"'Dead bunch of twigs' for mums birthday"

I ordered a Lady of shallot bare root rose to be sent to my mum for her birthday.I chose this one because I have a fabulous specimen purchased from my local garden centre and it has become my favourite. My mum wasn't even sure what I had sent her as she opened up a bunch of possibly dead and browning twigs.Now my mum is very green fingered so she decided not to give up on it.One month on I asked her to send me photos, I was shocked to see a bare stump of five stems with only a very slight appearance of any leaf nodules.I sent the photos with a covering email and was told that for 'only £6 more' they could send my mum a potted one they had which was about to flower! Failing that I could wait until November for them to send another bare root rose.I replied saying how disappointed I was with their service,my mum was elderly and I was not willing to wait for another possible bunch of dead twigs.
I will NOT be shopping with them again.David Austin roses are beautiful but I will only purchase them from a reputable garden centre in future.
To rub salt in the wounds I then received an email telling me they had won a gold medal at Chelsea flower show.....this is clearly not for customer service!

"Overpriced and truly awful roses"

Overpriced and truly awful roses. 6 dead sticks I received. Had to send them pictures then 'dissect' a stem and photograph that too before they believed me, even though I offered to post them all back to them. Getting a refund is impossible. My Lidl roses and those from Homebase have been amazing compared to these. Unbelievable! Not interested in the everyday buyer...more interested in Chelsea and hobnobbing. Do not use this company, you will be extremely disappointed.

"very disappointing"

Reading previous reviews looks like customer service has changed drastically for the worse. I bought 2 bare root roses which arrived basically dead (I’ve ordered several recently which were all fine so I know the difference). I thought with care I may be able to revive them. They’re still doing nothing and basically un salvageable. I could have sent them back for a refund under statutory rights but thought the 5 year guarantee would be honoured. If I want replacements I have to wait till November as the only roses currently in stock are potted and of slightly higher sale price so I can’t have them. I’ve requested a refund but won’t be ordering anymore. Waste of time ordering them and planting them. Very upset as I’ve bought lots before with no problems, rude woman on the phone too -not impressed.

"Customer service was non caring"

Customer service was non caring. I contacted them right after I ordered on a Saturday via email. Called Tuesday Afternoon as I had not heard back from anyone. I was told that they didn't receive an email and my order had already shipped today. Then talked to the person who would have read the email and she said they dont' get emails until Monday(duh!) and that she had 80 emails and hadn't gotten to mine, it was now Tuesday afternoon. She was uncaring and didn't even try to help. I just wanted to add another rose to my order, she offered no resolution and was just uncaring.. I'll never shop with them again!

"False Advertising and terrible customer…"

False Advertising and terrible customer service!

I ordered the Mortimer Sackler rose, which is described as "nearly thornless." I will need to prune and shape this rose over an arbor for the next 50 years and have been searching for a rose that I won't have to deal with a mass of thorns.

Trusting that David Austin was a reliable cultivator, I waited weeks into my planting season for my rose to finally arrive. The bare root arrived in great condition and appears very healthy. However, it is COVERED in thorns. In my experience, as the rose grows, even more thorns develop, and I'm afraid to plant it and then spend the next 50 years fighting the thorns to prune it.


I called customer service, who advised me to send a photo of the bare root. After doing so, they then replied that there's nothing they can do and to go ahead and plant it. If I had wanted a climbing rose full of thorns, I would have purchased one much cheaper at Home Depot or Wal-Mart. Their satisfaction guarantee, customer service, and false advertising have left me sorely disappointed and still shopping for a rose.

"David Austin Roses"

A brilliant company whose roses are 1st class. I've ordered from them for many years & I find them totally reliable. Their products always arrive well packed and in good condition

"I have bough about 20 Hyde Hall roses…"

I have bough about 20 Hyde Hall roses for a hedge with a five year guarantee.
I contacted them 2 years ago to say some had died. I was told I should have kept the roses and photographed them and so they would not replace.
I have just notified them of another one that does and was told “to prune it”, it’s dead as a dodo.
They won’t replace even though I have spent £500 with them - not even one rose.
Guarantee is not worth the paper it’s written on. David would turn on his grave.
As this is the second request to replace dead roses I will be issuing a county court summons’s as its not fair. Don’t buy from this company.

"Really poor customer service"

Really poor customer service, regarding return of a rose. This company needs to treat its customers with more respect.

"Helpful Returns Team"

I purchased multiple bare root roses from David Austin last Autumn, and come Summer two of them hadn't made it. I phoned up and explained my predicament - they suggested I bear with them but logged my claim and said if they really didn't make it phone back in Autumn when they're selling bare root roses. I did this today and have now got two more roses on their way to me - customer service has been brilliant throughout!

"Company does not make good on their Return policy in any way!"

This is my second time ordering, the first time years ago I got bare root and everything was wonderful. Last year November of 2017 I ordered Darcy Bussell Rose from David Austin. It was very tiny when it arrived potted and extremely frail looking..I was not happy but I wanted to give this some time, So I have give this rose a whole year, rose is really struggling spindly, this is not my first time growing roses or english roses, I live in Sunny clearwater florida, I have babied this rose for year! I sent them an email and explained i was not happy with its perfomance and was told by Customer service email that I needed to " Prune" the rose according to their directions! there is NOTHING to PRUNE!! so I wrote them back explained I live in sunny fla, everything grows great here and my cheap roses from Ace Hardware and Walmart are thriving, and I would like a replacement, the wrote me back and said to give this 2 more years to grow and that I would still have time to fulfull their 5 year warranty!! I AM FURIOUS!! what kind of stuffy english runaround is this.. there IS NO REPLACEMENT OR ACKNOWLEDGEMENT of customer service. I will NEVER ORDER from them again they are MUCH MORE EXPENSIVE for the same thing from other companies!! I would have given them a bad google review but they do not even have this available.. this is a red flag.