Are you having a let’s-wallow-in-self-pity kind of a day? (Apparently, I am). Do you want to prove, once and for all, that some of your online shopping decisions are highly questionable, bordering on just plain dumb?In the mood to waste some time, effort, resources, a beautiful summer and your good rapport with your family?Then, order from Park Seed. (Book a Disneyworld vacation if you want to go bigger.)Here is my experience:Ordered seeds and did everything per their instructions – germination was hit or miss (more miss than hit really, about 10% (of one item from the total 10) germinated)The worst was Blue Knoll Heteropappus – a blue-colored mum that I was desperate to get, and was only available on Park seed. It was beautiful enough to make me step over all the negative reviews the wise people had posted, and go ahead and order. Well, not one sprouted from the $3.95 packet – when other seed packets were at $1 or $1.29 at HD or Lowe’s.Emailed them and was told I didn’t raise my hand within their three months or whatever (this will change according to the situation to avoid refunding you anything) guarantee period. I replied and pointed out that the timestamp from my first email indicates I was well within that, but apparently the woman at the other end could not figure this out. After a few tries of this, I accepted defeat – can’t go much further when the other party cannot calculate what does or does not mean 90 days out.The second time around (yes, shame on me), I caved to the lure of a beautiful Zephirine Drouhin rose that was an incredible steal. Combined it with their 10 for 10 deal and added Blue Knoll again (told ya, I am just not that smart). Well, they showed me. Blue Knoll refused to do a thing, again. $4 down the drain, again. The others germinated at about 30% this time. And the rose plant – well that was a good story. The plant’s cost was about 60% of the total order. Billed the whole amount right away, and then refused to tell me when it would ship. After 3 emails of asking for the ship date, and no responses, I asked them to cancel that part of the order and refund the money. No response, and 3 more emails later, I gave up again. No refund ever came through.Finally, the plant showed up, sometime in June or July – when I had paid for it much earlier in the year. All it did that summer was put on leaves and growth, which can happen with roses sometimes, so this summer is when I find out just how big of a loser I am. Either the plant doesn’t flower at all, or turns out to be a different type of rose instead of the one I ordered, remains to be seen. Considering it came from Jackson and Perkins (Park’s sister company and complete cheats as well), I don’t have much hope for it. I did, however, put it in a separate planter, away from my other roses, to ensure it isn’t virused (shows you how much I trust this firm) and looking at the plant itself, can rule out that it is Multiflora (the only rose listed as invasive for Massachusetts and some other states).So why the 5-star rating?• As a warning• As an antidoteTo all the happy-go-luckies who come straight to the positives to read the real positives by a few other happy-go-luckies, and fake positives by possibly paid shills for Park (all the one liners with five starts – Beautiful Zinnias/ I love Park – say nothing at all about why they love it). Looks like they do this for Google too – get the ratings right on the big ones and don’t worry about the smaller sites.PS: My trust in Trust Pilot is evaporating – on seeing Park Seed get a 7/10 score. Check Park Seed’s reputation on old-school garden-focused review sites like Garden Watchdog and Houzz Garden Forums and other sources like Yelp/ Google before you make your decision.As of 4.7.2019:Garden Watchdog: 431 negatives, 110 neutrals, 428 positivesYelp: 1.5 stars, 52 reviewsSitejabber: 1.8 stars, 20 reviewsResellerratings: 1 star, 39 reviewsFacebook: 4.4 stars, 19 review (Does Facebook allow companies to delete negative reviews on their page?)Google: 3.8 stars, 1248 reviews Trustpilot: 7/10, 1980 reviews
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Park Seed is America's Choice for Seeds, Plants, Vegetables, and Garden Supplies
