FTD out of roses?

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CHR

CHR

Design matters
Nov 28, 2002
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Got this doozie of a complaint across my Google reader. (Sorry, I just can't help myself from posting this stuff.)

FTD.com: Sorry We're All Our of Roses!

Don't buy from FTD Flowers aka FTD.Com. Sept 19th was my 6th anniversary and decided to surprise my wife at work with a beautiful arrangement of roses. I order flowers online before their cutoff time. I pay the near $100 and go my merry way.

I was on my way to work several hours later when I decided maybe I should call the FTD toll free line and verify everything is correct. So I call FTD Customer Service and give them my order number and was advised by the Customer Service Agent that the arrangement I requested and paid for was unavailable for delivery. So I was like why wasn't I told or called that it was unavailable. FTD agent advised me they would have called me to advise. I said when? She did not know. She did advise me that the cutoff for same day delivery was at 2pm. I had 5 minutes. So Im like ok...How about simple dozen roses, nothing fancy...just beautiful roses.

She advised me that all their FTD Florist did not have roses. I was like your kidding , she said no. Nothing was available to be delivered and it was techinically before their "cutoff time."

So I look online for a florist business in the area I wanted to send them that was also a FTD Florist and called them and asked if they had a dozen red roses in stock. Yes they said. Plenty but we close in 4 hours at 6pm. I said thanks and hung up.

So my warning is to people not to use FTD. Not only do they not care about customer service and their customers by not calling them when they ordered something for same day delivery, they also are lying about availability of their products.
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The convenience of online florists is consistently undermined by the headaches they cause. If you need flowers, save your time and money and call your local florist.
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The comments from other forum members are priceless (although the couple plugs for PF look suspicious).

So do you think the local florists said 'no thanks' to the order or did FTD customer service just drop the ball?

FTD.com continues to take a well-deserved beating in the court of public opinion....
 
CHR said:
So do you think the local florists said 'no thanks' to the order or did FTD customer service just drop the ball?
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Most likely they tried to "farm out the order" and got reject after reject, especially if it was a "value priced" order. Most likely FTD.com put the blame on the local florist, but what a LAME excuse... "out of roses"...what, no better lie?

Maybe they just dropped the ball, but I doubt it.
 
But Boss

BOSS said:
Most likely they tried to "farm out the order" and got reject after reject, especially if it was a "value priced" order. Most likely FTD.com put the blame on the local florist, but what a LAME excuse... "out of roses"...what, no better lie?

Maybe they just dropped the ball, but I doubt it.
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The part of this story that sticks in my mind is the part about them telling the consumer that florists are out of roses. These are the same florists who are paying FTD $200.00 a month. This guy was thinking ahead and called FTD back. WHAT ABOUT THE 50 OTHER THAT DON'T?

They get peeved at florists, They quit buying flowers as a gift because they think FTD runs the florists. FTD, in it's greed, is killing the flower business and every month florists pay them to do it.

How can anyone say they are making money belonging to FTD, when FTD is busy killing off your long term business. Remember, these guys are looking to sell FTD, make a bundle of money and move on to the next business. They are not worried about what's going to happen 10 years down the road. I REALLY HOPE YOU PLAN TO RETIRE WITHIN THE NEXT TEN YEARS BECAUSE THEY ARE KILLING THE FLOWER BUSINESS!B]
 
sfox said:
WHAT ABOUT THE 50 OTHER THAT DON'T?

They get peeved at florists, They quit buying flowers as a gift because they think FTD runs the florists. FTD, in it's greed, is killing the flower business and every month florists pay them to do it.

I REALLY HOPE YOU PLAN TO RETIRE WITHIN THE NEXT TEN YEARS BECAUSE THEY ARE KILLING THE FLOWER BUSINESS!
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Then sfox, please explain why my last fiscal year ending August 31st, showed a 17.4% sales increase over the previous year, 12.2% NET and thats AFTER/including my salary. Don't think they have stopped buying from me anyway.

Added: I really do not think that the .coN's are driving down flower sales, I do believe that for a time they took consumers away from local florists, but feel that trend has reversed itself and the flower buying public is now more than ever searching out a local florist in the delivering city. This may not be the case for every florist, because I also believe that the market is over saturated with shops in most cases. You have to evolve to grow, what worked for my grandfather and father would not work today.

As to your second part, well in fact I do, 8 years and 4 months to be exact.
 
Thanks for the comments over there. :)

For an article to be registered as 'Dugg' by you, you have to be logged in and click on the box that says 'digg it' (under the yellow rectangle with the number in it on the left). The more 'diggs' an article has, the higher it rates on its topic.

The folks who've dugg the artice so far are listed here: http://digg.com/offbeat_news/FTD_Out_of_Roses/who
 
Boss sometimes

BOSS said:
Then sfox, please explain why my last fiscal year ending August 31st, showed a 17.4% sales increase over the previous year, 12.2% NET and thats AFTER/including my salary. Don't think they have stopped buying from me anyway.

Added: I really do not think that the .coN's are driving down flower sales, I do believe that for a time they took consumers away from local florists, but feel that trend has reversed itself and the flower buying public is now more than ever searching out a local florist in the delivering city. This may not be the case for every florist, because I also believe that the market is over saturated with shops in most cases. You have to evolve to grow, what worked for my grandfather and father would not work today.

As to your second part, well in fact I do, 8 years and 4 months to be exact.
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Boss, sometimes you scare me. Please explain how your sales being up, make a difference in the US marketplace? Is your shop that BIG that the numbers for the whole country are moved by your increases? Take a poll of all those on this board? See if you get a 100% up sales.

Second, just because your market hasn't been hurt, what about the rest of the industry? I can't remember reading anywhere that the florist's market share has grown. Please correct me if I'm wrong. Now flower sales have grown somewhat, but the florist share of that pie has been shrinking.

Third, FTD is big enough to influence many more consumers than you, I, or for that matter every florist on this board combined can do. Stories, like this one, hurt the industry as a whole. If this is how FTD is handling it's own shortcomings, it puts pressure on the whole industry. But if your situation up there is that great and money is flowing like water, why don't you start marketing for florists as a whole?

Lastly, think about the guy in the story if he didn't check his order. Do you really think he would order flowers for his wife next year? Do you really think the average consumer is able to make the distinction between FTD and florists? And how many times has this story been told by FTD? And do feel that this kind of action is why you pay them every month? Do you think they are looking out for your best interests? Remember, you pay them probably about $5,000 dollars a year in dues and fees.
 
Joe Mioux said:
GOOD, they shouldn't be in the fresh flower business to begin with!

they are supposed to be a order transfer business!
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Ditto - they got a complaint.

GOOD!
 
sfox said:
Boss, sometimes you scare me. Please explain how your sales being up, make a difference in the US marketplace? Is your shop that BIG that the numbers for the whole country are moved by your increases? Take a poll of all those on this board? See if you get a 100% up sales.

Second, just because your market hasn't been hurt, what about the rest of the industry? I can't remember reading anywhere that the florist's market share has grown. Please correct me if I'm wrong. Now flower sales have grown somewhat, but the florist share of that pie has been shrinking.

Third, FTD is big enough to influence many more consumers than you, I, or for that matter every florist on this board combined can do. Stories, like this one, hurt the industry as a whole. If this is how FTD is handling it's own shortcomings, it puts pressure on the whole industry. But if your situation up there is that great and money is flowing like water, why don't you start marketing for florists as a whole?

Lastly, think about the guy in the story if he didn't check his order. Do you really think he would order flowers for his wife next year? Do you really think the average consumer is able to make the distinction between FTD and florists? And how many times has this story been told by FTD? And do feel that this kind of action is why you pay them every month? Do you think they are looking out for your best interests? Remember, you pay them probably about $5,000 dollars a year in dues and fees.
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Actually sfox, I think there is a good chance he will order flowers for his wife next year from them, if not sooner.

Unlike, you and I who have a finite geographical territory and a finite potential customer base, these big companies have what they consider an unlimited customer base (the US, Canada, even Europe). So, unlike you and I who work our tails off trying to make every single customer happy every single time, they have it down to a science. All they aim for is 2.46 sales per customer. After that they could care less because there are 300,000,000 more potential customers out there in the US alone.

So, here's how I think it might work. Even though they don't want the complaint, they look at it as an opportunity to make the second sale. they may say something like this,
"We're sorry about your disappointment, it happens rarely, but unfortunately even the best of us fall short sometimes. To make it up to you we are going to offer you a special deal on your next purchase."​
They make the offer sound so good the customer can't pass it up. After all. who doesn't deserve a second chance. At this point they have their second sale wrapped up and are nearly at their 2.46 quota average, and nearly done with that customer and ready to move on to the next. At this rate it will take many decades before they run through all their potential customers out there.

So in conclusion, while you and I are working our tails off trying to build relationships and please customers, they are simply playing the numbers, 2.46 to be exact.


RC
 
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after weighing the comments and reading the actual article...........
It falls back to customer service. Whomever the customer finally got in contact with regarding his order, that customer service representative had absolutely NO business stating that FTD florists were out of roses. I'm almost sure that one of the "agents" probably was in their first week of work and the excuse was plausible for them as they have had no actual experience in the floral industry. Having first hand experience with FTD's "operators" (and Teleflora's can be just as bad), most haven't stepped foot into a shop. I would assume that THAT customer service representative is the one who should be brought to the front. Not excusing FTD, this is the path they have chosen and if that order was sent to me (no longer a member), I would never fill their $39.99 orders either.
Great thing about the whole schebang!! More internet chatter regarding "Use Your Local Florist"
 
Excellent point. And they hope the next 1.46 are shipped in a box since local florists are so 'unreliable'. I'm still getting emails (nearly daily) from FTD.com and I'm guessing 95% of the offers are for drop-ship stuff.

Read the complaints about all the major flower companies and you'll see that each offers a 'dollars off your next purchase' deal whenever possible.
 
RC in Dayton and Cincinnati said:
All they aim for is 2.46 sales per customer. After that they could care less because there are 300,000,000 more potential customers out there in the US alone.


So, here's how I think it might work. Even though they don't want the complaint, they look at it as an opportunity to make the second sale. they may say something like this,
"We're sorry about your disappointment, it happens rarely, but unfortunately even the best of us fall short sometimes. To make it up to you we are going to offer you a special deal on your next purchase."​
They make the offer sound so good the customer can't pass it up. After all. who doesn't deserve a second chance. At this point they have their second sale wrapped up and are nearly at their 2.46 quota average, and nearly done with that customer and ready to move on to the next. At this rate it will take many decades before they run through all their potential customers out there.

So in conclusion, while you and I are working our tails off trying to build relationships and please customers, they are simply playing the numbers, 2.46 to be exact.


RC
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Except, if the first order was never filled, cancelled and/or credited back to the customer, they have to start with the first sale all over again.

Don't they?

joe
 
Shipped in a Box

CHR said:
Excellent point. And they hope the next 1.46 are shipped in a box since local florists are so 'unreliable'. I'm still getting emails (nearly daily) from FTD.com and I'm guessing 95% of the offers are for drop-ship stuff.

.
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A very successful florist sent this e-mail to me recently during a discussion of drop shipped flowers.

" i did buy this week from proflowers & from ftd.com both 19.99 promos...excellent product & presentation... i must admit i was wrong about consumers buying flowers in a box... "


Even with many complaints it seems there marketing and price points still
drive business there way. I'm guessing they have many happy customers.
 
RC in Dayton and Cincinnati said:
Actually sfox, I think there is a good chance he will order flowers for his wife next year from them, if not sooner.

Unlike, you and I who have a finite geographical territory and a finite potential customer base, these big companies have what they consider an unlimited customer base (the US, Canada, even Europe). So, unlike you and I who work our tails off trying to make every single customer happy every single time, they have it down to a science. All they aim for is 2.46 sales per customer. After that they could care less because there are 300,000,000 more potential customers out there in the US alone.


So, here's how I think it might work. Even though they don't want the complaint, they look at it as an opportunity to make the second sale. they may say something like this,
"We're sorry about your disappointment, it happens rarely, but unfortunately even the best of us fall short sometimes. To make it up to you we are going to offer you a special deal on your next purchase."​
They make the offer sound so good the customer can't pass it up. After all. who doesn't deserve a second chance. At this point they have their second sale wrapped up and are nearly at their 2.46 quota average, and nearly done with that customer and ready to move on to the next. At this rate it will take many decades before they run through all their potential customers out there.

So in conclusion, while you and I are working our tails off trying to build relationships and please customers, they are simply playing the numbers, 2.46 to be exact.


RC
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I had this conversation with my husband the other day and he said something very similar. What he said was, "They really don't care if they ever become customers. They just want everyone(in the whole world) to use them just a few times over a number of years.That is how international companies work."
 
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