[MickyB]

I purchased twelve Elsanta bare root strawberry plants from T&M five out of the twelve did not look healthy, the roots were stunted and looked withered especially compared to the other seven and the roots had gone white, I sent a message to T&M asking if this was normal but to date have not received any reply from them, are they normally OK to deal with?

I have never purchased bare root plants before, is the condition of the plants normal? It didn't look right to me, I have planted all twelve but was concerned about those five, if they are going to be OK how long should it be before I see signs of growth?

[mumofstig]

They certainly don't look good do they 

[devonbarmygardener]

I personally don't use them anymore - not for any living plant anyway.
And I can get seeds generally cheaper elsewhere so they've lost me as a customer

[fred-quimby]

I bought 9 raspberry plants from them and 4 did not sprout at all.  I emailed them and heard nothing so not dealing with them any more.

[devonbarmygardener]

I bought their rotten raspberries too

[TheWhiteRabbit]

I've had very poor service from T&M. They got my spud order wrong 3 times and then when I tried to use a discount voucher online, it seemed to accept it and then rejected it at the last point...I noticed just as I pressed the 'confirm' button and sent an email straight away with order details but didn't get a reply    I think it's best to call - they either don't monitor the emails or some get lost somehow.

I won't be buying from them again. Spaldings were just as bad too!

[carlotta]

I bought some strawberry plants from them and it took ages and ages for them to arrive. The customer service was terrible each email I sent was either ignored or I just had an auto reply saying they were too busy to reply!!

Eventually the plants turned up by then I had requested a refund, but guess what they did not reply.

The plants were so tiny. I was very dissapointed another customer lost.

[carlotta]

Sorry posted too early!!
I used Marshalls for my next strawberry order they were much better in every way and much cheaper.

[devonbarmygardener]

I got my grafted plants, a mint collection and 3 tarragon plants - the tarragon took a while to stop sulking and is now great -all from Marshalls. Can't fault them.

[MickyB]

I have just received a reply from them (maybe they read the forum?)....

"Dear Mick
Thank you for your email.
I am sorry to learn of your disappointment with your recent Strawberry order.
We are committed to supplying only the finest quality products and whilst complaints such as yours are rare, we take them very seriously. Every effort is made during our despatch process to ensure that our products are packaged in prime condition, however it would seem that in this case this has not happened. I am very sorry.
Accordingly I have replaced the 6 Strawberry bare roots which should arrive with you August.
Thank you for bringing the matter to our attention. I am confident you will be delighted with your replacements.
If there is anything further I can be of assistance with, please get in touch. I'll be happy to help.
With best regards,
Mairie Coster
Customer Service Team"

I think that they have been fair with me.

[devonbarmygardener]

That  does sound fair.

[Aunt Sally]

Thank you for completing the story, Mick.

Forums can get into legal problems for postings that could be seen as defamatory.  Yours shows T&M to be a company that are happy to put problems right.

[allotmentann]

T and M have always put right the problems I have had too. They are very slow to answer emails, but respond well and promptly by phone. I think generally the seed and plant companies are still a little behind with technology, only two companies for example that I have dealt with send emails to say they have dispatched something (D T Brown and Plantoffers -weird as they are owned by T and M). I think they just work at a different pace.

[WulfrunFrank]

While the quality of plants has been OK (but not great) from T&M I have found their customer service to be abysmal, take ages to reply to emails, flippant on the phone and fail to address specific points in letters.
Also agree that a number of seed companies are not up to speed with technology that we have become used to with internet based companies (though there are some shining examples of excellence)
Personally I will not use T&M again, there are plenty of other good offers around from other companies that offer good service.

[Asherweef]

I have a stack of T&M catalogues next to my bed... Never used them but enjoy looking; I don't think I'll bother though now!