Gardening Express Reviews

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

1.2 Rating 1,790 Reviews

3 %

of reviewers recommend Gardening Express

Company Reviews

Questions

Metrics

1.2

Based on 1,790 reviews

Shipping & Delivery
Delivery Methods	Courier
Average Delivery Time	Over A Month
On-time Delivery	Greater than 16%
Accurate And Undamaged Orders	Greater than 30%
Customer Service
Communication Channels	Email, Live Chat, Telephone
Queries Resolved In	Over A Week
Customer Service	1.1 out of 5
Returns & Refunds
Refunds Process	Difficult
Returns Process	Could Be Better

Phone:

08448 044 253

Location:

Gardening Express, Chelmsford
Essex
CM1 4UA

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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

Anonymous

635

Anonymous

Anonymous // 01/01/2019

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

“The plants took a long time to arrive. One plant was battered and crushed.The others pictured as actual hosta plants on the website were just a bag of roots. Very disappointed.”

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Posted 5 years ago

“Terrible, waited 4 weeks and when I went to cancel the order amazingly they said you can’t as it was about to be dispatched. Plants arrived pretty much dead, 2 of the plants had been changed for cheaper ones, absolute rubbish trading standards should look into these clowns! £70??? Should have paid me!”

Gardening Express 1 star review on 12th June 2020

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Posted 5 years ago

“I waited 9 weeks for a delivery of dead and bedragled plants with no communication at any point. Website continued to say delivery 2-3weeks when they knew it wouldnt be. No response to my complaints. Complete scam company.”

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Posted 5 years ago

“My plants arrived Wednesday 10th June and all but 2 where dead . I have sent photos only to be told that I should of potted them up earlier they didn't listen that I had only received that day. Now my case has been closed because someone replied to me .so I have had to start the process all again. Won't be using these people again.”

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Posted 5 years ago

“NO PLANTS, NO COMMUNICATION If I could give no stars I would..... Placed 2 x orders on 6/4/20 and 11/4/20. They took money from credit card same dates. Still no plants received 04/05/20. I submitted a support ticket on 25/4/20 - no response whatsoever. No contact number or email address available. Absolutely shocking customer service. I am now pursuing refunds. It is frightening that they are still advertising, obviously still taking orders and therefore customers' money. They appear to be using the Covid-19 lock-down situation to their full advantage. Absolutely shameful business practices. I would NOT recommend purchasing anything from this company. Update - 12/5/2020. Half of order arrived a couple of days ago.. Majority of the plants (15 of 19 in total) were pretty dried out but I managed to resurrect them with some TLC. As of today - still no response to my enquiry ticket requesting an update or refund - and no update regarding the rest of my order which still shows as "processing" since 11/4/2020. I note that Gardening Express (sic) have the time and resources to make sure that Trustpilot reviews are updated/responded to - and have the time to "invite" positive reviews to keep the star ratings up. Those responsible would be better off attending to customer enquiries. I'm not changing my rating while I continue to receive this abysmal customer service. Still no response to repeated emails/ticket updates. Update - 18/5/20 - Still no sign of 2nd order which remains as "processing" on the site. They have, however, managed to send me a request asking for a review - which I answered candidly (they don't do irony obviously) No way will they publish it. Still no response whatsoever to emails/ticket asking for any sort of update. Update - 05/6/20 - apart from a generic email last week informing that orders made in April were being processed - still no update, order or refund. My order still shows as "processing". I now make that to be 55 days since order date. Ticket requests continue to be ignored. I'm running out of negatives for this mob..... Update - 12/6/20. Plants arrived today - 62 days later. Plants were in a terrible state and nothing like the advertised "Pair of Premium Quality Holly Trees Covered in Berries in Baskets" - trees dried out, no berries and wicker baskets broken to bits. I don't have the energy to fight this mob any more. The plants should be saveable with some close attention. Gardening Express obviously don't do irony as they included a £5 off £50 purchase voucher as an apology! They also included a bag of dried out Gladiolus bulbs with a pre-printed "thanks for your patience" sticker on them - which are now in the compost. Trustpilot should allow for a NO STAR rating for companies like Gardening Express.”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“There was 4 week delay before two Salix Flamingo Standards arrived. I had tried to cancel, but that just speeded things up. When they arrived, one had a few leaves on, but the other was bare branches, not much life to them. And to my horror they were selling fully established Standards the following week for same price, and had reduced mine by 33%. Never again. Terrible quality.”

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Posted 5 years ago

“Waited 61 days for very poor quality plants & GE don't give a jot. This is my email to GE after waiting 61 days to receive poor quality plants. Report to Trading Standards if you have a problem but better still, DO NOT USE THEM. I placed my order 61 days ago on the 11/04/20 and received my plants only yesterday which is both extraordinary & unbelievable. All this time waiting, only to receive plants that are in poor condition, were badly packed & their ongoing survival is in doubt. The difficulty in getting someone to respond on a general inquiry is impossible, so making a claim against these poor quality goods is a non starter & the 5 year warranty, utter nonsense. I've previously used GE & the service has been at best, average but with very poor, almost non existent customer service. With this order, I've sent emails requesting information and updates on my order but received nothing more, than heavily embellished, automatic replies containing glossy waffle which GE thinks is cleaver marketing but it's nothing more than a veil, attempting to cover bad selling practices. Good plant suppliers will inform you prior to placing an order whether a particular plant is in stock or not, allowing the prospective purchaser the opportunity to either buy & wait or not to buy but GE doesn't offer a choice, it just takes your money, knowing full well you'll have to wait because if they don't have the plant you want in stock, they really don't care.. Sending out thousands and thousands of plants each day, training more staff to cope with demand, working day & night, REALLY????? Words like commitment, founding values, we're only a phone call away & we're the No 1 online UK supplier, utter tosh!!!! You only have to read the many negative reviews which clearly bear out your dismal customer service. All this & head office apparently is The Estuary Private Members Club. I've raised a formal complaint with Trading Standards against your business practises and will also be posting negative reviews, adding to the many already posted.”

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Posted 5 years ago

“Dead Acre arrived months late - I had a response to my second ticket raised - Just stated my complaint is at tire 2 (whatever that means??) I now email the company daily, politely asking for a refund but of course no response from them! Fortunately I am only £30 out of pocket for the dead tree they sent (we now call it the STICK) but it is not the point, as they sent out a dead tree that defo did not die in transit. The level of disappointment is outrageous for so many people and for this company to continue trading is something for the police and or trading standards to investigate. I have now contacted watchdog and trading standards so let's see where this goes. Not really expecting them to do the right thing but live in hope. My next step will be small claims court - just out of principle REFUND - NOW PLEASE”

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Posted 5 years ago

“Ordered 25th April, emailed several times re non delivery, phone does not connect with person just leave details. Read other reviews & decided to ask for refund as quality of goods will likely be poor as seen in many other complaints. NO STAR”

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Posted 5 years ago

“I have received a dead Dwarf Patio Apricot Tree - Prunus armeniaca. Tried to customer service but have been ignored. They took my money and no contact from them”

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Posted 5 years ago

“I would not even give them 1 star!!!! They are appalling, ordered a shrub listed as 'in stock' and available for delivery, they immediately debited my credit card. That was 5 weeks ago, since then nothing but placating general emails saying sorry etc., nothing has arrived and have no idea when if at all the shrub will be delivered. I have therefore purchased and planted a replacement shrub sourced from a local garden centre. Gardening Express offer no means of contacting to cancel and or arrange refunds. Disgraceful, would advice anybody considering purchasing plants to not even consider Garden Express.”

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Posted 5 years ago

“I have had a very bad experience with Gardening Express. Bunch of robbers hiding behind COVID19 to explain their delays in delivery. I ordered plants from them on 3 May 2020 and they eventually came yesterday 10 June 2020. It would have been expedient of them to state on their website that they were experiencing extremely long delays on delivery and that the customer may wish to shop elsewhere. However they did not do that they just took my money and after a couple of weeks I began to get automated emails from them with no means of replying. In fact it stated that the email address was not manned due to COVID19. I did eventually managed to get a reply from them after raising one of their so called tickets. Automated response with a little apology. I asked for a refund and surprise surprise the next communication I got from them was to say the plants had been shipped. I checked with the carrier and they had not collected the plants. I was gracious and gave them another couple of days. Eventually the carrier company delivered them. Not the carriers fault. The packaging was not damaged when they arrived. However on opening them only the larger of the 10 plants was intact. The other smaller plants were squashed into a small box on top of each other. Many pieces of the plants had broken off and several are dying with brown and black dead parts. Also a white filament is all over some of the plants. No idea what it is but it does not look healthy. Don't buy from this company you have been warned.”

Gardening Express 1 star review on 11th June 2020

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Posted 5 years ago

“I have used internet shopping for many years and without doubt, these are the worst firm I have ever came across. Like many others, I have waited weeks for my order and they completey ignored my emails. In a "this is money" article, they responded to the criticism by saying "anyone can cancel their order as long as it hasn't been shipped" So that's what I did and guess what? they just ignore your request! I eventually got a reply back today, saying that I couldn't cancel because the order has been sent out but "may be delayed by the courier owing to the volume of orders! They have, apparentley used the same line on numerous other people. This firm has just taken advantage of the garden centre lock down and taken everybody's orders (and money) without any concern that they wouldn't be able to fufill the orders in an appropriate time scale. Stay well away from this firm!!!!”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“Don’t touch this Company with a barge pole!! I placed an order in April and still haven’t received the goods. Trading Standards are now looking into the matter, as according to the Consumer Protection law of 2015 goods ordered should be delivered within 30 working days. You cannot contact this Company to complain as the phone number provided proved to be obsolete. There is no email address to write to, and the only option left is to write “a ticket” on their website. All of my “tickets” have been completely ignored and my queries unanswered. They were very quick to debit my bank account of £50 plus though!! Totally unreliable, unprofessional and somewhat iffy Company in my opinion. The only reason it got 1* was so that I could write this review! Avoid avoid avoid!!”

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Posted 5 years ago

“Made an order for three plants on 14th April 2020 even understanding these are difficult times this is unacceptable if you are actually trading and taking peoples hard earned money. Tried to cancel order but no reply. Apparently the plants were being boxed 11 days ago after an email saying they were a real company and not a scam. Don't make an order with them!”

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Posted 5 years ago

“Finally after 10 weeks waiting for my delivery, which i had cancelled on 3 occasions, what finally arrived Beggars believe!! At least 80% of the plants where dead either by lack of water or just crushed during packing. This company should not be allowed to keep on trading, the service is the worst iv ever seen. A total disgrace, you should be ashamed of yourselves, do not buy from this company..”

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Posted 5 years ago

“Our order is, apparently, out for shipping, 9 weeks after they took our payment, and after several messages, tickets and eventually a phone call after we found a number. The MD, Chris Bonnett, also runs about 10 other gardening companies from the same address in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex. Some other reviews on Trust Pilot for 'Plantstore' are equally bad. 150+ people have joined a facebook group called 'Unhappy Customers', check them out too. I've never dealt with a less professional, less customer facing company in my life. The MD should hang his head in shame.”

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Posted 5 years ago

“After 7 weeks I am still waiting for plants. They do not respond to e-mails or telephone. If struggling stop taking new orders and catch up with old orders. Appalling customer service!”

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Posted 5 years ago

“placed order on 10th march part of order arrived last week i broke down crying as the plants i got was for my 60th birthday iam dissabled and was looking forward to seeing the plants in my garden . you guessed most wore dead emailed company numerous times no response as to date 10/6/2020 still no sign of missing order 3 months later this company need shutting down they steal money and send dead plants”

Gardening Express 1 star review on 10th June 2020

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Posted 5 years ago

“Ordered 3 plants on 11 Aprils and I am still waiting. They refuse to issue a refund despite my request 3 times to do this. I have now submitted this to my credit card for a refund. They are taking it up with Gardening Express.”

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Posted 5 years ago

Gardening Express is rated 1.2 based on 1,790 reviews