Teleflora increasing fees

[CHERYL BAKIN]

Hi all.
Just checked my TF statement on line.

Last page brought more sunshine & smiles our way, courtsey of TF. suggest that you check your statement also, because as of 1-6-09,

1. The unequal sending fee has been changed. If you receive much less incoming than you send, you will be charged and additional 5% clearinghouse fee on all incoming orders. (up from 4%)...until your "unequal"ratio is reduced from 5 to 1 down to 3 to 1.

2. Order processing fee for reporting incoming orders over the Dove network will increase to $1.50 each & $1.75 for reporting incoming using the Delivery Report form.

3. Late Payment fee will increase to $69.00 or 3% of the overdue balance, whichever is higher. (This is an increase of $10 & 1%.)

Further note:
Co-op advertising -- it states that ONLY THOSE SHOPS THAT PARTICIPATE IN CO-OP ADVERTISING FOR VALENTINES DAY WILL BE ABLE TO REDEME COUPONS FOR THE STATED VALUE.
(We were always able to redeme coupons as shown in the paper, regardless of Co-op advertisng participation before.)


Just more money out of our pockets....read the fine print!

Cheryl

 

[bloomery]

Thanks for the heads up

Cheryl --Thanks for summarizing all of this. I haven't looked at my statement yet, but will do so right away. Something is going to change at our store in 2009, without a doubt. I am guessing in addition to the per-order reporting fee going up, so will the cost of each Dove order received? I am expecting the monthly dues to be the next price increase.

 

[CHERYL BAKIN]

Kathy:
It did not mention a per order increase for each Dove order -- yet.

Yea, I'm watching for the membership dues increase also.

This is not good.....in fact, it's just wrong.

Cheryl

 

[Joe Mioux]

Hi all.
Just checked my TF statement on line.

Last page brought more sunshine & smiles our way, courtsey of TF. suggest that you check your statement also, because as of 1-6-09,

1. The unequal sending fee has been changed. If you receive much less incoming than you send, you will be charged and additional 5% clearinghouse fee on all incoming orders. (up from 4%)...until your "unequal"ratio is reduced from 5 to 1 down to 3 to 1.

you mean they are going to penalize you for SENDING more than you RECEIVE? Hmm.... looks like a good reason to join FTD for those excess outgoings.

note:
Co-op advertising -- it states that ONLY THOSE SHOPS THAT PARTICIPATE IN CO-OP ADVERTISING FOR VALENTINES DAY WILL BE ABLE TO REDEME COUPONS FOR THE STATED VALUE.
(We were always able to redeme coupons as shown in the paper, regardless of Co-op advertisng participation before.)


Cheryl

well that is good, less coupon work means less paper work and less labor processing.

joe

 

[Knife's Wife]

Oh but read futher you missed my favorite one....WEB ORDER INCREASE, another.50 it's now the low cost of $3.45 per fricking order. Glad I have my Strider site now.

joe, here's another reason for ya... I can now give myself a raise of 3.45 per order.



joan

 

[CHERYL BAKIN]

Joe:
Maybe I did not explain it correctly.

it says that "if you have a monthly ratio of incoming to outgoing orders of 5 to 1 or greater (unequal senders), you will be charged an additional clearing house surcharge of 5% (up from 4%) on all incoming orders. " this says to me if you RECEIVE more than you SEND by a 5 to 1 ratio, then you will be penalized ----- until you get your SENDING up.
Just another way to cream an incoming order further.

also says that the "big boys" will need to watch their sending thru TF or FTD a little more closely & get the %s back in line -- or be penalized.

Joan:
My statement does not say anything about a web order increase.....but since I do not have a TF website anymore, it may not.
In comparing notes with another TF florist here locally, the fine prints on the last page of our statements do not often match, and appear to be 'customized" based upon what services you use or buy from TF.

Thanks for the heads up on that one....i will pass that on to my friend also.

Cheryl

 

[Joe Mioux]

Oh but read futher you missed my favorite one....WEB ORDER INCREASE, another.50 it's now the low cost of $3.45 per fricking order. Glad I have my Strider site now.

joe, here's another reason for ya... I can now give myself a raise of 3.45 per order.



joan

huh? which thread are you referencing?

joe

yes, for some of you (not directed at you Joan) that was meant as a joke

btw: that is a good point as I said in a some thread.

 

[Joe Mioux]

Joe:
Maybe I did not explain it correctly.

it says that "if you have a monthly ratio of incoming to outgoing orders of 5 to 1 or greater (unequal senders), you will be charged an additional clearing house surcharge of 5% (up from 4%) on all incoming orders. " this says to me if you RECEIVE more than you SEND by a 5 to 1 ratio, then you will be penalized ----- until you get your SENDING up.
Just another way to cream an incoming order further.

also says that the "big boys" will need to watch their sending thru TF or FTD a little more closely & get the %s back in line -- or be penalized.

Joan:
My statement does not say anything about a web order increase.....but since I do not have a TF website anymore, it may not.
In comparing notes with another TF florist here locally, the fine prints on the last page of our statements do not often match, and appear to be 'customized" based upon what services you use or buy from TF.

Thanks for the heads up on that one....i will pass that on to my friend also.

Cheryl

so the penalty is Receive more than Sending.... not the other way around.

thanks for the clarification

joe

 

[CHERYL BAKIN]

Yes, Joe,

to me it appears that they are penalizing the incoming order side, because you received more than you sent, greater than 5 orders received to 1 sent. Additional cost to the receiving shop is 1% of all incoming.

We all know that orders are down -- both sending & receiveing.

I guess TF is trying to recoup some lost revenue any way it can, and figures (probably correctly) that they guys who FILL a lot, but don't SEND a lot will never notice.

Cheryl

ps.
I think, if someone reads the fine print on their statements, will make more than a few people wake up and drop out of TF.....will FTD be there, with lower membership costs, lower sending fees, etc to pick them up, or will they just drop & become wire service free for ever??

 

[Rhonda]

all of the above is why I'm wire service free as of Dec 31st.
After being begged by my TF rep to stay in through the holidays...done!

 

[Eric S]

Correct me if I'm wrong but doesn't FTD already do this? If you recieve more then you send they get a little more of the pie.

So much for being a filling station.

 

[CHERYL BAKIN]

Eric,
Not sure about FTD. I was never in that situation with FTD.
No notification from FTD that I am aware of.

Fees from TF just went up...again. FTD will probably follow also.

Cheryl

 

[Joe Mioux]

Correct me if I'm wrong but doesn't FTD already do this? If you recieve more then you send they get a little more of the pie.

So much for being a filling station.

yes they do. Tf is just playing catch-up.

btw, this stuff is negotiable. Be willing to quit the WS. If you get yourself in that frame of mind, the WS's will and do negotiate.

joe

 

[lori042499]

In this economy they have the nerve to go up that much on prices....geesh!!! At this rate, those OGS definately won't have any fillers, noone will be able to afford being in a WS...I may just have to think about taking a loan to pay off my computer and quit....I really can't take any of this anymore, I am beginning to hate the fact that I own a shop, this is not good...

I would like to wake up some morning and hear some good news...all this bad news is killing me..

 

[BOSS]

Fees from TF just went up...again. FTD will probably follow also.

Cheryl

You can bank on it! Or in reality *they* are banking on it.

Without getting into each item in this thread, we know *they* are out to get every dime they can no matter the cost to the florists.

Like the growers that over produced and are now dieing off, florists too are going away due to over loading themselves with products and services from wire services. The time to pay the piper is just over the bridge, and that bridge is very short, in fact it's only 21 days til 2009.

I don't know about you all, but I'm working to free myself from all of them, independent sites, giving out OFN's to customers and focusing on my local market where we deliver the goods and services. The time to return to the days prior to order transfer between florists has arrived. The added overhead of 1-2 wire services is counter productive to healthy business operations.

Playing the game...to be... The Last Florist Standing.... in MY market.... I remain

 

[mb0509]

all of the above is why I'm wire service free as of Dec 31st.
After being begged by my TF rep to stay in through the holidays...done!

Me too, especially after seeing these increases.

Mary

 

[TOTO]

The part that's REALLY SAD..............................

Is in the fact that, most florists will never notice the increased fees from the WS's.

Which is exactely what they count on, ACCOUNTING IGNORANCE.

The vast majority of hard working Mom and Pops have no time to reconcile their monthly wire service statements or, it simply became a boring and mondane effort on their part.

To add insult to injury, some shops who had gotten billed for orders they never sent, failed to challenge the false charges, and that added profits to the unscrupulous SKIMMER WALLETS.

The OLD BUSINESS MODEL of the WS's is DEAD!

For the shops who are fed up with PAYING MORE while GETTING LESS, they are MOVING ON by MOVING OUT!

With their own WS INDEPENDENT WEBSITES and a working system of TRANSFERING ORDERS from one real florist to another such as the Independent Florist's Association, a shop's net profits will increase.

No shop can afford to continue to subsidize the losses incurred by a WS affiliation from the PROFITS they've earned from their 100% sales.

The only exception to that rule, is when your shop SENDS OUT many more orders than it fills.

We've BEAT THIS WS HORSE ISSUE to DEATH so many times in the past, with the pros and "CONS" from both sides of the aisle.

The only question any fence sitters have to ask themselves is: AM I MAKING MONEY, or AM I LOOSING MONEY with them and after I've factored in ALL OF THEIR ANNUAL CHARGES on my spreadsheet?

Cathy had a great post on how to calculate WS profitability or losses courtesy of NID, one of her staff members.

http://www.flowerchat.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4289&highlight=Calculator

It's so simple, even a CAVEMAN CAN DO IT!
lol

 

[Bigted]

A couple of thoughts. Both wire services (and probably 1-800) have had these low sending "penalties" for a while. Teleflora is now saying that you have to send 33% of the number of incoming instead of 20%.

As far as timing, this is excellent for them. A lot of shops are desparate for orders. They won't quit until later. Hopefully they will remember who their friend was--or should I say wasn't--when things get better.

Although I wish it were true, the concept that the big OGs are having more and more trouble finding a shop to send their orders is an urban myth. Even the worst slimeballs out there still send orders with ease. It's weird because it would take such a tiny effort to put them out of business, but it isn't going to happen. Might as well forget about it and move on to something more productive.

 

[master J]

A couple of thoughts. Both wire services (and probably 1-800) have had these low sending "penalties" for a while. Teleflora is now saying that you have to send 33% of the number of incoming instead of 20%.

As far as timing, this is excellent for them. A lot of shops are desparate for orders. They won't quit until later. Hopefully they will remember who their friend was--or should I say wasn't--when things get better.

Although I wish it were true, the concept that the big OGs are having more and more trouble finding a shop to send their orders is an urban myth. Even the worst slimeballs out there still send orders with ease. It's weird because it would take such a tiny effort to put them out of business, but it isn't going to happen. Might as well forget about it and move on to something more productive.

I would bet a lot more florists are filling those incoming OG orders in these troubled times, either they fill the OG orders or none at all!

I agree it would take no more than a little effort to put them out of biz but I don't think it will happen either, too many suckers waiting to fill those skimmed orders

 

[bloomz]

Although I wish it were true, the concept that the big OGs are having more and more trouble finding a shop to send their orders is an urban myth. Even the worst slimeballs out there still send orders with ease. It's weird because it would take such a tiny effort to put them out of business, but it isn't going to happen. Might as well forget about it and move on to something more productive.

Nomination for quote of the week.

But this reminds me -- I once asked my Mother why she complained so much and she said "Son, it's all I have to talk about."

Spot on post Ted.