Groupon & FTD Offer Refund For Controversial Valentine's Day Deal

Amid allegations that FTD jacked up the price on flowers being sold through a Groupon promotion, both companies are offering a refund to peeved customers.

Last week, FTD began running a Valentine’s Day promotion on Groupon that offered $20 off $40 worth of stuff from the flower company. However, several customers complained when they noticed that some of these same flowers were on sale for a lower price on the FTD website.

The president of FTD says the company did nothing wrong and that prices were not raised for the Groupon deal. He points out that, because the flowers in question were only $5-10 cheaper on the FTD site than the full prices listed on Groupon, those customers who used the Groupon still got the lowest price possible.

“At no time did we inflate any prices. Absolutely not,” he said. “Because there was some confusion with a few, we decided to step up and do the right thing to make sure everybody was happy.”

In an attempt to remedy the situation, FTD credited the difference between the retail price and the sale price to the accounts of people who bought the sale items through Groupon. The deal on Groupon was also updated to reflect the lower prices.

For customers who are still not satisfied, both companies say they will offer full refunds.

Groupon president Rob Solomon, who has had better weeks, said that only a few hundred of the several thousand people who purchased this Groupon were affected by the price discrepancy.

FTD, Groupon get complaints that flower deal wasn’t sweet; offer refunds to end confusion [Chicago Tribune]

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