Was I a Sucky Customer?

[MoonCat]

I didn't scream. I didn't curse. I'm pretty sure I sounded like I was breathing fire, though.

My co-worker "Betty's" mother died last Wed. I went online Sunday to order flowers to send her. I wasn't sure if I could pick the delivery day (service is Sat. 2/26), so I decided to send something to her house instead of to the church.

The site uses PayPal which is great for me because I don't have a credit card. The ordering process said PayPal would give me a screen to change the delivery address from mine to the recipient's. It didn't. It just skipped directly to "Thanks for your order!"

So I IMMEDIATELY emailed flower company, from their "contact us" email on their site, to correct the delivery address. I also emailed them AGAIN separately from my hotmail account, again telling them "here's where it should be delivered..."

Monday they sent me an email saying it looks like the delivery address & the billing address are the same, can you confirm? Gave me an email address to contact--the same one I'd already used TWICE. So I sent them a THIRD email giving them the address to deliver to.

Can you guess what showed up at my house tonight?

I refused delivery and called the flower website. Had to argue with them, which I did without yelling, that I DO NOT want them to try again because I don't trust them to get it right this time. I'm guessing they think I kept the flowers. I told them to call UPS and confirm that I refused them and they went back on the truck.

They had THREE emails from me giving them the correct info. I want a refund. The manager finally agreed to do this & said the money would be refunded tomorrow.

And it f*cking well better be. Especially considering the shipping & handling was $18.95 on a $34.99 flower arrangement!!

[csquared]

You did not yell at them and throw a temper tantrum like a six year old.
I am hoping that you did not call them derogatory names or tell them to get a "real job".
You did not demand compensation.

Nicely handled.

[Slayer]

Yeah, that's why I always use the phone number (when there is one) over sending an email. Emails tend to get ignored.

And no, not sucky. I'd have made them resend it since there was still time, but you were perfectly ok in requesting a refund. They dropped the ball numerous times.

I'm guessing you went the delivery route because she lives far?

[MoonCat]

Yeah, that's why I always use the phone number (when there is one) over sending an email. Emails tend to get ignored.

And no, not sucky. I'd have made them resend it since there was still time, but you were perfectly ok in requesting a refund. They dropped the ball numerous times.

I'm guessing you went the delivery route because she lives far?

Yes, she lives out in the suburbs, I live in the city, and I don't drive. She's taking this week and next week off, so the only other way to get them to her would have been to take them to work (in 30 degree weather) on the bus/train & try to find another co-worker who was willing to drive them out to her house.

And no, I didn't yell or tell them to "get a real job." I know everybody makes mistakes, including me; I just can't see how they can ignore three emails, especially when THEY emailed ME asking me to contact them VIA EMAIL to confirm the address. Shouldn't someone have been following up on that?

I won't use them again. I'll probably call a place out in the town where the service is going to be and see if I can order something over the phone.

[bainsidhe]

A lot of online floral companies actually contract the work out to local flower shops, which means your email may have been forwarded to a flower shop who may or may not have more than a couple employees to handle customer orders, walk-ins and emails. Not excusing what happened, just contemplating the situation. Even so, how ridiculous is it to send an email requesting confirmation and then ignore the reply?

Good luck with your refund. Did they specifically say they'd credit the S&H as well? Because I'd keep an eye out for that.

[Slayer]

I wouldn't use them again, either XD.

The place where the service will be held might be able to recommend a florist. They deal with a lot of deliveries. Hope it has a better outcome!

[MoonCat]

Yeah, I'm not sure about the S&H. I'll see what happens, I guess. The thought of calling them back again just makes me tired. I might chalk it up to "lesson learned: don't order flowers this way."

[PepperElf]

you forgot... it's not sucky to complain over bad service.

you went out of your way by emailing them ahead of time *twice* to fix the delivery address. They contacted you by email to confirm ... and they still did it wrong.

Considering they used their own email to contact you it shows the email IS a valid means of communication. Or it should have been.


I don't see where you did anything wrong. You had every right to expect them to read your reply to their email. And every right to refuse delivery of something they messed up with - especially since you may not be anywhere near where the flowers were suppose to go to. (i.e. if you're in texas and the flowers are suppose to go to NY, then what good will they do showing up on your doorstep, especially a funeral arrangement?)

Maybe taking a loss will teach them to actually check orders and you know... read the replies to their own emails.

[MoonCat]

Holy shit, you guys will not believe this.

A second flower delivery just showed up at my door, 5 minutes ago. I kid you not.

I refused them again. I figure if I accepted them, they would argue they can't give me my money back. The money's not back in my PayPal account yet.

What should I do? Call them again? Or wait another day and see if they refund me?

[bainsidhe]

Good grief, how did this company deal with the deluge of orders on Valentine's day?

I think it's time you escalate the call and ask for a manager. Either they sent a replacement order or they told UPS to try redelivering, assuming the recipient just wasn't expecting flowers as opposed to outright refusing the order.

Is this a mom and pop store or a franchise? If a franchise, it's time to complain up the food chain. Make sure you record contact details and confirm a contact's email address when you call. Follow-up the conversation with a "Per our conversation, you will refund the following blah blah blah". That way you have written documentation, in case you need it later.

[Mytical]

Ok..that may have not been the business..but UPS. Think they try to deliver a couple of times. They, not the store, may have gotten the reason for the denial wrong.

[MoonCat]

The delivery guy claimed it wasn't the same box. Not sure how he could tell. I'm not certain it was the same guy as yesterday.

I did actually speak to a manager yesterday when I called them and I have his name. The guy who initially took my call just kept saying they couldn't refund once the flowers are delivered and he was not listening to me telling me him that I refused them. Then he had trouble finding my order, which apparently may have had something to do with PayPal being the payment system used. So I asked for a manager and got a guy who claimed to be one.

I found these people online. It's called Avas Flowers. The box had their name on it, so it looks like they came directly from them.

Arrgh...all I wanted to do was send flowers to someone who just lost her mother. If I drove, I'd probably have taken them out there myself, but I don't and I can't. This is just sooooo frustrating...!

[Laund-o-rama Mama]

Ooh, they have VERY bad reviews. You're not the only one getting the shaft from them!

I hope it all works out for you.

[MoonCat]

Ooh, they have VERY bad reviews. You're not the only one getting the shaft from them!

I hope it all works out for you.

Holy crap. I've never seen anything like that. Pages & pages of complaints about these people, and that's just from the last couple of weeks! How are they still in business??

I called again today but only got the answering service. She took down a detailed message about my complaint & said a manager would call me back tomorrow. Based on what I saw on the complaint site, I'm not holding my breath for that.

I also opened a dispute on PayPal. If I get my money back tomorrow, I'll close the dispute; if not I'll open a claim and see where that goes.

This will teach me to look at online reviews FIRST. I usually do, but for some reason I didn't this time.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

*looks up reviews for Ava's Flowers*

*brain go boom*

And these people are in business how exactly? The reviews are so universally bad I'm inclined to think the few positive ones were submitted by shills.