After a long talk with Bob Norton this morning, we came to a understanding of the issues/problems I had with FTD and I have deceide to stay FTD.
Luc
Luc
Issues resolve with FTD..I am staying FTD
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Mikey the Flower Guy
It's a GREAT DAY to live, and love!
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You KNOW Luc....
so, you mean your "decision to leave FTD" wasn't a decision at all...however, as an earlier contributor to this board had stated...DON'T make "decisions" based on "knee jerk" reactions to what you want,and don't get!!
I already KNOW what you're thinking,and ALL I'm trying to point out is this.....few of us if any, can reasonably "afford" the services of more than ONE WIRE SERVICE, and it takes time, effort,and investigation of your OWN needs, BEFORE making this "decision"!
I think as time passes, you WILL FIND your own answers, and questions about certain WS values, and the MORE TIME I spent doing so, made me realize that my decision was for ME...not for you or anyone else, and EVEN I took 3 years to decide that FTD had MORE future plans and directives, than TF, or anyone else at this time!!
Since YOUR SHOP is one of "choices" it makes me happy as a lark, that one of the "choices" you've made, is to look again, over and over, UNTIL you've looked at ALL the ingredients in the WS cake.
Welcome back....I for one, KNEW you wouldn't leave.....NOW...all we gotta do is work on Ryan....
Mike
so, you mean your "decision to leave FTD" wasn't a decision at all...however, as an earlier contributor to this board had stated...DON'T make "decisions" based on "knee jerk" reactions to what you want,and don't get!!
I already KNOW what you're thinking,and ALL I'm trying to point out is this.....few of us if any, can reasonably "afford" the services of more than ONE WIRE SERVICE, and it takes time, effort,and investigation of your OWN needs, BEFORE making this "decision"!
I think as time passes, you WILL FIND your own answers, and questions about certain WS values, and the MORE TIME I spent doing so, made me realize that my decision was for ME...not for you or anyone else, and EVEN I took 3 years to decide that FTD had MORE future plans and directives, than TF, or anyone else at this time!!
Since YOUR SHOP is one of "choices" it makes me happy as a lark, that one of the "choices" you've made, is to look again, over and over, UNTIL you've looked at ALL the ingredients in the WS cake.
Welcome back....I for one, KNEW you wouldn't leave.....NOW...all we gotta do is work on Ryan....
Mike
Re: You KNOW Luc....
Sorry, buddy can't help you there. The bright light in the FTD tunnel is the proverbial freight train about to run over the sorry @@@es (that's for Hugh) of their paying members. TF is for the independent florist - that I do believe. That message comes solidly from Greg C. all the way down - and it's not going to change in the near future. You can speculate about what YOU think TF might do in the future, but we all can see what FTD is doing RIGHT NOW. Free memberships, enlisting shops over the phone, BUYING THE **** ORDER GATHERERS!!, no Canadian office to speak of, and a numbnutz dictator with a belly ache at the top. Those of us in this for the LONG HAUL need to look past the short term and see where these companies are headed. TF has a solid track record over the past few years of backing the florist. FTD's tracks in the dirt twist and swirl so often it you'd almost think they had no clue where they were going ...
Ok, venting over
Sorry, buddy can't help you there. The bright light in the FTD tunnel is the proverbial freight train about to run over the sorry @@@es (that's for Hugh) of their paying members. TF is for the independent florist - that I do believe. That message comes solidly from Greg C. all the way down - and it's not going to change in the near future. You can speculate about what YOU think TF might do in the future, but we all can see what FTD is doing RIGHT NOW. Free memberships, enlisting shops over the phone, BUYING THE **** ORDER GATHERERS!!, no Canadian office to speak of, and a numbnutz dictator with a belly ache at the top. Those of us in this for the LONG HAUL need to look past the short term and see where these companies are headed. TF has a solid track record over the past few years of backing the florist. FTD's tracks in the dirt twist and swirl so often it you'd almost think they had no clue where they were going ...
Ok, venting over
I don't really want to get into a pissing match on the FTD vs TF thing but the comment about TF being for the independent florist? Let's see, there is Flower Club, there are many many order gatherers that are TF members, including 1800.com
The shop from hell up the street from me that supposedly got kicked out of TF is now back in with flying colors and a free computer system to boot so that they can get all of their trashy orders over the Dove. TF has double shipped me on every keepsake order that I have bought for the last three holidays, which I had to take the time to call on and send back. On this last statement they double billed me for the double order and they claim that I have to pay it on my statement or I won't get my rebates. The monthly fees keep going up and up and if you don't watch them like a hawk they call you during busy times and give you the rah rah about this and that free for two months so when you forget about the phone call, all of a sudden you start getting billed for it on your statement and it takes 3 months to get it taken off. I have had to call 3 different times in the last year to get them to stop charging me for their stinking magazine subscriptions.
I'm not saying that they are all bad. But I don't believe for a minute that they are for the indepent florist.
Jim
The shop from hell up the street from me that supposedly got kicked out of TF is now back in with flying colors and a free computer system to boot so that they can get all of their trashy orders over the Dove. TF has double shipped me on every keepsake order that I have bought for the last three holidays, which I had to take the time to call on and send back. On this last statement they double billed me for the double order and they claim that I have to pay it on my statement or I won't get my rebates. The monthly fees keep going up and up and if you don't watch them like a hawk they call you during busy times and give you the rah rah about this and that free for two months so when you forget about the phone call, all of a sudden you start getting billed for it on your statement and it takes 3 months to get it taken off. I have had to call 3 different times in the last year to get them to stop charging me for their stinking magazine subscriptions.
I'm not saying that they are all bad. But I don't believe for a minute that they are for the indepent florist.
Jim
Mikey the Flower Guy
It's a GREAT DAY to live, and love!
- Nov 10, 2002
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Gads...how I LOVE a "believer"...
you HAVE to admire Ryan...he and Lynn made REAL DECISION, have stuck by their guns, and WILL PROSPER in the future!! NOT because they chose sides, BUT, BECAUSE they CHOSE a side, and BELIEVE in it's benefits!!
As I've stated in the past ( again and again) most of us can afford ONE WS...pick one, use it, make it WORK FOR YOU...NOT the other way around!!
YOU are the "customer"...the customer is ALMOST always right...therefore, YOU are ALMOST ALWAYS RIGHT!!
As far as TF or FTD or Joe's WS, are THEY working to make YOUR business BETTER???....then THEY are the ONE!!
I don't feel that TF is "the ONE"...I'm beginning to think that Peter and Blossom's Network might just be "the ONE"...he still has much to prove...but a little less than before!!
Time will tell, I don't think there IS a right and wrong anymore....except that I'm RIGHT half the time, and YOU'RE right ONLY 50% of the time.....
Mike
you HAVE to admire Ryan...he and Lynn made REAL DECISION, have stuck by their guns, and WILL PROSPER in the future!! NOT because they chose sides, BUT, BECAUSE they CHOSE a side, and BELIEVE in it's benefits!!
As I've stated in the past ( again and again) most of us can afford ONE WS...pick one, use it, make it WORK FOR YOU...NOT the other way around!!
YOU are the "customer"...the customer is ALMOST always right...therefore, YOU are ALMOST ALWAYS RIGHT!!
As far as TF or FTD or Joe's WS, are THEY working to make YOUR business BETTER???....then THEY are the ONE!!
I don't feel that TF is "the ONE"...I'm beginning to think that Peter and Blossom's Network might just be "the ONE"...he still has much to prove...but a little less than before!!
Time will tell, I don't think there IS a right and wrong anymore....except that I'm RIGHT half the time, and YOU'RE right ONLY 50% of the time.....
Mike
Audra
New Member
Re: You KNOW Luc....
Yeeesh Mikey, who said that all decisions had to be final? I admire Luc's ability and willingness to listen to more information and reformulate his opinion based on what he learns.
For us, two services are the way to go.
I absolutely love dealing with the staff at Teleflora - the people I have dealt with in the Canadian office have been helpful, courteous and honest. I do, however, think that they carry some of the ugliest specials that have seen light of day (Ryan, please appreciate how much I editted that for public consumption! ) As much as I dislike their product, coverage is an issue here and FTD doesn't go half the places in Northern Ontario I need to be able to send stuff. So we're Teleflora.
FTD has good product, they have many services that we find usefully and we're pleased with the way their product line is going. On the other hand, my mom and Gudrun are both suitably unimpressed with Bob Norton and I'm not a fan either. The man gave me the dodge on questions for almost two months once. Any problem I've ever had with FTD has been solved by Aaron Csorba. In our five years with FTD, I've never seen a Field Rep in our shop. I'll probably have a mild coronary when one does appear. Service for Canucks, virtually non-existant, but the product works for us and it's profitable, so we're FTD.
Who says you *have* to go with one?
Audra
Yeeesh Mikey, who said that all decisions had to be final? I admire Luc's ability and willingness to listen to more information and reformulate his opinion based on what he learns.
For us, two services are the way to go.
I absolutely love dealing with the staff at Teleflora - the people I have dealt with in the Canadian office have been helpful, courteous and honest. I do, however, think that they carry some of the ugliest specials that have seen light of day (Ryan, please appreciate how much I editted that for public consumption!
) As much as I dislike their product, coverage is an issue here and FTD doesn't go half the places in Northern Ontario I need to be able to send stuff. So we're Teleflora.FTD has good product, they have many services that we find usefully and we're pleased with the way their product line is going. On the other hand, my mom and Gudrun are both suitably unimpressed with Bob Norton and I'm not a fan either. The man gave me the dodge on questions for almost two months once. Any problem I've ever had with FTD has been solved by Aaron Csorba. In our five years with FTD, I've never seen a Field Rep in our shop. I'll probably have a mild coronary when one does appear. Service for Canucks, virtually non-existant, but the product works for us and it's profitable, so we're FTD.
Who says you *have* to go with one?
Audra
Ryan's decision
Have to agree with Ryan on his post above, simply put, all things considered, AT THIS POINT IN TIME - Teleflora has a better product. Their products sell better, and they compete with us less. And I AM Hypercritical of them. What they may or probably will do in the future is follow FTD further into taking from its members, but they have a LONG way to go to catch up, and no amount of order gatherers ALLOWED IN as members of Teleflora will equal FTD itself BEING our biggest competitor. (That's an EXTREMELY lame argument in my book anyway for FTD.CON being allowed to steal our customers, that Teleflora ALLOWS og's in, and Flowerclub, which I do NOT like, is an ant compared with dotcon). I see WAY WAY WAY WAY WAY less ads for Flowerclub than I see for FTD.CON - all over everywhere, especially the internet.
But at this point in time, being a member of both and USING them both like the SERVICE VENDORS they are - I feel better about paying Teleflora about 5 times what I am paying FTD.
I think Ryan made a very smart choice.
And Luc, did Bob PAY you to stay? He should, if he needs you.....
Have to agree with Ryan on his post above, simply put, all things considered, AT THIS POINT IN TIME - Teleflora has a better product. Their products sell better, and they compete with us less. And I AM Hypercritical of them. What they may or probably will do in the future is follow FTD further into taking from its members, but they have a LONG way to go to catch up, and no amount of order gatherers ALLOWED IN as members of Teleflora will equal FTD itself BEING our biggest competitor. (That's an EXTREMELY lame argument in my book anyway for FTD.CON being allowed to steal our customers, that Teleflora ALLOWS og's in, and Flowerclub, which I do NOT like, is an ant compared with dotcon). I see WAY WAY WAY WAY WAY less ads for Flowerclub than I see for FTD.CON - all over everywhere, especially the internet.
But at this point in time, being a member of both and USING them both like the SERVICE VENDORS they are - I feel better about paying Teleflora about 5 times what I am paying FTD.
I think Ryan made a very smart choice.
And Luc, did Bob PAY you to stay? He should, if he needs you.....
It may be "lame" Bloomz to compare TF and their order gatherers to FTD.com but guess what? I reject easily 10 to 1 TF OG orders over the FTD.com orders that come in to my shop. With the exception of 2 TF orders for V-day all of them were order gatherers. With the exception of 2 FTD.com orders all of my FTD orders were from real Shops. So I really don't give a rats *ss how big .com is compared to TF's OG's TF sends more junk orders to this area anyway.
Audra
New Member
Re: Ryan's decision
For you maybe, but not for us. We don't all have the same customers and the same needs. FTD product sells well for us, especially since they've gotten rid of the six types of coded holiday wares. We sell a fair amount of BP and others, I can't give TF product of the like away.
Audra
For you maybe, but not for us. We don't all have the same customers and the same needs. FTD product sells well for us, especially since they've gotten rid of the six types of coded holiday wares. We sell a fair amount of BP and others, I can't give TF product of the like away.
Audra
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