Gardening Express - ignoring refund requests

crystal101

Hello, 
I placed an order two moths ago with Gardening Express. At the time they said it would be 15 days for delivery - fine. That came and went and I emailed to enquire, no response. Eventually I went on their Facebook page to see they had just started doing updates and had been emailing updates to a select few. FAst forward to now and I have emailed them upteen times to ask them to cancel my order and refund me. They are ignoring all communication. They keep telling people to contact them via their ticket system (emails) and they will get back but they never do. They say they cant respond on Facebook but a bit of digging reveals they are responding to nice comments and spent a long time getting together nice reviews to post, but they still wont reply to anyone. Today they email me to say they have dispatched my order - I dont want it! Its been two months and the plants I have purchased just arent appropriate anymore. Plus people are saying they are arriving in bad coniditon and getting stuck with Hermes.
I have sent them ANOTHER ticket (email) and left ANOTHER comment on their Facebook but I know they will ignore it. Reading the terrible reviews they are getting on Trust Pilot, I am not the only one this is happening to. Is there anything I can do? They are still accepting new orders and from comments that people are leaving, they are sending out order placed in May and not sending out those placed in early April. Their customer service seems to be terrible and they are now having to go on You and Yours to explain themselves. I get that they have been busy, but I struggle to sympathise when they could have suspended new orders, fulfilled all the old ones (or refunded those who requested them) and then started new orders again. It smacks of greed to me. 

What can I do? If I refuse the plants I presume I wont get a refund? I know I could just accept the plants and be damned but I am so wound up with them. 

Thanks

crystal101

Just in case anyone thinks it’s just me being petty:

https://www.reviews.io/company-reviews/store/gardening-express

Law_man

I’ve had the misfortune of ordering from this company and received nothing after months. No response to any support tickets. Going to contact my credit card company tomorrow and see whether I can get them to assist.
Does anyone have any advice on getting money back?

Suemac2a

Similar situation except items eventually received in perilous state and only a handful survived out of 40 ordered. Two tickets submitted in May, had one response but simply requesting I sent photos. I had already sent photos. Nothing since, so I have asked my credit card company to raise a dispute. While I have sympathy for high demand, as Crystal says, it is an online business  - they could have easily turned off /flexed ordering. Taking over 6 weeks to respond with what was at best a holding tactic is unacceptable. Still trading and promising and apologising. 

The difficulty trying to cancel an order in progress is that you cannot get in touch with them. But they say 'if you are not happy with your plants for whatever reason return them for a full refund' .....with various and many caveats here, notably they should be in original condition https://www.gardeningexpress.co.uk/returns.  Thats why I contacted them on day of receipt so I knew whether to return as received or try and salvage........and why I have now gone down the credit card route for resolution rather than send some 2 month old decaying organic matter back by post. Good luck.

ANGRYMAN

Hi All,
Like Crystal 101 I also have launched 3 tickets about the non arrival of the lily bulb offer and received the identical nonsense holding email twice. I have insisted on a refund and no response. A friend ordered these AFTER me and received them some weeks ago. They are now sprouting! It is high time MSE stopped publishing offers from these crooks. The link Crystal 101 provided says it all.

slumberman

I hope this ended well.

I have a ticket opened for a week now, waiting for the "nursery manager" to look at the pictures I provided of the poor quality plants I received. This is appalling service.

Mannyroad

I am another Garden Express customer who should have read the reviews first.  They must rank as the worst online company I have ever bought from.  They provide almost no means of contact (the only way I can find to contact them is their 'chat service' which up to now they fail to reply to).

I bought plants back at the start of June and am still awaiting them.  I've been left with no alternative but to buy elsewhere (to fill empty border this season) and so no longer need the plants.  However, I can't get any reply from garden Express, and from reading all the negative reviews, and there are MANY, it seems I can kiss my money goodbye.  There really ought o be some kind of easy access watchdog service clamping down on rogue traders like Graden Express.

Pollycat

Mannyroad said:

I am another Garden Express customer who should have read the reviews first.  They must rank as the worst online company I have ever bought from.  They provide almost no means of contact (the only way I can find to contact them is their 'chat service' which up to now they fail to reply to).

I bought plants back at the start of June and am still awaiting them.  I've been left with no alternative but to buy elsewhere (to fill empty border this season) and so no longer need the plants.  However, I can't get any reply from garden Express, and from reading all the negative reviews, and there are MANY, it seems I can kiss my money goodbye.  There really ought o be some kind of easy access watchdog service clamping down on rogue traders like Graden Express.

Have you read the last paragraph of the post by Suemac2a? (depending how you paid)

Pity that poster didn't come back to update though.