DISGRUNTLED customers have created a Facebook page dedicated to airing their grievances at a Reading-based garden centre company.

Based in Portman Road, Primrose Garden Centre operates as an online store selling a wide range of outdoor accessories.

However, the company has seen a flood of complaints recently, with the Facebook page 'Dissatisfied Primrose Garden Centre Customers' set up, described as 'a place for customers who have been let down by Primrose to share their stories'.

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Getting in touch with The Chronicle, one uphappy customer said: "[Primrose] has an increasingly bad reputation for horrendous customer service.

"There is a Facebook page set up for customers who are fed up with trying to get their cases heard, with complaints varying from items not being delivered to items of a poor quality or items being broken on arrival.

"Customer service is shocking, with no reply to emails, no phone number or postal address."

Among the several complaints of the Facebook page, Linda Kelly posted three days ago (July 31), saying: "I ordered and received a stone birdbath from Primrose, unfortunately when it arrived it was cracked.

"I have emailed them three times so far about returning the damaged goods but so far I have had no response and when I read all the posts on here I doubt very much if I'll hear from them at all.

"I have emailed the company that made the birdbath too, to let them know what a terrible service Primrose is providing."

The day before this, Ana Gill said: "I thought I was alone in having issues with this company, but it appears now, that I am not.

"At beginning of lockdown I ordered a tomato plant, runner beans and onions.

"Only the tomato plant arrived, so it's cost me £26 for a not very good tomato plant.

"I tried contacting them, but they have completely ignored me."

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Jacqui Mears is another who has been waiting for months.

She said: "We ordered a picot fence with solar lights.

"Was disappointed because they were not wooden they were plastic, and not suitable for purpose.

"We retuned them at the beginning of June and are still awaiting for a full refund.

"I have emailed them on a number of occasions - we haven’t got a single reply."

Some customers have advised people to persist with the company in order to get a refund.

Caroline Hellard said: "After my water feature arrive damaged in two places, I've finally got the compensation I wanted, it's taken weeks via messenger but keep going peeps and state exactly what you want!"

These are just a few of the many complaints posted on the page, all mentioning similar stories about poor quality or undelivered items followed by little communication from Primrose.

In a statement, Primrose have apologised to customers still waiting for orders or replies.

The company said the majority of its suppliers and warehouses have been able to resume normal service as of now, however there are still a few "facing difficulties" due to the pandemic.

A spokeswoman said: "We sincerely apologise to any customers who are still waiting for orders and/or a reply from our customer service team, and also for any inconvenience that has been caused by our delays.

"The majority of our suppliers and warehouses have been able to resume normal service now, however, there are still a few that are facing difficulties due to the lasting effects of the pandemic.

"We understand that some of our customers are still waiting to hear back from our team, and we would like to assure you that we've not forgotten you, and we appreciate your continued patience and understanding while we work through the unprecedented number of emails we’ve received.

"We are committed to responding to all of our customers and delivering orders or refunding customers where necessary.

"We apologise to the customers that have resorted to the ‘Dissatisfied Primrose Customers’ Facebook group and can confirm that we have been actioning any concerns raised in the group and over 95 per cent of queries raised by members are now resolved.

!We have a dedicated team working on social media to provide another channel for our customers to contact us on."

She added that the company's warehouse, suppliers and nursery teams are currently shipping more than 15,000 packages a week, with the customer service team replying to an average of 2,200 emails per day, with 10 new customer service agents recently added to further increase this number.