Chris Bowers & Sons Reviews 1,781

After 9 days of waiting for dispatch, I asked for an update (twice), only to find out they won’t sell me what I ordered

Update.

Tried ringing again and got to speak to someone "briefly"..... yep I was put on hold and 10 mins later I was still on hold...

Tried ringing back but got the "Full answering Machine again."

Truly Appaling.

One star because you have 2.

Placed an order but no contact on when would be delivered just an email the day before.

Ordered 2 pear "trees", got sent "Cordons".

Tried ringing the number on the website 4 times but no one picking up..... went to voicemail, only couldn't leave a message because it was full........

Appalling Customer Service. I only used them because no one else had trees only Cordons, the irony.

I hope... I've ordered two apple and one damson tree. Although it took longer than expected, the trees look healthy and alive, the quality seems good.

Absolutely delighted with everything I’ve had from this company. I’ve created a mini orchard in my garden with fruit trees and berry plants and all are thriving . I bought them as bare root in the Winter months and everything is flowering and doing well. Delivery is not the fastest but that’s no worries as everything is couriered well packed in straw and undamaged . I highly recommend this company and I won’t go anywhere else now.

Bought four fruit trees (bare root) three no problem with, but the blue tit plum tree no sign of life, the branches are turning brown and shrivelled up, the branches growing from trunk are brown and disease looking. To me it’s one of those things, but the customer service is shocking, sent an email with photos, reply was sometimes it’s mid May before any sign of growth so leave till mid May. I sent him another email yesterday with new photos and tree looking worse, same reply leave till mid May and take notice of their expert advice. So replied to them again and asked about replacement (said no bare root available) I asked if I leave till mid May and tree is still dead are they going to refund the money (no reply) my advice is rather and go were the customer service is terrible I would recommend you go to EBay your customer service will be better. This company you should avoid you will be wasting your money and time.

Ordered some grapevines and they arrived today, not within the 7 working days they advertised but still not too long - about a week later. Plants look ok when they arrived. Agree with others the communication could be improved, especially if delays are expected. Overall satisfactory.

My 2 Garden Lady 'imposter' peach trees, bought from Bowers and referred to in my post of July 25, are still thriving in the garden. This is the good part.

Bought from Bowers as Dwarf Garden Lady Peach, one again shows an excellent crop of forming cherries, the other ( a replacement for the 1st) is forming what appears to be some species of nut. This tree is also not even a dwarf as ordered.

In general, a customer of trees often doesn't know what he's been sent until 9 months later. So my conclusion from my own experience after 9 months is that I was supplied reasonable quality trees but exhibiting a ' pot luck' fruiting body.

Just don’t be tempted to order from Chris Bowers and sons. 4 dead trees. Packaged in old compost bags. Thrown onto the door step. Sent bare root in full leaf. “Professionally pruned” trees torn and damaged where they had been pruned. All 4 trees wilted, dry and totally dead. As a professional gardener I was shocked and embarrassed to have used this company. Even worse phone goes straight to answer machine. No response to emails. I won’t make the same mistake twice. Will be re ordering trees from a reputable supplier.

Never use Chris Bowers again. I ordered a bare root Cheales Weeping Cherry in January. Planted it and it has flowered but it is definitely not Cheales. It has single white flowers. I have messaged them via their web site and tried to phone them dozens of times. Left an answer machine message. All to no avail. They are just not contactable. They are absolute rubbish so be warned - do not buy from them.

Please read before buying.

Both CRJ Fruit Trees and Chris Bowers are the same company. They clearly say they dispatch within 3-5 days of ordering, they don’t. The delivery whenever they like and don’t answer emails enquiring where your order is. They don’t answer emails either but if you enquire about buying you get an instantaneous reply. If you complain you get a horrible rude response back.

I have had to report them both to Trading Standards and HMRC for their practices.

Please avoid at all costs. There are brilliant companies you can deal with instead.

Their voicemail is full - which tells you how little they care about customer voicemails or how rarely they answer the phone. Avoid.

I ordered Little Pink Perfection Japanese Flowering Cherry Plant as shown in the web. It is a compact, dwarf cherry tree with large, double pink blooms.

The plant arrived without any leaves and flowers so I had no any clues. While I was very excited to see the first blooms, it is clearly not the Pink Perfection variety that I ordered. The plant has produced small, white, single flowers, which are entirely different from the variety described. This is very disappointing, particularly as I have a small garden and this is the only cherry tree I have chosen to grow.

I emailed them a few times asking politely for how this matter can be resolved. However, never ever received any reponse from them. Customer service is unacceptable. It is very hypocritical for them to cleary state on the web that If goods do not comply with the Sale of Goods Act 1979, you will offer a suitable remedy and Stock is guaranteed to be true to name or they will respond to customers' queries/concerns within a day. Very disappointing and I highly do not recommend people to buy anything from this company because you are more likely to experiece such negative feelings as me if you get the wrong order.

Arranging the delivery was a complete failure. I tried calling them a few times to advise when I’m away. Only voicemail is available and they never called back. No reaction to emails. Of course I got a delivery day advised (by APC deliveries) while I was away. I rearranged the delivery with them - but APC delivered on the originally advised day anyway, contradicting their confirmation! This is extremely annoying.

two trees arrived today, not sure how long they have been out of the ground, the bark looks tight and dried out.
I shall be surprised if they survive.
One of my first order is dead already, scraped the bark gently with a knife, usually it is moist and green, this one was dried out and brown.

Ordered 2 trees on the 15th March, website states all orders are dispatched within 3-5 days. No delivery, no contact other than acknowledgement of order, with no receipt or order number. No response to emails, FB message, contact form submission and constant voicemail without allowing you to leave a message. Seem to trade under multiple different names. Very concerned that this company is disreputable and has taken £57 from me.

Quick, positive update to the tale below.
I've had a refund on my credit card after raising a dispute, plus, a very nice replacement vine has arrived from Chris Bowers. Still no contact from the company but at least they've done something in response to my emails and photos, hence adding an extra couple of stars. If they've got problems I wish they'd let us know. Can't help worrying about an old established business (if true?) that's now obviously having difficulties. 2nd or 3rd generation management? maybe AI? who knows - well, probably Chris Bowers.

Order placed on 7th Feb 2026
Called on Monday 9th March to chase late order as I was going on Holiday 13th March. I was informed order would be delivered Wednesday 11th March.
Called on Thursday 12th March as order not delivered and was informed someone would contact the couriers and get back to me. I've heard nothing.
During my Holiday I received an email from the courier that drop off would be taking place the next day. I emailed the company, from Holiday, again on the 17th but again received no reply.
Since returning from Holiday I have again emailed, used the website contact form and made numerous phone calls which are answered "call minder is full and can't accept any more messages" then the line is cut. Lovely.

No delivery after 8 weeks. No answer to emails. Phone blocked when tried to call. No refund . Avoid
Still no delivery or refund 4 weeks later

Ordered fruit trees, never despatched, no replies to emails. No response to request for refund. PayPay refunded immediately

Apple trees arrived within the specified time scales (7-28 days) and appear to be excellent quality.... very important order for us as they are for a special planter for our beloved late Border Collie...a fitting memorial for a beautiful boy who loved the garden and the great outdoors.

5 stars for this epic failure.
This company does not deliver as ordered.
Then it does not communicate.
BE AWARE AND THINK TWICE BEFORE YOU BUY.
My order was placed on 23 February for delivery in the week commencing 16 March - I was told that this would not be a problem!
But the trees were sent out two weeks ahead of time when the (new build) house was unoccupied, pre-Completion.
Immediately I heard about this from the courier, on 4 March, i made several attempts to contact Chris Bowers & Sons, to flag the problem - leaving messages and sending emails, but I received no reply.
The courier also tried to contact Chris Bowers & Sons, to arrange for the trees to be returned, but also received no response.
I am still unsure what happened to those trees.
Eventually, after numerous unanswered calls to Chris Bowers & Sons, on 18 March I was told that (replacement) trees would be sent out in the week commencing 23 March.
However, this has not happened - once again, although I have called and emailed several times, Chris Bowers & Sons have remained silent.
I have taken my business elsewhere and am now seeking to recover my payment.