Some of you readers are probably thinking, oh here we go again. You are probably expecting a big rant from me based on the title of this post, but I think you might be a little disappointed. However, I am fired up enough to rant a little about the problems we've been experiencing at 1-800-FLOWERS.
It started about a month back when my wife ordered an exotic bouquet from 1800-FLOWERS.COM for one of my relatives in the hospital. We put the order through my iPad, our credit card was charged, and we got a confirmation. Unfortunately the flowers were never delivered. So my wife called into their customer service number when we heard from my relative that she hadn't received them. Let that set in for a second, we got charged on our credit card and if we didn't check with my relative we probably never would have known they weren't delivered. Anyway, the customer service rep was very professional, credited our account, and we received a letter with a 20% off coupon.
So, we just assumed this was a glitch and placed an order last week for another relative using the 20% off coupon, Our credit card was charged for a simple flower bouquet with balloons and once again 1-800-FLOWERS failed to deliver. So my wife called in again and this time was quite upset. 1-800-FLOWERS tried to contact the local florist but failed so 1-800-FLOWERS credited our account again (as of this post we haven't confirmed the credit but we are not worried).
That was the last time we will order flowers from 1-800-FLOWERS. Their customer service reps are extremely professional and very nice, but based on our recent experiences I think there is something wrong in their order fulfillment process. It just seems too odd that two consecutive orders from us would fail in similar ways.
I don't think 1-800-FLOWERS is a bad company, just we've had 2 bad recent experiences with their order fulfillment and that usually means to me, that they are cutting some corners that they probably shouldn't be. Have you experienced similar problems or are we just a little unlucky? I'd like to know.
PardonMyFrench,
Eric
I just want to say kudos for not using them again.
All you have to do is google "florist in -----"(zip) and you will get a list of REAL bricks& mortar shops in the area you want to send to, not a call center where the operators don't even know what an orchid is!
I know a bit about how 800 & other "wire services" work, having been a florist for over 22 years. As you probably know, these services take your order, and then send them on to the local florist in that zip.
What you may not know is that the "sending fee is kept by the service as well as 20-28% of the flower cost. The receiving florist gets 80% (roughly), but is expected at that 80% to not only fill the order as pictured, but to eat the delivery cost. So, you may have spent $100, but the florist may receive $75-80. Add to the fact that they then have to wait 30-45 days to see the money from the service, many florists just reject them.
We dropped all of our wire-services at our shop for this reason. My clients order $100 and that's what they get~every penny! Believe me, the REAL florist want your business~deal direct!!
Posted by: Kathy | July 17, 2010 at 10:04 PM
Thanks Kathy. I'll have a follow up post next week....
Posted by: PardonMyFrench | July 17, 2010 at 10:46 PM