NBC 5 Investigates Consumer Unit heard tales of woe from viewers who spent big bucks on flowers only to learn their loved ones got bad flowers, the wrong flowers, or no flowers at all.
That was the case with Elvia Sustaita, a Bedford resident who was initially thrilled to see a floral delivery on Valentine’s Day.
“I opened the box and my heart fell,” said Sustaita.
A family friend had paid $60.00 for a breathtaking bouquet of Stargazer Lilies and Tulips from ProFlowers.com. Instead Sustaita got a box of soggy, dead flowers.
“We are serious about bringing customers freshness, quality, and value and ProFlowers consistently has the highest customer satisfaction rates among flower companies. We guarantee that our flowers will last at least seven days or customers can get their money back or receive a replacement bouquet.”
The family friend who sent the flowers got her $60.00 back, and replaced the dead bouquet with fresher blooms from a local grocer.
ProFlowers isn’t the only online florist who heard complaints after Valentine’s Day. NBC 5 Investigates Consumer Unit found hundreds of complaints posted on FTD’s Facebook page with one unhappy customer calling FTD – Failed To Deliver. NBC 5 Investigates heard from dozens of viewers who told us they got dead flowers or no flowers at all. Still others got flowers – just not what they ordered.
One NBC 5 employee was supposed to get a bouquet of 11 roses from FTD. Instead she got a bouquet with 5 roses mixed with less expensive flowers and filler.
FTD told NBC 5 Investigates,“There may occasionally be issues and we have dedicated customer service representatives in place to resolve these issues …”
But resolving those issues takes time. When we called FTD and other on-line florists, we were told the wait time was as long as 60 minutes. That’s enough to leave consumers who were already frustrated seeing red – and not from flowers.
If you got flowers or the flowers you sent were less than you expected, you should contact the company. You may try emailing if wait times are too long. You should also take a picture of what you received as proof. Most companies do have customer service policies.
According to the JD Power and Associates Customer Satisfaction report, 15% of those who buy flowers online have problems with the shipping process. That’s more than twice that of online orders for things like apparel and shoes. ProFlowers.com ranked number one in that survey.
But Sustaita thinks she’ll forego using online companies when she orders flowers.
“It makes you stop and think what you’re going to get,” she said.
