Gardening Express Reviews

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

1.2 Rating 1,711 Reviews

4 %

of reviewers recommend Gardening Express

Company Reviews

Questions

Metrics

1.2

Based on 1,711 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

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Gardening Express 1 star review on 6th April 2025

Anonymous

Gardening Express 1 star review on 6th March 2025

Anonymous

Gardening Express 1 star review on 28th October 2024

Mark Ramsden

Gardening Express 1 star review on 2nd September 2024

Olga

627

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

“DO NOT BUY FROM THEM!! Still awaiting an order I placed 3 weeks ago. No way of contacting them - no telephone number and they do not respond to web chat or email. Absolute waste of time, money and awful customer service. Really wish I had read the reviews before purchasing from them!”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

“Order 601082200 £21.94 some weeks ago still not recieved impossible to get in touch either by phone or email AVOID BUYING FROM THIS COMPANY Would like my account credited”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

“I ordered a selection of plants. All of which looked sorry for themselves. But one of them had no roots at all. As though they just took it straight out of the ground and cut through all the roots to put it in the pot and send it on its way. This was 7 months ago. I tried to complain when I first received it but there is no email address or phone number. After going around in circles and being redirected you find that you need to talk to an online chat bot which you have to lie to, to get in a queue to speak to a human. The queue says its a few hours. well if you are lucky after around 4-5 hours someone will respond to you. but if you don't respond immediately then you go back into the queue. I've been in this queue around 8 times now because I haven't been able to stare at my phone for the full 5 hour wait. I missed it by 3 minutes last time. I should of gave up months ago but feel so angered in principle that they get away with this.”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

“Succulent plants arrived badly damaged, some were dripping wet some were bone dry. So badly packed they were upended in the box, squashed and leaking ‘sap’. These really were in a sad state. There is no contact details on their website, only contact is via an on-line bot and over 2 hr wait. Who in their right mind is going to sit waiting over 2 hrs for a response. If you close the page you lose your spot in the queue, quite pathetic non-existent customer service. I also received an Acer from Gardening Express 3 days ago, allegedly 3 yrs old. It is so small and spindly I doubt it has any root growth and certainly is not a garden ready shrub. It was on ‘special offer’ at £18 but not worth £8. So pleased I didn’t pay the full £35. The website stated 3-5 days delivery but more like 3-5 weeks. They say their hardy plants have a 5 year warranty - good luck to anyone trying to claim it. The plants sold by Gardening Express are inferior to those offered by other on-line growers and I would advice anyone looking for plants to avoid GE at all costs. Go to your local garden centre or another on-line company but check their reviews first. I should have done due diligence before parting with my money.”

Gardening Express 1 star review on 29th July 2021

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

“always default o a delayed order mode. Had my order over 15 days, now just passed it to the Nursery team for picking packing and then organise collection and delivery. Customer Service is non existant. You cant speak to them whatsoever, or e-mail. The only chance is a chat help line. so you are forced to use that. However the chat line isn't manned either and a standard message always comes up, currently answering queries in 2 hours?? What? Zero customer service focused. I am going on holiday and concerned that the order may eventually show up whils I am away on hols and then just die as I'm not there to recieve. However, despite 3 seperate attempts to alert them to this and try and fast track before I go away have had no response. you cant just sit on the endo f a chat line for over 2 hours hoping that someone comes and check it and responds. So you get no answer. They must just ignore the old chats where the sender is not still on line. Have just spent another hour searching thir site, searching the internet but no way of contacting. However, you come accross literally hundreds if not thousands of bad reviews, danming reports and complaints about the company and their customer service or distinct lack of it. Need reporting to the OFT and investigating. They are just a glossy front end sales machine , with inadequate staff numbers, very bad management and zero interest in the customer other than flogging them as much as possible , taking your money, then just ignoring you. very very very poor. Shocking Company and the worst customer service I have ever experienced. Have zero interest in their customers. otherwise they would react and do something about these 1,000's of shocking reviews and testimonies but they don't and they have been going on for many many years continually. Abysmal Service. Should be zero stars, but not able to give zero. Still have had no response at all. Every order I place has been the same but I promise myself never again, but keep getting suckered in by their glossy advertising on Face book and the internet. This time is the Final. There competitors quote in stock same day dispatch etc. Gardening express your lucky if you get it within a month by which time its past its best, out of season, already flowered, , deteriorating etc and the tiniest plants feasible. Too small really to sell on, but Gardening Express are selling them. Avoid at all costs. Check out the other suppliers who are reputable and please check out their reviews.”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

“Just dreadful in every way don’t buy from these people”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

“3 small trees ordered. Took nearly 1 month to arrive squashed in a small cramped box with one tree on top of the other two wedged between the bottom two trees splaying the bottom two tree trunks. Top of the trees were folded into the box. No telephone number or email to contact company. Chat facility is between 2 - 4 hours wait. Returns only offered AT YOUR COST even when goods are not as described. I cannot recommend based on my experience.”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

“Awful company No phone line or email address when problems arise or help needed The plants took over 20 days to arrive website said 5 days When they did arrived brown marks all over leaves , some dying , looked like they had been dug from someone’s garden”

Gardening Express 1 star review on 27th July 2021

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

“Not even worth one start as their service is awful and their quality is worse. Sold us a dead tree and refuse to replace it.”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

“Atrocious so-called horticultural on line nursery. Ordered four standard roses, and received four standard, black-brown sticks with some roots attached. More in hope than expectation, put them in water for two weeks-no sign of growth..Then, planted them in good compost...surprise, surprise, no sign of growth (in peak rose season!) Impossible to get any contact or response from them...they offer a 5-year guarantee on their plants. If anyone manages to get any response from them within that time frame-much less a refund -I have to congratulate them.”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

“Be careful before you buy from here. There is no customer support number, no email support and only thing is through their chat service on their site. You need to wait hours before someone replies your queries. 15 days passed and still no sign of any delivery of my plant I ordered online. They keep on promising it will be sent, that's all. All lie, feel like being cheated. Don't waste your money. They claim to be very busy, God knows if that's true. Stay away.”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

“Terrible service - waited 3 weeks (with an original lead time of 3-5 days) for awful half dead and dying plants that look nothing like they are STILL advertised as on their website. Customer Service is such a misleading title - more like Customer Cop Out team!”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

“We ordered two hibiscus trees when they arrived they resembled two witches broomsticks… however we gave them the benefit of the doubt, planted and watered them. A month has passed and the only sign of life is a spider which making a web, the twigs don’t even come close to resembling the image on the website so we decided to contact gardening express the customer service is ever so helpful 🤣, it’s pretty clear they refuse to acknowledge any blame. Avoid, unless you want to pay out for dead plants”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

“Contrary to what it says here you cannot contact Gardening Express by e-Mail, you will simply get an automated response advising that everything goes through their chat facility. Good luck with that as you could spend all day trying to make contact and then have “Sam” trying to reassure you that your completely dead plants will soon recover - obviously they didn’t. As many have advised previously “avoid, avoid, avoid”. Have now referred to Trading Standards although I have little expectation of getting my £62 back.”

Gardening Express 1 star review on 25th July 2021

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

“Delivery times are just lies, you will receive the odd email which will say nothing of value and designed to placate. If or when you do get anything it will be nothing like you believe you ordered, all I received bore no relation to the pictures on the site. I would never deal with this company again, if I had more time I would have used the small claims court.”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

“I ordered a few plants on 07/07. They arrived on 22/07 in absolute perfect condition (in a heatwave). Packaging perfect plants well watered. It did say 5 day delivery on homepage but I was kept informed that plants were been picked. There are numerous bad reviews about this company. It’s a shame more people don’t leave a positive review. Only takes a minute. I’ve ordered more. Thanks gardening express.”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

“I purchased a tree which arrived 3 weeks after the order and it was totally dead and shrivelled up. Have tried for 3 days to contact Gardening Express but to no avail. DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY ON THIS COMPANY.”

Gardening Express 1 star review on 24th July 2021

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

“Received my plants which were dead tried contacting the company for 2 days no reply. Absolutely disgusted with this company will not be ordering again”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

“I didn't have much faith in getting a decent live correct plant after reading the appalling reviews on here, and having to wait a while for delivery but my plant arrived today, large lush and in flower well established and watered. It has spent some little time upside down and the box was damaged so slightly battered, but a couple of hours on is looking beautiful. I haven't had to water it as the soil is still very damp. I can't believe this company is suffering so many bad reviews. After waiting a while I had become to believe I had been scammed but that isn't the case at all. I am really really pleased.”

Gardening Express 5 star review on 23rd July 2021

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

“Do not order from Gardening Express, you will never actually chat with anyone on their chat line, their usual estimates response time is hours, that’s how good they are. Once they have your money there is no way you are going to get it back from them, there chat line is a wonderful way of ignoring customer complaints. My complaint was an order of a “lucky” dip selection of Heuchera plants, out of 12 plants there were three of one variety and nine of another variety, certainly was a “lucky” dip my luck must be non existent. My order was for £56.95, no chance of getting my money back”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

Gardening Express is rated 1.2 based on 1,711 reviews