Can You Really Trust Phone Pictures?

[Eric S]

So we did two of our funeral wreaths for a funeral yesterday.
These are the two wreaths that where ordered from the website and the phone pictures her son took.



So this morning we get the phone call from hell. Demanding an appoligy and we can't duplicate what is on our website and probally one of the worst calls we have every had.

So what did we do?

We went back today and took some nice pictures.



So should we get an appoligy from our customer?

 

[bootcampguy]

Happened to us before, phone pictures are the pits. Even with the "beloved I phone" they make arr. look distorted. It will happen again.

 

[Spookyflowers]

I tell people that I can't make them the same every time depending on color of flowers and just how things go together. I even hate to do 2 matching pieces for and altar for that reason. The old saying of the customer is always right I beg to differ with that sometimes???

 

[BOSS]

I even hate to do 2 matching pieces for and altar for that reason.

It's easier if you do them side by side at the same time on the same table....

 

[shannonlovesflowers]

Well I think with the wreaths that were sent the lilies were very open and sort of changed the look of those arrangements.
They are still nice though.

 

[Eric S]

email from customer.

Yes, your picture is much clearer and it look very nice. @I feel much better now. @Thank you for clarify this whole misunderstanding for me. @Sorry for the harsh exchange, it just this meant so much to me and I want to be perfect. Thanks for your time and effort and because of the carelessness of my son's picture I wasn't being fair to you. @It very beautiful.

And another response

Yes, this look so much better. @Again I am sorry for all the troubles. @I will make sure to give you guys good reviews.

My poor designers had to really take an ear full from this customer this morning. And even though they assured her that we really did duplicate what we show on the website she believed her sons crappy pictures so that the only way to prove it we had to go take our own pictures.

This brings the fact up once again. Our industry is damaged from this substituting of flowers and it really questions the fact the ws has done a poor job of suppling it's members with pictures of product that the average shop just can't duplicate. This is also why it's so important to provide pictures of what you really can do on your website and yes it's a lot of freaking work but you just can't continue to sell things that can't be duplicated.

I honestly can't figure out how in the world companies that continue to show these images can even continue to operate. I know that the ws can't do anything about the sellers or the fillers but as time goes by companies that show these images and can't produce the same product will disappear.

Anyways I have to go give a big hug to my awesome staff for not yelling back at the customer and going out of their way to get these pictures and send them to the customer.

 

[Eric S]

Well I think with the wreaths that were sent the lilies were very open and sort of changed the look of those arrangements.
They are still nice though.

True since most of our pictures are done once the arrangements are completed you will see more closed flowers. I would like to point out that the viewing was yesterday at 4pm with a second service today at 11am. The flowers where all ready stacked outside at 1pm ready to go into the trash. My driver had to pull those wreaths out of the pile and re take the pictures. They looked freaken awesome still.

 

[lori042499]

I will say it again...The internet is ruining our industry...Not ogs...the internet...We are selling non-exact reproductions and people have no concept of how that works...as much as the internet has done for us it has ruined in a way...it sucks outloud...

 

[concord]

Eric, Your work is beautiful and I'm glad your customer had the decency to apologize. Thank goodness you were able to take your own photos before they were trashed. I do try to get nice pics before delivering but sometimes the rush to get them delivered will make me forget. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Sarah Jane]

Yeah, the photo thing is a nightmare for our industry. Most people get their flowers and text the sender a thank you with a photo. I've had this happen before where a guy got the photo from his wifes cell phone and came in freaking out before even seeing the arrangement. We told him that we promise that the photo looks nothing like the arrangement and to please take a look at them when she brought them home so he can at least evaluate fairly. I told him to please call me when he saw the flowers and if they werent what he ordered or he didn't like them I would happily refund or replace or whatever he wanted. He called back later and was so apologetic and said they were beautiful.

I don't have issues now because all the photos on my website are our actual work (and still hard to duplicate) and we also send a photo to every customer upon delivery. That way I know they are getting a flattering photo of the flowers even if the recipient sends a crappy one later. Because what scares me is the people who don't ever see the flowers and only see a bad text photo but still never complain (as most consumers don't) but just get a bad opinion that might be totally unwarranted. The customers who complain are great. It's the ones who don't that are scary because you never get a chance to make it right. So even though this lady was mean, at least it's good that she called rather than just being mad without you ever knowing.

 

[master J]

I think its important to take photos of as many designs as you can before they go out the door Just to cover your butt in these situations. Nice job Eric!!!

 

[Floral Pride]

You were so lucky to be able to get the photos before the tributes were trashed, and so put the poor womans mind to rest that the flowers were beautiful.
I make sure that everything is photographed before it leaves the shop, not always set the shot, eg just on the floor, but good enough for emailing to customer if they have been ordered online/phone where the sender wont see them.

 

[lizardqueen]

Nice comeback and beautiful work. For my shop--when a customer asks, (or doesn't ask as well) about whether their flowers will look like the pic, I usually tell them, that the photos took at least several days to shoot (true), most flowers are pushed forward to give a fuller photo, and I ALWAYS say the photos are representative of what we do, nothing can be exact. That works, at least for us...