Well it happened again, someone ordered flowers from Just Flowers and they were unhappy with the results. Monday afternoon our phone rang and it was Just Flowers wanting to know if we could fill an order for them. See Just Flowers is an order taker and not a flower shop so they have to find local florists to do the work for them. We found out what was needed and placed an order with our supplier. The next day we unpacked the items, arranged the plants in a basket, and sent it over to the funeral home. Wednesday morning my phone rang. The sender of the order had arrived at the funeral home for the visitation on Tuesday and was unhappy with what they had seen on display with their name attached.
She asked me what the order had called for. I explained that it asked for one azalea, one kalanchoe, and a mix of green plants. It turns out she did not ask for those specific plants at all. The picture on the website did not even show those in it. We discussed the price of each plant and the cost of the basket and how we had come to send what we did. She then asked the 64 million dollar questions, "How much money did they send you to fill my order?" That is when she became shocked and upset. It turns out that the company had taken 20% of her order before it was sent to me to fulfill. Also the extra charges that they had charged her for delivery and so on had not been given to us to fill her order. The result, frustration and anger for the sender.
I told her what I always tell the senders when they have this problem. Always call a local florist, you will get the most for your money and you will get what you ordered. Her response was, "They had more to choose from on their site". I then explained that might be true, but because they are not real florists what the receiving florist has available will be the end result. They can have a million pictures but if the florists in the town you are sending too do not carry those items you will not be able to receive those items.
So to go the extra mile I offered to make her up something special to send to the family. She was pleased with this but declined, she was going to the source of the problem and she was going to get a resolution.
I hope that she calls us in the future so that we can show her how wonderful it can be to order locally. It always upsets me when a someone sending flowers is disappointed in the end result. This is a negative feeling for not only them but for the entire florist industry.
I will also take this moment to say use caution when ordering online. I wrote a blog about figuring out who is a true local florist and who is an order taker in disguise.
Some people may not be convinced just yet, dismiss this as the mad ramblings of a local florist. Well the proof is right here folks, just check out these reviews.
Just Flowers Reviews
And they are not alone:
1800flowers reviews
From you Flowers
FTD Reviews
Teleflora Reviews
Before the busy holiday season I hope to continue this discussion and give you more insight on how this all works.
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