Euro vs Fleurin

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Victoria

Victoria

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Oct 31, 2002
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Has anyone else had lost business over the higher rate to send overseas?

A customer, who regularly sends overseas was shocked at the cost to send from last week to this...I suggested she call her family and talk for an hour...less money involved.

A jump from 1.05 to 1.54 is a little hard to explain.

V
 
THIS IS INSANITY!!!

Our Canadian dollar has appreciated to its highest level against the US dollar in 10 years, yet the conversion rate increases almost 47%???

...and where was the notification? Thanks Victoria...saw it here first...and we have a call in to Mr. Stornelli for clarification. Will let you know if there's an answer.

Teleflora international better be prepared for a huge influx of new orders...:confused:
 
Received notification via the Merc late last week...I didn't have time to absorb until dealing with a customer.

The silence is deafening on the FTD board by the way. ;)

V
 
P.S. The new conversion sheet is in the November, December directory. Apparently it wasn't worth the trouble to warn us much earlier.

V
 
You have your new directory??

Must be nice...it takes a couple of weeks longer by dog team & a strong swimmer to make it out to Van Isle.

Checked our Merc messages...nada...nothing...nope...no way we were notified.

BUTTTTT...

... did talk to FTD Retrans, AND there is actually nothing to worry about. Apparently the unit of currency is now the Euro, not the Swiss franc.

Once you crunch the numbers, the end result is the same as the old 1.05 fleurin conversion.

Would be nice to let us know & explain the changes instead of letting us going into a panic tho.

A little communication would go a long way in explaining many decisions made by BOTH wire services, don't you think?:rolleyes:
 
The way I understand, sending teleflora is in US Dollars. That would make my customer happier by paying cheaper. I always sent FTD orverseas, now I may look at a new practice for my shop.
I also agree with Victoria, they sent a blurb a week befor ethe new directory came out to advise us of the change.
Just likeTeleflora, they wait till the last possible minute to send infromation because they know there will be flack.
Luc
 
Our deep pocket customers ( 2 so far) haven't minded the new price. We had one from today who had put the order on hold but has since placed the order at the new rate.

We just tell them the price. So far so good.

D
 
Actually the price is quite different...1.54 on the dollar as apposed to 1.05. I can't grasp the new math behind your number prestonway. What cost about $27.00 last week costs $40.04 this week...
 
Originally posted by Luc
The way I understand, sending teleflora is in US Dollars. That would make my customer happier by paying cheaper. I always sent FTD orverseas, now I may look at a new practice for my shop.
I also agree with Victoria, they sent a blurb a week befor ethe new directory came out to advise us of the change.
Just likeTeleflora, they wait till the last possible minute to send infromation because they know there will be flack.
Luc
Click to expand...

TF Int'l prices are in Cdn funds, not US. The price is the price, no converting necessary. Donna at International is a dream to work with on orders to nowhere places and small towns. Service is tops.
 
I always preferred TF for sending overseas Ryan...for all the reasons you mentioned. No muss, no fuss.
 
Originally posted by Victoria
Actually the price is quite different...1.54 on the dollar as apposed to 1.05. I can't grasp the new math behind your number prestonway. What cost about $27.00 last week costs $40.04 this week...
Click to expand...

Apparently not only the multiple but the unit of currency has changed, with the net result being zero.

As told to me by Retrans & confirmed by our FSR, what follows is the "new system".

Ignoring service & relay charges, let my try to give two comparative examples:

In the old book using fleurins, let's say an arrangement is priced at $100. We used to multiply this figure by 1.05 for a total of $105 plus charges.

As it was explained to me with the Euro based system, the new book would have the exact same arrangement priced at $68, which is then multiplied by 1.54 for a total of $104.72 (virtually the same as before, give or take a few shillings).

Since we have yet to receive the new book, I can't personally verify the accuracy of their statements by comparing the old book prices to the new...but believe me I will!!!

Still cheeses me off tho...we did not get a Merc message as apparently the rest of you did, and had to rely on this forum for the information.

I guess the Merc system isn't powerful enuf to get over the Rockies???!!! And here I thought we had the "Advantage" over everyone else!
 
I don't send much over seas but the little that I have done, I learned to definetly use TF over FTD to do it. As an example,

TF 3 long stem roses in a vase delivered to some little backwater town in Russia, $35
FTD same order was going to cost $86 and they would not guarentee delivery.. Guess who I used?
 
I don't know about how the Retrans spin doctors explain anything...the numbers are pretty self-explanatory...27 fleurins at 1.05 is a long way from 27 fleurins at 1.54. The conversion page speaks clearly to my low grade math brain...speaks to my customer as well. She was not amused or impressed or whatever.

She generally sends the same amount to England on a regular basis. I showed her the conversion page...she walked...I don't blame her.

TF was always easier and a better value to my mind. However, we are FTD only so I'm stuck.

A friend in the States and I had this conversation last night...he's not impressed with the numbers either. His shop sends overseas a fair amount as well.
 
I thought FTD's notification was quite clear. It stated that changing to the Euro would coincide with the delivery of the new Interflora book. The assumption was that the cost in fleurins as stated in the new book would be fewer than in the old book.
I made a mental note to check that out when the new Interflora book arrived to make sure it was not just another cash grab. The flaw in the plan is that the new book has NOT arrived so we have to do higher math to convert the old Swiss franc fleurins into new Euro fleurins before quoting prices as shown in the old book.
It's so quick & easy...... for some! So for guys like me it is easier to use Teleflora until the new book comes out. (FTD could post a conversion formula in two minutes flat for the interim.)
OR.....do I have this all wrong?
 
No Paul you don't have it wrong...the numbers are higher and the new book hasn't arrived...there is a flaw in the "plan". I don't have any choice however, except to recommend my customers use the phone and call their families if they don't wish to pay the extra 20 or so dollars.
 
After I talked to FTD HQ (Laila) I told her we didnt get the new guide. Of course Victoria and I thought int he new guide the minimum would be the same but HQ tells me it is lower to reflec the change in Euro vs swiss. It dawn on me after that I bet most Canadian SHOPS DON"T have their new interflora guide yet so we are still working form the old one. This guide comes yearly at the same time. If FTD can produce a directory every three months on time, it should produce the new guide by the end of October IN OUR SHOPS.
I bet you one hundred to one... some shops won't even notice the difference.
Luc
 
Instead of using the old book prices with the new rate, why can't we call retrans FIRST on each international inquiry?

They can quote us the "new book price" and then we do the conversion before giving the customer the new total price.

At least this way we're not overcharging, & pricing ourselves out of the market.

Just a thought until the new book arrives...
 
A very good thought...thanks. :)
 
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