Garden Bargains Reviews 

Promised delivery late March,still waiting in may!

I bought Ceanothus Thyrsiflorus Repens 2L x 2 from ideal world garden bargains and they arrived within 5 working days but on opening the box the 2 plants had been squashed in together and the tops of the small bushes had been bent over and broke to fit in the box. These were a gift for my father's birthday so I was extremely disappointed that garden bargains packed them with such little care, especially when Angela on ideal world promotes the safe arrival of all the plants on the shows. I contacted ideal world to inform them so they can tell the packers to do a better job.

Should have read the reviews. Ordered 1st April for 7 day delivery. Confirmed order, with general notice that busy so might be 14 days. Silence until 15th, when I prodded by email. No reply Called 3 days later and spoke to an agent with a very strange accent unable to pronounce names of plants. said delay because 1 item not in stock when ordered. Mentioned confirmed order and absence of any communication. Agreed to cancel item and get a refund with rest deliverd within 2 days. 5 days later no refund, no plants. Emailed CEO at Ideal group cancelling order and asking for full refund. Someone called back, but denied Ideal group had anythhing to do with Garden Bargains (Contradicts evidence at Companies House and their own terms and conditions and web site). Turns out CEO was "let go" last December and Ideal Group is in administration. Therefore very risky to buy from them. Managed to get my money back 4 days later.

On march 4th I ordered three poppies which came potted them on in your compost only to be disappointed that they all died as these were a gift to my so in law its not good . I phoned in this morning and was given a phone number of grower which when dialed the line went dead tried a few times so phoned you back again and was given another number and this was disconnected even tried email but no success there either these were bought with a lifetime garnered please help as making me wonder if they have gone out of business

I wish I had read the reviews before ordering. I ordered bizzie lizzies and quite a few other plants. The bizzie lizzies were barely one inch tall and I have had to carry them out every day in order to keep them alive. The other plants when shown on the TV looked bushy and healthy. On arrival they were very badly packed and broken - apart from being midget sized.

Bought plants recently the corydalis blue heron they were meant to be jumbo they came in a set of 3 two of them weedy little stems much to small they didn't survive the other 1 was already crispy because I complained they have blocked me

Joined membership and placed an order but never received it .Sent them many emails only to be told that the goods were not in stock and they didn't know when they would be back in stock (NO OFFER OF A REFUND ).
SENT SEVERAL EMAILS REQUESTING REFUND BUT NO RESPONSE SO NOW CONTACTED MY BANK .

Do not believe them when they say they replace items for any reason if they do not perform. I purchased a peach tree from them was lovely first year 2nd year failed to flower and was dead apart from one branch. Contacted garden bargins who refused to replace. The item was purchased via ideal world who also did nothing when I contacted them about my experience.

Don’t know why this company gets bad reviews,used this company a lot and couldn’t recommend them enough, it’s the only company I know that gives you a lifetime warranty on its plants, on the odd occasion I have had trouble with a plant or bush they have replaced it once you have sent them a photo all they asked for is the postage cost, not many companies do this

I ordered some cupressus sempervirens and they were delivered promptly and are a good quality tree, much better than trees I have received from other online companies.
My order went smoothly so I can't assess the company customer service if you were to experience a problem with your order.

I bought a peach tree a couple of years ago leaves shoud go green mine stay red and its got leaf curl

plants arrived day late phone service and on line chat no help,box was split open ,plants and compost all rolled up in a ball,will try to save a few,but garden bargains you have lost me,a long time customer with hundred+ orders

Bought 3 Lavatera Barnsley Baby from ideal world which were advertised last weekend. The plants they showed were perfect. Angela the resident presenter for garden bargains said that you would get plants exactly like them so foolishly once again I bought them. They suck you in to think you are buying good quality plants when in fact they are not a bit like they show on TV. The pots were upside Inthe box, compost everywhere .One plant was completely bent over. When I opened box I thought not again.Last year I bought a lot of geraniums which were all all out of the trays,squashed up against each other. I was lucky to save some of them. Ideal World only seem to put up the good reviews. Trust Pilot will be my go to place Inthe future. Buyer beware, do not trust them and give away your hard earned money. Finally I have learned my lesson .

I won't be watch the programmes any more and will definitely not be buying from them anymore.

Steer well clear.
I bought 10 ‘long cane’ raspberry canes. Unpacking the canes there were no root systems to be seen, which surprised me, the canes could not be described as ‘long canes’ in the normally accepted sense and the quality was poor.
I complained and was sent a further 10 canes. No apology, no explanation. The same criticism applied to these next 10 canes.
It was now too late in the planting season to find an alternative so I planted 8 in the ground, 8 in pots and gave 4 to my allotment neighbour. The lack of a root system was apparently according to Garden Bargains a deliberate action to ‘encourage root growth’ - it failed and I have yet to find any reputable raspberry grower who uses the same action. Usually it’s the opposite.
4 canes survived and 3 threw up a weak new cane. That’s just 3/20.
One cane produced 2 fruits in the first year on the old growth. Considering that first year fruiting is the purpose of selecting long canes, the failure was evident.
I have been growing raspberries for 40 years so I’m not exactly a novice, although I accept it was my own stupidity that chose Garden Bargains over an established raspberry grower.
I should have known better when I read that the company pretty much discourages customers from calling and unlike others has a customer service department that, in my opinion is not interested in its customers - the company does allow you to phone its customer service department but only at a cost of 10p a minute plus your operator charges.
Judging not only by my own experience but the overwhelming number of negative comments, steer well clear.

gave this company the benefit of doubt and placed three separate orders. All orders were of poor quality and the plants died. would not use again. Customer service is appalling. Don't waste your money

We ordered pansys when they arrived the box had nothing to say plant's in transit so the box was crushed and the plants were crushed and half dead. We emailed Garden Bargains it turned out that they were not Interested in the problem so will not be buying any more from them.

I've learnt my lesson about not reading reviews of companies before ordering.

Three of the tiniest, most dead plants you've even seen arrived in pots five times too big for them. To add insult to injury, they arrived after over three weeks and return postage is incurred by you.

Take photo evidence of everything ; I'm hoping for a refund, but based on these reviews, it might be a lengthy process.

Support a local garden centre instead and don't waste your time and money with this company.

Still not received the £8 I was offered and accepted, but then no surprise there 😀

I used to be Happy from Penge

Lots of times I have ordered plants/bulbs etc.

On a number of occasions the plants have died (several rose trees/bushes - all the sweet peas - all the lavenders - etc etc), some have come packed upside down and others have just been damaged during packing or on there last legs when sent to me.

Foolishly I carried on giving them another chance.

The only really good thing I received from them was 4 Bay Trees and there quality was unbelievably good, unfortunately the rest of that order was on the mediocre side.

This last occasion is what finally convinced me to give them no more custom.

I ordered
Tri-colour Budlea £14.99 plus postage - rather on the small side!

Tri-colour Hibiscus £39.99 plus postage - damaged when packed as there was a branch broken off, and the leaves were completely dead proving that this was done at source.

Red Hellebore £19.99 plus postage - packed upside down, compost every where, and then they tried to blame the courier

White Hellebore £19.99 plus postage - packed upside down, compost every where, and then they tried to blame the courier

I contacted Ideal World with a picture of the items that were packed upside down and the broken branch and they offered me £8 back which I accepted (better than nothing and a lot more than other customers have been offered, that is if I ever get it).

Then they have the cheek to come back to me and ask for more pictures, so that the suppliers can review my complaints and consider what to do.

Well, I am not interested in their considerations, especially as I have complained each time the plants were packed upside down, so the best way to resolve this problem is that in future I keep my money and they can keep their shoddy garden products.

The best way to deal with such an Incompetent? Unreliable? Shoddy? Company is to give them no more custom and hope that mine and other reviews will stop other people wasting their money.

Ordered plants on 6th July never got an acknowledgement but money was taken from my account. When two weeks later I hadn't received my order I emailed them and they replied that my order was to be sent w/c 16th August! They actually arrived on 12th August but not what I ordered and in poor condition. The boxes were packed on their side even though they should have been upright and were bone dry and some plants were already dead. I received two trays of mixed plants which were a substitute for the gazania and zinnies I had ordered. They were supposed to be similar plants which they weren't. I did receive the marigolds I had ordered and they were in ok condition. The geranium I had ordered arrived with several of the tops snipped off. They have agreed to refund me and lesson learnt I won't be ordering again.

Ordered some plants on 17th June 2021 and still waiting, despite emails and phone calls. Keep saying they will make a note as I have waited so long.