Zaak G.

I've have filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau... here's a copy of the complaint.

On July 28,2018, I ordered a floral arrangement from Teleflora. I was attempting to surprise my wife for our wedding anniversary on Aug 2,2018. This year is especially important because she is 3000 miles away for school and we haven't seen each other in 4 months.

Upon reviewing their website, I decided on a bouquet which looked fantastic in their photos. This bouquet had 3 different options in terms of floral density. Given the occasion and circumstances I wanted to really WOW my wife so I chose the fullest (and most expensive) option of my desired bouquet. The website even went as far as offering measurements of what to expect in terms of width and height of the arrangement, so I felt comfortable upgrading the entry level option because I could somewhat quantify what she would be receiving. The entry level bouquet was under $40, the next tier was approx $50, and the one I ordered was $60.

At the time of the order, I had given the address of the clinic that my wife was completing her practicum as the delivery address. Speaking to her the night before our anniversary (so 4 days after placing the order), she informed me that she would not be going into her clinic the next day. I panicked, and after I finished our call, I immediately called Teleflora to see if we could alter the delivery address. The lady I spoke with was very understanding and she accommodated the request.

The next day, my wife received the flowers and sent me photos. This is where everything went downhill. The picture of the arrangement she sent me looked as though it was the entry-level option (barely). Upon my request, she measured the hight and width as well, and it fell very short of the suggested dimensions online. They were lacking about 50% (or more) of the quantity of flowers depicted in their photos. Their website does say that should the pictured flowers not be available, they will substitute. No where do they say that the picture is just a representation and what will be delivered could be half (or less) or the amount of flowers shown. Also, the card had the previous delivery address on it, so someone scratched it out and (with messy writing) hand wrote the new address on it. That would be fine if it were just an envelope containing the message, but rather this card had the message on it. Very unprofessional. The entire notion of this big, beautiful bouquet with a lovely card had been ruined.

I immediately contacted Teleflora via email, so this would have been within 8 hours of the initial delivery, still on August 2,2018. They replied 4 hours later with 50% refund, so $30.32 return on a $60.64 purchase. This was not optional, or amongst other options, but had been executed by them without any input from me about what solution I might deem appropriate. About an hour later, I replied back suggesting a full refund would be more appropriate, not because I felt that it would, but rather because this is the line of resolution they decided for this case. I would have preferred a redo of the bouquet, and make it even larger than what I ordered as a good will gesture for the error. I also would have been fine with a credit in the amount I paid for a future purchase. Neither option was offered to me.

It took Teleflora nearly 2 days (Aug 4@ 9:20 PST) to respond to my full refund request, and in their email they wrote "I apologize, but in order to issue a 100% full refund, we must pick up the order within 48 hours of the delivery date due to the perishable nature of the product. This allows the delivering florist the opportunity to pick the arrangement up for potential resale. The total refund amount of $30.32 has been issued back to your account. Please allow 2-10 business days for this to show on your account statement or by 8/16/2018." WHAT? Replacement of the incorrect bouquet was never offered to me within 48 hours of delivery - when I made the initial complaint. As I stated above, this option would have been fine with me at the time. Now that 48 hours has expired (due to their delayed response) they cannot honour I have no choice but to accept a resolution forced upon me.

This complaint is not about the money. I have read all the complaints against Teleflora on BBB (almost 600 there) and other websites, and I feel it necessary to take a stand. If not for all of us consumers, they don't exist, and it's time they made us feel appreciated rather than us feeling like we've been ripped off. If nothing else, I hope this helps others avoid this experience. If your occasion is important, or even if its not, BUYER BEWARE.