The Gluttonous Gardener - www.glut.co.uk

I was sent two blueberry bushes as a gift. One was healthy the other not. Nonetheless, I planted it in accordance with the instructions but 6 weeks later it is clearly dead. Trying to get a replacement is like the famous Dead Parrot sketch from Monty Python. No amount of pictures of brown stalks and dead leaves or buds will make them accept it is dead. All I want is a replacement plant but instead I get veiled accusations of not doing things properly even though the other bush is flourishing. Definitely will not use this company again.

I ordered a gift for my mother more than a month in advance. It hasn't arrived and I've not had any response back from the team when I reached out online earlier this week. Its missed her birthday and I'm very disappointed.

My husband and I received a Golden Anniversary rose from our family by this company and while the packaging was most impressive , the rose itself was a pathetic, flimsy specimen and had two thin flower buds one of which was broken. I complained to the company and was asked to submit photographs which I did. The reply was and I quote “I’ve spoken to our gardener and he has said the following, “ the rose looks fine,we try to cut off all flower buds before postage as this can happen however these little buds missed the trim”: the roses are mostly cut back now after their first flowering , this plant is best trimmed back and planted and given a good drink“ unquote This seems a very strange way to prepare and present a special anniversary gift

I am an experienced gardener , hold an horticultural qualification and I would not recommend anyone using this company to anyone

I wrote an e mail to glut customer services regarding the aftercare for my grapevine including a picture. I received a very supportive response the next day . I would definitely recommend to family and friends

I ordered a Jasmine plant off of NOTHS from The Gluttonous Gardener. I will say delivery was quick but upon opening the packaging the item was AWFUL. I had bought this as a gift during quarantine for my parents anniversary. When she opened the box she thought it was a JOKE GIFT. It was literally a STICK IN A DIRTY, MOSS COVERED POT. It didn't look like the soil had ever seen water in it's life either.

I emailed customer services asking about returns and saying how disappointed I was in the item after receiving it and they told me that the supermarkets sell them FAKE when I said they were twice the size of this and LESS THAN HALF THE PRICE. The images are NOT what you will receive and I even expected a little worse than the pictures because adverts always look better than what you get, but this was RIDICULOUS.

The item I got personalised I understand I cannot get my money back for but the box is so very flimsy I could poke it and break part of it off. The customer services just said they want me to pay them £7 to return it to them too after receiving something SO awful.

I wish I had read the reviews before purchasing.

We received a lemon tree and upon opening it, the pot was smashed, soil everywhere, lemons all broken off. It was packaged very poorly with nothing but paper straw to protect a heavy plant and pot.

We contacted the company who disputed that the plant itself was damaged. Instead, they offered a new pot.

What was intended as a luxury present is now a total mess. Very very disappointing.

Ordered two lemon trees from them as thank you presents for both sets of parents at our wedding. Though the boxes looked beautiful, when they were opened BOTH pots were smashed and the lemon trees looked sad. Unfortunately they were opened in front of our wedding party (50 people) so not a good experience. My mum rang the company in tears the following day and was offered a new pot or a £6 refund (the price of the pot), I too complained and was offered the same with minimal apology. Don't order from here - much better options available and better customer service elsewhere. Overall a terrible experience and wouldn't use them again.

Ordered a passion flower arrived in a lovely crate but the plant was very small and didn't survive 6 months in a garden where everything else flourished. Top prices very poor quality avoid.

Ordered the Extra Fig Crate as a birthday gift. Very disappointed and embarrassed to see the pathetic specimens they sent. Clearly the packers were so ashamed of the fig 'trees' that they put two in the crate instead of one. As I pointed out to them, the picture (which is all you have to go on when buying online) was completely misleading. All I wanted was an apology but what I got was the usual 'sorry it didn't meet your expectations', the clear implication being that my expectations were the problem not their product. Then they wanted photographic evidence that two were sent, as this was unusual. They had the order number so could, indeed should, have spoken to their packers. Can you imagine going back to the person to whom you had just given a present to ask for photographs to support a complaint you had made to the supplier? Both the quality of the gift and the company's response were dreadful. As you cannot trust that their website gives a good indication of what you are buying and you cannot inspect before buying, I would recommend not using the Gluttonous Gardener for presents.

My son ordered a rose in a presentation pack to give to his mother on his wedding day.

The order included a presentation plaque with the date of the wedding on it.

The rose was unpacked by myself the day after the wedding and found to be in a poor condition with browning leaves. Despite my best efforts, it subsequently died.

Given the nature of the packing and the date of the wedding, it is obvious that the rose would not be unpacked for at least 24 hours after the wedding. It is Glutinous Gardeners responsibility to ensure the rose would survive until this date. That should be the whole ethos of their business.

After many emails, including a photo of the dead rose, the best Glutinous Gardener were prepared to offer me was a replacement rose. However, I was expected to pay £8 delivery costs. Obviously, I could go to a reputable local garden centre a buy a rose of known quality for less than this. Also, the most one would expect to deliver a rose from a reputable on-line nursery would be less than £5.

I told Glutinous Gardener that the rose should be replaced without cost to myself and I would take this matter further. They were adamant they were not prepared to protect their reputation by resolving this matter to my satisfaction.

I note from other reviews that I am not the first person to experience this problem.

I also note that on the Gluttonous Gardener web site, there are many reviews from the media.

Most of these newspapers and magazines have consumer investigation departments. I intend to write to each in turn asking for their advice.