Petitti Garden Centers — Local services in Mentor

Ordered online from Petitti for the first time today. It was a seamless process. However, when I went to the Mentor store to pick up my order this evening, it started out weird. Firstly, when I parked in the lot and called the number in my email, it was busy (after trying a couple times and waiting). I gave up and went inside with my email in hand (as that is another option) and went to customer service. The older gentlemen (of note, two people, a mother and daughter jumped ahead of me in line and he didn't even flinch, but I digress), acted like he never saw such an order and upset me; it seemed like I pulled the email out of thin air or something. Or if online orders didn't exist. Anyways, I felt uncomfortable for a bit because he made it seem like I making up something when I spent some good $ in that store. It was not a long, drawn-out situation, however, and it was rectified quickly. I just wish the ordeal was dealt better and I wasn't made to feel awkward for coming inside to pick up an order. I ordered online so I didn't have to come in the first place! :)

Also, one the hanging baskets I received needed a bit of TLC, but all-in-all, the plants were nice and pretty. But that is the price I have to pay when not picking out my own plants, but I was content will the order itself. My rating is more for the in-store experience (and the phone number being busy from the get-go so I could not have the order delivered to my vehicle). I have always liked Petitti Gardens and have been a patron for years (not just in Cleveland), but this is the only time I had a sour taste in my mouth. I do not believe that I will patronage the Mentor site...

I only had one item—something quick and easy. But trying to check out turned into an awkward and frustrating experience.

There were three cashiers and two people at Customer Service, but it felt like we were invisible. At Customer Service, the older woman handed the phone off to a younger staff member for her to deal with and simply walked away—no greeting, no “we’ll be right with you,” nothing. Just… ignored.

We moved to a cashier finishing up with another customer, but as soon as she was done, she silently put up a “Lane Closed” sign and avoided all eye contact. The next cashier had a customer waiting for someone to grab another item, and instead of offering to quickly ring us up (again, just one item), he also put up a “Lane Closed” sign and said something to the effect of, “I can’t help you for several minutes.”

The store wasn’t busy. There were no long lines. It wasn’t chaos. It just felt like we didn’t matter—like they saw us and made a decision to act like we weren’t there. That’s a pretty lousy feeling to walk away with.

I understand things get hectic in retail, and I’m not looking for special treatment. But a little eye contact and a “Sorry, we’re closing this lane” or “Someone will be with you shortly” would have gone a long way. Instead, we left feeling unwelcome and disrespected. That shouldn’t be the lasting impression a local business leaves with...

I wanted to love this place. The selection of plants and many other things, was definitely a plus. But...

I called in ahead of time, asked for a specific plant, was given a price, drove 30 minutes to the store, and was told they can't honor that price! There was zero feeling of empathy from the manager. She was absolutely unwilling to bend or see my point that I drove a distance to come and get plants based on the price that I was quoted.

I drove away disappointed, left a one star review, and decided to come back and get the damn plants anyways. Because I want them for my wife. They are huge and beautiful and well taken care of, and frankly worth what they are asking. But I also felt that they could have met me halfway.

The cashier was nice, the manager was not so much mean, but definitely showed no signs of empathy towards my situation, not exactly polite either. I've changed my review to 3 because I have to be honest about it. But it would have been an easy 5 star review if she would have made even the tiniest gesture...