Comments regarding Thompson and Morgan (US)

Wow,

Ive ordered from them from years.. sure maybe a mix up here or there or some seed count issues. But I never bothered looking them up till today and I couldnt believe all the negatives.

They really are a good seed company to order from, Ive always found thier germination rates to be comparable to other seed companies Ive ordered from.

I would give them 3 out of 4 stars.

Silverkelt

I've read some of the negative comments, but to tell you the truth, I've had nothing but good experiences. I'll continue to order because they have some vegetables that are hard to find anywhere else. I've never had a problem with the veggie seeds germinating, either. I find that some of their prices may seem high, but then again, these are varieties not offered anywhere else in the U.S. I like some of the U.K. veggie varieties, so I figure it's cheaper than buying them from a supplier in the U.K. ( or flying over to London, though I wouldn'd mind the vacation!)

"On Jul 22, 2010 7:44 AM, Thompson and Morgan (US) responded with:

We appreciate your feedback. Your feedback is appreciated and used to help provide better service to our customers. Happy Gardening!"

I have always loved the T&M catalogues, but I stopped ordering from them last year for one reason: no matter how carefully I try I can seldom get T&M's seeds to germinate. This happened so many times, year after year, that it finally dawned on me that it might not be something I was doing wrong. The other posts on this site confirm this. How sad; I grew up with T&M.

"On Jun 8, 2010 10:45 AM, Thompson and Morgan (US) responded with:

We appreciate your feedback. Your feedback is used to help provide better service to our customers. A customer service representative will be contacting you for more information."

Posted on April 26, 2010, updated May 21, 2010
Posted on April 19, 2010, updated April 26, 2010
It seems like there are no "medium" internet companies. Either they're great, or they suck.

This one falls into the latter category.

Granted, my order was small, ($9), but that's no excuse to still not have shipped after three weeks with no explanation. Even after two contacts, I can't get these people to move.

Soon, it will be too hot for the lettuce I ordered. "Thanks a lot Thompson & Morgan"

Yeah, I know...I know. You strive for "100% customer satisfaction" And I wanted to be an astronaut when I was a kid.

"On Apr 23, 2010 8:41 AM, Thompson and Morgan (US) responded with:

Thank you for taking the time to post. A customer service representative will be contacting you for you account information to locate your order and have it shipped as soon as possible."

Posted on April 20, 2010, updated May 3, 2010
In the last 8 months, I've spent over $250 with T&M and watched their delivery times get longer and longer and their web ordering system get worse and worse. Their average shipment time is 13.8 days (the longest being 24), and that doesn't include the actual time in transit. I guess they weren't kidding last September 17 when they said to plan for next year! I should have ordered then to get things on time.

Orders are taken for out of stock items, but you have trouble finding that out until you get a slip in the mail. Why not email *right away*? Why even advertise the item or add it to the cart? You can't even tell what you ordered in some cases because their order status page is next to useless. It won't list items that weren't shipped. It won't even email you telling you what you ordered or how much you're going to pay, so unless you recorded it somewhere before hitting confirm, you just get to wait and see.

Calling their customer service is an exercise in futility, as they are pretty much only allowed to answer phones and apologize that they can't help because *another department* has to handle serious inquiries... and they're probably gone for the day.

Beyond that, the germination rate of some seeds is nil. Some of these seeds should be able to germinate in space, literally. (i.e., Nigella damascena) I understand that others are more difficult to get going and that's fine, but this is just the icing on the cake.

I was never overcharged or overtly mistreated, but the whole waiting game, worst technology implementation ever, and dismal germination rates on enough of the seeds has pretty much made the decision to focus on other providers in the future clear. It's unfortunate, because T&M does have a great selection (when it is available.) Maybe that whole acquisition by Gardens Alive! last September put the last nail in... (By the way, if you're wondering why you're being not intuitively at all being charged by Michigan Bulb Co., that's why.)

"On Apr 23, 2010 9:00 AM, Thompson and Morgan (US) responded with:

We appreciate your feedback. Your feedback is taken seriously and used to help provide better service to our customers. A customer service representative will be contacting you for more information."

I have ordered catalog seeds for 20 years, and T&M has been a consistant disappointment. I go through all of the other companies' catalogs and if NO ONE else has the seeds I want, I will order from T&M. But this year 2010 has been the worst. I live in Alaska and no one I know even got a catalog. This year I went on their web-site, and it was a train wreck. As usual their prices were higher, their shipping was high and my order from them showed up weeks after all the others. As usual their packages of seeds had less than anyone elses. Will I order from them again...probably. But only if they are the only ones that have a particular kind of seed. I hope that new ownership will improve things in the future.

"On Apr 27, 2010 10:24 AM, Thompson and Morgan (US) responded with:

We as the new owners of T&M appreciate you taking the time to post. We are always here to answer any questions you may have or assist in any way we can. "

I'm from the UK and the Cobra nasturtium appears to have some problems with germination,
I sowed over forty seeds and only one seed germinated. I must say however that T.M do appear to accept there is some problem with these seeds as they had no hesitation in replacing all the packets I had purchased,
However as yet these have not germinated either, but will give then another week.

"On Apr 26, 2010 4:30 PM, Thompson and Morgan (US) responded with:

We appreciate your feedback. We apologize for the problem with the seed. We do our best to ship quality products and your feedback helps to make sure we do just that."

Posted on February 2, 2010, updated April 23, 2010
Was very surprised to see a charge from Michigan Bulb on my CC when I would NEVER order from them, even more surprised to find out that the charge was for my T&M order. I guess they have now joined forces, I don't see this turning out well for T&M.

"On Apr 23, 2010 9:13 AM, Thompson and Morgan (US) responded with:

We appreciate your feedback. We apologize for the problem with the seed. A customer service representative will be contacting you for more information."

Posted on April 6, 2010, updated April 13, 2010
I don't know yet about the germination of the seeds, but I paid by check and at least one packet in my order was not available. I received a postcard note assuring me that "I have not been charged." However, the check was cashed, and there has been no note about a refund or that I have credit with the company for a later seed purchase.

"On Apr 9, 2010 2:18 PM, Thompson and Morgan (US) responded with:

We appreciate you taking the time to post. A customer service representative will be contacting you about your order and refund."

I am not happy about the seeds I got from this company either. They did not send out the seeds to me as the shipping times stated. Took too long to get the seeds. Of the seeds I ordered only one has done anything. Never again!

"On Apr 9, 2010 2:17 PM, Thompson and Morgan (US) responded with:

We appreciate you taking the time to post. We strive for 100% Customer Satisfaction. We are always here to answer any questions you may have or assist in any way we can. A customer service representative will be contacting you about your order."

Posted on March 1, 2005, updated March 29, 2010
The company offers an extensive variety of seeds and the customer service is relatively good - all of which is a plus. However, I've had problems with the viability/germination rates of their seed and find their prices to be a bit high relative to other suppliers of the same varieties. Just recently finished growing out two varieties of Sweet William from them with germination of approximately 50-70%. Seed for the same plants from three other sources gave germination rates of 85-95%. While I may go back to them I will only do so if there is no other provider available.

"On Apr 9, 2010 2:16 PM, Thompson and Morgan (US) responded with:

We appreciate you taking the time to post. We strive for 100% Customer Satisfaction. We are always here to answer any questions you may have or assist in any way we can. A customer service representative will be contacting you."

Posted on March 24, 2010, updated March 26, 2010
Posted on March 2, 2010, updated March 24, 2010
I ordered numerous seeds almost 3 weeks ago. The order was said be shipped in a week. The shipment date was listed, later than a week but I hoped for it to come. 2 days after 2/26, when the order was overdue, I checked the status to see the new shipment date is 3/8 with no explanation!!! Many of the things I ordered were annuals I wanted to get started earlier. I am tempted at this time to call and cancel the order, esp. after reading similar recent experiences. Orders placed EARLY are done for a reason. When a company claims to ship within X days, they must do that.

"On Mar 10, 2010 9:14 AM, Thompson and Morgan (US) responded with:

We appreciate you taking the time to post this. We strive for 100% Customer Satisfaction. We are always here to answer any questions you may have or assist in any way we can. A customer service representative has contacted you to rectify the problem. We look forward to serving you in the future. Happy Gardening!

When they can't even get the right name on the plant selected for the cover of their current catalogue, and their customer service is 100% useless, it's time to write them off as unreliable, unresponsive, and no longer a worthwhile source for seeds.

Maybe they will respond to this message with their meaningless auto-response claiming to strive for 100% customer satisfaction. Not sure if they're striving for much of anything these days. They've turned me into an ex-customer.

Thompson and Morgan is now being operated by Gardens Alive out of Lawrenceburg, IN, and the change is obviously not a good one. I have ordered from Thompson and Morgan a few times in the past, and have been neither wildly impressed nor unimpressed with their service--though their Roottrainers (with the humidity dome) are better than those available through Parks Seeds. I ordered from them this year on February 15th. I ordered from a number of seed companies at the same time. On February 28th I received an email from T & M saying that my order had finally shipped. By this time I had received some of the seeds from the other companies, and they had already sprouted. My order wasn't shipped the 28th--it wasn't shipped until the 2nd of March, and didn't arrive until the 8th of March. When it arrived it only contained one of the dozen or so items I had ordered--a pair of gloves, which were the wrong size. Two additional items (seed packets) were listed, with shipping dates of September 15th, 2010!

I called T & M, and was on the phone with them for 36 minutes. The customer service rep was unable to determine the status of the two seed packets with the September shipment date--one system says that they will ship the end of March, the other says that they will ship in September. In either case, they will be too late to be of much use to me. She was completely unable to tell me which was correct--my only option is to "wait and see."

Trying to sort out the gloves became a whole other 15-minute saga. Apparently the new "Gardens Alive" version of T & M's computer system has one set of numbers, the old T & M system has another set of numbers, and the catalogue has a THIRD set of numbers--and none of them correspond. She said that was probably how I was sent the wrong size--it was entered with the old T & M number correctly, but the computer converted it to the new GA number incorrectly. There was no way for her to pull up the correct number for the size and colour of gloves that I wanted--all she could do was randomly enter numbers until the correct item popped up. I felt sorry for the woman, and admired her patience--If I'd had to deal with that all day I would have thrown something by 9:30 am. Then she placed the order for the correct glove, rushed the order, and waived the shipping and handling. (We'll see what I get this time.) All of this took extensive poking around in her computer to find the right codes to do all of this.

I also inquired about the rest of my order, which wasn't shown on my invoice at all, not even as "shipped separately" (though there is a column for a code for that--that same column should have shown "BO" for "backordered" for those two seed packets whose arrival dates remain a mystery.) I was informed that they WERE shipped on February 28th, though they have never arrived. Her system showed that they were still in transit (10 days later), apparently somewhere in my small hometown. By now the seeds that I ordered from other companies already have two sets of "true" leaves. Heaven only knows when the T & M seeds will arrive--or what they will be when they get here. I anticipate another long phone call to T & M, if this is an example of their conversion from one computer system to another.

In sum, kudos to the incredibly patient T&M customer service rep (unfortunately, I didn't get her name), but I wouldn't recommend ordering anything from T & M until they have had plenty of time to sort out their computer issues, unless you like to play "Russian roulette" with your order--and their items are too expensive for most people to indulge in that.

"On Mar 10, 2010 9:17 AM, Thompson and Morgan (US) responded with:

We appreciate you taking the time to post this. We strive for 100% Customer Satisfaction and thank you for the kudos for our customer service agent that assisted you. We are always here to answer any questions you may have or assist in any way we can. A customer service representative has contacted you to rectify the problem. We look forward to serving you in the future. Happy Gardening!"

Once again, I ordered from Thompson & Morgan, and an item is "not available." This time it is nasturtium "Cobra." If they don't have enough seeds for their customers, they should not offer them. Their prices and shipping are way too high. I have purchased seeds from them for many years, and overlooked the high prices and "this item not available" syndrome at T &M. There are many more vendors now to choose T & M is obsolete for me. Not worth the yearly disappointment.I have requested that they no longer send catalogs from T & M or any satellite companies they own. Good riddance!

"On Mar 10, 2010 9:15 AM, Thompson and Morgan (US) responded with:

We appreciate you taking the time to post this. We strive for 100% Customer Satisfaction. We are always here to answer any questions you may have or assist in any way we can. A customer service representative has contacted you to rectify the problem. "

I got my first catalog from them with a free shipping offer code. I placed my order for almost $80 but couldn't get the free shipping code to work. After reading their online help about such things and not getting anywhere I rang them up. The person that answered had such a heavy accent I had to ask her to repeat herself several times, which only added to my frustration. We went round & round about the free shipping code. She didn't believe that what was printed in the offer box was actually printed there. But she eventually offered to set up an account for me, take my order and apply the free shipping code. I give her my name & shipping details and credit card number. Several times I tried to give her the item number for the first item I wanted to order. She finally tells me that the item numbers that are in the catalog and on the website can't be used for phone orders and she'll send me another catalog that should arrive in four to six weeks (which is too late!) and *might* have another code for free shipping. I was so flabbergasted by not being able to use the item numbers that were given to me, both in the print catalog & online, that I could only hang up. I did email them about it and a few days later I got a response saying I could just place my order online and if I'd include a note about the free shipping in the 'special instructions' (or whatever it is) area, I'd get the free shipping.

I made my order, made the comment about the shipping and hoped for the best. The bulk of my order was mailed almost two weeks after being processed. The order detail on their site said it was shipped via UPS When I clicked on the tracking link they included on the order detail page, it took me to the UPS website which always said no information was available. Much later I found out they actually sent it via USPS and the seeds had been sitting for I don't know how long in my mailbox. My mailbox isn't on my property & so doesn't get checked very often UNLESS I'm expecting something. And since I thought it was coming UPS I didn't check the mailbox everyday.

Two of my items were on back order. I wasn't sure if I'd get one of them since they were clearancing them out out. I did end up getting it a few days ago. The last thing supposedly shipped today but I have no idea if it's coming UPS or USPS since they didn't update the order detail page. It's not a huge deal to check the mailbox, it would just be nice to know one way or the other.

Seeds ordered January 30th, all except one received February 16th.
There was one mistake - I received gherkins instead of monarda - which I received 4 days later after calling.
I had my doubts as I had heard about the change of ownership, however they were easy and pleasant to deal with, even happily correcting a mistake which I had made on my original order.
The seeds are still from Thompson & Morgan in the UK, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
Will report back in late spring on germination.
This has been a good year for me, seeds ordered from 10 companies and everything now received.

Posted on May 21, 2009, updated February 16, 2010
As usual, I had a very good experience with T & M. I HAD to have the "Cherry Brandy" rudbeckia. Germination about 50%, still got over 30 healthy plants for about 10 cents each.
Morning Glory "Carnivale de Venice", 100% germ. "Crunchy mini bells" peppers, 100% germ. Bonus seeds of cactus zinnia and marigold "boy o boy" (My favorite french marigold) most welcomed.

I ordered on Jan 5th 2010, they say orders are shipped in 3 working days unless they are listed as back orders. 2 weeks later I phoned to see why it had not arrived and was told "they " had just taken over TM seeds and had nothing the the warehouse, but my order should be out soon. I phoned Jan 28th and was told all items were in stock and should arrive the first week of feb. (I reminded them that the first week of Feb was NEXT week!!!) I then phoned feb 1st and asked if it had been shipped and was told that it was not shipped and should arrive by feb 26th!!!!! I told them that if it was not shipped that day I wanted it canceled. then I phoned today Feb 2 and asked if it went out yet and was told ' no but I see it has a rush on it, would you take a 10% discount instead of canceling the order?' so I canceled the order. my order included geranium seeds and in my area you need to plant them in Jan to get a good summer show, that is why I needed the seeds to ship early. I ordered because they said orders ship in 3 days.

I attempted to place an order on their website for several packets of seeds and intended to use the FREE SHIPPING offered on the front page of the 2010 catalog. Oddly, the offer code listed did not work; my "cart" showed that I was still going to be charged for shipping. After frustratingly re-attempting the order several times, I decided to call and speak to someone directly.

The customer service rep did not seem to understand me, but could tell I was irritated and finally agreed to give me free shipping. The thing that really upset me however, was that once he agreed to this, he took my personal information but the connection mysteriously went bad, and we had been disconnected!

Angered at this point, I called back and tried to explain what had happened, this time to a new service representative. Needless to say, it was a fruitless attempt, and I angrily hung up without having place an order.

The following day, I emailed the company, explaining what had happened. They did respond roughly a day later, but did not seem to care. Their response was essentially, "sorry, but try your order again." No explanation given. No incentive provided. To which I replied, "No thanks."

Since I do all my shopping online, I am checking cc online every morning before I go to work for irregularities.

Saw a credit card charge for Michigan Bulb and had to call , a non toll free number, to find out why, since I had not ordered anything from them. Turns out after 5 minutes that it was for this T/M seed order.

$8.95 spg/handling for 11 pks of seeds and a bird feeder brush. and the seeds arrived today in a brown, non padded envelope that is damaged w/ 2 pks seeds spilled out. Brush on b/o.

Too early to plant them so I can not comment on germination.

I placed my order with this company Jan 4 and am still waiting to receive my seeds. When I asked the company why I have not received the order seeds they said they send them when they are available, but the online ordering site did not say that any of the seeds were not in stock. I don't think I will order from them again. Also their prices are somewhat higher that others companies.

High prices and terrible germination rates. I have tried T&M seeds a number of time; I won't bother trying again.

"Thompson & Morgan Seedsmen, Inc. U. S. operations was acquired by none other than Gardens Alive as of Sept. 25, 2009"

Curious as to how this will affect ordering through them? We all know mergers sometimes work and sometimes do not. Or better put... sometimes the bugs have to be worked out.

Holy wormcastings Batman!...


Thompson & Morgan Seedsmen, Inc. U. S. operations was acquired by none other than Gardens Alive as of Sept. 25, 2009 (according to businessweek.com). It appears to be a larger format printed catalog but it seems as though there are less varieties to choose from(?)...speculation on my part. As many printed catalogs do now, there are special boxes bringing attention to more listed items on the web. The website in my opinion is a little less user friendly and is missing the convenient master index that could be searched by separate letter of the alphabet. The website search feature is also not complete: a search of "papaver" or "poppy" only comes up with two items on the website yet the print catalog lists thirteen under "poppy".

I ordered some Cherry Brandy Rudbeckia seeds and some Lavender seeds and a soil thermometer on 4/14/09. I didn't keep track of how long it took to get my order but it did arrive fairly promptly. My issue is that none of my lavender seeds have germinated. However, the Cherry Rudbeckia have germinated quite nicely. The Rudbeckiaare very small and don't seem to be getting larger but I could be a little impatient. Since I only paid 2.95 for the lavender seeds its not much of a loss. However, all my work to get them up and growing has gone down the drain. Luckily I didn't create the flower bed in which I was going to plant the lavender. I gave the company a neutral but it should be closer to a negative because what's the point of getting seeds from a company if all you end up with is peat pots full of dirt. I think I might just opt to buy grown pants from a local nursery. As for the company, I would say the service is good but the product is low quality and you may not get any plants from the seeds (50/50 chance). The thermometer was just an overpriced meat thermometer. It wasn't a special designed thermometer just for dirt. Don't waste your money, go to a local kitchen supply store and get a cheap one, save the S/H

"On May 20, 2009 12:34 PM, Thompson and Morgan (US) responded with:

I am so pleased you liked the Rudbeckia Cherry Brandy, I am sure they will look great this summer, but I am sorry for your disappointment with the Lavender seeds - and I completely understand! I tried these myself and did not realize at first how much patience and care I would need for these seeds. I was determined to have my Lavender plants though and now have a nice row in my yard, all from seed! Please contact us and we can send you another packet of Lavender seeds to try. These can take up to 140 days to germinate and need alternate periods of cool and warm. Whilst challenging to get started, they are very easy to care for once going. Email our horticulturist, Susan, at hort@tmseeds.com - she can give you full details. The soil thermometer is actually a really neat gadget, specially graduated to monitor soil temperatures (from -40F thru 120F). Meat thermometers unfortunately can't monitor this range. This is a great purchase to help you get the right temperatures for your Lavender seeds to germinate and will last a lifetime. Hope to hear from you soon."

I ordered 2 items, both of which I could not find at the same place. Response to the online order was quick, shipment was quick and I received within a few days. My "free" packet was EGGPLANT (not a favorite of mine....anyone want them?) Everything was packaged nicely and received in great condition. I haven't started the seeds yet, so I can't speak as to germination, but I'm confident!

Orders were processed quickly and accurately. Germination......Well, that's a whole nuther story.

I have historically ordered from T&M nearly every year. I place my order early so I can get geranium and onions going from seed. I made the mistake of ordering quite a few items from their sale list this year (including the geraniums). Two weeks later I get my package of seeds lacking most of the sale items (including the geraniums). A company rep says I should have called instead of placing an on line order because the sale stuff sells out so quickly...well I think they should have emailed me to let me know over 1/2 my order couldn't be sent! I would have selected things that were in stock. So much for geraniums from seed this year. Boo to you T & M.

I love the selection from this company and have never had a problem with germination of seeds. As a matter of fact because the pkts. have so many seeds I have been able to replant with success for years from the same pkt. flowers and vegetables. I look forward to seeing the beautiful catalog each year.

Each year, I place and order with this company. I select plants not available at my local nursery. I agree, some seeds DO NOT germinate or die weeks after germination, but I simply send the empty seed packet and receive a replacement. If I choose, I can also request a complete refund.

The FALL catalog has a coupon $10 off your order. Hence, you are only paying for the S&H charges - which $3.95. You can't beat that price.

You can also get FREE S&H if you know the code.

Lets see...
in 2007 The code was VC2007
in 2008 The code was VC2008

I have to guess the code for 2009 is VC2009.

I'm really surprised to see so many negative reviews here. I have had nothing but the most positive experiences ordering from Thompson and Morgan.

Sure, I have had a few instances where the seed packets were empty or contained less seeds than advertised. I've also had extremely poor germination rates. But T&M customer service has always, ALWAYS been top-notch for me. Emails were always returned quickly and courteously, and replacements have always been quick to be shipped out at no charge.

I consider myself to be an experienced gardener with a dislike of the common plants you see everywhere else. From perennials to annuals, herbs to vegetables, Thompson and Morgan is my #1 choice for seeds, followed by their sister site, Value Seeds.

DO NOT BUY FROM THIS COMPANY... unless it is the last resort.

I had placed an order from this company's WEBSITE - for "sale" items two weeks ago, received my order along with an order form for Free Shipping. NO where on the order form does it state that you can't buy sale items with the Free Shipping offer.

I go to the website where I had placed my first order of "sale" items and where I had earned a Free Shipping coupon.

I bought a few "sale" items, put them in the cart put my code in and it "applied"... no problem. Paid for it last night.

THIS MORNING, received a phone call at 9:00 a.m. and on the other end is THOMPSON AND MORGAN chirping rudely in my ear that the WEBSITE states that you can not use FREE SHIPPING coupon with "sale" items.

I explained about receiving their Free Shipping coupon and read her the Free Shipping coupon and no where does it state that. She said it was in the Newsletter. WHAT NEWSLETTER? She was trying her best, she really was... she then esclated it to the supervisor and I was pretty upset by then. Lucky her.

Supervisor very, very, very RUDE stated that "you ordered on website and it states it clearly on website etc, etc. etc" When I tried to explain the Free Shipping coupon code and how I received and what I bought to receive it; she talked right over me like I wasn't there.

I told her either to honor the order or cancel it, she said she would honor this time but wouldn't in the future. I said ok, and that I probably wouldn't buy there again in the future so that wouldn't be a problem.

Now after reading all the negatives and neutrals, it looks like I am wasting my money. Why didn't I read this first before ordering from that company?

I bought the paintbox nemisa and to find out that most of their seeds has poor germination rates. Oh great. I now have over $70.00 worth of useless seeds. I will try them out next February.

I want to make sure that no one else gets treated like this from this company. If you are going to send a Free Shipping coupon then why not put a disclaimer stating you can't use it on Sale items?

Give me a break!

"On Jul 13, 2009 8:58 AM, Thompson and Morgan (US) responded with:

Dear mismyrnaloy,

I'm sorry you had confusing information about the terms of our sale and thank you for bringing this to our attention. Whilst we do point out on our website that offers may not be combined, I agree, it did not say so on your order form. Please accept my sincere apologies for this error.

With regard to the poor germination of your Nemesia seeds, please contact us as we do stand behind our money back guarantee and will replace or refund as you wish. Please contact me and I will sort this out for you.
Kind regards,

Claire Watson cwatson@tmseeds.com



"

Last week I placed an order with TM for $35 and used their $10 off coupon. Later a rep called me at home to let me know that the coupon was not good because the seeds are on sale. I am OK with that. I felt that their sale prices were good and they have a very nice selection. I cancelled the original order because I had to make modification to the seeds selection w/o the $10 off. I did re-order and waiting for the order to make my final decision. I am upset to read about the germination rate below, but since they guarantee their seeds, we will see. May be the guarantee won't apply because I bought the seeds on sale. I thought their customer service was excellent and all my email complaints were promplty answered. I feel the 7.00 shipping was excessive but the price is probably still pretty average for most online company. Heck, gas price is at $4 a gallon, it will cost me more to go out and buy seeds. So, I will wait and see when the seeds arrive and what kind of germination rate before making my final decision.

I received most of my order promptly, and the rest as soon as it was available. The hosta seeds were supposed to have 50+- seeds, but only had 32. I called and was given new seeds immediately. It turned out that the first packet were not hostas at all, but some sort of tomato. I now have 2 mystery tomato plants flowering, as I let the rest go since they were not hostas. None of the Silver Fox Foxglove seeds that I sowed germinated. I felt that I had bothered them enough already and it was becoming too late in the season try again. Plus, I was already getting overloaded with seedlings. They have a wonderful selection of seeds, many of which are hard to find elsewhere. Considering that, and the excellent customer service, their prices are fair.

I ordered some Cowslips seeds from T&M back in early March. The price and shipping were reasonable and they were shipped promptly with adequate planting information, however I have tried plating them inside outside and everyway possible with no luck getting them to grow. Overall it was not a bad experience but the seeds didn't grow, whether it was me or the seeds I can't say for certain but I have had many other seeds grow perfectly.

I ordered nearly $300 worth seed 2007 spring. Many of the varietals I attempted to grow did not. Germination was overall poor, not consistent, erratic and less than probably 60% on many varietals. Of course I followed their directions and also consulted other online and published sources for information. Below are the main points I would like to make light of . . .

POSITIVE:
(1) nice selection of many harder-to-find and not run-of-the-mill seeds
(2) very good cultural information that is accurate and valuable
(3) easy to use and organized paper and online catalog
(4) my order was processed, delivered, and received in a relatively short amount of time
(5) seed packaging was hermetically sealed (perhaps the reason for $$$?); always good to keep the seed in stable environment

NEGATIVE:
(1) the occasional out-dated or incorrect information concerning names of various species
(2) poor germination due to possibly any of the following (age, viability, environmental factors, improper storage, etc)
(3) customer service was inept, rude, and apparently, no matter with whom I spoke to, not one seemed very willing or concerned
(4) email and catalog inquiries returned in an unprofessionally slow manner
(5) seed quantities fairly low for the price paid - granted some seed should be expected to be high (i.e. new cvs. just introduced to market)

Overall, I would say the experience was neutral but with more positive weight. Scale 1 - 5, 1=excellent and 5=very poor, I would assign a 2.5

"

Dear hortulaninobili,

I thank you for your constructive comments, but I am very concerned about the comments about the speed of response times, quality of customer service and the poor germination issues you have experienced, and apologize wholeheartedly for these. Please contact me on 1-800-274-7333 or email cwatson@tmseeds.com. Sincerely, Claire Watson, Vice President."

I was really on the fence about a neutral or negative, but with the lack of communication from T&M, the extremely poor germination, and the high prices, I'm going for a negative.

I ordered 11 different packets of seeds, all of which arrived promptly. The first problem was with the cucumber seeds which stated contained 15 seeds (in the catalog and online). The packet actually contains 5 seeds. I emailed and a week and a half later I had 3 packages of the seeds, so it was nice to get an extra package. However, they never answered my email and the website still shows 15 seeds per packet. The packet states 5. All of the cucumber seeds I planted germinated.

Not so with most of the others. Less than 25% of the asarina seeds germinated, about 60% of the marigold seeds germinated, and only 4 out of 22 double impatiens seeds germinated. I emailed again and told them of the poor germination rates. I found it strange that the same species, different variety of these seeds I purchased at Lowe's all germinated. I asked for an email confirmation and received nothing. Two weeks later I received replacement seeds for the marigolds and impatiens. This set me back in planting the seedlings outdoors.

With the time and effort I put into these seeds, I expected much better. Although T&M did honor their guarantee and replace the seeds, the customer service is dismal, the germination poor, and for the price, I feel the negative outweighs the positive (or neutral). I will not be purchasing from T&M again unless it's a last resort.

"

Dear chunx,

I am the Vice President here at Thompson & Morgan and I am very unhappy to hear about your poor experiences with us - the products and the customer service. Please can you contact me directly at cwatson@tmseeds.com so we can sort this out to your satisfaction. Sincerely, Claire Watson."

I have ordered garden flowers many times from T&M with good results. This time I ordered 25 seeds in each package of Dibley's Hybrid streptocarpus seed. Having been used to just popping the pod open and getting literally hundreds and hundreds of seeds I was a little shocked to see that 25 fine dust seeds looks like nothing I have ever seen. However, if I get good germination I won't be upset that I paid 5.00 for each package and 4.75 for mailing them to me.
Be back and hope to change neutral to positive.