I've composed a draft letter to directly address the stuff we've been talking about here at FC for years.
Do you think the letter adresses the issues and remedies accurately?
Would you sign such a letter if it were addressed to the executives at FTD, TF, 1-800 and FSI?
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Truth and Accuracy in the Advertising of Floral Products
On behalf of professional local florists from across the United States and Canada, we are writing to the executives of all national floral wire services concerning the veracity of the advertisers methods and the practices used by some affiliate marketers, which we believe deceive consumers and unfairly influence purchasing decisions.
We believe wire service performance rebates encourage the use of misleading sales techniques, encourage affiliates to use marketing practices which are in violation of both the letter and spirit of state and federal consumer protection laws, and have distorted the marketplace in favor on affiliates who employ misleading and deceptive marketing practices. These practices include:
The withholding of undisclosed fees. Some affiliates continue to label convenience fees and services charges as "delivery fees" yet pocket them and withhold the fees from local florists who actually make the deliveries, thereby reducing the value of the floral gifts delivered. In advertising, including websites, all fees should be clearly labeled and disclosed on product pages so consumers can make accurate cost comparisons. Additionally, wire services should pledge to suspend affiliates who withhold delivery fees from fulfilling florists and deprive consumers of their full purchase value.
Disclosure of all fees. Some affiliate marketers bundle local delivery charges with floral product prices and charge separate service or handling fees, which they retain, or display a 'one price' fee which includes the floral product, local delivery allowance and a service fee. As consumers have customarily paid delivery charges, many believe 'service fees' actually pay for local delivery, when it is not the case. We believe flower affiliate marketers should clearly disclose when they have bundled delivery charges with flower prices and that they clearly disclosed and label all charges, including services fee they retain, prior to requesting payment, whether by telephone or via online shopping cart.
Geographic misrepresentation. Affiliates should be prohibited from making financial gain by using misleading fictitious business names, geographically descriptive website names and advertising claims of being "florist in a specific geographic area" which imply they have physical presences in communities, unless they clearly and plainly disclose their actual physical addresses and true names of their businesses. They should further be enjoined from using false addresses, displaying phony map locations, and claiming "we deliver to specific geographic areas" to entice consumers into believing they are purchasing from bona fide local florists.
Marketing Claims of "Free Delivery and "Free Vase". Wire service agreements with local florists allow delivering florists to be compensated for their regular delivery charges and for the products they deliver. Affiliate marketers often bundle delivery charges into the prices displayed on floral products. Claims of "free delivery" imply local delivery charges are waived, when they are in fact not. "Free vase" claims when sold and fulfilled through affiliate networks are also false, misleading consumers and unjustly diverting buyers from honest and truthful local florists.
False Marketing Claims of discounted prices. Some large affiliate marketers consistently use over-inflated "regular prices" and display discounts. According to the US Federal Trade Commission,
Unjust enrichment by charging consumers "Sales Tax" when sales tax is not required by the affiliate's governing agency. Affiliate marketers for wire service products should not be unjustly enriched by charging or over-charging consumers sales tax and pocketing the fees.
Cloaking order origins. By allowing affiliate resellers to operate in the marketplace under numerous business names without disclosing the true parent companies and/or ownerships, consumers, local florists and consumer protection agencies have difficulty identifying, tracking and building accurate business profiles to assess the levels of consumer complaints by a single company.
We believe wire service affiliates who collect orders to be fulfilled by other florists should be required to disclosed accurate company information, including their legal business names, and physical addresses to consumers and fulfilling florists. We further believe the cloaking of orders behind assumed names helps conceal skimming and other deceptive business practices.
Product images. We urge wire service marketing departments to use photographs and product descriptions which more accurately depict the arrangements sold to consumers. The practice of providing product recipes to florists which, when followed, cannot duplicate or recreate the visual presentations when using industry standard flowers and supplies, places unfair burden on local florists, misleads consumers and creates consumer complaints.
We also recommend the following:
Create a national independent clearinghouse where consumers and florists can report complaints about deceptive affiliate marketing practices. The clearinghouse would monitor activity across all wire services, independently follow up and report on complaints, and make recommendations to ensure consumer quality.
Cease paying commissions and incentive performance rebates to affiliate marketers who use the practices outlined above to gain unfair competitive advantage in the marketplace.
We urge the executives of each floral wire service to view many "Unatisfactory" and "F" ratings in Better Business Bureau reports of their large-volume sending-florist-only affiliates.
We believe it is in the best interest of consumers and the floral industry that floral gift buyers not be deceived by unscrupulous affiliates, and the affiliates not be encouraged and rewarded by national wire services. We ask you to commit to protecting consumers and our industry from deceptive and misleading marketing practices by affiliates.
Do you think the letter adresses the issues and remedies accurately?
Would you sign such a letter if it were addressed to the executives at FTD, TF, 1-800 and FSI?
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Truth and Accuracy in the Advertising of Floral Products
On behalf of professional local florists from across the United States and Canada, we are writing to the executives of all national floral wire services concerning the veracity of the advertisers methods and the practices used by some affiliate marketers, which we believe deceive consumers and unfairly influence purchasing decisions.
We believe wire service performance rebates encourage the use of misleading sales techniques, encourage affiliates to use marketing practices which are in violation of both the letter and spirit of state and federal consumer protection laws, and have distorted the marketplace in favor on affiliates who employ misleading and deceptive marketing practices. These practices include:
The withholding of undisclosed fees. Some affiliates continue to label convenience fees and services charges as "delivery fees" yet pocket them and withhold the fees from local florists who actually make the deliveries, thereby reducing the value of the floral gifts delivered. In advertising, including websites, all fees should be clearly labeled and disclosed on product pages so consumers can make accurate cost comparisons. Additionally, wire services should pledge to suspend affiliates who withhold delivery fees from fulfilling florists and deprive consumers of their full purchase value.
Disclosure of all fees. Some affiliate marketers bundle local delivery charges with floral product prices and charge separate service or handling fees, which they retain, or display a 'one price' fee which includes the floral product, local delivery allowance and a service fee. As consumers have customarily paid delivery charges, many believe 'service fees' actually pay for local delivery, when it is not the case. We believe flower affiliate marketers should clearly disclose when they have bundled delivery charges with flower prices and that they clearly disclosed and label all charges, including services fee they retain, prior to requesting payment, whether by telephone or via online shopping cart.
Geographic misrepresentation. Affiliates should be prohibited from making financial gain by using misleading fictitious business names, geographically descriptive website names and advertising claims of being "florist in a specific geographic area" which imply they have physical presences in communities, unless they clearly and plainly disclose their actual physical addresses and true names of their businesses. They should further be enjoined from using false addresses, displaying phony map locations, and claiming "we deliver to specific geographic areas" to entice consumers into believing they are purchasing from bona fide local florists.
Marketing Claims of "Free Delivery and "Free Vase". Wire service agreements with local florists allow delivering florists to be compensated for their regular delivery charges and for the products they deliver. Affiliate marketers often bundle delivery charges into the prices displayed on floral products. Claims of "free delivery" imply local delivery charges are waived, when they are in fact not. "Free vase" claims when sold and fulfilled through affiliate networks are also false, misleading consumers and unjustly diverting buyers from honest and truthful local florists.
False Marketing Claims of discounted prices. Some large affiliate marketers consistently use over-inflated "regular prices" and display discounts. According to the US Federal Trade Commission,
"where an artificial, inflated price was established for the purpose of enabling the subsequent offer of a large reduction -- the ``bargain'' being advertised is a false one; the purchaser is not receiving the unusual value he expects. In such a case, the ``reduced'' price is, in reality, probably just the seller's regular price."
We urge national wire service to cease paying commissions and performance rebates to affiliate marketers who use this deceptive marketing practice.
Unjust enrichment by charging consumers "Sales Tax" when sales tax is not required by the affiliate's governing agency. Affiliate marketers for wire service products should not be unjustly enriched by charging or over-charging consumers sales tax and pocketing the fees.
Cloaking order origins. By allowing affiliate resellers to operate in the marketplace under numerous business names without disclosing the true parent companies and/or ownerships, consumers, local florists and consumer protection agencies have difficulty identifying, tracking and building accurate business profiles to assess the levels of consumer complaints by a single company.
We believe wire service affiliates who collect orders to be fulfilled by other florists should be required to disclosed accurate company information, including their legal business names, and physical addresses to consumers and fulfilling florists. We further believe the cloaking of orders behind assumed names helps conceal skimming and other deceptive business practices.
Product images. We urge wire service marketing departments to use photographs and product descriptions which more accurately depict the arrangements sold to consumers. The practice of providing product recipes to florists which, when followed, cannot duplicate or recreate the visual presentations when using industry standard flowers and supplies, places unfair burden on local florists, misleads consumers and creates consumer complaints.
We also recommend the following:
Create a national independent clearinghouse where consumers and florists can report complaints about deceptive affiliate marketing practices. The clearinghouse would monitor activity across all wire services, independently follow up and report on complaints, and make recommendations to ensure consumer quality.
Cease paying commissions and incentive performance rebates to affiliate marketers who use the practices outlined above to gain unfair competitive advantage in the marketplace.
We urge the executives of each floral wire service to view many "Unatisfactory" and "F" ratings in Better Business Bureau reports of their large-volume sending-florist-only affiliates.
We believe it is in the best interest of consumers and the floral industry that floral gift buyers not be deceived by unscrupulous affiliates, and the affiliates not be encouraged and rewarded by national wire services. We ask you to commit to protecting consumers and our industry from deceptive and misleading marketing practices by affiliates.
