A few weeks ago, we asked our readers not to send us any Mother’s Day floral disasters. That’s because you weren’t going to have any floral disasters. Reader R. really did her best: she located a florist near her mom’s home, placed her order directly with them, and even discussed it with the shop. She was still disappointed with the end result––though her mom probably loved it, because that’s how moms are. [More]
This Year’s Mother’s Day Garden of Discontent Is Wonderfully Small
By May 13, 2013
Washington State Sues Florist Who Refused To Provide Flowers For Same-Sex Wedding
By April 11, 2013
We’ve heard of past cases where wedding industry businesses (from bakeries to trolley companies) refused to deal with same-sex couples, but one couple says it was even worse when their local florist declined to provide flowers for their wedding, because she’s a long-time friend. The Washington attorney general has subsequently filed a consumer action against the florist. [More]
I Ordered Directly From A Local Florist, And It Was Awesome
By March 12, 2013
Why are we still yammering about Valentine’s Day flowers? The holiday itself is long gone, but as birthdays, funerals, hospitalizations, and other occasions come and go, the problems with using national Big Flower websites remain. As another major flower-sending holiday, Mother’s Day, approaches, we’re sharing this story from reader Josh about how wonderfully his order from a local florist turned out. [More]
Thief Dressed As Deliveryman Walks Out Of Florist With 21 Bouquets On Valentine’s Day
By February 21, 2013
Valentine’s Day is a chaotic time for florists, with temporary help mixing with regular staff to get everything delivered on time and to the right recipient. (Well, mostly.) In Chicago, one busy florist claims that a man took advantage of the floral fracas to walk off with 21 flower arrangements worth a total of $2,000. [More]
Florists Hate FTD And Teleflora Even More Than Disappointed Girlfriends Do
By February 15, 2013
As a customer, you see ads from the ancient florist wire services like FTD and Teleflora. Readers write in and complain to us about those specific brands, since that’s the website they visit and the brand name that’s familiar. When you order up some flowers, though, that’s not who brings them to your door. It’s locally-owned florists, small business owners, who actually arrange and deliver your gifts. They might receive orders from the wire services, but often earn no profit or even take a loss on putting it together. [More]
Make Sure That Local Florist You Found On Google Really Is Local
By February 11, 2013
Let’s say that you want to order some flowers for your aunt in Omaha. You remember the frequent warnings on this site to go directly to a local florist, so that’s what you do. You type “florist omaha” into Google, scroll past the paid listings and the ones Google has plotted on a map, and choose a shop with a nice-looking website. Perfect! Only this “local” florist isn’t so local. You tried to make the right choice, but are hurting the very neighborhood flower shop you were trying to patronize when you typed those words in Google. [More]
Not-So-Local Florist Disappoints My Mom With Subpar Roses
By January 11, 2013
The Consumerist Garden of Discontent is a recurring theme on this site, because it seems that delivered flowers will never quite measure up to the photos in catalogs or on the website. In hindsight, Teresa wishes that she had just picked up a few bouquets at Trader Joe’s and presented them to her mom in person before she left town. She could have done some quality control, and the end result would have been a lot prettier. [More]
Florist Added Pretty Purple Ribbon, Subtracted Actual Attractive Flowers
By December 10, 2012
Maybe MZ should have just picked up some flowers from Walmart or the grocery store instead. FTD sent the order to a local florist, but not a competent local florist. Maybe FTD should learn to search Yelp first. [More]
Florist Gives Refund For Botched Valentine's Delivery, Then Repos Flowers
By February 16, 2012
Maybe the flowers that Seth ordered for his girlfriend from a locally-owned florist in Texas were fresh, beautiful, and exactly what he asked for. Or maybe they weren’t. He has no idea. The blooms were delivered to the apartment complex office during the afternoon on the 14th, but without a name or apartment number to indicate who they might belong to. After lying about why there were no flowers a few times, they gave Seth the refund he asked for. Then sent a driver back to the apartment office to take back the flowers before his girlfriend could fetch them. [More]
FTD Doesn't Bother To Find Florist, Makes Your Grandma Sad On Her Birthday
By January 28, 2010
Erin has a Valentine’s Day warning for Consumerist readers. Not only is FTD part of the nefarious WebLoyalty cabal, but she tells Consumerist that they’re also happy to take customers’ money and conveniently forget to dispatch a florist with actual flowers. [More]
Crisis At The Florist: When Cooler Heads Prevail
By June 19, 2009
After weeks of trying to get our floral cooler fixed, it has been fixed as of 2:00pm today! The issue was with the dryer valve and not the compressor. The valve was completely clogged and we had a new one soldiered on. It went from 85 degrees to 44 degrees in 15 minutes. It is the best $324.45 I have ever spent!
Ask The Consumerists: These Flowers Just Need To Chill
By June 11, 2009
Billy’s wife owns a small flower shop near Austin, Texas. The shop’s floral cooler broke down recently. They can’t afford a new one, and can’t find a used one for sale in the area. A misunderstanding when taking out an insurance policy means that the business’s insurance won’t cover the cooler malfunction.
This Florist Has A Loose Grasp Of Geometry, Flower Arranging
By April 10, 2009
Erik ordered an unusual flower arrangement for his wife earlier this week. [More]
FTD Never Mentioned That They Failed To Deliver The Flowers You Ordered In December
By March 15, 2009
Ryan sent his father flowers last December through FTD.com but they never arrived. Ryan apparently forgot to give his father’s apartment number to FTD, and when UPS tried calling FTD for delivery instructions, rather than ask Ryan to clarify the address, FTD instead told UPS to chuck the flowers. None of this was apparently worth mentioning to Ryan, who just recently learned that his gift was never delivered.
By February 14, 2009
Thieves stole all the roses—400 of them—from an Ohio florist yesterday, as well as the vases, the decorations, and the computer. [Associated Press] (Photo: tillwe)
FTD.com Delivers The Bill, Forgets The Flowers
By February 16, 2008
FTD.com forgot to deliver flowers to Tip’s girlfriend on Valentine’s Day, but that didn’t stop them from delivering the bill. When calls to FTD.com didn’t go through, Tip launched the fearsome Executive Email Carpet Bomb. He wrote:
Perhaps $75 is not a lot to you. Perhaps the happiness of your customers does not mean a lot to you either. Perhaps, for a company that’s been around for nearly 100 years, you simply forgot to mark your calendar that yesterday was Valentine’s Day.
By October 18, 2007
Some newlyweds are suing a florist for $400,000 for messing up their wedding. They say they paid 30k for centerpieces of rust, fuchsia and dark green at $465 a pop, but were surprised to see cheaper flowers used to create pinkish-white centerpieces that ruined the overall look of the room. The florist says he has proof they got what they asked for and will counter-sue. We say we’re in the wrong business. [Reuters]
