Gardening Express Reviews

Name: Gardening Express
Address: Gardening Express, Chelmsford, Essex
Rating: 1.17

1.2 Rating 1,702 Reviews

4 %

of reviewers recommend Gardening Express

Company Reviews

Questions

Metrics

1.2

Based on 1,702 reviews

Shipping & Delivery
Delivery Methods	Courier
Average Delivery Time	Over A Month
On-time Delivery	Greater than 16%
Accurate And Undamaged Orders	Greater than 31%
Customer Service
Communication Channels	Email, Live Chat, Telephone
Queries Resolved In	Over A Week
Customer Service	1.1 out of 5
Returns & Refunds
Refunds Process	Difficult
Returns Process	Could Be Better

Phone:

08448 044 253

Location:

Gardening Express, Chelmsford
Essex
CM1 4UA

Write Your review

Tell us how Gardening Express made you happy

Minimum 10 characters

Would you like to add a photos or videos?

Strengthen your review by uploading photos & videos.

Drag files here or browse

(Supported files: jpg, png, mpeg, ogg, mp4 & webm)

What's your name?

Leave this blank if you'd like to publish your review anonymously.

(Optional)

What's your email?

We need your email address to verify that your review is genuine

Please note that we may share your email with the company to verify your order.

Anonymous

Anonymous // 01/01/2019

Sort by: Most Recent Most Recent Highest Rated Filter: None None 5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Stars Helpful

“I was about to purchase from Gardening Express, then checked these reviews. Thankyou to all those who have left reviews. Most helpful – I won't bother with them.”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

“A bunch of fraudsters Placed an order at beginning of lockdown even after eased measures no delivery Waited longer than two and half months”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

“The worst online company I have ever dealt with they took my money on 20 April,I have sent numerous emails via resolver cancelling order due to their non compliance with the contract between us,they just send the same automated reply and refuse to engage. They do not comply with consumer legislation, how are they getting away with it? I have asked my bank to act under the chargeback scheme. I am also contacting trading standards and watchdog.DO NOT deal with this company.”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

“This is my second review in 2 days. Don't buy plants from this company they don't care about you or your consumer rights. In my last review I pointed out the excessive delay on the delivery and the damaged and dying state the plants arrived in. I am constantly emailing them for a refund and they are ignoring me. I have now reported them to BBC Watchdog and Trading Standards. I have also asked Resolver to get involved and that is on going. They are in Breach of the consumer rights act of 2015. Go and have a look at unhappy customer group on FB to see exactly what these charlatans at GE are up to. Happy reading.”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

“A dreadful company, immoral, illegal charlatans. Abusing people's vunerability during covid. They remove bad reviews and comments on social media. Unhappy customers have formed their own Facebook page called Unhappy customers in order to support each other in receiving refunds for goods that don't arrive or are severely damaged or dead. I have waited 8 weeks, they ignore requests to cancel and then pretend goods have been shipped. They have been reported to Trading Standards and Watchdog and most importantly to the government body that investigates companies abusing the pandemic situation. They put false reviews on Facebook. DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY. I have lost over £180”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

“What went right.......weeks of vague automated emails. Have had my money refunded by bank. Now receiving constant emails about delivery as they refuse to cancel yet Yodel have not received goods. They are appalling causing constant daily worry. Gardening Express avoid.....”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

“Despite the website stating delay of up to 4 weeks due to Covid, it actually took over 7 weeks for the plants to arrive. I had sent an email through their ticket system to find out where the delivery was around 5 weeks in with no response being received at all - clearly they have no idea about customer care. I ordered a rose (which arrived almost resembling a stick) and not a cheap one at that, and a peony which was very battered. Would certainly not use the company again and will revert to my local garden centres which are cheaper and have better, healthier plants.”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

“The plants took a long time to arrive. One plant was battered and crushed.The others pictured as actual hosta plants on the website were just a bag of roots. Very disappointed.”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

“Terrible, waited 4 weeks and when I went to cancel the order amazingly they said you can’t as it was about to be dispatched. Plants arrived pretty much dead, 2 of the plants had been changed for cheaper ones, absolute rubbish trading standards should look into these clowns! £70??? Should have paid me!”

Gardening Express 1 star review on 12th June 2020

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

“I waited 9 weeks for a delivery of dead and bedragled plants with no communication at any point. Website continued to say delivery 2-3weeks when they knew it wouldnt be. No response to my complaints. Complete scam company.”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

“My plants arrived Wednesday 10th June and all but 2 where dead . I have sent photos only to be told that I should of potted them up earlier they didn't listen that I had only received that day. Now my case has been closed because someone replied to me .so I have had to start the process all again. Won't be using these people again.”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

“NO PLANTS, NO COMMUNICATION If I could give no stars I would..... Placed 2 x orders on 6/4/20 and 11/4/20. They took money from credit card same dates. Still no plants received 04/05/20. I submitted a support ticket on 25/4/20 - no response whatsoever. No contact number or email address available. Absolutely shocking customer service. I am now pursuing refunds. It is frightening that they are still advertising, obviously still taking orders and therefore customers' money. They appear to be using the Covid-19 lock-down situation to their full advantage. Absolutely shameful business practices. I would NOT recommend purchasing anything from this company. Update - 12/5/2020. Half of order arrived a couple of days ago.. Majority of the plants (15 of 19 in total) were pretty dried out but I managed to resurrect them with some TLC. As of today - still no response to my enquiry ticket requesting an update or refund - and no update regarding the rest of my order which still shows as "processing" since 11/4/2020. I note that Gardening Express (sic) have the time and resources to make sure that Trustpilot reviews are updated/responded to - and have the time to "invite" positive reviews to keep the star ratings up. Those responsible would be better off attending to customer enquiries. I'm not changing my rating while I continue to receive this abysmal customer service. Still no response to repeated emails/ticket updates. Update - 18/5/20 - Still no sign of 2nd order which remains as "processing" on the site. They have, however, managed to send me a request asking for a review - which I answered candidly (they don't do irony obviously) No way will they publish it. Still no response whatsoever to emails/ticket asking for any sort of update. Update - 05/6/20 - apart from a generic email last week informing that orders made in April were being processed - still no update, order or refund. My order still shows as "processing". I now make that to be 55 days since order date. Ticket requests continue to be ignored. I'm running out of negatives for this mob..... Update - 12/6/20. Plants arrived today - 62 days later. Plants were in a terrible state and nothing like the advertised "Pair of Premium Quality Holly Trees Covered in Berries in Baskets" - trees dried out, no berries and wicker baskets broken to bits. I don't have the energy to fight this mob any more. The plants should be saveable with some close attention. Gardening Express obviously don't do irony as they included a £5 off £50 purchase voucher as an apology! They also included a bag of dried out Gladiolus bulbs with a pre-printed "thanks for your patience" sticker on them - which are now in the compost. Trustpilot should allow for a NO STAR rating for companies like Gardening Express.”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

“There was 4 week delay before two Salix Flamingo Standards arrived. I had tried to cancel, but that just speeded things up. When they arrived, one had a few leaves on, but the other was bare branches, not much life to them. And to my horror they were selling fully established Standards the following week for same price, and had reduced mine by 33%. Never again. Terrible quality.”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

“Waited 61 days for very poor quality plants & GE don't give a jot. This is my email to GE after waiting 61 days to receive poor quality plants. Report to Trading Standards if you have a problem but better still, DO NOT USE THEM. I placed my order 61 days ago on the 11/04/20 and received my plants only yesterday which is both extraordinary & unbelievable. All this time waiting, only to receive plants that are in poor condition, were badly packed & their ongoing survival is in doubt. The difficulty in getting someone to respond on a general inquiry is impossible, so making a claim against these poor quality goods is a non starter & the 5 year warranty, utter nonsense. I've previously used GE & the service has been at best, average but with very poor, almost non existent customer service. With this order, I've sent emails requesting information and updates on my order but received nothing more, than heavily embellished, automatic replies containing glossy waffle which GE thinks is cleaver marketing but it's nothing more than a veil, attempting to cover bad selling practices. Good plant suppliers will inform you prior to placing an order whether a particular plant is in stock or not, allowing the prospective purchaser the opportunity to either buy & wait or not to buy but GE doesn't offer a choice, it just takes your money, knowing full well you'll have to wait because if they don't have the plant you want in stock, they really don't care.. Sending out thousands and thousands of plants each day, training more staff to cope with demand, working day & night, REALLY????? Words like commitment, founding values, we're only a phone call away & we're the No 1 online UK supplier, utter tosh!!!! You only have to read the many negative reviews which clearly bear out your dismal customer service. All this & head office apparently is The Estuary Private Members Club. I've raised a formal complaint with Trading Standards against your business practises and will also be posting negative reviews, adding to the many already posted.”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

“Dead Acre arrived months late - I had a response to my second ticket raised - Just stated my complaint is at tire 2 (whatever that means??) I now email the company daily, politely asking for a refund but of course no response from them! Fortunately I am only £30 out of pocket for the dead tree they sent (we now call it the STICK) but it is not the point, as they sent out a dead tree that defo did not die in transit. The level of disappointment is outrageous for so many people and for this company to continue trading is something for the police and or trading standards to investigate. I have now contacted watchdog and trading standards so let's see where this goes. Not really expecting them to do the right thing but live in hope. My next step will be small claims court - just out of principle REFUND - NOW PLEASE”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

“I am offering up 2 stars to gardening express. The plants were lovely this 2 star rating reflects on the length of time I waited to eventually get the plants and the shocking customer service provided. I want people to know if you order from this company you will be filled with doubt as to whether the plants you have paid your hard earned cash for will ever arrive. I would also like to address the customer service, there isn't any you will get a massive amount of generated emails/messages back and never an actual human to deal with your concerns. Please please and I can't stress this enough be aware of this company it appears they are deleting unwanted comments on their Facebook page and by the looks of it trying to get their ratings up on here.”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

“Ordered 25th April, emailed several times re non delivery, phone does not connect with person just leave details. Read other reviews & decided to ask for refund as quality of goods will likely be poor as seen in many other complaints. NO STAR”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

“I have received a dead Dwarf Patio Apricot Tree - Prunus armeniaca. Tried to customer service but have been ignored. They took my money and no contact from them”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

“I would not even give them 1 star!!!! They are appalling, ordered a shrub listed as 'in stock' and available for delivery, they immediately debited my credit card. That was 5 weeks ago, since then nothing but placating general emails saying sorry etc., nothing has arrived and have no idea when if at all the shrub will be delivered. I have therefore purchased and planted a replacement shrub sourced from a local garden centre. Gardening Express offer no means of contacting to cancel and or arrange refunds. Disgraceful, would advice anybody considering purchasing plants to not even consider Garden Express.”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

“I have had a very bad experience with Gardening Express. Bunch of robbers hiding behind COVID19 to explain their delays in delivery. I ordered plants from them on 3 May 2020 and they eventually came yesterday 10 June 2020. It would have been expedient of them to state on their website that they were experiencing extremely long delays on delivery and that the customer may wish to shop elsewhere. However they did not do that they just took my money and after a couple of weeks I began to get automated emails from them with no means of replying. In fact it stated that the email address was not manned due to COVID19. I did eventually managed to get a reply from them after raising one of their so called tickets. Automated response with a little apology. I asked for a refund and surprise surprise the next communication I got from them was to say the plants had been shipped. I checked with the carrier and they had not collected the plants. I was gracious and gave them another couple of days. Eventually the carrier company delivered them. Not the carriers fault. The packaging was not damaged when they arrived. However on opening them only the larger of the 10 plants was intact. The other smaller plants were squashed into a small box on top of each other. Many pieces of the plants had broken off and several are dying with brown and black dead parts. Also a white filament is all over some of the plants. No idea what it is but it does not look healthy. Don't buy from this company you have been warned.”

Gardening Express 1 star review on 11th June 2020

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

Gardening Express is rated 1.2 based on 1,702 reviews