Also to end on a positive note- I just ordered from Grace Rose Farm for this fall and am excited for those. I have heard great things about the size and health of their roses.

Rose, Sorry you had to go through that.

If you are ever in this situation again… you might want to calculate the amount that the roses cost against the ”pretty penny” that your trip cost to cancel. Add to that the emotional anguish of having to miss out on that trip. Add the fact that your parents or a neighbor or friend, could just put the box, unopened in a cool place and leave it there. Or open the box and put the roses in a tub of water which you could have ready just in case until you return.

I’m thinking you could have walked away from those roses and enjoyed your trip with your family… Just sayin’.

Rebecca

Rose,

I am very sorry for the problems you had. DA is having difficulty after the pandemic. Many businesses closed their doors & couldn't make it at all. DA couldn't send me one rose I ordered, either & sent so DA sent me a 2nd Emily Bronte surprise which I am giving to a friend. I realize we all love the DA roses & they are in great demand.. For them to recover, estimate our high popular demands & successfully meet all our needs seems difficult for them. I only hope they recover. I think we just need to be careful ordering from them for now until they can balance their business again. i’d just order a few from them & have a back up plan for now until they run their business well again. Someday we will all recover from the pandemic.

For the roses DA is sending to me, I am grateful! They will be beautiful!

The customer service does sounds bad, that's frustrating. A lot of people feel the same way lately, I've seen. But I mean, you absolutely didn't have to cancel a family trip over it, that was just your choice.

I wonder what DA, USA would do if people stopped ordering from them for a couple of years. Think about it. DA hasn't introduced anything really exciting for a few years, so in reality no one is missing anything. They will start asking questions. Maybe they will listen.

People are hunting down DA discontinued roses, the ones that they know grow for a particular climate/location. Roses like Evelyn, Radio Times, Munstead Wood, Heritage, Abraham Darby, Sharifa Asma, Graham Thomas, Lady Emma Hamilton, Pat Austin, etc. etc. There are some nurseries.... that now that DA kicked them out - are waiting for varieties to go off patent, and are selling the off patent, discontinued varieties legally. With great success apparently. I got 8 DA grafted on Fortuniana from K&M myself. I was fortunate (no pun intended!)

There's no excuse for such rudeness and total lack of professionalism on the part of that company. That sort of attitude comes across to me as if they think a customer should feel somehow priveliged just for the honour of ordering from them and giving them money! I've given up on nurseries for far less.

I have called DA and spoke to them in ordering & clarifying my orders. this spring, which was a good experience. Sending a gift of Emily Brontë to me was/ is a nice gester on their part. I have been in sales, & it is not always possible to give all customers a gift if their choice. -that would throw off their production a ton if all customers had a choice of a gift different rose. I may have waited a bit, but for a popular company, waiting a little is commin. . No problem. The customer service was courteous. They are very busy & not able to email back as quickly as some may wish. I am just grateful they are still in business.

DA has been working on fixing the quality of their roses & pandemic issue. Those were huge set-backs. That means throwing out tons iof RM roses , huge financial losses, & growing tons if own roots roses, possibly. Own-root roses take longer to grow than their grafted in the past, which is another set-back. Their estimating of supply-demand & complete reworking of their company to finction in a new way-must be amazing for them to take on that task. . I was grateful for the own-root roses they now are growing due to my NY climate. Due to pandemic, it meant reworking their entire company and somehow figuring a way to stay out of the red. I really dont know how they managed to stay afloat. I hope they will survive in the future.

I am glad they were able to continue and I hope they thrive in the future. Their roses are wonderful!

For those business that didnt survive the pandemic, I watched many businesses close. My city and nearby cities had tons of empty stores. It was devastating to those financially., The pandemic took a toll on everyone. Prices went up after the main pandemic. I saw many businesses recover that way. It is not easy for any if us afterwards.

I sincerely hope that we all work together to improve our economy and support many lovely businesses. I love DA roses, received lovely rose catalogs from them in past, lovely roses, & prices have been reasonable. I wish them the best! And for those of us with problems with orders, I hope you will find contentment iin the future.

I think it is easy for us all to forget what we just went through together--a global pandemic. The masks may be off our faces but the impact still ripples through everything. It is very hard for businesses to bounce back as they were before, and we need to give them some understanding. Mix all that with the fact that gardening became the number one fastest growing hobby because of it all and we are bound to encounter some hiccups along the way.

I do think DA needs to re-evaluate how they are handling customers on a human level. Of course customers are disappointed, they need to be sympathetic and do a better job at communicating, that's for sure.

I ordered Silas Marner and Elizabeth and they were shipped 2-3 weeks later than usual, arrived in poor condition and will not survive. I will request a refund, or replacement next year. I will send photos of the dead roses to them.

They did not ship The Huntington Rose as it did not meet their standard. They will refund me for this rose. They shipped an Emily Bronte for free as a goodwill gesture.

Sounds like they have had crop failures with certain varieties, this has happened on occasion over the years that I've been ordering from them.

I also ordered Princess Alexandra of Kent and this rose arrived in good condition, as did the Emily Bronte.

I've found them to be quite reasonable in the past in regard to honoring their guarantee, and I will continue to purchase roses from them.

Rose Sniffer (btw I love your name!), you did have a terrible time with customer relations. Disheartening and frustrating. I think you made the right decision for you to not order from them again...or for a long time.

I haven't ordered from David Austin since 2005. But I've depended on our fine local nursery and other online sellers, and acquired what I want easily until the last three years when Austin began having problems with supplying Edwards Greenhouse. If they can't do right by one of their best wholesale customers, they are going to have real problems with the individual customer. I'm glad haven't had to deal directly with Austin over the years. Diane

My parents are elderly. I am absolutely not making them plant anything or filling any sort of tub with water and leaving it for two weeks. I live in an apartment. There is no extra tub and no tub of water may be left outside for two weeks for mosquitos to breed to attack them or my neighbors. Nor will I be leaving any sort of box with plants in it for two weeks and have them just die. I don't understand the snarky comments. I did what I had to do to. DA completely forgot about my order and are ignoring me and for some reason I cannot complain? I merely wanted to express my frustrations and get some insight as to whether others have experienced similar situations.

And if they were not meant snarky, apologies. I just personally found those comments to be a little abrasive. For some, roses and trips are not "pretty pennies". For others, they are. And that is ok!

I just preferred to keep the plants alive and get them started instead of in the box for them to potentially deteriorate. Silas Marner was ordered potted. And I wanted to just get it over with myself instead of asking anyone to have standing water in their home for two weeks. Yikes!! Sounds like a big fine in a city! While I understand climate issues and supply can affect the process, DA is a pretty big company. They do make millions of euro. I do think they should be doing a better job at QC in general, but completely forgetting orders and ignoring customers is on a completely new level of "I will not support"! Until I hear that they have smoothed out the many wrinkles to give great products and service, I will turn to growers based in the US. Perhaps I can search for older David Austins with expired patents like Kimberly mentioned.

That thread of people waiting on roses from DA since January definitely is not surprising! I remember calling multiple times in March and early April and they said they cannot even give me any estimate. I also think the statement "Did not meet our standards" is applied no matter what the situation and it could also apply to simply overestimating how many roses would be available to sell. That would make the most sense to me as it looks like the list of roses that "did not meet standards" is pretty much all over the place.

Why do I get this weird feeling that people think "you shall not speak ill of David Austin Roses"! Their roses ARE iconic. I am obsessed as much as everyone else. But they are pretty much the world's most famous rose breeder and have more than enough resources to be able to reply to emails and fail to do it. My decision is a personal decision - Thank you all for sharing your opinions. And if you would like to, please mention your favorite USA mail-order rose nurseries that have NOT declined in customer service since the pandemic.

Nobody was snarky to you and nobody told you that you couldn't complain. So many people agreed with your main point. Some people just pointed out that you could have taken the L on the roses instead of your trip. You chose which one to prioritize, it's not a matter of criticism towards you but just pointing out that yes, you chose to cancel a family trip over possibly losing the roses for whatever your reasons were, but you didn't HAVE to, and that you might be happier next time just enjoying your vacation. Nobody is attacking you?

Hi Mischievous Magpie,

As per your comment above "But I mean, you absolutely didn't have to cancel a family trip over it, that was just your choice."

I was explaining why I did cancel my trip and why I had limited options. If I had not cancelled and gone ahead and the roses died, I don't think those roses would have been replaced and I would lose an entire season. My parents are in their 70s and still working 5 days a week. I realized a few years ago I have little time with them left. The one thing that makes them happy is a nice garden every summer. I chose to prioritize the roses over a trip I can reschedule. But these roses did not only come in on time, but they did not come in at all. That is why I'm upset. Hoping you understand my perspective and why I feel like comments like this suggesting I could or should have done something else are not only meaningless, but unnecessary.

I see your perspective. Not sure why you think someone suggesting a different perspective is meaningless and unnecessary though. You did write this on a public forum, and people answered with their thoughts, and nobody was rude to you. Good luck with your future rose growing ✌️

Understand that I gave up on David Austen, Ltd. decades ago when I realized they were incapable of shipping roses when reasonable people like Pickering thought roses should be shipped.

So to my mind, 'pre-pandemic' levels of service means the roses only arrive a month late.

Mischevious Magpie,

I thanked everyone for their thoughts! Telling me how I could have been happier if I had just gone on my trip IS actually unnecessary as I already explained why I chose not to multiple times. Yes I would have been happier IF I knew the roses were never going to come in! I was expecting them and that is why I cancelled. Guess what. They are still not here. Public forum means I can respond to your "perspective" comments. We can agree to strongly disagree.

mad_gallica,

It sounds like people are getting their roses very late this year. I can't believe it is basically June next week and people like me still don't have ours. While I know it has been a longer wait for warm weather this season, I am in zone 7 so definitely not cold enough to justify the wait.

"DA is a pretty big company. They do make millions of euro. I do think they should be doing a better job at QC in general, but completely forgetting orders and ignoring customers is on a completely new level of "I will not support"! Until I hear that they have smoothed out the many wrinkles to give great products and service, I will turn to growers based in the US."

I may be misinterpreting this statement, but it should be acknowledged that the roses sold by David Austin here in the USA are grown here in the USA, by a contract grower in Tyler Texas. I mean, DA doesn't send plants from the UK to the USA for distribution - we all know that, yes?

Hi Paul,

The company is still David Austin Roses. I was speaking about it as a whole as all branch performances still reflect on the parent company. The USA David Austin branch still makes millions.

I don't work for them so I don't know the division of revenue, but the plants themselves are essentially making money for the UK brand as that is where it comes from. Just like how car companies have factories in the USA but the money mostly goes to the original company.

@Rose Sniffer OK, I just wanted to make sure we were all on the same page. The paragraph I quoted could have been interpreted as saying that the plants sold here had come from the UK.

And I understand your displeasure with DA. I haven't bought a DA rose in 18 years and I have no plans to do so. (None of them thrive here, and I won't support a grower who is still producing/selling virused plants in 2023) I'm all for "cutting them some slack" given how difficult things have become in the past three years, but there is certainly a limit to how much a customer should bear before choosing to discontinue doing business with any company.

Paul,

I can see how it can be interpreted that way! I have received virused roses from them twice. Many have said mosaic virus is only cosmetic, but I still ended up being dissatisfied and tossed them. Maybe it was coincidence that they did not do very well, who knows. I still felt that a rose bought from a reputable source should be perfectly healthy with no issues. While I am glad that they have been replaced, I agree with you that it should not be happening in the first place.

Rose, For your information and anyone else who is interested…This was a screenshot directly off of David Austin’s website. The information was found under FAQ on the bottom of the page.

As you can see, my 2 weeks left in the box suggestion was not out of line.

Rebecca

Of course you can respond to my comments, nobody implied that you couldn't. I don't know if you think you're in an argument here or what, but uh... Yeah. Have a good day.

There really is no need for this negativity in regards to me cancelling my trip. It definitely does feel like you want to argue, Mischievous Magpie.

I really don't know what the issue is here as I have already told you both the reasons why I cannot do what is in that screenshot. I live in an apartment. I do not have a shed or extra tub and one of my plants were a potted rose.

The issue of the matter here is comments about how I would have been happier had I not cancelled my trip. Which again is irrelevant to everything. Please move on.

Btw, I received a standard almost generic email from DA saying that they would “soon prepare to ship my roses…” Just a couteousy email hinting they are starting to think about my order.

…..& a month later I received another email saying that ”one rose I ordered didnt meet quality standards….. offering refund…. or 2024 delivery.” I accepted refund & they sent me a gift free Emily Bronte. I received all other roses that I ordered nicely from them earlier.

Is that what hapoened to you, Rose Snifer?

That first email I received from DA did not state a date when they would ship my roses or a number of days….. so I didn’t make any plans to receive them yet. I dont make plans unless I have a date they are coming.

You say DA sent you an email that ….”your roses will ship in exactly 10 days?” I have never seen them do that type of email before. Do you still have that email to show us? Usually they only give a delivery date when the roses ship-thats the only time frame type of email that I have seen for all my orders from DA. .

I ordered 8 roses this year from them & only 1 didnt meet quality standards so they refunfed & gave me a gift rose. They are the only company that gives gift roses, that I know of, very nice and a refund, both!

I get your frustration and I think your point isnt’t that you had to cancel a planned trip but rather that you shouldn’t have had to mske that choice and only had to due to poor communication by DA and not being very accomodating. I also agree woth the blanket crop failure email. I received the same notice regarding my order for LEH. It pisses me off because other people received theirs after I got the crop failure lie email. I’m iin Southern CA and could have easily received mine 2 months before I got them. Personally,I would have rolled the dice and gone on my trip and agree with @Mischievous Magpie (CO 5b), that was your decision and not DA’s problem so not fair to hold them responsible for that. I’m confused on what you ordered though. Were they bare root or potted roses? Maybe I missed it but I do not recall potted being available for order in January.

KittyNY,

I am glad to hear your rose order did not have too many issues. I am sorry that one did not meet standards. While Emily Bronte is lovely, it definitely is not a rose I would have selected if given a choice. I am more frustrated at their poor communication and blatant ignoring. Here is the email saying my roses would be shipped within 10 days (sent April 18th).

The only update I got before this email was when they said "we are currently preparing plants for your area, shipment window is between March-May". So that is when I gave them calls every couple weeks for estimated times. I remember I got this 10 day email a few days after I called them a third time. I emailed them on May 2nd asking about my missing order. They JUST shipped Silas Marner and Emily Bronte and it is now almost June. One random extra rose simply does not make me want to stay a customer. Everyone adjusts plans surrounding order dates. I believe I was very patient.

AllSass,

I am sorry you lost time because of shipment delays. 2 months is a very long time! I did not ask them to cover my trip cost at all. I simply wanted some type of compensation as a customer who paid for a product and did not receive it. They said they cannot send another rose instead of Elizabeth and I even expressed I would like to change which rose is sent instead of Emily Bronte. That email was ignored and they just shipped Emily Bronte anyways. They said I can only get a refund for Elizabeth and I can't get anything else for this year (another reason why I think they are having issues with overestimating how many plants they can sell- they must be all out or everything except for Emily Bronte). Adjusting plans around a rose delivery happens to everyone. If the shipment had come in it would have been ok. I would never have guessed it would take 6 weeks and am frustrated. I do believe it was listed as a potted rose. Maybe that is why it was not sent? A website error? Anything is possible at this point. Who knows.

Yes I really do believe it is a blanket statement. I see in that linked thread from January that people have received roses that other people said they did not due to "not meeting expectations". This includes Elizabeth for me, I see that people got theirs. The email I got from DA definitely made it seem like the plant across the board was not performing well, which made me think they did not properly trial the plant. But now I know that's probably not it.

Those of you who got free Emily Brontes, be aware that this rose wants to be a climber in many zones. Beautiful fragrance and old rose formform, constantly sending up 8 foot or higher canes. I like it a lot in my garden, just wish I'd planted it a climber spot.

I understand that DA is having a few glitches meeting all orders as we would like; however, I know it is mistakes & not on purpose. i am sure they will iron it out and give us great service in the future. They are still producing fine roses and again, if one doesnt wish the free gift of Emily Bronte then give it to a friend. I bought Emily B already so I am happy to give my new gift-Emily Bronte to a frien!d! My friend is very excited. My gift EB has a few nodes & I am going to grow her for awhile until she leaves & looks really good, put a ribbon on her & give her as a gift! My friend is so excited waiting for her!

Thank you, Librarian for the heads-up on EB height. I will fertilize my EB well as I love seeing climbers! I have about 17 DA roses & I am loving each new variety & addition!

I've tried pegging what I can. Here it is being friendly with phlox last year.

It makes a nice cut flower and has a wonderful fragrance.

Librarian, Emily Bronte is beautiful w/ your phlox & in a vase! Gorgeous arrangement! Thank you!

I agree! Stunning arrangement and vase!

Not meeting expectations couid be many things such as mature enough, having enough thick canes, growing in the right direction, & more. Being DA may be possibly the most popular roses on the market-that would be an amazing task to estimate supply & demand & switch the way they grow them frequently to own-root, which take longer to grow, & still meet the entire US demand!

I have been in marketing & sales for many years and we had a rule of thumb, ”no matter how you stock-up and think you have it all for future customers… they always surprise you & want whatever you just ran out of, Lol” No one can truly perfectly predict the future. It is an interesting field! I worked for a world wide very popular company, too.

I have a lot of patience and loving support for David Austin Roses! I know they will find ways to bless their customers in the future. I feel blessed now to even enjoy the roses I have been able to purchase from them.

My DA gratitude list-my roses::Beautiful Emily Bronte, new Silas Marner-what a priviledge, Munstead Wood-how magnificent, Anne Bolyen, Q Elizabeth, P Alexandra of Kent, Roald Dahl, E Vye, Bathsheba, Darcy Bussell, Mary Rose, Heritage, & more!!! I have 15 DA. What a gratitude list! And I know many others have these roses & more!!! They are gorgeous! Thank you!

And I hope those who had order challenges find peace and joy in this beautiful spring! With our beautiful sun coming out for us more and more days and blooming season for many of us taking off! It may be a time to make the best of what we have and try to enjoy this heavenly time of year!

See you on the Spring thread w/ your beautiful spring blooms! Take in the fresh air in your gardens, maybe you have a perfumed rose or flower to enjoy? Birds are singing! Mothers are givibg birth to baby animals! Enjoy a spring dinner? Oh, what a wonderful time of year! ,

Best Wishes & Happy Gardening!

🥀🌺🌷🌹🌸🌺🥀

I’ll have a big swig of whatever Kitty just drank.. Looking forward to beautiful sunshine, spring dinners, baby animals and birds chirping!

Youre hilarious , Ben! I agree that its hard to predict and Ive had many rose companys tell me my roses werent big enough. I know from growing hundred of cuttings that certain varieties lag in size and ae more difficult to root. This is the same even for large companies since plants arent machines and I dont believe any of these places use celll culture to propagate.However, customer service and communication is key. Heres to roses!

Thank you , Ben! Heavenly Spring! Let’s enjoy!

And Thank you, Vapor!

Cheers to a beautiful Spring!

Librarian - GASP!! That bouquet of Emily Bronte is stunning!!

Kitty - So true :) :)

I agree with the title, i think I'm done with DA roses because the ones coming out in the last few years are not impresseive enough. However, i was lucky, i had good customer service the last time i ordered which is 2020, one standard tree, Tranquility didnt come up to my standard and was damaged during shipping, i asked for a refund and they gave it to me.

@SoCalGardenNut, if you think they the roses DA has released in the past few years aren’t impressive enough than I invite you to come see (and smell) my Silas Marner. He is spectacular in every way!!! 🤩

@Ang NC_7B, sorry I spoke too soon. Silas Marner is beautiful. what I meant is they are very similar to the DA roses that I've already own. not sure i will buy anymore.

I skimmed through the thread and it sounds like a pain to get an order from them these days. I must have been lucky as I ordered a Munstead Wood last fall and I got it early this year just in time for planting, as expected.

I have ORA and it is still my best rose. It's almost like no others fill up a container with that shrubby habit as DA roses do, and I love the numerous blooms.

This was ORA this year - a bad year where most other roses under-performed severely. She did too compared to last year, but still somehow managed to perform. Almost irreplaceable.

Now I just want a LEH from somewhere.

Ang,

Oh,My, Silas M is so beautiful! I gave my Silas w/ a few nodes! So excited to plant Silas M How soectacular she is!!! Tgank you for posting your beautiful photos!