Comments regarding Brighter Blooms Nursery

We bought a Korean Lilac tree last summer. The website CLEARLY said 1 year warranty if the tree does not flower. When the tree arrived (3 weeks late btw), it looked in bad shape. I called them right away as it looked to be a bit rotten. They kept pacifying me saying keep watering, the tree was ok. They kept telling me on the phone, it was covered for a year. It's been 9 months and this spring, i got absolutely NOTHING coming out. Its a dead tree. I call customer service. Lo and behold, there is no such 1 year warranty all of a sudden, when i need it finally.

Ordered golden bamboo and eceived this plant 3 weeks ago. It with stalks that were either limply on the brink of death like mentioned in other reviews or just dead - I staked it and was focused on reviving it, so I didn't pay attention to the black-ish nodes. After about a week, the plant had perked up but the nodes had clear signs of black sooty mold. I cleaned it off and inspected it but didn't see anything too out of place, so sprayed it with isopropyl alcohol just in case but mostly let it go since there was a fair amount of signs of new healthy growth. Looked again today because the nodes were covered in black sooty mold with a sap-like substance yet again and after trimming the stalks significantly, lo and behold - mealy bugs under half of the sheathes. I wish I had paid attention to the other reviews that mentioned black mold all over their plants as well.

They said all of the right things in their website, and none of it was true, unfortunately. I spent over $200 for a 6 foot flame thrower redbud. Wish I had checked here on the Watchdog list before ordering. The tree was in worse shape than any nursery I've ordered from. Almost all of its leaves died in the first few days after receiving the tree (was there when it arrived, it was a temperate week, and watered it immediately) it dropped most of its leaves in the next few days. I planted it that weekend, but as soon as I opened the plastic around the roots/burlap/compost I saw the reason. Yes, they didn't grow it in a pot, and yes, they grew it in burlap, which should be a positive. But they didn't do any root pruning during it's growth, and to ship it they chopped all of the main thick roots, and there was no fine root growth left. Two of the branches on this small tree were rubbing together with one of them growing back into the center of the tree. On their website, this company said that they were 'customer focused', that they had 2 horticulturists on staff and that a manager inspected each plant before it was sent. I sent pictures of the tree I received, listed these concerns, and asked about how this tree had passed inspection. I got back a typical 'canned' passive aggressive response - "we are sorry that you are not pleased with your tree and would like to offer you a 15% refund, and then next year you will have a beautiful tree." They did not respond to my issues or pictures, and did not accept responsibility for the poor quality tree that they (knowingly) sent out. It was quite clear to me that they were either knowingly lying on their website, or were so clueless that they had no idea how to take care of nursery stock. That tree would have been a bad buy at 50% of what I paid. Very unhappy with them, their product, and their "customer service", and will never order from them again.

horrible! phone is always with a sick busy signal, email came back undeliverable. I placed an order yesterday for a trellis, i wanted to knwo about date for shipping and today it says paid and fulfilled,I DID NOT RECEIVE ANYTHING. I found Dave's garden is affiliated with brighterblooms, but it was a long search. Dave's phone is the same as brighterblooms, so no answer. Options? BBB and paypal but this is exhausting, all these companies are only one or few with different names. Get another reputable company

Posted on September 2, 2017, updated October 3, 2017
Posted on August 17, 2017, updated September 2, 2017
The plants were good enough, smaller than expected for the price but arrived healthy. What I dislike is the condescending customer service which made me regret ordering from this company. Because I had purchased warranties for the plants, I made the mistake of asking their "experts" to help diagnose a problem with plants that got sick during extremely hot and dry weather. I specifically said the soil was neither too wet or dry, but they chose to doubt my word and gave me a patronizing lecture about the effects of overwatering which made me feel belittled and labeled as a stupid customer. I live in the desert and Brighter Blooms employees cannot seem to understand that watering needs are different in this environment. They did honor the warranty, but when my current warranty periods are done, I don't intend to buy again from a company that treats me as if I'm an idiot who lies about soil moisture levels.

"On Sep 5, 2017 9:20 AM, Brighter Blooms Nursery responded with:

We are so sorry to hear this! One of our representatives will be contacting you shortly to see how we can assist in making this right. This is never our intentions and we will definitely look into how this happened. "

Posted on April 3, 2016, updated April 4, 2016
Ordered a hydrangea shrub and it died! I was waiting for the hydrangea to get acclimated. I called after a year and was told that I waited to late! A plant should last longer than a year or two. A CSR could not replace the item and skirted her responsibility off to another person! I will NEVER order from Brighter Blooms Nursery again. the company should have replaced the shrub because it died and they should have been glad that I purchased from the company in the first place. I should have purchased from another company because I would have saved money on the plant and the shipping is OUTRAGEOUS! Brighter Blooms a flim-flam artists! BUYER BEWARE!!

"On Apr 4, 2016 6:40 AM, Brighter Blooms Nursery responded with:

We are so very sorry to hear that your hydrangea's didn't make it. We guarantee our plants for the first 45 days to ensure they arrive healthy and happy and when one of your didn't arrive satisfactory we replaced it immediately because and we want our customers to be satisfied. Unfortunately we cannot guarantee the life of the plants after they have been in the customers care for over 1 year. We do however offer a 1 year warranty that can be purchased. Since your order was from 2014 we were unable to offer additional assistance. Again we are very sorry that your plants didn't make it. "

My first order for 2 Encore Autumn Bloom Azalea plants came completely damaged due to poor packaging. One plant looked like it was dead before sending and had no root ball, just stuck into a planter of dirt. After 2 attempts to reach Customer Service, to no avail, on the 3rd attempt I was told that 2 replacement plants had already been shipped. When I received those they were securely packaged with little breakage.

I was going to write a more positive review because they replaced the bushes, however, the size and quality was still not worth the $50 each I paid. I bought azaleas at Home Depot for $15 each that were bigger and stronger looking then these. Also there still was no developed root ball on either as advertised on their website; the pots were 1/2 filled with soil and the roots very small. I've planted them now and will hope for the best but I will not purchase from them again, not after this experience. I will probably not purchase any plants online again. Will just search for what I want at a local nursery so I can see first what I am paying for and can easily return if the plants have defects.

Ordered a Sunny Knockout Rose as a memorial gift for a friend whose mother died. Received multiple emails from a "Jen at Brighter Blooms" with confirmation number; the product was delivered on the date indicated in the email, however, the box was crushed in shipping and the plant damaged. I sent an email with photos which wasn't acknowledged (despite two additional "confirmation" emails re: my order). I called the company & was told they had no record of the email & to re-enter the info on their website with the photos & they would issue a store credit for the amount of the plant only (I live in MN) & do not think I should have to pay for shipping for a plant received damaged. The agent said they "might" file a claim with FedEx after I submitted the info. I was assured that after entering the info via the website, I would be contacted. I have only received a credit for the plant & no contact. VERY DISAPPOINTING. Not only does my friend have a damaged plant but I am out an additional $15 for shipping. This was my first & last experience with this company.

"On Jun 8, 2015 9:45 AM, Brighter Blooms Nursery responded with:

We so very sorry to hear this. Our Customer Service Manager has reached out to you in hopes to make this experience better. If the plant was damaged in transit you should not be responsible for the replacement or the shipping. Our policy is that if it is damaged in transit we will reissue you a new plant. Again we truly apologize for the troubles and the inconvenience this may have caused. "

NOT GOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I ordered 20 blueberry bushes, it was supposed to be free shipping but was charged $125.00 for shipping a rip off, then 7 died right away, they give you half the price of the plant and not the shipping, which was supposed to be free. I had to fight with them to get a credit 3 months later finally received email that I would in fact have a credit. Now the rest of the plants are almost dead, save your $,

I ordered one lilac bush, one snowball viburnum and one lavender plant, all on sale. The plants were packaged very poorly and as a result, the lavender was pretty much destroyed and the viburnum was heavily damaged. In addition, the plants were much smaller than expected given the price I paid - my local nurseries offers much more mature specimens for the same price. I complained to Brighter Blooms and they offered to send me another lavender plant. I've since sent them follow-up correspondence with photos showing how the viburnum appears to be dying (most of its branches were snapped during shipping because of the poor packaging). No matter the outcome, I just can't recommend this place. It's hard to tell what size plant you're going to get when you order online, so I gave them a try. Given this experience, I have to conclude that you just don't get good value through Brighter Blooms - I paid way too much for some very tiny shrubs.

I ordered a dwarf Cavendish banana tree with a 1 year warranty. It showed up a month after I ordered it as just a corn without a single sprout. I kept it in the pot in which it was delivered and kept the soil moist for a month even though the corn felt soft, in hopes that it would sprout. It never did, and after cutting into it I can confirm it is dead. I have had no response to my email about my warranty.

"On Apr 24, 2015 3:04 PM, Brighter Blooms Nursery responded with:

We are so sorry to hear that you are not satisfied with your order. Our Customer Care Manager will be emailing you to help get your warranty activated."

In the fall of 2014, I ordered an expensive ornamental tree from Brighter Blooms. The ordering page as well as the rep I spoke to when I placed my order indicated that my tree would be shipped in April, 2015. I live in northern NJ and we are currently (February 5, 2015) covered in ice and snow with more expected. Today I received an e-mail from FedEx indicating that my shipment from Brighter Blooms is on the way----TODAY. I tried contacting Brighter Blooms but they are not currently reachable by phone (I don't know what that even means). They changed the shipping date of an ornamental tree to a freezing climate at my home and didn't bother telling me. This is not what was agreed upon during the order. This tree is as good as dead.

"On Feb 5, 2015 2:45 PM, Brighter Blooms Nursery responded with:

We are so very sorry that this happened. We did have some items go out by mistake and should not have. We will definitely be sending this out to you in the spring as requested since this was absolutely an error on our end. I apologize that you were not able to reach us today we were having some scheduled maintenance to our phone system done.. And I will make sure that one of our customer care representatives contacts contacts you as soon as we can. "

Posted on May 3, 2014, updated May 5, 2014
My order was bungled and customer service was non-existent. I place an order by phone, asked them to hold off on delivery and scheduled a date to send and receive them at our business location. They did NOT wait to deliver and sent it the following day to arrive on a SATURDAY. I only found out b/c I called to confirm when the salesperson did not follow up with me as promised. Customer service was closed (at 4pm on Friday??!!) so had to ask a salesperson to research this. The new salesperson said he would email me a tracking number, but did not. I had to call a third time (customer service closed again -- they don't work on Saturdays, of course!) and as another salesperson to find the tracking number. Have been on the phone with fed ex all morning who have also bungled the delivery. I just hope the plants are worth it...

"On Jul 9, 2014 7:57 AM, Brighter Blooms Nursery responded with:

During this time we were in contact with the customer and Fed Ex trying to get the product to the customer and to understand why they were not delivered when they were suppose to. Our customer service manager spoke with the customer and assured her we would replace any product that arrived in poor condition due to being in transit for to long. We came to a amicable solution and the customer was satisfied with the outcome."

I ordered two red Dogwood trees from Brighter Blooms before I read reviews here on Dave's Garden. Unfortunately, when my order arrived I discovered that I had received four Camellia bushes/trees! I called the company over the weekend and the lady who answered said she could not do anything to help me and suggested that I call back on Monday morning. So I called Brighter Blooms on Monday and spoke with Gina and told her that I wanted a full refund and also wanted to know when they would have Fed Ex pick up the Camellias. There were several back and forth phone calls but I finally received a full refund today (Friday) and Fed Ex did come on Wednesday to pickup the package.
I know this sounds positive but the whole experience feels negative. I spent a lot of personal time with phone calls and other related tasks plus the anxiety that they might try to refuse my demand for a full refund. I learned one important thing- always check reviews of on-line businesses BEFORE I place an order with them.

"On Jul 26, 2013 12:53 PM, Brighter Blooms Nursery responded with:

Our order initially shipped on May 9th and delivered on May 11th. Our customer contacted us over the weekend when our Customer Service Dept. is closed. Monday AM she called, and got in touch with a representative who let her know we would issue a full refund, as well work with Fed Ex to remove the packages from her home. We issued a full refund for the order back to her original form of payment on May 14th , as well as had Fed Ex remove the packages at our expense. Our Customer Service Manager reached out to her via phone to apologize for the inconvenience, and issued a store credit for 50% of her order value. Our hopes was that we would have another opportunity to prove ourselves with this customer.
She was very grateful for the follow up call, and seemed satisfied with the resolution to the issue.
"

We purchased a clematis and a rose tree from Brighter Blooms last year. The clematis was advertised as "1-gallon", but arrived in a 1-quart pot, which itself was oversized for the tiny shoot that was included. The plant only survived about a 6 weeks.

The initial reply of customer service was that pot sizes do not reflect actual volumes, but rather "equivalent nursery sizes". I tried calling to follow up but could not reach someone who could resolve the dispute. Beyond that, it wasn't worth the trouble.

Also, the rose tree (by definition a graft) was supposed to be deep red. What grew out were pink-ish flowers that were not nearly as full as the advertised product. It may be the root stock, or another breed. However, the tree did take very nicely and survived the winter, and I've become fond of it anyway.

"On Jun 6, 2013 3:42 PM, Brighter Blooms Nursery responded with:

Thank you for posting your concern. We have tried to reach out to you through through D-Mail, but unfortunately we've been unsuccessful. We also have not been able to find you in our database from the information you've provided. Please call us as soon as possible so that we can take care of your order and make sure your experience with Brighter Blooms Nursery is a positive one. Our number is 800-399-9514, and when you call, please ask for Josh. It is important to us that your expectations are not just met, but exceeded. Thanks!"

Terrible customer service !!!
I ordered knock -out roses for my local NYC community garden.
Unfortunately I received different plants than ordered. Weeks later I am still trying to get the correct plants. Dozens of emails and phone calls to no avail.
Their 'Log in for information" does not work , in fact 'log in' does not even exist on their web site.
Buying plants should be an informative pleasant and courteous process and should not waste hours of my time and energy .
I notice other members had similar problems but changed a negative review to a neutral or positive one after the problem was solved months later.
Months later is too late!! I assume Brighter Blooms gifted the plants to smooth the way. I have no interest in waiting months to have a simple issue resolved.
I do not want to waste any more of my time with an unprofessional and inconsiderate supplier Please avoid ordering from Brighter Blooms and try support a local nursery who needs your business and can solve any problems face to face!

I asked for Frost Proof Gardenias for Christmas. My sister in law, a fellow gardener, found them on line at Brighter Blooms and ordered 2 for me GAR-FRO3. Online during ordering it said they would ship during planting season. This is common in this situation and she and I thought nothing of it.
Unfortunately, the plants arrived two days later, Dec 21, which in NJ is NOT planting season.
I called them to let them know what would happen. On their paperwork it said to contact them within a week or so if a plant arrived in questionable condition. The plants were beautiful, however I wanted them to know if I could not keep them alive indoors during winter (they were large), then I would expect them to be replaced.
Well, similar to others, I emailed customer service and called twice. The phone calls were never answered. No matter when I called it said to call back between 9-5pm M-F, which I did to no avail. The emails would bring an error message = 'user error' screen.
I gave up, put the plants in the bathtub (dragging 3 gallon plants up the stairs) and tried to keep them alive.
They survived, but this situation kept me from using my bathtub all winter.
Terrible customer service.
I told my sister in law who buys a lot of plants, and anyone else who will listen, to stay away.
This company is too much hassle to deal with, unless you have lots of time to manage their mistakes and uncaring attitude.

I purchased two Nules Clementine trees. I planted them the day they arrived. After a month nothing happened. I emailed them. They said to give it another month. Still nothing. I called them. They said to give it more time. I emailed them again at the end of the summer. One had 1 leaf on it and the other looked dead. They said to scrape the side. I did. They asked me to send a picture of them. I did. They were still alive but not growing. Over the winter they died. Now they won't answer any of my emails.

"On Jun 6, 2013 3:48 PM, Brighter Blooms Nursery responded with:

Thank you for posting your concern. We have tried to reach out to you through through D-Mail, but unfortunately we've been unsuccessful. We also have not been able to find you in our database from the information you've provided. Please call us as soon as possible so that we can take care of your order and make sure your experience with Brighter Blooms Nursery is a positive one. Our number is 800-399-9514, and when you call, please ask for Josh. It is important to us that your expectations are not just met, but exceeded. Thanks!"

In addition to the numerous issues I had prior to receiving my order, I received diseased plants.

I received diseased plants including the crape myrtle sent with the very damaging fungus cercospora lythracearum, the hydrangeas sent with the disease anthracnose, the lilacs with the plant disease powder mildew, and the roses sent with large amounts of insect damage. I requested my refund and took many pictures of the plants & send them documentation for my refunded.

Due to the plentiful issues had with Brighter Blooms and the literal lack of response from their customer service reps (their customer service is terrible, I may post more details on that later too) I contacted their company via email, multiple times. I received no response yet again.

I will definately be recommending against this company to those who are looking for healthy plants & no aggravation or refund issues. I have spent 2 hours on the phone it total with them & sent multiple emails. I even emailed them back & told them I'd like to work it out with them but if they continue to not address the issue I will have take the resolution efforts elsewhere. To date they still have not addressed my refund for which I have extensive documentation of the diseased plants sent.

Also, in my experience calling brighter blooms I have found that if you hit #1 "For a problem with an existing order" no one answers and you get put through to a machine & if you hit #2 "to place an existing order" a customer service rep will answer the phone but will not provide assistance regarding this problem! When I have gotten through I have asked for a manager & I have been told no one was available.

This company (Brighter Blooms) is a terrible fraud. We can only imagine that people's good reviews are because they received a healthy plant. We have twice received damaged and diseased plants. If you have a problem, you will wait weeks for response, spend months trying to resolve, and from day one their inept customer service staff will demand they provide no refunds even if it is their fault, and not allow you to be escalated to management. The website may look nice, but shopping here is playing Russian Roulette. If you ever have a problem, you are screwed, and they will refuse you a refund! Just look at the reviews on here, and even their BBB rating and list of complaints!

I purchased three 3 gallon double knock-out roses from BrigherBlooms and they arrived with dull yellow-green leaves with black spots and white fungus. There were blooms on the plants. I planted them and they have had no new growth and have not bloomed since planted. The leaves have more black spots and white fungus. About a month after planting I purchased two more 3 gallon double knock-out roses from Home Depot. Those plants are now double the size of the ones from BB and they have bloomed twice. I started emailing BB on May 6th about the issue. They take over a week to respond to each email and each time they did not answer my questions or call me back. I called customer service and they put me on hold for 1/2 hour and then I was automatically directed to voice mail. When I called back I got a message that they were closed. I finally received an email with a replacement code. I wanted my money back not a replacement however I went online and the amount credited was not enough to purchase replacement plants and the code did not work. They said wait one day for the code to be valid and I waited 8 days and it still doesn't work. My replacement number is 960654. I have never experienced such poor customer service. I didn't want to post a negative response until I gave them time to do the right thing but at this point it doesn't appear that it will happen.

I have ordered 11 knock-out one-gallon rose bushes from this company. The order arrived promptly, but I was surprised that only one box arrived. After I opened the box, I found the 11 bushes squeezed together, with most of the soil spread in the box. Furthermore, the roses do not look healthy, with yellowish leaves and spots on them.

I called customer service and asked for a refund. After several email and phone conversations, I was asked to return the plants (but I have to pay for shipping) and I may receive a refund if the plants arrive in good health - AND after they deduct 25% restocking fees. How can these plants arrive in good health when I received them already in poor condition?
I will never buy from this company again and will adise my friends and colleagues to watch out as well. What a waste of my money and time!

Posted on February 4, 2012, updated April 19, 2012
I ordered three Drift roses which arrived in very poor shape. There was a lot of dead growth on each spindly plant. I have contacted them several times. The first time they said I could receive a credit, but never explained the process. Since then I have received no responses to my inquiries.

"On Mar 1, 2012 12:56 PM, Brighter Blooms Nursery responded with:

Unfortunately I was unable to locate this customers order with the information above to offer personal assistance.
However, all of our items are covered under a One Year Warranty, and our replacement application is very short and easy.
We are very sorry that this customer feels he did not receive the service we pride ourselves in and are uncertain how he had tried to contact us.
We have phone representatives available Monday through Friday. In addition, emails are typically answered within 48 business hours.
We'd like to request that this customer call us at
800-399-9514 so we can be of assistance.
Thank you."

4/6 ordered 2 dwarf trees. Immediately emailed back cancelling order. Dwarfs wouldnt work for my situation. That evening email again cancelling order. Two calls the following week didnt get through. 4/20 Sunday get an email from fedx telling me BB was shipping Monday. Emailed again Sunday night cancelling order. After all this they shipped in the pm anyway. Refused shipment. Called them and they want to charge me 60 bucks. I believe they did this on purpose. This is not fair business dealings. I wish I would have seen this site before my order. With a preponderance of negative reviews...gotta wonder about these folks scruples.

I got two clematis Niobe and two jackmanii and they are in terrible shape really. Stock looks like the garbage clematis tied to a shady tress u would see out side of walmart or kmart.they are broken held to the support with twist ties u would see on your loaf of bread. My plants are badly wounded they are terrible Containers where stapled to the box, leaving holes in the bottom of the pots. Never buy from this place ever ever ever 3 months after I ordered I received my stock. Unacceptable

I only ordered because my other favorites did not carry the product I wanted. After 3 weeks with no shipping notice, I followed up and they said that they would ship in another 1-2 weeks. Plants I had ordered the same day had already been in the ground and growing. We have a short growing season and a 5 week turn around was unacceptable and frankly unheard of for ordering plants unless they are not available.
I cancelled my order before they were even planning on shipping and was assessed a $10 charge. That is 1/3 the price of my order. My suspicion is that this is the the business model for the company in that they live off the cash flow of billing without incurring costs and the cancellation charges. Quite a racket.

Sure wish I had reviewed this site before I placed the order. Terrible, disreputable company.

Hey Charlie Brown! I found Linus' Christmas tree! No wait, it's my just delivered apple trees from Brighter Blooms Nursery. They are more like two twigs with some brown,withered leaves. I spent $300 and could've gotten a better looking plant pulling a weed from my driveway. Do not but from this company! Boy my wife is gonna kill me!

I wish I had known about Dave's web site a couple of weeks ago. I have lost about $300 in plants and trees purchased from both Brighter Blooms and their sister company Fast-Growing Trees. Dead on Arrival was a razzle-dazzle crape myrtle accompanied by two walking wounded rose bushes. This company does not mind selling the runts of the litters. I too called and complained with a response that their 'expert' would help me bring the plants back to life. I will never buy a plant from them again. They also sent a Japanese Maple with no branches on one side ( a complete180 degree arc) of the trunk. It looks like it had been leaning against a wall from germination until now. And I pray for the rest.

I ordered a gift for mothers day. When not received after 2 weeks I called. I are on hold forever then must leave a message and they do not call you back. They do not answer e mails. Finally after days of calling I got a rude live person. I was told the lemon tree I ordered would ship May 30th! I could not request for credit because they have 30 days to ship. They were rude and uncaring. It is now June 10th and no lemon tree. Time to call credit card company to put in a challenge, better business bureau.

I do not recommend anyone to use this company, just read all of the bad reviews!

I am an experienced gardener. The local nurseries did not carry a "Whiteout" rose. I ordered two, 1-gallon sized roses and some other plants from Brighter Blooms Nursery. The instructions were to let the plants rest a few days before planting them. After a few days, I planted the roses and discovered that one of the rose bushes had all but one of its canes broken. The plant will probably live, but it will be very small this year. I wanted a partial credit, but no, only consideration I would receive was an extension in the amount of time to report a dead plant.

Should have read the blog posts here first. I won't purchase from this company again.

last fall I bought over $700 worth of plants/shrubs from this company to refinish my front walkway,had them professionally installed by a local landscape company with a new walkway .....EVERYTHING FROM THIS COMPANY DIED!!!!!
I wouldnt buy from them, I contacted the company by phone and by email and no response.No customer service at all heed my words dont buy from them. Please Please

I my plants had lived I would not be complaining right now. I called and informed the office that my plants were dead and not sprouting this spring and I was instructed I couldnt get a replacement. I

Ordered plants and paid for them and I did not even get a confirmation or plants been waiting for something from them nothing I will either get the plants or my money back I will pay them a visit when we go to North Caroling in July for vacation.,

I spent another 24 minutes on the phone yesterday with this company trying to reach Customer Service. This brings my total time to 77 minutes. At the end of 24 minutes an automated message came on saying they had high call volume, and I would need to email them. This is my third such attempt at reaching this company. I ordered 4 different kinds of plants. I received 1 Rutgers tomato, not the quantity of 3, I ordered--no note, no "this is all we have," nothing. I have yet to receive anything else from them, and no communication from them either. I would like to respond to the person answering for the company : It becomes difficult to resolve issues, when you cannot speak to someone on the phone. I will try to email once. If I do not hear from them, I will dispute the charge on my credit card. Don't waste your time ordering from this company!! You will spend lots of time trying to reach them!!!

Let me join the other negative respondents concerning Brighter Blooms. My prior orders for Knock out roses and azaleas were acceptable. Plants a little smaller than I anticipated but healthy and arrived in secure packages. However my order for three rhodos and a frost tolerant gardenia was a totally different story. The plants arrived in February, zone 7, freezing temps and snow on the ground. The company prompting picked the plants up and promised to ship at the "proper" time. Didn't happen. Phone calls were made promises were made but not kept. Gardenia finally arrived, smaller than I anticipated and didn't look too bad. A week of TLC and the little guy is coming around. Now, the rhodo's still had not arrive and when they did the packaging was fine but the plants were very small. At best seven inches tall, supposed to be one gallon plants, but there is no way they are one gallon size. Planted them the next day and noticed one rhodo was looking rather peaked. It is now black. I called BB and was told I hadn't called within the 48 hour window so their was nothing they could do. I could down load a form and take pictures but that was my only recourse. I asked to speak with a supervisor and was advised that she was training and I could leave a voice mail, which I did. Tuesday evening, no call back so I used the web sit "contact us" feature. Still no response. Now Thursday, ten minute wait to speak to a human being, also known as a customer service rep. To rub salt in the wound, I visited Home Depot this morning and they have beautiful three gallon rhodos for $24.98. Three dollars more than I paid BB for small one quart plants sold as gallon plants. Will I ever learn??

STAY AWAY! I'm wondering if I'll ever get my plants. Backordered plants never arrived, two emails and a phone call to customer service completely ignored for weeks. Finally received lame email below weeks later with no commitment still to send the plants I've already paid for. Worst customer service I'm ever experienced from a gardening company. I wish I had googled them before I bought from them and found this website, there are lots of other good companies out there who work hard to get you what you've ordered and I would so much prefer to give them my money rather than these jokers.

Details:
I ordered 18 azaleas/hydrangeas and after the order arrived only partially shipped, I used their "email us" customer service form to inquire on the ship date for my backordered plants. A week went by, no response. I emailed again. Another week, no reply! So I tried calling the 800 number--after holding for 15 minutes I spoke to a seriously disinterested woman, gave her my order number and asked how long the backorder delay would be. Didn't even get a chance to tell her that I had already emailed inquiries twice. Without so much as a word, or a "hold on" I was flipped on hold again and left there for 28 minutes! I finally hung up and of course she never called back even though she had my order number and therefore my contact information. Today, another week later (so it's been about 6 weeks now since I ordered my plants) I got this note:


From: Denise at Brighter Blooms
Date: Thu, 12 May 2011 11:35:40 -0400
Subject: Order#1023281

Hello,
We apologize for the delayed response. This item is on backorder, and hopefully it will be in next week. Once it is in stock you will receive notification from FedEx as to when it will be shipped. Thanks
Denise
Brighter Blooms Nursery

T: 800-399-9514
E: Denise@BrighterBlooms.com
http://www.BrighterBlooms.com

I ordered 5 flowering trees last autumn from Brighter Blooms / Fast Growing Trees. None survived the winter. I am currently in the process of applying for a replacement or refund / store credit.

PLEASE NOTE THAT THE COMPANY'S CLAIM OF A 1 YEAR GUARANTEE IS FALSE. Read the fine print (the credit is only for 50% of the purchase price): "Fast Growing Trees Nursery offers a full one-year replacement guarantee. If your tree dies within 90 days of delivery, we offer a 75% store-issued credit that can be redeemed on any future purchase. If your tree dies after 90 days, but before one year, we offer a 50% store-issued credit that can be redeemed on any future purchase. Store credits do not cover the cost of shipping."

My rating will remain "Negative" unless the company provides an actual full one-year replacement guarantee (a full refund or a full replacement with no additional charges).

I ordered 5 plants. I received three promptly. the other two I waited three weeks and then called. It continued to hang up on me due to too many callers. i tried email help page and no response. I finally got through. Woman said they didn't have my item, and they don't call or contact to tell you that information. She said she canceled the order and I would get a full refund. 3 weeks later, still did not have my refund. Called again today to find out that it had not been canceled. Now, I guess, it has been canceled again....maybe. Both times, the operators were rude. I will not order from here again. Too much hassle!

I gave up on this company. You should stay away...

I ordered several Boston Ivy plants, then waited the 3 weeks they require before contacted them. (see my final comments below). Was told my plants were on back-order but "a shipment came in this week", "check back next week."

I checked back the next week, and was told to check back Monday. Same run-around. I AM CERTAIN THEY LIED TO ME. Then I checked their website and noted they had listed Boston Ivy as "sold out". Ya think they could tell me that??

Finally after 5 weeks I contacted them and asked them to fill my order that week or cancel it. For ONCE they were prompt and cancelled my order. But I'm STILL WAITING FOR MY $51.90 REFUND.

>> Meanwhile, I ordered from Hirt's and Forestfarm on Friday, and BOTH orders shipped over the weekend. Any company that tells you to wait 3 weeks before inquiring isn't worth the trouble.