Northeast Nursery (on Newbury)

On May 22, 2008, WinterStinks from Peabody, MA wrote:

Northeast Nursery does have a fine selection of plants, pots and gardening supplies. It is rather pricey as most annuals/perennials/trees/bushes that can be purchased elsewhere are a minimum of 20-25% more expensive than other places carrying the same plants, however they also have a nice selection of harder to find plants.. Most of the staff is helpful however the woman in charge (or at least this is her claim) of the Garden Center is severely lacking in customer service skills and is perhaps one of the rudest people I have run across in a retail establishment.. I had enjoyed shopping here very much until encountering this person. I had called them to ask the return policy for flowers and was told it would be replaced, then on my next trip there (a day or two later) I asked again to see if I needed to bring the flower and was told to dig it up put it in its original pot (of course I had to go thru dozens of containers to find it), then upon arrival the next day with the plant, I asked a third person and was told the same thing but asked to go thru the register for the transaction. After waiting in line I again told my tale and was told “WE DON’T NOT ACCEPT RETURNS ON FLOWERS” to which I told her 3 of your employees told me otherwise and she tells me “I AM THE MANAGER THEY DON’T’T KNOW THE POLICIES” which apparently neither do they as this is the guarantee for “plant matter” from their website [HYPERLINK@www.northeastnursery.com]
This claims it is 6 months from purchase for plant matter, but I guess it isn’t all plant matter just trees and shrubs (so Ms Manager informs me), but I am assuming they don’t want the customers paying the prices to know you are on your own once you load the car. When asked if this policy was written anyplace and after a minute of her thinking of where it was she points to a small 4” x 8” card taped to a cash register (one of 3) inside the store not at the outside flower registers which was also obscured by several other things in the area. Now if had I been told this when I asked the first time or second time or maybe even third to one of their employees, I would have never attempted this return and just made my purchases in the future carefully and selectively. .So after a prolonged argument over this she humored me and made the exchange only because this was creating a scene and she didn’t want the other customers in the area (there were 2 with large flower purchases to be made) to hear any of this. I don’t see why I am to be made to feel like a thief or a fool when it is their employees telling me what the policy is, I did read the policy from the website and then to be certain I asked not once, not twice but three times to 3 different people working there to enlighten me to the policies, but I guess it is my responsibility to read every last sign in the store and not to accept what I am told by their employees since they are not obviously trained on company policies. Now I have come to expect a lower level of service from Home Depot or Lowe’s (who ironically guarantee their flowers) but I expect much more from a Garden Center who should maintain a much higher level of customer service. I have spend a great deal of money on plants and gardening supplies a lot of which was at Northeast Nurseries, but after this experience you can be certain, they will never again see one penny of my money.

On January 10, 2008, Jax4ever from Boxford, MA wrote:

I shop here regularly. The plant prices are a bit high (the location is prime retail), but you can find almost everything, including some of the more unusual hostas. I purchased my "Ice Age Trail" and "Wolverine" hostas here; previously, I had only seen them on line. Also, the garden shop hasn't been completely taken over by gift items; they still stock lots of seed and bulbs.
BUT, where Northeast REALLY shines in in there HUGE selection of ceramic pots!!! It's staggering- any color, any shape. Some are very expensive, but I've found bargains aplenty. Besides, if you need just the right container, it's worth paying for. If Northeast doesn't have the pot, it does not exist!