I shared my experience with "Back to Nature" and never received a response. I had an amazing experience with Country Mile Garden Center in Harding and would utilize their services in the future.
My name is Tim and I would like to share with you an experience my husband Bruce and I had at your store last weekend. We recently had some large trees removed from our front yard and were ready to do some landscaping. We went to your store expecting something more than just your average garden center. We walked around a bit before we went inside. We were surprised for the amount of time we spent walking around no one never approached us. We decided to go inside and find someone to help us. I have been in your store before for smaller ticket items such as plants, flowers, or other trinkets you have for sale. When we entered your store, customers were being helped and a woman behind the counter yelled over to ask if we needed any help. At this point we really needed guidance. We were looking for someone with expertise in this field to help us. We asked some questions and were met with a surprisingly condescending attitude. "We don't go out to homes because if you don't buy we lose a lot of money" and "we only deal with pictures" was what we were immediately told. (I have now discovered from your website it is a service you provide; landscape architecture was never offered to us an option) We could tell we weren't prepared to her standards and so my husband attempted to draw a diagram. I was able to pull up a GPS picture of the house to use and so we proceeded to go outside. We walked around for a bit and we discussed some of the options that we would could use for the area. Anytime we made any suggestions to what we might like was met with "You can't" "Really?" "I guess". I liked a few of the samples and when we discussed a planting timeline it was "Oh now? We're busy, it will be 3 to 5 weeks". My husband suggested our landscaper could possibly plant them and she responded with a curt "Ok, have them pick them up". After some more uncomfortable small talk, my husband and I thanked her for her time and we left. (terrible customer service) We did not speak to each other until we were out of the parking lot. At the same time we looked at each other and said "What the hell just happened?' As we were driving around, we passed Country Mile Garden Center in Harding. We decided to stop in to see if this experience would be better than our experience at your store. As soon as we started walking around, the owner came up to us to say hello and asked if he could help us. (I also want to add that they were pretty busy at the time) He called over one of his sons who immediately asked us how he could help us. He walked us around the nursery showing us and teaching us about the various choices we might like. I can't tell you what an amazing experience it was to deal with someone with such knowledge and passion. As we chose our specimens, he immediately tagged them as "sold". He informed us that if we needed something else it would not be a problem, if something wasn't right or not needed we could have it sent back. We talked to him about installation and he asked which landscaping company handles our weekly maintenance. He deals with numerous landscapers in the area and ours was one of them. He did not want to take business from him, so he is taking care of calling our landscaper and completing the order and setting up the planting schedule. The only thing we needed to do is to be home when they are going to do the planting. The time we spent in Country Mile was 45 minutes and we spent $3,400. (not including installation) Through this entire process, Country Mile Garden Center was friendly, courteous, and respectful.
My main reason for sending this email is to let you know that you lost a sale and a good customer last Saturday. I also want it known why we did not buy from you and the reason we will never be back. Maybe that is not a big deal to you. In the end, it worked out for us because they really provided a better selection and quality of product and much better customer service. I have to say that above all, the most important thing was how we were treated and we will be sharing this experience with our fellow residents in Basking Ridge. read more