It’s not a major flower-giving holiday here at The Consumerist without an installment of the Garden of Discontent. Laura (not me, a different one) sent along this disappointing diptych of the lush bouquet that she ordered for her mom from FTD.com and the meager handful of plant matter that was actually delivered, a day late. [More]
mother’s day
1800Flowers.com Doesn't Deliver Mom's Flowers, Conveniently Forgets To Tell You
By 5.18.12
Here’s the thing with sending gifts, particularly gifts of flowers. You generally don’t call up the recipient ahead of time and say, “hey, expect some flowers on Saturday.” A big part of the gift is the delight and element of surprise. Aaron ordered some Mother’s Day flowers for his mom from 1800Flowers.com, and only learned that his order hadn’t showed up later in the week when he noticed she hadn’t mentioned them. Okay, they hadn’t delivered the flowers, but why didn’t they notify him, and why did they keep the money? [More]
The Perfect Mother's Day Gift: Condoms And Lube
By 4.30.12
We’d like to think that this display is the work of a Big Lots employee with a wicked sense of humor. “Celebrate the woman who gave you life,” it seems to say, “by making sure she doesn’t create any more of it.” [More]
FTD Sends Your Mom More Craptacular Flowers Than Expected
By 5.18.11
It’s not that we expect miracles from florists on major dead-plant-giving holidays. But the least we can expect is for the recipient–presumably, someone we give a crap about–to receive the item that we chose and paid for. Sarah’s mom’s birthday was the day before Mother’s Day this year, so she decided to use a LivingSocial coupon and order up some beautiful flowers to honor both occasions. [More]
Mother's Day Flowers Vs Reality
By 5.11.11
On the left are the flowers Brian ordered from ProFlowers for Mother’s Day. On the right are the ones that were actually delivered, late, and found by the janitors at the university she works at unceremoniously left in the hallway. [More]
As Mother's Day Approaches, Flower Deals Do Not Get Better
By 4.29.11
ProFlowers sends a lot of promotional e-mails, and Barry is on their list. While the deals on flowers get worse as a major dead-plant-sending holiday approaches, the contrast between one day’s deal and the next was extreme enough to make Barry ask, “How stupid do they think I am?” [More]
Costco Really Loves Your Mom, Buys Her A Coffee Machine For Mother's Day
By 5.12.10
Joshua received such stunningly good customer service while shopping for a Mother’s Day gift at Costco that he had to share his story with Consumerist. He writes that he located a store that had the specific coffee machine that he wanted in stock, called the store to verify, and drove some distance to the store to pick it up. When he arrived, he learned that the store didn’t have the machine in stock after all…but it’s what happened next that makes this a true “Above and Beyond” story. [More]
FTD: How About $10 Off Those Late Mother's Day Flowers
By 5.11.10
Reader Greg is not thrilled with FTD’s offer of $10 off the flowers that were not delivered for Mother’s Day. Why? $10 doesn’t even cover the $18.99 in shipping and fees he was charged. [More]
How To Treat Your Mom For Free This Mother's Day
By 5.8.10
Want to show your mom you love her this Mother’s Day (tomorrow, by the way) but can’t spend tons of money on a gift? Take her out for a freebie meal or tasty treat — while you might not be flashing the big bucks around, it’s the quality time together that counts, right? [More]
Newegg: Buy Your Mom A Hitachi Magic Wand For Mother's Day
By 4.29.10
Newegg suggests you buy, among other things,a Hitachi Magic Wand for your Mom for Mother’s Day. Um. [More]
Moms Don't Want Stuff This Mother's Day
By 5.6.09
An entirely unscientific ABC News poll of mothers shows that they would prefer some nice time with with their families to tangible gifts. I thought this was always the case, but apparently it’s an indicator of the recession or something.
By 5.6.09
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Here’s a list of cheap Mother’s Day gift ideas, like decorating flip-flops with rhinestones (it’s a deliberately cheap let-the-kids-help project), newsprint roses made by some girls club, and some sort of photo book through Facebook that’s free for the first 10,000 orders. [ABC News]
By 5.2.09
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We’re not sure if this will work for brand new customers, but KodakGallery is offering free Mother’s Day photo cards through 5/16 with coupon code FREECARD. To ensure delivery by Mother’s Day, you have to order the card by midnight tonight. Note that you’ll still have to pay 99 cents shipping and handling. [KodakGallery]
Inappropriate Mother's Day Gifts: Bikini Perfect Deluxe
By 5.1.09
No matter how close you are to your mother, a Mother’s Day gift that says, “Mom, I think your bikini line needs some help” will probably not be well received.
ProFlowers Screws Up Order But Refunds Entire Purchase
By 5.11.08
This Mother’s Day story is a bit of a mixed-bag—ProFlowers clearly failed to deliver the arrangement they sold to M., but they refunded him the entire amount of his purchase when he contacted them about the issue. It’s a “fail” for execution, but a perfect example of how to own up to and correct a wrong for your customer.
Apple Reprocesses Photo Orders So They Can Arrive Before Mother's Day
By 5.11.08
Dan writes, “Apple saved Mother’s Day!”
My daughter and I ordered a book as a Mother’s Day gift, and I was disappointed to learn it would ship late and miss the big day. I had waited until the last day of the promotion (April 30th at about 9:00 PM EST), so I didn’t want to complain. Then this landed in my inbox.
