Maybe you should try emailing customer service and letting them know what's going on. I had a couple of issues with Park Seeds in the past and complained to customer service and they more than compensated me for my issues and were very apologetic. Sometimes they aren't aware of what's going on with the technical side of things.

If you already spoke with CS and they didn't honor your purchase, then I'd say go somewhere else.

Linda

I just placed an order with Select Seed's,a few WSer's here recomended them,should get my seeds in a few days,shipping was $3.95per address.If you scrool through the posting here,someone listed a few good sources to order from,good luck to you.

I order from Parks occasionally, about once a year if they have a sale or something. I do this only because they have things I can't find elsewhere.

My biggest issue with Parks is their shipping charges. I have exchanged many emails with them to no avail. I don't think they care. They could increase sales a lot if they addressed this issue.

Karen

I agree, their shipping prices are awful.

I ordered a bunch of stuff from them in the late summer. When it finally shipped, everything was okay, except for when I got the miniature lamb's ear I ordered, it was mush. Literally, it was soggy and wet. I called and complained and they said they would send a new one right away. A week went by and nothing. Well I called and now it would be shipped until the spring. Real good communications. I might order from them again, but I will be leary of what and when I order. Not to mention, I have three iris out there that I ordered from them and they are not showing any signs of life, when all the other ones I got from them are.

I won't shop with either Burpee or Parks because of this rediculous postage expense.

I love Swallowtail Seeds for flowers, they have lots of seed in the package and shipping prices are decent!

GGG

I shopped FEDco....great seed variety, plus seed orders over $30 have NO shipping charge. Orders over $100, including tax, get a 10% discount. So, my order with Maine tax came to $102, but with 10% discount ended up around $90...for 80 packets of seed...including 2 8 oz packs of beans, and some other 2-8 oz packs of seed.

My order came in 10 days. Use the online Quick Order form...just enter the seed code number on each line. If you can't finish your order it gets saved for when you want to finish.

Only thing is I wish their catalog was available other than PDF or snailmailed...ie online ordering catalog.

Park has some very interesting seeds for unusual items each year. I occasionally buy from them.

I really like Pine Tree Garden Seeds in Maine: www.superseeds.com/ They have a nice selection with some unusual seeds. They also have seeds by country/food type such as Italian, French etc. They also have the friendliest customer service people I have ever encountered. There prices are quite reasonable too. They grow most of their seeds right there, I believe. They have nice nursery stock, and great sales on books. They have a guarantee.

I have gotten great seeds from many companies. If we are talking plants, that is another thing. I have gotten great seeds from Gurney's, but a few plants arrived dried out. They were happy to replace them. They have more of what I would call "Farm Seed": selections that you can find in the store of the more commonly named seeds. They do offer great large amounts of things. I have bought bean seeds by the pound from them. They usually offer a $2 off a $50 order.

I agree with other posters about the customer service issue. Are they willing to work with you? If not, try someone else--especially if they won't honor their coupon.

Good luck,
Robin

My three faves for cheap seeds:

Pinetree
Diane's Flower Seeds
Valueseeds

Next year I'm giving Fedco a try. Great selection, and reasonable prices, I just got their catalog too late for this season.

Bonnie

Hmm, I buy from Park's every year. This year I bought about a dozen packets of seed from them and the shipping was $4.95. Billiejoebob, were you buying plants or seeds?

:)
Dee

Swallowtail seeds are a great source and shipping is low, also geoseed.com, but you have to order an catalog, and it has no pictures, but good prices

I refuse to order plants off Parks,lousy plants. When I complained I called, not emailed and was given gift certificates to use.
For seeds, I think alot of us would agree that we try the seed swapping forum before we place orders. I would never be able to afford all the poppy seeds I want for this season wthout that forum.

I had a problem with Parks last year. Dummy me orders from them again during the holiday season and encountered a totally different issue. (Long story) The reason I broke down a second time was to get the items I THOUGHT I couldn't get anywhere else. Ultimately I did find those items elsewhere after paying an arm and two legs to Parks...I won't fall off that wagon a third time!

I highly recommend Summer Hill Seeds, (who I found out later had all the items I purchased from Parks) and Swallowtail Garden Seeds. Both are A+ in my book!

You should take time to rate companies, positive or negative, in Garden Watchdog. It helps other gardeners. Also, apparently many companies monitor their ratings because they post to negative rating threads and sometimes offer compensation to the person complaining.

Karen

You can try:

Pinetree Seeds
Territorial Seeds
Bakers Creek Heirloom Seeds

All are reputable and have good reviews on Garden Watch Dog.

My eight item order from Parks only had a $4.95 shipping charge. All seeds.

According to their catalog, the shipping for orders over $100 is 14% of the total. For $190 that would be $26.60. Still seems excessively high for a seed only order.

I order from Parks at least twice a year...I've never paid more than 7 bucks for shipping, even when I was getting something like tomato towers or something like that.
Are you ordering something that oversized (like a greenhouse or something)??

L

Hello all,

Thanks for all the responses. I'm going to take your advice and do some shopping around.

My order was for seed only by the way. No plants or large stuff.

I placed an even larger order with burpee and shipping was $11

Billyjoebob,
I'm not sure about the shipping, but two other places I tend to order from are Stokes Seeds out of Buffalo NY, Seeds of Change, and Richters out of Ontario CA. All of them have websites. You can check them out and see if they work for you.

Linda

See, now that's weird! I was going to place an order from Burpee of three seed packets, but the shipping was $4.95 - the same shipping that Park's charged me for a dozen or so packets! Go figure...

BTW, I didn't place the Burpee order - couldn't justify over $16 for three packets of seed.

Anyway, yes, Billiejoebob, do shop around. There are several good seed sources mentioned here, and you'll find one you'll like, I'm sure. Have you tried ValueSeeds? They are a division of Thompson and Morgan and while their selection is not always great, their prices are wonderful (.49 to .99 for lots of things) and their shipping is something like .99 or $1.99.

Good luck!
:)
Dee

I like Park Seed. You definitely have to call them though to get a lower price on shipping for seeds. The price on the web site is for plants and they have a different rate for seed only orders. I made a big order when they were having a big sale, and the customer service person was very nice and patient - giving me the web sale price for each pack (which she had to override manually), plus a 15 percent discount on top of that for a coupon code I had, plus the lower shipping price. I couldn't ask for more than that.

Of course, the most important thing I love about Parks is that I always get great germination. Last year I had 2 packs out of about 40 that didn't germinate, and they sent replacement packs - no hesitation. Just my 2 cents!

Deb

I did the garden watchdog and it does get you a response.

I won't buy from them again, but I did appreciate their response. Mr. Johnson was his name and he called me because I had bought so much in the past. He did admit they have a problem with their shipping and was addressing the problem has we speak. He's supposedly sending me a coupon for 40% off my next order. We'll see. I thank all of you for your responses and places to buy.

I have not ordered from Parks for the last 10 years and would not recommend them to anyone.At one time,I thought they were awesome.I spent tons of money on seeds that didn't germinate,roses that died and on and on.I love Burpee seeds.I get great germination with their seeds.I have tried some of the others and order a few things,alot from value seeds.But Burpee is still my no. 1 pick for commercial seeds.The best of the best though come from the swappers and generous gardeners right here on GW.
moonphase

Someone mentioned Geo Seeds. Yes you have to get their hard copy catalog, but shipping and handling is $4 if you order less than $100 and FREE if you order more than $100. They have almost exclusively cutflowers, bedding plants, and perennials and are aimed at professional growers. The prices are very good.

On packs you can go to Order from Catalog and than you get different shipping cost.
I like Packs seed, never had problem with germenation their seeds. Last year i ordered from different companies and had problem with germenation.

I have never ordered from Park because of high prices and high shipping. I don't order from Burpee either. I take my chances of finding something I like when the seed racks go on sale at 50% off. I do order from ValueSeeds because they are Thompson and Morgan seeds at a reduced price. The selection is not that good, but I always find something I want. I used to order from Pinetree all the time, year in and year out, but I found that I was not happy with the quality of the plants I had from their seed. I started to suspect that they are not as good at quality control as I thought they should be. The disappointments got to be too many and it outweighed my happiness over the prices. They are also small amounts, which suited me at one time but doesn't anymore. Have ordered from Select Seeds and that worked out fine but not cheap either. FEDCO is a great company. They are as good as Johnny's Seed but much cheaper IMO. Lots of seeds for the price, good selection. Shipping prices were great. Fragrant Path is a great little seed company, good quality, good prices and good shipping price.

I just wanted to remind everyone that there is a rating forum on GW. You can post about your favorite or least favorite vendors. You might want to look there for ideas too. Garden Watchdog is great too, I use them a lot.

pm2

I, too, have written Parks off this year because of their shipping policies. I forgave them for applying non-sale prices on sale items to determine their crazy shipping charges but I completely lost it when I figured out they also use the *FREE* seed pack to determine those costs. Grrrrr

My favorite seed sources are Swallowtail and Heirloomseeds.com. Good selections, fair amount of seeds at decent prices with reasonable shipping rates.

Never again Parks!

Michelle

My last order with Park's was for seeds only, no plants, no other products, just seeds. The charge according to my calculations should have been $4.95. Some of my seed items were on sale so they charged me $7.95 because the system calculated shipping charges on the sale seeds like they were regularly priced.

I did contact the company both via phone and email. This is how I found out that the *FREE* white cucumber seeds (uck) were also figured in to calculate shipping.

Parks for the most part told me to get over it, the rates for their shipping prices ares clearly outlined on their website and the prices stand as they are.

Very strange to read this all, i have completely different experience with Parks. First time this winter i wanted to buy some seeds but when i saw shipping cost on web site, i contacted them and they told me that they can use catalog prices if my order is seeds only. I have not ordered at that time because some seeds that i wanted were not in stock.
Week ago i went to parkseed.com, clicked "Catalog Quick Order" on green menu on bottom of main page, filled the form and got 2.95 as shipping for my order under 10 bucks.
Last year i have ordered some seeds from Heiloomseeds.com and got 0 germination rate on one package and wrong seeds in another. They did not want to talk to me until i told that will report them on the forum, then they told that they can replace seeds.

I have had wonderful experiences with Swallowtail, Pinetree, and Select Seeds. T&M has many unusual things, but my germination rates have been kinda random with some varieties with them, where I've had no problems with germination with similar varieties from some other sources. I've heard that JL HUdson is also excellent and have spent a lot of time on their site although I've never ordered from them.

Spartangardener - JL Hudson (JLhudsonseeds.net) is GREAT! I highly recommend them.

The only negatives they have on GardenWatchdog are from folks who didn't follow directions for filling out orders and paying (they're a small operation so online ordering is through an email to them, followup with Paypal payment. Easiest way to order is to have 2 windows open - one with the email and one with their catalog - just copy their description line to the order - if you don't want substitutions - I just put PLEASE NO SUBSTITUTIONS at the top of the order). I found it so simple and fast, their turnaround was fantastic. They had seeds of things I'd seen on High Country Gardens, elsewhere as plants only, and not been able to find anywhere as seed. Fantastic selection. As said earlier - good prices and 20 packets and under shipping is just $1.50. Can't say enough good things about them.

I thought I saw this mentioned before, but in rereading I can't find it so here's another: Heirloom Acres.

http://www.heirloomacresseeds.com

They're inexpensive and will send out a paper catalogue to you quickly. The catalogue is black & white with no pics, but I'm good with that when it keeps prices down. And the folks there are nice if you need to call them.

I also swear by Johnny's - johnnyseeds.com - although they aren't cheap. Johnny's has the best tomato and pepper varieties to be found and the seed is top notch. They're also friendly and will answer any and all questions you may have about their seed types. And their catalogue is gorgeous.

Another favorite of mine is Nichol's - nicholsgardennursery.com - partly because I like Rose Marie McGee so much. I've called several times with questions and she's actually answered the phone herself! I can truthfully say I've never been disappointed with anything ordered from Nichol's.

Gurney's still owes me $90 from several years back when they went bankrupt. I sent a check, they cashed it, and that was that. I'm still burning over that one. Should've used a credit card, I reckon.

Richter's sends great seed, but they aren't the best communicators in the world. They used to have the really hard-to-find stuff, but not so much anymore.

I love heirloomacresseeds, and will continue to buy all of my herbs through them, plus other flowers etc. Their prices are low, shipping is low, and they state their germination percentage right on each package. Plus, you get your seeds quickly.

I think I am also going to try out watersuntogether? (I think that is what it is called). Their prices are low, and they have quite a good selection (for me).

I received my first order from Crosman's Seeds in E.Rochester NY (my home town). Very good prices and the packets are really full. I only ordered a few and I believe I paid 2.25 for shipping.