Mother’s Day is the one day a year you want to show a little extra gratitude, appreciation, and love to the woman who brought you into this world. A popular way to show such gratitude is the gift of flowers. However, a good quality and reliable flower company to flawlessly deliver on one of the busiest days for the flower business can be tricky. Sitejabber reviewers have shared their online flower delivery mishaps and misfortunes, and we’ve curated the top 7. Our hope is that you can take away some tips and tricks to ensure your flower delivery goes off without a hitch for whatever the occasion may be.
1. The High Volume Let-Down
For any major holiday, especially Mother’s Day and Valentine’s Day when flowers are a particularly popular gift, be sure to go with a flower delivery company that can guarantee delivery on the day promised. It’s possible the company will not be able to deliver on that date due to the high volume of orders. Sitejabber reviewer Susan writes of her Valentine’s Day flower delivery: “2/13 called to tell me won’t be delivered until 2/18!!! Due to a high volume… So night before the big day, I’m scrambling to find a local florist able to deliver something.” High volume isn’t the only culprit causing delivery delays. Using a company that outsources delivery out to local retailers can also cause delays. It can take additional time to locate a local retailer. This was the case for reviewer Rose: “I placed the order almost a week ago for Mother’s Day flowers…. and yet it hasn’t been delivered. When I called them up and asked them they are so clueless, they don’t even know who their retailer is in the city.” Even when you are ordering flowers during a non-holiday, some companies simply don’t have good business practices and don’t have their processes entirely together. Some customers simply never get the flowers they order. Reviewer John says: “Paid extra for expedited shipping, never got there on time. Said the gift was delivered which it never was. Worst service I have ever dealt with.” TIP: If you’re planning on purchasing flowers, try and submit the order well in advance of the holiday or occasion.
2. Bad Guarantees
Some companies claim a 100% satisfaction guarantee to their customers, but a 100% guarantee doesn’t always mean that they will actually give you your money back. “Ordered flowers for my wife on 2-11 for Valentine’s Day delivery. They never showed and despite the ‘100% Satisfaction Guarantee’ on their website which says I can get a refund or replacement at my choice, they are refusing a refund.” A 100% satisfaction guarantee is promised to customers as a sign of good faith that the company will deliver good quality flowers on time. Greg shares his encounter saying that the satisfaction guarantee is not always forthright and can leave you potentially right back where you started. “I ordered a specific flower arrangement for Valentine’s Day and a different arrangement was sent. Their solution was to pick up the wrong flowers and give me my money back…not to deliver the right arrangement or even another arrangement. They wanted to go and take the flowers away from my girlfriend and leave her with NOTHING!!!” TIP: Find out what the guarantee policy means. Refund, replacement, store credit?
3. Pushy Chat (Sales) Agents
Online chat agents can use sales tactics to sway you into buying from them. Even if you’re weary of whether or not they demonstrate good business practices, a chat sales pitch has the potential of leading into a devastating experience: “I saw the reviews here (on sitejabber) but after chatting to an agent on the site, decided to believe him that the service is good. I was sooo wrong!! The order was to be delivered in the morning but ….. Then no news!! We’re still waiting to hear. The site chat agent won’t give us a number to call locally!” TIP: Don’t fall for the online chat agent sales pitch. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
4. Automatic Upgrade
Some flower sites have a scam where in the fine print they automatically upgrade your order to the next largest size. An upgrade without your explicit consent or knowledge is a sneaky way for the company to bring in extra dollars and can leave you feeling played and aggravated. This was true for Marie: “If you look at the other pages of disclaimers, they also say they will upgrade your order to the next size up. … and of course they will ALWAYS GO TO THE NEXT SIZE.” Double check your credit card statement after your purchase to make sure that you were charged the correct amount. Some companies will charge you for an upgraded arrangement without telling you in advance. Reviewer Alicia was victim of an automatic upgrade scam by an online flower deliver company: “My confirmation said the total was $33 and they charged my card $56.” TIP: Read the fine print of your order to make sure you are not getting over-charged for your order. This may be especially useful if you are using a site for the first time.
5. BBB Let Down
In addition to looking at consumer reviews, many consumers check the Better Business Bureau to find the company rating. However, sometimes an A+ by the BBB can be misleading and in reality customers continue to have problems with their orders. On the complaints section of the BBB of one particular flower company: “BBB found business made good faith effort to resolve complaint but customer not satisfied with business response (71 complaints).” For reviewers like CT, even if you check the BBB rating, it’s possible you will still be left disappointed as the company fails to follow through on their promise. CT’s story hits home: “You failed to complete the flower order for my MOTHER’S FUNERAL..as if we weren’t already going through enough. At the last minute we were informed that they would not be delivered in time but could be delivered the next day. What good would that do? Throughout the whole process I was put on hold for a total of 2 hours, hung up on by a manager, ‘guaranteed’ that a manager would get back to me (he didn’t), had my refund delayed because only a supervisor could process it.” TIP: To get the total picture of the company you are dealing with, find out what other customers are saying and check additional consumer reviews.
6. The Wrong Flowers
It’s not uncommon for customers to place an order based on a photo of the arrangement on the site but for some, the flowers in the picture look nothing like the flowers that get delivered! Just like many others out there, Jan received flowers that were not what she expected, saying: “I ordered a dozen red roses with baby’s breath and greenery for $80.00 to be delivered to my daughter yesterday for Valentine’s Day. What I received was a ‘Hot Mess’!!! The roses were in various shades, dried out, leaves wilted and drooping. It was the worst arrangement I have ever ordered!!!” TIP: Call the company and confirm your order to make sure you will in fact receive the same arrangement sold to you.
7. No Flowers At All
If a company fails to deliver flowers for a special occasion such as Mother’s Day they may claim they are going deliver your arrangement in the near future to keep your money, but then they still never deliver, leaving you with money spent on nonexistent flowers. Reviewer Bobby shares an email he received from the online flower delivery company: “I ordered (several days in advance) Flowers and a card for my mom for Mother’s Day. On Mother’s Day at 7pm, I received this email: ‘Thank you for your recent order. Unfortunately, we were unable to locate a florist able to complete the delivery for Mother’s Day. With your permission, we would be happy to send the delivery on Monday with a backup of Tuesday to include a note of apology explaining the delay…’ It’s been 6 days since Mother’s Day and I still have no flowers, no refund and no apology. So not only did they ruin my Mother’s Day, they won’t even try to make this right for me.” TIP: Consider using a major credit card when purchasing flowers online as most major credit card companies can help you resolve a charge dispute.
Rising to the Occasion
The biggest gift your Mom can get on Mother’s Day is YOU! A few hours spent together or a nice chat on the phone is a simple way to show your appreciation. If you want to add a special touch to your Mom’s day, flowers are a wonderful way to show your love. Sometimes however, flower delivery can bring on added stress if the delivery doesn’t go as planned. So if you decide to send flowers, look for a company who has the capacity and business practices in place to fulfill the order as promised. See if the company has a reachable customer service phone number so you can call to confirm your order or check on the status if delivery is not on time. It’s also a good idea to find out what the company’s refund policy is just in case something goes wrong. You can always check consumer reviews if you are doing business with them for the first time. Have a happy Mother’s Day!
