Reviews on TF dot com

[Mikey the Flower Guy]

I LIKE a good man with convictions.......

 

[Doug Munro]

And I too respectfully disagree... IMO, it's never too late. We offer a 100% Customer Satisfaction Guarantee. Period. Now I may not like having to do whatever it takes to make it right, I do it because that sets me apart from my competition, and gives my customers confidence in my product. Dealing with 1-2 outrageous complaints a year is not worth alienating even one customer. I would not battle it out online, but I would deal with it just the same.


Simple answer... they are, no way around it.

And if I'm the one you're referring to, the difference is you're Pro WS, and I'm not... they have become predators on florists and consumers alike.

Mark,

My comments were not directed at any one individual, more at the general underlying current of this board at times.

As for my being "Pro WS", I think before you pass that judgment you should read some of my past posts. I have stated often that I feel that WS's are simply a tool that can be used in your business, and like any tool they may not work in all circumstances. Trust me, at this point in time the WS model works for our business and for our franchisees, if that were to change I would be the first to find alternatives for our company and franchisees. However if that time comes we will simply move on and continue to work towards building our business and that of our franchises. What we will not do is expend any effort on trying to negatively impact the existing wire services.

Lets face it, at the end of the day every business owner is to the most part responsible for the success or failure of their business. To spend any time of effort rallying against the perceived threat of the WS's or order gatherers takes away time, energy, and financial resources that should be focused on ones business. The fact is that if an individual strongly feels that their mission in life is to save this industry as a whole, then power to them. I however am a strong believer that this industry is evolving due to conditions beyond our control and that those that accept the changes and find ways to adapt to it will survive and prosper. This is the message that we stress to our franchises.

This ongoing reluctance by some to admit that our industry has changed and can not go back reminds me a lot of the situation that Kodak found itself in when digital camera's hit the market. As their revenue was so dependent on traditional film products, they simply to a great degree ignored digital resulting in their missing the "boat" and allowing new competitors to grab a piece of their once loyal customer base. On the other hand Fuji ( another large manufacturer of film) adapted and launched their digital line of products.

 

[bootcampguy]

I have stated often that I feel that WS's are simply a tool that can be used in your business, and like any tool they may not work in all circumstances...............
Lets face it, at the end of the day every business owner is to the most part responsible for the success or failure of their business................

For those who use the WS or their prducts, the above says it all. They are a "tool/vendor" that needs to be "supervised". If that tool is not working , by all means buy a new tool. This is one area where I see where I would say a great majority of florists aren't seeing yet. I just made some "major changes" in software, website, etc. from a vendor who was not performing like they used to. There fees and performance dropped below the level I was willing to except, so I sought out new vendor and I have defined "mutual goals" for both of us at 1/3 the cost.

 

[FANCIES]

who did you decide to stop doing business with and what new vendor did you go with? I have to say I am partnering more with bloom & quitting TF. I see most of the people on this site are TF or FTD. The breaking point with TF for me is the $3.45 they charge per order from my web site on TOP of all the other fees. What are your thoughts on that? Also what new software are you using? I use Visual Ticket. I am creating a new web site with them so I won't have my Tf website for much longer. I feel like I need to make the break. Otherwise it just seems I get deeper in with them & the longer I wait the harder it gets. I buy alot of product from bloom especially when they are on sale & clearance. I guess you might say I am using bloom as a tool in my business. My only worry is that people will not like my new web site as well as the TF site. Their pictures are great & hard to be beat, or so I think. I appreciate any of your thoughts. Thanks.

 

[BOSS]

I guess you might say I am using bloom as a tool in my business.

I appreciate any of your thoughts. Thanks.

Hope you appreciate this... we dropped 800Flowers today! They make it easy, dial an 800#, hit option 1, follow up with a certified letter within 3 days and presto chango... (or so they told me)... I never did put my name on one of those dang birthday cakes...

And our "affiliation" with FTD has also been terminated....

Freedom......

 

[bootcampguy]

...... feel like I need to make the break. Otherwise it just seems I get deeper in with them & the longer I wait the harder it gets.

I had everything that money could buy from one of the WS..........I do belong to TF and FTD and find value with both (don't throw eggs at the screen yet) but I respect the opnions of those who don't see value with them. I belong to them for marketing reasons and make alot of money off the information in those orders. My current pull rate from them is about 40%......................My accountant who only does flower shops provides me with great information and the numbers "fell" below the level of acceptance for me............Becasue I would not buy a new system (112 point 0) or whatever it was they began to charge me for an additonal fee of $149. So that was over $475 a month in user fees and the website another $160 or so in user fees. Shopped CC processing and saved a good bit.....................In tough times we get smarter with our financial decisions. My change was to Floristware for POS, FS network for website and Merchant Warerhouse for CC. So all of these have no "handcuff" agreements, if I'm not happy or if the performance level changes I can say "see ya" and take my inforamtion with me. My only concern is my sending out volume............I send well over 100, up to 200 a month and I will no longer have the integration aspect..........so I will incur more labor. But even after the increased labor, I still see savings.............I should have made these changes earlier in the year, but had to see the numbers first. When the website (I could be wrong on this) change happens and theres no down time, you won't lose your rankings or placements. I've seen wbesites from others on here and they as nice as any others..........Now when you get unhappy you pick up your ball and go play somewhere else. On a final note.......every store should have a "system" in place for all incoming orders (if they fill them) so the information does not go un-used. There's hidden value in those pieces of paper.

 

[mumsandmore]

My change was to Floristware for POS, FS network for website and Merchant Warerhouse for CC. So all of these have no "handcuff" agreements, if I'm not happy or if the performance level changes I can say "see ya" and take my inforamtion with me. My only concern is my sending out volume............I send well over 100, up to 200 a month and I will no longer have the integration aspect..........so I will incur more labor. But even after the increased labor, I still see savings.............I should have made these changes earlier in the year, but had to see the numbers first.

I am pretty sure that FloristWare integrates into FSN for sending and receiving of wire out orders. Or are you talking about sending and receiving with TF/FTD?

 

[bootcampguy]

The other two.........

 

[mumsandmore]

The other two.........

Those two, certainly don't play nice.

 

[carriesmatrix]

Nope that was a popular 800-flowers trick...TF does show all the flkowers to the front which makes the person think it will have equal flowers on the back, but instead they get gaping holes from trying to spread what they see oout over the entir arrangement...

whats crazy is remember the arrangement for valentines in the teleflora super bowl commercial? In the ad they showed a girl getting boxed flowers , and how they were not the prettiest way to get flowers, while another girl in the office got the teleflora valentines arrangement. If you watch the commercial (which i believe is still on you tube) you will see that the arrangement is all the way around. Not one sided as the design poster specifies. In fact, not even their upgraded designs were all the way around. I actually had customers come in, and were disappointed when they recieved the arrangement and it was one-sided. We even went so far as to show a couple of customers our work up poster from teleflora where it stated the arrangement was suppose to be be made a one-sided piece. This has always been one of my biggest pet peeves. How they can manipulate the pictures in such a way that they look larger, fuller , than is possible to do with the count of flowers they say will make the arrangement like the picture....