till then either since they tend to pack together. By mid Feb, I called and wanted to know why my order status still said "ships now" but nothing is every updated.

I got a scripted response, "I show this is to be shipping by the end of the month". I said, okay..gotcha, I'll keep monitoring the site.

Now it is the end of the first week of March and I look for updates and voila, "ships now" is still in the column. Grrr.
I call and get the scripted response, "I show these items will be shipping at the end of the Month." Now I say, hold on there, we harvest Strawberries in May, this is ridiculous. Nothing, nada, nichts. Crickets could be singing here in the silence.

Finally, the guy on the other end of the phone says to me. If I were you, I would buy them someplace else. I keep saying the same thing about shipping times to people and there is something wrong with what's going on with us and our suppliers.

Now, this guy would lose his job for telling me this instead of keeping to the party line so I'm very grateful. My order is fairly small and I'll just order from someone else and keep this one open to see if and when it ever does get filled.

I'm really shocked at how far down hill this place has gone. Used to be good and reliable but certainly not anymore.

I have to agree this company is horrible. I ordered seeds the first week of February and only recieved about half of them the next week. Slowly, the last few seed packages have been coming in the mail. I am still waiting on two tomato seeds. Each time I call them, they say that it is shipping out this week. On Monday, I just told them to exchange the seeds for others that will ship out that day. I was assured that the varities exchanged were in stock and would ship out that day. What a lie. I am still waiting for them to be shipped out. What is worse, they have already charged me for the difference.

This is crazy!!! It is way past the time for me to start the seeds indoors. I already have volunteer tomato seedlings popping up under my row covers.

Do not order from this company...ever. If you want seeds for less there are much better companies to buy from than Park Seeds.

Like many of the recent posters I too ordered refills for my Bio Domes in January and have yet te receive them. Repeated inquiries have yielded only a single return stating shipment would be 7 to 10 days. That was over three weeks ago. I keep hoping to get the refills in time for my seed starting which must begin in the next two weeks. After that I guess I will cancel the order and return to using Jiffy Pellets. It's a shame because I really liked the results with the Bio Dome I got last year.

What has happened to this company? I ordered seeds and biodome refills back in January. I called around Feb 12th when I hadn't heard anything - I was told they were about to ship. I got some of my seeds 2/21. I just called about my biodome refills - not available for shipping until LATE MARCH! (My last frost date is April 15). Cancelled the rest of my order ($54) and turned down a 20% coupon code for my next purchase as there will not be a next purchase. Nothing I ordered was marked as "out of stock" and their website says tha seeds ship immediately - DON'T COUNT ON IT. I am now behind becasue of this merchant.

I wonder what's become of Jay Johnson, Customer Contact Representative for Park's. He has not been responding to negative reviews for quite a while now. (Yet another reason for people not to be spending their hard-earned money on Parks products.)

I ordered two packets of seed from Parks over the internet on Feb 5, 2009. After waiting three weeks, I called to check the status of my order. I was told that it would ship within two days. Well, here it is March 5, and I called again. I was told that one of the packets was in stock, but the other wouldn't be in until mid-to late March. Well, I live in South Carolina, and these seeds should have been started weeks ago -- I can't wait another three or four weeks, on the off-chance that Parks may or may not send me the seeds. I cancelled the order. I am disgusted with Parks. This is the third time I've ordered from them, and the third time I've been let down. I ordered several packets of seed this year, and have had very poor germination rates. Also, there are only a few seeds per packet. They should have told me when I called the first time that there was a problem with a backorder...come to think of it, they should have told me via email the day I ordered it that it was on backorder. I'm never ordering from Parks again.

I am curious to know how Park Seed and their other companies, including Wayside Gardens, are still in business. I had ordered from them both many times. After receiving many weak, shriveled, dying plants and shrubs, I finally decided to take my business elsewhere. I hate to read here of many other gardeners placing their time, trust, and money into ordering from this company. When I would call about a shrub I thought to be unhealthy, I was generally told to lightly scratch a stem, and if it showed green it would be OK. Nonsense!

I have used this company for years with very good results. This year I mailed in my order and was sent about half of it. Seed packets have less seeds than before and I am still waiting for the rest of my order. I guess they have made some changes for the worse.

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 for garden seeds and received them in the mail in a reasonable amount of time (2-weeks). The seeds were packed nicely in a bubble envelope and everything was as ordered.

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 have been very satisfied with Park Seed Company. I do love their different varieties that they have for different flowers. the seeds i have recieved do very well.

I ordered a Will Goodwin clematis early last summer and didn't received it in the fall, yet they said it would ship immediately. Not only that but this clematis was TINY. Be careful what you order from Park Seed. I personally don't recommend them at all.

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.

Placed order in November for some seeds and bio-dome supplies. Web site showed all items should ship within 10 days. Only received partial shipment. About two weeks later placed another order for additonal supplies. Showed should ship in 10 days. Now I have two outstanding orders waiting for supplies to ship. Called and was given a shipment date in January. After that shipment date passed I called again and was given another shipment date. Items did finally ship out on third shipment date promised. Once received, items were as described. Packaged very well.

I might add, the first several phone reps I spoke with were useless. They spieled the standard lines and showed little concern as you would expect from a phonebank worker (sorry if I offended any phonebank workers). Only after speaking to a supervisor did I get any honest explanations as to why the order was delayed and what to expect.

Luckily, I had ordered all supplies well ahead of when they were needed. I certainly would not want to depend on this company if I needed something in a bind. I would search out other companies, and pay more, before ordering from this company 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.