FTD Parent Company Sued

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CHR

CHR

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Nov 28, 2002
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Classmates.com, part of United Online - FTD's new parent company, is being sued for deceptive advertising. Read more on Blumenthal's blog.

Read the lawsuit here (PDF).

From an article in Wired:

The putative class action suit, filed in a California state court on October 30, says there are hundreds of thousands of Anthony Michaels around the country who were similarly duped. The lawsuit asks the court to force the company to refund millions in subscription dollars and fine the company for deceptive advertising.
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While the FTC and state attorneys general have handled some deceptive advertising claims, in tight financial times the burden of online fraud fighting is increasingly falling on class-action attorneys, according to Kamber.
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If the lawsuit, which is seeking class action status, succeeds, it could raise the minimum standards of honesty for online businesses.
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Wouldn't that be refreshing....
 
You have 1 NEW ORDER in your mailbox!

Got that ficticious email from Classmates all the time.

"One new person has just signed your Guestbook!" Please use this link to view your new message.

And when you go there, you can't view any supposed messages from other classmates or military you served with, unless you upgrade to a premium membership. I never took their bait!

What if, the new owner decides to play the same game with their florist members?

The script might go something like this:

You have one new incoming order waiting in your MAILBOX! Please log in and take a moment to upgrade to our PREMIUM MEMBERSHIP. That level will then allow you to VIEW THE ORDER and PRINT IT OUT! You have 3 NEW FLORISTS in your area who have already upgraded to our PREMIUM MEMBERSHIP, so don't be left out in the cold. You have TWO HOURS to respond to our message, or you will be subject to a FINE!

:SUI: :rofl:
 
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TOTO said:
Got that ficticious email from Classmates all the time.

"One new person has just signed your Guestbook!" Please use this link to view your new message.

And when you go there, you can't view any supposed messages from other classmates or military you served with, unless you upgrade to a premium membership. I never took their bait!

What if, the new owner decides to play the same game with their florist members?

The script might go soemthing like this:

You have one new incoming order waiting in your MAILBOX! Please log in and take a moment to upgrade to our PREMIUM MEMBERSHIP. That level will then allow you and to VIEW THE ORDER and PRINT IT OUT! You have 3 NEW FLORISTS in your area who have already upgraded to our PREMIUM MEMBERSHIP, so don't be left out in the cold. You have TWO HOURS to respond to our message, or you will be subject to a FINE!

:SUI: :rofl:
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I got that same e-mail from Classmates time after time. I even got one that slashed the price to half if I replied by 11-13, which I didn't.

Why don't we turn it around and SEND the e-mails to the wire services. You have one new florist interested in your services! Please log on and upgrade your membership to Platnium. There are 2 other wire services that have already signed up. Don't get left out and sign up today! Florists are standing by to hear from you!
 
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o.k, classmates.com gets sued.

so what.

big companies get sued all the time.

how does this affect FTD?

I don't understand why this is important to flower shop owners.

sorry.
joe
 
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Not IMPORTANT, just FUNNY!

Joe Mioux said:
o.k, classmates.com gets sued.

so what.

big companies get sued all the time.

how does this affect FTD?

I don't understand why this is important to flower shop owners.

sorry.
joe
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Only importance to me Joe, is in the fact that, classmates got a class action going for attempting to commit fraud!

And the only fun in that winds up to be that, the owner of classmates now owns FTDI!

Which begs the question of: If he does the DOO at classmates, would anyone wonder if he might try to use the same strategy in his newest venture?

Don't mind me Joe! It's not that I'm a pessimist! It's only that, I have de'ja'vue, having already been there before and going through the first 3 CEO's of FTDI, who all promised us, they would PUT THEIR MEMBERS FIRST!

Rumor has it that, Meg Whitman is considering a run for Governor of California. That's the same gal who came from Disney, Hasbro, and Stride Rite, and told all of us when she got aboard that: FTD is just like any other business she managed, and so NO PROBLEM for her.

I remember our FTDI Convention in Minneapolis, MN, back in 1996, when I spoke to her outside the convention hall along with a very dear friend of FTDA now departed, Steve Hahn, a real great GOOD GUY!

I said to MEG: Hey MEG, what's up with TOTO's FTD BIG ASS HAM program, (Alternative Gifts for FTD FLORISTS) and when can we expect to be able to stock them for SAME-DAY-DELIVERY?

Her answer: Well TOTO, that's just not on my radar screen right now!

That's when, I KNEW, MEG WHITMAN, didn't have an FTD clue!

When she moved her FTDI office to Boston, thinking she could run DOWNER'S GROVE from there, unbeknownst to all of us, was the fact that, she already met Pierre Omidyar, EBAY's founder, and was working out a deal to finance his new concept's expansion. After which, she became EBAY's NEW CEO, oh my!

When Meg turned in her papers to little dick, she told all of us old FTDA FAMILY MEMBERS that: FTDI and their Florists, was LIKE NO OTHER BUSINESS she ever worked at or managed in her entire life!

What's the point? I guess ya gotta walk a mile in our shoes and before you have A CLUE about the company you think you can run!

Not a problem fore me though, since I LONG BEE GONE! Having finally agreed with Meg from my point of view, I came to my own conclusion that, THE ONLY INTERESTS these INVESTMENT BANKERS have, has always been for the SHORT TERM. And, their only goals have always been to BUY IT, STRIP IT, and FLIP IT, and then, WALK AWAY INTO THE SUNSET, after having lined their pockets with the hard earned money gained from the Blood, Sweat, and Tears, of WEE FLORISTS!

And so, Thank You Meg Whitman! FTDI is unlike any business I have ever worked for, or tried to manage, in my entire life! My only wish is that, I too, could've had an EBAY to move on to, and when I turned in my papers to small bob back in 2001.

One new person has signed my guest book, and I'm not PAYING to try and find out WHO IT BEE!
lol
 
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Joe Mioux said:
big companies get sued all the time.

how does this affect FTD?

I don't understand why this is important to flower shop owners.
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For me, it's a bit telling as to how far the executive team & marketing department are willing to push the 'truth' envelop to make sales.

Since the lawsuit was announced, a number of writers have collectively shouted 'amen', including - 5 Reasons I Hope Classmates.com Gets Sued Into Oblivion.

Even though United Online has only owned FTD for a few months, a paragraph from Consumerist kind of summarizes the 'truth in advertising' issues, which parallel the online dOG flower marketing biz.
You know how Classmates.com has all those ads and spams telling you how your old school chums are looking for you? Well someone is suing them because after seeing those promotions, he paid to sign up, only to discover no one was actually looking for him. Shocking, I know, but when you think about it, what's more shocking is that it's taken 13 years for someone to do it. It's a pretty clear-cut case of false advertising.
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Emphasis mine.

With all the talk from the United Online leadership about the synergy they expect from Classmates.com & FTD, I thought florists would be interested...
 
I'm with Cathy on this one. Of course what's happening doesn't directly effect florists but you need to know the sort of people you're in bed with (metaphorically speaking) and their make up because any florist servicing the orders/paying membership is contributing to/supporting their actions.

That said I picked up that United were being punted as a buy share so maybe that's a good sign ... if you're an investor in the financial sense.
 
TOTO said:
Only importance to me Joe, is in the fact that, classmates got a class action going for attempting to commit fraud!

And the only fun in that winds up to be that, the owner of classmates now owns FTDI!
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CHR said:
For me, it's a bit telling as to how far the executive team & marketing department are willing to push the 'truth' envelop to make sales.

Since the lawsuit was announced, a number of writers have collectively shouted 'amen', including - 5 Reasons I Hope Classmates.com Gets Sued Into Oblivion.

Even though United Online has only owned FTD for a few months, a paragraph from Consumerist kind of summarizes the 'truth in advertising' issues, which parallel the online dOG flower marketing biz.
Emphasis mine.

With all the talk from the United Online leadership about the synergy they expect from Classmates.com & FTD, I thought florists would be interested...
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Carrington said:
I'm with Cathy on this one. Of course what's happening doesn't directly effect florists but you need to know the sort of people you're in bed with (metaphorically speaking) and their make up because any florist servicing the orders/paying membership is contributing to/supporting their actions.

That said I picked up that United were being punted as a buy share so maybe that's a good sign ... if you're an investor in the financial sense.
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yea yea yea.....

so what you are all basically saying.... nothing changes and all past and present FTD holding companies suck.

It really boils down to FTD and its new owners are going to exploit FTD to earn them a profit.

nothing new with that..... it's called capitalism.

joe
 
Sorry Cathy & Carrington, but what FTD is up to now does affect all of us.

The new President of FTD has stated in the most recent interview, that he can use the database of Classmates.com and all the other similar companies he owns to directly promote FTD & FTD.com products to his database each & every day. He quoted an unreal # of members, as I recall.

This is big brother, at its finest, exploiting a marketing machine for all its worth.

Problem is that when he signs up all thos "premium level" people in classmates, FTD will get dragged into the fray, somehow, and will end up paying part of the settlement tab.

Cheryl
 
Cheryl,

I think you, me and Carrie are basically saying the same thing. Long term, it's not good for florists... on a number of levels.

Joe said:
It really boils down to FTD and its new owners are going to exploit FTD to earn them a profit.

nothing new with that..... it's called capitalism.
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We'll see if a jury calls the classmates.com ads capitalism or exploitation via deceptive advertising. United Online will either litigate this to the bitter end (doubtful), or write a big fat check to the class action attorneys to make it all go away quietly.

You'll note that no credible sources have called the suit 'frivolous'.
 
I think I see a note of what Cheryl is saying.

I've said this before - whether we like it or not, and of course we don't, but what's bad for FTD is bad for florists.

They're percieved as "the Mother Ship" and hence representative of floristry in consumers eyes.

If FTD gets dragged out in public for whatever kind of behaviour, it's going to reflect on us all.

I hope they do pay it off and make it go away quietly.



Now what I would like to see, is a stop somehow put to companies that are using that bullshirt webloyalty type crapola programs to advertise they sell our products at "50% off every order".

I wish somebody would take them to task for deception.

Yes that's in our phone book and that's a tough one to compete with. I thought there had been enough negativity and exposure about those programs - but they still must be able to find enough new victims to dupe to keep it going.

And it also reflects badly on all florists.

It's a horrendous ripoff, and connected with our industry.

I *think* even FTD gave up on that one (not positive tho...)
 
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bloomz said:
If FTD gets dragged out in public for whatever kind of behaviour, it's going to reflect on us all.
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Not if you don't fly their logo!!! :icon15

No logo's but mine here! And customers that ask "how" are told we have a network of RealFlorists we're connected to... we never ever mention our competition!
 
TOTO said:
When Meg turned in her papers to little dick, she told all of us old FTDA FAMILY MEMBERS that:FTDI and their Florists, was LIKE NO OTHER BUSINESS she ever worked at or managed in her entire life!

What's the point? I guess ya gotta walk a mile in our shoes and before you have A CLUE about the company you think you can run!
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That to me is the crux of the whole thing and why I said in another thread this whole deal reminds me of Gerald Stevens, and we all know how well that turned out. It's not personal to me cause I'm not a member but it will be interesting to see how it all comes out in the end.

Edited to add, I don't know about the lawsuit, I just thought toto made a good point.
 
Joe,
FTD is now owned by the same holding company that owns Classmates.com.

Classmates.com is being sued for deceptive advertising practices.

The new Prez of FTD has said that he will use all the forces that he has harnessed thru the internet, including Classmates.com and Reunion.com to "remind consumers daily" of the need to order flowers thru FTD & FTD.com.

The rub is that any damages awarded in the Classmates.com (& probably reunion.com will get dragged in,) would end up being paid by the holding company -- which includes now the sales & profits of FTD.
FTD -- you know it as the cash cow --

Does it make sense now?

Cheryl
 
CHR said:
After 3 attempts at an explanation, I give up.
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CHERYL BAKIN said:
Joe,
FTD is now owned by the same holding company that owns Classmates.com.

Classmates.com is being sued for deceptive advertising practices.

The new Prez of FTD has said that he will use all the forces that he has harnessed thru the internet, including Classmates.com and Reunion.com to "remind consumers daily" of the need to order flowers thru FTD & FTD.com.

The rub is that any damages awarded in the Classmates.com (& probably reunion.com will get dragged in,) would end up being paid by the holding company -- which includes now the sales & profits of FTD.
FTD -- you know it as the cash cow --

Does it make sense now?

Cheryl
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Cathy, OK and after four attempts to make a point here is my last one

Classmates.com and FTD are like two brothers.

Brother one is not Brother's two keeper and vice versa.

Let me expand my example to GE.

just because GE owns NBC universal, doesn't mean that the General Electric Light Bulb manufacturing division is involved in any of the stupid/slanderours/libelous things said by the anchors on MSNBC.

Cheryl, I understand your point. But the whole premise of is just moot.

If FTD gets stuck taking some of their profits to pay off a lawsuit that has NOT even been tried yet, it isn't going to affect FTD members.

If, on the off chance that it does, guess what, the florist can just dump their membership in FTD and THAT potential problem goes away.

joe
 
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