For those of you who follow the Hallmark Holiday/Clinton Cards date of 14th February and have been thinking about flowers for your loved one (as they tend to be 1) pretty, 2) shows ‘Love’ and 3) yields bucket loads of cashback/miles per pound/dollar), a cautionary tale from muggins.
A couple of weeks ago, it was Chinese New Year, and as is tradition, I like to send some red flowers to my mother.
I used eFlorist via Quidco* to order some flowers (I could had used British Airways Gate 365 or Avios.com – but the bottom line is that my Avios battlepile is getting too large as it is… and cashback is sometimes preferred over Miles and Points).
Here’s the selection I went with. Lots of red in it. Now pay attention…
Lots of red. Very auspicious.
So a good few days before Chinese New Year hit, I popped an order in.
Well, let’s do the positive points first. The cashback tracked, and the flowers arrived. I phoned my parents to ensure they arrived safely, and my mother (bless her) moaned about how they looked.
This… annoyed me a tiny bit – so I asked my father to take a picture and email me a photo up. And I’m so glad I did…
Image via ParentsofGhettoIFE. GhettoFlowers? Maybe.
Let’s do a side – by side compare
Left Recived flowers – Right, Product Image.
To be honest, I’m having great trouble spotting the red here at all. I can spot a red rose, something resembling a ribbon, white lilies, and those pinkish roses look like they’ve seen better days. Whilst substitutions are common in bouquets… there are one substitutions too many here.
To be honest, this bunch of flowers looked like something out of a Petrol station on a bad day rather than a professionally sent and prepared flowers.
To say I was unamused would be the understatement of the week.
So, I reached out to the company by Twitter…
To which that got no response. In the end I filled in the webform, had a live webchat. And waited.
Bear in mind the flowers we delivered Friday morning. I put in the complaint Friday lunchtime. It took eFlorist until Monday Afternoon to respond.
Thankfully, eFlorist noted the flowers were not as ordered – and offered to either re-deliver the flowers or refund. I went for a refund as the occasion had passed.
Whilst florists have a hard time a lot of the year, my message is simple – don’t let the promise of lots of miles and cashback draw you away from the quality of the flowers you get.
Otherwise, you could be doing a LOT of grovelling over a pittance of miles…. and a partner saying “Well it the thought that counts” (Translation: Are there any good restaurants left to book? You’re buying…)
* For those who are remotely interested and want to join Quidco through my affiliate link its http://www.quidco.com/user/379602/1746671/. When you earn £5 through it, you’ll get a £5 bonus, as will I… though do buy insurance or mobile phone contracts through it. Flights and Hotels are sometimes not worth the effort….
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Glad you posted this. The 25mi per dollar offers are tempting but I made the same mistake you did, but with my wife. Definitely not worth it in the long run.
A trusted florist with a reputation to uphold has the incentive to keep you and the receiver happy. Since then I’ve established a relationship with florists locally and in my family members’ respective home towns. Results have been stunning. Amazing what an old-fashioned phone call can do.
This has happend to me more than one time with various different websites.
I thought it was a salutatory reminder for those who are thinking flowers and miles in the same sentence.
It’s happened to me a couple of times, but when dearest mother starts making a noise, it’s worth investigating.
As PittDoc says above, maybe making a relationship with a good local florist is not a bad idea… (and probably a bit cheaper too!)
I’m always surprised about these tales of bad flowers. A long time ago (well, maybe 8 years ago) my now-husband and I were maintaining a long distance relationship. When it came to Valentine’s Day he sent me a dozen roses from one of those mail order companies. It was a recognizable name, like 1-800-flowers, but not necessarily that one, I don’t remember. The flowers were awesome. They were packed nicely in a box and they were beautiful and they lasted for ages. It’s disappointing to hear that maybe isn’t a typical experience. Though I suppose we are much more likely to hear the tales of woe, than the “they sent my mom some nice beautiful flowers” tales – the latter being not all that interesting.