Alton Greenhouses & Garden Centre

We have just moved house so bought quite a few items and would have been great customers as we are trying to establish a very large yard. Then the apple tree we bought started to look sick, leaves got brown spots, curling, falling off. I called and spoke to Bill the owner - told me it will have been frost damage even though we have had no frost since well before I bought the tree. He was rude and totally disinterested,unlike when I was spending my money. Took the tree back today. We were told we would have to wait for the Bill's wife Cindy to 'finish her break' so we were kept waiting until the owner had had her sustenance even though we had to get to work. Twenty minutes later Bill appeared, walked around the corner, not even looking at the tree, shouting 'there is nothing wrong with it!' Telling us any possible reason he could think of that it should be looking the way it did - that it was normal, us disagreeing as it didn't look anything like the tree we had purchased 3 weeks prior, - back and forth this went. The three employees who first saw the tree, all said it looked sick and our horticulturalist friend had said it was a diseased tree. When this was pointed out to Bill - he then said he had no authority to do anything about it - strange if he was an owner? 30 minutes after we arrived Cindy turned up - didn't look at us, nor apologize for the long wait, - instead asked Bill what was wrong with it - so clearly she thought there was something. Bill then shouted 'did I know how many people return plants and trees and expect a replacement or their money back!!!" Then threw his hands in the air and told me 'to just go and get another tree' So we got there in the end - we took a pear tree as no-one came to tell us what to have and the only other apple tree of the same type looked terrible too - probably suffering from the same disease as our tree. I don't think we have ever experienced such terrible customer after care and service. They are nice while you are buying, but got help you if you want to return anything. My advice is just don't buy from there, but if you have to, stand your ground and demand your rights. Surely, if they are getting multiple returns - shouldn't they be asking themselves why?- maybe the stock should be of better quality? We will be going to Sheridan Nursery from now on, the staff there are polite and knowledgeable plus they have a 2 year warranty.
1 9 years ago (13-06-2017)

Only place i would buy my plants .
5 10 years ago (20-11-2016)