Wayside GardensReviews of waysidegardens.com

I placed an order with Wayside gardens on March 5, 2023 for 25 hydrangeas. Whenever I tried to check the status of the order on their website I was redirected to a page which told me to contact customer service. When I tried emailing customer service to request a status and timing of delivery, I received an email saying I would be advised when the items were sent and they couldn't give me any more information because that information was determined by the "shipping department". Then I would receive a note saying my inquiry was resolved. My requests were never resolved, they just simply sent me an email saying they couldn't tell me. This went on for over a dozen email requests from me. Then at the end of April - nearly two months after the order was placed, I was informed two requested hydrangeas were no longer available - why did this take 2 months to find out? Now I'm left with two empty spots and most other vendors have sold out of specialty hydrangeas. Very poor service and I will not order from them again.

I reached out last Summer after my river birch tree order arrived with 2 of the 3 very small trees looking half dead. I was told it was common for them to go into a "dormancy" state and that they would usually "come out of it" after the season. I shared that I was willing to wait till the spring but wanted to make sure they would stand behind the guarantee if I waited and I was told that notes would be placed in my order file. Now that two of the 3 trees did not "come out of it" I reached back out to them and now I'm being told that the return time has expired which is exactly the opposite of what I was told would happen.

Really terrible! I order in December and just received the plants. When I called to ask, the person hung up on me when I was asking a question too. One was a “bare root” plant but it was less the an inch long and it was $39.99. Seriously just go somewhere else.

Wayside will not honor my gift certificates (at least not easily). I have two physical gift certificates (I called and verified that they are still good) that Wayside.com will not honor -- the website doesn't recognize them as active. I called customer service and was told to email info@wayside... with my shopping cart, and they would call me back for payment information. I did this on a Thursday morning and again on Friday morning. It's now Monday morning, and still no callback. I will go ahead and call again... ...I am now on hold, trying to make a phone order using the gift certificates. The agent is attentive and friendly. Nevertheless, it's disappointing that I need to spend ~25 min on the phone for something that should take 5 in online.

Maybe this will get their attention. I purchased 12 echinacea eccentrics “plants” from Wayside gardens. Received the order and was surprised to find the roots more like fine threads or feeder roots. I followed the instructions carefully. Now 6 weeks later not one has sprouted. I called on 6/30/22. I was assured their horticulturist would return my call in 29-30 minutes. That did not happen. I called back in a few days. Message was they are closed July and August and any inquiries must be submitted via email. 2 emails sent…nothing. After reading the reviews I noticed their response was to send to the attention of Eric. 3rd email sent this time to Eric’s attention. Right now I’m out $143.00. I’m calling my credit card coming to see if I have any recourse. Will never use or recommend this company.

I received my order today of 20 plants called ‘tidal pool’. Very upset with the quality of these plants for the $. 200.00 price I paid. Please just go to your local nursery rather than buying online. I wish they did quality checks and I doubt these plants will thrive considering the size and condition.

Recently I ordered and paid for a wisteria plant but what arrived was not a plant; Actually it was a thin twig or part of a twig. I could not reach customer service because I was put on hold until I gave up. I then sent the twig itself and the Wayside paperwork directly to the president of the company. I never heard from her. Customer service contacted me by e mail and gave me the name of a specific person to call about this situation. Called that number and asked for that person. They said that no person with that name worked for Wayside. The person I talked to said they were willing to send me a replacement but he suggested that I didn t know the difference between what a plant in a pot and a bare root plant looked like. I told him that I could send him a photo I took of the small twig or he could go the president of his company s office and actually look at the thing. Not interested. I will wait to see what actually arrives this second time. Yes, everyone makes mistakes but clearly this company does not have a functioning quality control department. before ordering from Wayside take a look on Yelp and other sites to see the huge number of (documented) complaints about the awful quality of "plants " received and the inadequate response or lack of any response from customer service. Phillip Zuckerman (Connecticut)

Worst customer service I have ever had. My plants arrived completely broken to the base of the stem and they pretty much told me to rub epsom salt on my wounds and move on.