Houston Garden Center and Rudeness

I wonder how many other folks have had the samen experience. My husband went to Houston Garden Center on I45 between 1488 and 242 (listed as the Conroe store), and asked for a pallet of grass. There were some workers loading trucks with grass so he got in line. When it was his turn, they ignored him and promptly went about loading the next customers. He finally asked one of them to load him, and the guy told him that he was busy, and to load his own grass. My husband said there were people buying grass by the piece....however many pieces they wanted. So....today my motherinlaw goes there, and asks for a half pallet of grass, only to be told that they only sell it by the pallet, which is untrue. They were very very rude to her, so she called corporate headquarters and reported them. She got no satisfaction. I think I will avoid them like the plaque at this point. And the customers they waited on were Hispanic. My husband is white. Imagine that. And what country is this??? Anyone have a similar experience?

I went to the Garden Center on Hwy 249 in Tomball and could not get anyone to help me find the Honeysuckle. I asked three of the guy who worked there for help finding it and they all said they did not know where it was or if they had any. The most helpful person was the hispanic guy at the gate but understood very little english. Why don't workers want to help customers. It is just good business sense. I was going to buy several plants but left frustrated because no one even attempted to offer any help.

I refuse to shop there any longer...This is the United States. Ifd they want to sell here, they need to staff their stores with people who can speak the language.

We thought it was just us. We went to the I45 location between 242 and 1488. We had the same type of experience. We had questions? No one would even respond english or spanish. When it came time to take our money they all spoke english guite well.

Hell raise HELL your a minority now. The Mexicans had their fun ,now it;s our time.I never would shop there.
My 2cts.

Steve Sugar Land wrote:

I refuse to shop there any longer...This is the United States. Ifd they want to sell here, they need to staff their stores with people who can speak the language.

So where do you usually shop.

It seems like Garden Center has put all the old nurseries out of business.

I ussualy shop at their location in Atascocita (FM1960)I am a hispanic, and that does not make any difference, when I am forced to shop there, I am also treated the same unfriendly way, Houston Garden Center is a equaly oportunity offender.
I think is the stablishment, race has nothing to do with it.

I own a small, but charming, neighborhood nursery in Corpus Christi. My family in Houston has been telling me I should come to the Conroe or Montgomery area to open one there. I have been reluctant since I've seen the huge nurseries in the area and we are small. Customer service, however, is our top priority. Do those of you who live in the area think a local, hometown garden center could survive there? Your comments, please.

Does anyone have the phone number of the corporate office? I can't find it online and don't have a Houston phone book.
Many thanks,

I have had the same experience that many of you have stated...rudeness and NO ONE SPEAKS ENGLISH. So my money will be spent elsewhere. I'm also talking about this to friends and family. The Houston Garden Center website does not have any information about corporate headquarters, phone number, NOTHING...this is a big red flag. But the website intro has a very articulate spokesperson that is also on their TV ads.

About 5 years ago, the 1960 location (now on Holzwarth)had a sign that everything was 50% off. Inside I observed what must have been thousands of plants with dirty and weathered price tags that were as high as retail. I'm no stranger to gardening and common sense told me they must be taking the discount at the counter because these are obviously the original tags. WRONG!!!!!!!!! They actually had the nerve to tell me that everything was already marked half off. I said no thanks and left. Suspiciously enough, the sign was gone the next day and if what they said was actually true then they must have worked through the night adding new fully priced tags to those THOUSANDS of plants. Heed my warning, they're a bunch of crooks and they should be avoided like the plague. Always stick with independent family owned nurseries, you'll get superior customer service and it's genuine because they'll be happy to have you. I recommend RCW Nursery at 249 & Beltway 8. They are family owned and operated, they know their stuff and I don't think these people have ever met a stranger.

I've only shopped twice at the Houston Garden Center on the feeder by the woodlands. Once because I was curious as to what they have and actually found some variety of roses that I wanted and the second time to buy some discounted Parade Roses. Both times, I've been ignored, but that's just fine with me. When I got to the counter, nobody was there to ring me up. I had to wait and call someone. SOmetimes, I wish I had a worse day because if they didnt ring me up on the third call, Its gonna be free and I'm walking out of there with 10 3 gallon rose bushes at $4 each. hahahaha !

I work as a nursery consultant for Lowe's and I used to do thesame for Home Depot in the past. Customer service has always been stressed. There are still some rude people that I do have the misfortune to work with, but at least, they talk to you, albeit in a cryptic way.

If my customer's cant find what they need in my store, I just scribble down Home Depot's number, or send them to Walmart ....or to Cornelius if they need something more "specialty". I've always warned people NEVER EVER go to Houston Garden Center unless they're the only ones who carry what they need and nobody else can beat their price (which is extremely rare since both Lowe's and Home Depot price match). Furthermore, Houston Garden Center's chemicals ARE sometimes $5-$8 more than if you buy it in Walmart, HD or Lowe's.

Yeah, I'm a big gardening dork.

I too have had the same problem Immigration at its finest. I have found that Spring Garden Nursery on 2978 is wonderful! Nicer plants too.

I am so glad I took the time to read up on HGC! I was informed by a friend that they had a great 75% sale every August, and, as a new gardener, I need a lot of help so I was ready to roll. After reading your comments and hearing that Home Depot and Lowe's price match, I'm convinced I can live without ever experiencing the rudeness so commonly associated with HGC. I do know of a great nursery in Manvel - I think it's called My's or something very close. It's off Highway 6, and it's lovely. Thanks for the info!

I hate to tell you this - but I have never been able to get "anyone" to load up bags of dirt, mulch or whatever - from Lowes and Home Depot. Only maybe 10% of the time has there ever been anyone at Walmart who would load up my trunk with bagged dirt or mulch.
I have never been treated rudely from the Houston Garden Center, and actually they have always been professional and polite. I had no trouble getting the HGC workers to load up my trunk when I went to their store on the Grand Parkway. At the Highway 6 store they were pleasant enough. They have a much better selection of plants than Home Depot, Lowes or Walmart. My advise to you would be to try the store on the Grand Parkway or Highway 6 and Little York.

Diane- Corpus Christi wrote:

I own a small, but charming, neighborhood nursery in Corpus Christi. My family in Houston has been telling me I should come to the Conroe or Montgomery area to open one there. I have been reluctant since I've seen the huge nurseries in the area and we are small. Customer service, however, is our top priority. Do those of you who live in the area think a local, hometown garden center could survive there? Your comments, please.

Yes I would love to help you E-Mail Me.

Yes,I would love to help you out . Please e-mail me

I've had similar bad experiences at Houston Garden Center but I can say that the one at I-10 and Beltway 8 is different at least in my experience. I go there every once in a while when i need something and every time i have gone i've been helped with whatever i needed and all my questions were answered. Also, when i check out they've asked me a couple times if i need help to my car. Even the people who work there who don't speak too much english have at least tried to be helpful. I thought i might give them credit b/c almost every other gardening place i've been to has had crappy service.

I find that strange as I was there this past weekend and the service was awful to say the least. I live in the Corpus Christi area, but my mother and aunt live near the HGC at I10 and Beltway 8, so I asked Mom if she would mind stopping in there as I was looking for some agapanthus for my husband and wasn't even sure what they looked like. Well, I asked 3 different employees, all of them just grinned, waved their finger at me and said, "no habla" then walked off giggling. Guess that will be the first AND last time that I go to any of their locations. I'll stick with Turner's Gardendland down here. Not only do the employees know their stuff, they are polite and friendly to the customers.

Well I wonder how many of their employees are actually legal. I think its time to call the INS.