Call from FTD

Spookyflowers

Spookyflowers

New Member
Jun 13, 2007
691
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Missouri Valley
State / Prov
IA
Just had FTD call me to take and order for a funerla for them,I'm not FTD. She said it needs to be there by 5 today I said the viewing is not till tomorrow night. She said the family wants it there today I said she is not ready for viewing yet and she hung up on me. Do these people not think that we know what is going on and we work with our funeral homes and do as they want us to do.
I'm sure she'll find some stupid shop to fill it for her and by Friday when the funeral is the flowers are dead.
Why do these people who call from wire services or OG's think they know more than the local shop does??
 
We know our funeral directors and what they want and when they want it. Small town here only space for one viewing at a time so we take the flowers the day of the viewing sometimes after another service is been held in the afternoon.
I've become very nasty to some of the OG's and especially the ones I can't understand. The one Sunday had the balls to tell me they had already messed up and was trying to make it up to the customer I just laughed. I said you've called a shop in rural America and you want what? So she repeated the same thing again I said I don't have those flowers you'll have to take what I have on hand I don't think it ever sunk in. I did what I could with what I had.
 
before you jump to conclusions, there have been instances, whereby the family wishes flowers to be there for private viewing, even without the FH directors knowledge, as they are entitled to.....every once in a while the family shows up, unannounced, and THEN lets the FH know that they are there for a short private stay, again, they ARE entitled......
 
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I understand that but where I deal with the family I let them know that the flowers may not be there for the family viewing most understand and want them fresh for the public viewing. I guess I just don't think that FTD should tell me how to run my business. I know what works in my area and with my funeral director.
 
Nobody is telling you how to run your business, but...

...bottom line is always...WHO IS THE CUSTOMER?

...and if FTD's customer tells them to get it out today, THE CUSTOMER ultimately doesn't care what "works in my area and with my funeral director".

Look at it another way. Take FTD out of the picture. If the customer calls you direct & INSISTS that it go out today, are you going to argue that would violate your store policy & that of the funeral home?
 
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I, too, am in a small town in Iowa. Our funeral directors tend to work the same as yours, they usually only have room for one wake at a time so flowers are almost always delivered the same day as the visitation.

We have never personally ran into the situation of a family having a private viewing before the public comes on a different day - but maybe that's just because it isn't common in our area. Usually families in this area arrive at the funeral home a few hours before public viewing for private time.

We placed a wire order yesterday to a large city for a visitation for this afternoon. The flower shop was familiar with the service and said that the funeral home wanted all deliveries there yesterday, one day before the wake. I thought that was odd, but as I said above -- that's just not how we do it here..but every place is different :)

I can also understand your frustration when someone tells you how to "do your job"...we've all had those customers that try to tell us how things need to be done and I suppose even if we know they are wrong, we should abide by "the customer is always right".

But that doesn't mean we can't come on FC and vent -- sometimes that is what you need to do! :D
 
I know the customer is always right but sometimes things just don't work that way. Rural areas and city areas are two different things. I took and order yesterday that had I known the roads in the country were that bad I would not have taken it.
I agree the venting part we have no one to vent to and this is the place some people understand and others don't even on here.
How can we get and order to a shop when our customer calls and orders it that day. I've had them call and hour before the service and I bend over backwards to get it there. O, well as long as we deal with the public we will have something to make our day either more or less stressful. I'm betting on the more stressful side of it.
 
I agree about the delivery part!! Sometimes with a rural area, delivering can be more like an episode of The Amazing Race!!

I also understand and empathize with you on taking same day, very last minute orders and filling them. It seems in smaller towns people just expect that if they call at 4:55 p.m. wanting a delivery made to a wake that started at 3 p.m. you surely can do it because it's just "on your drive home"? And we'll do it, sometimes happily sometimes not so much.

And I'm sure that florists in big cities see the same "you're in a big city so you should be able to do it" orders/customer demands. It's all part of the biz as they say.

Was FTD wanting to do a credit card order with you since you aren't FTD?
 
Our funeral homes aren't open the day before. Did FTD want you to set them outside in the freezing cold. Our directors don't even live near to come open the doors. LOL
 
I'm not even sure if she wanted to give me a credit card didn't get that far when I wouldn't jump for her she hung up on me. I'm having the day from hell just called a hope in TX and the lady said we don't deliver to there and good luck finding someone too and hung up on me. Called another shop and the guy was more than happy to take my order. We wonder why shops are going out of business I wanted to tell that one flower shop to go to hell.
They don't understand rural areas at all do they??? Much less the cold and snow. I love From you Flowers where it says alright to leave on door step even funeral work they say that. Sure I can do that when its -10 and snowing God help me today I'm beginning to wonder why I'm in this business.
 
Middleman has nothing to do with it's just stupid people anymore. There is no common sense anymore. Enough said before I really let loose with the words today.
 
Lordy........

Let me get this straight, this thread is started on the premise that "why does FTD think they know better than the local flower shop" . However the author of the thread, the local flower shop in question apparently feels they know better than the family of the deceased who are actually sending the flowers.

I imagine that most reading this will see the irony.

Why not just short cut the process and the author could start a "beat on FTD thread", don't worry about facts as they will only confuse those that have already made up their mind that this funeral issue is another example of poor customer service or incompetence on FTD's part. For all any of us know maybe FTD has already had a lengthy discussion with the sending customer.

On a last not remind me never to send a funeral order to this shop as they apparently know what the customers wants better then the customer does.
 
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I can only do what my funeral home wants me to do. They do not even have the body ready and will not till tomorrow. I know the customer is suppose to always be right but if there is no body there yet why take it? The family is coming in and hour before the public viewing to have a family viewing.
So who would you make mad the customer or the funeral director who you deal with on sometimes a daily basis? I've been in this business for over 30 years and I've seen too many shops make the funeral director mad and they've lost business over it. You don't bite the hand that feeds you. Granted the cusotmer is feeding you too but who do you make mad the one time customer or the funeral director ?
How do we even know if it was a family memeber may have been a company. I have a memorial service on Sunday and a company wanted me to deliver today for it I said services not to Sunday and they said we tought it was today take it when you feel it needs to go.
I'm thru with this, I did what I felt was best may not have been right in some peoples eyes .
 
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Doug Munro said:
Lordy........

On a last not remind me never to send a funeral order to this shop as they apparently know what the customers wants better then the customer does.
Click to expand...

Wow... while I fully understand that this is an open forum and God Bless the 1st Amendment...I must say that this statement was a little out of line. I know that there as been much discussion on Flower Chat and the fact that you have be able to both dish it and take it, but that doesn't mean you have to be rude.

Maybe FTD was out of line, maybe Spooky was out of line...but I still think that the best thing about FC is that we, the florist, can come here and not only seek advice but commiserate as well. We all have those days where we sometimes feel the need to let it fly. And anytime we start talking about wire services, things get heated.

But at the end of the day we should still try to help and be on each other's team and support each other's as colleagues. I'm not suggesting this should all be hand holding and lullabies...but you could have left that last line out.
 
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I know my customers appreciate it when I let them know when something should be delivered. I have never had someone get mad because I suggested that flowers be delivered when the funeral home would like them. It is not a "customer is always right " situation here. We are professionals trying to give good advice. Frankly, if I know that delivering the flowers too soon would be annoying to the funeral home, or detrimental to the flowers, I would prefer to lose the order. So maybe the point Spooky was making was why can't the non -florist middle man treat us like the professionals we are? (or get out of the middle )
 
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I HATE From You Flowers!!!!! I pretty much refuse everything they send me - it seems there is always a "problem" with their orders. We have won "Best of Burbank" the past 2 years in a row - funny how all the problems are only with From You Flowers orders - go figure! :)
 
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