DISAPPOINTING NOTE ABOUT 1800FLOWERS!

[aljdewey]

Wanted to pass along to you ladies and gents that you may want to think twice before using this company for time-sensitive, HAS to be there orders.

I placed an order on FRIDAY for flowers to be delivered for Linda''s memorial service today. In their infinite wisdom, 1-800Flowers, who SHOULD KNOW BETTER, gave the order to a #)$(*#$& florist that isn''t OPEN TODAY!

I cannot believe this.....I am positively heartbroken that this didn''t deliver on time. When I spoke to a supervisor and asked WHY they would give this order to a florist who''s not open today, she said "we didn''t know they weren''t open". HELLO - it''s your business to know who''s open, for goodness'' sake!

I know a few of you have placed orders for the same service through them.....I really hope they all made it.

 

[Kaleigh]

Nan and I placed an order through my florist on Friday. I asked about my concerns about them being delivered today. They said they would call me back if there was a problem. I didn't hear back from them and pray they got to Linda's memorial service in time. What a shame.

 

[FireGoddess]

What freaking morons. I used to use them to send flowers to my mom - but they have a limited network of florists they employ. The bouquet sent to my mom looked like [email protected] they said they would have it resent...but from the SAME florist. I said no - use someone else. They said that was their only local florist in the area. Uh....in Northern New Jersey....there are florists on every BLOCK. I stopped using them after that.

This however, is an extremely time sensitive order you put in, and they should be made to give reparations for their ignorance. If it is too late to have something delivered on time for the service, nothing they do will be enough, but at least they can refund your order. Stupid jack@sses. I mean, c'mon. You don't know whether the florist is open or not???? The telephone doesn't work from there??? And when nobody answers.....you can't move on to another florist???? Give me a break.

ETA: I see the service must be over by now....raise some bloody hell, girl.

 

[flopkins]

I don''t trust any of the big flower companies - 1800, or FTD, etc... my ex used to send me flowers thru them, and they always arrived late. Always. One year valentine''s was on a Sunday, they promised it would be delivered that day, it ended up being delivered tuesday... and I KNOW other florists were open - because other ppl got their flowers delivered that day! He ended up getting a discount and free stuffed animals.

ANother time he requested a delivery after 5PM (I had work) and they of course tried to deliver it early and I wasn''t home. They told him no problem to deliver late when he ordered, but of course when I called them (they left a note) they said they don''t deliver after 4PM!!! I ended up going late to work the next day just to recieve the dang flowers!! They were beautiful, but geez!

 

[SeaOats]

Oh Al, that is horrible! I would definitely raise hell with them.

 

[Waited2Long]

I would ask for a refund and take it up with my credit card company if necessary. A day late isn''t worth anything.

 

[aljdewey]

Thanks, ladies.....I cannot tell you how upset I am over this.

Hell isn't quite strong enough a word for the tirade I had on the phone with the floor manager. I kept saying, "I know this isn't YOUR fault personally, but I don't give a damn." She kept apologizing and saying what can we do to make it right? HELLO - there IS NOTHING you can do. The service is OVER, and the flowers weren't there! No, you cannot deliver them tomorrow!

I have used them before with really good results.....but yanno, it wasn't this important either. If flowers don't make it on someone's birthday or on an anniversary, the next day is tolerable and possible. When they don't make a funeral or memorial service, there is just NO WAY to make that right.
While I agree about getting a refund, even that doesn't make it right. I don't WANT the money back.....I wanted the flowers delivered, and they weren't. Nothing will make that right.

Lesson learned. From here on, I will google to find local florists MYSELF and make sure it's done right. And from now on, never ever another order through this half-assed company.

 

[FireGoddess]

Date: 1/2/2006 6:02:04 PM
Author: aljdewey
Thanks, ladies.....I cannot tell you how upset I am over this.

Hell isn''t quite strong enough a word for the tirade I had on the phone with the floor manager. I kept saying, ''I know this isn''t YOUR fault personally, but I don''t give a damn.'' She kept apologizing and saying what can we do to make it right? HELLO - there IS NOTHING you can do. The service is OVER, and the flowers weren''t there! No, you cannot deliver them tomorrow!

I think that is exactly the crux of the problem. Nothing they do will make it right, because the order was extremely time sensitive and somebody did not do their job. I still don''t understand that someone could take your order, SEE THAT IT WAS FOR A FUNERAL HOME....and then not bother to verify that they sent the order to a florist that was open today. It blows my mind. It''s not rocket science that a late delivery is not going to cut it in this situation.

Knowing that there is nothing that will really make it better, I would make them send Richard a beautiful flowering plant or tree, something top of the line...something that can be planted and can be a living gift in honor of Linda. That wouldn''t make it better, but it''d stop my blood from boiling. A little.

 

[Kaleigh]

Date: 1/2/2006 7:28:34 PM
Author: FireGoddess

Date: 1/2/2006 6:02:04 PM
Author: aljdewey
Thanks, ladies.....I cannot tell you how upset I am over this.

Hell isn''t quite strong enough a word for the tirade I had on the phone with the floor manager. I kept saying, ''I know this isn''t YOUR fault personally, but I don''t give a damn.'' She kept apologizing and saying what can we do to make it right? HELLO - there IS NOTHING you can do. The service is OVER, and the flowers weren''t there! No, you cannot deliver them tomorrow!

I think that is exactly the crux of the problem. Nothing they do will make it right, because the order was extremely time sensitive and somebody did not do their job. I still don''t understand that someone could take your order, SEE THAT IT WAS FOR A FUNERAL HOME....and then not bother to verify that they sent the order to a florist that was open today. It blows my mind. It''s not rocket science that a late delivery is not going to cut it in this situation.

Knowing that there is nothing that will really make it better, I would make them send Richard a beautiful flowering plant or tree, something top of the line...something that can be planted and can be a living gift in honor of Linda. That wouldn''t make it better, but it''d stop my blood from boiling. A little.

That actually is a very nice idea FG. It doesn''t make it right, but would be nice to have something that Richrad could plant at his home in Linda''s memory.

 

[pearcrazy]

I also had a very disappointing experience with 1800Flowers several years ago when I sent flowers to my grandmother in the hospital. I paid nearly $70 for flowers that looked like the kind you'd pick up in the grocery store on the way to the checkout. Seriously, they were worth about 12 dollars tops. No roses, lillies of any kind. Just mums, daisies and carnations for $68.50. The topper-- they didn't arrive in a vase. Nope, just a freakin' box!! Flowers delivered to a hospital need to be in a vase as most don't have vases just laying around!! I was furious. I just got a big runaround when I complained and was told that I should have requested that the flowers come in a vase. Uh hello? My consulation-- a $10 credit good towards my NEXT purchase. No thanks, they'll be no more purchases from 1800Flowers.

From that point on I decided to just go online and find a local florist in the city I am sending to and then get their phone number and call them directly. It's cheaper that way and I can avoid any confusion that get created by the middleman.

 

[Mara]

The really odd thing is that I placed my order on Friday as well with 1800 and they sent it to a florist who was local and apparently had multiple orders for this same memorial service...they called me to confirm time and date for delivery because I guess everyone who had ordered had put in different times and dates for the service etc. I told them what time they needed to be there today and said ''well someone will call me if the florist CAN''T do it right, because then I will find someone locally who can''. They said ''of course''.

I got the shipping confirmation this morning, that said the flowers were on their way, so hopefully they made it, but when Alj called to check on her order, she asked about mine and they couldn''t even tell her if it had been delivered because the florist was closed by then (4:30EST). So I HOPE that they made it, but what kind of service doesn''t get the updates before the florist closes, esp on a time-sensitive issue?

I really was not impressed with them either this time around because of the lack of certainty on what was going on, aka they were saying on Friday, ''oh well the florist hasn''t said he CAN''T do it, so we are assuming they can''...the oddest thing is that this florist they gave my order to had other orders for the same service, BUT yet they gave Al''s order to ANOTHER florist in the city and then didn''t even check to see if they were open...and I TOLD them that I had another friend placing an order and should she talk to someone specificand they said no problem and just to have her place the order. If they had just used the same florist that they gave my order to (and others it would seem), it would have been fine. That is what is surprising to me.

 

[qtiekiki]

Since I used to work in a flower shop, I will let you know why and how they could have send an order to a flower shop that isn''t open. 1-800-flowers, ftd, teleflora, and other floral wire services take an order from a consumer, and then input the order on their computer. Then they select a florist in the city or nearby city their network and send the order over through the computer network. They do not actually get on the phone and speak to someone at the shop, so there''s no guarantee that the shop is open or has received the order or that the shop has the specified products (the reason why a $70 arrangement turns out to look like a bunch of flowers from the grocery store). Their network is updated every 3 months and florists'' info are general (don''t include holiday hours - maybe the reason why the shop they chose was not actually open on New Year''s day and holiday pricing are also not factored in). If you still want to send something to Richard, make sure that you ask them to give you an upgrade so you get more for what you paid for. They should do that because we had been asked to do that for them before when they make mistakes.

For future references (unless you absolutely have to use one of the wire services), you should always go through a local florist. A local florist usually gives better values, quality for your money even if it had to be wired to any florist out of the city. The big wire services are cheaper, but in the end it''s the quality and the services that really matter.

 

[FireGoddess]

I appreciate your insider insight, qtiekiki.

I still think the whole system royally sucks. The whole point of an online florist is that you can see an EXACT picture of what the bouquet is supposed to look like. I can call a local florist and say "what can you give me for x dollars" but I can't see what I'm ordering 99% of the time. There is no excuse for web orders to arrive looking like grocery store carnations when there is a freaking picture of what it is supposed to look like.

As far as the whole computer automated system goes, that's just negligent. If you take my order and say it will be there on x day at x time, it better frigging be there, barring nuclear war or torrential downpours or a plague of locusts. It is their responsibility to deliver what they promise. If their system has loopholes, they need to fix them. I'm sure this isn't the first time such a thing has come up. There should be a failsafe in place, and clearly there wasn't.

I appreciated the convenience of getting to SEE what I ordered by using online florists. However, since that never reflects what the arrangement actually looks like, nor can I be assured that my delivery will get there on time....they've just made themselves obsolete.

 

[ame]

I had one bad experience with them when my SIL had my nephew. They showed up at the hospital 2 days after they were supposed to, after shehad been checked out!

 

[Mara]

Oh my lord I just checked my online tracking and it says my order for the flowers was CANCELLED. I got a shipping/delivery confirmation this afternoon so I have no idea what is going on. Of course the online chat guy says they can't find out from the florist (DUH he's closed, it's midnight!), and that someone will call me tomorrow. I will be so upset if my order didn't make it either, OOH!

Typically I have ordered from FTD and another online flower place I can't recall right now with no problems, I am SO never using 1800 again!!! Really what is the point.

 

[aljdewey]

Date: 1/2/2006 8:52:21 PM
Author: qtiekiki

For future references (unless you absolutely have to use one of the wire services), you should always go through a local florist. A local florist usually gives better values, quality for your money even if it had to be wired to any florist out of the city. The big wire services are cheaper, but in the end it's the quality and the services that really matter.

To be honest, I didn't select them because they were cheaper....I'd have happily paid a PREMIUM if it meant the flowers would have been delivered ON TIME.

Choosing them wasn't about saving a buck for me. I was away most of Friday and didn't learn of the memorial service until just prior to 4 p.m. on Friday, and I wanted to get the order done PRONTO. Figuring that a service with that volume would have MORE leverage with the florists, I thought it was the right way to go. Big mistake there.

My guess on Mara's situation: I'll bet they are so damn inept at that company, they likely placed the cancellation for the wrong order! When I phoned about mine, she asked me to check on hers too.....and I'll bet the "would you like fries with that" supervisor I spoke with canceled her order instead of mine. (After the fact, of course.....by the time I called, the memorial service was over, so cancelling then wouldn't have stopped her order). I told them to cancel MINE, and I didn't get a cancellation yet. How much do you want to bet----more ineptitude?

I'm steaming mad on this one. STEAMING.

 

[Kaleigh]

Crap, I bet our flowers didn''t get there either Mara. I''m calling first thing tomorrow. Maybe we can all do something together like FG suggested and offer Richard something to plant at his house?? I know we talked after placing the order. Nan will be upset too if they weren''t delivered today.

 

[aljdewey]

Date: 1/3/2006 12:49:49 AM
Author: kaleigh
Crap, I bet our flowers didn''t get there either Mara. I''m calling first thing tomorrow. Maybe we can all do something together like FG suggested and offer Richard something to plant at his house?? I know we talked after placing the order. Nan will be upset too if they weren''t delivered today.

Not necessarily. You ordered through your local florist, who likely has an inside track of which florists work the "off hours".

I worked for a funeral home in high school, so I can assure you there are florists that do deliver even during off times. I used to get deliveries on Sunday afternoons, for goodness sake. It''s a factor of the industry.....flowers are needed when they are needed in bereavement situations, and those just don''t wait.

 

[allycat0303]

I know this is off topic, and you ladies are furious (rightfully) that the flowers didn''t arrive on time, but tonight I''m having the worst night of my life, I just have to say that your kindness to Richard makes me feel better about everything. It was incredible of all of you ladies to think of it.

 

[qtiekiki]

Date: 1/3/2006 12:46:09 AM
Author: aljdewey

To be honest, I didn''t select them because they were cheaper....I''d have happily paid a PREMIUM if it meant the flowers would have been delivered ON TIME.

Choosing them wasn''t about saving a buck for me. I was away most of Friday and didn''t learn of the memorial service until just prior to 4 p.m. on Friday, and I wanted to get the order done PRONTO. Figuring that a service with that volume would have MORE leverage with the florists, I thought it was the right way to go. Big mistake there.

aljdewey, I wasn''t implying that you were trying to save a few bucks. Hopefully you weren''t offended by my comment. I was just saying that they are cheaper because we often thought that wire services undercharge for what they include in their arrangements, so in a consumer''s point of view they are cheaper. "Figurin that a service with that volume would have more leverage with the florists" is true only if your order got sent to a florist who is already doing a lot of pieces for that service and/or if your order is a big order.

About getting the "picture" arrangement, florists can''t always get or don''t always have the flowers in the "picture" arrangement in their store, so they will substitute. When we took out of town order at the shop, we always ask for a second choice in case the other florist don''t have the flowers to make the "picture" arrangement. That''s something you don''t really get with the wire services; they just put something similar as the second choice and that leaves it to the discertions of the florist and I think that''s how one ends up with "crappy" arrangement. Another reason why one might end up with "crappy" arrangement is some designers are better at copying the "picture" arrangement than others and not all designers are good designers.

Also there are actually lots of flower shops that are opened almost 365 days since holidays are their money making days. Plus usually a local florist will make exception to delivery for their customers during their "off" hours so they become repeating customers, but wire services have a high volume of customers and don''t seem to care as much about their customers. Not saying that you shouldn''t use the wire services, but I would suggest against it if you are really particular on what you want or if it''s a time delivery and it''s being ordered last minute. Just my opinions and experiences as a designer at a florist and a consumer.

 

[Kaleigh]

qtiekiki,
I welcome your comments and have learned a bit about how services like 1-800-flowers work. Although I used my local florist I won''t know until tomorrow if our flowers got there in time or not. Next time I need to send flowers for such a time sensitive event as a memorial service, I will call a florist in that town.

 

[Mara]

What bothers me about this whole experience is that THIS kind of situation is the whole point for having a place like FTD.com or 1800 Flowers etc etc. Out of towners who want to send flowers for an occasion, be it a happy or sad one. Knowing you can go to a website and click and buy and that 'they' are supposed to be taking care of you when you can't do it yourself locally kind of thing. I would even pay MORE for that kind of service...in reality I am not shopping online for flowers to save money necessarily but just because I like seeing 'what' I am buying (even though yes it doesn't always look like the picture) and knowing what my recipient is getting, as someone else noted.

So it really burns that for something as important as a service like this when the items really need to be there on time, that 1800 is over there twiddling their thumbs and giving us the runaround. We placed our orders on FRIDAY...they could have delivered them on Saturday, they even said that was a possibility. Their online website had TODAY as an available shipping day. It was only an afterthought that I said oh wait it's a holiday so I hope they get there and called to check up on them on Friday and was told that the florist hadn't said no so it must be okay and that they would surely call me if there was a problem.

I have used other online florists with success but in the future I will do the local research and find someone to do it in the same town for the time-sensitive orders...unfortunately sometimes you don't have that time to do the research which is what happened in this case.

I am still keeping fingers crossed that they delivered my order and maybe the cancellation note was just a mistake.

 

[fire&ice]

I usually try to find a local florist. Actually, I found THEM to be cheaper w/ better arrangements.

That said, the last time a friend had flowers delivered to me was my Birthday. My Birthday came and went - when my friend called he seemed mysterious as in like - didn''t you like our gift? I said I never received them. They called & the florist said they were delivered. The next day, my neighbor shows up with my flowers. They hadn''t realized any flowers had been delivered until the next morning. The florist delivered the floweres to the WRONG house. It was cold that night & my flowers were somewhat wilted - being left out all night.

In the past, I haven''t had the best experiences with any of the networks.

 

[aljdewey]

Date: 1/3/2006 1:36:54 AM
Author: qtiekiki

aljdewey, I wasn''t implying that you were trying to save a few bucks. Hopefully you weren''t offended by my comment. I was just saying that they are cheaper because we often thought that wire services undercharge for what they include in their arrangements, so in a consumer''s point of view they are cheaper.

Nope, not offended at all.

I didn''t think you were implying anything, really. I just find that most folks jump to an assumption that online shopping is driven by price (as they do with diamonds), and that''s not the sole motivator for most folks.

Date: 1/3/2006 1:36:54 AM
Author: qtiekiki

''Figurin that a service with that volume would have more leverage with the florists'' is true only if your order got sent to a florist who is already doing a lot of pieces for that service and/or if your order is a big order.

I was thinking much more globally than this specific instance.

800flowers is an intermediary, an aggregator, and they move a good volume of orders all year long for many reasons. They have discretion on how to "hand out" that business to local florists.

If I were a local florist, I''d realize that an aggregator like 800flowers has the discretion to dispense a large volume of business throughout the year from orders placed nationwide....business that I might not otherwise get a shot at. That being so, I''d do my utmost to prioritize their orders and retain their favor. Make sense?

 

[pricescope]

Date: 1/3/2006 1:50:31 AM
Author: kaleigh
qtiekiki,
I welcome your comments and have learned a bit about how services like 1-800-flowers work.

I prefer not to learn about how services work - i prefer to be served.

Our order was not delivered too.


Recently had same experience with GiftSertificates.com - it was Thanksgiving and our dear but new friend's Birthday (trying to explain short notice).
Can you believe that a company supposedly serving mostly Holidays time were CLOSED on Holiday? And why did they took an order that day, it was placed over the phone??

 

[lmurden]

I cannot believe this!

I''ve heard of a screw up but with so many people. This is unbelievable.

I''m really sorry to hear that none of your orders were fulfilled. I''m sure Richard is still grateful for all the support he has received here on PS.

 

[Mara]

Good news from my end...they did deliver my order yesterday at noon supposedly or so they told me today....but weren''t able to tell me why it said cancelled or what...I told them I was very disappointed with the whole service and especially that two other people had not had their orders make it.

L/I so sorry to hear that yours didn''t make it either. Big thumbs down!!

 

[laney]

That is just terrible! I also had a problem with 1-800 flowers a few years ago. They never delivered the flowers - and NEVER credited me either. I called and complained and all the girl could get out is to "wait a few days". I got so fed up.. it was awful. Nothing arriving to the intended person was a huge dissapointment for them. I felt awful.

Anyway --needless to say I don''t use them at all. I, on the other hand, have been using www.proflowers.com for several years, and have not been dissapointed yet!

 

[perry]

I have had both phenominal and lousy service from both 1-800-Flowers and FTD. In the end it all depends on the local florest who gets the order. Some are great - some are duds.


I''ve recieved calls from the local florest who got the order at times saying they could not do the arrangment ordered - but could do either "A" or "B" instead. - and that always worked out great.

I''ve had orders seemingly dissapear, and other times dandalions picked from the yard would have looked better.

I actaully got to meet the owner of 1-800-Flowers a few years back at a business conference I was at and had about a 1/2 hour chat with him while most everyone else was listening to some speaker. Interesting guy - and he struck me as a very honest broker. However, he did indicate that in fact his biggest issues were with how the local floorest handled the order.

Of course my all time best service was with a local florest when I was in college. The gal I was dating was in another town going to another college - and I found a local floorest shop in that town and met with the owner (a gal) and described my plans for not just the order today but with the future orders. She bought into my zest for surprising my gal - and my heart quest at the time - and that gal periodically got the absolutely best floorest arrangments on campus from time to time when I called her (when I visited I heard that from many other gals in the dorm).

So, best of luck. The major order centers are a gamble - often for reasons beyond their control.

Perry

 

[FireGoddess]

I hear ya Perry, and when it comes to quality of flowers, y''know, get burned once, don''t do it again. (My mom''s flowers looked like crap, and when I asked for the bouquet to be sent from another florist and 1-800 wouldn''t do it because they didn''t contract out another florist in the area, I didn''t use them again.)

But giving the order to a florist who wasn''t even open on the day of delivery....that IS the big conglomerate''s fault and they need to do something about that to avoid this happening again.