Houston Garden Centers — Attraction in Houston

Summary: I had purchased almost $500 of plants in the past 3 weeks and 4 day lilies I bought from them ended up being infected with a fungus (day Lilly streak) to which they will not take any ownership. The lady on the phone actually rudely turned it around on me and said why did I buy them if they are diseased. I expect and trust them to be experts in plants and not sell plants with fungus or if it happens maybe don’t offer exchanges but treatments at the least. It is impossible for a non plant expert to know about every disease. Buyers beware and just know what your experience will be if you have any issues with what they sell. I personally will be going to other nurseries not based solely on the plants (because everyone makes mistakes or it takes time for things to develop) but because of the lack of ownership and customer service.

Detail: After purchasing 4 day Lillie’s less than a week ago which had some small dots on the leaves but I didn’t take it too seriously when I purchased them. I am not an expert in plants just to preface this and I expected them to be selling healthy plants. About a week after I purchased them these are turning into streaks on the leaves (see pictures) which is actually caused by a fungus after I googled it. I called in asking what they normally do about this and was promptly told all sales are final and they will do nothing. I was taken aback by this and asked they won’t do anything about this and the lady confirmed it again and asked if they were diseased then why did I buy them rudely turning it back on me. You would not know about the streak until later when it develops nor am I an expert in plants which I expect that expertise to come from them. So beware of this when thinking about doing business with them as I will no longer be supporting them. The least they could offer were the chemicals to treat diseased plants they sold. They are there for the money but not there when anything goes wrong even when it’s...

Beware of the All Sales Are Final, No Returns or Exchanges policy! We were looking for some good ideas for plants around a pool. Asked a sales associate for some advice and they recommended (pointed out) a certain grass... said it would not drop stuff into the pool and that it would look great around the pool. We took her advice and bought a ton of them. When we brought them back to our home, we were told by our landscaper that this grass was absolutely not suitable for a pool setting, as it has sharp leaves that will cut kids wearing swimming suits. As well, he said that this particular grass grows to be quite large and is mainly used as a privacy barrier when you don't want to build a fence. Houston Garden Centers will not allow us to exchange the grasses for another more suitable plant, even though their associate recommended the grass to us. Why didn't they simply say, "Well, sir, because of our policies, we are not able to offer advice or recommendations"? That would have certainly caused us to do more homework on our own rather than seeking professional assistance from people who are in the business and work around plants all day long.

Outside of the policy that needs to be known by all, the people I spoke to on the telephone were very rude. I had seen the 20 reviews with most only giving Houston Garden Centers one star, so I was expecting poor treatment. They did not disappoint. Unfortunately, when you are in the service business, dealing with people, you lose the right to a bad attitude. HGC's employees could sure use a bit of training in politeness and...

Horrible experience with the “manager.” Simply asking for assistance regarding plants I was unable to plant yet and wanted to know if there was anything I could do because I didn’t want them to die. Instead, I was met with a very rude “Chris” who I asked if I could please speak with anyone who would help me figure out what I can do to ensure the plants didn’t die since there is a no return policy. He said no. I asked if maybe his supervisor or manager could give me some direction. He said “she’ll yell at me.” And I asked, if he was refusing to to ask his supervisor what I can do in the meantime? He said, “Yes, I’m refusing to call her.” I then asked what his name was and he said Chris and then I asked what his last name was and he said, “Chris” clearly with the intention of being rude for reasons unbeknownst to me.

I was asking for help and advice, and instead I was met with someone who was so unbelievably rude and treated me with utmost disrespect for reasons I will not know other than I must’ve interrupted his music listening time since he had to take his headphones out when I asked for help.

I will not be going back and I would advise against shopping here if you’re looking for any kind of assistance or even just basic decency/manners. Not something I was expecting from a...