Just flowers order- what to do

[Rhonda]

My question Rob is why is is not possible to reject it??
Not the correct amount you need to fill, cough up the money or reject. Or maybe you don't want them to stop calling you...they won't.
I have 4 shops in my area, they called 3 times on Friday for the same order (underpriced, too specific for my area, and not enough for delivery). The calls were well over one hour apart, so I know they probably tried the other shops.

 

[TOTO]

And, the answer is...............................

In for a PENNY, in for a POUND!

Rob's dillema is one of TRIAGE, in as much as, he only wants the CREAM from DA SKIMMER rather than the DOUBLE DIPPED MO HIGHLY DISCOUNTED low balled SRP JF ON SALE NOW orders.

If he rejects THEIR JUNK, he fears they will stop sending to him, and he just doesn't want that to happen.

Best advice is, FILL THEM ALL, since he's already IN FOR A PENNY, IN FOR A POUND, albeit of HIS FLESH!

As to BLOOMZ's dillema and iffen he didn't fill that order for three dozen pink roses? Well maybe, and after having beaten their JF horse to death, the customer would default by calling him direct, and JB would would be back in the saddle again versus trotting underneath it.

 

[RonBeyer]

I decided the only way I'll fill a Just Flowers order is with just a credit card, with no discount, I wont fill it through TF.
I won't fill any OG through TF, but I decided I will take their credit card.
Beat them at their own game.

Do you get/keep many JF orders that way?

 

[cherrie]

Hi Molly,

I had thought that I posted this eariler, guess not.

Yes, I am a member of Teleflora, a past unit pres to boot.

But, I use it on somewhat my terms.
Accept very little from tf.com.
Carry no codified containers - maybe the Kincaid at Xmas.
Do not accept orders from any known order gatherer.
Told FU flowers that I would not refuse, resend, or reject their orders if they continued to send them to me. After a few phone calls, this strategy ultimately worked. I learned here from someone on FC.
I don't care how much the order is for or what it is for - it's a matter of principle at this time of time.

I still have some hope and faith that Teleflora may pull through these times. I admire their dedication to education and I basically like their staff (with a few exceptions). I believe that they need to change their commission structure, with 83% going to the filling florist. The 10% decrease in fees will knock the order gatherers out of the game.
At least, that's my opinion. Probably not going to happen, but, I can hope and wish. I need an easily accessable network of real florists that I can send my orders to. I know it can be done without a wire service, just a matter of time & convience.

 

[bloomz]

As to BLOOMZ's dillema and iffen he didn't fill that order for three dozen pink roses? Well maybe, and after having beaten their JF horse to death, the customer would default by calling him direct, and JB would would be back in the saddle again versus trotting underneath it.

Yup me in the saddle - on my unicorn.....with this naked elf lady pressing up against me from behind.....

 

[RWK]

EXCPTNL - You should handle this JF order like you would any other d'OG order, That is in whatever manner your set store policy dictates. In other words, If you have not set down in writing the correct procedures for handling d'OG orders and instructed your staff in how to handle them.......then you are at a real disadvantage. If it is set in your policy, then you have a backup and an estabblished policy to refer to.

It is precisely situations like this that Excptnl is facing that cause me to believe that everyone in the store - from the newest lowest ranking part-timer to the business owner should be bound by the store's policy. No exceptions.

 

[flowersofkw]

I refuse as under value and put the value I need to fill. Sometime I just indicate "unable to fill as reequested". Then it's up to the wire service to resend to you or to someone else.

 

[Queen of Weddings]

Oh for Heavens Sake, I hate to say this, but if folks don't want to fill them just don't fill the darn things, that is all there is to it, I just don't get it at all, maybe it is just my way of thinking, I just don't get it, I am just like the just flowers, but In my day i have filled them, and now, I have had my issues with them, but it was because the customer let me know the truth on this, Maybe here is the solution, Everyone has to do what is right for them, If you don't want to fill it, then move on to the next, also last week you had post about business kinda slow, Then I would market to each of the ones yu have sent things to, or something of that nature..Maybe I am really gettting old...I love each and everyone, you fill my days with hope, and all that good stuff, and the laughs. But I remember a few weeks back a post about a dead horse, Well......

 

[CHR]

They just sent me an order for the ftd stunning beauty, $15 box of chocolate and delivery...grand total of $71

i sell it at $65 plus delivery and chocolate.....65+15+11.95 little bit more than $71

JF's has it on sale.......but instead of eating the savings and giving the florist the correct amount, they stiff us...

Make a copy of the order and report it in writing to FTD, CC the Federal Trade Commission and the Florida Attorney General.

Companies cannot offer a discounts and then reduce value of the product delivered. JF should be sending the full retail value, and they should eat the discount.

Retail florists are failing in large part because we 1) only complain to each other and/or 2) fill the skimmed orders hoping we don't get caught in the middle.

Every florist here could write a book on how they ended up with a complaint from one (or many more) of these types of consumer scams.

JF is your competition. JF conned the customer into thinking they were getting a bargain. JF will deny you payment at the drop of a hat.

Why on earth would you cooperate with a company like that?

 

[goldfish]

Cherrie, I don't think it's a good idea to refuse incoming orders, solely based on the name of senders. While such act may be gratifying, it has no real positive consequence IMO.

The problem of the idea that we should all reject OG orders is two fold.

First, boycott almost certainly won't achieve the goal (destruction of OGs) because only a few of us will be participating in the boycott. Most of us don't do what we preach - that's a given.

Second, while refusing every OG order may be an honorable thing to do, it might do more harm than good in reality.

If the OG couldn't find a florist to fill because of the boycott, there would be one unhappy customer. You hope that this customer would start calling a local florist direct, but that outcome is highly unlikely. Most likely, s/he will switch to another OG (like ProFlowers, FTD) or stop ordering flowers altogether.

I think that, if a florist is a WS member, the most responsible thing to do is to fill an incoming order to the best they can, regardless of who sent it.

There's a real, flower-loving customer behind each incoming other, whose wish we should not disrespect, even if it came through a middleman we dislike.

 

[Chezbloom]

OMG I cant take it anymore. Why would a potential customer keep choosing OG over real florist's websites? They find them on the web. So, get your page to show up on the web! The lunatics truely have taken over the asylum and I gotta get out of here. Peace and love.
Viva la Independance!

 

[BOSS]

While such act may be gratifying, it has no real positive consequence IMO.

Peace of mind is positive!

If the OG couldn't find a florist to fill because of the boycott, there would be one unhappy customer. You hope that this customer would start calling a local florist direct, but that outcome is highly unlikely. Most likely, s/he will switch to another OG (like ProFlowers, FTD) or stop ordering flowers altogether.

I submit : Eric

 

[cherrie]

OMG I cant take it anymore. Why would a potential customer keep choosing OG over real florist's websites? They find them on the web. So, get your page to show up on the web! The lunatics truely have taken over the asylum and I gotta get out of here. Peace and love.
Viva la Independance!

You are so right.
I read Sweet Goldfish's reply post to me last night and I was so tired(all day on flower auction), that I tried to reply about 5 times and the stream of words and thoughts just couldn't connect.

We own order gatherer's NOTHING.
These days, consumers are aware of the flower scams - at least they should be. Clients do pick independent sites. We all know this.
My site is booming.

I have seen flower shop after flower shop go out of business. According to SAF there are 25 % fewer shops than there was a decade ago. It has to stop - or our industry to be totally brought down.
I ain't going down. I will do whatever and however I need to survive.

Goldfish, it used to be that we would send out as many orders as we received. It was a level playing ground. The profit in the wire service game is sending - not receiving. Now, with the order gatherers capturing a big chunk of this business and the money making part of it - it is no longer level. We are getting violated. Plus, many of the og are slime - deceptive to their clients, as well as to the filling shops.
Why would you want them to continue?

I truely believe in serving the client -my client. If accept an order from another flower shop - it becomes my client. I treat all orders with care.
If I refuse an order gatherer's order and they can't find a shop to fill their clients order - oh well. Next time, the client will have to do a little research and find a REAL flower shop. Possibly, they won't. That's the chance I am willing to take to preserve my business.

I do not work for the wire services. They work for me.

 

[goldfish]

We own order gatherer's NOTHING.
These days, consumers are aware of the flower scams - at least they should be. Clients do pick independent sites. We all know this.
My site is booming.

Cherrie, you are just insisting, not addressing my point, are you? In fact I find the ubiquitous 'holier than thou' attitude of boycotters disturbing.

So here's the challenge for your guy, boycotters. What exactly are you achieving by boycott, other than, say, giving you a bragging right.

 

[BOSS]

So here's the challenge for your guy, boycotters. What exactly are you achieving by boycott, other than, say, giving you a bragging right.

Goldie....

I'm walking the talk!

Simple as that, I'm not only willing to proclaim my stance on this subject, but I am also willing to back it up with civil disobedience.

 

[Spookyflowers]

I agree that we took on a wire service to help us get business in the door. As for the OG's why don't they abide by our minimums and maybe things wouldn't be so bad.
I take what I can get for orders be it OG's or a real florist who sometimes does not understand that we can't delivier 10 miles out for nothing.
The world may not be right with the OG's but in these tough times we have to make the best of it or we will go down.

 

[lori042499]

OMG I cant take it anymore. Why would a potential customer keep choosing OG over real florist's websites? They find them on the web. So, get your page to show up on the web! The lunatics truely have taken over the asylum and I gotta get out of here. Peace and love.
Viva la Independance!

Because they don't know the difference....they are lured in by big savings and they have no idea how the whole thing works, all they know is that they saved delivery and a persent off and that is way more than their local guy was willing to do...but they don't even realize that these people are not local and that their order will be clipped even further by the time it gets to the local guy...nor do most of them care...the ones that do will either give up on flowers because it has gotten to difficult to get good flowers(in their mind) or they will keep trying and hopefully find a good local florist...

 

[cherrie]

Cherrie, you are just insisting, not addressing my point, are you? In fact I find the ubiquitous 'holier than thou' attitude of boycotters disturbing.

So here's the challenge for your guy, boycotters. What exactly are you achieving by boycott, other than, say, giving you a bragging right.

I don't accept order from known order gatherings. NEVER EVER.
I don't do codified containers. I accept very little from TF.com
I work my tuchas off on my website.
Constantly. It's very hard coming up with special designs to sell at the holidays, but, I'm doing it. Just redid my everyday page and Easter. Now working on sympathy and Mother's day.

www.cherryblossomsflorist.com
www.cherryblossomsflorist.net

I post like madman to my Picasa album. I'm using this as a selection guide. You would not believe how many corsage orders I am getting off the site. Blows me away. Go to my site, go to weddings or sympathy or corsages, at the top of the page it says "click here for more online photos". I am not using the WS guides for flower selections anymore.
My web person is setting up a facebook page for my shop.
I have started to do youtube videos.

The world has changed the way it does commerce.
I'm changing with it.
Wire Services are becoming a thing of the past, in their current mode.

I talk the talk, and I walk the walk!

 

[CHR]

I find the ubiquitous 'holier than thou' attitude of boycotters disturbing.

So here's the challenge for your guy, boycotters. What exactly are you achieving by boycott, other than, say, giving you a bragging right.

I'm not seeing 'holier than thou' at all. It's a matter of thinking long term about where you want your company to be, and which resources will best serve you to get there.

Knowingly filling for competitors who use false advertising to gain orders is simply rewarding - funding - the scammers with your good work. Do a great job and the shoppers continues to patronize the perps.

dOGs also consume resources well beyond just the order fulfillment portion of the process.

Some of us have zero tolerance for man-made-by-skimming complaints and all the other issues brought on by aggressive SFOs.

It's about using the time and resources to promote our own products rather the enabling the competitors who do not care if we stay in business or not.

 

[lori042499]

Goldie,

I must agree with CHR on this....It is not a holier that thou attitude, well for some it is a major point, but for people like me, I do not will not fill for blooms today, they have many many fees that they charge that never get passed on and they are all complaints waiting to happen, solution don't fill for them....and I don't...I do not do business with anyone whom I get complaints for foolishness, I look up orders on site for other shops(real or not) and if their site is more that what I got for the item, no filly...if anything seems not fair no filly for them...if they will not be sending me all the money collected for rush deliveries, hand filled out cards, same day delivery, etc etc, I don't like their ways I am in no way obligated to fill for them...

I will even not fill for a real live florist if they are selling x on their website and giving me y for it, I charge a delivery and most florists charge a delivery I am entitled to it...Every florist on here complains about not getting adelivery charge on top of their orders, and so many real florists neglect to collect delivery from their WO customers, I am tired of this, not sure if they live under a rock or they just don't know how to sell or they don't know how to break it to their customers but I don't have to fill for anyone selling stupidity whether it be charges that are bogus and kept by the sender or charges that are not collected....just smart biz...