Anyone used J Parker online?

JabT_2

Plants have been generally on the poor side, but my main bugbear is delivery. Last year they tossed a box of bare root gooseberry bushes over the back fence when I was out, didn't leave a note and it was a week before I found them. They did the same with some bulbs before that as well. I'm not using them again!

That's your postman/delivery driver not Parkers!

chloecat_2

I've ordered before from J parker. Plants were sent when they were ready to go in to ground. All were little but strong and front garden now flourishing. Great company, very happy to use again.

chloecat xxx

dawnsong

i've ordered from them a few times - each time the order has been a mix of some plants arriving in excellent condition and others in very bad condition or dead. they did refund when i complained the first time, but i've got fed up with the mix of quality and the hassle of returning stuff and will only buy their sale offers now.

MF63

I've used j parkers on a number of occasions. First time they sent delivery to neighbour who was on holiday so plants were all dying-they promptly replaced whole order.
Their bulbs are of good quality-gorgeous tulips. Sadly eaten by squirrels. 2nd year i used chicken wire over pots.
Plants have been of variable quality. The plugs are pretty cheap and usually need a bit of tlc and patience before they reach garden centre proprotions.
Delivery takes quite a bit of time but catalogues are usually for the following season e.g You can order spring bulbs in the summer for delivery in autumn.

Mr_Plant

Yes we have used Parker's online some plants arrived dead most were in dreadful condition. The small plug plants are OK but not much else is, some plants do recover but due to our TLC not Parker's.

They even send replacement plants that are dead.

Orders take a long time to arrive but they have our money and their customer service is crap.

We will never use this company again

SailorSam

I'm trying to do a wildlife garden and wanted a 'natural' edge so ordered about 50 mixed plants (the little stick things) from Buckingham Nurseries, they were a long tine coming but i had a quick reply by email to say they needed to wait until the plants were dormant. When they arrived i was one short and got a refund right away. I planted them in torrents of rain before Christmas and am now pleased that all are starting to grow.

farah131

I've just received completely dead plants and to cap it all, had to fight with the customer service rep to get a full refund. She kept saying that the plants were meant to be sent in dormant state and it was only when I said that they had been in transit for 2 weeks and were bone dry (their fault, not mine) that she sugegsted that I send the plants back for a refund. Had to also haggle to get the postage refunded on this order. NEVER AGAIN!! Will stick to good quality nurseries and garden centres where I can see that the plants are in good condition!!

Davesnave

I think we have had this question before. If I remember correctly, the answer is that they are a curate's egg.

As someone who sells plants to people face to face, I have a vested interest, so naturally, I'm not bothered if Parkers' service is criticised legitimately.

I think people should support their local nurseries, where it is easy to complain if something goes wrong.

MrGumby

I've been buying from them, off and on, for almost 20 years, both at their site in Manchester and by mail order, but now shop elsewhere, even if it sometimes means paying more.

My experience is that their bulbs are ok but plants poor. Even when plants look ok on arrival, they seem very slow to get established, if they get established at all rather than dying. That's in contrast to plants bought elsewhere online, so I don't think it's me!

Also, I've found their customer service to be much poorer than that of their competitors. A recent example...I moaned (in a pleasant, constructive way that was intended to be helpful to them, pointing out that they must be losing business) that their website empties your shopping basket if you dare to leave you PC for any length of time, e.g. for lunch. So, if you spent an hour browsing their website and filling your basket, tough, you're going to have to start all over again. Or go elsewhere. Here's the one-line reply I received:

"Thank you for your email, we do not consider it a problem the reason is for your own security and that is why Are website is set up the way it is."

Quite apart from being a hopelessly inadequate reply and a nonsense justification (security? huh?!), the English is appalling, with several punctuation and spelling mistakes in just a single line.

You must decide for yourself whether you're prepared to do business with an outfit like jparkers. I no longer am.

ares20

I have ordered from them for the past few years and I am still pleased with them. At times it may take longer for plants to arrive, but I found it worthy compared with their competitors.

The last time I ordered from them was yesterday and my plants are due to be delivered mid Oct/ November.

Their plants proved to be healthier than the ones I ordered from other plant selling site and there are 2 things I found interesting about them: you can have your card charged for the purchase when they deliver the goods and you have a chioce of a message for the delivery person (for instance to leave the plants by the door if you are not home or with the next door neighbour.

I have recommended them to my friends and they have been pleased as well.