Comments regarding Burpee (W. Atlee Burpee)

I ordered three 'Fireworks" Gomphrenas from Burpee's. The plants were wilted and falling out of their pots and most of the dirt was in the bottom of the box. I sent an email to Burpee's customer service and got an immediate reply asking whether I wanted a refund or replacement plants. That doesn't make up for the fact that the plants were in horrible shape to start with, however.

"On Sep 4, 2013 3:52 PM, Burpee (W. Atlee Burpee) responded with:

Dear Customer,

We are very sorry for the poor experience you’ve encountered with Burpee. After reviewing your comments we reached out to you on May 20, 2013 via direct mail on Dave’s Garden to resolve this issue.

We hope at this time you feel that this matter has been resolved. Please contact our Customer Service team at 1-800-888-1447 if you require additional assistance or email custserv@burpee.com.

"

Ordered for the first time from Burpee.
2 packets of California poppies-
one sup'd to have 350 seeds
the other sup'd to have 100. They cost me 5.00 and 4.00/per packet. Expensive compared to other companies.$6.00 shipping.
The one had (generously) maybe 100-150 seeds. The other had 30 seeds (I have a seed spreader, and I actually counted how many seeds.)
I called and they are going to send me more, but I am burning mad.
1st- my seeding is now another week behind.
2nd- this must be their standard practice. It isn't logical that I order two packets and both have less than have of the number of seeds, unless this is their usual practice. And the reason they keep doing this is bec. they can. I bet most people don't complain. I'll never order from then, and I'll make sure no one I garden with ever does either.

"On Sep 4, 2013 3:40 PM, Burpee (W. Atlee Burpee) responded with:

Dear Customer,

After reviewing your comments we reached out to you via direct mail on May 8, 2013. We hope you feel the matter was resolved in just and timely manner.

"

Last year I ordered seeds and plants from Burpee. My seed germination rate was about 99% for quite a variety of flowers and vegetables In fact, last year’s lettuce is once again thriving this spring with no help whatsoever from me. I had a few failures (pink Lily of the Valley and White Calla Lily) which were all refunded when I called the company. (with an apology “I’m sorry it died.”) Great customer service. Excellent packaging and shipping. Some of the tiny flower seeds are shipped in a mini plastic tube in the package and are brightly colored so you can see them. Some items shipped early due to March 2012 being more like summer. I also use quite a few bags of the Burpee Wildflower North American Mix seeds and the results are exceptional. A few of the smaller flowers bloomed all through winter. Last year in August I planted four types of sunflowers with success and this year I planted 15 types starting in mid-March including the Strawberry Blonde Hybrid “The first rose-pink sunflower!” As of mid-April, they are sprouting right on schedule. (direct sow Zone 7b)
The Burpee website is very user friendly – it’s great for planning your flower and vegetable garden. I appreciate all the How To information and customer reviews. I am also impressed by all the new introductions for flowers and vegetables and decided to try planning the On Deck Hybrid Corn – which I planted in the garden and in a large container. I am glad I ordered early as the On Deck Hybrid Corn is listed as “sold out” in mid-April. The printed catalogs and website both feature stunning true-to-life photos that certainly motivate my buying habits.

Ordered two Echinacea Pink Double Delight plants. Paid approx 11.50 each with a discount and had free shipping. For the price, I expected decent sized plants. Plants are very, very small. Very small. They are in 4" containers and one is about 1 1/2" tall and about 3" in circumference. The second is half that size. Packaging was almost non-existent. One container was completely emptied within the box and the plant out of the container. Did I mention that the shipping box has large holes so the dirt which emptied out of the container was also coming out of the box? It looks like both plants were recently repotted into the containers that they were shipped in as the one plant that fell completely out had it's roots in a compact ball. I am certain with TLC I can get the smaller, tramatized plant to grow, but I shouldn't have to. I should be receiving plants in beautiful condition, yes? I am re-doing a bed and have ordered from many places the past few weeks. This is the first situation I have had like this.

"On Sep 4, 2013 3:38 PM, Burpee (W. Atlee Burpee) responded with:

Dear Customer,

After reviewing your comments we reached out to you via direct mail on April 29, 2013. We hope you feel the matter was resolved in just and timely manner.

"

Order placed on 4/11 for eggplant supports and Hydrangea Everlasting Revolution with free shipping and $10 off. Regular price for Hydrangea is $26.95, it is overpriced. Full payment was charged on 4/12.

On 4/16 contacted customer service to check order status. I was told that:
1) they are in peak season, long delivery date is to be expected.
2) delivery dates posted online are incorrect. Hydrangea won't be delivered until the week of May1. Eggplant supports should be delivered from the warehouse within a couple of days.
3) I can cancel the order if I don't want to wait.

On 4/17, received shipment confirmation for the eggplant supports. Until today 4/20, the UPS tracking # still not showing the expected delivery date, the shipment is still in the orgin scan place, PA state. (I have placed a lot of online orders, I have never seen this happened with UPS.)

Just contacted Burpee customer service. I was told that:
1) they ship UPS the same way as the others. They don't know why the UPS delivery date is still not showing. If I don't see any shipment progress, I can call UPS, there is nothing they can do about it.
2) customer complaints can be seen anywhere on the internet as I mentioned other customer had complainted the tracking problem on Dave's Garden.
3) I can cancel the order if I want to. I can return the eggplant supports at their own shipping cost.

The way their customer representatives answered you is very irritating and so irresponsible. Burpee doesn't care about any customer complaints and doesn't welcome any customers not happy with their shipping problem.

Even though I placed the order mainly because of the Hydrangea, I have decided to cancel out the whole order. I will return the eggplant supports. Thank God that my order is free shipping, so I don't have to waste the shipping charge. NO more business with Burpee. Dump the catalog to trash bin.

God bless me that I will get my full refund without too much problems. Worry about the eggplant supports return.

"On Sep 4, 2013 3:35 PM, Burpee (W. Atlee Burpee) responded with:

Dear Customer,

After reviewing your comments we reached out to you via direct mail on May 31, 2013. We hope you feel the issue was resolved in just and timely manner.

"

I placed a small order because they had something I couldn't find from my usual sources. That variety was quite expensive, but even more expensive from another company. The seed count was correct and they were packaged in tubes to avoid crushing, a plus with such expensive seeds. I ordered a couple of other things too and all of them germinated well. Also, they arrived quickly so my experience was quite good.

Every year Burpee gets worse! I always tried to figure out a way to take the blame for something I may have done to account for Burpee's poor seed germination and this year answered the question. I planted 8 different kinds of peppers, all in the same seed flat. After a few weeks in the germination incubator, my problem was answered. 7 out of the 8 had the usual Burpee germination rate=2 sprouts out of 20 on average. Every year thier seed packs get smaller(wieght by millionth of a gram now!) and the germination drops another 10 % down to where now only 10 % is the germ. rate. The bad part of that was the one pack out of the eight had over 90% germ. rate in the same flat/enviroment as the others. The Patio Pleaser Peppers had the same germination as my own saved seeds-over 90%. It's pretty bad when Burpee's makes themselves look bad when comparing thier own seeds with each other. I have seeds that are over 15 years old that are NOT Burpee's that have better germ. rates then the 7 out 8 seed packs. I figure Burpee's seeds must be well over twenty years old to be so close to the edge of non-germination besides being brown/black in seed color. If only Burpee would of tested the Patio Pleasers and seen that they out perform by ten fold thier other seeds, they shouldn't of sold them so to have nothing good to compare to. Most of Burpee seeds are raised over seas and few are from the U.S.A. I would love to grow Burpee seeds here in the U.S.A. but the problem is that they too would out-perform thier other seeds and make the rest look bad like the Patio Pleasers did. I was ok when I was only able to compare Burpee's bad seeds with all the other bad seeds of thiers in the past years, and I would of been better off if I never would of got a good seed of theirs to make the rest look so bad and realize its not something wrong that I've been doing.
As far as Burpee's having a nice variety of seeds, that they do! I planted thier Chinese Giants two years ago and I swear no two plants where of the same variety. I would think if thier seeds are over twenty years old, that they would know whats not true to variety by now and not continue selling them. I was always told that a seed variety must breed true for 5 years running to become a variety and if thats the case, they got another 6 more years to go on the Chinese Giants variety. Burpee's reps are always quick to put the blame of poor results on the grower since they claim they have way better results then I do and it s got to be something I've done wrong, well, how is it my fault for the mixed variety? The answer is truely that it IS my fault for buying thier seeds in the first place. When will I ever learn?
To top that off, their seeds are worth more than GOLD! Here's the math! There are 165,000 tomatoe seeds in a pound or 10,312 seeds in an ounce. Burpee's Steak Sandwich Hybrid seed pack (45 mg-about half the size of a baby aspirin!) contains 22 seeds(counting 2-3 half seed pieces!). That works out to 469 seed packs @ $2.49/pack=$1167.81 an ounce! Now if your lucky and get a 50% germination rate, that comes to $2335.62 an ounce for growable seeds!! Yes, Its cheaper to by your wife a gold necklace than one made from Burpee's tomatoe seeds! Good thing Burpee's Steak Sandwich Hybrid seeds come from China with cheap labor because could you imagine how much Burpee would have to charge if they where grown in the U.S.A. and have to pay probably minimum wage at that! No wonder the seeds are so old, at 45 mg. a pack, it probably would take 20 years to sell a bag of seeds big enough to ship here from China!

"On Sep 4, 2013 3:59 PM, Burpee (W. Atlee Burpee) responded with:

Dear Customer,

We are very sorry for the poor experience you’ve encountered with Burpee. After reviewing your comments we reached out to you on April 16, 2013 via direct mail on Dave’s Garden to resolve this issue.

We hope at this time you feel that this matter has been resolved. Please contact our Customer Service team at 1-800-888-1447 if you require additional assistance or email custserv@burpee.com.

"

I ordered over $50.00 of seeds almost 4 weeks ago. Then I received an email that stated my order had shipped. The email provided a tracking number without stating the actual shipper. I tried tracking the order thru UPS, FedEX and USPS to no avail. The tracking number was never found on any of them.

First: why wasn't the shipper disclosed?
Second: why would it take 2-3 days for the tracking number to be available on the "shipper's tracking system? Our company uses UPS and FedEx to ship our goods and the tracking info is available within hours.

Sadly, we never did find any usable tracking information using the tracking number provided by Burpee.

We eventually contacted Burpee and informed them that we did not receive our seeds. Burpee then cancelled the original order and placed a new order for our seeds. Then several days later, we received a notice of shipment of our seeds. Unfortunately, the same poor information appears on the email. No shipper is disclosed. The tracking number does not work on UPS, FedEx or USPS.

We are very disappointed with this situation. As you certainly know, customers order seeds early to begin the germination process indoors so as to provide a bigger seedlings when the outdoor season begins. Now we are at least 3 weeks behind, IF WE EVER RECEIVE this reorder.

While we have for many, many years used Burpee seeds, we are unlikely to ever order Burpee seeds online again.

I contacted Burpee's customer service. Their sole response was "The package should arrive Friday. Have a nice day."

"On Sep 4, 2013 4:00 PM, Burpee (W. Atlee Burpee) responded with:

Dear Customer,

We are very sorry for the poor experience you’ve encountered with Burpee. After reviewing your comments we reached out to you on April 10, 2013 via direct mail on Dave’s Garden to resolve this issue.

We hope at this time you feel that this matter has been resolved. Please contact our Customer Service team at 1-800-888-1447 if you require additional assistance or email custserv@burpee.com.

"

Received my order of Double Scoop Raspberry Echinacea. THEY ARE 1.5 INCHES HIGH!! Are they kidding???? Never again. This company has seen better days.

"On Sep 4, 2013 4:01 PM, Burpee (W. Atlee Burpee) responded with:

Dear Customer,

We are very sorry for the poor experience you’ve encountered with Burpee. After reviewing your comments we reached out to you on April 3, 2013 via direct mail on Dave’s Garden to resolve this issue.

We hope at this time you feel that this matter has been resolved. Please contact our Customer Service team at 1-800-888-1447 if you require additional assistance or email custserv@burpee.com.

"

Purchased a package of Burpee seeds (Better Boy) at retail store for $1.99. The package was for 50 mg. weight but only contained five seeds. Emailed company concerning disappointment with quantity of seeds in packet. Was told their prices are determined by costs and no offer of compensation made. Dissatisfied with answer I called company and asked to talk to person in authority. That person was the one who answered my email. Again went through spill about costs involved and that since I got five plants up from the five seeds planted I should be satisfied with the 100% germination and that Burpee seeds were superior to other sellers seeds so price was justified. Was told that their catalog had package of thirty seeds selling for $6.50. Looked up on internet and they're listed for $3.95/30 seeds. Asked for refund of price or coupon for another pack of seeds. Would like to see if all retail packages only had five seeds but was refused any compensation. Again told their seeds were superior to others. I've been gardening a long time and know this is not the case. Will never buy Burpee seeds again, either retail or catalog. Apparently customer satisfaction has no priority with them.

"On Sep 4, 2013 4:03 PM, Burpee (W. Atlee Burpee) responded with:

Dear Customer,

We are very sorry for the poor experience you’ve encountered with Burpee. After reviewing your comments we reached out to you on March 21, 2013 via direct mail on Dave’s Garden to resolve this issue.

We hope at this time you feel that this matter has been resolved. Please contact our Customer Service team at 1-800-888-1447 if you require additional assistance or email custserv@burpee.com.

"

Posted on May 12, 2009, updated March 7, 2013
With some trepidation after reading the reports here, I ordered 12 tomato plants at a whopping price of almost 60$ including shipping. They arrived about 2 weeks later (good) but 4 of the 12 (one third!) are completely ruined. They look like they have been through the blender! The others look fair or okay--only a little broken and messed up. Three are iffy; the others should make it. I think their shipper must have used the box for baseball practice and then put it by a heat vent in 90 degree weather. The ruined plants were just SLIME. The packaging appeared to be sturdy and the box was not damaged, so I think the shipper did not take the proper care. For the price of shipping they should have HAND carried to me!

We will see tomorrow what kind of reply I get from customer service, and I will post back here.

I've never had any issues with Burpee customer service or their products, but I am giving them a neutral rating simply because of their outrageous prices - they are one of the highest retailers out there and their prices for most of their seeds is crazy.

I have ordered from Burpee from time to time and have no real problems. I tend towards ordering vegetable seeds, and only rarely flower seeds. The seeds have been of good quality, and produced excellent results. While I now look for seeds coming from smaller producers, I have to praise them for what they have done for me. The one time I had problems, sunflower seeds that turned out to be the wrong color and corn seeds with poor germination, the company immediately offered a refund with no problems, which I received quickly.

Due to the pretty bad reviews for Burpee here, I've not ordered from them at all. But I got an email from them touting their new hybrid container corn. Who doesn't want to be able to grow sweet corn in a container? So I ordered 2 packets along with 2 packets of tomato seeds. So far so good. I received the full order in a very timely manner, packed well. All that remains is seeing how good the germination rate is and watch some growth. As of right now, I'm rating them positive as they served me well with my order.

Fall 2012 has been my first experience ordering from Burpee.

The bulbs came within acceptable sizes and health. Nothing overly impressive, but not disappointing, either.

My orders from 7/19/12 and 8/7/12 included:
Tulip, Cummins
Tulip, Huis Ten Bosch
Tulip, Barbados
Tulip, Fire Wings
Foxglove, Rose Shades
Columbine, Origami Red & White
Eragrostis, Purple Love Grass
Astilbe, Astary Mix
Echinacea, Purple Double Delight
Columbine, Lime Sorbet
Phlox, David
Lavendar, Lacy Frills
Lily, Checkered Lily
Helleborus, First Cuckoo

The only reason I'm not strictly positive right now is because of customer service. I made a call in to ask about how well their tulips perrenialize. She responded that a supervisor would call me to let me know. They never did. It doesn't matter, now, as I ordered them, anyway. I'll just have to find out from experience. I will probably update it to positive if all of the plants do well or I have good service if they don't.

I will try to remember to update the next few years with how they are doing and anything else I order and how they are doing.

I think it’s probably just human nature that we tend to post comments about vendors when we have a problem with them. I certainly have done so here in the past. But when I put together my list of recommended seed suppliers for a Senior Gardening posting this year, I realized that I should make a positive comment here about each of our suppliers that have performed so well over the years.

Burpee was the first mail order seed catalog we used almost forty years ago. Over the years, we got away from using them in favor of other vendors such as Stokes, Johnny’s, and Twilley. But in the last few years, we’ve gotten back to using Burpee for items such as garlic, Mr. Big peas, and several flower varieties.

We’ve not had to make a claim on any seed or supplies ordered from Burpee over the years. That says a lot.

//www.senior-gardening.com/features/suppliers.html

I got a promotional offer from Burpee in my email box today for 20 percent off their berry plants. My birthday is coming up so I thought I'd order a few of their (ridiculously high priced) raspberry bushes. When I went to check out, the message I was given was that I would not finalize my order until all was well. Well, there was no place to enter the discount code, but I kept on going, relying on the promise,and found I'd checked out without the 20 percent off.

I called Burpee, and I was annoyed, because this just seemed so shady, and how many customers just let that go and pay the extra money? I didn't like that. I was going to cancel but decided I'd wait. The rep made the adjustment to the price of my order and said she'd email me with an acknowledgement.

So I got an email telling me that my credit card had been debited for the wrong amount. Furthermore, I was told the order would not ship for another 2 weeks. I order a lot on the Net, and the normal practice is to debit my card when the items are shipped, not at the moment of order, and with all the mixup Burpee has with their ordering, not even providing a place to put in the discount code -- it irked me.

So I called and cancelled the order. I was told they would not refund my money for a week. They get to keep my money for a week after wasting 2 hours of my time and giving me nothing but headaches. I see no reason why I have to wait a week for them to refund my money. With thousands of customers, if this is their normal practice, this gives the owners of this company access to a lot of free money.

I'm sick of dishonest greedy corporates. I filed a complaint against them with the Pennsylvania Attorney General.

This year gardening was challenging with dry, extremely hot weather. I planted Big Daddy Tomatoes from Burpee seed. I didn't get them set out until late, but they did well and exceeded my others. Also,I planted their new stringless Italian type pole bean. They did not set beans early because of the weather, but when it began to cool in August they began to set on in abundance. I have never seen more beautiful beans! I am very excited about both varieties! Burpee has always been considered a quality company by me in my many years of gardening experience.

I had a fifteen year old unopened pack of Lobelia Crystal Palace seeds by Burpee. Inside the pack is a smaller "Life Lock" packet. The seeds are very tiny and numerous. I planted all of them in a hanging basket and it seems most germinated! I thinned them down to a few plants which are growing well and blooming.

Burpee was the first garden catalog I ever received as a five-year-old gardener, and I'm from Pennsylvania, so I'm sure nostalgia influences my favorable impressions of this company.

This year, however, I've been impressed with an array of discounted and free shipping (no minimum) offers I've received from their company emails. I had one rare perennial plant I was eying up for a while, and I was able to have it shipped for free, just one plant! It's been growing beautifully. Started small at the end of may and now it's HUGE and happy in a difficult spot in my garden.

In twenty-five years of ordering, I've never been disappointed. I will say that their common plants/seeds are overpriced, but they do have some rarer varieties which are priced fairly. Add free shipping, and you're good to go!

I get constant "Service unavailable - DNS failure" errors when using the Burpee website.

Last year 2011, I purchased two Echinacea, Double Scoop Raspberry and Pomegranate. I wanted to write to let you know I love those plants and they have bloomed for me for weeks. I have not seen them yet available many places and I am sure glad that I purchased them from your company. They are certainly my favorite of all that I have and I do have many.
Marilyn Chrest

Ordered $50 of perennial flower seeds for winter sowing. Like the selection. Like the prices. Order arrived promptly. Can't wait to get them in the ground.

I placed a $70 seed order for fall planting on July 19, 2012. On July 26, I had not received the seeds, so I logged onto the site to check the order status. The website indicated that the order had not yet shipped, so I called Burpee for more information. I was told they were doing inventory in the warehouse, but it was nearly complete and the seeds would ship that same day. The next day (July 27), I logged onto the site to check the status again. Still, the site indicated that the order had not shipped. Beginning to get nervous about my fall planting schedule, I called Burpee again. Once again, I was told the seeds would ship "today". The following Monday, July 30, I logged on to the site to find the same message ("Order not yet shipped"). I figured maybe it just hadn't updated, so I would wait another day. On Tuesday, July 31, I logged in again to find the same message.

Now 12 days after I placed the order, I called Burpee to check the status again. I was informed that they were still doing inventory and that it would be complete within the "next few business days", upon which the order would ship. This now being totally unacceptable, that they had strung me along for 12 days leading me to believe the order was on the verge of shipping, I could not afford to lose any more growing days so I cancelled my order.

I placed an order with Pinetree Seeds, as they seem to have great reviews online, not to mention, I got more seeds than my $70 order at Burpee and it only came to $33! A little bit of customer service would have gone a long way in Burpee's case.

I ordered several packets of seeds for my Fall planting, and they arrived in 3 business days. They were packed securely and I received what I ordered. I found their website to be very helpful and informative, and their prices to be reasonable. I found the transaction to be pleasant and I suggest purchasing from them.

Posted on July 23, 2012, updated July 23, 2012
Posted on July 19, 2012, updated July 23, 2012
Posted on July 7, 2012, updated July 19, 2012
I moved back into gardening territory two years ago. I remember my Dad ordering from Burpee. He always let me grow something from them. Never any problems.
Now that I am back, I have ordered twice from them (two growing seasons in a row). I like their tomato cages, and accessories. They make sense.
I remember the count of seeds being on the packages (so important with veggies), and this seems a way of the past. They should go back to that system, and of putting MORE into each package. But they are not alone, so I do not cast a negative their way.
I have bought perennials from them in both orders, and they arrived just fine, with proper planting instructions.
All told, I will order from them again. What I really appreciate is their catalog arriving in the dreary winter, giving me allot of time to plan out my vegetable garden.

I have only used Burpee over the last 2 months for one item...stainless steel plant markers, which are issued in groups of 25. The markers have been delivered extremely promptly, generally 1 day, and have worked well in my garden. Burpee has also generously included $5.00 and $10.00 off your next order coupons on 3 occasions. I cannot comment on the quality of their plants/seeds, but I am impressed with how they handle their "supply" orders!

I ordered 3 packets of Vigna caracalla seeds and 3 live Vigna caracalla plants from Burpee on May 8th. The seeds arrived quickly, the plants took about 2 weeks. The plants arrived very healthy and happy, despite almost a week in a box, There were multiple plants in each 4 inch pot and the roots were thick and healthy. I was very happy with the plants
.
However, I had a low germination rate with the seeds, despite nicking, soaking, heat mat, etc. Only 6 of the 21 germinated. Of those 6, only 2 survived. I wasn't pleased, so I contacted the company. I received a response in less than 24 hours, they honored the "Burpee Guarantee". and sent me new seeds quickly. The second set germinated better than the first. Still not what I had hoped (around 60%) but considering that this plant is notoriously hard to germinate/grow I'm not surprised.
Overall, the people at Burpee were pleasant to deal with and I'm pretty happy with my experience and would shop with Burpee again.

I love Burpee

Any plant I have ordered from the company has done very well. I joke with my husband that Burpee plants are on steroids because they grow so big and fast.

On another note, the seeds on the site are overpriced as are the more common plants you can find at hardware stores. Many of these products are found at retailers and hardware stores so you are better off buying these in stores.

Posted on June 18, 2012, updated June 18, 2012
Posted on June 15, 2012, updated June 18, 2012
I sent this to Burpee today after receiving my order from them:

I received Order #: xxxx Account #: xxxx today and, per my order confirmation, was expecting:

Iris ensata, Fortune (13368 - 1 Bulb) $12.95
Tradescantia, Osprey(13380 - 1 Plant) $12.95
Polygonatum, Variegatum(05498 - 1 plant)$11.95
Tradescantia, Bilberry Ice(13379 - 1 Plant)$12.95

The Iris Ensata and Tradescantia Bilberry Ice were received as described but I did not receive plants for the Polygonatum nor for the Tradescantia Osprey. The Polygonatum that was sent consists of a (1) 2.5" and(1) 1" piece of rhizome (no roots) stuffed in a bag with pine shavings and the Osprey was a small root cluster with a few weak white and yellow 1-2" damaged sprouts stuffed in another plastic bag with shavings. These are not plants! My confusion is further compounded by the fact that the other Tradescantia ordered did arrive as a plant in a pot. These "plants" were not cheap and I would have never ordered either of them at these prices (nor during this time of year) had your website accurately reflected them as bareroot rather than plants in 3.5" pots. Can you please look into this and see if a mistake has occurred? I will gladly send you back this shipment if you will send me the plants that I have ordered in return. Thank you

This pretty much describes my dis-satisfaction. The one plant that actually arrived in a pot is about 6" tall. I purchased other Tradescantia from Bluestone a couple of weeks ago and the smallest one they sent me was 18" tall and very full - all for about $4 during their springtime sale. I will not be purchasing anything else from Burpee's.

I am very unhappy with their customer service! I placed an order 3-13 for seeds and 3 plants of ornamental grass. Received the seeds about 10 days later, ok not great but reasonable.

According to the order confirmation, I would receive the plants end of March beginning of April. When that did not happen by end of April I called and was told they will ship it soon since my zone was not being sent out yet (for hardy plants?). After 2 more calls and several emails, each time putting me off with another excuse and" they will be there next week" I was really frustrated!

I just received an email (6-6 Yes, that is 3 months later!) as a return authorization crediting my account. I understand things happen and the quality wasn't to their standards, but how about LETTING ME KNOW? No communication whatsoever, no sorry for the inconvenience, no $5 for next time...which I will never do again.

What's the point of giving me a shipping date and then tell me my zone doesn't ship for another month?

Posted on May 1, 2012, updated June 8, 2012
I placed an order on March 9, 2012 for two "Purple Wonder "Strawberry plants.
After not hearing back about delivery I called and discovered they could not find my web order even though I had a confirmation number. After they corrected the order they said they would send me the plants as soon as they were in stock. Well, I received a box from Burpees on April 30, 2012 and when opened found two
shriveled and dead strawberry plants that had been dislodged from the dirt.
The invoice said these plants were mailed April 10, 2012, although when I called Burpees they said they were mailed April 24, 2012 . The plants certainly look like they had been in transit 20 days. I called Burpees and was told they no longer had the Purple Wonder strawberries this spring and I could wait till fall for additional stock. When asked why they came in such terrible condition they informed me they are not responsible for how UPS handles their shipping. Needless to say I asked for a refund. Still would like to purchase the Purple Wonder strawberry plants only not from Burpees.

I

I ordered 36 Lisianthus plants for my cut flower business. They arrived after a week in transit in two boxes taped together. There were three 6-packs in each box. Unfortunately, in each box one 6-pack had tipped over and spilled both plants and soil mix. The stems were broken and the roots were beginning to dry out. Most of the remaining plants had been pruned, as an enclosed note pointed out, "to better handle the rigors of shipping". Of the 36 plants, only one was intact. I called Burpee right away to complain and was told to wait a day or two and then assess the damage. I did that and then emailed them. A got a quick response asking if I wanted a refund or replacement. I asked for a replacement. Burpee responded that they had no more Lisianthus so I would get a refund.

I've ordered plants from several companies and I know they can be shipped without pruning or spilling. This is the last time I order plants from Burpee.

I've always had good luck with their seeds and plants.
This year I ordered their gomphrena fireworks plants, which I grew from seed last year which did extremely well and wanted to try the plants. The plants arrived in beautiful condition...a little too early for our crazy spring this year but held over beautifully and are doing great. Very happy.

Posted on May 11, 2011, updated May 17, 2012
On March 3, I ordered almost $100 worth of plants from Burpee online and relied on the published shipping dates for my area on the Burpee website (which would have all plants delivered to me before April 30, 2011). It is now May 11 and I have received nothing. I emailed the company to complain. One week ago, I received the following email response:

"Hello: I am sorry you are not happy with the delivery date. I thank your [sic] for your feedback and will be sure to pass it on to my supervisor."

Hmmn. I don't think the problem is my personal "happiness" about Burpee's delivery date. I relied on Burpee's own published date (the plants to arrive in time for Mother's Day, which they did not). Anyhow, t's now another week and I still don't have the plants, yet they're thanking me for my "feedback"? Basically....."Hey, sorry you're unhappy about getting swindled, customer, but hey we sure do thank ya for the feedback!"

Please do NOT buy Burpee seeds (vegetable primarily). My germination success has been anything from 0% to 10%. It isn't worth waiting for next to nothing.

In all fairness, I bought these Burpee seeds at a Wal-Mart store from the company's display stand. I have no idea what conditions they were subjected to before the stand was put out on the floor.

Just a note...Wal Mart does NOT refund money on seeds purchased at their store.

I am really disappointed in Burpee I placed an order on the 4th of May and here it is the 12th of May and my order still hasen't shipped. I contacted them by e-mail through there website and it said wait 48 hours for a response from our customer service department. And guess what nothing heard back from them either and this is a Mother's day present now I am going to look really bad tomorrow on Mother's Day because of Burpee. No way it takes that long to ship 3 different live plants I am kinda wondering what the Burpee shippers do down there. Do they just stare at your order And gaze at it for a week I can't believe that. The Kid that started the company in 1876 probably dosn't deal with the company anymore that's why it seems it is going down hill because if he ran it like this in 1876 it wouldn't be as big as the company is today. Hope I receive my package soon I am really worried about it.

I ordered some Coneflowers and received dormant plants which are doing very well.

I ordered a pack of 3 tuberose bulbs from Burpee. The package came in a timely fashion, but the bulbs are not in very good shape. I have planted them and will see how they do. They look "old", not what I expected. Never ordered from them before, and may not again.