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Most appalling experience from B&Q

msqingxiaomsqingxiao Posts: 482
in Plants
In late May the roses at my local B&Q were on sale, so I thought it would be nice to buy a couple to celebrate the Queen's Jubilee. Bought two, one white and one light pink, and planted both in my front garden. Both are now flowering, but one's colour is totally different from what's shown on the label (Bush Rose 'Pink Lady'). I went back to the store and showed them the photos, labels, and receipt. Even before I raised any request (I would have settled for a small refund, given that I don't want to dig up the rose and send it back), the lady in charge of the garden centre there just dismissed my claim in an almost bullying manner, and said that "it's nature", and also that I need to prove the rose I planted is the same one that I bought.

On one hand, I now feel lucky that I resisted the temptation to buy one of the more expensive "Jubilee roses" there. But on the other hand, I'm quite appalled to realise that when you buy relatively expensive plants of a specific variety that you want, sometimes they can turn out to be totally different variety and you have very little consumer protection in those circumstances??

Anyway, I'll explore different ways to try to resolve this matter. Sent a complaint email to the store manager to start with. Will see if this gets me anywhere. If not, I'll try the card charge back route. Would like to hear you guys' suggestions too. Money is not big, but I just found their practice totally disgusting, and it seems to be their usual and long-standing way of treating customers.
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  • bcpathomebcpathome Posts: 1,313
    But you have 2 lovely roses for£18 that’s not even the price of one rose from a rose grower .Just look on the bright side ,the pink rose may not be quite the colour you wanted but celebrate what you have and let B&Q get on with it .Just don’t go there again .That’s my advice for what it’s worth .
  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    It is B&Q' s  not the purchaser's dispute is with the grower.  ( Sale of goods act 1979 ( as amended) )
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • msqingxiaomsqingxiao Posts: 482
    bcpathome said:
    But you have 2 lovely roses for£18 that’s not even the price of one rose from a rose grower .Just look on the bright side ,the pink rose may not be quite the colour you wanted but celebrate what you have and let B&Q get on with it .Just don’t go there again .That’s my advice for what it’s worth .
    Thanks. The roses do look lovely but it's really not the colour that I wanted for that location, so I'll have to dig it up and relocate it or give it away at some point. I've also ordered another two much more expensive roses from another nursery. Now I fear if they don't turn out to be the ones I specifically want, it would be terrible. 

    I've ordered many other plants from online retailers over the last year or so, and so far only one or two turned out to be wrongly labelled, and they are much cheaper, so I didn't bother. But with B&Q, it's more of the staff member's attitude that I'm most dissatisfied about. Can't imagine them treating other potentially vulnerable customers that way.

    Also found this article which clearly says that consumers do have the rights under such circumstances:
    https://gardening.which.co.uk/hc/en-gb/articles/115000696725-Know-your-rights-when-shopping-for-your-garden
  • msqingxiaomsqingxiao Posts: 482
    edited June 2022
    pansyface said:
    Well, as someone who spent all of their working life dealing with the public all I can say is that sometimes you just have a bad day and then somebody comes along at the wrong moment and your “professional face” slips and your “pissed off” face is what they get.

    Maybe the assistant was having a bad day.
    Yup, totally agreed. Otherwise I can't think of a reason to rather totally piss off a customer than issuing a refund (possibly even in voucher) for three or four quid. That's also why I didn't bother arguing with her in the store. I said fine I've heard your response, I'll go back and try to resolve it in another way, while she was still repeating "but you are not listening to me..."

    Just had a look at the store's Google review, and they seem to have a reputation running, of the staff member and store manager included, not interested in customer service at all. I've initiated the complaint process from the website anyway.
  • EmptyheadtimeEmptyheadtime Posts: 366
    B3 said:
    It is B&Q' s  not the purchaser's dispute is with the grower.  ( Sale of goods act 1979 ( as amended) )
    Sale of goods act was replaced by consumer rights act in 2015. If you are going to go this route with the store and it’s under 30 days, you can claim a refund for goods that are of unsatisfactory quality, unfit for purpose or not as described and the store cannot refuse a refund.
    https://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/regulation/consumer-rights-act-aKJYx8n5KiSl#how-long-do-you-have-to-return-a-faulty-product
  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    edited June 2022
    Some people seem to be always in a mood for a row.

    (Pink) roses can change hugely from month to month, season to season, country to country. Tbh, even if you get the rose you were wanting, it can change so vastly over time, that you can end up unsure if it will fit with a tight colour pallete. I have roses that go from the darkest red, plum, crimson to fuchsia pink on one plant. Maybe just keep an eye on the roses over the years and see what it does as it matures. You might end up liking it.

    The problem, I find, with trialling roses, is that we take a punt and then have to wait three years or more to see what it fills out to be. That's a long time if you are planning on moving or have a very small garden. I spent at least five years choosing the "wrong roses" and giving them away before I found ones that worked for my garden; it is all part of the learning process, but frustrating and a long way around. The same with trees. I planted crab apple trees and found they were not remotely the ones labelled (bright pink blossom). It's a long game.
  • ShepsSheps Posts: 2,236
    edited June 2022
    I had a great experience in B&Q yesterday when I found this for £7.10 per L

    Absolute Bargain...


  • PosyPosy Posts: 3,601
    It's not uncommon to find plants are wrongly labelled, unfortunately, and sometimes labels are badly printed or faded. However, I think the real issue is with B&Q. Good manners should be a priority, tough day or not, and there is normally an assumption that the customer is right. I think you should make a polite but firm complaint to the manager.
  • KT53KT53 Posts: 9,016
    I saw a similar situation in one of our local garden centres recently.  Two roses with the same label showing a photograph and name but the flowers were different colours.  Both reds but very different shades.  The flowers were both at the same stage of development so it wasn't a case that one had faded.  I assumed mislabelling, but maybe some varieties do have a wide colour range.
  • debs64debs64 Posts: 5,184

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