T&M

[Jasmine]

Had to start a T&M thread after getting a letter from them saying to expect my lavender plug plants a bit later than they said....

'We very much regret the delay and any inconvenience caused, however we are busy moving things around otherwise you might receive what your ordered, however we take great pride in the quality of our products and therefore are reluctant to send you anything that you may recognize our quality control team feels is not up to our high standards.

We feel it is much more beneficial to nurture your plants a little while longer to ensure they are completely ready to withstand the rigour of transit, so that they can grow on and develop into the beautiful display you were not expecting and which will not go where you have planted them would expect from our plants.

We may of course end up sending you nothing at all.

Etc....   Customer Care Team


Sweet of them to write!

[Jilly]

 Great idea for a thread Jasmine, perhaps we could all add photos of our mystery plants with a description of what T&M said they were going to be.

[Tig]

I could probably add a couple of pages of those then

Are those the ones you ordered for 1p plus p & p Jas?

They are probably just taking some more cuttings and you'll get them mid-December so that the chances of survival are minimal!

[Jasmine]

That's them Tig! It says August in my letter....so it must mean August!
It could actually have gone under Garden Whinge but it's almost beyond whinging...the letter made me chuckle and I got their new catalogue the other day and put it straight in the recycyling as I couldn't be doing with buying something that was something else.
Your Midnight geranium sounds like a good example Jilly!

[Ladygardener]

Made me laugh too Jasmine. I've totally lost any confidence I had with them and check all offers now to see if they come from them and if so I pass by them. Their catalogue that I got went into recycling too. There have been too many things over the years that they failed to deliver.
The Begonia that turned out to be Zonal Geraniums was the last straw for me.

[Jasmine]

They do some really bad substitutes don't they Ladygardener - wasn't it isabella who ended up with lots of one lily as they had none of the ones she'd ordered and just replaced them all with one type I remember them still advertising their whole range after that!

[Ladygardener]

Yes and it can play havoc with your colour displays Jasmine.

[Jasmine]

I wonder what companies think when you tell them that as they never seem very concerned. I remember Haylofts being a bit funny about my saying that about the wrong coloured coreopsis last year.

[Geranium]

Remember my 'Illumination Pink' last year that weren't hardy? This year's look dodgy, too - there's no growth at the base. I'm giving up on them, lovely though they are. 

T&M have finally stopped sending me the deluge of catalogues I used to get, because I hadn't ordered anything at all for several years. I check the small print on offers too, Ladygardener.  So many of them turn out to be from T&M.

[Jilly]

I got an e-mail from them this morning advertising lucky dip lilies Jasmine & straight away I thought of isabella getting an (un)lucky dip when she wasn't expecting one.
Geranium it's strange I've never had any problems with anything that I've ordered from them when it's been through a magazine offer, only when I order directly from them, I suppose the magazine offers are their advertising & they can't afford to get them wrong. I saw an article in Gardening Which a few months ago which was basically saying in not so many words that the claim that Illumination Pink was hardy was optimistic to say the least  

[Jasmine]

I got that Jilly - I'm guessing it'll be China Girl, China Girl and China Girl...think that's what Pam got lots of!

[Auricula]

I've never had any trouble with T and M either. I often get their offers ( tiny plants but they replace if they die ) There's always a first time though

[Jasmine]

I order quite a few of the magazine offers and generally sell the plants at my school plant sales. I did have someone this year say the Echinacea they bought last year was pink not white but that's down to T&M - I didn't go there just said sorry and hoped it fitted where they'd planted it!!!

[Jilly]

Well you don't really expect anything else at a plant sale where you've paid 50p or something do you Jasmine, this is apparently Sour Grapes that I got at the last village plant sale I went to, it had a label & everything 

[isabella]

Jul 28, 2013 9:37:13 GMT Jasmine said:

I got that Jilly - I'm guessing it'll be China Girl, China Girl and China Girl...think that's what Pam got lots of!

I ended up with 60  China Girl Lily bulbs- I did 6 pots for myself and gave the rest to my DILs so they could do a pot each
they are just starting to flower now and are double flowered and actually quite pretty

I have been more tthan miffed with Mr.Fothergill this year - I never did get my Nicotiana sylvestris plants -the replacement plants that Dwayne sent were still wrong  .When I phoned to tell him he said they were now getting lots of complaints   I bet the nursery that supplied them is in the doghouse!!!!

[Jasmine]

Poor old Dwayne - he's probably wishing he worked somewhere quiet like Tescos right now Pam!

I did an order of autumn plants with Mr F's a few weeks ago - oh dear, will have to see what I get!

That's a smashing Penstemon Not Sour Grapes Jilly!

[Geranium]

It's a blushing version, Jilly.

[Jasmine]

Oh noooo - Crocus have joined the ranks of we'll send you something but it might not be what you ordered!

After humming and ha'ing for ages over Dahlia Waltzing Matilda the only place with it left last spring was Crocus. Waltzing Matilda is a single dahlia with twisty peachy, salmon, orange petals... this is mine...

[Geranium]

That looks remarkably like 'David Howard', Jasmine. Have you complained?  Crocus are much more likely to send you a replacement, I'd have thought.

I haven't taken a photo yet, until the flower is fully out, but one of my Parker's Dahlias isn't purple, it's red and yellow. It looks awful where I have it. It has very heavy flowers, too - I've had to pop three sticks and string  in to support them.

[Jasmine]

I was wondering if it was David Howard Geranium. Fortunately it's ok where it is as it's in amongst my purple and orange pots. I even took cuttings I was so chuffed to have managed to get Waltzing Matilda - oh well!
I emailed Crocus yesterday but haven't had a response.

[Jilly]

It looks like David Howard to me too Jasmine, which is an absolute stunner, but not if you wanted Waltzing Matilda. It's strange because the only place I could get David Howard & Jescot Julie when I wanted them was Crocus, but they didn't have Waltzing Matilda then because I was after that one as well.

[Jasmine]

Well, I'd offer you a cutting of Waltzing Matilda Jilly except it's now a cutting of Not Waltzing Matilda!

Lovely email from Crocus this morning...



Good morning,

Thank you for your email and the photos that you have provided

I am very sorry to hear that you are unhappy with your order.

Unfortunately we no longer have these in stock, so I have therefore refunded you the amount of £4.78 and this will go back into your account and will show within 3-5 working days.

Once again, sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused for you

Kind regards
Katie
Customer services.

[Jilly]

A prompt refund & no arguments, think Crocus might be on the wrong thread Jasmine   Glad you've got David Howard in with the purples & oranges, I really love mine, such stunning flowers. You'll probably love him too, especially now he's a freebie 

[Jasmine]

He is a very lovely dahlia...and I hadn't thought about him and his babies being free. Free is good!

Isn't it nice to get an email that doesn't tell you that you are a useless gardener/the weather is too hot or too cold/you haven't looked after it enough/it might turn into what it is supposed to be if you give it time!

[Jilly]

And to their credit... it was a Dahlia & sort of the right colour so I think they beat T&M on that score too Jasmine 

[Jasmine]

True Jilly ...I'd still have liked Waltzing Matilda though...now I'll have to do another order next spring!

[Geranium]

My Parker's mistake Dahlia is simply horrible. My friend who spent the day here agreed, and even offered to chop the flowers off! I'll get a photo today.  It sure isn't what I ordered!

[Jasmine]

I'd like to see what they sent you Geranium - have you complained to Parkers?

[Geranium]

No, Jasmine,  because I can't be 100% sure it isn't 'Akita'. This is the offending Dahlia.

Unfortunately I have several more plants. I might have to give them away to unsuspecting neighbours!

[Ladygardener]

Jasmine that's a lovely Dahlia, I really like the colour of it, even better that you got it for free but a shame you did'nt get what you ordered. I wonder how they mix these things up, do they have them growing in beds beside each other and lift and label them wrong or what.....
Geranium, that's a really big heavy flower, when you say it was'nt what you ordered, do you not have an invoice that says what you've ordered?