On May 1, 2015 upon recommendation of Google Ad sites of 'trusted stores' and also the University of Pennsylvania list of nursery sites, I checked out the website of www.directgardening.com, and after lengthy searches had placed an order of $227.45 of multiple items. I had trouble originally with their site when it came to checkout, their system had issues...so I had to then call it in. Quantities, items, prices, item numbers, etc. There were 38 items in fact, many with multiple quantity. I paid for it immediately by credit card, and was told it would take 2 weeks to process the order. Ok, I wait. Then, after 3 weeks, emailed using their contact link on their site-I made an inquiry as to the progress of my order, any shipment dates and/or tracking numbers. I got some auto response, that the email was submitted to the 'proper department'. Nothing else followed. So, I called. The number furnished online was constantly busy. It took almost 2 hours to get through with repeat dialing.
I got a customer service gal...she hung up on me. Called back, again taking quite some time to get through. I was not rude, nor impolite so wasn't sure why the first gal hung up. The second gal said they would send through an inquiry communication, however they had no real way to communicate with the growers or shipping department. I called at week 4. Again, no information to be had. No reason for any delay or backorder, again I was told they don't have communication with other departments, and there are no management available within the company, nobody responsible..and even if they did have a boss, he didn't do phone calls or emails with any customers. Hmm. Ok, I wait another week. Call again. Same deal. But, she 'thought' it should be shipping soon as they were processing orders placed 2 to 3 weeks after I placed mine. Oh, that's encouraging. Not. However, they also have trouble processing multiple orders and mine was a 'large' one. Now that's really encouraging.
I asked her: if they didn't want people ordering multiple items perhaps they should stipulate a restriction upon their website, otherwise people assume that the stuff listed and pictured is already growing in greenhouses ready to ship out and people like variety and order accordingly. Sorry I placed an order they couldn't handle, obviously. This has been going on now for 6 weeks and counting. No information, sign of shipment, or tracking number, no way to communicate within the company..no boss or management taking any responsibility for how their company is run, no customer service...just plain repetitious runaround, and excuses, poor reasons at that about growing seasons, weather, mismanagement of their company, their systems...etc. All things I don't want to hear. I want facts, information. At this time, it's way too late to even think of planting this stuff as it's already too hot/dry for it to propagate or transplant. So, I cancelled the order. Now, I am told it could take a couple to several weeks to even receive back my money for the order. Now, why is that? They took it fast enough.
That is not customer service, it's scamming people and not dealing with the very issues or problems they cause with their company failings to begin with. If customers placing orders is a problem..get out of business and don't set up online stores. Don't send out catalogs using yet another name either..or other aliases. Now, people are wondering if they are legit. I should have done more due diligence in checking out this company first prior to ordering, now...I wished I had. There are numberous Better Business Bureau complaints against them, literally hundreds of people who have had the same experience as I have with customer service issues, no deliveries or shipment of product in addition to those that did receive their order after much delay/wait...it was poor quality, root rot, diseased/infected plants, dead plants, poorly shipped/packaged plants..so again, they were not satisfied either with the 'guarantee' policies of this company either or the refund/replacement issues it causes. Don't just take my word for it, do your due diligence. Check them out, read the complaints. They are too numerous, and we can't all be wrong. I made the mistake of trusting they were a reputable company, don't be as stupid as me and order. Or you may be reporting them next.
I placed an order with Direct Gardening on 2/20/2015 to be shipped in April. My credit card was charged the $56.43 on 2/25/2015. The plants arreived on April 17th, shipped in a green, plastic shipping BAG. The protective sleeves containing the plants were crushed in shipping. Two "Red Wind Forest Grass" were badly pinched to about an inch tall, but were plantable. The three "Blushing Bride Tradescania" were ruined in shipping, one was totally dry and two were water logged. None of them survived planting.
Immediately upon receiving the plants, I contacted the company via e-mail and told them of the problem, requesting replacements for the three plants, a $15 value. After severals e-mails back and forth, where they did not read the attached previously-sent e-mails, I decided to write to the manager on May 7th. Included in my letter was the original shipping label, which they required to be returned under their Replacement Warranty. I have not received a response to that letter and I have not received any replacement plants.
As a retired retail exectutive, I find that the poor quality of their plants is only surpased by the poor quality of their service. Their shipping is downright horrible! Their customer service people do not read the e-mails sent them, but merely respond with a single form letter. And their manager does not respond to letters of complaint.
I will not be ordering from them again. And I would strongly warn others to buy elsewhere. If they can't replace a small order of $15 promptly, without having the customer jump through hoops, why purchase more from them? Their written Replacment Warranty is ignored.
There are many other companies, such as Bloomin Designs Nursery, American Meadows, White Flower Farm and Romance Gardens that have supplied me with quality plants. I will give them my business and Direct Gardening the boot. They lost a customer over $15. The other companies got $655.98 of my business this year. And their plants are doing well!
Had my plant box ready for a variety of strawberries, ordered my strawberry plants from Direct Gardening and was very pleased with the varitey of strawberries they offered and their prices were very reasonable. Included with my order was some free plants for ordering ordering over $40 worth of plants. I understood that it would take approximately 1 1/2 to 2 weeks for delivery to California.
Here is it, 3 1/2 weeks later and still no strawberries. Direct Gardening's phone was either busy or no answer. The email response was very slow and repetitive, asking me for the same information that I had sent.
I was so excited to recieve my plants and after such a long wait, I should have just bought them at my hometown nursery. I am now very, very upset that a company would go though so much advertisement just to screw their customers.
I don't do reviews unless it is well deserved, good or bad. I wouldn't want someone else to go through what I did so this review is well deserved for Direct Gardening. DO NOT ORDER FROM THEM PLEASE...YOU WILL BE SORRY....I should have read the reviews on line before I ordered from Direct Gardening.
I placed an order on March 5th 2015 for 10 plants which totalled $71.00. To date I have not received my order or any update status report. I have tried to contact this company by phone for several weeks at (309)662-7943 and the line is always busy. I have called at all hours of the day. Alway the same results - a busy singal. I have sent emails via their website with no response. I have requested my merchandise or a refund and still have not received any response. If this is not fraud and theft, it at lease is deceptive and poor business practices.
Should have researched this company prior to ordering. Fortunately I didn't lose a lot. Ordered 4 butterfly bushes from these folks that I received in July. They came as just sticks....no green on them at all. However I planted them as instructed. Waited a few months (3) for something to happen. Nothing did. When I asked for a refund is when I found out about their horrible return policy. 14 days. Most nurseries have a 1 year return policy. You really don't know if anything is going to grow in 14 days. I will never do business with this company again.
I ordered $109 worth of plants from directgardening.com. None of the plants lived. I asked for replacements and was told I could not get any. I didn't even ask for a refund just replacements.
Last August I was in search of rare butterfly bushes. Was so excited when I stumbled across the site for Direct Gardening. I ordered several for myself and some as a gift to my mom in WV.
When they arrived they looked like dead twigs but I was hopeful. So I planted them and watered and cared for them. I have been gardening for 26 years. Much to my dismay but really no surpise the darn twigs never did a thing. Honestly I believe they were dead when I got them.
Also, the ones I sent to my mom died as well. I called the company and complained and they sent me a couple more. They wouldn't replace my moms because she didn't save all the original paperwork.
Since the second batch I received died I have made numerous calls and complained but to no prevail. They only want to give me a $10.00 credit. I lose all the shipping cost and all the plants to my mom are a wash.
Direct Gardening Reviews
On May 1, 2015 upon recommendation of Google Ad sites of 'trusted stores' and also the University of Pennsylvania list of nursery sites, I checked out the website of www.directgardening.com, and after lengthy searches had placed an order of $227.45 of multiple items. I had trouble originally with their site when it came to checkout, their system had issues...so I had to then call it in. Quantities, items, prices, item numbers, etc. There were 38 items in fact, many with multiple quantity. I paid for it immediately by credit card, and was told it would take 2 weeks to process the order. Ok, I wait. Then, after 3 weeks, emailed using their contact link on their site-I made an inquiry as to the progress of my order, any shipment dates and/or tracking numbers. I got some auto response, that the email was submitted to the 'proper department'. Nothing else followed. So, I called. The number furnished online was constantly busy. It took almost 2 hours to get through with repeat dialing.
I got a customer service gal...she hung up on me. Called back, again taking quite some time to get through. I was not rude, nor impolite so wasn't sure why the first gal hung up. The second gal said they would send through an inquiry communication, however they had no real way to communicate with the growers or shipping department. I called at week 4. Again, no information to be had. No reason for any delay or backorder, again I was told they don't have communication with other departments, and there are no management available within the company, nobody responsible..and even if they did have a boss, he didn't do phone calls or emails with any customers. Hmm. Ok, I wait another week. Call again. Same deal. But, she 'thought' it should be shipping soon as they were processing orders placed 2 to 3 weeks after I placed mine. Oh, that's encouraging. Not. However, they also have trouble processing multiple orders and mine was a 'large' one. Now that's really encouraging.
I asked her: if they didn't want people ordering multiple items perhaps they should stipulate a restriction upon their website, otherwise people assume that the stuff listed and pictured is already growing in greenhouses ready to ship out and people like variety and order accordingly. Sorry I placed an order they couldn't handle, obviously. This has been going on now for 6 weeks and counting. No information, sign of shipment, or tracking number, no way to communicate within the company..no boss or management taking any responsibility for how their company is run, no customer service...just plain repetitious runaround, and excuses, poor reasons at that about growing seasons, weather, mismanagement of their company, their systems...etc. All things I don't want to hear. I want facts, information. At this time, it's way too late to even think of planting this stuff as it's already too hot/dry for it to propagate or transplant. So, I cancelled the order. Now, I am told it could take a couple to several weeks to even receive back my money for the order. Now, why is that? They took it fast enough.
That is not customer service, it's scamming people and not dealing with the very issues or problems they cause with their company failings to begin with. If customers placing orders is a problem..get out of business and don't set up online stores. Don't send out catalogs using yet another name either..or other aliases. Now, people are wondering if they are legit. I should have done more due diligence in checking out this company first prior to ordering, now...I wished I had. There are numberous Better Business Bureau complaints against them, literally hundreds of people who have had the same experience as I have with customer service issues, no deliveries or shipment of product in addition to those that did receive their order after much delay/wait...it was poor quality, root rot, diseased/infected plants, dead plants, poorly shipped/packaged plants..so again, they were not satisfied either with the 'guarantee' policies of this company either or the refund/replacement issues it causes. Don't just take my word for it, do your due diligence. Check them out, read the complaints. They are too numerous, and we can't all be wrong. I made the mistake of trusting they were a reputable company, don't be as stupid as me and order. Or you may be reporting them next.
I placed an order with Direct Gardening on 2/20/2015 to be shipped in April. My credit card was charged the $56.43 on 2/25/2015. The plants arreived on April 17th, shipped in a green, plastic shipping BAG. The protective sleeves containing the plants were crushed in shipping. Two "Red Wind Forest Grass" were badly pinched to about an inch tall, but were plantable. The three "Blushing Bride Tradescania" were ruined in shipping, one was totally dry and two were water logged. None of them survived planting.
Immediately upon receiving the plants, I contacted the company via e-mail and told them of the problem, requesting replacements for the three plants, a $15 value. After severals e-mails back and forth, where they did not read the attached previously-sent e-mails, I decided to write to the manager on May 7th. Included in my letter was the original shipping label, which they required to be returned under their Replacement Warranty. I have not received a response to that letter and I have not received any replacement plants.
As a retired retail exectutive, I find that the poor quality of their plants is only surpased by the poor quality of their service. Their shipping is downright horrible! Their customer service people do not read the e-mails sent them, but merely respond with a single form letter. And their manager does not respond to letters of complaint.
I will not be ordering from them again. And I would strongly warn others to buy elsewhere. If they can't replace a small order of $15 promptly, without having the customer jump through hoops, why purchase more from them? Their written Replacment Warranty is ignored.
There are many other companies, such as Bloomin Designs Nursery, American Meadows, White Flower Farm and Romance Gardens that have supplied me with quality plants. I will give them my business and Direct Gardening the boot. They lost a customer over $15. The other companies got $655.98 of my business this year. And their plants are doing well!
Had my plant box ready for a variety of strawberries, ordered my strawberry plants from Direct Gardening and was very pleased with the varitey of strawberries they offered and their prices were very reasonable. Included with my order was some free plants for ordering ordering over $40 worth of plants. I understood that it would take approximately 1 1/2 to 2 weeks for delivery to California.
Here is it, 3 1/2 weeks later and still no strawberries. Direct Gardening's phone was either busy or no answer. The email response was very slow and repetitive, asking me for the same information that I had sent.
I was so excited to recieve my plants and after such a long wait, I should have just bought them at my hometown nursery. I am now very, very upset that a company would go though so much advertisement just to screw their customers.
I don't do reviews unless it is well deserved, good or bad. I wouldn't want someone else to go through what I did so this review is well deserved for Direct Gardening. DO NOT ORDER FROM THEM PLEASE...YOU WILL BE SORRY....I should have read the reviews on line before I ordered from Direct Gardening.
I placed an order on March 5th 2015 for 10 plants which totalled $71.00. To date I have not received my order or any update status report. I have tried to contact this company by phone for several weeks at (309)662-7943 and the line is always busy. I have called at all hours of the day. Alway the same results - a busy singal. I have sent emails via their website with no response. I have requested my merchandise or a refund and still have not received any response. If this is not fraud and theft, it at lease is deceptive and poor business practices.
Should have researched this company prior to ordering. Fortunately I didn't lose a lot. Ordered 4 butterfly bushes from these folks that I received in July. They came as just sticks....no green on them at all. However I planted them as instructed. Waited a few months (3) for something to happen. Nothing did. When I asked for a refund is when I found out about their horrible return policy. 14 days. Most nurseries have a 1 year return policy. You really don't know if anything is going to grow in 14 days. I will never do business with this company again.
I ordered $109 worth of plants from directgardening.com. None of the plants lived. I asked for replacements and was told I could not get any. I didn't even ask for a refund just replacements.
Last August I was in search of rare butterfly bushes. Was so excited when I stumbled across the site for Direct Gardening. I ordered several for myself and some as a gift to my mom in WV.
When they arrived they looked like dead twigs but I was hopeful. So I planted them and watered and cared for them. I have been gardening for 26 years. Much to my dismay but really no surpise the darn twigs never did a thing. Honestly I believe they were dead when I got them.
Also, the ones I sent to my mom died as well. I called the company and complained and they sent me a couple more. They wouldn't replace my moms because she didn't save all the original paperwork.
Since the second batch I received died I have made numerous calls and complained but to no prevail. They only want to give me a $10.00 credit. I lose all the shipping cost and all the plants to my mom are a wash.