Helpdesk: Mystery of the Brussels sprouts plants that sprouted too much

Q: IN MID-MARCH, I purchased nine Brussels sprout plants for growing on by me, an experienced amateur gardener, in a cold frame and then planting into my competently managed vegetable patch.

On 12 June I inquired, by e-mail, about the abnormal development of one of the plants – it was growing much taller than the others and beginning to flower.

At Dobbies’ request I e-mailed (on 21 June) a photo of the plant and surrounding plants. Awaiting a response, I e-mailed, without photos, on 2 July that a second plant was developing the same way and a third
was growing with a longer
stem than the remaining six plants.

On 9 July, still without a response to my 21 June e-mail, I e-mailed photos showing the current development state
of the three plants and remaining six.

Still without a response, I wrote on 23 July asking for a speedy reply.

As of 6 August, I still haven’t heard from them. I can only assume that Dobbies is purposely ignoring my complaint, perhaps illegally, with the objective of dissuading me from pursuing any contract rights I may have.

Dr AS, Edinburgh

A: GENERAL manager at Dobbies Garden World, Lasswade Simon Martin said: “We are extremely sorry to hear about Dr AS’s experience at our centre here at Lasswade. We always strive to put our customers first and we endeavour to respond to all customer enquiries within 24 hours.

“I’m currently investigating the delay in our correspondence with Dr AS.”

He added: “We were working with our grower to try and determine the reason for the abnormal development; and it appears there is a trail of e-mails which were not received on either side.

“I am taking every step possible to ensure this does not happen again and I have asked our managers to ensure that e-mail correspondence is followed up with a phone call in future.

“We have now garnered an explanation from our Brussels sprout grower as to a possible reason for the development of the three plants and have passed this onto Dr AS.

“We have also offered a full refund as well as a replacement of the plants for next year’s crop.”

Since contacting The Scotsman, Dr AS has been contacted directly by Dobbies.
He is still unhappy about the company’s lack of response to his initial question.

He also feels because of the lack of response he has missed the growing season for brussels sprouts and lost his potential crop.

Dobbies has promised to investigate further.

• If you have a consumer issue that you would like tackling, contact Claire Smith on 0131 620 8511 or e-mail [email protected].