Mother’s Day, one of our nation’s major flower-sending holidays, is coming soon. We don’t want to shame the industry over a whole new bouquet of crappy flower deliveries, but it’s inevitable every year. This May, we’re kicking off the festivities early with 1800Flowers, which is seemingly unable to send Lucy’s mom any tulips that aren’t dead. [More]
flowers
This Basket Of Flowers Is Okay, But Not What I Ordered
By 4.22.14
Someone Cathy is close to is in the hospital with a shattered femur, which sounds extremely unpleasant. To cheer this person up, cathy sent some flowers through FTD. The flowers are pretty enough, but Cathy doesn’t think they’re what she ordered. [More]
This FTD Flower Arrangement Says, “My Love For You Is Gnarled And Dessicated”
By 2.20.14
John’s husband ordered flowers for him for Valentine’s Day, using a Groupon voucher for FTD.com. That’s what a loving but frugal spouse does, right? Only what showed up on John’s doorstep were really dead. No, not buds that hadn’t opened yet. [More]
FTD Delivers Valentine’s Day Flowers Dead Or Late, Shrugs
By 2.19.14 — Updated: 2.14.17
Daniel bought two FTD Groupons, using one to send flowers to his wife and the other to send a bouquet from himself and his sister to their mother. He was able to schedule the deliveries for Valentine’s Day, but actually getting Valentine’s Day delivery…that was another matter. [More]
1-800-Flowers Botches Valentine’s Day Delivery, Sends $20 Apology Vouchers
By 2.18.14 — Updated: 2.14.17
The sheer volume of orders of gifts delivered on Valentine’s Day means that someone will inevitably be unhappy with what they receive…or don’t receive. 1-800-Flowers customers were upset about the non-delivery, late delivery, or utter crappiness of their orders. [More]
Blame Nature, Not Your Lover, If Valentine’s Day Flowers Don’t Show
By 2.12.14
Friday is Valentine’s Day, the annual Festival of Pink and Red Dead Plants and Sometimes Chocolate. This year, the timing of the holiday poses a special challenge to florists and other gift-deliverers: The 14th falls on a Friday, and the next business day is a federal holiday when many workplaces close. That’s tricky enough, but what about the blast of ice and snow currently threatening much of the country? [More]
We Don’t Want To Hear About Your Disappointing Flowers This Valentine’s Day
By 1.14.14
Well, Consumerist readers, the time is near. There’s a month to go until Valentine’s Day, and we have a goal. We do not want to publish any disappointing wire service flower photos on Tuesday, February 18. None. Zero. Because everyone reading this right now who plans to order flowers will proceed to the friendliest, best-reviewed local florist they can find and order directly. [More]
This Year’s Mother’s Day Garden of Discontent Is Wonderfully Small
By 5.13.13
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]
Watch Out For The Customer Appreciation Price Penalty At FTD
By 5.6.13
Longtime readers know that we recommend going directly to your favorite independent local florist, but we won’t fault Rebecca for placing an order through the national FTD site. We’re cool like that, and the flowers her friend got were probably great. We do want to share her experience, though, to point out something interesting about FTD and many other retailers. Sometimes it pays to clear your Web browser’s cookies while browsing. It “pays” in a very literal sense. [More]
We Don’t Want To Hear About Your Disappointing Flowers This Mother’s Day
By 5.1.13
There’s only a week and a half until Mother’s Day, and we have a goal. We do not want to publish any disappointing wire service flower photos on Monday, May 13. None. Because everyone reading this right now who plans to order flowers will proceed to the friendliest, best-reviewed local florist they can find and order directly.
I Ordered Directly From A Local Florist, And It Was Awesome
By 3.12.13 — Updated: 2.14.17
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]
FTD Salvages Fiancée’s Birthday Present After Florist Tries To Kill Her With Lilies
By 3.1.13
Sometimes, it doesn’t matter all that much when a florist substitutes in a different flower from the one you ordered, and sometimes it matters very much. In the case of Andy’s fiancée, it’s actually kind of important for her to not get a certain kind of flower, because she’s allergic to it. It’s no fun to get flowers for your birthday if you can’t be in the same room as them. [More]
FTD Thinks ‘A Different Vase Is OK’ And ‘Change The Flowers Entirely’ Mean The Same Thing
By 2.25.13
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. [More]
Thief Dressed As Deliveryman Walks Out Of Florist With 21 Bouquets On Valentine’s Day
By 2.21.13
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]
More Valentine’s Day Mishaps From Proflowers
By 2.20.13
Mykel picked out a lovely bouquet for his fiancée from Proflowers, but the lovely and lush bouquet isn’t what showed up on her desk. What she got had a lot fewer flowers than it had looked like on the site. [More]
Florists Hate FTD And Teleflora Even More Than Disappointed Girlfriends Do
By 2.15.13
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]
Viagra Can Work Wonders On Flower Stems’ Stamina Just Like, Well, You Know
By 2.15.13
If you managed to get adecent bouquet of healthy, thriving flowers (unlike many of our readers and all these people on Twitter) give yourself a pat on the back. Now, how can you keep your stems firm, your petals blossoming and infuse those stamens with stamina? That same magic blue pill also likely popular on Valentine’s Day, Viagra. [More]
The 2013 Valentine’s Day Garden Of Discontent
By 2.15.13
This year, the major national flower-distribution networks were just as busy as usual on Valentine’s Day. Busy being terrible at their jobs. Maybe the vast majority of flower arrangements ended up where they were supposed to and looked more or less correct, but it’s the outliers that make both senders and recipients feel like crap. When the vast floral-industrial complex markets to us with the message that the quality of the flowers we send or receive is a proxy for the quality of our love, then they should go out of their way not to screw that up for us. Right? [More]
