The first call came in today. "How much is 2 dozen roses." We figured the price and the gentleman said. "Well I'm getting them for $54 from XXX company." I asked him about service charges and fees. He said, "That's it just $54". I wished him luck and hung up the phone.
Here's why ~
#1 ~ COMPLAINTS. Oh the complaints. We see it every year on facebook and twitter. They order from the big 800 companies and they fail to deliver on THE day. Valentine's day is a major holiday for florists. For most florists it's the busiest day of the year. If you order through a 3rd party you are leaving it up to chance that you get the flowers where you need them when you need them by. The 800 company calls local florists or sends the order out through a relay system. The local florist receives the order and decides to accept it or reject the order. If rejected the order bounces around the system from florist to florist until it is rejected by all in that area or someone finally accepts it.
#2 ~ THEY MAY COME SHIPPED IN A BOX. For some arranging their own flowers is fun and exciting. For others not so much. What does this mean for the flowers. The flowers are transported from south of the border, through customs, through several major hubs, on trucks to their door. Now sometimes they arrive fine.... others they sit outside in below freezing temps until the recipient comes home to find them dead. So many complaints from these companies center around dead and wilted flowers. It could be because of transportation or mishandling. It could be because the people packing them at the farm just don't care. But either way you go it leads to a disappointed Valentine.
#3 ~ SIZE DOES MATTER. A long stem rose should measure 60cm or more. This would be about 24" tall. The ad I am currently looking at is for sweetheart roses. These are SMALL roses. The head of the rose will open to about 1 1/2" across vs 3 1/2" across with a standard rose. The arrangement shown will be 16" tall vs 24" tall. This is a HUGE difference when showing it off at the office. Ours comes in a glass vase with baby's breath and long stem roses. These come in a box with no baby's breath and little greenery. Oh and some assembly required.
I'm not saying that you will always encounter these issues. But we have a 100% delivery rate for Valentine's Day. We have missed people at work and delivered to the home. We have tracked ladies down all around town. We have delivered to the table at restaurants because she was not where she was supposed to be. We go the extra mile. We will do everything in our power to get them delivered. The FedEx guy doesn't care if you are home or not. That package says leave at door that is what he will do. It's not his fault. He did his job. But it's not a job to us. It's our passion. We are here to create smiles and make hearts happy.
The 100% satisfaction guarantee some of these companies have are a joke. They will refund your money or give you money off your future purchase. How does that help you when your wife is crying over a vase of dead flowers. Or you are trying to convince her you didn't forget, the company just failed to deliver.
When it looks like it's too good to be true, it probably is. We offer fair prices for a quality product. We are not the cheapest but we sure are very good at what we do.
