Gardening Express Reviews

Name: Gardening Express
Address: Gardening Express, Chelmsford, Essex
Rating: 1.16

1.2 Rating 1,806 Reviews

3 %

of reviewers recommend Gardening Express

Company Reviews

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Metrics

1.2

Based on 1,806 reviews

Shipping & Delivery
Delivery Methods	Courier
Customer Service
Communication Channels	Email

Phone:

08448 044 253

Location:

Gardening Express, Chelmsford
Essex
CM1 4UA

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Gardening Express 1 star review on 7th December 2025

Anonymous

Gardening Express 1 star review on 2nd September 2025

Varese

Gardening Express 1 star review on 24th July 2025

Anonymous

Gardening Express 1 star review on 27th June 2025

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636

Anonymous

Anonymous // 01/01/2019

Filter: Rated 1 None 5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Stars Helpful

“Plants damaged in transit, after waiting 9 weeks for delivery. Support ticket raised for a full refund 1 month ago, never had a reply. I believe I have lost my money. Don't touch with a barge pole - absolutely no way of contacting them. AVOID”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“After waiting 8 weeks for my order I read this article https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/news/article-8361911/Gardening-Express-customers-vent-fury-amid-order-chaos.html. It included a message from Gardening Express stating 'Customers can cancel orders for a full refund at any time if the order has not been shipped....' I contacted them via their ticket system and had a reply from Zita saying I couldn’t cancel but on the strength of the article I had already bought two plants elsewhere. Yesterday the order arrived. 9 weeks and 1 day after placing my order! The tree is no more than a stick and nothing like the size and quality of the one I bought locally. The shrub is half the size and twice the price of one I bought from B&Q and although in a large pot its root system is so small it would fit in a teacup and 4 of the 10 hostas are dead or rotten. My bank gave me a full refund last week but now tell me despite delays in my order they will have to pay GE if they apply for their money and the small claims court is the only way forward. This company have no scruples. Please avoid them at all costs.”

Gardening Express 1 star review on 26th June 2020

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“Read all the reviews here before you part with your hard earned money! The description of the plants on their website doesn't live up to what you actually receive. I'll give you an example of what happened to me! I ordered the following plants... Pair of Cordyline Pink Passion - Stunning Hardy Torbay Palms Normally £59.95... LOL Now £29.95. I ordered them on the 3rd June and they turned up on the 24th June. The description on the website reads as follows.. Pack of two individual plants, each supplied in approx 2-3 Litre containers at an overall height of around 50-60cms tall, these are great value for the size and will make an instant dramatic impact in your garden. They are in fact 38cm and 40cm. Now this may not seem a lot of difference but they are very small and DEFIANTLY don't make an instant impact. I contacted their "customer service" team on the same day by raising a ticket. Antony advised me he will pass this on to their Head of Horticulture for comment. Two days later and no reply from Antony despite me sending him another email. I will be reporting this to Trading Standards as they are clearly deceiving people by false descriptions on their website. My advice to you is AVOID these scammers and go to your local Garden Center.”

Gardening Express 1 star review on 25th June 2020

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“Dreadfully useless. No customer service, took six weeks to wait for an order confirmation. No way to cancel once ordered. No offer of refund”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“As with everybody else ordered on April 24 now June 25 still no order .No email no phone and a useless ticket system with generic reply.Dont waste your time or money with this excuse of a company .Got my credit card company to try and get money back”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“The worst plants I have ever received from a mail order company. They should not be trading. No garden centre would display what was delivered to me. Have asked several times for a refund over the last four weeks. Nothing so far. Please don’t spend your money ordering from them AVOID, AVOID, AVOID !”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“Do not order from this company. They simply take your money, give you no way of contacting them and your goods don’t arrive. Disgusting service. Don’t fall for it.”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“Please avoid ordering from Gardening Express. Simple. I had a terrible experience no replies to my emails. After over a month they posted plants they were diseased and broken. I literally had to put them into my garden waste bin they were even covered in slugs. As mentioned no replies to my emails so I have had to request a refund via chargeback with my back which has been processed this evening no thanks to Gardening Express as I am sure they would have never responded to me or processed my refund. In the big scheme of things first world problems so not really an issues as they are only plants however for what is supposed to be an online only gardening business I would expect far more and the emails they sent me regarding COVID-19 makes me feel they are using this situation as a smokescreen to cover unacceptable service and products.”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“Do not waste your money and time, quotes 2-3 weeks and now not answering emails requesting a refund as it’s been 5/6 and reading other reviews has been 8+weeks!!, now having to go through credit card for a refund. Shame on you taking people’s money for orders you can’t fulfil! DO NOT ORDER!”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“Very poor communication, exceptionally slow service. Had to abandon the order after the plants hadn't turned up for six weeks. Sought a refund through my bank as none was offered. Even generously allowing plenty of leeway, this has proved to be the worst shopping experience since the beginning of lockdown. I rarely, if ever, write reviews of purchases (good or bad) but thought I would add to the sea of awful feedback deservedly being directed at this company.Please save your money and avoid this company.”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“They are totally useless... we ordered months ago and still waiting for delivery. I emailed and advised we would cancel if not received by 12/6 . Have requested full refund via my credit card. They should be ashamed of themselves taking orders that they know won't be fulfilled. Do not order from them!!!!”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“The worst company I've ever dealt with. Waited over 2 months without delivery and there was only enough communication to deny several requests to cancel the order, despite it being our legal right. As if by magic, once we lodged a visa claim, our order started processing after 60 plus days. Having now seen hundreds of photos of damaged, dead and diseased plants received by other customers we refused delivery and will continue our visa claim. I will also be reporting the company to Trading Standards Far from being a small, family run business, a quick check of Companies House shows they had a turnover of over £5m last year. Wretched experience. Avoid at all costs”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“Placed my order for lupins on 15th May and as of 24th June still showing as processing on order. No updates in recent times and now past flowering season. Has anyone had any joy with trading standards? Really wished I had read reviews and not been taken in by website.”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“My first order with them and would never order again, ordered on the 12th April and received the plants 6 weeks later, they were in a bad way, packaging was battered and the plants were half dead but I planted them anyway and its taken all this time to get them to a reasonable level, still waiting for a "to follow" plant, opened up a support ticket but its pointless because they send a generic email and then ignore it, I wish I had read the reviews and ordered from the company I have been using, so do yourselves a favour and order from Plants Direct!”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“If I could leave no stars I would. I ordered plants at the start of lockdown. They took 9 weeks and 5 days to arrive. In that time I requested a refund twice - due to the fact that it was an excessive length of time and garden centres were now opening- both requests were completely ignored. I received an email to say my order was being prepared 18 days before it was eventually dispatched. I kept optimistic as facebook comments were suggesting the plants were worth the wait despite the delay, and I do appreciate it is a difficult time, but nearly ten weeks was far too long. It also seems that it's only positive comments that are showing on Facebook. The plants arrived in a terrible state - some dead, some dying. I emailed pictures and requested a refund only to be told that is how they would expect them to look and if I wanted a refund I would need to pay a courier to return the dead and dying plants!! Shocking service, terrible communication, awful product. Could not be more disappointed and frustrated with them and will never use again!”

Gardening Express 1 star review on 24th June 2020

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“Dead on Arrival. What the blazes is going on with this company? IMO, this situation has gone beyond poor customer services and tipped into criminality. I have contacted Trading Standards. Has anyone managed a refund yet?”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“I ordered wallflowers in march Cutting a long story short. After waiting all this time and raising numerous of their forms which is the only way of contacting them I told them it was in the hands of the credit card company. We received four half dead wallflowers. Still waiting for the refund we requested weeks ago. Goodness knows how much money these con artists have made but let's stop them making any more.”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“Arrogant and inefficient company. I ordered some plants 5 weeks ago and they still haven’t been despatched. The website makes it deliberately difficult to communicate with the company or raise a complaint - no phone number, no email &c. Instead just a lot of blah blah about the impact of Covid19. Ok, but don’t take people’s money if you can’t provide the goods: it’s called theft. The company should get some ethics and close its website as other much better nurseries have done temporarily during the lockdown. Avoid,”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“DO NOT USE!! Absolutely horrendous!! My first purchase from them and never again! As all the other reviews below, a ridiculous wait time with automated email rubbish asking you to be patient and to not contact them again. They’ve shut down all social media messaging access for customers and you can only send them an email which gets lost in hundreds of messages that they are no doubt getting from irate customers who now have realised that they’ve been duped by this website. Logged my issue an auto sends an appalling list of instructions that basically in an eggshell tell you to not expect a reply from then but they will try and they can’t refund an order etc. Feels like these cowboys have just taken my money and run or if they do fulfil the order they are sending out plants you may has well discard in the bin by the sounds of the reviews. I heard they made the news last week too due to their lack of service and orders unfulfilled for months. I really wish I’d read reviews before placing my order!! I will certainly be referring their details to Trading Standards and the Ombudsmen and suggest all others do the same! They shouldn’t be in business and I can’t believe they still continue to take orders. Shameful!”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“Absolutely horrendous! DO NOT USE!! My first purchase from them and never again! As all the other reviews below, a ridiculous wait time with automated email rubbish asking you to be patient and to not contact them again. They’ve shut down all social media messaging access for customers and you can only send them an email which gets lost in hundreds of messages that they are no doubt getting from irate customers who now have realised that they’ve been duped by this website. Logged my issue an auto sends an appalling list of instructions that basically in an eggshell tell you to not expect a reply from then but they will try and they can’t refund an order etc. Feels like these cowboys have just taken my money and run or if they do fulfil the order they are sending out plants you may has well discard in the bin by the sounds of the reviews. I heard they made the news last week too due to their lack of service and orders unfulfilled for months. I really wish I’d read reviews before placing my order!! I will certainly be referring their details to Trading Standards and the Ombudsmen and suggest all others do the same! They shouldn’t be in business and I can’t believe they still continue to take orders. Shameful!”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

Gardening Express is rated 1.2 based on 1,806 reviews