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Sarah Raven customer complaints on dahlias - any response?

Sazz101Sazz101 Posts: 248
in Problem solving
Has anyone had a response  from Sarah Raven customer care in the last 2-3 weeks? The auto response email explains they are very busy so expect a 7 working day response time. I’ve been waiting over 2 weeks, in which time the replacements I have requested are OOS. 

Ordered 11 dahlia tubers. Three were very small on arrival since the larger pieces had fallen off. Two of the three failed to thrive and have had stunted nubs for the last 2 months while all others are at least 1 foot tall and bushy. 

Wanted replacements. Not sure if that’s reasonable. Wondering if others are in the same boat?
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  • celcius_kkwcelcius_kkw Posts: 753
    Two out of fourteen of mine have not sprouted at all. The rest are growing quite nicely - some more vigorous than others but I am happy with those. I’ll give mine another week (I potted mine in March) and I’ll dig them out of the pot and check - if there’s nothing or if they’ve rotted then I’ll get in touch with them.
  • Hostafan1Hostafan1 Posts: 34,889
    I bought mine in B&Q. Pack of 2: £3 , or £7 for 3 packs.
    Great fat tubers ( which you can see before you buy ) and all have grown wonderfully.
    Devon.
  • Sazz101Sazz101 Posts: 248
    Thanks @Hostafan1.

    Every year the SR dahlias are a trial. Small tubers or wrong variety or late arriving, but I never learn. The online pictures are too pretty to resist 😬
  • Poly-anthusPoly-anthus Posts: 155
    I agree Hostafan.  I bought all my summer bedding plants last year from either Tesco or B&M and they were just as good as the ones I usually buy from the garden centre at double the price.
  • ciaranmcgreneraciaranmcgrenera Posts: 313
    edited May 2021
    Hostafan1 said:
    Sazz101 said:
    Thanks @Hostafan1.

    Every year the SR dahlias are a trial. Small tubers or wrong variety or late arriving, but I never learn. The online pictures are too pretty to resist 😬
    Some folk are very sniffy ( snobbish ? ) about buying from supermarket  / diy sheds, but if you look at what you're buying ( which you can't do online ) you can get great plants at really good prices. 
    The main drawback is that in garden centers and DIY shops at least here in Ireland the choice is nowhere near what you might see on Farmer Gracy or SR. It’s bloody dangerous going on their websites, on Monday night I ordered 545 Autumn planting bulbs from FG!
  • Uncle MortUncle Mort Posts: 77
    I buy my Dahlias from Halls of Heddon and have never had a failure. This year I purchased Coral Jupiter, Hillcrest Royal and David Howard and are now planted in the border growing away happily.

    Now watch a late frost go and prove me wrong.
  • Mrs FishMrs Fish Posts: 1
    I had a similar problem with Sarah Raven - I didn’t receive all my tubers. I ended up complaining using the online chat function as I still hadn’t had a response to emails for over a month. The chat function worked well and they gave me a refund. They claimed never to have received my emails. 
  • bcpathomebcpathome Posts: 1,313
    I made the dreadful mistake of getting my dahlia tubers on line from Amazon. Oh blimey never again. They arrived all in bits .I did plant them just to see but as I thought no luck .
  • Sazz101Sazz101 Posts: 248
    Thanks for the recommendation @Uncle Mort. I need to ween myself if SR. The reality rarely matches those beautiful online pictures. 

    @Mrs Fish I will try the online chat, great tip!

    @Hostafan1 I agree budget is good. Wilko is my source for almost all gardening supplies. As @ciaranmcgrenera says, the online variety of dahlias is rarely matched locally for me. Shame it’s such a quality gamble.
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