Damaged on Arrival & Zero Accountability Absolutely unacceptable experience. The plant arrived with half the pot completely broken off, soil and roots exposed -- clearly not transit damage, but packed this way. Customer service refused to take responsibility and instead pushed me to return it at my own cost under their guarantee. I did not order a damaged product. A simple issue turned into a frustrating waste of time. Poor quality control and even worse customer service. AVOID. read more

Ordered thuja Brabant 13/03/26 no tracking no contact no delivery, says delivered , not when or by who suggest they have gone bust. Order no #701067893 Chat and contact pages not available read more

AVOID! Waited weeks, they sent the wrong plants and they were half dead! No customer service number, only a chat that fobs you off

Absolutely dreadful. Received 18 plants 10 days after ordering, by which time they had been reduced from £3.99 to £1. they were part wrapped in a sheet of damp tissue paper in a too big box without any restraint at all. On arrival all were out of the pots, some were broken at the base of the stem leaving no leaves on the rootball. sent photograph asking for refund. they replied within the hour with what I think is an automated email, asking for more photos showing the label and the plants in pots, so their horticulturists can assess the situation..clearly pointless since they weren't in pots when they arrived, and some had only deadheads, even without the packaging, not all would survive. I paid full price for healthy ' plants in flower they're obviously not fit for purpose...£70. I have tried 4 times now to cancel the remaining £50 of the order, received another automated response almost immediately, citing a non-existent link to cancel. There is no cancellation option - it's automated. THere is no response to any follow up emails. They are in breach of all guarantees on their website, and, frankly, it looks like even packing is automated. Dispatch notification comes from Branded Garden Products as do items from Thompson & Morgan, Sutton and Dobies as well as a couple of others. A web search for Branded Garden Products comes up with Thompson & Morgan, am going to complain to Thompson & Morgan, and try chargeback. read more

Gardening Express Customer support are an absolute joke. You cant ring them only email which takes 5 days for a response. My complaint "conversation " went on for over 10 weeks. Only 25% of my order was actually delivered. On complaining they wanted me to prove I didn't receive my plants? I told them its for them to prove they did. They wanted photos, lots of them for what ? they couldnt tell me. I produced a security video of their one and only delivery. This they rejected and so it went on and on deliberately trying to evade paying me back a refund. It was obvious to anyone except GE that the small box they delivered couldn't of contained my whole order of giant Ferns.The repetitious replies I received were I'm sure the work of a playful 12 yr old. After threats of court action I finally got my refund. Folks you have been warned ! do NOT buy from this company. read more

AVOID AVOID - DO NOT BUY ! At YOUR RISK! It's been over a month and they've stolen my money at this point and refuse to deal with my complaint ! If I use a swear word they respond and cry about aggressive language but then ignore the complaint. Anne, Morgan, Christopher all thieves and incompetent at their jobs ! If you're treating me like this imagine the elderly customers who don't know how to complain or give up ?? !!! Posting my review about a rose tree and several rose bushes I was conned into buying from gardening express - this review is a warning to potential customers about Christopher Bonnetts dodgy company! I'm appalled at how this company treats their customers, especially the two who barely dealt with my queries and now complaint, zero accountability it's disgraceful. I brought rose bushes including this tree I wanted to start a new garden project. This trees was meant to be the centre piece. It didn't grow. I spent over £170 on plants with my orders and after a while noticing it was dead alongside two other rose bushes I had brought, I contacted GE on 21.05.2025. It is now 16th June. First they got it wrong that it wasn't covered by the guarantee, it is. Then they said sorry they got confused. Then asked for proof. All the while blaming a faulty internal customer service management platform that moves your communications to the last of the queue if you chase up your previous email. Of course if you are being ignored by a company and incompetence of the staff is adding to the problem you will chase them, so they've created the perfect excuse to steal your money and give you defective plants. They even had the cheek to ask me to WRITE a LETTER by hand and post it should I wish to complain. It's 2025 and they think I will write an essay, walk to the post office, pay for a stamp and post the letter - as if you're worth any effort at all, the stamp price and my time ! This now seems like a scam. My aim is to now raise awareness of this disaster of a company and warn other customers about their dodgy practices. Their director Christopher Bonnett must be made aware of how his company is taking a nose dive otherwise it must be that he is complicit and it's his business model - take customers money, provide defective dead products and then create a broken customer service platform with clowns as staff to steal and cause so much frustration that they go away fed up. I'm no such customer. I won't be taken for a ride. You had a reason during Covid for disgusting customer service - what is your excuse now ? Is this why you don't have a phone number for customers to contact you ? Too afraid of their reaction or just laughing at us whilst you buy you next big house Mr Director ? read more

Utter disappointment with my recent order -- Houseplant Roulette (24 House Plants) -- which arrived in poor condition and does not match the advertised product. According to your website description, this offer should include "you'll receive a completely random lucky dip houseplant selected from those pictured and more besides - all will be easy to care for varieties. If you buy multiple plants, we will of course send you a lovely mixed collection a variety of 24 different houseplants" However, I received 12 plants that are the same, and another 2 plants of which I have 6 of each. This is far from the diverse selection that was promised. what am I meant to do with 12 plant that all look the same !! Additionally, the packaging was very poor -- the plants were crammed into a box with minimal protection, several pots were cracked or crushed, and many plants were loose with soil spilled throughout the box. Many leafs were torn or damaged beyond recovery. I contacted them 4 times by email , sent them photos, poor communication and little regards for customer service. read more

Faulty plants on arrival; refund ignored - chargeback opened Order delivered 30 Oct 2025 (18:00). Several plants arrived faulty/not as described: Musa basjoo with black mould/rot; Acer in a broken pot and leafless/non-viable; Fargesia not red/poor quality; Virginia creeper bare twigs/wrong size; Dogwood wilted. I exercised my Consumer Rights Act short-term right to reject the same day with photos. The retailer replied "wait 2-3 weeks" and hasn't addressed the refund. I've raised a chargeback with my card issuer as no contact from them since. Seems to be a normal thing to ignore emails asking for refunds. read more

Terrible experience- I received dead plants, no plant es described and when reaching out to customer service they deny refund. They tell me to unwrap all plants take picks again- what I did. Then deny refund and tell me to plant and pot the plants and take pictures against - absolutely insane behaviour. All that even though I am a returning customer buying for several hundred pounds. Absolute scam company Date of experience: 03 April 2025 read more

Gardening Express - Gardeners Near Me - Chelmsford, ESS

6 out of 7 plants I bought arrived badly damaged. The 7th had one snap taking 50cm off height of a large jasmine. More than half of the stems on every hellebore and dicentra plant were snapped. There was not a single bloom or bud on the remaining stems and all but one broken stem which had 2-3 wilted blooms of dicentra. My order was sent out on the Thursday before the 4 day easter break, delivering to me on Tuesday. The condition of the plants were awful - wilted, dry, every single plant broken. I have reached out to gardening express but they will not accept that these plants have more than "minor damage" and will "perk up" within 2-4 weeks?! read more

Awful...plants arrived dead or diseased. Tried multiple times to contact customer services, but no response. read more

Gardening Express - Gardeners Near Me - Chelmsford, ESS

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At no point in your description did you advise that the plants I was purchasing would be rescue missions. Quite frankly the plants I purchased at a supposed reduced rate that were meant to be worth £15.00 plus, are shocking, the sort you see sadly abandoned at B and Q in the reduce take me home and save me .. section. I've seen better specimens in Morrisons buy 3 for a tenner. Had I seen these at my local garden centre, I would have had a quiet word with a member of staff and advise that the plants were sadly deceased and in need of a good burial. I've purchased many plants from you over the years for my new house and old, never have I been so disappointed and quite frankly shocked at the twigs you've delivered under the disguise of healthy clematis plants. read more

I placed an order on 21st June 2025 and have still not received anything. No delivery, no proper updates, no refund - and no customer service whatsoever. I've emailed several times with no response. This has been the most frustrating online order I've ever experienced. Avoid this company unless you want stress, silence, and missing orders. Very disappointing experience. read more

I would rate them below zero. Ive been waiting for the bulk remainder of an order placed on 26th June 2025. I have sent numerous emails but have had no response at all. read more

Diseased tree eventually delivered Ordered a peach tree. Delivery took a month and I was ignored when I messaged Gardening Express to ask about my delivery. When my tree arrived it had eaten leaves and was diseased. I have complained but they want more photos and don't want to rectify the problem. Buyer beware. Don't expect a good customer experience. read more

Extremely poor customer service and failed guarantee I bought a bare-root rose from Gardening Express earlier this year, which failed to grow and is now completely dead. I was reassured it was covered under their Bare Root Guarantee until the end of July. Despite contacting them multiple times with all the required information and photos, I've been completely ignored. They no longer reply to emails and have failed to honour their own guarantee. Very disappointed in both the quality of the plant and the lack of customer service. I will not be ordering from Gardening Express again. read more

Placed an order for three items. The delivery took weeks and when the order arrived one item clearly had extensive leaf blotch virus. I emailed with pictures and got a very quick repainse saying I needed to take further images in a specific way. Which I did. I was then completely ignored. I have sent maybe 5 emails and its been about 2 months and still I am completely ignored. Shocking customer service and a company selling plants with virus. Yes They're very cheap. But this is why. read more

I placed an order and now it's been 22 working days (working days, excluding weekend and band holidays). And I still haven't received any dispatch notification. Worse yet, after waiting more than 15 days, all of my emails and messages to Gardening Express went completely unanswered. - *No Dispatch*: Despite their promise of a "reasonable delivery time," no goods were ever sent. - *Zero Communication*: Repeated attempts to contact customer service have been met with total silence. - *Broken Promises*: They clearly violate the Consumer Rights Act 2015 (sections55-56) by neither shipping the products nor refunding my money. **Buyer Beware**: If you value your money, time, and peace of mind, steer well clear of Gardening Express. Their website may look ok, but their service is an outright farce. read more

If I ciuld give this company minus stars believe me I would! This company is cheap, still some not so cheap because they really do not care this is a company thats rips people of and makes millions in profit every year! There plants and hedging do not grow and arrive barely alive! DO YOURSELF A FAVOUR AND AVIOD LIKE THE PLAGUE! THIS COMPANY IS NOT WORTH WASTING MONEY AND THE HASSLE AT ALL! AS THEY DO NOT CARE ONCE THEY HAVE YOUR CASH!!!! read more

Avoid this SCAM company at all costs! Plants 6 weeks late and no contact or refund. They never respond to any customer support messages and have no telephone suppor. Beyond belief, appalling! read more

Have Gardening Express closed? i ordered plants a month ago and not received my order - I cannot get any response from contact forms and conveniently no phone number to get hold of anyone. I also received a faulty echinacea tree and again no response. read more

Ordered £300 worth of hedging from Gardening Express, never got a confirmation, never got a response from my emails and NEVER received my plants! The company is owned by Christopher Denis Bonnett he has been a director of over 100 companies and he's only 43. Most of them have gone bust. His registered address is 1436 London Road, Leigh-on-sea, Essex SS92UA Tel 01702 553353.but it is an office called JJ's Tuition and is also the registered office for numerous Bonnett's companies. His accounts are abysmal and he has several charges over his companies from banks. He held companies with another director called Chris Salmon who is now a director of Francis James & Partners and has resigned from companies with Bonnett yet his company address 1386 London Road, Leigh-on-Sea, Essex SS9 2UA Tel: 01702 411311 is still down as the register address for some of Bonnett's companies. This man and his Gardening Express company is definitely one to avoid at all costs. DO NOT PLACE ANY ORDER WITH THEM. IT IS A PURE SCAM! read more

I would rate gardening express as zero. I ordered 12 roses on 25 May. It states 12-14 days delivery on their website. I have asked twice now where they are and received a generic response each time which says nothing helpful with regard to my question On delivery I am so upset regarding this as they are for my sons new home/garden. how do you get your money back? read more

I have never had trouble with Gardening Express until now. Ordered £50 worth of plants at beginning of May and complained via email. Was offered a refund but as yet this has not been received and the order still is showing as pending. Apparently they are 'very busy'. Probably dealing with all the complaints. Certainly not busy providing people with their orders. Dreadful service. I can't even get a reply to my emails now and there is no phone number. I found one but it is not recognised. Has anyone any advice on how I can get my refund. Anne of Horsham read more

I've used GE for years and spent £100's; I've had the occasional dud but they always refunded on receipt of photographic proof. Not any more! I received an acer in very poor condition in May. A couple of standardised emails directed me to their return process (at my cost), then I was ghosted. I've sent 4 follow up emails and not had the courtesy of a reply to any of them. Will never use again. Shockingly bad aftersales, discourteous and arrogant read more

Don't buy plants from gardening express they will send you sick/ dead plants and will if ignore your complaints this company needs to be taught a lesson in customer service and how to work in business utter joke of a company read more

Ordered, order acknowledged. Order Processed. No tracking update . Email one answer advising possible delays due to time of year, standard scripted email. No plants two weeks passed. Emailed 4 times no answer silence. Poor situation, not much money but would I recommend absolutely NOT. Problems occur it is how you deal with them. Dreadful experience avoid. read more

sadly i should have done more research before buying. order was simple for two trees supplied bare rooted. they were poor quality one a simple twig. both were planted the same day in large fresh composted tubs. neither shows any signs of life after many weeks. reached out to cutomer support with pictures and no response ... have just tried again and left this review in the hope someone will take note - buyer beware .. use your local garden centre where you can the plants and don't be tempted by glossy pics and 'low prices' the stuff supplied was rubbish read more

Gardening Express - Gardeners Near Me - Chelmsford, ESS

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Gardening Express took my money on 8th September and three items arrived late on 23rd so past the date they promise online, and two items did not arrive and they won't refund the money for the missing items! Also TERRIBLE customer services as they take weeks to respond and then ignore the problem. No apology, no refund, no explanation. read more

My experience wasn't pleasant, some wrong products were sent and no matter how u tried to contact their customer service no one gets back to me, I sent at least 10 emails!! No contact number available either.. I will not recommend them to anyone read more

Appalling, absolutely no customer service, no response to any message, sent wrong items eventually, 10 days after I cancelled my order. Do not use this scam company read more

disgraceful customer service only one item of my order arrived. the only way to contact GE is through their online contact form. I waited a couple of weeks and when the rest of the order didn't arrive I sent a contact form which was ignored. A week later I sent another and a couple of days later got an email back asking me to photograph the missing plants?! Go figure! After sending multiple emails explaining the situation, I am now simply ignored. Contacting my bank to get my money back. read more

I've spent hundreds of pounds with this company over the years, but never again. Previously I've had a refund for items that were clearly dying. Sadly it just before Christmas, they were gifts & I had a last minute scramble to source replacements. I assumed the issue with reshipping was to do with the holiday season. Wrong. On international women's day I brought several bare root trees & a few plants. Some were ready for my move to get an early start on my new garden. The main items in the order were a gift for my father, tree's for an women's day event, a tribute to those woman & girls, killed by men every year in this country. I emailed Gardening Express after the delivery to state the ceramic items in the order were broken or damaged. All three were squashed in the base of a small box with 7 bare root trees, seeds a few plants in pots ranging from 9cm to 1ltr. No wonder they were broken. A credit note was issued. As they were just sale items I wasn't too worried about having them reshipped. The following day, after delivery we started potting up. I discovered one bare root tree was in fact just a stick. See photos. Sadly, this was one of the gifts. I reached out again expecting a replacement to be sent, giving it clearly has no roots! The tree in question is still in stock. I was offered a refund or voucher, no replacement. I responded asking if I could request a voucher including the cost of delivery so I could re order as the system didn't allow for it to be reshipped their end. The response was polite, but informed me that 'as you have received other plants on the order, we would be unable to refund the delivery charge'. Again, I'm not after a delivery refund, just the ability to order the tree I ordered in good faith, without paying an additional £6.99 delivery charge for a mistake the company made. As a disabled woman I shop online a lot, I appreciate mistakes can happen but I do expect a company to rectify the issue. Don't order unless you are willing to pay twice for delivery if there is an issue. Especially don't order if you are relying on the items in the order as gifts or are working to a time limit. I shall remove the £350 of plants from my basket now. Another company can supply me for my new garden. read more

this firm is the worse online company I've ever dealt with avoid at all times they don't answer emails no contact number they take your money and thats it nothing else only poor service or should I say NO SERVICE As soon as you tell them it's the wrong item so therefore not fit for purpose they ignore emails I'm considering taking legal action read more

Ordered plants on 26 June 2025, didn't arrive. No response from customer service despite repeated communications from me. No plants and no refund over two months later. read more

Why didn't I read the reviews first?! As per almost every other review on here, paid over £200 for plants on 4 August & only received a couple. Was told the rest were 'lost in transit'... a 7ft palm tree...asked for refund. Had one email from 'Lola' then radio silence. All social media is restricted so customers cannot comment - convenient! Found details for owner Christopher Bonnett. Civil action & Trading Standards action started this morning. read more

I do NOT recommend it!!! I bought anabel hydrangeas from this company, quite expensive flowers. I'll start with the packaging, it was quite crushed. Immediately upon unpacking I saw broken flowers and stems, half of the flowers went into the trash. The leaves looked sick, with some black spots, which alarmed me. Then I wrote to tech support about my comments, to which I received instructions on how to properly take a photo for flowers ( what???) . A couple of days passed and one of my flowers completely withered, although I took care of them exactly the same!!!! It's terrible! I think this is what awaits another flower, since black spots appeared and the leaves repeat the same story. Throw money away!!! Decide for yourself read more

I received 4 lovely hebe plants. However, I ordered 10 plants, and have received no more plants, or a reply to my emails. very frustrating.

Been waiting 9 days for my plants to be dispatched and still nothing. Decided to phone them, but no contact centre!! Even eBay and Amazon, the archetype online businesses have contact centres. Terrible customer service! read more

Do not buy anything from this company!Rubbish company i ordered fruit trees they all dead sticks