My dear readers,
Oh, my! It is very late and I am in bed and ready to go to sleep, but wanted to tell you a little story before I go.
I have a very dear friend who I wanted to send some flowers to today. And I know that my sweet friend adores the color pink, like I do. So... I decided to send some pink flowers to brighten up a rainy day!
And I thought it would be so cheering to send some flowers to 2 different locations: work and home. How fun, exciting, unexpected! And did I mention it was a rainy day?
So, I started off with FTD.com because when I typed "online florist" into GOOG search box, FTD.com was the first listing that came up. I hunted around and ...
This is what I ordered:
The FTD® Pink Opulence™ Rose Bouquet
Oh, my! It is very late and I am in bed and ready to go to sleep, but wanted to tell you a little story before I go.
I have a very dear friend who I wanted to send some flowers to today. And I know that my sweet friend adores the color pink, like I do. So... I decided to send some pink flowers to brighten up a rainy day!
And I thought it would be so cheering to send some flowers to 2 different locations: work and home. How fun, exciting, unexpected! And did I mention it was a rainy day?
So, I started off with FTD.com because when I typed "online florist" into GOOG search box, FTD.com was the first listing that came up. I hunted around and ...
The FTD® Pink Opulence™ Rose Bouquet
Oh, how very pretty! :)
This is what FTD delivered:
This is what FTD delivered:
Not exactly like the pic, but at least it is pink.
And it is pretty!
Then I decided to try out my once beloved FLWS! Yes! And so, after looking at different pics and their colors (I am a visualist, remember? Yes? Very good!) ...
I saw this pic on their website and ordered it! Pretty pink wrapping paper too! oooooo!
This is what 1-800-FLOWERS delivered:
What is that? 4th of July?
waaaaa!
Well, now... you can imagine my disappointment!!! waaaaa! Although my dear friend was very happy to receive some cheer on a rainy day, the whole idea here also included to send the favorite color pink!
And so...I called up 1-800-FLOWERS this evening and spoke to the floor supervisor, Dora.
I told her exactly what I have told you so far... about already ordering from FTD.com to the work location and then ordering the home location through 1-800-FLOWERS. I told her how important the color pink was, and solely due to the photo on their website, was the reason I choose this bouquet. I told Dora that I would have purchased the larger bouquets if they had the pink pic that went along with the description, which it did not. There was only the "small" choice for the color pink.
Well, Dora repeatedly told me that the description says "Florist Select" and that means their choice of color. She repeatedly said that they choose from the flowers that are in season and that the pink was not in season. I told her, well... the flowers from FTD.com that I ordered came in pink, so pink must be in season! I even offered to send her a pic of the pink flowers that were delivered, as well as forward my FTD.com order email. She did not want to see it and did not want me to email the copy to her, and said to me, basically YELLING ...
And so...I called up 1-800-FLOWERS this evening and spoke to the floor supervisor, Dora.
I told her exactly what I have told you so far... about already ordering from FTD.com to the work location and then ordering the home location through 1-800-FLOWERS. I told her how important the color pink was, and solely due to the photo on their website, was the reason I choose this bouquet. I told Dora that I would have purchased the larger bouquets if they had the pink pic that went along with the description, which it did not. There was only the "small" choice for the color pink.
Well, Dora repeatedly told me that the description says "Florist Select" and that means their choice of color. She repeatedly said that they choose from the flowers that are in season and that the pink was not in season. I told her, well... the flowers from FTD.com that I ordered came in pink, so pink must be in season! I even offered to send her a pic of the pink flowers that were delivered, as well as forward my FTD.com order email. She did not want to see it and did not want me to email the copy to her, and said to me, basically YELLING ...
"Do you know how to read?"
Yes, my dear readers. Dora, from 1-800-FLOWERS asked me if I knew how to read. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA How ya like that for customer service? Oh, my! You all know how much I value customer s a t i s f a c t i o n!
Well, I told her of course I knew how to read, but the picture was pink. She said the pic is just a general idea of what the types and colors of the flowers would be, becase "as the website states: it is "Florist Select" which means choice." I said it does not say the word "choice" and she reiterated that it said Florist Select which means choice.
Oh, my! Well... you can imagine I am extremely pissed at that moment and asked her if she knew what the stock ticker was for 1-800-FLOWERS (lol!) and she said she didn't care what the ticker was. I told her that I was a stock blogger and had invested in FLWS for many months. I told her that some of my readers had told me of terrible experiences with FLWS. I told her this was my first time ordering. To which she said she didn't care. lol! You see my dear readers? waaaaaaa! I truly am a nobody! You think I can move markets? Heck no! I can't even move flowers, because you see...
Dora's bottom line was that because they did not make a mistake, that I had made the mistake in not calling them up on the phone and specifically specifying that I wanted pink flowers with pink wrapping paper, which she couldn't guarantee anyway, seeing how they were not in season, that the only thing she could do was to offer to send out a new order, with the notation to only send pink flowers - and she had no idea what they would be, and that she would give me a 20% discount on the new order.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH
HAHAHAHAHAHHHAHAHAHAH
That is supposed to be ensuring customer satisfaction??? Do you EVEN want to know what my bottom line is?
I don't think so..........
hmmmm... I wonder if Dora knows how to read?
heheheh
Well, I told her of course I knew how to read, but the picture was pink. She said the pic is just a general idea of what the types and colors of the flowers would be, becase "as the website states: it is "Florist Select" which means choice." I said it does not say the word "choice" and she reiterated that it said Florist Select which means choice.
Oh, my! Well... you can imagine I am extremely pissed at that moment and asked her if she knew what the stock ticker was for 1-800-FLOWERS (lol!) and she said she didn't care what the ticker was. I told her that I was a stock blogger and had invested in FLWS for many months. I told her that some of my readers had told me of terrible experiences with FLWS. I told her this was my first time ordering. To which she said she didn't care. lol! You see my dear readers? waaaaaaa! I truly am a nobody! You think I can move markets? Heck no! I can't even move flowers, because you see...
Dora's bottom line was that because they did not make a mistake, that I had made the mistake in not calling them up on the phone and specifically specifying that I wanted pink flowers with pink wrapping paper, which she couldn't guarantee anyway, seeing how they were not in season, that the only thing she could do was to offer to send out a new order, with the notation to only send pink flowers - and she had no idea what they would be, and that she would give me a 20% discount on the new order.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH
HAHAHAHAHAHHHAHAHAHAH
That is supposed to be ensuring customer satisfaction??? Do you EVEN want to know what my bottom line is?
I don't think so..........
hmmmm... I wonder if Dora knows how to read?
heheheh
Ohhhhh... O.K.! I will tell you the end to this story...
Bottom Line to my dear readers:
Goodnight and sweet dreams!
Bottom Line to FLWS?
Goodbye and good luck!
32 Comments:
Hey TG - Aussie Pete here,
still an avid reader and love ur work!
Please not that your main flwr picture, if you click it comes up with a picture im sure my girlfriend would kill me over.
Just a heads up :)
TG
I had the same thing happen to me with 1-800 Flowers...what I ordered was not delivered. However, the wife was very pleased so I didn't care.
Pete,
So very good to see you!!!
And oh, my! I have no idea how that happened with the pic and will fix it this instant! Thank you for letting me know! :)
Market Spec,
My sweet friend was pleased as well - doesn't everyone adore getting flowers? :)
A while back, I never wanted to receive flowers. No. A bag of dirt and some seeds made me ohsoveryhappy. However, as I can not garden like I used to, due to my stupid sun problem, I now love flowers inside.
Cheery. And happy. :)
That is horrible customer service!!!!!!! JEEZ.
Next time, I suggest calling a real florist like us.
We really like our customers...alot and another thing, Pink is NEVER out of season.
Chezbloom, Minneapolis
What woman doesn't appreciate pink flowers???
I confess, I own two pink shirts...
Leroy,
Chezbloom? I adore that name!!!
I am glad to know that you feel that is terrible customer service. Sometimes I feel like so many people don't care anymore if they get crappy service whether it be in retail, restaurants... etc. They just accept things. *sigh*
No, pink is never out of season. You are correct. Now, I will call you this instant. What is your phone number? What is your website?
Market Spec,
And would you be thrilled to get flowers yourself? That happens too. Men should be adored as well as women. Wouldn't you agree?
And I bet you look quite handsome in your pink shirts. Your dark hair coloring... ah yes.
My, my! Lookie at this! FlowerChat! I love it!
I should probably run over there and tell them that I did indeed tell Dora that the pics were misleading and that the word "Choice" should be in big letters on the site, to which she told me they would not be changing the pics or adding the word "coice" because that is what "select" means.
I also asked her how was I to know that I was supposed to call them on the phone to order this and that why even have a website then. She said I should have known to call them if I wanted a special order.
HAHAHAHAHAAHA
Oh, my...
It never ceases to amaze me that that this type of thing still goes on in a consumer driven atmosphere.
As a professional Real Florist I am horrified at what I have just seen, once again, and this following the entire year of 2007, that was plagued by deception, gimmicks, hidden charges and surcharges, all passed on to unsuspecting consumers that just wanted to send flowers to someone special.
What gives ?
Real Professional Florists sacrifice everyday to give consumers the quality and one on one customer service that they expect and deserve. Marketers, Order Gatherers and middle men brokers do not.
All they do is extract substantial percentages from the orders they gather away from Real Florists, and then send them to the same Real Florists, who have to fill them at basically no profit.
Great business sense for them, a nightmare for the Mom and Pop Real Florists that have always made this industry great and respected.
How do we band together to re-educate the consumer so that what has been shown here and spoken about here can be minimized, if not eliminated ?
We're all very tired of being ripped off are we not ?
Though we here at Manorville Florist are deeply saddened by yet another series of unsatisfactory experiences, we are however glad that the time was taken to bring the situation, once again to the forefront.
Consumers deserve so much more than depicted in this horrific example of nonsense.
Our only advice to all that frequent these pages is to spend your hard earned dollars with people that actually care, and when it comes to flowers, Real Florists care.
TG,
800 Flowers is officially on the shitlist. My business will go elsewhere. Thanks for the post.
JC
T.G.
Some days it just ain't worth waking up and chewing thru the straps.
Being more into bushes than flowers myself..I'd still think that pink flowers can be in season in any season with those huge greenhouses.
Manorville,
Excellent thoughts and comments!!! It is very much appreciated!
I think that many people assume that a FTD or a 1-800-FLOWERS is a Real Florist in that they are a "call center" for the Mom and Pops.
And I don't know if many people are aware they can order flowers to be sent to other states from their local Mom and Pop Real Florist. Is that the case?
JC,
What else is on your "$hitlist" and how many pages does it consist of?
hehe
Elwood,
"Chewing through the straps"! My! Either you are in the mental ward or are into some kinky stuff! HAHAHAHAH!
You do know that bushes can be flowering? I adore that type. Same goes for trees.
I am a retail florist in New Jersey. It is indeed discouraging to florists like myself to read of your disappointment with the flowers you ordered. The flowers received were not an acceptable substitution and you should demand to be refunded 100%. It is absolutely absurd that Dora's response was "pink is not in season!" Pink is in season every day at my flower shop! The level of customer service she provided is deplorable. I am amazed that you did not insist on speaking with her superior. I would never tolerate a customer service rep asking me "If I could read" and nor should you.
The guarantee on 1-800-flowers website states the following: "Providing exceptional flowers and gifts, and superior customer service is important to all of us at 1-800-FLOWERS.COM. We guarantee the freshness of our flowers for 7 days. If there's something we've done and you're not completely satisfied with your order, we'll redeliver, refund, credit or offer a comparable exchange if the original product is not available." Simply stated, they did not honor their guarantee.
(1) My favorite-"customer service is important to all of us at 1-800-FLOWERS.COM." Perhaps they forgot to mention...with the exception of DORA! I would suggest you call them and insist that Dora be sent back to customer service training 101. If Dora worked for me, she would be handed a pink slip.
(2) "If there's something they've done and you're not completely satisfied with your order"... You've made it quite clear on your blog-you're not a happy customer! In my opinion, you were deceived and did not receive the product you ordered. There wasn't even a hint of pink in the flowers delivered.
(3) "We'll redeliver, refund, credit or offer a comparable exchange if the original product is not available." It's spelled out here...call them back and demand they honor their guarantee. I would ask for a complete refund and place the order through a local real florist.
I have owned my flower shop for over 30 years and take great pride in providing my customers with the arrangements exactly as shown on my website. If a substitution needs to be made, our customer is always notified. This is only one of the benefits you receive when ordering flowers from your LOCAL florist.
I hope this experience will not dissuade you from ordering flowers in the future. Flowers are a wonderful way to express your feelings. I urge you to read more about ordering flowers from your local real florists by visiting www.floristdetective.com You will find interesting and worthwhile information on this website, including locating a real local florist in your area.
As you can see Real Florists are quite passionate about their work and their commitment to the consumer. NavyBrat also is an accomplished designer and shop owner and comes highly recommended as a Real Florist.
We can in fact get floral deliveries out, at 100% value, through a network of Real Florists
to most, if not all locations.
Thank you for your kind words and we look forward hearing from you.
Send me a direct email if you'd like and I will get right back to you.
Kevin
Manorville Florist
Oh my goodness! I love all your responses!
Yes, yes - check this out! I did call them back after pondering it a while. And... FLWS will not redeliver the "correct" flowers unless they can pick up the old flowers. I say, huh??? Who on earth wants the old flowers? Are they going to re-use the baby's breath in someone else's bouquet or corsage??? I mean, if a pizza place delivers the wrong kind of pizza, do they want the old one back? No, not in my experiences.
I was on the phone with FLWS for one hour and 14 minutes today about this. No kidding, I am not exagerating! They state that it is company policy to pick up the flowers if I receive a credit, refund or if the redeliver! However, it does not say that on their website! They still insist that is company policy. I mean really! How embarassing this is - my friend is required to be present when the new flowers are delivered and to return the old ones.
I simply can not believe this!
After speaking with 3 priority supervisors - one of which told me that "we can't just give out free flowers to everyone" and that she "didn't care if I had been an investor", I left a message with Jim McCan's secretary to have Jim call me. HAHAHAHA! I wonder if I shall get the call? I do indeed hope so as to resolve this.
NavyBrat and Manorville,
Could you type in the name of your shops, addresses, phone numbers and email addys here? That would be greatly appreciated!
Hi Goddess,
What a pain ! Can't you sue for mental anguish ? I thought that's what you did all the time in the USA, or have I been cruelly deceived ? We over here at The Financial Mites are embroiled in a similar situation with our evil brokers who shall remain nameless for the time being, customer service seems to be reserved for the glossy caalogues only. By the way which one of the pictures is you ?
Glad you managed to speak with someone again but wish you could have gotten some closure.
If you or your associates etc would ever like to give the Real Florist alternative a go please don't hesitate. You'll be pleased !
PS
Diane ( NavyBrat ) is aces too !
Thanks again
Wanted to mention as well that the blog is both educational and entertaining. Spent quite a bit of time here the last few days and made a point of mentioning it to our contacts.
MANORVILLE FLORIST
328 COUNTY ROAD 111
MANORVILLE NY 11949
631-878-3600
631-878-3607
WWW.MANORVILLEFLORISTS.COM
ManorvillFlorist@aol.com
ManorvilleFlorists@GMail.com
ManorvilleFlorist@Yahoo.com
My Dear Trading Goddess,
Reading your post was sad, but in a strange way...comical! I see that the customer service provided by 1-800-flowers is downright nil! Certainly not living up to their guarantee! Good on ya girl...for keeping up the good fight! If you find yourself bored, call them daily!
At this point in the game, I would call your credit card company and ask for a chargeback to your credit card. See if 1-800-flowers wants to continue to hash this out with you, when you refuse payment on your credit card.
I would welcome your business and further comments. Please feel free to call me personally if I can be of assistance to you.
Please keep us posted on updates with 1-800-flowers. Kevin & I are tuning into your blog regularly. Your blog is enlightening...to say the least! Curious to know just how long you will be investing with 1-800-flowers?
Best regards,
Dianne
Dianne Richardson-Conda, President
Richardson's Flowers, Inc.
560 Stokes Road Suite 7
Ironstone Village
Medford, NJ 08055
609-654-4511
800-448-2216
www.richardsonsflowers.com
E-mail: richardsons@richardsonsflowers.com
My personal E-mail address: NavyBrat1955@comcast.net
22 Jan 08, 12:54sabrina: A Town and County Floral, Spokane, Wa,
22 Jan 08, 12:53sabrina: Sabrina
22 Jan 08, 12:53sabrina: any question you can email me
22 Jan 08, 12:52sabrina: the moral of the story is use your local flower shop not the grocery store not ftd.com or 1-800 or a shop that is not located in your town.
22 Jan 08, 12:51sabrina: neighorhood and I bet you can see one and I bet you they have a web site you can purchase on with out any hidden costs
22 Jan 08, 12:50sabrina: With the times changing yes the internet is faster scrool down and find a local shop our look around your
22 Jan 08, 12:48sabrina: As a shop owner this is my biggest pet peeves is that 1-800 ftd.com and other sending shops say they are in our town USA and not there. If every one ordered from there local flower shop. NOT only would get more flowers for your money but you form a relationship with someone who cares about what they do and want do have you as a long time customer.
22 Jan 08, 12:45sabrina: responding to the Flowers ordered on line from 1-800 or ftd.com they are oder gathers you spend as the customer way more money than you should. A flower arrangement on line is 39.99 plus same day delivery 4.99 timed deliver 3.99 service charge is 12.99 grand total is 61.96 plus tax. They meaning send shops give a mom and pop flower shop 39.99 and we have to take our delivery charge out of the 39.99 so the customer gets a 29.99 arrangement that will not look like the pic at all and same color and that is it.
22 Jan 08, 13:13Trading Goddess: Sabrina, I tried contacting a couple local florists. One has an incorrect email on the website, one does not answer the phone and ever worse, does not have an answering machine, and the other "local" florist that I did speak with says he re-uses old flowers in new arrangements. Now, if I were to call you, Sabrina, and tell you that I wanted to send flowers to someone in Florida, would you be able to do that? How am I supposed to build a relationship with you if you only deliver to a 30 mile radius of your shop? Sorry... but I am wilting ...
22 Jan 08, 13:23sabrina: I can send flowers all over the world. And just about all mom and pops can send accross the world and use other mom pop shops
22 Jan 08, 13:25Manorville Florist: 631-878-3600
22 Jan 08, 13:25sabrina: I can send flowers all over the world and If I keep my deliver to just 30 mile I would not be able to survive. No one should reuse flowers do not shop with that person
22 Jan 08, 13:44Manorville Florist: ManorvillFlorist@Aol.com is the correct email......Teleflora routinely changes the right one, as they all do, to divert direct contact away from Real Florist shops. Search for Manorville Florist Blogs on Google for some interesting reading. You now have the direct number, it operates 8AM to 5PM eastern and the machine is on when we close. Established clients get access after hours, if necessary via my private cellphone. AOL email is checked hourly as it has been a favorite with consumers, which is why we keep the Aol account. As we said when we posted about FLWS on your blog, we are REAL FLORISTS and can get your orders done the right way, to pretty much anywhere. Added your widget to one of my Blogs today.
22 Jan 08, 13:46Manorville Florist: We too enjoy your blog and have made it available to quite a few clients and friends with interest in the market.
A HUGE thank you to everyone! Your thoughts, comments, and info is very much appreciated!
I will be phoning you all!
:)
Hi again,
I just decided to revisit your blog to see if 1800 flowers ever decided to "make it right for you".
It appears they decided to be jerks.
And thank you for your compliment on our shop's name! If you ever need to send flowers to someone in Minneapolis, we would love to be your florist! We are Chez Bloom and you can find us at www.chezbloom.com
local # 952-929-2103 Toll free 1-877-663-5672
Viva La Pink Fleurs!!!!
Hi Leroy,
Nice to see you and wow oh wow, love your checking in on things! I am impressed!
1-800-Flowers decided to make it "right by me" and not refund my money, nor resend new flowers (or credit me for flowers) unless they picked up the old flowers.
That is how it ended.
I will keep you in mind.
Viva back at you! :)
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