10/10/09

Name: Danny
Email: doctorevii2001@hotmail.com
From: Lynden, WA

On Friday my wife got news that one of her coworkers and close friends had lost her un-born baby.  Knowing that her coworker was devastated she went online to order some flowers to be delivered to the coworker.  (this was at around noon)

Later that evening, close to 7:00 she received a voicemail saying that they were unable to deliver the flowers on that day, but that they would attempt to deliver them the following day (Saturday).  My wife was disappointed, but figured Saturday would still be good.

Saturday morning my wife awoke to a voicemail from Teleflora saying that they were unable to locate a local flower shop who could deliver the flowers, but if she called back before 1:00 that they would go to a different florist and get them delivered still that day.

Side note:  The delivery address is less than 10 miles away from a city of 40,000, and is itself in a city of roughly 20,000.

She called back and was told that they could not deliver the flowers on Saturday, but with an alternate address they could deliver the flowers to her coworker's work place on Monday.  As not all of the employees were aware of her pregnancy, this was not an option.  Mind you, thoughtout this whole dialogue the "customer service" agent NEVER ONCE said she was sorry for the inconvenience, or apologized to my wife.  My wife told her that a Monday delivery was not acceptable, and that she would have to have a refund.  The customer care rep informed her that it would be 3 - 5 days until the refund was posted.  And again, still no apology.

But this isn't where the story ends...

I told my wife that it was unacceptable that she wasn't issued so much as an apology for the inconvenience.  So I decided to call in and speak to a manager.

My first call was answered by "Sara" and I told her that I would like to speak to a manager.  She asked for my confirmation number and name, and I was happy to give that to her.  I was then disconnected.

I called back and again "Sara" answered.  I told her I had just been cut off and she offered a cold apology and took my number and name again and put me on hold.  This time I made it to the hold music, and there I waited for about 5 minutes... at which point I was cut off again.

I called back a third time and this time a man answered (Tom, I think??).  I informed him that I had been cut off twice and was trying to reach a manager. He took my name and number and apologized (the most heartfelt apology I had heard to this point) and then put me on hold.  After a couple minutes I was connected with a manager who listened to my complaint, and offered sincere apologies.  She let me know that she had the file opened and it had recorded all the people who were involved and that they would be each addressed "in a professional manor."  I told her that was more than good enough for me, and that even if they were unable to deliver the flowers, we could have understood that, but atleast give us an apology for not being able to fulfill our order, and the inconvenience it had caused us.

Now was that so hard?  Customer Service seems to be an art that has slowly, but steadily been lost over the years.
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09/21/09

Name: Mary
Email: summit1203@yahoo.com
From: Davenport
Name of Delivering Florist : None - never delivered a thing

I placed my online order for a beautiful flower basket on September 10th and received an email confirmation from Teleflora with all the correct information also on September 10th.  My requested delivery date was September 15th.

I never heard anything from my recipient the week of delivery but she sends thank you notes rather than calling so I didn't worry about it.

On September 21st at 3am I receive a thank you email from Teleflora including a survey asking if I was satisified with the arrangment and service.  At 10am on the same day I recieve the following email from operationsuport@teleflora.com:

"We have been unable to place your order for delivery on the requested date. Please provide us with an alternate delivery date. Please call us at 800-822-9547 or reply to this email. Thank you."

This was the whole email.  No apology, no explanation, no offer to make this horrible lapse right. When I called the number provided the lady apologized but was clearly disinterested and she had no explanation for why it happenned.  After reading many similar complaints about teleflora.com today I can see why - she must handle tons of these complaints. 

Flowers are ordered for special occasions - "alternate" delivery date options a week later is NO option at all!

I am a high volume shopper and order from a ton of different websites and NEVER have I had this bad of an experience.  Lesson learned - do not shop with teleflora.

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08/21/09

Name: Sandy
From: Florida

I received an advertisement in my credit card statement and decided that I would try teleflora  to send my daughter flowers for her 21st birthday. I used 1800flowers twice in the last two weeks with no problems, but thought I would give your teleflora a try.

I called on Tuesday, August 18 to phone number 1-800-292-0357 three times. The first around 2:55-3:00pm ET I asked for your hours, the second time I wanted to preview the items and asked for the website address and the third time between 5:30 -6:30pm I placed an order. The first two reps were male and the last was a female. She took my order and I ordered the dance with me, with a balloon for delivery on August 20 and gave her the credit card number and she asked me to hold for the confirmation. After a few minutes, she returned to advise that she would have to call me back with the confirmation. I asked her to call my cell phone number and she said ok, as I did not provide an e-mail address.

I didn't think anymore about it as I became ill the next day, but on August 20, I reached out to my daughter after her classes and was told that she did not receive anything. When I reached home, I contacted teleflora, thinking that perhaps no one was home, but to my dismay I was told that there was no order in the system.  So due to one of their employees, on a milestone celebration, it was painful enough that she could not be with family, but she did not even receive anything from her mother. Words cannot express the disappointment, she and I felt.

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06/03/09

Name: Julianne
From: Bethesda MD

Final update w/good news:  Received two emails/apologies from Teleflora (Ashley D and Perry S) and new flowers (as ordered) were delivered by a different florist this morning (6/3).  This arrangement was professionally done and beautiful (KUDOS to Sharon's Bouquet & Weddings, Cabin John MD). Teleflora also attached a note of apology. 

THANKS TELEFLORA!!!!

I've changed my mind and will continue to use their service, esp. when I've had no problems in the past and can't hold one incident w/a HORRIBLE florist (America's Beautiful Florist, Rockville MD) against them. Hopefully Teleflora won't use them again...

06/01/09

Name: Julianne
From: Bethesda MD

Update to 5/30 post:  Nothing arrived today so they apparently lied to my aunt, which ticks me off.  They failed to respond to my customer service email. Turns out my aunt ordered the same arrangement (polka dot and posies) for her daughter-in-law in RI (we share the same birthday) and it arrived on Saturday, resembled the picture online, and had fresh flowers!  Apparently my bad luck was Teleflora used a HORRIBLE florist in Rockville MD (America's Beautiful Florist). 

I was a good customer using Teleflora (via USAA's website) for birthdays, mother's day, valentine's day and funerals for many years, as recently as Feb 2009.  Given their lack of interest in rectifying THIS bad experience, they've lost my business.  I will also be actively spreading the word to family, friends and contacts to avoid Teleflora.

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05/30/09

Name: Julianne
From: Bethesda MD
Name of Delivering Florist : America's Beautiful Florist, Rockville MD

TELEFLORA ORDER #800-83-40.  My aunt in NJ ordered birthday flowers for a Saturday delivery (5/30).  They were delivered on Friday afternoon (5/29) and what we received was a bunch of limp purple daisies w/two brown-edged roses (well past bloom) in a clear glass small gold fish bowl (no ribbon).  The card also had several typos.  It was a pathetic sight.  We called America's Beautiful Florist twice (Missy on Friday and Stacy on Saturday) and they promised new (fresh) flowers would be delivered this afternoon.  No new flowers and they're now closed for the day (3:00).  We alerted my aunt and she was very upset; it was not the arrangement she ordered via Teleflora (polka dot and posies) and it was definitely not/not $50 worth of flowers.  More like a $10 arrangement from a supermarket.  My aunt immediately contacted Teleflora and new flowers are expected to be delivered (as ordered) on Monday.  Shame on America's Beautiful Florist!  Teleflora should discontinue their business relationship so Teleflora's brand is not tarnished by these fraudsters.  I've used Teleflora numerous times (via USAA's website) w/no problem. 

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05/25/09

Name: Kristen
From: Cleveland, Ohio

This is a horrible service.  I ordered flowers to be delivered to Sarasoda FL for mothers day. Later, I found out they were never delivered. I called and asked why, they apologized and said they were not sure why? I told them to make sure they are delivered the next day and if no one answers the door to leave them on the porch. It was an upscale gated community so there should no problem leaving flowers there.

The next day comes and still no flowers. I am now furious. I am offered 20% off and no that is really not good enough. I then ask to speak to a supervisor who givs me 50% off ...fine! It is already Friday and they were supposed to be there Monday. At least one person was home all week to answer the door. They said there was never a knock at the door. My mom had one phone call on Thursday letting them know there were flowers on the porch.  She promptly went outside, and no flowere!

I will NEVER use this service again. I have called twice to get my money back ...it is almost 1 month later and I still have not been credited the $65.00 back to my account. I was told it takes 2-3 days.

I love how they "guarantee" your flower delivery over and over and nothing. They do not know how to handle a business. If you mess up, you give the full flower arrangement and a 100% refund. If that was the case, I would come back. It is one month later and I am out 65 bucks and never got ANY flowers!


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05/20/09

Name: Jennifer
Email: chicdiva11@yahoo.com
From: Independence, KY

I recently ordered the "Strikingly Chic" arrangement from Teleflora for a friend who had major surgery in a Seattle Hospital. The arrangement is described, on the site, as "An eye-catching display of blossoms in sizzling hues of hot pink, fiery orange and sunshine yellow is arranged in a tall glass vase that's decorated with a pink bow."

I placed the order at 2pm, eastern time, which is 11am, Pacific. Teleflora is very specific that same day deliveries must be placed before 2pm in the time zone to which they will be delivered. So I am three hours before the deadline. I got a call that evening that they had a florist who said she could do the job, but could not deliver that day. I was miffed, but accepted a 20% refund and a promise that the flowers would be delivered the following morning.

When the arrangement arrived the following EVENING, my friend's husband sent me a picture mail to thank me. I was appalled. Not only did it looks NOTHING like what I had ordered, it looked cheap and poorly arranged. There was no orange or red, very little pink, and lots of blue - which is not in the "Strikingly Chic" arrangement at ALL. It was not in a tall vase, let alone the one I wanted, but was in a small clear glass cube vase. It literally looked as though the florist had grabbed up all the scrap flowers from the floor, in every kind and color except the ones I ordered, and crammed them into a cheap vase.

Oddly, a friend of ours in Chicago ordered for our same friend and had the IDENTICAL experience. We made our angry phone calls to teleflora within minutes of each other.

The person on the phone seemed neither surprised or interested. NO apology was issued. HE asked what I wanted them to do to fix this, and I said I wanted the EXACT arrangement I had ordered delivered tomorrow morning.

This saga is not over - this last call was tonight. I am not holding my breath.

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05/12/09

Name: Sylvr
From: Costa Mesa

Ordered flowers for moms day online. No indication there would be a delay due to the fact I was ordering on Friday, like all the other sites. My order was processed. Saturday at around 3:30 pm I get an email saying the flowers were not delivered and would be delivered the next possible day, Monday.

I voiced my concern that the reason I wasn't told this during the ordering process was to not lose my sale to another floral service, but to go ahead an deliver. I stated i would not be using their service again. They sent me a coupon for my next purchase, which I informed them would not be happening and go ahead an apply to coupon to the current order.

Fast forward, now Tuesday after 4, get an email today that my flowers could not be delivered and for me to pick a date for them to arrive!! I was shocked that they STILL had not delivered and told them to get lost and give me my money back. Waiting to see what happens.

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05/12/09

Name: Joni
From: PA- Chesterbrook & Linfield
Name of Delivering Florist : Amaranth Florist

My husband placed an order for a planter for Mother's Day (My 3rd one- we adopted 2 orphans 3 yrs ago) on line with TelaFlora.com and the order was routed to Amaranth in Narberth, PA.  It was requested to be delivered before 4PM on Friday, as a surprise to me.  My husband called Telaflora at 5:00 pm on Friday, after he had to ruin the surprise and ask me if I received any deliveries at my office.  They insisted it was still "Out for delivery" according to their computer system.  6:00pm- no planter- (I waited at my office until then)  So, he called AGAIN; they promised to deliver on Saturday.  2:00pm - No planter; 6:00pm- no planter.  So, this time I CALLED Telaflora, and asked for a Supervisor.  "Holly" told me, after calling Amaranth, that the order was handwritten "Refused" on the order slip, BUT NO-ONE FROM THE FLOWER SHOP EVER BOTHERED TO ENTER IT INTO THEIR COMPUTER SYSTEM, SO THEY COULD REROUTE THE ORDER.   So, I never got my planter; by 6:30pm Saturday, it was too late.  They really put a damper on my Mother's Day.  I work at a large company, and I will tell my co-workers every chance I get not to order flowers from Amaranth Florist OR Teleflora.  I asked for a refund on my husband's credit card from Telaflora, but of course, I am sure that will take a few days to process.

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05/12/09

Name: Heidi
From: California

Sent my Mother-in-law in Virgina flowers for mothers day. They were to arrive on Saturday. We found out on Sunday when we called that they had never been delivered. I called Teleflora to see what happened. The women on the phone said there was a not on the order that they had trouble finding a florist (what?)and that maybe they would be delivered on Monday. No call, no email, not even a I'm sorry from the women on the phone. I cancelled the order and told her what a terrible experience this has been, thanks for messing up my Mother in Laws flowers! Then I went to my Twitter account and tweeted about it.


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05/12/09

Name:Pieter
Email: phakkerman@gmail.com
From: OH, USA
Name of Delivering Florist : NC
Flowers ordered on April 7, 2009 at 4:48 p.m.

Price ordered Total: $69.20

Flowers would be delivered on Friday 4/10/2009 before Easter weekend.

Friday 4/10/2009, after flying for several hours from another state I arrived at the delivery address where I was staying the whole Easter weekend
Checked if flowers were delivered but no flowers - nothing.

Called customer service Friday evening at 10:30pm and they apologized but Teleflora promised me to refund me 100% of my money and
Deliver an arrangement on Saturday 4/11/09 for free. So I thought that was nice and thanked them.

I was staying there the whole weekend so Saturday morning past and still No flower delivery again, so not knowing the delivery time of the local flower shop
I thought they would deliver the arrangement probably in the afternoon.
This did not happen and I was getting a bit frustrated because I had put in my order days ahead to avoid this.
At 4pm on Saturday afternoon I called customer service again,

They apologized again and told me they could not arrange a delivery for Saturday 4/11/09.
On the phone they explained to me they had sent an email to my email account letting me know they could not arrange a delivery.
Still On the phone I checked my email and there it was (sent at 1:30 pm), so I asked them why they could not have called me because they had my phone number
And this was the second day that no flowers were delivered.
The excuse in the email was the local store ran out of Tulips. Easter weekend and no tulips.
So I asked if they could arrange a delivery before the local store closed.
They told me they could not and asked me to change the arrangement and the earliest delivery would be on Monday 4/13/09
So I changed it to an arrangement that the local flower shop would have and asked to have it delivered to my girl friends work address.
No problem they would be delivered at her work address on Monday at 2 pm. I could count on it.
Easter weekend had past and no flowers but I still had hope it would be delivered on Monday at 2pm

4/13/09 Monday after 2pm I checked if they had been delivered but no delivery at girl friends work address.
Checked my email but no email or call from Teleflora
Called customer service and of course something happened preventing this delivery again, so I cancelled order and just wanted my money back, due to
Poor service and follow up and that Teleflora was not able to get flowers delivered on 3 occasions.
I told Teleflora they just had lost me as an customer.

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05/12/09

Name: NeverUsingTelefloraAgain
Email:
Name of Delivering Florist : Pocono Floral Company

My first and last experience with Teleflora was horrendous.  I ordered flowers as a SURPRISE for my Mom on 5/6.  On 5/7 my credit card was charged in full.  On 5/8, the intended delivery date, the flowers were never delivered to my Mother's office.  No one called me to let me know this...I was surprised my Mother hadn't called to thank me, and then found out she had never received them.  Spoke to a woman named Rich (?) @ 9:30pm who said she'd put them on priority for the next day. They would now have to be sent to my mother's home and they were no longer a surprise.  On 5/9 I spoke to Nicole @ 12:30pm and Jennifer @ 3:30pm, both who said they would try to contact the florist and find out why the flowers had not been delivered and then call me back to fill me on.  NO ONE CALLED ME BACK.  I then called your company @ 5:05pm, after my father called me at work upset because my Mom was now CRYING because she never got the flowers from her only child who lives hours away. This infuriated me.  My gift of flowers was supposed to be a surprise and bring joy to my Mom on mother's day, but instead this crushed her.  After I had to explain the situation AGAIN to Brooke @ 5:05pm, and asked to speak to a manager (who wasn't available b/c he was dealing with another customer...what a surprise) I was finally put in touch with Ashley Laxton from opperations and support.  Why was she the only person able to contact the florist?  Why was she the only person who said she'd call me back and actually did?  Why was the bouquet not delivered to my Mother until 6:45pm on Saturday?  This has been the worst in communication and execution (or lack  there of) from any company I've ever experienced.  You better believe everyone I know now knows of this story, and that I will continue to tell people to steer clear of Teleflora.

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04/08/09
Ellen
From: Florida
Name of Delivering Florist : in Garner, NC

I ordered flowers to be delivered to my brother on his birthday. Didn't hear anything from him about them until a week later when he said that a bouquet of dead flowers had suddenly shown up on his porch.

He called the local florist who was abusive and told him their driver had delivered the flowers on the right date (although to whom they delivered them is the big question). I contacted Teleflora who gave me a scripted answer and offered a 20% refund. I said that wasn't acceptable but asked if the refund could be applied to a do-over, this time with live flowers. Response was that they had a "strict 48-hour policy" and couldn't consider a do-over, but upped their refund offer to 50%. They didn't care where the flowers were for a week or that I was very disappointed. No refund has been credited to my PayPal account and I've written to the President of the company, who presumably doesn't care.

I have a strict policy of never doing business with companies that shaft the customer.

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04/01/09

Name: Dan
From: Pikesville
Name of Delivering Florist : N/A

In the past I've always used Baltimore Flowers for all my floral baltimore flowers needs, but I recently came across an online coupon presented by Teleflora.com and decided to use it. Boy was that a mistake!! I think I'll stay with my original florist from now on.