Comments regarding Bulbs Direct (bulbsdirect.com)

I am writing this review after having tried to resolve my situation with BulbsDirect.com's "Customer Service" department, which apparently consists of an untrained, young adult without the slightest clue of what customer service means.

Immediately after receiving my order, I emailed a question to the "Customer Service" provided on their website. This is the only way to contact them since they are located overseas, without incurring international telephone charges.

I NEVER RECEIVED A RESPONSE.
I repeat, I NEVER RECEIVED A RESPONSE.

Several months later, I tried again to contact BulbsDirect.com via the same "Customer Service" email provided on their website.

This time I received a reply, but it was too late. The plants I had ordered were most certainly dead, which I stated numerous times in emails to their "Customer Service" I was completely responsible for.

However, my point and reason for contacting BulbsDirect.com was to:

A) inform them that I never received a reply to my original email, which would have saved my plants from dying, not to mention the time and money spent.

B) inform them that BulbsDirect.com had inconsistent planting instructions on their website versus the printed packaging that accompanied my order, which caused me to spend needless time searching for a resolution to the situation.

I was replied with such rude and uncaring remarks, not to mention a total lack of responsibility for not returning my first email.

BulbsDirect.com does not care to hear about any problems a customer might have with their products or services. Period. Ever.

My response from BulbsDirect.com was such that I felt compelled to warn others of my experience.

I do not usually go to such lengths to express a company's complete lack of professional courtesy to a first-time customer such as myself, but hopefully I can save others from the AWFUL experience I had with BulbsDirect.com.

"On Mar 28, 2012 5:35 AM, Bulbs Direct (bulbsdirect.com) responded with:

We try hard to do everything right, but yes, sometimes, we fail.

In this case the person emailed us, but we never received it, that's why there was no initial response. Emails are answered daily.

He tried agan several months later, now we replied but apparently it was too late...

For urgent problems we always have out TOLL FREE phone number direct to Holland as mentioned on our contact page, we can deal with any problem straight away.

This person was taken care of by Nicola who has been working with us for many years, and is not inexperienced.

I have no problem with people not being happy with our service, I do have a problem with people directly attacking one of our employees (see username created).

We are a family owned company and I would hate to see that we have to use nicknames for our employees in the future because of responses like this.

This person will get a full refund anyway.

M. Jansen
Managing Director
"

I recently placed my first order with this company, for c. 200 bulbs and 20 bareroot plants and planted it right away. All the plants are growing, and maybe a fourth of the bulbs have come up in the last week. The bulbs looked to be of average size but generally quite healthy. Out of the entire order, only one 'Erlicheer' daffodil bulb was mushy and had to be tossed rather than planted - I didn't register any complaint with them, but suspect they'd replace it if only I'd ask. I wonder if the begonia tubers will yet sprout - the only thing in my order that I'd question so far.

Excellent customer service! I had a few questions about my order status and got a reply within two hours.
I have not received my bulbs yet, but they are due to arrive in 7-9 days. I will update as soon as they arrive!

I ordered:
Voodoo Lily x3
Tigridia Pavonia x20
Lillium Cernuum (Turk's Cap Lily)x3
Canna Panache x1
Gladiolus Nymph x10
Calochortus Venustus (Mariposa Lily)x10

This was my first time ordering plants by mail in about 4 years. But anyway I placed a small order with this company: 6 tiger lilies and 6 stargazer lilies. I probably would have ordered elsewhere, but BulbsDirect was one of the cheapest sites that I came across, so that was ultimately my deciding factor. 12 specialty lilies for under $20 is hard to beat.

The bulbs are fair sized for the price, about 2 inches in diameter. I even received an extra free small bulb piece as occasionally happens, so that was nice. All of the the bulbs show good signs of life (purple) and I have no doubt about them coming up fine next year. I will certainly consider ordering from this company in the future.

My order arrived about 2 1/2 weeks after it was placed. I never had any correspondence from them via e-mail. (My only order confirmation was that my credit card was billed.) And lastly, there was no planting information for the tiger lilies, neither on their website or on the packaging. But I suppose lilies are pretty much lilies and they just assume you'll know what to do with them!

Posted on October 27, 2010, updated May 18, 2011
The pro-s: low prices, free shipping (even on a $6 order I added later to my order total). The con-s: you get what you pay for- even though everything was healthy looking, the bulbs are SMALL. I also ended up getting some ranunculus which after additional research I found probably won't last the winter here, which is a mistake on my behalf, but I do think it would've been considerate to mention on the website that in zone 7 you plant them in the spring, not fall. I'll have to see how the rest performs but frankly I'm not holding my breath- I only did a small order with BulbsDirect, the majority of my fall order was with another company (Van Engelen) with which I'm extremely pleased.

I ordered 20 tuberous begonias and only 7 came up.They are getting soft and rotting.They won't answer me when I email.The begonias from Jungs and Michigan bulb are doing fine.

I ordered a large quantity of daffodils and tulips and was very pleased with how many of bloomed this spring and with the quality. I was skeptical because the prices were low, and the shipping, free, however, so far I am very happy with this company. I've ordered from a few of the top rated Dave's Garden companies, but I believe this is by far the best purchase I've made on line so far. When I ordered bulbs from other companies noted on Dave's Garden, such as Bluestone Perenials, the results were not as good. I've just planted a variety of summer blooming bulbs, so we will see whether I have as good luck as with the others. The bulbs are flown directly from Holland to your home, which is a fact I also liked.

I placed two orders within days of each other and they were shipped on the same day but the first order, the larger of the two, came several days later than the other one. I suspect that US Custom might have been an issue. I found green mold growing on the oriental lilies bulbs and the astrantia roots. I contacted bulbsdirect and Gerard Hoek sent out replacement even though apparently, the mold is ok. I'm very happy with my purchase. Some of my liatris are already sprouting!

So far, have had a thoroughly positive experience with Bulbsdirect.com. I placed two orders for immediate delivery and both arrived in an extremely timely fashion (I had asked that they ship immediately, rather than waiting two weeks for their mid-February 2011 start-of-shipping, and that is indeed what they did). Customer service responds within 24 hours via email to questions. Items ordered were bulbs and bare root-- most of the bareroot is now potted up and sending up shoots. Prices are very low, shipping is free (perfect for ordering "just one more thing") and the bareroot was a decent size. I had two minor issues with one order-- they accidentally sent the wrong kind of Rudbeckia and one Echinacea was short. Customer service immediately fixed the issue (the replacements shipped three days later) and the "wrong" Rudbeckia was offered to me as a gift. I'm looking forward to seeing how these bulbs grow-- Bulbsdirect has some fun pre-planned bulb gardens that I'd like to try. Overall, I would strongly recommend for inexpensive bulbs and bareroot.

This is my first time ordering from this company and i am quite pleased..I found them when searching for Crocus bulbs which i had never ordered before, and found their website had the largest selection of crocus varieties, highest quality selections and cheapest prices and free shipping to the States!!! I was kind of nervous ordering from overseas but they accepted paypal so i didnt have to worry about them having my credit card#. i began to get nervous because i got a confirmation number immediately but no shipping date, but then 2 days later received a letter from Mr. Gerahard Hoek the warehouse manager that my crocus bulbs were pulled and shipped that morning..it only took me 4 days to recieve my bulbs from Amsterdamn, Holland to here in NC!! all healthy looking with shoots sticking out of the tops of the bulbs..only 16 dollars and 0 dollars shipping for 80 healthy rare 'firefly' crocus bulbs.Highly recommended!!!!!A++++++++++++

I recently ordered some viridiflora tulips from bulbsdirect.com that I had been unable to find anywhere else. I was hesitant to try a company that I had never used before, but the lure of those Formosa tulips was too strong. Not only did I receive my bulbs promptly — within 7 days of ordering — but the bulbs themselves were excellent, plump and firm, without a blemish, and were packed very nicely as well.

I'm very pleased with my ordering experience from bulbsdirect.com and will certainly buy from them in the future.

I honestly can't say enough good about this company. I've ordered from them multiple times, and despite severe abuse on my part, the bulbs flowered profusely. All the bulbs I received were large, plump and very clean. The shipping really is free and fast, even to Alaska. The customer service is very helpful and friendly. I plan on placing yet another order with them in the near future as the bulbs I can buy locally pale in comparison.

Posted on May 4, 2008, updated May 28, 2010
I have placed two orders with Bulbs Direct, and the shipping was very fast. I ordered some eremurus, hostas, alstroemeria, calachortus, crocosmia, and some dutch iris. I will be shopping again in the future due to price, and the speed of their delivery. The bulbs are clean, nice looking, and are fresh. Their website has a god assortment of bulbs and perennials for sale, and some good bargains also.

My first visit to bulbsdirect.com is what led me to the Garden Watchdog website. Despite some negative reviews from consumers I did find it honorable for them to post the Garden Watchdog link on their website.

They offer a good selection of bulb collections, the prices are reasonable and the free shipping is a bonus. I received my order on time and everything was neatly packaged. The bulbs were clean and a sensible size but most importantly everything I purchased has sprouted. I will definitely order from them again.

I recently ordered some Hippeastrums (amaryllis) and Narcisssus bulbs and another Hippeastrum bulb sometime later. Both orders arrived within two weeks, which I think is awesome.

The quality of the bulbs, I would say is about average. The bulbs usually aren't the biggest, or the greatest, but you aren't exactly paying premium prices either. To be honest, I don't think the Hippeastrums bulbs I received from them will likely bloom after being planted this fall, because only the leaves are sprouting and no signs of flower buds after more than two weeks (I will give an update later). Hippeastrums bulbs usually will show signs of flower buds soon after planting.

The packaging is not so great. They are just in brown paper bags inside a box. I feel they could at least use some wadded up newspaper to prevent such heavy bulbs like Hippeastrums from receiving damage when rolling around inside a box. Luckily, none of the bulbs I received were damaged in transit.

I will definitely order from them again since they provide such cheap bulbs, but just remember to order a particular variety when it is fresh (there is an availability date on each item's page). Beware if you expect top of the line bulbs.

I ordered some freesias, agapanthus and dahlias in April '09.
The order came as promised within 14 days and everything was planted right away. Only about half of the freesias sprouted, only 3 out of 9 dahlias and the agapanthus struggled the whole growing season to survive. I contacted the company and they quickly send me a replacement for the freesias and dahlias.
As of November none of the freesias have bloomed and all their bulbs have died. Of the dahlias not a single one has been what I had ordered. I got some nice blooms and some not so nice ones. I was very surprised how I did not get even one match out of 9 ordered dahlias. Needless to say I will not order from them again, what is the use of good prices when you don't get what you paid for.

In April I ordered a set of (6) Alstromeria Princess Lily. They arrived quickly but the tubers were tiny, about the thickness of a pencil and quite shrivelled looking. I planted them a couple to a pot but had no sign of life all summer. I contacted the company to ask for a replacement per their guarantee and they graciously replied that they would be sending replacements, I assumed at proper planting time. Then I was notified that my order had been shipped! To northwest IN where our winters get to -20 F. !! I contacted customer service to ask if the order could not be delayed till Spring and received a reply that the order was on its way and that these are hardy and can be shipped Spring or Fall. The package arrived today with a label "protect from frost" and instructions inside to lift tubers before freezing weather...... Obviously I am not very optimistic about the chances these new tubers have of surviving being stored all winter now until next Spring!

I've had such pleasant experience with bulbsdirect.com that I would buy every year from them. I had bought some begonia tubers and some butterfly gladioli from them, both did really well. In fact, I told them that some of my begonia tubers were rot so they sent me another set of tubers, all of them did amazingly well. The customer service is kind and they actually listen and care for what we want. I would definitely give 5 stars to this company.

This was my first order with this company and so far I am very pleased. Bulbs Direct offers low prices and free shipping which is an excellent value. The bulbs look very healthy and I will definately shop with them again.

I ORDERED HOSTAS BULBS. THEY CAME QUICKLY, GREAT PRICE, NO SHIPPING OR HANDLING FEE AND ARE GROWING GREAT. WILL DEFINITELY ORDER FROM AGAIN.

I just received my first order from them a 50 bulb garden collection. It came on time with NO SHIPPING FEE and all the bulbs look great! Unfortunately it was the wrong bulb collection - I ordered the White Moolight garden but received the Heavens Garden collection. I e-mailed them about the problem and they got back to me in ONE DAY! Plus I get to keep the Heavens Garden bulbs & will get my original order within the week. 100 bulbs for $7.99 and no shipping - a great deal. But what really makes me happy is their customer service - easy and efficient!

I ordered 6 Hippeastrum bulbs (2 each of 3 kinds) back in January. Of the 6, one was just complete mush with nothing left, and one was pretty badly gone. Of course they were two different types so I no longer had the bulb pairs that I wanted. The company did refund my money, but was unable to resend the bulbs I had waited for since they were no longer in stock. I've since planted the remaining good ones and they're just not performing as well as others I've purchased from other places. True, the cost was cheaper here, but I definitely got what I paid for. I think I'd rather pay more for better quality in the future.

Great Site. Use this code for an even bigger discount!! GN1020059

I ordered 200 Freesia's and they arrived in two weeks and were nice and healthy. I love that there was no shipping and it was cheap, $15 for 200 bulbs. So far very happy, I cannot comment at present if the bulbs turn out to be exactly what I ordered but will update after the season.

Last year around Oct. 07, I ordered different types of anemone flowers, almost 500 tubers. First of all, I did not receive them in 14 days and after failed attempts to track it (via e-mail and calling), I gave up and finally received it almost a month after I had ordered them. I planted them in November to have a flower border by Spring and out of the whole 500 tubers only about 10 flowers came out, although they were beautiful, I had expected to see my whole border filled with this beautiful flowers. I planted some more different bulbs in the summer and did not find any tubbers in the soil which meant they all rotted and that's why they failed to grow... This year I decided to give them a second chance, and ordered 5 x Ranunculus 'Persianbuttercup' x 80, which means 400 tuber roots... I did receive them in 14 days, which is a good start... I will plant them this month to have "beautiful flower border by Spring", well see what happens. I will post my results next year...

I had a good experience with bulbsdirect. I ordered 2 peony edulis superba and 100 anemones. And the parcel arrived in time with good packaging. There is no shipping cost and tax fees. The bulbs are clean and healthy looking I am very satisfied. Strongly recommend!

I made several orders last April and May from this company. Received everything... some of the iris... the dwarf ones never greened up over the summer. I gave it til this spring. All the dwarf iris failed and the tiger and dutch iris rotted in the ground. I used plenty of mulch to protect over our harsh winters.

Contacted customer service, they sent different things to replace them. No problem there. Great company.

The yellow Iris I ordered is doing wonderful, highly recommend.

However,

Here is the rest of the order:

ID QUANTITY VALUE DESCRIPTION # Bulbs
SW1086 1 $ 11.98 Iris barbata Purple & White 6
SW1088 1 $ 9.98 Purple Night Sky 6

ID QUANTITY VALUE DESCRIPTION # Bulbs
SW1018 1 $ 9.98 Iris Barbata Blue Flag 6
SW0974 1 $ 12.98 Bearded iris Combo Blue-Gold 6
SW1088 1 $ 9.98 Purple Night Sky 6

ID QUANTITY VALUE DESCRIPTION # Bulbs
SW1088 1 $ 9.98 Purple Night Sky 6

ID QUANTITY VALUE DESCRIPTION # Bulbs
SW1084 1 $ 11.98 Bearded iris Combo Blue-Gold 6
Total: $ 11.98

ID QUANTITY VALUE DESCRIPTION # Bulbs
SW1088 2 $ 19.96 Purple Night Sky 6
Total: $ 19.96


One slight little problem.... I had marked each section with what they are.

And... they are not Purple Night Sky, Blue-Gold, Purple White, Blue Ruffled.

All of them are.... some kind of medium purple, run of the mill Iris! With the little yellow throat. I have photos if anyone wants to see. Just email me!

I have emailed photos to customerservice@bulbsdirect and just explained to them what I have explained here.

I want to know what kind of Iris this is and what it is called. I didn't ask for replacements but only to find out what it is and that they are sending this out instead of all the different ones I ordered.



I have now have approximately 54 Irises or less, I didn't count them all... that are all the same color! I don't even like this color.

If it wasn't for that, they would get a positive in a heartbeat. I will wait and see what they say and or if do.

I have a lot of work to do moving all of these to the "back" somewhere. It isn't just the money... it is the time and engery spent and the anticipation of seeing that Purple Night Sky. I really, really wanted to see that one.

I'd like to think this was an unusual experience, but the 5 canna bulbs sent to me a month ago were very small - really, suprisingly small considering how prolific cannas are - and worse, shrivelled and dried out. I am still trying to wake them up, but doubt at this point that they are viable.

I purchased 440 bulbs and 80 tubers. I gave bulbs direct a neutral rating only because of the problems contacing them via email or by phone. I contacted them by email to see when my order was going to ship as it was going on two weeks and I had not recieved a shipping date. The site states 14 day shipping. I recieved no response to my email. Two days later that I recieved a automated email from them stating "the order was delayed". But did not state how long. In the automated email it states it is a email that is created by the computer. I then contacted the customer service number listed on the site. The person on the phone was very nice and tried to be helpful. I explained the delayed message I recieved and was wondering how long it was delayed for? She stated that because I ordered online and not by phone she could not help me? I then explained that when I tried to contact them by email it was just never responded to and the only info I recieved from them was automated by the computer. She then stated she could email them for me to find out when they would be shipped. I recieved another automated response from them stating that the customer service agents email she had sent them had failed to be recieved more then to times, it recieved a failur notice? Two days later I recieved another automated response from them stating "my order had shipped". It had no tracking number or who it was shipped with. The bulbs arrived on 5-2-08. I ordered on 4-19-08, so they arrived exactly on the 14th day as stated on the site. The bulbs and tubers were very quality and nicely packaged. They are a good company to buy from, but if you need to contact them it is almost impossible.That is why I gave them a Neutral instead of Positive.

I ordered several types of bulbs from this company and received my entire order in about two weeks. All the bulbs look healthy and the numbers of each were correct. I especially like that the shipping is included in the price so you know what the final bill will be. They also print a little color picture of the bulbs in bloom, along with planting and care instructions directly on the packing slip.

I had a good experience this company , the bulbs i got were healthy and all are growing , so i ordered some more . no shipping is a plus . good prices too.

I ordered 12 saponaria ocymoides and 6 anemone pulsatilla from bulbsdirect - cost $23.94, no tax and free shipping. The order arrived recently with the bare root plants in excellent condition. They had even included an extra plant of each variety. :-) I was delighted and plan to use the company again this fall.

i was able to order bulbs after Thanksgiving which i had not found elsewhere from Bulbsdirect. i loved the free shipping, as i order smallish quantities, which can make shipping cost more than the bulbs!
i wanted Maureen tulips, and i couldn't find them anywhere. Bulbsdirect had them as part of 2 types of combination packs. i e-mailed and asked if i could get only Maureens, and received a reply the next day saying "No problem."
They also willingly cancelled another item i ordered when i changed my mind (it hadn't shipped yet).
The tulip bulbs were on the small side, but they looked quite healthy - and this was late November!

i am very satisfied with my experience with this company.

amy
*

From my experience so far, I'd definitely recommend bulbsdirect! The prices were very reasonable (especially for purchasing lily bulbs), and all the plants I received were packaged well, and were very healthy and clean (they even did fairly well in my hard clay soil). The site is easy to navigate, and the selection is decent as well, although they mostly sell bulbs. I received an email notification very shortly after I placed my order, which provided me my order information and number. A day or two later, I received another email stating that my order had been packaged and was on its way. They also provided the method of shipping, and the average delivery (which was 7 days).

I haven't had any problems, so there's been no need to contact customer service. The site also has 100% satisfaction guarantee, and FREE shipping!

I HIGHLY RECOMMEND Bulbs Direct! They have very reasonable prices, free shipping, excellent customer service, and a good variety of bulbs and other plants. The bulbs I have ordered from Bulbs Direct have been of high quality, very healthy and clean, and of good size. They also have a 100% satisfaction guarantee on their products, and resolve any problems promptly. You can't go wrong with ordering from Bulbs Direct!!!