The death of FTD at least in this shop anyway.....

[jbarb]

Well it looks like FTD made up my mind for me! The notice came down today about the change over from Merc direct 3.1 to 4.0 and that it is a mandatory change as of Feb 1st. With that comes a monthly fee of $49.95

Not in this shop. I am not about to give FTD any more money.

Bob Norton says that FTD is still more cost effective than TF, I don't know what numbers he is looking at but it sure does not work out that way here. $50 a month plus internet access? That is a heck of a lot more than the Dove. At least out here.

What really puts a knot in my shorts is the fact that I have this selection guide that I paid $300 for and this international directory/doorstop that I paid $26 for both of witch will be going in the trash!!

Oh well... It's been fun....

Jim

 

[GFLORAL]

Hey Jim,

Make sure you check the all numbers, including how much it cost to send orders or recieve each order. Also if I remember correctly the Dove is fixing to go up to $60 a month. From another post you made in here it seemed that you did a good amount of incoming and teleflora charges .75 cents for each order recieved. I don't know about FTD, we haven't been a member in like 5 years or so, but back then if you were not a FTO florist you didn't have to pay for any incoming.

 

[Luc]

Global,
There is no suck thing anymore about FTO. You are automatically charged for any incomming orders through FTD and Teleflora.
Gives the order gatherer more money to play us.
Luc

 

[Luc]

Correction..such thing....
But its also sucks
Luc

 

[BOSS]

From what I know....

Merc Direct 49.95 a month, Dove, will be 59.95 in Feb...

Both require connection, wether phone line or internet...most shops already have an internet connection, they pay for so no added cost here.

Both have a .75 charge on each order...

FTD is actively upgrading all its technology platforms at a rate much faster than TF...

I would caution, that numbers from both companies are comparitive, and similar...you have to remember, they will continue to out flank each other, and not always in the florists best interest....

 

[Dean]

Why can't one of the wire services be different????

It seems like the minute TF decides to raise a fee, FTD follows right behind. Same with TF. It doesn't give a florist any reason to choose one over the other. Same when someone lowers a fee, except free membership. TF hasn't done that yet. Even TF has a sense of pride. FTD's free membership is the dumbest thing FTD's done in history-period.

If I ran a wire service I would want to be different than the others-in price, selection, quality, etc.

It reminds me of florists every VD that base their dz rose prices on what everyone else is selling them for. They get on the phone and call all around town and if the other guys are at $69.99, then that what they'll charge. I used to play this game 25 years ago. Then I wised up an realized I was running a business and understood what marketing was and quit this silly calling around. Now I set my prices based on MY COGS and marketing conditions.

Wire services are becoming more pathetic every day. They are taking us florists for fools. But one of these days, one of these days...POW RIGHT IN THE KISSER!

 

[jbarb]

yes they do both require connection however the dove runs on the same line as our credit card machine. TF does not charge the filling florist the .75 it is charged to the sending florist. TF also does not charge for a rejected order like FTD does.
So when you look at the numbers.

FTD. $49.95 for merc Dove $59.99
FTO .75 0
QA 21.95 0
directory
subscribiton 4.95 0
low send 14.95 0
reciprocity
fee 19.95 0

These are the monthly charges for those of you that do a big sending business you don't see the low send fee and the reciprocity fee and the FTO fee works out great for you. For us low senders it sucks. It is not my fault that our town is full of retired people that don't send flowers, they recieve them.

TF is quite a bit cheaper than FTD. The problem is none of the above charges were disclosed to me when I signed on. I was told that Merc direct was free and it has been until now. The other charges just showed up on my statement about 5 months into my membership.
I really like using FTD marketplace and Fresh flowers. That is probably the main reason that I have stayed on, but with this addtional monthly charge I really don't see any benefits.
Tf is coming out with their Dove upgrade this year that is including a full bookeeping platform for all incoming and outgoing orders (or so I understand) that is included in the price of the monthly fee. In the last two years I have never had a charge show up on my TF statement that I was not expecting.

When I first signed up with FTD I was impressed. They were cheaper at that point. For me anyway, then all the additional charges started showing up
The customer service was good when and I liked their advertising. In the last 6 months the fees started racking up, the customer service has taken a down turn and the advertising, well, lets just say it could use some help.
I have sent an e-mail to our regional manager asking for him to call. We'll see where this goes but I am not going to pay yet another monthly fee.

 

[jbarb]

sorry my mistake. TF also charges the incoming florist .75

Jim

 

[BOSS]

I am working to get the low sending and reciprosity fees stopped, I think they are both STUPID !

Ya can;t pull orders outa your butt !

IMHO..BOTH companies are going to be tested much more vigerously this year than they EVER have been in the past, and it will be the florists who decide which one survives...

Too bad, neither seems to be listening to their CUSTOMERS, and thats one reason I am moving on with MY OWN thing, and not worrying about all the rest.....there are other alternatives....

Just a matter of technology, and technology is simple, really...

 

[Rhonda]

Hmm, "Low Sending Fees" as told to me by both FTD and Tel reps.
...."show us what you sent out through the other wire service. If you sent through the other service, that order could have gone with us to make the 20/month, then too bad"
Both Reps...in almost the exact same words.
We work to keep our incoming and outgoing close on both services. To keep our "operating costs per service" close. In the lean months, we are lucky to send out 4 or 5 orders with both services. Neither figure would make either service's "minimum sending requirement".
Tis the worst of two evils.

 

[BOSS]

Originally posted by Rhonda
Hmm, "Low Sending Fees" as told to me by both FTD and Tel reps.
...."show us what you sent out through the other wire service. If you sent through the other service, that order could have gone with us to make the 20/month, then too bad"
Both Reps...in almost the exact same words.
We work to keep our incoming and outgoing close on both services. To keep our "operating costs per service" close. In the lean months, we are lucky to send out 4 or 5 orders with both services. Neither figure would make either service's "minimum sending requirement".
Tis the worst of two evils.

Far as I know, If you show FTD you sent 10 FTD and 10 Tf then they will waive the Low Sending fee...I could be wrong, I WAS ONCE....

Not picking on anyone, but I still do not see the need for two WSs, for any reason, other than if you want the containers, and or images...Neither logo is worth much anymore....

 

[Peter1]

Low sending fees

Originally posted by Rhonda
Hmm, "Low Sending Fees" as told to me by both FTD and Tel reps.
...."show us what you sent out through the other wire service. If you sent through the other service, that order could have gone with us to make the 20/month, then too bad"
Both Reps...in almost the exact same words.
We work to keep our incoming and outgoing close on both services. To keep our "operating costs per service" close. In the lean months, we are lucky to send out 4 or 5 orders with both services. Neither figure would make either service's "minimum sending requirement".
Tis the worst of two evils.

Well if they wanted to do Florists a break, BOTH of them shouldn't charge a low sending fee, or increase the clearing house to 10% as TF does. We here at Blossoms Network doesn't believe in punishing Florists. Only charge $25.00 a month and 5% clearing, much much better.