Chris Bowers Reviews

Name: Chris Bowers
Rating: 4.16

4.2 Rating 398 Reviews

79 %

of reviewers recommend Chris Bowers

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4.2

Based on 398 reviews

Shipping & Delivery
Delivery Methods	Courier
Average Delivery Time	Within 5 Days
On-time Delivery	Greater than 88%
Accurate And Undamaged Orders	95%
Customer Service
Communication Channels	Email, Telephone, Live Chat
Queries Resolved In	2 - 3 Hours
Customer Service	3.9 out of 5

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Chris Bowers 1 star review on 27th July 2024

Anonymous // 01/01/2019

Filter: Rated 1 None 5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Stars Helpful

“Sad to see this company ruined by the current management. It used to have a good reputation and I’ve spent a lot of money with Chris Bowers in the past and so didn’t read reviews this time. After they sent me a dead plant and the rudest email I’ve ever received when I asked for a replacement, I advise staying well clear of it, as I will in future.”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“Wish I’d looked at reviews first before buying from Chris bowers. Absolutely awful, wish you could give minus stars !!!!! Spent £40 on strawberries - bare rooted so expected not tons of growth in April however almost 70% haven’t grown and the remaining are weak little things I’ve had to baby along to get any shoots to come. 5 were the latest ‘emily’ variety which cost me £17 and one was dead. Also bought raspberry canes - 5 autumn bliss and 5 glen Lyon. Glen Lyon were dried out beyond belief and haven’t recovered. 4 of the autumn bliss have held on and got shoots coming but nothing that would indicate they were healthy prime stock. Emailed them but no interest at all, just said out in the fields all day and can’t take calls to discuss order. Please, please do not get anything from this company, what you get -if it survives -just isn’t worth the money. They deserve to go out of business with this type of service.”

Helpful Report

Posted 6 years ago

“Poor customer service exacerbated by rudeness of response. I was charged three times over on my credit card account for raspberries. I was told this must have been because I pressed the checkout button 3 times! but oddly enough I received only one set of raspberries. I asked repeatedly for CB to confirm that they had refunded my credit card account, but they didn't bother. No apologies of course. Never again.”

Helpful Report

Posted 6 years ago

“Genuinely awful customer service. Twice sent the package to the wrong address. Even after their initial mistake - when it was made very clear that the wrong address had been used, and what the correct address was - they managed to send it to the wrong address again, offering no assistance or the slightest hint of an apology either time. This was compounded by the fact that they didn't give any notification of shipping on either occasion, so I was unaware that the package had been (incorrectly) delivered until chasing it up. On one occasion the package was sent to a nonexistent address, and the other time delivered to a vacant neighbouring property where it sat for several days until I went looking for it. This was not the fault of the shipping company/courier, but Chris Bowers putting in the wrong address in their delivery instruction. Will have to wait and see if the trees survived, as they were delivered dormant. The mistake was bad enough, but the fact that not even the mereist hint of an apology was forthcoming at any stage is even worse.”

Helpful Report

Posted 6 years ago

“I bought a victoria plum tree as a present for my daughter. I have over 50 years' experince as a gardener and have planted many trees, including fruit trees. I knew as soon as it arrived it was a feeble tree, half the size of one I bought for myself from a decent supplier and with virtually no growth on it. The decent supplier had sold out. Bowers hadn't.) I complained and Bowers more or less told me I didn't know what I was talking about. The tree, unsurprisingly, died within a year. I do a fair amount of internet purchasing, and this is the most ill-informed and unscrupulous firm I've had the misfortune to deal with. I'd advise anyone to avoid them. There are competent tree supplieers available so why buy rubbish?”

Helpful Report

Posted 6 years ago

“Wish I had seen this site before placing an order. I’ve given one star because I don’t think I can give any less! My order was duplicated, there were two email acknowledgments. Tried to contact by phone to no avail, when my email was responded to, I was told the error was mine as I had navigated back to the page I placed the order. There was a 2 hour gap and I know I didn’t make a mistake. Even though I was told the “second order” had been cancelled, two amounts were debited from my account. I have asked for a refund, nothing forthcoming. I have had to resort to contacting my bank, who resolved the matter for me straight away. If the tree I received had been a beautiful specimen, I may not have felt as aggrieved, but it’s not. I know that bare trees are exactly what they are supposed to be, but you can tell they are going to be a joy by the shape. I would liked to have returned it, but to what avail, no one would respond. So I’m going to nurture it as all plant lovers would. Hopefully it will respond and reward me in the Spring”

Helpful Report

Posted 6 years ago

“Received what was supposed to be a cordon apple tree Arthur Turner. Roots were infested with couch grass and when removing it and checking could see no evidence of graft of fruiting scion onto root stock, nor was there any label to say what variety the tree actually was. finally it was a very poor specimen of no more than three feet high, it looked more like a twig to be honest. Sent an email to them querying this and was told that the graft would not show an obvious union above ground......interesting as even their planting instructions say that you should plant the union above soil level. After reading the other reviews (which I should have done before buying) have decided to cut my losses and buy from elsewhere.”

Helpful Report

Posted 6 years ago

“I should have checked the companies reviews prior to purchase - Much the same experience as a review I have just read. I spent over £100 on fruit trees and we ordered on the basis of their website describing fast delivery within 2-3 working days. I got a terse confirmation of order. After two weeks I contacted them to check my order status and I was given a one line response telling me my order would not even be process until at least 10 working days. Tried calling them, and they redirect all calls to a dead mobile, they take several days to respond to email, and ignore the majority of the content and just provide an almost automated response. I tried to cancel my order due to the delay and my response was ignored. I would strongly advise that you do not buy from this company, their customer service is diabolical Plants were eventually delivered in either a dead or dying state. Survival rate 0% No response from company and so no choice but to raise a Credit Card Chargeback If you want a conclusive answer try calling the company on the number quoted on their website.”

Helpful Report

Posted 6 years ago

“Nice trees and canes, but you’ll be lucky if you get what you ordered, and you will probably find out a year later. When you contact Chris Bowers, you will be ignored the first few attempts. If you persist, you will get a brusque response, with little sympathy, and no sense whatsoever of customer service, or the basis of a contract of sale. Take your chances, but don’t blame anyone but yourself when your carefully selected fruit orchard turns out to be not at all what you desired. I ordered 5 summer and 5 autumn raspberries. I got 2 summer and 8 Autumn, and a rude response which inferred that I had healthy canes, so what was I complaining about? Having designed my garden and erected support wires, I though this was annoying at best and downright rude at worst. If I were advising the managing director of the firm, I would hire someone who understands the importance of customer satisfaction, and the importance of delivering what is advertised. Put John Bowers out to pasture.”

Helpful Report

Posted 6 years ago

“The two fan trained apple trees I ordered look more like a couple of weedy sticks. I have never seen such dismal looking specimens, and also they came with no labels to indicate which was which. I shall ditch them and treat this as a lesson not to use this company again.”

Helpful Report

Posted 6 years ago

“Absolutely dreadful service. I ordered as I was assured my vine would be delivered within 3-5 working days. When it was not received I followed this up with chaser email...no response, so emailed again to get a very rude update to which again did not arrive then another update, you get the picture. I have now requested refund but the response emails I have received have been the rudest I have ever received from a company. Avoid this company!!!”

Helpful Report

Posted 6 years ago

“I placed an order and paid in full online. I followed up with an email to ask where my delivery was. The email received back said "I got there before them, they are very busy and it would take another week." I said this was not convenient due to holiday and other plans and asked for refund and that I would reorder later in the year. I am now another 3 emails in with a lady, who is coming up with every excuse not to refund me my money. The service is appalling. Avoid the company at all costs.”

Helpful Report

Posted 7 years ago

“Absolutely shambolic, with the worst customer service I have come across in ages. They take your money, but don't despatch or update you. When you try to get in touch they ignore emails and don't answer phones. Save yourself a lot of grief and avoid these muppets. I have placed 3 orders and never managed to get a single one delivered, or a reply to an email.”

Helpful Report

Posted 7 years ago

“Trees we very poor quality, we have since replaced them all. Would not respond to any enquiry phone or email. Will never buy anything from them again.”

Helpful Report

Posted 7 years ago

“I placed this first order for two named vines (a black and a white in Autumn 2016 ) and upon delivery both were duly planted in my new greenhouse together with their attached variety tags, however when fruiting in summer 2017 both turned out to be black. I sent them an email to let them know and without my email being acknowledgement the correct White variety turned up soon after, however I've now ended up with two black vines with their questionable labelling which is a shame as I've always wanted a Black Hamburg vine since first seeing it as a child growing In nearby Hampton Court . Despite this I gave them the benefit of doubt and in Autumn 2017 placed a second order via email and acknowledged by them for the strawberry order and assumed that as the order had been placed late in the season I'd receive them in spring 2018 However weeks later I felt rather stupid when my bank statement arrived stating payment had been refunded and after checking my account with them found no sign of my order ever having been placed. Today I decided to reorder the strawberries only to find it will now cost me £10 more for the same thing which has enraged me.”

Helpful Report

Posted 7 years ago

“A COMPANY FROM HELL - AVOID IT! SPARE YOURSELF MISERY! A month ago I ordered recently two super columnar fruit trees from this company, an apple and a plum. I asked the company to ensure that they arrived here by late May because I was due to be away for a few days and rightly I wanted to ensure that they were planted up at my allotment in good time. The two trees duly arrived. I took them up to the allotment, unpacked them there - only to find that one of them had clearly been unceremoniously ripped out of the ground, then more unceremoniously plonked into a floppy small plastic pot sized bag with really miserable looking damaged roots. That was all bad enough as it was, but this small undersized very runty tree was totally infested and over-run with ants - gazillions of the creatures who were clearly making mince-meat of it pdq. I gave this small tragic little tree the full anti-ant treatment and planted it out, watered it, nourished, and had it watered for the few days I was away by my next door allotment holder, (and she is very reliable). It died, it was as dead as a dodo within days. By my return is was beyond death on the far side of eternity. It was just about dead on arrival, definitely in its death throes, shrivelled and horrible. When I wrote to the company the response was that I hadn't planted it immediately, that I hadn't watered it, that it hadn't been watered while I was away. ie - this company has taken no responsibility for sending out a nearly dead ant-infested tree. When I sent a photograph, the same response. Unbelievably unpleasantly written, but clearly written with gusto and determination to talk to a customer in a pretty revolting, actually disgusting, manner. You just have to wonder that they consider this acceptable business practice I hope this will give you, (as a potential customer of this company), a strong warning that if you buy from these people and you take up any issue with them, you may well find that you are given the shove off - this isn't even a brush off, it's clearly a well tested way of making sure you get lost. Spare yourself your grief. - and be under no illusion that you will receive decent respectful customer service. My experience is that you may well not. I didn't and I wouldn't want you to have to waste your money, your effort, your hope and your outrage. It's not a pretty outcome. Go buy your trees from another company. I strongly advise you to leave this one alone.”

Helpful Report

Posted 7 years ago

Chris Bowers is rated 4.2 based on 398 reviews