Anyone Know of a Teleflora Class Action Law Suit
- Thread starter Vitis MD
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Why sue them? Why don't you just drop them and keep FTD?
Your username may appeal to some, but I suspect that the majority of florists will be a little turned off by it. It's so... 18ish.
Just my opinion.
Your username may appeal to some, but I suspect that the majority of florists will be a little turned off by it. It's so... 18ish.
Just my opinion.
12BucksFor2Dozon
New Member
Yes we were "screwed" by TF, also, but oh well live and learn. I would not be interested joining anything that require lawyers (yech!)...
I think your time would be far better spent forgetting about TF and the past and start thinking about your FUTURE and how you will apply the lessons you learned about the WS to make you a stronger and smarter florist.
I think your time would be far better spent forgetting about TF and the past and start thinking about your FUTURE and how you will apply the lessons you learned about the WS to make you a stronger and smarter florist.
We did, but there are issues to resolve. It may be in your nature (and from what I hear - many others) to roll over but its not in mine. We have been using 1800flowers and FTD (for a few months) and they seem to be behaving themselves in accordance with their T&Cs. With regard to my username, win, lose or draw, when all is done and said with TF I will change it to something less .... cynical.
Mark - thanks for the post. I'm new here, have read several of your posts and I respect your opnion. I'm sure I'll get over the TF ordeal soon enough and will be moving on to more constructive discussions. I was just curious if anyone has taken legal measures and how successful or unsuccessful they were. And your right at some point you just have to let it go and move on, I'm sure I'll get there ... just not there yet.
Eric
Eric
We were billed for a lot of Co-op advertising and other stuff that we didn't order ... month after month after month ... and our rep kept telling us she was working on fixing the problem and was going to get our account credited. The credits were minimal - like $150 for $1500 of un-orderd advertising and a few other things. The majority of our statement was correct - just three lines items of stuff we never ordered that we kept getting billed for.
In any case - I hear you on your second point. Their customer is the worst I have ever experienced. No one in the company appears to be empowered to correct anything - they just pass the buck. It has finaly all come to head when this pit bull from accounting called. We went round and round with no resolution.
We are at a point where they said we owed them ~$1600 and I'm telling them they owe us ~$10,000. The only leverage I have - if you can even call it that, is that we owe for 3 more years on the POS system they sold us. In accordance with the contract that is supposed to be paid off if the relationship gets terminated - which it has. I suspect they'll come looking for that money soon - and I have no problem paying that off - once they fix the incorrect billing problem.
I'm sure if I pay them off I'll never see my money.
Boy - I feel better now that I had a chance to vent.
In any case - I hear you on your second point. Their customer is the worst I have ever experienced. No one in the company appears to be empowered to correct anything - they just pass the buck. It has finaly all come to head when this pit bull from accounting called. We went round and round with no resolution.
We are at a point where they said we owed them ~$1600 and I'm telling them they owe us ~$10,000. The only leverage I have - if you can even call it that, is that we owe for 3 more years on the POS system they sold us. In accordance with the contract that is supposed to be paid off if the relationship gets terminated - which it has. I suspect they'll come looking for that money soon - and I have no problem paying that off - once they fix the incorrect billing problem.
I'm sure if I pay them off I'll never see my money.
Boy - I feel better now that I had a chance to vent.
Mikey the Flower Guy
It's a GREAT DAY to live, and love!
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I HAVE to "share".....
on this......the US TELEFLORA office & operations sux, from MY point of view.....I AM NOT a TF member, BUT, knowing what I KNOW, I'd direct my calls to a far more helpful Canadian TF office!!
The very reason WE LEFT TF was because of the US operations!!
The whole schebang would be better run by the office in Canada!! ask for Beverley!!
on this......the US TELEFLORA office & operations sux, from MY point of view.....I AM NOT a TF member, BUT, knowing what I KNOW, I'd direct my calls to a far more helpful Canadian TF office!!
The very reason WE LEFT TF was because of the US operations!!
The whole schebang would be better run by the office in Canada!! ask for Beverley!!
You better have an attorney advise you on refusing to pay - talk to a contract attorney. When you get your final statement your POS amount will be included. If you don't pay by the deadline, a collection agency will call on you - maybe out of Texas? Their fee will increase the balance by 25%.
Business collections are different than personal. You can't make them stop and they will sue you unless you have a valid countersuit ready - that may hold them off enough (collection agencies don't sign up to GET sued) to send you back to the collections pool for another collection agency to pick up and try their luck. [ding] Round 2, 3, 4... I wonder how long that goes on for?
Just my imagination at work...
Business collections are different than personal. You can't make them stop and they will sue you unless you have a valid countersuit ready - that may hold them off enough (collection agencies don't sign up to GET sued) to send you back to the collections pool for another collection agency to pick up and try their luck. [ding] Round 2, 3, 4... I wonder how long that goes on for?
Just my imagination at work...
Yes you are correct - and that is about how I expect it to play out. But at that point isn't TF, in effect, selling the debt to the collection agency. In the TF T&Cs they mention suing in CA or the county the business is located. Like I said, we'll have to see how it all plays out. I'm sure I'll end up on the short end of it all but, at this point I'm emotionally commited to seeing this to the end.
I'm sure ther are plenty of folks out there that haven't had any problems with TF - there must be or they (TF) wouldn't be in business. I have spoken with several other florist and they have had similar problems. In reading many of the posts at this site regarding wire services, I guess this is somehow supposed to be normal or the nature of the beast - I don't get it. Unless there always another new sucker florist on the horizon to keep feeding on. I think we beat this to death - nuf said.
In the end, I hope the pile of certified mail sent to TF trying to resolve this problem over the past year buys me some kind of consession.
I'm sure ther are plenty of folks out there that haven't had any problems with TF - there must be or they (TF) wouldn't be in business. I have spoken with several other florist and they have had similar problems. In reading many of the posts at this site regarding wire services, I guess this is somehow supposed to be normal or the nature of the beast - I don't get it. Unless there always another new sucker florist on the horizon to keep feeding on. I think we beat this to death - nuf said.
In the end, I hope the pile of certified mail sent to TF trying to resolve this problem over the past year buys me some kind of consession.
Those opt-out Co-op ads are dreadful and have been the source of many a PO'd florist. Even when we told them to completely remove us from all co-op pragrams (a few years ago) - and ordered no holiday containers - we still found the 'notifications' buried in small print on the last page of the statement.
Every member should comb the back page first for fee increases, rule changes and new 'free' stuff that can quickly turn into obligations.
Every member should comb the back page first for fee increases, rule changes and new 'free' stuff that can quickly turn into obligations.
12BucksFor2Dozon
New Member
Exactly right, which is why I INSIST on calling the WSs multi-level-marketing (MLM) operations now...they are constantly depending upon recruiting newbies so the fat cats on top can suck dollars from them, and deliver nothing, just like Amway and other MLM scams.
Unfortunately, you have to face the facts...you've been legally scammed by this MLM operation. From what I've heard, they will win in court and charge you EVEN MORE when you lose.
Good luck with your lawsuit...what you call "my roll-over nature" is what I call "wisdom". A wise man knows what battles to fight...I have too many other, more positive and productive things to do then to waste time, money, and emotion on lawyers, lawsuits, and courts.
specialoccasion
New Member
In my opinion your leverage would be better if you went ahead and paid off the POS system. This way should it go in to legal proceedings, you will be able to use the fact that you paid what you honestly felt you owed. If you were just trying to scam them there would have been no good reason to pay them anything. You demonstrate good intentions and that will be in your favor.
PhillyPhlorist
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TEL's auto-renew coop advertising has been around for a long time. I will venture to say that 50% of TEL florists don't even know they are paying for co-op ads on products they don't even carry. This is something TEL picked up from the AFS merger - I believe...
In order for you to NOT be charged for FUTURE co-op ads, you have to call them and let them know you want out of all futuer ads. I fell victem to this several years ago, when reconciling my w/s statement, I found the charges. It took me about 6 months, but I got the charges credited. It took several calls, many letters and a lot of hassel.
Now, I review EVERY co-op ad with BOTH FTD and TEL every time I order containers. Being in a top market, I have to....otherwise I will get burried in crap-o-la. Also, we sell those stupid containers, mass produce them, and make sure we get enough for delivery. I would say over 70% are used with local customers, while 30% are used to fill wire in orders. But, the advertising is out there, people request them...so we carry them.
Lastly, we only go in co-op's that feature a tracking mechanism....such as the coupons. Only way to see if you're getting a return on your investment.
Good luck with your issue, but be warned - you are a "small guy", TEL is a big corp. who has lots of $$$ for law suites.... Best to try and work something out... Been where you are now, know how you feel.
- H.
In order for you to NOT be charged for FUTURE co-op ads, you have to call them and let them know you want out of all futuer ads. I fell victem to this several years ago, when reconciling my w/s statement, I found the charges. It took me about 6 months, but I got the charges credited. It took several calls, many letters and a lot of hassel.
Now, I review EVERY co-op ad with BOTH FTD and TEL every time I order containers. Being in a top market, I have to....otherwise I will get burried in crap-o-la. Also, we sell those stupid containers, mass produce them, and make sure we get enough for delivery. I would say over 70% are used with local customers, while 30% are used to fill wire in orders. But, the advertising is out there, people request them...so we carry them.
Lastly, we only go in co-op's that feature a tracking mechanism....such as the coupons. Only way to see if you're getting a return on your investment.
Good luck with your issue, but be warned - you are a "small guy", TEL is a big corp. who has lots of $$$ for law suites.... Best to try and work something out... Been where you are now, know how you feel.
- H.
Eric S
Demoted Webmaster
You know I have had my share of problems with Teleflora.
It seems to me that things always get resolved unless you refuse to pay the billed amount first.
Example would be when I recieved a co op bill on our statement for something from Mothers day. Instead of calling customer service I sent an email to our rep she called me back and said she would get it resolved.
I paid the bill and behold the next statement there was the credit.
This has happened a couple of other times so that is why I am saying things seem to get resolved when you pay what they bill you. I have tried it the other way when florist provide duplicate orders that they filled or co-op that we never signed up for and those things would go on for months. It almost seemed like customer service would listen to you and thats it.
I recomend to any other hog tied to teleflora. Just pay the bill and let your rep handle it because it sure seems to go better that way.
I love the Avatar for Teleflora Sucks It Keeps A Smile On My Face
It seems to me that things always get resolved unless you refuse to pay the billed amount first.
Example would be when I recieved a co op bill on our statement for something from Mothers day. Instead of calling customer service I sent an email to our rep she called me back and said she would get it resolved.
I paid the bill and behold the next statement there was the credit.
This has happened a couple of other times so that is why I am saying things seem to get resolved when you pay what they bill you. I have tried it the other way when florist provide duplicate orders that they filled or co-op that we never signed up for and those things would go on for months. It almost seemed like customer service would listen to you and thats it.
I recomend to any other hog tied to teleflora. Just pay the bill and let your rep handle it because it sure seems to go better that way.
I love the Avatar for Teleflora Sucks It Keeps A Smile On My Face
teleflora DOES suck
hey teleflorasucks!!! well teleflora really does suck so why not just say it. i love the screen name!!!
many, many of us have had similar problems with tf -- so don't feel lonely!
if tf didn't suck i would save hours of time by not reading all over this board how bad tf sucks -- but i 'm addicted to reading the teleflora trashing -- it makes me feel not so all alone.
hey teleflorasucks!!! well teleflora really does suck so why not just say it. i love the screen name!!!
many, many of us have had similar problems with tf -- so don't feel lonely!
if tf didn't suck i would save hours of time by not reading all over this board how bad tf sucks -- but i 'm addicted to reading the teleflora trashing -- it makes me feel not so all alone.
avenuegardensflorist
Well-Known Member
hey why don't you just call Tom Butler, the ex-AFS ceo. I'm sure he is a really nice guy and has the true Florist's interest at heart. I always see him doing the photo-ops w/ all the "great Teleflora shops" in the news publication TF sends us every month. He is always there w/ the florist owner taking these nice pics. I am sure he will take care of you problems. Just call and ask to speak w/ Tom the ex-AFS ceo. Teleflora is for the "real" retail florist, right?
I am considering this for the very reason you stated - meeting with a commerce lawyer on Monday - will post his recommendations on dealing with this mess.
O we tried this over and over and over again and our sales rep said the bill was wrong and that she was going to fix it over and over and over again. You get the idea. You had better luck on your end. We should have pulled the plug TF after the second listing instead of believing in her. She was worthless as a rep.
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