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

The seeds I ordered seemed to cost a lot for just 15 seeds in a pkt, they do not say how many in in a pkt and you are caught off guard and wonder why you were so foolish to order without that stated in the catalog.

I ordered black eyed susan vine plants in mid-March along with 2 packets of seeds. I received the seeds but received no info on when the plants were to ship. I called customer service and was told it "looked like they shipped". HUH? I waited a couple of days and called back hoping for a more knowledgable cs representative. This time I was told "they will ship either on 4/25 or 5/16". I was also told they use an outside vendor for live plants so I asked for the name of that company to get an EXACT ship date. I was told Park Seed doesn't give out that info. WHAT? My plants then arrived 2 days later and, of course, they were the wrong variety! Not to mention the outside vendor's company name was printed on the box! (C. Raker & Sons Litchfield, MI. ph: 1-517-542-2316 in case any of you need this info). Called customer service again letting them know I received the wrong item so they offered to reorder the correct item for me. However, it's on backorder until 5/16! I will never be ordering from this company again....

Posted on April 1, 2011, updated April 1, 2011
Who would have thought an icon such as Park's would go bankrupt? How can it be that they dug themselves into a $44 million dept hole with only $12 Million in assets?

I understand the new owners paid $12 million at auction and agreed to keep the business open with the current non seasonal employees and in its current location for three years as of August 2010....not a bright future here.

I had a problem with shipping times, twice. My research on Google revealed that some shipping companies had filed suit against the old Park's. The new company is probably under a cash basis with the shipping companies or a more stringent credit agreement with them thus the slow shipping times for us.

My other problem was when I ordered two packs of morning glory seeds and one of the packs was flat empty. To return the empty for a reshipment would be costly for both me and Park's so I opted to just forget about it and decided to never buy seeds from them again.

I used and am very satisfied with their Bio Dome Seed Starting systems, but there are similar systems available from other seed and garden supply companies. I will transition to the other companies' products to avoid an risk in dealing with the new Park's.

I have been a Park customer for nearly 40 years... this is likely my last year. I placed an order with them about 3 months ago. About 3 weeks ago I had to schedule a trip out of town. The plants are scheduled to arrive while I am gone. I have written customer service 4 times and they are totally unwilling to work with me about changing the date of arrival. A similar order with Burpee was indeed changed with no difficulty at all. It is a sad day, indeed when a company grows so big that they are unwilling to "work" with their customers in a reasonable way. My neighbors are away, too... so having them take in the plants is not an option and I expressed this to customer service. The only option they gave me was to cancel the order. My advice... do not expect good customer service if you have problems once you order....

I'm not saying that this is a bad or dishonest company, but, well, you be the judge.

I called today to follow-up on an order that I had placed on March the 12th. The girl I talked to said that they had sent me a postcard a day or two ago saying saying that they couldn't ship my asparagus because of some problem with my Credit Card. "Postcard!," I exclaimed, "What happened
to E-mail or telephone"? Anyway, I straightened the matter out, but another thought occurred to me: "What if something goes wrong with the corrected Credit Card number I just gave you"? Will you be sending me another postcard"? She finally suggested that I call again at the end of the week (Remember, this is Monday) to see if everything is okay.

As I said at the beginning, this performance might not be dishonest, but it is definitely not satisfactory. I probably won't be doing business with them again. Small problem, perhaps, but I'd rather do business with a 21st century company.

I ordered about a dozen packets of seeds on the 7th from Park Seed. After a few days went by and my order had not yet been shipped I sent an email to the listed contact and asked if they would please ship my order (or what they had in stock if a pack(s) was holding everything up. I never got a response from the email so I called and was told it was shipping soon. TWO weeks later on a Friday it still had not been shipped; I called again and was told that some seeds were indeed on back order but they would ship on Monday. I called on Monday and was told they were "in the shipping department." Right. They were finally sent on the 25th, 18 days later.
What galls me is not that seeds were on back order, but the complete lack of communication, failure to comply with a simple request and what basically amounts to lying to me several times. This company does not seem to care about their customers, even in the middle of a transaction! Please use caution when ordering from them and don't expect even a modicum of customer service.

I, like many others, have been ordering from Park seed for over 30 years ...THEY USED TO BE A GREAT COMPANY ! . They lied to me about my order , kept telling me it was in shipping and would go out at a certain time . I finally recieved it almost 2 months to the day ,late ...and like others I had little stickers on some of the seed packets that said packed for 2011 but under that , when you pealed it back it said packed for 2010 . I will put Park seed on the very bottom of my seed ordering list from now on ...their customer service sucks big time and the time it takes them to ship is way to long ......I had bad service with them last year and thought maybe I would give them a try again ...BOY WAS I WRONG ...They need to get their act together ! I heard they filed for bankruptsy and I can see why ...Next thing we will hear is that they are going out of business. It is sad that a once great company has slid so far .....Jerry

One month, 3 phone calls later. still no seeds. I actually recieved a card stating they only ship at planting time for this area. They don't know about greenhouses I suppose. They certinly don't know about planting time for this area.

I ordered a seed tray, heating mat, light system, and some seeds and you'd think they'd all come at the same time, but nooo, they arrived a piece at a time over a period of 3 mths which made it impossible for me to raise seeds inside. Will never buy from again.

Avoid like the plague!
In winter 2009 I ordered $50 worth of sunpatiens. When they arrived several months later there were only $25 worth of plants in only two of the four colors ordered. The first two times I called I was told the others would be mailed soon. The third time I was told there had been a crop failure and my credit card would be credited the $25. The fourth and fifth times I called I was told the credit was forthcoming. The sixth time I called I was told the company was in bankruptcy and there was no telling when the credit would happen, if ever. I then filed a complaint with the Attorney General's of Oregon consumer office. A month later the credit appeared. The company never offered an explanation to the State of Oregon to explain their actions. In all this took seven months to resolve.

Posted on March 11, 2009, updated February 25, 2011
Order number 5532805
I am really dissappointed for myself but more so for Park Seed. I am a second year customer that they are very close to losing for good. In my business if you tell a customer you are going to do something and you dont you lose them as customers. If you dont return emails follow thru on what you say you are going to you lose customers. Customers are tough to get and a lot easier to lose Its too bad because I enjoy their website, catalog and product. I have made numerous phone calls sent numerous emails ultimately getting no where on the last item on my order the corn mirai collection. At the beginning of February I called and was told it was going to ship in mid February. It didnt. At the beginning of March I sent emails got no response and called again and was told that inventory was being done and would most likely ship in the following days. It didnt. I followed up with another phone call on sunday March 8. I asked what was up and was told they were waiting on seed from their supplier. Shandra the manager had no explanation of why I was told it would ship in mid February and did not.. Although very nice she could not handle my objection. Instead she offered me twenty percent off on my next purchase. Essentially I construed it as a backhanded sales pitch. I told her I didnt feel it was appropriate to pitch me when I had a negative issue pending.
They are great at sending numerous emails selling their websites products many times per month but do not have the technology to handle customers concerns in a prompt resposible manner. I am considering cancelling the last item on my order (corn mirai collection) and considering sending my business elsewhere in the future. I wonder if I will get a satisfactory response to this statement. I would like to hope they can turn around the negative feedback that is prevelent on this website. If not they endanger losing people like me.

I ordered seeds December 19th and did not recieve them until February. I did not complain about that. My problem with Parks was that they took seeds that were packed for 2010 and put a sticker over the date saying packed in 2011. The company took almost a month to respond. The response was that they would credit me if the seed didnt grow right. There was no hint that this was not acceptable company policy. I believe most gardeners want fresh seed and an honest transaction.

I ordered 2 doz. seed packets in early December. It's now 6 weeks later and nothing except a charge on my credit card. No communication, no response to emails, no idea when I'll get my seeds that I want to start soon. Disappointed.

I ordered tomato seeds on 12/31 and 25 days later, they still haven't shipped. I live in the South and needed these seeds planted in early January. They are not in stock, but their website doesn't show that. What a horrible company. I've ordered from them in the past, but no more. Each order is progressively slower and slower. Many items they advertise are not regularly stocked and ready to ship. To a gardener, each day is critical. Don't depend on Park Seed for anything. Avoid this company!!!

I've had similar negative experiences with poor seed viability and mislabeled/misrepresented varieties, but the real clincher for me was my experiences trying to order several of their "bio-domes" this year. The all were poorly packaged and the tops busted (they are made of extremely brittle plastic) and I had to go through all sorts of nonsense to get them replaced. The replacements were also broken as there was no padding of any sort inside the box. They're clearly cutting down on their workforce, perhaps as a part of their bankruptcy.

I am not one to write nasty reviews, but, our experience with Park's this year was really terrible. My grandmother used to order from Park's and recommended them when I was looking for some unusual seeds for my May order. I ordered seeds, perennials and bare-root roses. My order came in several installments (that was okay), the seeds mostly germinated (that was promising) but the phlox had mildew and 4/5 bare-roots were absolutely irreparably dried out! The irrational hope in me made me plant them anyway puckered cracked skin and dry cane be damned. Dumb decision on my part! The phlox died promptly and 4/5 roots ultimately went to the compost pile! In the end I have one nice Candyland rose for all that money and effort. Really, really, unfortunate and frustrating.

It's too bad about Park Seed's financial difficulty, but I have financial problems of my own, and I'm not too pleased that after two months, Park Seed has still not refunded my payment for an order that they didn't ship.

I guess I should have looked more carefully in the forums before I ordered from them.

Let them go out of business, for all I care.

I ordered some seeds on 7/6, today is 7/13 and the website is showing that they still have not shipped. I called and the representative and she told me that they were closed for a week for the 4th of July and that it was stated on their website. I don’t remember seeing any notice of closure on their site, and it certainly did not let mention delayed shipping on my order. The representative told me the order would ship at the end of this week or maybe next week. I requested to cancel the order and she told me it was impossible because the order was already in process. How can a business expect to run if it takes 2 – 3 weeks to simply ship a few packets of seeds?

Posted on September 5, 2009, updated July 5, 2010
Not only am I fed up with the "Oops, that's out of stock and won't come in until growing seasons is half over" garbage, but the products that do show up are lousy as well.

I ordered white cucumbers that are in actuality plain, boring green. They're also covered in cactus-like needles that gave me hives from picking them.

I ordered multi-colored packs of bell peppers that are--you guessed it--green. I've left some on the plant until they started to rot, and still they haven't changed colors.

I ordered rose seeds that didn't even germinate. Every time I called, they told me to "give them some more time". Is four months long enough, boys?

I am so over Parks. There are plenty of companies out there who actually stock the products they advertise, and whose merchandise fulfills its basic description.

I ordered at the end of April and my order was processed May 10, 2010. I received only 1 item and all the rest were out of stock. Here's the problem they still haven't refunded my money. When I called (twice) they said that they issue refunds in 30 days. It is now 39 days and they said they processed the check but still haven't mailed it out yet. I told the lady that I don't appreciate them sitting on my money. Again she said it is their policy to issue refunds in 30 days and they operate on a first come first serve basis. I asked to be removed form their mailing list. This is the first and last time I will do business with them. I hate to be this way but 40 days is ridiculous. Plus with their shipping charges I ended up paying $16 to ship a $9 plant. :( The woman was pleasant during the conversation.

I have ordered from Parks and Wayside for years. Yes, the plants were smaller than I could get at local nurseries, but were healthy, and the selection was much more diverse.

My order for annual plants this year was a disappointment. I ordered four different items, and they were to be shipped in early April for my zone. By mid April, I called to check my order. I was informed that none of the items would ship before late May. That was far too late in the growing season here except one item. I canceled everything else. It finally shipped last week. It arrived in good condition, but on the whole my experience was not satisfactory. I had always considered this company to be a regular part of my gardening experience, but now I'm sad that I have lost a company that used to seem like an old friend.

The bedding plants I ordered - impatiens, coleus and angelonia all arrived
looking good. All were properly planted and we had a great rainy spring. Now they look like, well, miserable. Very little growth with a few wispy buds. An
email complaint was answered but offered no remedy and was written
for a novice gardener. Very disappointing and I now have these bare
places in my flower beds. Luckily there are some perennials that need
to be moved. I had not planned to do this till the fall when I can count
on more rain so that means additional watering this summer. I will never
order from them again.

Posted on April 7, 2010, updated May 19, 2010
Posted on April 7, 2010, updated April 7, 2010
Took too long for seeds to come in and I am disappointed with the ones I planted. Too bad for this company!

Posted on May 1, 2010, updated May 11, 2010
As others have said, don't do business with Park Seed now. This is sad for me to say as I have ordered from them for many years. Because of bankruptcy they are not honoring commitments their customer service department makes. They promised a refund but "converted" it to a credit without telling me. Four calls to customer service, and no satisfaction. They lie and say anything now, the poor operators. I feel sorry for them.

I purchased seeds from Park for the first time in 2009. I received the seeds in spurts, some of them arrived weeks after I started my transplants so I held them to use until this year (2010.)

This year, I ordered seeds during the first week of February. Six weeks later, I called the company numerous times to be told we're holding your order until your carrot seeds come in next week. Next week rolled around and they still weren't in stock. Three weeks later I called and asked them to send out what they had in stock and the carrot seeds later. Several more calls later the carrot seeds shipped out and arrived before my main order.

During this fiasco, I had employees assure me that the seeds would be sent out 'in that days mail.' Three business days later the main batch of seeds shipped. I don't appreciate having no response what-so-ever from the company in regards to the status of my order. I called to inquire and received a run around from their customer service agents.

For the most part, the seeds that I ordered in 2010 have very poor germination rates. Most of them have a germination rate of about 25%. My seeds that I kept from them from 2009 are germinating around 75%. I have three types of flower seeds that I purchased from them that haven't germinated at all and I used an entire packet of seeds for all of them (in the case of the one a packet and a half.)

I am looking for a better online company to purchase the harder to find seeds from. This one won't get my business ever again.

Placed order in the beginning of March for plants which were to be shipped week of April 26th.
April 29th called to check on when I could expect them only to be told they would not be available until mid May as two items were on backorder. Asked if they could ship what was available but was told they do not ship partial orders. Asked if they could cancel backordered items and ship the rest but they could not to do that either. Ended up cancelling this order and a subsequent order. Now I can only hope that they will refund my credit card.

I have previously posted my negative experiences here.
I called the Better Business Bureau and they are looking into it, altho I don't know what if anything will result.
Anyone who wants to join me in a complaint:
//upstatesc.bbb.org/
is the website for BBB - Greenville, SC.

Posted on March 24, 2010, updated April 26, 2010
What has happened to this company - seriously! I have ordered from them in the past and what I ordered I received in good time. This year - holy cow! Like many others, I ordered in January.

Since then, I have spoken with customer service reps twice (once in February, once this month - March), they were both very polite and looked up my order and told me that the seeds were on back order...in January??? I could see later in the planting season but this early? Did they actually have the inventory offered in their catalog one might wonder from all of the negative feedback?

On the same date in January, I also ordered seeds from: Territorial Seeds, Baker Creek, Burpee, Johnny's, as well as Terroir Seeds - every one of these companies delivered with astonishing speed! A couple even included complementary seed packets. Wow...

So, where am I to date? I received the email below last week (indicating that two of the four items I'd ordered were finally shipped) - and still have nothing a week later! This is not good business.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
THIS SHIPMENT MAY NOT INCLUDE ALL ITEMS ORDERED. CHECK OUR WEB SITE UNDER -ORDER STATUS- FOR INFO ON ANY ITEMS NOT INCLUDED IN SHIPMENT.

Order Date: 1/17/10

Date Shipped: 3/19/10

Amount Charged : 6.35

USPS FIRST CLASS REGULAR Package 1
Total number of packages: 1

Items included in this shipment:

1. CAULIFLOWER AMAZING (5730) Qty : 1

2. PEA GREEN ARROW (5237/PKT P1) Qty : 1

Last fall, I ordered 4 rose bushes, received them in a reasonable amount of time. No problem. In the spring, 1 was dead.
I was told I would get store credit for the dead bush. The same shrub wasn't available, so I ordered another, same price. 2 weeks later, it wasn't shipped. I emailed, was told it would go out "any day now" a week later, again - "order under review, would be shipped ASAP". A week later, after a phone call: "We don't ship on Friday, it will go out on Monday" Then - it will be shipped TODAY, with FREE 2 day shipping. Still nothing.
I have only recently learned about their bankruptcy problems. Had they told me, upfront, that I would not be receiving a replacement, I could have dealt with that, and bought, brought home and planted a new rose bush a month ago, instead of waiting around for their lies.
This will be my LAST experience with Park Seed, and I have been buying from them since about 2005.

Nothing but a headache--didn't get a confirmation, didn't get a tracking number, my order was lost in their system, and when I got it 8! weeks after ordering, the number of seeds were not what I was expecting. To top it all off, the germination rate on the sugar snap peas was horrible, and these are easy to germinate.

Weeks ago I ordered a plant light. Over $90.00 total. I called after a more than reasonable time after having not received it or any correspondence and was told that it was out of stock. The person said that she was surprised that I had not received a refund by now. So was I. I waited 3 more weeks, still nothing. This morning I called again. After much double talk and hedgeing I found that they have filed Chapter 11 and I will not be given my money back. I will have to be issued a credit. No ifs, ands or buts! Per the lawyers orders! What choice do I have???? None! BEWARE!! I talked with 2 people, one a supervisor. I ended up feeling really sorry for the people who have to take these calls. They were very curteous and apologetic. I felt that they had been kept in the dark about the bankruptcy but have to deal with the angry people. I was assured that I will get my plant light in time as I don't feel in the mood for $90.00 in seeds or plants right now!! Again, Beware!!

DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH THIS COMPANY! I placed an order in January with Jackson and Perkins and they charged my credit card over $200. The items were suppose to ship in 2 weeks but the items never came. 30 days later I contacted customer services and was told the product was not available and they would cancel my order and issue a refund to my credit card. I never received the refund. Today I received an email saying they have filed for Bankruptcy and I would only get merchandise credit which must be used immediately. Since they cannot provide anything I want I have lost $200 by doing busniess with this company.

I received my order and felt as though the product was O.K, however one of my items was VERY DEAD looking. I also placed another order with a different company and received their product almost a week before Parks items.

I also noticed today that Park Seed is filing for Bankruptcy?

//www.greenvilleonline.com/article/20100406/BUSINESS/304060012/Park-Seed-to-reorganize-under-bankruptcy-protection

Posted on March 24, 2010, updated April 2, 2010
Posted on March 18, 2010, updated March 24, 2010
Posted on March 11, 2010, updated March 18, 2010
Posted on February 25, 2010, updated March 11, 2010
Oh Parkseed...it makes me sad to leave a negative review. You have beautiful catalogs, nice customer service employees, and good selections, but you do not actually deliver any seeds.

I placed my order on January 31st. All items were listed as in stock and shipping time was said to be 7-10 days. Time passed. It is now Feb 24th and I have no seeds. I e-mailed customer service and they said one item was on backorder and would "hopefully" be shipped next week.

I understand that this is the busy season, but I think you need to put accurate shipping times on your site. Since I notice that you immediately charged my credit card, I think that any item listed in stock at the time I order should immediately be reserved for me. At the very least if there is a delay or the item is backordered you should notify the customer or update the account status on your website. I live in Florida so shipping times are kinda important to me. Seed sellers on e-bay are actually a lot more reliable.

I hate to add to the negative reviews, but I must. Something has clearly happened to this company in the last few months.

In years prior, I've had success with Park Seed, seeds were always sent quickly.

This year I placed an order the last week in January. I called to check on the order after 2 weeks. I was told one packet (onions) was on backorder, but they could send me the packet of Fire Blend peppers right away. Sounds good. A week later, no change in the order status. I call again and the (very nice) customer service person says exactly the same thing. 2 weeks pass. I call again, and am told the onions will be in "next week" but that they will put my peppers on "rush" delivery. I explain how many times I've called. 2 more weeks pass, still no peppers. I call a FOURTH time and am told the exact same thing. I explain to the (still very nice) customer service person that they have told me the peppers would be shipped immediately every time I've called. She promises to have them sent.

A week later (now the middle of march) I call one last time (the 5th time) to cancel the order. I am told they cannot cancel the peppers, because they've already been sent to "the delivery department." She says the only thing I can do is refuse the package when it arrives.

This week I finally received the peppers, and to my shock, the seeds of ALL FOUR TYPES of peppers are bundled into ONE package. How am I supposed to tell the difference between habaneros, jalapenos, cayenne, and anaheim chiles from tiny identical seeds? Seriously?? Do you want me to plant all 100 seeds and then weed them out once they're actually forming fruit? Does that seem insane to anyone else?

UGH!! After all that time waiting. :(

I immediately ordered heirloom seeds from organic growers on Etsy.com and they arrived in 4 days.

I still haven't received my onions and at this point I don't expect to or care.

Seeds ordered Jan 27th...five phone calls later, received seeds Mar 19th. poor, poor. As with others, many excuses; even asked to cancel the one seed type they were missing and ship the four others, that request was the last two phone calls which finally got me some seeds. They've lost a customer!

I ordered seeds in January and got a partial shipment within a couple weeks. After that my experience got more and more negative. After two months of emails and phone calls and hearing excuse after excuse and broken promise after broken promise I finally cancelled the order. The ratings tell it all: 14 negatives and 1 positive in the last month. If you order from these guys don't count on a full delivery of your order.

Ordered perennial seeds 2 weeks ago and they still haven't shipped. I wish I would have found this web page before I ordered from them. They tell me the same old song and dance that the order is at the shiiping dock to go out. Hasn't shipped yet so am not happy. Won't get my business again.

Posted on March 12, 2010, updated March 15, 2010
Update of original Positive comment:
I had posted earlier re very positive experience ordering and receiving seeds.
Today I opened the package which states clearly "100 seeds" to find out that it contains 50 seeds.
How do companies get away with this?
This is not the first company that I had this happen.
Do buyers just expect this and accept this?
If I bought a bag of oranges that said it contained 12 oranges and it contained 6, I would return it; most people would.
I'm not going to return a package of seeds - probably most people don't. Maybe that is why they do it?
Last time I order from Park's.