FTD Fail

[duanermb]

FTD.com WIN

How about a little blogger link love for this poor soul's tale of being fooled by an FTD product photo.

FTD Fail

What he was sold

What he got

What he learned

1. NEVER shop at FTD.com again. Not only do they give you crappy flowers, they try and get you to sign up for this even crappier thing called Reservation Rewards, which is basically a scam that takes $10.00 from your credit card or bank account (whatever you paid FTD with) under the guise of some kind of travel benefits, and doesn't notify you at all until you see it on your statement and call them to cancel it. Any company that would associate itself with such a shady undertaking is equally shady.
2. Buy flowers locally. You know what you're getting, and you're likely supporting a local business.
3. NEVER shop at FTD.com again. It was worth repeating.

Ok, since I have been a big part of the ranting on this post, and I blogged about it myself, I thought it fitting that I bring the FTD.com rebuttal to the thread.

Here is Chris from Tacoma's blog from today, entitled FTD.com WIN.

FTD.com WIN

A couple of days ago, I ranted at FTD.com for delivering what I thought was a sub-par flower arrangement. I used words like "crappy" and "stupid" to describe the flowers, and called FTD.com itself "shady."

Um, I take that back now. This morning, I got a phone call on my cell from Ryan at FTD.com, who, thanks to the magic of Google Reader, had read my blog and was calling to make amends for sending an arrangement that wasn't what it appeared to be in the ad. Wow! That's some pretty good customer service. I have to give FTD.com points for tracking down my obscure blog and contacting me to discuss the matter. What's more, they're sending out another arrangement to my wife and me, free of charge. I should add here that when you cut the stems, the arrangement does look a lot better--in other words, we know that this time around it's supposed to be a DIY thing and will follow the right steps.

Oh, and one last thing--Ryan said they'd made changes to the website based on my suggestion about the whole $19.99/12 stem thing. (Read my original post to learn more.)

I'm not going to comment on the whole Local Florist/Internet Supplier debate that seems to be a pretty contentious issue in today's floral community. But, excellent customer service is excellent customer service, whether it comes from a business down the block or a corporate office somewhere in Connecticut. Thanks, FTD.com!


Alright, so they have now changed the website to this.

Kudos to Ryan at FTD for coming through for the consumer on this one.

:soapbox: (My new favorite emoticon)

1. This shouldn't have happened in the first place, ie. they know what they are doing.

2. How many Netflix postcards are still out there?

3. Who called FTD to tell them about our thread?!

4. Good customer service wins again. (Free flowers for life?)

 

[Rhonda]

who called FTD about our thread? Take a guess, they do monitor here and there are a good many top FTD florists here.
Doesn't matter, will it change? Nope, deceiving photos are their trademark. Wait till Valentine's.........

 

[bloomz]

bummer huh?

 

[Victoria]

who called FTD about our thread? Take a guess, they do monitor here and there are a good many top FTD florists here.
Doesn't matter, will it change? Nope, deceiving photos are their trademark. Wait till Valentine's.........

It would seem their skulking around here has at least paid off in a positive way for a consumer or two.

V

 

[bloomz]

They likely now have a reputation management department that uses readers and alerts to bad info about them. It says right in the amended post they used google reader.

I found someone who blogged about getting great service from me last week because of google alerts.

 

[duanermb]

They likely now have a reputation management department that uses readers and alerts to bad info about them. It says right in the amended post they used google reader.

Yea, that's why I had a smiley face on that "who called them" part.

For all the FTDers here, it is very good news that they are taking their reputation seriously.

 

[theRKF]

It's funny that, as Mac blogged about, they don't take their SEO reputation management very seriously. Too many negative items ranking for brand terms. Taking a passive and reactive approach to brand management can be deadly

Ryan

 

[bloomz]

I'm guessing reputation management to be in its infancy with the new management - I don't think the prior one paid any attention at all to it.

They seemingly were too busy seeking out new victims.


Speaking of that - anyone know what kind of churn rate proflowerz has?

If it's not also horrible, they must be counting hard on the sender never seeing what was sent and the recipient being to embarassed to tell them their box of flowers looked like shiit. Cuz that stuff is no cheaper than florist delivered arrangements.

 

[supflo1]

This is my first post on flower chat. I found this discussion interesting. This has become such a problem for our industry. Retailers are getting shut out of orders and the end consumer is really getting screwed. How many consumers are going to send flowers again after an experience like that? This kind of thing really leaves a bad taste in the mouth of the consumer in regard to sending flowers. With how soft business is right now, we as an industry can not afford to upset (piss off) any potential customers. Don't think for a minute that the consumer is getting good value for their money on an incoming wire order, whether it is shop to shop, ftd.com, tds or any order gatherer. After deducting delivery and trying to figure out what you loose to commisions, "marketing advances" and all the other nickle and dime crap they hit you with, what is left for you... pretty much nothing. However, we keep filling most of these orders because on some days there is not much else, and you have product to move, employess standing around and trucks that are idle.
There is obviously no love lost between any wire service or order gatherer and any retail florist with brains. So, my question is, what can we do to combat this? This is really hurting us. Taking away all the cream on all these orders, leaving us with virtually nothing and making us look bad with the consumer and end recipient. The biggest joke is how FTD tells you how their orders are going to drive more business to your shop, by making the recipient of your flowers a new customer. We do the best we can, as I am sure that all of you do, but there is usually no $$ there for you to really impress the reciever. We have to devise a way to get consumers to buy locally, keep all the $$ in each shop. This way the shops are happy, can sell what they need to sell, not all this idiotic stuff FTD wants you to sell for THEIR BENEFIT, not yours. And the consumer is not getting taken advantage of and often times out and out robbed. I do not have the answer, however hopefully we can come together and come up with some ideas to combat this, and protect our businesses as well as all the unsuspecting consumers out there.
Good luck everyone.

 

[Dazeal]

It's not just FTD, it's any WS that has no regulations, which is most of them. I've seen a TF florist fill an order that looked almost that bad. This is not a FTD problem, it's an accountability problem. Unfortunately, you B&M shops who have branded yourself so well, along side FTD, you might not know how much trouble you are really in yet.

Flowers fall in the category with gifts and cards and according to Forrester's Research, it ranks third when it comes to retail sales on the internet.

I find it truly amazing that something ranked third, flowers, has a 'substitution' clause and people most the time don't get exactly what is in the static image on the floral website. Flowers are the only think on the internet that I know of that when a customer orders flowers and don't look like what they did in the picture, they know there is a substitution clause and are 'ok' with it, in general... OR ...they never see it and granny is too nice to call and tell you the flowers sucked.

There is no accountability in such a large market and I see a hole. Most of you know my solution, but technology/pricing is not there quite yet. But in the mean time, when I lay in bed, I have to giggle at the thought... no more ws or fresh from the farm in the future. lol noobs. The local florists have the power and we'll re-gain her market soon enough, hang in there. Our enemy in the future will 1800flowers/ftd/tf/proflowers kiosks scattered around. Don't be a GSB, or also known as a, Gerald and Stevens 3|7(h.

The information age is here! Evolve or die.

 

[BOSS]

I find it truly amazing that something ranked third, flowers, has a 'substitution' clause and people most the time don't get exactly what is in the static image on the floral website. Flowers are the only think on the internet that I know of that when a customer orders flowers and don't look like what they did in the picture, they know there is a substitution clause and are 'ok' with it, in general...

Prozak for Viagra.... LOL:scatter

 

[TOTO]

Great FIRST POST! Keep on asking!

This is my first post on flower chat. I found this discussion interesting. This has become such a problem for our industry. Retailers are getting shut out of orders and the end consumer is really getting screwed. How many consumers are going to send flowers again after an experience like that? This kind of thing really leaves a bad taste in the mouth of the consumer in regard to sending flowers. With how soft business is right now, we as an industry can not afford to upset (piss off) any potential customers. Don't think for a minute that the consumer is getting good value for their money on an incoming wire order, whether it is shop to shop, ftd.com, tds or any order gatherer. After deducting delivery and trying to figure out what you loose to commisions, "marketing advances" and all the other nickle and dime crap they hit you with, what is left for you... pretty much nothing. However, we keep filling most of these orders because on some days there is not much else, and you have product to move, employess standing around and trucks that are idle.
There is obviously no love lost between any wire service or order gatherer and any retail florist with brains. So, my question is, what can we do to combat this? This is really hurting us. Taking away all the cream on all these orders, leaving us with virtually nothing and making us look bad with the consumer and end recipient. The biggest joke is how FTD tells you how their orders are going to drive more business to your shop, by making the recipient of your flowers a new customer. We do the best we can, as I am sure that all of you do, but there is usually no $$ there for you to really impress the reciever. We have to devise a way to get consumers to buy locally, keep all the $$ in each shop. This way the shops are happy, can sell what they need to sell, not all this idiotic stuff FTD wants you to sell for THEIR BENEFIT, not yours. And the consumer is not getting taken advantage of and often times out and out robbed. I do not have the answer, however hopefully we can come together and come up with some ideas to combat this, and protect our businesses as well as all the unsuspecting consumers out there.
Good luck everyone.

You have asked the HARD QUESIONS!

As others have pointed out, their drop shipped DO IT ALL YOURSELF KIT in a BOX, turned out to LOOK NOTHING LIKE THE IMAGE that customer THOUGHT THEY WERE GOING TO GET.

Then again, how could it since, it was NOT PROFESSIONALLY DESIGNED by a REAL FLORIST, nor could it ever be at $19.99.

In fact, the dot.con image showed a least 10 stems of mini carns and four stems of cushion poms as compared to what the customer shot a picture of, which appears to be 5 stems of mini carns, 1 stem of cushion poms, and 1 stem of button poms.

Regardless, what they DOO to those customers affects REAL FLORISTS who are associated with them, by virtue of their drop shipped BOMBS.

For those REAL FLORISTS who continue to BE A PART OF THEIR PROBLEM (guilt by association), why bother to discuss their lack of farm direct drop shipped quality control when they have made a conscious business decision to EXCLUDE YOU from being a part of THE SOLUTION?

GREAT CUSTOMER SERVICE? That debacle should've never happened in the first place!

As my REAL FLORIST FRIEND OZ put it best: They all roll the dice while counting on the probability that, the SENDER will never see what the RECIPIENT actually received.

And when THE DOO, that's when they will FIX THE PROBLEM which they created at the very beginning of their BAIT and SWITCH POS.

However, that tune is changing dramatically given our technological advances and the ease of taking a picture with a camera phone of WHAT I GOT, and emailing it to the sender along with a BIG THANK YOU! Which then begets; "OMG, that's not what the IMAGE LOOKED LIKE when I ordered it!"

Folks can BLOG all they want and even give KUDOS after the Horse was out of the barn, but things will never change unless you do.

As long as REAL FLORISTS continue to allow them to USE YOU for the SAME-DAY-DELIVERY MARKET NICHE or for ONLY A FLORIST CAN DOO professionally designed QUALITY creations, albeit at CHUMP CHANGE from their GROSS DOLLARS coupled with TOO LOW SRP's, nothing will ever change and their BAD DECISIONS will continue to AFFECT future flower buyer decisions based on ONE BAD EXPERIENCE.

I've long since come to the realization that, Our 40 year reputation is only as good as our last delivery. If we failed the last time, we FAIL FOREVER, and even if we MADE IT BETTER!

"The bitter taste of poor quality lingers long after the sweet fragrance of low price has faded." (author unknown)

One can only hope that, the new management team gets a GRIP on the bigger long term picture, if in fact, they wish to survive LONG TERM!

In the meantime, I'll continue to make a CHOICE of not being a PART OF THEIR PROBLEM, thus NOT GUILTY BY ASSOCIATION.

 

[bloomz]

I've long since come to the realization that, Our 40 year reputation is only as good as our last delivery. If we failed the last time, we FAIL FOREVER, and even if we MADE IT BETTER!

There's a quote of the week.