Houston Garden Center

Before I continue on with my scathing review, I would like to preface, the Houston Garden Center does not accept exchanges. You see, it’s a very customer service friendly type of policy. Now, with that being said, I recently bought 3 Poinsettias, nicely wrapped up in clear plastic. Once they were unwrapped at home, I immediately noticed large amounts of mold on the buds. I kept them indoors, in conditioned space, & in bright indirect sunlight. I gave them two days of observation, on the second day they had lost half of their foliage. I returned on Monday, 3 days after the purchase. I was met with a somewhat unfriendly, manager of sorts, it is tough to tell who is in charge. He did not speak English very well which made it more difficult, “The company doesn’t do exchanges”. I let him know this was a little different, I showed him the soil was moist, yet I had not watered it; the lack of foliage, & the mold. He said there was no way to tell if it left the store that way or if it became that way in my care. I was immediately frustrated, he basically called me a liar. I walked back to the plants, grabbed two brand new ones, and brought them back to him. I pulled down the plastic, “look, you see, mold”. He gave me the number to customer service, who I have called every day this week, 5 days in a row. Each day there is a hold time, my guess is there’s a few others calling in for similar reasons. Each time I call, I give them a brief summary, my phone number, and they tell me someone will call me back in the morning. That never happened. Today, my last call, I finally get a little clarity. She tells me that no one has called me back because of their exchange policy. I reiterated the story, to no avail. WHY are you all selling moldy plants? WHY are they even delivered it to the store in that condition? If they are delivered to the store in that condition, WHERE is the quality control? On top of that, I can imagine this would be a safety issue. My suspicion is these plans were overwatered at the nursery where they were grown. I wasn't looking for a handout, I wasn't looking to screw the system, & I wasn't looking for a guarantee. I did expect them to swap out a couple $4 plants that had an unobservable condition prior to the transaction. Any reputable nursery would do the same. This saga is what prompted me to review, but it was only the straw that broke the camel's back. They have good prices during the 70% off sale, otherwise they are no better. If you are a gardening whiz, know exactly what plants you want, where they can grow, what soil conditions are needed, do not want a large variety, and do not need any customer service; then this is the place for you. I'll never go back, to any location, they all seem to be suffering from the same symptoms. I will pay 10 bucks more to shop elsewhere. Read the Yelp reviews and count the 1 star Google reviews.

I will no longer shop here due to their "return" policy. I understand the inability to return or exchange items, because you could kill a plant by leaving it in your car or not watering it or using an incorrect chemical. So I get you cant return or exchange items. And it is not their fault if you buy way too much mulch or potting soil. But I went in yesterday to buy potting soil, mulch, and two plants. I was not planning on purchasing a gardenia bush, but I did. So this put me over the amount that I could have used a coupon that was in their weekly mailer. When I was at the register I told the clerk that I had forgotten to bring in the mailer and asked if I brought my receipt and the mailer that evening ( I live 10 minutes from the store) if I could get the coupon price back and they told me no. Most stores either keep a mailer or their ad on hand for situations like that or will allow you to return at a later time for the discount. Not this place. In the last month, I have probably spent close to one thousand dollars there, buying trees and bushes for my home. They have lost my business because of their unwillingness to give me a 5 dollar discount. I did complete the purchase, as I had already planned on having my husband do the work today while I am at work, but I should have walked out right then.



Also, like another shopper, I have experienced that many of the employees do not speak English. And no one knows ANYTHING about any of the plants there. I asked one employee a question about some trees that I was purchasing. It was a Citrus tree and I asked if I needed two of each tree for it to produce fruit. All three of the employees that I asked either didn't know or could not understand english to answer the question.



I spend about 500-1000 on my yard annually. I would rather pay more to another company that has a better policy, better customer service, and more knowledgeable staff. I highly reccommend that you SKIP this place. Would give a zero star rating if I could but since I have to give at least 1 star... I will say it is because it is conveniently located.

I was at this location to shop for a plant this past Sunday. I saw a sticker price on the plant "$19.00" for a 5 gallon plant, but the sign says "$12.95". Also, I saw a "$16.99" sticker price for the same plant, but 3 gallon size. I want to make sure the 5 gallon plant is $12.95, so I brought the sign along with the plant to find out the price. When I get to the front of the store, before I even get the answer, they told me "put my sign back where it belongs. you don't need to bring the sign with you". All I want to is to find out about the price. They said so loud, there are other customers around. Like I did something wrong. I am a 39 years old woman, not a child. This place needs to hire someone who understand customer service. I will post this experience to BBB and everywhere I can think of. No one should be treated like this.

This phone number is not a valid one, and the Houston Garden Centers website does not post phone numbers. You are out of luck if you are waiting for an out of stock, advertised item to arrive. You will have to drive to the store each day to look for yourself.