At high-volume times like Valentine’s Day, and at any other time, really, flower-delivery services like FTD reserve the right to substitute something similar if they don’t have the exact item in stock that you want. Mark was upset shortly after Valentine’s Day because he ordered an arrangement that had a purple container, purple flowers, and some white lilies in it. Purple is her favorite color, you see, and lilies are her favorite flower. Isn’t Mark thoughtful? Speaking for the ladies of America, he is. He’s also really mad.

We won’t reproduce Mark’s entire e-mail here, since it makes liberal use of caps lock and a few swear words, and generally violates the advice that we give our readers when dealing with companies. Specifically, the advice not to virtually “yell” IN ALL CAPS and use swear words. But here’s an excerpt. FTD contacted him to authorize a change to the arrangement. He did. Then they went ahead and changed the whole thing.

I got an email saying the purple “vase”, in this case a paintbucket, was unavailable & if a substitution of a PINK OR RED VASE (ONLY, no mention of flowers) was acceptable. I said yes to the pink VASE, V-A-S-E. Not flowers. INSTEAD, an entire pink-option bouquet arrives, with gerbera daisies. The irony being, I didn’t care if there was a vase AT ALL. You could have sent it with NO vase, and I would have been happy. THE FLOWERS is what I cared about.

You can see what Mark ordered and what Mark got above.

“If you can just send whatever,” he wrote to FTD, “why not put on your website ‘Oh hey, just give us $58 and we’ll send you something pink or purple maybe, uh, THERE DEFINITELY WILL BE FLOWERS IN IT, but we can’t really guarantee what they are or if you’ll really like them.'”

The flowers were not, as far as we know, wilted or dead, and they arrived at the right place and on time. No one stole them. But Mark is still upset, since his surprise wasn’t as thoughtful as it could have been. He wants a refund. Is he justified? Weigh in in the poll below.

His e-mail of rage didn’t get the desired response: more than a week after sending it, he still hasn’t received an answer.

RELATED:
4 Reasons Why Profanity-Filled E-Mails & Rants Will Not Result In Good Customer Service

VALENTINE’S DAY 2013:
FTD Kicks Off The Valentine’s Day Disappointment Season With Subpar Roses On February 11th
Valentine’s Day Garden Of Discontent: The 2013 Entries From Proflowers
Twitter Feeds For 1-800 Flowers, FTD Are Apologizing More Than Boyfriends Who Screwed Up Valentine’s Day
The 2013 Valentine’s Day Garden Of Discontent
Florists Hate FTD And Teleflora Even More Than Disappointed Girlfriends Do
More Valentine’s Day Mishaps From Proflowers

Want more consumer news? Visit our parent organization, Consumer Reports, for the latest on scams, recalls, and other consumer issues.