Chiltern Seeds Avis 

Ordered a gift card for a family member and the customer service was fantastic. They even contacted me to say I'd not added a message and would I like to.

Like many others, my wife was taken in by the copycat website, Chiltern Seeds 'Direct' (AVOID!!!) when making our order this year. What was delivered was incorrect, badly labelled and stingy in the numbers of seeds. She has tried to contact them and her emails keep getting bounced.

I called the real Chiltern Seeds and they told me that a lot of people like me had been taken in and consequently had lost business and have had their good reputation damaged. Really unfair!

I cannot recommend the REAL Chiltern Seeds more highly.

I only ordered a single pack of seeds so didn't expect priority service.
The packet arrived in less than 24 hours complete with a comprehensive cultivation advice slip.
That is what I call excellence and I will certainly shop here again.

PLEASE NOTE! The bad reviews of this company are actually reviews for a copycat website called 'Chiltern Seeds Direct' so don't be put off, the actual website reviewed here, called 'Chiltern Seeds', is great and have had great seeds from them in the past. This year I accidentally ordered from Chiltern Seeds Direct and as others have reported here got hardly any seeds, and am not hopeful of their quality if other reviews are anything to go by!

Very disappointed, only 5 Nectar F1 tomato seeds in the packet and only 2 of them germinated, in a heated propagator.

I bought them off Chiltern Seeds Direct.
I have been told that Chiltern Seeds is a different company to Chiltern Seeds Direct, very confusing . Beware of Chiltern Seeds Direct. They have no connection with Chiltern Seeds!!! They seem to be 'piggy backing '. on Chiltern Seeds name and long standing good reputation.

Excellent growing advice provided with my first order but unfortunately Chiltern are very stingy with the seeds; Only 6 or 7 in the pack, whereas normally I would expect approx. 20 from my usual supplier (or 10 at the very least). Sadly I won't be ordering again.

I've purchased from CS at least once a year for the past 6 years. Service deteriorated noticeably during the pandemic - seed portions became smaller than stated and I received one packet of expensive chaff. Unfortunately mis-labelled seed is not uncommon, which is very irritating when you're growing perennials. They also sell a lot of seeds that have short viability and in my experience these are invariably dead on arrival. I may continue to use them for the occasional unusual annual, but have concluded that it's just not worth buying perennial seed from them.

They have never responded to emails.

I've had much better service from other UK-based sellers of perennial seeds.

Ordered seeds, received in 2 days in ecopackaging. Good transaction.

Do not recommend

Purchased over £30 worth of seeds and aside from coming less than stated on the website (luffa was supposed to have "Approximate number of seeds per packet: 15" ...
I only got about 4 seeds per packet...)

Most seeds didn’t germinate, absolute whaste of money

I bought lots of seeds before Christmas this year from Chiltern & was delighted with their service.

I sent for some seeds from Chiltern which were sent to the wrong address (absolutely no fault of the company). After contacting Chiltern, they answered the same day and offered to send out some new seeds to the correct address. Which they did, immediately. I can't fault them as their responses and professionalism was fantastic. Lovely bunch. Thank you Chiltern, I'll definitely be buying again :)

A most delightful, knowledgeable and professional staff who are very prompt in providing assistance.
Chiltern Seeds are very keen on providing high quality and organic seeds.
Highly recommended.

Amazing, definitely recommend , lovely variety

Phenomenal customer service.
Item was lost in the post and Chiltern were amazing at fixing the issue and really went above and beyond. I will not use another seed supplier now. 10/10

The website is frustratingly unusable, because the item sorting is tragically pathetic. It is quite impossible to find specific plant categories when you have thousands of seeds listed under "flowers" to give an example. Not to mention, more than half of the plants under "cacti" are not even cacti. It is likewise impossible to search for plants with bulbs, for example, or just "annuals". The category "houseplants" is just hilarious nonsense. Overwhelmingly even Ebay vendors shops are way more organised and usable. Which is why that is where I buy my seeds from, because I very simply can never find anything of interest on Chiltern Seeds, and doubtless they must stock a lot that is. But I can't find it. Epic fail.

The selection of seeds on offer is second to none and their catalogue is a joy to read. Too tempting perhaps!
I've been a customer for many years and have always been more than satisfied with Chiltern's service and the quality of their seed.
This year I did have a couple of problems with rather variable seed but this resolved in a very satisfactory manner. I would commend their customer service team and highly recommend the company overall.

Good quality seeds. (Yes, there are negative reviews about how few you get in a packet, but the website tells you how many to expect...) What's most impressive, though, is the Growing Advice: they don't shy away from telling you when seeds are hard to germinate (e.g. lemongrass), and their instructions have given me significantly better germination rates that other suppliers (e.g. their advice to cold-stratify echinacea).

Chiltern Seeds have been my go-to seed company for years and the range they stock is superb. Favourite part is getting a lucky dip once a year, where they offer a random assortment of seed packets at a cut price. A superb way to learn (provided they can ship to you).

I started using Chiltern only from feb 21. I absolutely love it. The selection is great and exquisite at times. The description and classification is clear. Number of seeds in a packet is stated clearly on the page, and i should say the quantities are very good: i am working on a huge garden from blank sheet, and find sometimes that i have too many seedlings. Germination is fantastic in most cases, unless it takes longer; some seeds are harder to germinate through their nature. I dont normally sow to compost though, i use a clear lidded plastic box and wet kitchen towels.
Shipping rates and prices are very fair. Packaging is eco friendly.

I made my order on December 1 2020. Due to new customs rules or something else I haven't got my order. Neither I've got a refund which was promised to me several times by email. Very disappointed especially because the sum wasn't big. Never met a client service like this.