Flower delivery that's bloomin' awful
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We must love flowers in the UK - we spend £2 billion a year on them. For Valentine's Day, Mother's Day or even just a birthday - a surprise bouquet is the perfect way to show you're thinking of someone.
But Watchdog has received complaints about an online florist called Bloomin Delightful that's failing to deliver flowers on time or even at all.
"I still love you"
Emma Bradley ordered her Mother's Day flowers from Bloomin Delightful. She got her Mum, Kate, a bunch of her favourite freesias. They were particularly important this year because Emma and Kate had fallen out and they were a peace offering: "It was really important because they were to say "I really care about you" and even though we've fallen out, "I'm still thinking of you on Mother's Day" and "I still love you" Emma explained.
The flowers didn't arrive on time and it looked like Emma hadn't bothered with Mother's Day at all. Kate was gutted.
The bouquet finally turned up two days after Mothers Day - they were delivered by the postman. They didn't come in any water so weren't in great shape and they didn't last long: "They came on Tuesday and by Wednesday tea time they were in the compost." Emma told us.
The flowers were supposed to be an apology but Kate and Emma were so unhappy with them they just made matters worse.
Watchdog tests the service
Researchers ordered four bunches from Bloomin Delightful, just after lunch, the Thursday before Easter. Bloomin Delightful promises that 98 per cent of flowers arrive the day after ordering so we expected ours would arrive by Saturday.
None of the flowers arrived on Easter Saturday or even on the next Tuesday so the next day, our researchers started calling to find out why.
We kept ringing but no one at Bloomin Delightful answered the phone. When we emailed we did get a reply saying the flowers were on the way.
The flowers did all finally arrive that day. They were delivered by Royal Mail without any water and were four days late.
Bloomin Delightful's response
"I would like to take this opportunity to apologise for the inconvenience caused among yourselves and among our customers. Also during the Mother's day season due to the high demand of orders we did put a notice on our website on all the descriptions of the flowers that orders placed after 6am on the 20 March would not be delivered until Tuesday, however any orders that were received late we did offer either a replacement/reimbursement. As of now we will start taking drastic measures to improve our services for our customers:
1. We will begin recruiting more administrative staff to take on mixed roles that will benefit the company and our customers and therefore make answering phonelines and emails a much quicker process.
2. We will then be operating on a seven day basis.
3. Refunds will be dealt with more efficiently.
4. We will also be improving our website and amending any errors.
5. Finally we'll look into looking after our flowers better and providing a much quicker delivery service.
Once again Bloomin Delightful apologises for the disappointment and our lack of service to our customers. Please pass our apologies."
[Note from Watchdog: this company has no connection with any other florists using variantions of the word 'blooming' in their name.]
© MMIX~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~09~RS~)
Comments
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Unfortunately Ive missed that report on tv, but I have to say that I've been using them a few times now including Valentines and Mothers Day and had no problems what so ever. My gf Valentines bouquet arrived a day early (but its explained on the terms) and they were beautiful. The website may not be very clear but member of staff explained to me everything on the phone. Im sure I'll be using them again and again.
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I ordered my elderly mother flowers from [company removed]. Her door bell rang at 6am mother lives in sheltered housing and was frightened by the door bell ringing at this time of the morning
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That was a nasty little remark on tonight's programme about the flowers being delivered by Royal Mail. Royal Mail does a next day delivery if this company had chosen to use it. As a business they should make themselves aware of this and the fact that Royal Mail does not deliver over Easter or on Sundays. Why does the BBC take every opportunity to knock what is an excellent service compared with that in the rest of the world?
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Mother's Day?? Did you mean Mothering Sunday or have we all become Yankees?
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Not all flowers by post are this bad. I have used a service from Guernsey on many occassions over the past 4+yrs and friends have also used them. Recipients response "Just wonderful"
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I watched the T.v presentation, i noted the seriousness with trading standards and very bad customer care, the humour and wit in the presentation made a laugh out very loud..........Royal Mail!!!!!!!!
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I used them last year to send some flowers to my Mum. They never turned up on time. When I eventually got through on the phone after several attempts, I was told the manager wasn't around but I would be called back. When I asked for the Managers name, they told me they couldn't give a name. I heard nothing so I emailed them. I called again and then after several weeks and more phone calls I got a refund. Would never use again.
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This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
I ordered flowers from this company on Weds 8 April for the first anniversary of my mothers death on 10 April. They did not arrive on Thurs 9th as promised. When they had still not arrived by Tues 14th I tried to call them repeatedly, but there was no answer. I emailed them twice but had no response. The flowers finally turned up on Weds 15th. The flowers were fine, but to date I still have not even had an acknowledgement of my complaint. I certainly won't be using this company again.
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hay what was that comment all about ? at the end of the show "do bear in mind that they do you royal mail" what a crock !!!!!,
im a post man and we allways do our very best to deliver every letter every day !!! .so that comment was rude and offencive to hard working postmen like my self .
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If someone did order flowers to arrive on Mother's Day/Mothering Sunday they should check the delivery policy of the service provider, and their guarantee if any, after all 1/7th of the population has a birthday on a Sunday. The company concerned did provide a poor service by many accounts. Internet buying is a convenience but when lazy customers meet lazy companies the results should not be too surprising. When I choose to send Mrs Splashback flowers from afar it will be by contacting a local florist.
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While watching your your programme with my wife the subject arose regarding the flower deliveries, before the subject had finished we both said together that we betted that part of the blame would fall on Royal Mail. Well Suprise Suprise it did!!! Everytime a company is at fault and is scutanised and where a delivery is involved Royal Mail is always blamed. I work for Royal Mail on deliveries and flowers and plants are made top priority. We can only deliver what is there. I wish companies would take responsability for themselves and stop blaming other people for their mistakes. From very angry Postman in Stockport
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I competely agree with "cosmic green girl"
When the young lady at the end made the comment regarding the flowers being delivered by Royal Mail I nearly chocked on my tea. This may be a topic for tonights Panarama!. I know she likes flowers herself, mine are not in the post.....
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Take heed and use a proper florist, these online 'shops' are order gatherers who have a production line, not like a proper florist where your order would be individually created and delivered by the florist.
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i was annoyed with the presenter on watchdog today,when she came out with a silly remark like let's not forget that royal mail deliver this flowers.what a BLOOMING CHEEK.i am a royal mail driver and at the end each day we would delivered what we have recieved and we cannot deliver what we don't have.SO STOP HAVING A GO AT ROYAL MAIL,THIS IS NOT OUR FAULT
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I have for some years now used the [retailer removed] website for sending floral gifts, with 100% success. They have flowers ranging from £29 to a lovely Fairtrade arrangement in a frosted glass globe vase for £34, delivered. You can add chocolates or wine. As all my friends are reaching interesting ages we do not want more 'things' and these floral gifts have given great pleasure. You nominate the delivery day, and the flowers arrive when promised.
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I own and run an online florist. All of the bouquets that are sent out are either personally made by myself (a professional florist) or one of my employees (who are also professional florists). All of our bouquets are sent out in water and all of the flowers used are properly conditioned and are fresh and of the highest quality. All of our bouquets are sent out for delivery the NEXT DAY (if ordered before our cut off time of 3 pm). Not all online florists are 'order gatherers' and our bouquets are certainly not made in a 'production line'. Not only do we consider our quality flowers to be exceptional but our customer care and service is exceptional too. Not all online florists should be tarred with the same brush. Mel.
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My daughter ordered flowers for me on Wednesday 18th March and CHOSE to have them delivered to me on Mother Day 22nd March.
Mothers Day(Sunday) arrived ~ no flowers, nor on the Monday ~ they finally arrived on Tuesday 24th!!
My daughter emailed them on the Sunday complaining and asking for refund ~ as they obviously hadn't arrived when they were meant to and received no reply.
i would NEVER recommend this company~ my daughter is a student and can't afford to send presents that don't arrive~ VERY VERY disappointed
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my mum used this company for my birthday in march i was supposed to have a bunch of pink roses and frezias (sorry i can't spell)but what arrived were brown gerbers ... but they arrived 4 days late and dead, my mum complained and the responce she got back from the company was they have no control over there suppliers or the royal mail but according to the royal mail they were actually only sent in to the post office the day b4 they arrived so i take it they were sat packaged in a warehouse with no water for the 4 days b4!!!!
y mum was annoyed at first with me because i never gave her a text on my birthday to say "aww thank you" like i always do when she sends me flowers and i never even mentioned them to her when we spoke in the evening... it was my brother who called tp say u should say thank you to mum for the flowers!!! my answer to him was what flowers.
my mum never got a sorry or a refund!
we will never use them again!
i must say tho [retailer removed] flowers were fantastic! they forgot my mums chocolates on mothers day.. i got a refund for the whole lot and my mum got another bunch of flowers and the chocolates and a sorry we forgot these on mothers day! and they arrived on the monday morning... much better service.
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Bloomin disgraceful company. My partner used this company last year for Valentines, and they were bad a year ago. So glad they came up on watchdog as we never got a refund or a replacement as promised. My flowers were two days early, in a bad state and not what was ordered. Their customer service was appalling both on email and by phone. I also have to agree with other posts on here about the dig at royal mail, other companies do not have issues with delivery via the royal mail so why should this company use that as an excuse and why should the BBC feel the need to highlight this.
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I ordered 2 bunches of flowers from this company on the 6th March,stating that I would like them delivered for Mother's Day (22nd March).As you can see,they were ordered in plenty of time.They did'nt arrive until the Tuesday,delivered by royal mail and they were not the flowers I had ordered,I looked on the website and they were a much cheaper bunch than I had paid for.After countless phone calls and emails,I have just about given up trying to get a refund.I am on benefits and to have people blatantly rip me off like that is infuriating.Not to mention the ill feeling it caused on Mother's Day when my mum thought I had just ignored her.
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As a florist, I can only advised members of the public to steer clear of al 'order gatherers' like this site. They are not florists, they do not understand the concept of conditioning flowers and obviously do not care that they do not fulfil orders. These orders are made up in a warehouse and shipped out in boxes- not carefully selected from the best stock available as in a florist shop.
I can only suggest that consumers use local florists, who will provide a personal service, excellent quality, price, value and more importantly, get the flowers delivered ON TIME!
In these tought times, support ALL your local businesses.
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Ive just looked on their website and on the homepage there is a Royal Mail van so why do you guys still ordering from them if you don't want flowers to be send by post? They sent some flowers to my wife's workplace few monts ago and they were all happy abt the flowers.
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I used Blooming Delightful last year they took their money twice due to some computer error and would not pay it back until I took out a small claims against them. they then paid back the flower money but not the court costs the courts ruled they must pay but I have still not received the cost This started Feb 2008
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Not surprised there have been so many complaints! Why do people feel the need to use such companies to order flowers? What is wrong with their local florist? Fresh flowers, professional advice and care and most of all, not laying around some warehouse for days before being thrown together and put out in a box with no water. You just cant compare!
Do people do it to say a few pounds? Doesnt make much difference when you have to go out and buy something else when the flowers dont turn up!
I dont agree with the royal mail complaint...the company are just using them to try and take the blame off themselves.
Ive been a florist for ten years and have never heard of "blooming delightful"...says a lot really doesnt it!
SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL FLORIST!!!
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As a Florist I must admit I was quite glad to see to see this (although at the same time the customers that have spent their hard earned money using this service do have my sympathies) but there are so many order gatherers on the internet these days who will lead honest, hard working customers into a false sense of security that I am glad someone has finally picked up on the charlatans out there and had bought it to the publics attention.. The only way you can GUARANTEE decent quality, top grade flowers and delivery services that WILL NOT let you down, is by ordering directly from a local florist.. supermarkets, relay companies, postal bouquets and order gatherers are there purely for their own ends to make as much money as possible.. The big 3 corporate relay services and well known department stores that take delivery orders will happily skim off up to 40% of the flower value for themselves and not even bat an eyelid. Individual and independant florists are there to serve and look after the individual needs of each and every customer that phones us direct or walks into our shop.
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That was a good ''film'' and excellent advertising for the Local Florist ~ which sadly your reporter failed to add was ''Go to a Real Florist ~ you can see the materials being used ~ you can see samples of their work ~ you will get good advice ~ you will get better value for money ~ you will help local businesses keep going in this 'credit crunch' era ~ and should you have a complaint ~ you have a face to complain to and the problem will be resolved quicker''
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I ordered some flowers from this company on Sunday and on Monday i saw them on the show, I was worried about the flowers and what they would turn up like, but my sister in law called me today to tell me the flowers had arrived and were lovely, i explained about watch dog and she said there was nothing wrong with the flowers at all.
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I ordered some flowers for my 102 year old grandmother using Bloomindelightful and I will NEVER use them again...the first time I tried to order them on their website it said the order had not been processed so I tried again, only to find, when I returned to my inbox that two orders had been taken. When I tried to cancel the second order the Manager said they were not able to refund my money as I'd ordered them on line; they then proceeded to take three payments for the flowers and only delivered one bunch. I have been refunded one of these payments (I checked in my bank account) but have not had a reply to my last email sent last wednesday asking them to refund ALL the money that they owe me.
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I was annoyed at the comment made by your presenter at the end of her report,that sounded like a dig at Royal Mail. We can only make the deliveries when we recieve the mail from the sorting offices, and they are not in the habit of keeping items delayed. I am a postman based in the Telford area. When on my various routes I deliver my packets and parcles first as I have a van. Once I have delivered all my mail and a customer has not been home to recieve packet or parcel then I will attempt to deliver the item /items again before returning to my depot, especially where flowers are concerned, not only because they mean somthing to someone but also because the life expectency of the flowers may be short. What more can you do?
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I ordered flowers for my mum to arrive on mothers day and never received them neither did I receive a card explaining that they tried to deliver them. I have e-mailed them and called them and there seemed to be no response. I called on monday and they finally answered. They said they would get back to me and they didn't. What a surprise! I called them yesterday again and now they are saying they never got the flowers sent back to them so they claim they delivered them. What can I do about it? its driving me up the wall, not because of the money but the principal of it all. They took my money and did not deliver the goods.
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I also work for Royal Mail and feel annoyed at the presenters comments, if you look on the Bloomin Delightful website they are offering free delivery stating that Royal Mail will delivery the next day, this is not guaranteed, for this service it would cost an extra £4.95 which will guarantee next day delivery. I would hope that an apology will be made on next weeks watchdogs program concerning the flippant remarks from a presenter/editor who knows nothing about Royal Mail. There are alot of people who work for Royal Mail who care about the job they do and will go the extra mile to make sure items are delivered on time.
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We were horified with the report on Blooming delightful. We operate a flowers by post service, and have done so for over 30 years. We would not still be in business if we operated in the way they do. It would be comforting bearing in mind our company name is Blooms of Guernsey, if you could mention on your next programme that the report in question does not apply to companies with a similar name. Thank you.
[Note from Watchdog: We would like to make clear that Bloomin Delightful is in no way connected to Blooms of Guernsey. Best regards, web team]
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