From the number one scrap booking site on the web...
I submit THIS STORY Thanks to Petal Pusher for the heads up...
I submit THIS STORY Thanks to Petal Pusher for the heads up...
A Mothers (MIL) Day Story
- Thread starter BOSS
- Start date
- Status
The only thing the story points out is that FTD's business model of being a midleman between the florist and the consumer is broken.
FTD sells it's cookie cutter bouquets with no input from it's florists as to availablity of the requested item.
The only way situations like this could be stopped is if FTD got out of the business of selling flowers and got into the business of selling it's florists. They need to work on putting the consumer in touch with the florist who will actually be creating the item so that the buyer is not disappointed because their needs are beyond the ability of the florist to fill it at the moment requested.
Quality is created at the point of sale because the demands of the consumer will be matched with the physical inventory of the creator.
FTD sells it's cookie cutter bouquets with no input from it's florists as to availablity of the requested item.
The only way situations like this could be stopped is if FTD got out of the business of selling flowers and got into the business of selling it's florists. They need to work on putting the consumer in touch with the florist who will actually be creating the item so that the buyer is not disappointed because their needs are beyond the ability of the florist to fill it at the moment requested.
Quality is created at the point of sale because the demands of the consumer will be matched with the physical inventory of the creator.
Unfortunately, this is one of those stories that we all hate - neither FTD NOR the local florist comes out a winner from the way the story is wrote.
Rhonda
Well-Known Member
I found it "heartening" that most of the replies stated call a local florist. Google a local florist.
Even more reason to have a website that shows your work somewhere! In getting my website pictures ready for Strider, I made sure to choose those designs I could readily make on a moments notice. Those that required flowers we don't usually carry day to day, note in the descriptions that flower varieties may vary. And I will work hard to get my own work in the "gallery" section.
Even more reason to have a website that shows your work somewhere! In getting my website pictures ready for Strider, I made sure to choose those designs I could readily make on a moments notice. Those that required flowers we don't usually carry day to day, note in the descriptions that flower varieties may vary. And I will work hard to get my own work in the "gallery" section.
lori042499
Well-Known Member
- May 3, 2006
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This is really is a losing situation....The picture of the flowers does not look like the picture on the web...the flowers are however fresh...are the worth 50.00, not by a long shot....were they designed well, not at all....Who's fault is that, well FTD for signing up a florist that will send out anything...obviously a professional designer was not on staff that day...
As for the florist calling the recipient....I would say that with experience in this area, 90% of us would do the same thing....
FTD sends a message stating quality issue but doesn't elaborate, as far as this florist is concerned they filled the order...they want to know what happened...so they called and the lady says the flowers are fine because as far as she is concerned they are because there was no quality issue....This is by far FTD's CS at fault, they should send off a message that is a bit more indepth and they should be telling the sender that their affiliate florist has the right to investigate what happened to their flowers and what the problem is....here in lies that problem with middlemen....
That florist also has the right to get back their product if they are not getting paid for it, period....I know that on a rare occasion I have sent things out that may be questionable on a few levels, wether it be roses that just aren't 100% right or subs that you make that you know may not be 100% suitable or a hard good that just is as similar as you could find but questionable at best....if I got a complaint from the WS, I wouldn't question it especially if it is quite specific, I make notes on orders I think may be issue so I can be sure not to argue a moot point...but what if the florist has no idea that did wrong....like the florist who leaves their shop with a 16 year old kid to run that can barely wrap flowers(it is done on a regular basis)...that kid did the best they could, but no idea that it isn't correct...or the brand new owner that never made an arrangement and his designer called out sick....yeah it can happen....what do you think gets sent out in that case...the flowers are probably florist quality, florist design, not....florist is stil out product...
As for the florist calling the recipient....I would say that with experience in this area, 90% of us would do the same thing....
FTD sends a message stating quality issue but doesn't elaborate, as far as this florist is concerned they filled the order...they want to know what happened...so they called and the lady says the flowers are fine because as far as she is concerned they are because there was no quality issue....This is by far FTD's CS at fault, they should send off a message that is a bit more indepth and they should be telling the sender that their affiliate florist has the right to investigate what happened to their flowers and what the problem is....here in lies that problem with middlemen....
That florist also has the right to get back their product if they are not getting paid for it, period....I know that on a rare occasion I have sent things out that may be questionable on a few levels, wether it be roses that just aren't 100% right or subs that you make that you know may not be 100% suitable or a hard good that just is as similar as you could find but questionable at best....if I got a complaint from the WS, I wouldn't question it especially if it is quite specific, I make notes on orders I think may be issue so I can be sure not to argue a moot point...but what if the florist has no idea that did wrong....like the florist who leaves their shop with a 16 year old kid to run that can barely wrap flowers(it is done on a regular basis)...that kid did the best they could, but no idea that it isn't correct...or the brand new owner that never made an arrangement and his designer called out sick....yeah it can happen....what do you think gets sent out in that case...the flowers are probably florist quality, florist design, not....florist is stil out product...
For the most part, filling florists need to lose the leather leaf (Baker) fern unless it's in the photo. There are so very few online pictures that use it, and it's a sure-fire signal of 'low price'.
FTD could also do customers & florists a favor by including sizes on the designs. The one originally ordered does not indicate a size. Customer said upgraded for 'over $60' but that probably included the service fee so the middle size $49.95) was likely the value sent to the local shop.
But no matter how hard I look, the item sent does not appear to be filled to value.
FTD could also do customers & florists a favor by including sizes on the designs. The one originally ordered does not indicate a size. Customer said upgraded for 'over $60' but that probably included the service fee so the middle size $49.95) was likely the value sent to the local shop.
But no matter how hard I look, the item sent does not appear to be filled to value.
My guesstimate would be that up to 60% of transferred orders get delivered this way, and we only hear about 1% of them....
Doug Munro
Well-Known Member
SFox,
Although you read into this story that the FTD business model is broken and to correct it they need to start promoting their members instead of actually selling flowers themselves, I interpret it as something else entirely.
FTD sold the consumer a specific product from the catalog (FTD.com) and sent the order off to one of their trusted suppliers (an FTD fulfilling florist) to fill.
This supplier (fulfilling florist) accepted the order as specified and had access to both a selection guide and the same catalog (FTD.com) that the original purchaser viewed. Yet despite this the supplier (fulfilling florist) chose for whatever reason to send a product other than the specified one .
Just for a moment imagine that we were discussing any other business sector, do you actually think this would be tolerated.
Would a home builder deal with a lumber yard that substituted 2x4's for the 2x6's that the builder had specified?
Would a restaurant deal with a food supplier that substituted red cabbage for romaine lettuce based on what they had in inventory at the moment?
Would you as a florist continue to deal with a wholesaler who substituted liatris for the roses you had ordered for a wedding? I doubt you would.
Would it matter to you if the wholesaler suggested that you should ask for their input as to what you should sell to your customers for wedding?
Yet in the case of this story you find FTD at fault because their supplier made a substitution. It amazes me the double standard that is applied.
I have stated many times on this board and will state again that I believe in most cases the "Achilles Heel" of out of town flower delivery is in fact the fulfilling shop.
We send our fair share of orders and as such I could go on for days relating the issues we face with fulfilling shops due to substitutions, poor quality product, late deliveries, no delivery, and just plain poor design. Add to that the fact that on occasion when we do bring a customer complaint to the attention of the shop that filled the order, the shop takes offense and in some cases actually insists that they be allowed to contact the sender (my customer) directly.
The bottom line here is that can anyone on this board who read the blog and viewed the pictures of the product ordered versus what was delivered actually defend the filling shop? If the answer is yes I suspect we also have the answer as to why our industry is suffering from the issues it is.
Just my thoughts.....
TOTO
New Member
99.9% of all Floral complaints begin at the POS!
I've always believed 99.9% of all floral consumer complaints begin at the Point of Sale.
Not enough information, not enough time, not enough money, not enough options, and not enough consumer education.
WEE FLORISTS are not Sears selling hammers and drills off our shelves or from our websites. And wee are certainly not in the business of selling lumber and 2' X 4's, which have a shelf life of like FOREVER!
Our product is a HIGHLY PERISHABLE ITEM, and when required by the consumers, must be available in its freshest possible condition.
The problem we have always had is that, we just never know what they want and when they want it, since our order lead time is usually in hours, versus days or weeks.
Middlemen and all the floral order gatherers and DOT.CONs insist on coming in between THE CUSTOMER and THE FLORIST in order to SKIM THE BIG PROFITS.
As SFOX pointed out, FTDI should be in the business of putting the consumers in touch with their florists and in order to have those orders properly filled.
Only then, will the florist be able to guide the customer into making the right decision at the right time for the right reason, and primarily based on the reality of, what's in their coolers at that moment in time.
DOT.CON websites don't have that ability and continue to have TOO MANY SELECTIONS with TOO MANY RECIPES with TOO MANY TWOs of this and TWOs of that, in TOO MANY DIFFERENT COLORS TOO!
Most of our own floral suppliers don't even have that kind of A MOMENT'S NEED inventory on hand.
And so, DA FLORIST is set up for FAILURE at those POS's.
Another one of those DIRTY LITTLE SECRETS in our industry as each of those players ROLL THE DICE when they can't fill the image to specs, hoping the sender doesn't see what was sent.
The new camera phone technology catches the players in the ACT, after which the OG DOT.CON vendors make the fillers bite the bullet.
NO LOSS and NO GAIN for the OGs as all of the PAIN winds up at the florist end of the order spectrum.
NICE GIG IF YOU CAN GET IT?
I've always believed 99.9% of all floral consumer complaints begin at the Point of Sale.
Not enough information, not enough time, not enough money, not enough options, and not enough consumer education.
WEE FLORISTS are not Sears selling hammers and drills off our shelves or from our websites. And wee are certainly not in the business of selling lumber and 2' X 4's, which have a shelf life of like FOREVER!
Our product is a HIGHLY PERISHABLE ITEM, and when required by the consumers, must be available in its freshest possible condition.
The problem we have always had is that, we just never know what they want and when they want it, since our order lead time is usually in hours, versus days or weeks.
Middlemen and all the floral order gatherers and DOT.CONs insist on coming in between THE CUSTOMER and THE FLORIST in order to SKIM THE BIG PROFITS.
As SFOX pointed out, FTDI should be in the business of putting the consumers in touch with their florists and in order to have those orders properly filled.
Only then, will the florist be able to guide the customer into making the right decision at the right time for the right reason, and primarily based on the reality of, what's in their coolers at that moment in time.
DOT.CON websites don't have that ability and continue to have TOO MANY SELECTIONS with TOO MANY RECIPES with TOO MANY TWOs of this and TWOs of that, in TOO MANY DIFFERENT COLORS TOO!
Most of our own floral suppliers don't even have that kind of A MOMENT'S NEED inventory on hand.
And so, DA FLORIST is set up for FAILURE at those POS's.
Another one of those DIRTY LITTLE SECRETS in our industry as each of those players ROLL THE DICE when they can't fill the image to specs, hoping the sender doesn't see what was sent.
The new camera phone technology catches the players in the ACT, after which the OG DOT.CON vendors make the fillers bite the bullet.
NO LOSS and NO GAIN for the OGs as all of the PAIN winds up at the florist end of the order spectrum.
NICE GIG IF YOU CAN GET IT?
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