Midtown Garden Center — Local services in Miami

UPDATE: Immediately after I left this review instead of calling me apologizing for the subpar service I received and offering solutions to my complaints and my sick plant I received, a staff member calls me and proceeds to ARGUE and DEBATE with me about my review and my experiences. I was literally yelling and so upset that she would have the audacity to call me being defensive as if they are the victims and I’m wrong for posting my valid experience instead of having humility and offering to remedy the situation. They should be ashamed of themselves. I want nothing further to do with this business.

Initial Review:

The experience started off positively. It’s a beautiful garden and the young lady who helped me select my plants was very knowledgeable and very helpful. But then, the process slowly turned unprofessional, disorganized and disappointing to say the least. I scheduled a delivery of my plants. There were numerous instances over the week and a half while I waited for my plants to arrive, where there was miscommunication from being told one thing by one person and and a different thing by another person. The process of getting the COI for my building was that first instance. Then, the process of confirming that the pots that I wanted to buy for my plants was appropriate. I sat on the phone for two day and sent numerous emails back and forth regarding pot options before I bought them and was told that not only were they ideal for potting but that since there was no drainage hole that the labor that I paid for would include them putting a drainage hole in the pots. When the delivery arrived I was told the pots were not an adequate size for rocks to be put at the bottom for drainage as well as that they would not be adding drainage holes because they don’t offer that as a service. Also, I had to keep calling and emailing them to send me an invoice to even pay for the labor in the first place. One day I was told I would receive it by end of day and then two days later, nothing. I had to call them the evening before my delivery to request the invoice to pay for my delivery because they kept forgetting to send it to me! How unprofessional and unorganized.

Not only that, one of my trees arrived looking completely sick, malnourished and unhealthy. It’s a $120 tree that arrived covered in yellow and brown spots, holes, dead frayed leaf ends and covered in white fuzz in some spots. On top of all this, I was overcharged for soil. I was told to send them the dimensions of the pots so that they knew exactly how much to charge me for soil and they still went ahead and charged me for FOUR bags of soil when they only needed TWO, and then told me I had to come all the way there for a refund or issue me a store credit. I took the store credit even though I have no interest in dealing with this business again.

Their process needs to be more streamlined, organized and better documented. There needs to be one person handling the logistics of delivery, they need a better paper trail where they provide customers with all of the information that they need on paper or online to care for their plants, how to purchase the right pots, how to ensure a smooth delivery etc. There are simply too many chefs in the kitchen all saying different things because there is no documented method of operational structure. As a former operations Manager, I see where there process can be better streamlined. This business structure needs some work.

I will not be returning and unfortunately, and I also do not recommend purchasing from here. I hate to leave negative reviews that could impact small businesses, but this was just too much to sweep under the rug. I hope management reads this review and takes it seriously by implementing changes to their operations. This is unacceptable.

*And here are pictures of the SICK plant...

I have never written a review but this was some of the most UNPROFESSIONAL service i have received. I arrived at around 5:45pm, and started wandering around and shopping for plants. I had plants in my hand and was with a noticeable group of people, and first I noticed that none of the workers came up to ask me if i needed help or anything. It reached about 6:20ish and i’m shopping in an area when a worker comes up to me and says “uh, we are closed” to which i replied, “on google and apple maps your store says it closes at 7” (now it has changed on their google page to 6 instead of 7, but in my apple maps it says 9am-7pm everyday.) she said with an attitude “yeah but no it’s on our instagram that we close at 6” A proper business (especially when they have a storefront or physical location) should not and does not rely on one platform especially like instagram to write out their hours. What if a person (like me) found them through google or an article and not social media, or if i did not have an instagram at all? I travelled 45 minutes on my birthday to be at this place and get plants and what i got was two girls serving me nothing but pure attitude. If they saw me shopping for thirty minutes why didn’t they say anything? if they saw me walking in 15 minutes before closing time looking at plants and carrying a couple in my arms could they not have approached me earlier to tell me “hey we close at 6” or “we are closing the register now if you want to get anything in before we close it, etc.” they told me 20 minutes after their register was closed and when my boyfriend tried to talk to them to see if we could just pay cash after we drove so far, they looked at him and said “we are closed right now but you’re more than welcome to drive back here at 9am tomorrow” in one of the most condescending tones i have ever heard. I simply said, let’s go, they don’t want our business, and one of the workers looked me dead in the face, turned to the other worker, said a rude comment about ME, and they both started laughing like middle school bullies. IN MY FACE. This has been some of the rudest, most unacceptable customer service i have ever encountered. To laugh at a paying customer in their face?! SERIOUSLY. I would have returned to this store, but judging from other reviews written recently as well, it seems like i’m not the only one who has had a bad experience with their workers and service, and for this reason i will gladly take my business and positive energy somewhere else, where it will not be ruined by below average service. If i could rate the workers there tonight (12/18/2020) zero...

I really wanted to love it here after reading good reviews online and browsing their website. I was not a new plant owner and had done extensive research on the particular tree that I wanted to purchase for my birthday. After purchasing, my tree thrived in my home for about 3 weeks. I immediately contacted the staff via phone and when I started noticing small signs of trouble that I was told to look out for. Keep in mind, I also purchased a humid meter with my plant for accuracy. Although the staff was friendly, they didn't seem as knowledgeable as I had hoped and I had to call back many times as they would forget to return my call. I had realistic expectations, but within a 2-3 week period all of the leaves from my tree fell (after doing exactly what I was told to do). Unfortunately, the owner - Ninfa, refused to return my call/emails and instead spoke with her staff in regards to my concerns. When she finally got back to me, she sent me an email blaming the "trauma" for the declining of my tree and gave no helpful solutions. I wasn't expecting a miracle. I wanted to speak with a professional on how I could properly diagnose the issue. Needless to say, I will not be returning to this nursery. I have found others in the Miami area that are better priced, more professional, and have more Inventory. Don't be fooled by the distractions of midtown, pretty pictures online, and food trucks...go to a...