My wife and I subscribe to Netflix and received a movie last week. Printed on the mailer was an ad from FTD florists for what appeared to me to be a pretty nice assortment of flowers at an agreeable price. Here's the ad:
Pretty nice, right? And $19.99 didn't seem like a bad price, assuming that what you see in the picture is more or less what you get.So I got online and ordered them for my wife as an early Christmas surprise. Two days later, this arrived at our door:
See the candy canes in the first arrangement? Notice how they're nestled snugly within the thick mass of verdant flowers? I tried doing that with the arrangement we got, but it was really hard to hang them on thin air, so I gave up. And notice how the flowers in the ad are really pretty, and the ones we got are stupid? The only thing the flowers we got share with the ones in the ad is the rectangular vase, and it's obviously not up to the task of holding the miserly arrangement shown above.Okay, I'll admit it: What we got isn't terrible. They're not really that bad. But check the arrangements out one after the other and tell me if this isn't false advertising.
I could see how FTD could try and spin this if the ad said "Starting at $19.99." Then it would've just been a matter of, "Oh, what's in the picture isn't the one that costs $19.99. The one that costs $19.99 is the paean to mediocrity that we sent you, chump!" But that's not how it is. The ad says "Now $19.99," and, solidifying my case, prints the name of the arrangement ("Candied Christmas Bouquet") nearby. What I saw in the ad should be what I ended up getting, right?
This is kind of the equivalent of how fast food joints make their burgers look in commercials and magazine ads, and the reality is you're gonna get a greasy bun with cheese stuck to the wrapper and a patty that's nowhere near what it looked like on tv or in print. The only difference is, everyone knows this ahead of time, and has accepted it prior to the purchase. Before purchasing these flowers, I might've understood they wouldn't look exactly as pictured, but I never would have known that they'd end up so thoroughly underwhelming upon receipt.
So, lessons learned:
- NEVER shop at FTD.com again. Not only do they give you crappy flowers, they try and get you to sign up for this even crappier thing called Reservation Rewards, which is basically a scam that takes $10.00 from your credit card or bank account (whatever you paid FTD with) under the guise of some kind of travel benefits, and doesn't notify you at all until you see it on your statement and call them to cancel it. Any company that would associate itself with such a shady undertaking is equally shady.
- Buy flowers locally. You know what you're getting, and you're likely supporting a local business.
- NEVER shop at FTD.com again. It was worth repeating.
Update 12/15/08: Check out this new post for an interesting development in this story.
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15 comments:
hello Chris
You are right. It is better to buy locally. Surelly,the FTD flowers are very expensives. In Portugal they are cheaper,even in the great cities. But the service must be paid and you received the flowers at your home. It is the modern times. Nothing is free,unless the air. But in the future it is able be different
Excuse me these intromission.Your english in this post was more easy to me,an oxfordian one.
Good health
First, let me say... You did not get this from an FTD FLORIST, you got this from FTD.com. There is a huge difference between the two. FTD.com actually works against local florists by selling stuff like this. You could have went down the street to your neighborhood shop, spent your $20 and got something that looked better and would have helped your local economy.
However, in the interest of fairness,I just went to FTD's site and looked up the design you ordered. It clearly states that you'll get only 12 stems of product. Looks to me like that's what you received. If you had simply cut the stems shorter it would have come a lot closer to the picture in the ad. That would have also compacted the blooms enough to have allowed the candy canes to stay upright in the top of the design.
When you receive or order flowers from your local florist you also pay for design ability and knowledge. Most professional florists have years of experience and the knowledge to be able to recommend something that would have been more suitable. this is a good lesson for anyone reading this..ALWAYS call your local shop to handle all your floral needs. NEVER use an order gatherers like most you'll find online. If you do need to look up a florist online be sure to check that they are located in the same town where you want your flowers delivered, not 3 states away.
If you haven't guessed yet, I am a professional florist and I'm proud of the way independent professional florists are able to help their clients.
Thanks for your comment, Janet. I agree with you that I should have gone with a local florist. In fact, I wrote that in my "Lessons Learned" section at the end of the post. Did you read that far down?
I still think it's false advertisting because: 1) The picture shows way more than 12 stems of product; 2) The fine print on the Netflix ad says nothing about not guaranteeing any more than 12; and 3) The ad on ftd.com/netflix is clearly labeled "Candied Christmas Bouquet - 12 Stems," and yet it looks nothing like what I ordered. Maybe there's more blooms on those stems than what I got?
All I'm saying is that I think there was some obfuscation here. Granted, I raced through the ordering process, and if I had turned a more critical eye, I might have put two and two together.
Thanks for your clarification on FTD vs. FTD.com. I will change the post title to reflect that.
My wife also just cut the stems shorter, so we'll see where that leaves the arrangement. :)
Thanks again for your comment, Janet.
shouldn't laugh - but those flowers next to the pic are amusing
Thanks Chris, yes I did read to the bottom of your post. I just wanted to clarify for everyone that you did not receive fowers from a "real" florist, rather a drop-ship order gatherer.
It's hard enough for real florist in todays economy to make a living without having recognized brands like FTD basically undermining our integrity. I just wanted to make it clear to everyone the tremendous difference between a REAL professional florist and firms like the dot-com you purchased from.
Thanks for your feedback, Janet
Understood. In retrospect, we have a couple of really nice local florists here in Tacoma, either of which would have been a better choice.
Best wishes and best of luck on your holiday orders and beyond!
Chris -
When you purchased that item from FTD.com, were you aware it would arrive unassembled in a box and you would have to put it together yourself?
I agree with florist Janet that shortening the flower stems could help hold up the candy canes but I'd wager a tidy sum that the designer who made the arrangement in the photo used extensions (like wooden pics) to hold them in place.
Candy canes should not be directly placed into the vase or they'll start to degrade - which can shorten the life of the flowers.
The photo of your product also showed cedar as the 'green', yet you received Israeli ruscus - which hardly conveys the look of Christmas.
In brief, even a professional designer would have a tough time making your DIY kit look like the picture.
Thanks, Cathy. Shortening the stems helped a little with the candy canes, and also made the arrangement look a bit better. Thanks for pointing out the difference in the "green"...I hadn't noticed.
Trust your florist. The florists who have posted know what they are talking about.
Now you know more than you wanted to know about floral design...(i.e., shortening the stems, candy cane with wire picks and them degrading in water, differnece in foliages...)but guess what? You don't have to know this, cause your FLORIST does. You shouldn't have to know all of that! Sheesh, you are just a guy trying to send flowers to his wife!
Sorry you had to learn the hard way but thanks for the post.
Local florists rock.
FTD.com...not so much.
At any rate, thanks for buying flowers. Sorry the experience was not what you had expected. Give a local shop a visit. I am sure your wife will appreciate your efforts once again!
Yes, As a fellow Real Florist I have to agree with what has been said. In future, stick with buying local from your local florist. In the end you and your wife will be happier.
Here is some additional links to some information that your readers and yourself might appreciate.
www.floristdetective.com is a site that breaks it all down and really exposes what the drop-shippers and dot.cons are all about.
If you do not know a great local florist, then this site can help to point you to reputable, skilled, floral designers in your area. That is www.aifd.com
Ricky W. King AIFD, NCCPF, SCCPF
Chris I'm sorry to read about your disappointing experience from ordering flowers. I feel that something like this affects the floral industry as a whole. Just by reading your post proves how quickly the term FTD and Florist can be merged together. In today's floral industry these two terms no longer work together. You now have a company that wants all of the pie and will do it by misleading the consumer into thinking they are getting one thing and actually receiving something else. I am curious about your answer to Cathy's question that was asked if you knew that you where receiving a prearranged arrangement or that it was a DIY shipped product. Take care and please don't give up on sending flowers as gifts. Just call your local florist.
@Everyday Flowers Tustin
I didn't know it was supposed to be DIY. I figured as much from the way it came in the box, but my wife--who hadn't seen the original misleading picture--assumed it was supposed to be like that. Couldn't find anything on FTD.com to suggest that, "Yeah, you're gonna have to do some work on these."
Next time, I'm heeding everyone's advice and going local, whether at the local Metropolitan Market or a great florist here in Tacoma, WA, Blitz & Co.
Don't they realize you will never buy from them again when you are disappointed. I don't get it. Trader Joe's puts out a better bouquet.
Chris If it looks too good to be true, it almost always is too good to be true. FTD.com actually have NO flowers, no designers,and no delivery vehicles. They have an automatic web site that instantly relays orders to third parties to fill the order. Direct shippers in this case vis Fedex or real florsits for other items. They retain a big commission and charge a big service fee. But the public must love that....they collected over 4 million orders this year.! Ken
FTD Scam is all over the places in circumstances like this. The picture has a make up and additional flowers that had nothing to do with the real item you will receive. Just take a look at the TOD OLDHAM desings. Some Vases have a PAPER WRAP arround, Did it SAY ANYTHING ABOUT THIS?? Im sure some of you bought this thinking about the Nice vase. Also the arrangements from FTD.com NEVER ARRIVED in GOOD SHAPE.
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