Advice needed - fruit trees

I purchased 5 fruit trees from Gardening Express and after 5 days in transit they finally arrive in a long thin box no bigger than 4" x 4" at the top and bottom. Inside there were 5 thin twigs, some of which looked dead and others had an odd leaf or two on them and they looked diseased. They were all bound together and the roots were bare and in no soil, just cling film around them.

I was disappointed with the quality of trees I had received. Nowhere in the advert did it say they would arrive in this condition. The advert also said they would fruit in their first year but it doesn't look possible.

There is a site called Trust Pilot where people provide feedback on organisations and there is a track record of this company selling dead, dehydrated and poor quality plants.

I sent emails and pictures to Gardening Express and I finally got a response yesterday saying if I return the dead plants they will send new ones. However, they said I was responsible for the cost in returning the dead plants to them which is ridiculous. The box is over 1m long and the cost of return by recorded delivery is around £7. The trees were £15 via a Groupon deal where the true price is around £75.

Does anybody know what my legal rights as a customer are and should I be responsible for the return postage cost? Any advice would be greatly appreciated - all I want is quality trees or a refund without additional expense.

 

they are a nightmare company how they are still going is beyond me , pity you never asked on here 1st about them ..... I bought a plant from them and it arrived in its pot with my address on the pot , nothing else covering the shrub in full leaf !!! and half dead as it also got delayed in the post for 3 days (I wonder why) I was amazed you had a reply so soon .....

you will have to pay p&P to send them back if they did not state free returns when you bought them .... as far as I know.

 

I have just found this on the Internet -

If goods are to be returned due to being faulty, the consumer is entitled, under the Sale of Goods Act 1979 (as amended), to return the goods within a reasonable time after purchase and claim a full refund plus any other losses that have been incurred as a direct result of faulty goods being supplied, such as the cost of postage. Where faulty goods are returned the refurbishment charge, and/or delivery charges cannot be deducted from the costs.

According to this, as a consumer if they want the goods back then they need to pay the costs.

The reviews on Gardening Express on Trust Pilot are all the same - bad products, bad customer service. When will this company learn.

The companies that are usually on Groupon are usually failing businesses I read on the Internet. I can well understand where this company fall short.

As you say, I should have asked the question on this site if anybody has had any previous dealings with Gardening Express and their products.

 

I'd definitely claim a refund rather than a swap or you'll end up with more poor quality plants.

 

Yes I agree. I won't make the same mistake twice.

I have now notified Groupon, who have passed the matter to their case team.