Allotments 4 All
Allotment Stuff => The Basics => Topic started by: strawberry1 on May 04, 2017, 07:25:31
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what on earth has happened to this company? Customer service is absolutely dreadful, no-one answers cs phones or answers e mails. I have been waiting for an item for weeks, not plants and I am also trying to nurture some shockingly poor begonia plug plants. Really poor standards lately. I won`t be using this company again. Glossy catalogue but the company is awful, gone right downhill. Anyone else?
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I think they are one of the companies that has moved off shore ( Channel Islands) to cut their taxes,charge us more and like some of the others that have done this; buying in there produce from possibly the same supplier.
I haven't used them in years as they were tooo highly priced compared with others.
This year I have bought my plants from Parkers.
Now this was a company that got really bad press in the past, but the stuff I have bought from them over the last couple of years has been quite good.
I am on their" End of Season" list and I get offers of some very cheap stuff.
OK when I get it some of it is a bit tatty but if I get a pack of five plants for the regular price of one plant, then say I get two or three to survive then I consider this to be a bargain.
Because I know it is end of season stock I am prepared for some failures but on the whole I am generally quite happy with what I get.
So here are two companies who in the past were "chalk and cheese" and who now have changed their perspective but at least one has done something about it but sadly the other has got too greedy in my opinion
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T&M has recently been bought out. Lots of moans on the GW boards too.
It seems naming and shaming on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram - whatever you use - tends to get a better response than individual and private emails and phone calls.
Crocus may seem expensive but they have very good customer service and good quality plants. I like to buy my treasures at plant fairs and nurseries where I can talk to the grower or else order seed from places like Plant World, Seedaholic, Chiltern.......... as they give excellent info about sowing and after care.
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I just got a response via facebook, I am hardly on there but worked out how to do a message. They said they have sent the gloves. Yes right! They are sending a replacement, I live in hope. I never complained about the carp non stop begonias but will never buy anything from them again. Parkers looks excellent tee gee. Do you know, I get much better plants from ebay than T&M, just taken delivery of tremendous celeriac plugs after none of my seeds came up. They went straight in the ground this morning. There are several extremely good sellers on e bay and their seeds always germinate. The celeriac was from cloudgarden, I had the last set but am awaiting another 10 tomorrow or saturday, I hope they are as good
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T&M is still very my based in Ipswich.
It was taken over recently by a large equity group called https://www.bvg-group.co.uk/bvg-airflo-links.cfm (https://www.bvg-group.co.uk/bvg-airflo-links.cfm)
Take a peep at what other companies it owns. :glasses9:
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my self have been lucky and had no problems this season or last i have ordered 20 fuscias for the end of may so i hope they will be of good standard i have had problems with parkers in the past but this year was trouble free king was as normally fantastic as was dt brown and suttons ill let you know about my recent t&m order by the end of the month
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It's interesting, I've had mixed results from parkers.
And this year I placed my biggest seed order with kings and have had the most problems, including terrible germination and wrong seeds in a packet.
Last year I bought most of my seeds from T&M though an offer, (10 packets of seed for £1 each).
Last year year very few of my DT brown Sweetcorn came up.
I'm sure most companies go to the same seed house for stock...... love to find out who though.
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It's interesting, I've had mixed results from parkers.
And this year I placed my biggest seed order with kings and have had the most problems, including terrible germination and wrong seeds in a packet.
Last year I bought most of my seeds from T&M though an offer, (10 packets of seed for £1 each).
Last year year very few of my DT brown Sweetcorn came up.
I'm sure most companies go to the same seed house for stock...... love to find out who though.
funny you should say that two packets of sweetcorn lark from kings only 7 came up i may email them two packets of swift from last year from suttons 98% germination got incredible to set from wilcos fingers crossed all my runner beans are fine 100% germination as carrots parsnips and cabbages beetroot in fact its just the sweetcorn that has proven a problem what trouble did you have getting to germinate
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It's interesting, I've had mixed results from parkers.
And this year I placed my biggest seed order with kings and have had the most problems, including terrible germination and wrong seeds in a packet.
Last year I bought most of my seeds from T&M though an offer, (10 packets of seed for £1 each).
Last year year very few of my DT brown Sweetcorn came up.
I'm sure most companies go to the same seed house for stock...... love to find out who though.
funny you should say that two packets of sweetcorn lark from kings only 7 came up i may email them what trouble did you have getting to germinate?
HA Lark a Sweetcorn from Kings...!
About 10 of a 50 seed packet. Came up.
Very poor Beetroot Germination, poor Cucumbers.... and no melons came up.
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think ill drop them a email tonight dont think ill be the only one thanks for the info
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I put in 18 seed of Kings Sweetcorn Sweet Nugget and 16 germinated within about a week. I planted them out yesterday when they were about 9" high and good strong plants. I have used Kings seeds for many years now and must admit I have had very few problems.
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I put in 18 seed of Kings Sweetcorn Sweet Nugget and 16 germinated within about a week. I planted them out yesterday when they were about 9" high and good strong plants. I have used Kings seeds for many years now and must admit I have had very few problems.
me neither i think there is a problem with the lark seeds they just dont seem to be viable
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funny you should say that two packets of sweetcorn lark from kings only 7 came up i may email them
I got 83% germination from Kings Lark (21 from 25 sown), and for the first time I saved some seed from last year. It was a cob that I had missed at harvest time and it dried on the plant I got 69% (17 from 25 sown)
Sowed the final 20 seed of Lark today for a later crop.
A few years ago I had problems with Kings Sweet Corn and they tried to blame the poor germination on me saying their seeds are tested for viability. Then I told them that I had bought two varieties at the same time and I got excellent germination 90%+ so how could it be my fault? they relented and sent me another packet!
my self have been lucky and had no problems this season or last i have ordered 20 fuscias for the end of may so i hope they will be of good standard i have had problems with parkers in the past
I don't think you will have a problem with your Fuchsia I bought three collections and got a freebie collection as well.
This is what I bought:
Fuchsia Giant Trailing Collection Pack Size 6
Fuchsia Hardy Collection Pack Size 30
Fuchsia RHS Award Winning Collection Pack Size 30
Lily Oriental Mixed Pack Size 8 - FREE!
Fuchsia Trailing Mixed Pack Size 12 - FREE!
78 Fuchsia + 8 Lilies
This is how they looked half an hour ago:
6 Giants:
(http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd27/tgalmanac/4th%20May%202017/IMG_5467_zpsez1st8vm.jpg) (http://s222.photobucket.com/user/tgalmanac/media/4th%20May%202017/IMG_5467_zpsez1st8vm.jpg.html)
The Hardy Collection:
(http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd27/tgalmanac/4th%20May%202017/IMG_5465_zpsqrvxyxzp.jpg) (http://s222.photobucket.com/user/tgalmanac/media/4th%20May%202017/IMG_5465_zpsqrvxyxzp.jpg.html)
The RHS Collection
(http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd27/tgalmanac/4th%20May%202017/IMG_5464_zpsfmryutlm.jpg) (http://s222.photobucket.com/user/tgalmanac/media/4th%20May%202017/IMG_5464_zpsfmryutlm.jpg.html)
The Freebies
(http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd27/tgalmanac/4th%20May%202017/IMG_5466_zpscfevoflg.jpg) (http://s222.photobucket.com/user/tgalmanac/media/4th%20May%202017/IMG_5466_zpscfevoflg.jpg.html)
I have had them about a month now!
When I get rid of all the plants currently in my heated greenhouse destined for the allotment I will pot them up and give them some space. Then I will sell about 20% of them and get my money back so effectively I will have a collection of 20 Varieties basically FOC
This is the varieties I will have:
Annabel
Bella Rosella
Dancing Flame
Dark Eyes
Deep Purple
Delta Sarah
Dollar Princess
Garden News
Happy Wedding Day
Hawkshead
Heidi Anne
Holly's Beauty
Marinka
Orange King
Pink Galore
Quasar
Snowburner
Snowcap
Swing Time
Voodoo
White King
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The Real Seed Catalogue is still my favourite company and I get as much from them as I can as the germination rates are amazing compared to any of the big names. Everything they sell is true breeding too so you can keep your own seeds. Brown Envelope seeds based in Ireland are just as good too with the same ethos.
I keep my own peas and beans, squashes, tomatoes and onions etc. but I have to admit that I haven't yet got round to saving seeds from some of the tougher plants like carrots and brassicas that are likely to cross breed with everything for miles around!
T&M never had enough seeds in the packet for me, especially with the rarer stuff, and I only occasionally get stuff from Suttons when it's a variety I can't find anywhere else. This year I bought Sutton's Trinidad Perfume chilis and there were 5 seeds in the packet, only 2 germinated and only one of those has made it to a decent sized plant! Absolute rip off!
I agree King's are good ... as are Chiltern Seeds.
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I'm a recent convert to Parker's and also find Ebay plant sellers to be excellent. Real seeds, Chiltern and Wilkos for me!
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I have to say I've been very happy with T&M and the customer service has been excellent when there has been a problem. I got three packets of Sweetcorn Butterscotch at £1 /packet with 80 seeds in total. Of those I had 73 come up well and a couple of weak seedlings which I discarded. I wont complain at that.
I did complain recently about one of their offers of 72 plug plants - 6 each of 12 varieties. They were mostly good, but the delphiniums were very yellow and 3 out of six were dead almost immediately. They responded by sending another complete pack of 72 plants, which seemed excessively generous to me. I think there will always be the occasional mistake, so a good response when something is wrong is the most important thing for me.
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I've had more problems with T&M than with any other supplier, but on the plus side they have always sorted each issue out really quickly. I had an issue with some monster Charlotte spuds earlier this year and a repeat order was sent out as soon as I contacted them. I also had some plug plants from them this year and they have been great - strong root systems and they've grown on really well.
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I received my gloves from T&M today, after a very frustrating time, trying to get a response. Thanks to obelixx, I sent a facebook message and got a pretty instant reply :toothy10:
Someone mentioned ebay, I received two sets of plugs today and yesterday and they are fab, two different sellers. I have never had bad plants or seeds from any seller on ebay. I received plugs from brookside nursery today and they are superb and so were the last ones from them
DT Brown seeds, parsnip germination has been terrible and no celeriac germination and no visible spring onion germination from their freebies
I had better luck with some old duncan cabbage seeds from 2014
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funny you should say that two packets of sweetcorn lark from kings only 7 came up i may email them
I got 83% germination from Kings Lark (21 from 25 sown), and for the first time I saved some seed from last year. It was a cob that I had missed at harvest time and it dried on the plant I got 69% (17 from 25 sown)
Sowed the final 20 seed of Lark today for a later crop.
A few years ago I had problems with Kings Sweet Corn and they tried to blame the poor germination on me saying their seeds are tested for viability. Then I told them that I had bought two varieties at the same time and I got excellent germination 90%+ so how could it be my fault? they relented and sent me another packet!
my self have been lucky and had no problems this season or last i have ordered 20 fuscias for the end of may so i hope they will be of good standard i have had problems with parkers in the past
I don't think you will have a problem with your Fuchsia I bought three collections and got a freebie collection as well.
This is what I bought:
Fuchsia Giant Trailing Collection Pack Size 6
Fuchsia Hardy Collection Pack Size 30
Fuchsia RHS Award Winning Collection Pack Size 30
Lily Oriental Mixed Pack Size 8 - FREE!
Fuchsia Trailing Mixed Pack Size 12 - FREE!
78 Fuchsia + 8 Lilies
This is how they looked half an hour ago:
6 Giants:
(http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd27/tgalmanac/4th%20May%202017/IMG_5467_zpsez1st8vm.jpg) (http://s222.photobucket.com/user/tgalmanac/media/4th%20May%202017/IMG_5467_zpsez1st8vm.jpg.html)
The Hardy Collection:
(http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd27/tgalmanac/4th%20May%202017/IMG_5465_zpsqrvxyxzp.jpg) (http://s222.photobucket.com/user/tgalmanac/media/4th%20May%202017/IMG_5465_zpsqrvxyxzp.jpg.html)
The RHS Collection
(http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd27/tgalmanac/4th%20May%202017/IMG_5464_zpsfmryutlm.jpg) (http://s222.photobucket.com/user/tgalmanac/media/4th%20May%202017/IMG_5464_zpsfmryutlm.jpg.html)
The Freebies
(http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd27/tgalmanac/4th%20May%202017/IMG_5466_zpscfevoflg.jpg) (http://s222.photobucket.com/user/tgalmanac/media/4th%20May%202017/IMG_5466_zpscfevoflg.jpg.html)
I have had them about a month now!
When I get rid of all the plants currently in my heated greenhouse destined for the allotment I will pot them up and give them some space. Then I will sell about 20% of them and get my money back so effectively I will have a collection of 20 Varieties basically FOC
This is the varieties I will have:
Annabel
Bella Rosella
Dancing Flame
Dark Eyes
Deep Purple
Delta Sarah
Dollar Princess
Garden News
Happy Wedding Day
Hawkshead
Heidi Anne
Holly's Beauty
Marinka
Orange King
Pink Galore
Quasar
Snowburner
Snowcap
Swing Time
Voodoo
White King
indeed tg got an email today saying the same as you basically its my fault i pointed out that the suttons swift planted at the same time same soil same greenhouse 98% germination and yes they are sending me another packet as my gardening skills are so inadequate
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crocus now. Not the quality because their plants are really good. It`s the time they take, two weeks for one plant to arrive, last order and now I am waiting for almost £200 of goods to arrive, it says `stock allocated` and this only contains one plant, all the rest are various planters. 12 days and counting, they are incredibly slow. Frustrating in fact
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I ordered 6 sweet potato rooted plants - not slips but proper routed plants. They looked pretty dreadful when they arrived so I took pics. Sure enough, three days later, 4 were dead so I sent the pics to T&M. Got a notification but no one actually responded even when I emailed them again.
Phoned them up and they did give me an immediate refund as they are out of stock. Also promised me a £10 voucher via email which has never turned up.
Not sure what to make of them any more but I think I will stick to smaller suppliers in future.
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Avoid avoid avoid. Nothing good comes from T&M.
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since they have been took over they have been a nightmare got a load of fuchsias 3 weeks ago after life altering surgery got 10 out of the 30 even now there not out of intensive care will not bother again
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I had more plugs from brookside this week and give the company 10/10. They have a despatch date and they stick to it. The plants are very good and are already settled on the allotment. Hayloft is another good company, always good plants. I have just ordered strawberries from DT Brown, I think they will be in good condition
I don`t even look at T&M any more. They sell on qvc too and I was sucked into buying 42 begonias, they were poxy and I put a poor review up, which was rejected. I had great bulbs from qvc last year, de jager
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16 days and no sign of my non=plant order from crocus. Yet another company that I will not use again. So frustrating and no e mail from them either
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Well I complained about my complaint not getting answered and I did get my tenner voucher code.
Meanwhile I have some other sweet potatoes in from Marshalls so we will see how I go with them!
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Just picked my first berries from the "Just add Cream" variety ordered from T&M. Good plants, delivered on time and growing away happily.
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Our allotment society uses the T&M deal (50% off seeds, 33% off other things, I think) which makes their products competitive. I also buy direct from them. Not any real complaints over several years, but it's a case of some things not working, whose fault is it?
I've bought a lot of seeds from Tamar Organics this year as they worked out as cheap as T&M at reduced prices, but I'm not sure the germination is as good so far.
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Our allotment society uses the T&M deal (50% off seeds, 33% off other things, I think) which makes their products competitive. I also buy direct from them. Not any real complaints over several years, but it's a case of some things not working, whose fault is it?
I've bought a lot of seeds from Tamar Organics this year as they worked out as cheap as T&M at reduced prices, but I'm not sure the germination is as good so far.
seeds i must say have been up to normal high standards quantity on some have reduced by afair bit however germination has been great
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You are protected by the Consumer Rights Act 2015
There are some letter on Trading standard website.
https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/template-letters/letters/consumer-template-letters/letter-to-complain-about-faulty-goods/
Though I did finding it odd to describe plants as faulty.
I adjusted letter and emailed. Did the trick for me with a different company. Trading standards suggests sending letter recorded delivery but I did not want to sent good money after bad.
I used to love their seed catalogues.
I have found their parsnip seed is a load of rubbish. But everything else seems ok on the seed front. They do have some good offers.