Sarah Raven - some shockingly bad feedback

Doc_N

I’m reading a lot of negativity about Sarah Raven these days, both on Trustpilot and in gardening forums.

Anyone else having problems with them these days? They used to be first rate, but not any longer it seems. Looks to be going the way of Thompson and Morgan - once they get to a certain size they cease to care.

twopenny

I think that applies to many companies.
They are (happily for them) too far removed from their customers.
In fact we are just numbers that contribute to their profit margin.

Unfortunately most people nowadays don't remember it any other way so unlikely to change.

We've lost both excellent plant nurseries locally who just couldn't complete with the big retailers who appeal to the masses.

Brie

I only used them once during the pandemic and frankly wasn't impressed.  Quality wasn't grand, communication was worse.  I tried Dobies this year, not significantly better.  The geranium plugs that were delivered the beginning of April were so very tiny even now they aren't really worth the money I paid - 3 inches high at most and 3 of 36 in flower.  For what it ends up costing I'm going to stick to the nurseries locally.  At least then I can see what I'm buying and not dependent on promises from a website.  

Doc_N

There are some excellent online nurseries around, and Sarah Raven was once one of them. I suppose the bulk of the sales will go to people who only dabble in a bit of gardening, and they won’t know the difference between a good quality plant and a poor one, but there are certain firms serious gardeners won’t touch (assuming there’s no local nursery). Thompson & Morgan is one such, and Sarah Raven looks to be heading the same way. When a company makes it extremely difficult to contact it, there’s usually a very good reason.

Dustyevsky

Just interjecting to say T&M seeds are OK, especially if bought as discount offers. You'll certainly get these when they have your (disposable!) email address.

I have no knowledge of Sarah Raven's seeds or plants, past or present, but have always thought of them as pricey. 

trickydicky14

Dustyevsky said:

Just interjecting to say T&M seeds are OK, especially if bought as discount offers. You'll certainly get these when they have your (disposable!) email address.

I have no knowledge of Sarah Raven's seeds or plants, past or present, but have always thought of them as pricey. 

I would not purchase plants from T&M but have recently purchased loads of seed from them at very good discounted prices for next year.

Farway

trickydicky14 said:

Dustyevsky said:

Just interjecting to say T&M seeds are OK, especially if bought as discount offers. You'll certainly get these when they have your (disposable!) email address.

I have no knowledge of Sarah Raven's seeds or plants, past or present, but have always thought of them as pricey. 

I would not purchase plants from T&M but have recently purchased loads of seed from them at very good discounted prices for next year.

I have bought T & M plants, mostly on offer of some sort, along with seed offers. All with my eyes wide open.

For me, it is a calculated judgement, does it matter if it fails versus the price I paid?

I've had mixed, mostly OK results, and to be fair to T & M, when the item is duff they have never quibbled about refunding or replacing