Fluctuating Service Charges & Prices

[CHR]

I ran across this review page about FTD by USAA members last night. (If you want to read through the reviews, be sure to choose to sort by date posted, otherwise all the 5-star reviews show up first.)

One reviewer commented that even though he/she received the USAA 25% discount, the service charge was $30. Several other reviewers mentioned their total prices were the same or more than if they went to FTD dot com without the USAA discounts.

Has FTD been pulling a similar tactic to the one they used in the Groupon fiasco? Have they upped the service fee to USAA members to offset the product discounts?

Anyone with a USAA membership that can test this on different PCs. My guess is that FTD places a cookie on traffic from USAA and then displays higher prices than the traffic made direct to FTD.

Considering how confident FTD was that this two-tier 'discount' pricing would work at V Day with Groupon, had it already been working for months in the USAA program?

 

[Simon Says]

Interesting post and comments: thank you.

Looking at the base of each review page there is a disclosure of FTD adding a "standard service fee" of $13.49 for florist delivered and $14.99 for shipped direct -although not certain if they mean "or" as the alternative to florist delivered as opposed to "and" as in additional charge (ie: $28.48 for total service). A $13.49 "service fee" for florist delivered seems lower than the norm for florist delivered ex FTD and order through FTD sites.

Reading the reviews across 11 on-line pages, I see that already by page 4 the reviews descend into the 2-star classification and by page 7, 1-star. The comments appear to me very standard bouquets and brickbats for WS and OG business assessed on-lone and, to my mind, rather than pricing being the key element, service or the reviewers opinion of lack thereof seem to be the main gripes.

 

[anytimeflowers]

I have not checked the regular FTD site. Hopefully my link works. If it does not, I'll post the results with a screen shot.

Here is the screen shot just in case.


I'll dig in a little further later, I just don't have time right now.

 

[CHR]

Ugh. I followed the link to FTD in Linda's post and new I've got the USAA cookie. Cannot view FTD dot com as a regular user... keeps insisting I login as a USAA member.

 

[anytimeflowers]

I'm sorry! Removed the link

I am so sorry Cathy.

The prices indeed do reflect a 25% discount off of the regular prices shown, (I looked on another computer). I didn't know the cookie was there. I will have to explore and see if the entire regular site is there or if there are just selected items available.

 

[CHR]

It's OK, just got to dig through the cookie jar and find & remove it.

But folks, THAT'S how FTD knows to display deals to USAA members. Obviously, the Groupon buyers didn't pass through the cookie line before entering FTD's site - which is how FTD got outed for it's shennanigans back in February.

 

[theRKF]

I am so sorry Cathy.

Linda,

Can you please post or message me with that link again?

 

[BOSS]

Hmmm... very interesting....

 

[hollyflr]

I am a member of USAA, have been for 44 years, I have found it to be a reputable and helpful insurance company. I can go on the FTD site from USAA and do some investigating and comparisons. I also plan to call USAA today and see how far up to ladder I can go, to discuss the issues brought up in the reviews.