One of the busiest days of the year for ordering flowers is Mother’s Day, accounting for about 30 per cent of annual sales for many flower shops.
While most bouquets arrive on time, for orders that don’t, the refund policy may depend on the florist you choose.
Earlier this year, a Toronto woman bought flowers for her mother’s funeral.
Loretta Young said she paid for two arrangements for her mother Mary’s funeral on Valentine’s Day, which fell on a Saturday this year.
Knowing it was going to be a busy day for flower deliveries, she at first agreed to have the flowers arrive at the church the day before, but then she was told they would arrive the day of the funeral.
Unfortunately, they never showed up at all.
“We contacted them (the day of the funeral) because the flowers had not arrived and you know I was quite upset,” said Young.
The flower arrangements she ordered were at a cost of $488 from Bloomex Canada.
When she contacted them, Young said she was told an error had been made when they took the order.
“There was a mistake with the delivery address, and they had tried to deliver the flowers to a church in British Columbia, not Toronto, Ontario,” said Young.
When Young asked for her money back, she was told there were no refunds.
“I wrote back and said that is unacceptable. I would like a refund; it was your mistake; it wasn’t mine.”
A Bloomex representative said at the time that she could only have a store credit that had to be used all at once or they would re-send the funeral arrangements. Neither was an option Young wanted to consider.
“During this whole process no one showed any compassion, any understanding as to why I wouldn’t want to have my mother’s funeral flowers delivered days after her funeral,” said Young.
CTV News reached out to Bloomex Canada on Young’s behalf and a spokesperson said, “After reviewing the order, we confirmed that the initial order was entered incorrectly by our phone operator, who selected the wrong city due to a church with the same name in Vancouver.”
“As a result, the first delivery attempt was made to the incorrect location. Once our customer support team identified the error, confirmed the correct Toronto address with the customer, and apologized, we attempted to arrange redelivery. Unfortunately, by that point, the funeral delivery window had already been missed.”
“We sincerely regret this error and the distress it caused during such a difficult time. We communicated this directly to the customer, and a full refund has now been issued.”
Young said she is relieved that the matter has now been dealt with and she was given a refund.
“If they would have just said they were sorry and we will give you a refund, I wouldn’t have needed to contact CTV News. I am glad that this has been resolved,” said Young.
Don Waltho is the founder of the Canadian Institute of Floral Design, a college in Toronto that teaches students in the florist field.
He said online florist websites may be the first to pop up in internet searches, but he says when you order from a virtual flower shop you may not be dealing with the florist who delivers the arrangements.
Waltho recommends dealing directly with a local florist in your community for more hands-on service.
“As soon as we get an order any kind of order, we want to confirm the location of the event and make sure we are there on time and we use our own drivers,” said Waltho, who added, “It’s good to get to know your local florist, especially for larger events like funerals and weddings.”
He noted that if there is a problem, a local florist may be more likely to work with you to find a solution.
