JAB Multipurpose Compost - 3 for £9.48 (garden centre group)

Everis

The Garden Centre Group have a very good deal if you need some decent quality compost.

Currently there are two stacking deals for J. Arthur Bower's Multipurpose compost with added John Innes 50 L Bags (at £6.99 per bag normally):
The first is buy 2 bags get 3rd free.
The second is for gardening club members (free to join) where you get £1.50 off per bag.

I'm not sure how long this is on for and presume it's national as it uses the gardening club discount (I bought mine in Hungerford Garden Centre).

Yesterday I bought 3 bags @ £6.99 = £20.97
First discount took off £6.99 (3rd bag free)
Second took off £4.50 (£1.50 for each of the 3 bags)
Total paid = £9.48 for 150L decent compost which I thought was a rather good deal.

Hope this is useful to someone!

bodacious

Makro have 100 litre bags of Arthur Bowers multi purpose compost for £3 + vat each. So 200 litres is £7.20 (inc vat)

150 litres for £9.48 is not such a great deal I'm afraid.

redfox

bodacious wrote: »

Makro have 100 litre bags of Arthur Bowers multi purpose compost for £3 + vat each. So 200 litres is £7.20 (inc vat)

I usually get these from Makro and since February they've been £6.99 plus vat for a 100 litre bag but also on BOGOF so I was getting 200 litres for £8.38. Seems like they have reduced them further now so I'll definately go get some for next year. Thanks!

salthepal

This is the worst multi purpose compost I have ever used. Maybe it would be OK for well established plants, but I should not like to put my young plants in it. Bits of twig and even fabric has turned up in it!
I personally find B&Q Veuve mpc far superior and ?possibly cheaper.
Thanks for posting anyway - we all love to hear about any bargains for the garden!

azzabazza

salthepal wrote: »

This is the worst multi purpose compost I have ever used. Maybe it would be OK for well established plants, but I should not like to put my young plants in it. Bits of twig and even fabric has turned up in it!
I personally find B&Q Veuve mpc far superior and ?possibly cheaper.
Thanks for posting anyway - we all love to hear about any bargains for the garden!

I would agree with you. I usually buy JAB but this year it has been awful quality. Huge lumps of hard stuff which won't break down and like you, twigs and other debris. I think producers change the 'recipe' and certainly JAB's this year doesn't work for me.

sobie

azzabazza wrote: »

I would agree with you. I usually buy JAB but this year it has been awful quality. Huge lumps of hard stuff which won't break down and like you, twigs and other debris. I think producers change the 'recipe' and certainly JAB's this year doesn't work for me.

They have to change the 'recipe'. Govenment legislations means all compost manufacturers are having to reduce the peat content of composts, and become completely peat free by 2020.

Also, its not all produced in one 'hit'. hundreds of different batches are created throughout the year, its rare, but not uncommon for one (or more) of these batches to not meet their standard.

One thing we do not do enough of as gardeners, is complain when something isn't right. And we don't have to 'put up' with sub-standard quality. As such, one of the main reasons we stock JAB is because they are so good to rectify these issues. So if you have a problem, contact them their details are on the bag. Unless you complain, things will never improve.

When buying compost, ask the company you are purchasing from to look at the compost. Some will have an open bag near the compost so you can have a look/ feel of the compost - check the batch code on the open bag, is the same code as the one you purchase. Your local garden centre will happily discuss your compost options with you so don't be affraid to ask, remember its our job.

A._Badger

JAB isn't just bad this year - it has been bad for several years and, judging from the above, appears to have got even worse.

This is a great shame as 20 years or so back it was one of the better brands on the market.

It is true that potting compost manufacturers are being forced by the government (under pressure from the usual suspects) to include recycled materials in place of peat. There is, however, no compulsion on them to include lumps of plastic, glass, twigs and heaven knows what else. That is simply down to poor quality control.

There are better commercially available multipurpose composts than JAB (Humax is one - though even that is a shadow of its former self). It's a shame more retailers don't stock them.

Davesnave

I rarely have a problem with B&Q multi purpose compost, which I've bought a huge amount of since the year 2000.

I don't expect to use any compost as it is, straight from the bag, so if there are variations, I correct them.

azzabazza

I was so fed up retrieving lumps from the compost today when potting up some bedding plants that I have emailed the company. I have had an out of office reply but I am sure I will get feedback in due course.

azzabazza

I have received a very prompt reply regarding the compost. It would seem there is a problem with certain batches. Here is an extract from the email received this morning.

' I am very sorry to hear that you've had a problem with lumps in our compost; we have been receiving reports of a problem and on investigation have discovered a broken screen is the cause for allowing the lumps into the product. We are checking stock and batch codes and so far the incident is isolated to a few batches. Please would you be kind enough to provide the batch code from the bags that you have? It is a printed code in black ink down the side of the bag and will look something like 102EZ 3242 Y 12:31 (8416) or A23KV08:15(1). The batch code will help us to determine if the incident has remained isolated or is more extensive than our first reports have shown. '

EDITED. Have just had a further email to say that in fact the batch number I supplied relates to a faulty batch and known to them. Voucher to cover cost of compost on its way. Excellent customer service from this company (William Sinclair).

sobie

azzabazza wrote: »

I have received a very prompt reply regarding the compost. It would seem there is a problem with certain batches. Here is an extract from the email received this morning.

' I am very sorry to hear that you've had a problem with lumps in our compost; we have been receiving reports of a problem and on investigation have discovered a broken screen is the cause for allowing the lumps into the product. We are checking stock and batch codes and so far the incident is isolated to a few batches. Please would you be kind enough to provide the batch code from the bags that you have? It is a printed code in black ink down the side of the bag and will look something like 102EZ 3242 Y 12:31 (8416) or A23KV08:15(1). The batch code will help us to determine if the incident has remained isolated or is more extensive than our first reports have shown. '

EDITED. Have just had a further email to say that in fact the batch number I supplied relates to a faulty batch and known to them. Voucher to cover cost of compost on its way. Excellent customer service from this company (William Sinclair).

Thanks for letting us know how it went, I'm glad to hear they've got back to you so quickly. (And pleased that my faith in them is well founded)

We've got (another) 22 pallets of JAB multipurpose being delivered into us next week. I'll make a note of all the batch codes just incase any of our customers have any issues.