ATLANTA (WXIA) -- Unhappy floral customers let their "Dislike" status be know via social media on Valentine's Day with hashtags like #vday fail and #1800flowerfail.
1-800-Flowers received more than 500 negative comments on its Facebook page from customers dissatisfied with their Valentine's Day deliveries. ProFlowers received more than 200 complaints, FTD more than 300 and Teleflora received more than 1000.
All four companies also had numerous Twitter messages on Valentine's Day and for several days after from customers who were dissatisfied with their orders or didn't receive them at all.
Some of those customers were in metro Atlanta. After our partners at 11ALIVE showed Carol Carmichael's bouquet last week, we heard from 14 more unhappy customers. Many of them sent photos. Four viewers complained about ProFlowers, three didn't like 1-800-Flowers' service, one named Teleflora, one mentioned FTD and one was unhappy with Flowersnationwide.com. The rest didn't specify.
We were also contacted by two local florists suggesting customers eliminate the 800 numbers and websites and buy locally instead.
We contacted the four main companies that had received complaints and heard back from two of them.
A 1-800-Flowers spokeswoman said, "At 1-800-FLOWERS.COM, we pride ourselves on helping our customers deliver smiles with our truly original arrangements. This year's Valentine's, as with all peak holiday seasons, we are able to help the vast majority of our customers deliver a smile for the holiday period. As always, we offer a 100 percent smile guarantee; therefore, if a customer is not completely satisfied with their order, our caring team obsessed with service will redeliver, refund, credit or offer a comparable exchange. In addition, we believe in the use of social media; therefore, our customers will use Facebook and Twitter to contact us. As always, our goal is to help our customers express themselves perfectly to the important people in their lives."
FTD said, "We recognize the significance of flowers in expressing emotion and the importance of that expression, especially at Valentine's Day. We take every order personally, strive to meet each customer's expectations and in that small percentage of cases when we do not, we are 100 percent committed to responding to their concerns. As you would expect, on Valentine's Day and other peak periods, we receive a huge volume of orders and the vast majority of these are delivered as requested, on time and to our customers' delight. Social media allows us to interact with, and assist our customers in a valuable, new way. With the growth of Facebook and Twitter, we have added additional staff to deal with the increased volume, and respond in a timely manner. Any time that we receive an inquiry, whether through our customer service phone line or through Facebook, Twitter and other social media, we work as quickly as possible to respond, and do our best to resolve the issue to our customers' satisfaction."
Teleflora had this message for customers on Facebook: "Please know we are working around the clock to address each and every issue posted here. We have added extra customer service reps to our Facebook team and if you haven't heard from one of us yet, we promise to be in touch as soon as possible."
Here are some consumer tips to help your next flower delivery go smoothly:
- Check online reviews. FTD and 1-800 Flowers have "A+" ratings from the Better Business Bureau, Teleflora has an "A" and Proflowers has an "F." Many customers who took to Facebook last week said they are also asking the BBB to investigate.
- Develop a relationship with a local florist who understands your likes and dislikes.
- Keep in mind Valentine's Day and Mother's Day are some of the biggest floral delivery days of the year. Florists and customer service departments may be strained.
- If you are unhappy with your flowers, take pictures.
- Try contacting the company by phone, email and social media.
- If you're still not satisfied, dispute the charge with your credit card company.
To read more about what some are calling Flower Fail, here are blogs from the New York Times, Washington Post and Business Week.
Valerie Hoff, 11ALIVE News