David Austin Roses Reviews

I used to have a fun and friendly experience ordering from David Austin's a decade or so ago in Tyler. Then, something happened, I don't know what, but everyone turned angry, hateful, B*tchy and problems with orders abounded. At the time, I had only ever bought David Austin Roses, for over 30 years. The 20 or so rose bushes I had was only from them, and I'm fairly sure no one within at least a mile had Roses of any kind near me. So, when I got Witches Broom Disease on 5 of my rose bushes after having recently planted a new order from them and two of the new roses quickly showed the disease on new growth, I called to ask for replacements. This was the year just before their new replacement policy was put in to place. They refused, I got ugly, and it wasn't a good situation, but they wouldn't replace any roses or give me any credit or assistance of any kind... None, Nada, Zilch! Moving on, I then placed another order with them for the 5 replacement bushes I needed, but they never shipped. I contacted them about May of that year (2019?) and they said they had forgotten the order, and it was too late to ship now (even though they were still shipping replacements). I had terrible trouble reaching them to ask management about this and finally got a terrible customer service agent, Terry I believe was her name, and her attitude was just horrid. I'm sure she was having a bad day, but what she said was uncalled for, and how they handled it was atrocious. I was trying to get them to wave responsibility and tp ship the order in May that they had forgotten to ship at my planting time. This was their fault and they admitted to it, but they didn't want to do anything about it! My son was next to me and heard what had been going on and said "Bad Business Practices". I replied to him briefly "Stupid Business Practices", while covering the phone with my hand, and Terry apparently heard me anyway and said "Fk You" and slammed down the phone! When I called back, I was met with terrible attitude and extreme rudeness, even from a manager, Angie, whom I had previously had a great relationship with. She said, "We had trouble with you before, didn't we?" regarding the roses that I had lost that they wouldn't cover. I explained to her that I was forced to accept your denial to help me in any way with diseased bushes that YOU sent me and move on, which is what I did. Now I'm here placing another order to replace them myself, which you forgot to ship and now you're people are cussing at me in the worst way? I learned that Terry thought I said Stupid B*tch, but it's still not how to handle the situation. Angie refused to do anything again and I eventually contacted their VP in the U.K., got 3 free rose bushes of my choice, but not after the order was again forgotten and I had to get special permission to ship them after the shipping time. I haven't ordered from them again. Based on what I hear and read on here and from others, I think it's time to write David Austin's off to their own selfish, childish narcissism and poor customer service skills or training by anyone who deals with customers! No one deserves to be spoken to or dealt with like this, and I don't care what you think was said, you don't address your dog this way, much less a paying customer. But, not only do they have trouble respectfully communicating with customers, they seem to even have troubles with the basic task of filling orders and keeping customers informed as to their status. They need to understand once again that they are the seller and we are the buyer! Act like you deserve the business! Because, if you don't service your customers, someone else will and, in fact, they have rather nicely!

They send me the wrong rose I bought 4 rose cost me $160 and they only refund me $43 they said they refund the other card I used I told them I don’t used card anymore so I told them to refund me in my new card I used right now, they don’t message me back they just want the money

Excellent customer service. Just had to call regarding a rose purchased 4 years ago! Explained the problem I was having and the steps I had taken. As it was a catalogue order they had a purchase record and are sending a replacement as soon as one becomes available! Fabulous, friendly and fair x

Having a HORRIBLE experience with guest services. Ordered bare root. Received no shipping updates, no expected delivery date, so we chose to go through another company. Website states you have 14 days to cancel your order. No caveats shown, or written anywhere. Customer services refused to honor the policy. Roses show up the next day along with all the shipping notifications. Very unhappy, hope this can be resolved.

I echo what other people are saying- the worst customer service ever. No way to get in touch, no response to voice mail, no roses. Now they are telling me part of my order is not going to be shipped. It's almost May and where are my roses? Never again David Austin.

I think that this is the 1st 1 star review I have ever written. I purposely chose a bare root rose that was in stock as I needed to take delivery and get the roses in the ground before it gets too hot (I live in Las Vegas).
As mentioned in many (far too many) posts, there is absolutely no customer service.
I appreciate that we are all going through a global pandemic but since day 1 of the pandemic I have taken my customers telephone calls and responded to emails. Some of my shipments to my customers have been delayed; however, I worked with my customers and kept them 100% updated. This total lack of service, other than immediately taking my money, is incredibly poor and I would definitely not recommend using this company.
I am now at the stage of looking for a full refund, but unsure how to do this as they don`t answer their phones or respond to emails (other than an automated response saying that they're behind because if COVID).
They should never have accepted my order if they weren`t able to meet it within a reasonable time.

My niece ordered me a rose for Christmas on December 26. When ordered, the site indicated a delivery date in as late as Feb due to the pandemic. It is a lame excuse, but fine, I live in Florida. Bare root roses should be planted in Jan or Feb, so it would be okay. To date, they have not responded to my emails. Their call center is closed for some unknown reason. Every other place in the US is operating - at least provisionally. If they can't fill orders, they should close the website. BUT they DO take orders AND charge the credit card, clearly without any plan to fulfill the order. It is now Mid March and too late to plant bare root roses in Florida. I have sent an email requesting a refund, and I doubt I will get a response from this sub-par company. It is absolutely deceptive practice to have an online store taking and processing payments without any intention of filling the orders in a reasonable amount of time.
Do yourself a favor, and order from a reputable company like Jackson & Perkins or Edmunds.
Update: I sent this review to them. Without so much as a response by email, within 48 hours, they shipped the rose. I soaked it and planted it. We are having some chilly weather, so I am hopeful the rose will survive.

I have used this company for many years but my last order was delayed.When i enquired they sent patronising e-mail saying there is a global pandemic?i did not know this.They claimed they couldnt compensate but i had not mentioned any thing about that.Very bad customer service its not the customer that should suffer .Im very sad as when SNR was alive he would never allow that.Did not bat an eye when i said i would never buy from them again. Be warned you will be dissapointed

Yes David Austen roses are beautiful, but by no means perfect. A lot of marketing for sure. I have had The Poet's Wife for years and the same thing happens every flowering season: the rose blooms, sits too heavy on its weak branch, droops and within a week or so, the bloom is gone. Thankfully there are several blooms. But always disappointing. Apparently these roses are known for this fault.

Beautiful packaging of healthy, gorgeous roses. And, when one of my standard roses did not thrive they replaced it straight away.

I don’t often do reviews but on this occasion I just had to write one. I ordered a Roald Dahl which arrived unbelievably quickly- within 2 working days. The rose was a lovely size, especially for the price, with lots of flower buds and some flowers already opened. It arrived in perfect condition, really well packaged (most, if not all, is recyclable) and brimming with cheer. It took the edge off of what I knew was going to be a really horrible day at work, and Is now potted up and takes pride of place in my garden. Over all I’m absolutely delighted with it and will certainly be ordering more roses from David Austin.

I received a standard Rose for my birthday .I just cut off the dead heads last year.It flowered earlier this year and I took off 106 dead heads in total ,it is now flowering again .At this moment the plant is full of blooms and I have already taken 30 dead heads off .
A neighbour was having very disappointing results with a climber and was about to put it in her bin.I took it and it has flowered last year and this and the growth is phenomenal. David Austin roses are superb.