[The Mountaineer]

Do NOT under any circumstances use Flower Delivery Express, which operates online.

I did, to my chagrin. I ordered flowers and specified that they were to arrive on the day I knew she would be getting to The Villages after 2 days of driving along, to try to perk her up.

1. The flowers did NOT arrive on the promised date.

2. The flowers never got beyong the bud stage and died.

3. When I complained about the non-delivery, they came a day late.

4. I was promised, in writing, a $51.24 rebate.

5. When I went online to order flowers for my girlfriend's return to Ohio, I picked out flowers that were $24.99 for EVERYONE. But when I got to the end of the ordering process, I saw that my $51.24 rebate applied to the "original" price of $64.99 that no one paid, so I would lose $40 of my rebate.

6. These guys tack on exorbitant charges. $3.99 for a card, which every florist hands out free, $9.99 for delivery, $4.99 for a vase, $7.80 sales fee (doesn't say sales tax, but sure pretends to be). This totaled $26.70, more than the promised $24.99 price.

7. I Googled Flower Delivery Express, an outfit out of Michigan, and found out that one of the lawyers who got slamdunked by this outfit has his law firm setting up a class-action lawsuit against Flower Delivery Express, whose CEO has another company under the name of Wesley Berry Flowers.

8. There are at least two web sites devoted to complaints about Flower Delivery Express, one called Flower Delivery Express Scams. At least 900 people have filed complaints on one web site about FDE.

9. The Better Business Bureau has received 5,012 complaints about Flower Delivery Express.

10. You've been warned. If you use these guys after reading this, you have only yourself to blame. And you're ignoring 6,000 to 7,000 complaints about Flower Delivery Express that I've seen. I'm sure there are more.

11. As for me, I'll walk into a florist shop and see what I'm getting for me money. And if my girlfriend isn't in the same town as me at the time, I'll find a reputable LOCAL florist to send her flowers.

12. This outfit, in all the names Wesley Berry is using for his various companies, has to be stopped. I filed a complaint with the Ohio Attorney General's Office and I notified Barclay's that I will not pay the original $74.35 charge for atrocious service, all-but-dead flowers, and the shell game Berry's firm tried to pull on me over the "rebate."

13. This guy is putting P.T. Barnum's slogan to the real test: There's a sucker born every minute. Don't be the 10,000th sucker for Flower Delivery Express.

14. Being a newspaper editor for 43 years (retired in 1996), I have kept written proof of everything I am posting here. Don't mess with senior citizens, particularly those from The Villages. My girlfriend bought a home here in March after our 3-month stay and we'll be coming down every winter.

[mwilli]

Glad you pointed this out. It is hard to know who is trustworthy when you can't interact with them face to face. What is this world coming to?

[jnieman]

I don't order flowers from on line companies. I've been the recipient of several of these deliveries and the flowers never look good. I do a google search for a florist in the town that delivers and call them directly. Sounds like the florist you used is shady.

[The Mountaineer]

Originally Posted by jnieman

I don't order flowers from on line companies. I've been the recipient of several of these deliveries and the flowers never look good. I do a google search for a florist in the town that delivers and call them directly. Sounds like the florist you used is shady.

Good advice. Too late for me. But I want to be sure everyone knows about these guys so they don't get snookered, too.

I use the local florist in the Akron area and go to a florist myself when I'm in The Villages. This one got by me, even after 43 years of being a newspaper editor and reading about such scammers all the time.

Thanks.

[JoMar]

Why wouldn't you use a local florist for your national needs? They have a network of legitimate companies and if there is an issue you can walk into your local florist to resolve. They have a vested interest in taking care of your issue. Finding a local florist in a town that may be hundreds or thousands of miles away is akin to online.....what do you know about them and how do you handle problems?

[NYGUY]

Originally Posted by The Mountaineer

Do NOT under any circumstances use Flower Delivery Express, which operates online.

I did, to my chagrin. I ordered flowers and specified that they were to arrive on the day I knew she would be getting to The Villages after 2 days of driving along, to try to perk her up.

1. The flowers did NOT arrive on the promised date.

2. The flowers never got beyong the bud stage and died.

3. When I complained about the non-delivery, they came a day late.

4. I was promised, in writing, a $51.24 rebate.

5. When I went online to order flowers for my girlfriend's return to Ohio, I picked out flowers that were $24.99 for EVERYONE. But when I got to the end of the ordering process, I saw that my $51.24 rebate applied to the "original" price of $64.99 that no one paid, so I would lose $40 of my rebate.

6. These guys tack on exorbitant charges. $3.99 for a card, which every florist hands out free, $9.99 for delivery, $4.99 for a vase, $7.80 sales fee (doesn't say sales tax, but sure pretends to be). This totaled $26.70, more than the promised $24.99 price.

7. I Googled Flower Delivery Express, an outfit out of Michigan, and found out that one of the lawyers who got slamdunked by this outfit has his law firm setting up a class-action lawsuit against Flower Delivery Express, whose CEO has another company under the name of Wesley Berry Flowers.

8. There are at least two web sites devoted to complaints about Flower Delivery Express, one called Flower Delivery Express Scams. At least 900 people have filed complaints on one web site about FDE.

9. The Better Business Bureau has received 5,012 complaints about Flower Delivery Express.

10. You've been warned. If you use these guys after reading this, you have only yourself to blame. And you're ignoring 6,000 to 7,000 complaints about Flower Delivery Express that I've seen. I'm sure there are more.

11. As for me, I'll walk into a florist shop and see what I'm getting for me money. And if my girlfriend isn't in the same town as me at the time, I'll find a reputable LOCAL florist to send her flowers.

12. This outfit, in all the names Wesley Berry is using for his various companies, has to be stopped. I filed a complaint with the Ohio Attorney General's Office and I notified Barclay's that I will not pay the original $74.35 charge for atrocious service, all-but-dead flowers, and the shell game Berry's firm tried to pull on me over the "rebate."

13. This guy is putting P.T. Barnum's slogan to the real test: There's a sucker born every minute. Don't be the 10,000th sucker for Flower Delivery Express.

14. Being a newspaper editor for 43 years (retired in 1996), I have kept written proof of everything I am posting here. Don't mess with senior citizens, particularly those from The Villages. My girlfriend bought a home here in March after our 3-month stay and we'll be coming down every winter.

Do me a favor and tone down the font and size and bold....some of us can still see....thanks!!

[The Mountaineer]

Originally Posted by JoMar

Why wouldn't you use a local florist for your national needs? They have a network of legitimate companies and if there is an issue you can walk into your local florist to resolve. They have a vested interest in taking care of your issue. Finding a local florist in a town that may be hundreds or thousands of miles away is akin to online.....what do you know about them and how do you handle problems?

You got me. I was stupid. I'm used to ordering online since I'm not one to browse for hours in stores and I can get price comparisons in minutes. So I did the same for the abominal Flower Delivery Express. I confess. I was wrong. I was stupid. Now I'm trying to let others benefit from my foolishness. Isn't that a good thing?

[Shirleevee]

Originally Posted by NYGUY

Do me a favor and tone down the font and size and bold....some of us can still see....thanks!!

ProFlowers.com, the best.......use them all the time

[philnpat]

Originally Posted by NYGUY

Do me a favor and tone down the font and size and bold....some of us can still see....thanks!!

You may still be able to see fine but OP may not.

[john1953]

Love pro flowers they are awesome.

[NYGUY]

Originally Posted by philnpat

You may still be able to see fine but OP may not.

Then again, he may see fine also....why guess?

[Sable99]

In my prior life, i ordered flowers for people all over the country. I didn't like to order from the 1-800 companies for a few reasons: you never knew what the item really looked like, they always added a lot of fees and in this economy I liked to help the local businesses.

On a few occasions I called a local funeral home to ask what florist they recommended. I figured they saw flowers from all of the local shops. We have several florists in our town but, if asked, I would recommend a local nursery. Their arranagements are always beautiful. unique and reasonably priced.

A couple of years ago a realtor wanted to express her thanks for Mom and I using her services to sell a home. The realtor used an 800 company since she was in Florida and we were in Michigan. We never told her the flowers were almost dead when they arrived and the chocolates were melted.

[Justus]

Originally Posted by The Mountaineer

You got me. I was stupid. I'm used to ordering online since I'm not one to browse for hours in stores and I can get price comparisons in minutes. So I did the same for the abominal Flower Delivery Express. I confess. I was wrong. I was stupid. Now I'm trying to let others benefit from my foolishness. Isn't that a good thing?

You were NOT stupid. You just didn't know about ProFlowers when you ordered. They are the best on-line floral delivery service. We've been using them for many years, and it's been a delight to do business with them.

When you order from a local florist, even a good one, for long-distance delivery, the local establishment has no control over the integrity of the business on the other end. When my mother, who lived out-of-state was terminally ill in 1975, I ordered an FTD arrangement through a very reputable florist in our town. At that time (40 years ago), I paid $50 for the nicest arrangement FTD offered. A week later, my mother was rushed to the hospital. I flew in to see her. She had slipped into a coma right before my arrival. I saw the "arrangement" at her bedside. It was the worst possible, dead-cheap, crappy little, wilted piece of s**t I'd ever seen. It probably did not cost more than 4 or 5 dollars, including delivery.

I was so angry, I returned to our florist on my way home from the airport. They were also upset by the picture I showed them of the arrangement. They refunded my money, but it was too late. It was the last thing my mother had seen from me before she died.

So you see, we've all had to learn from experience. It wasn't your fault, and you should be thanked for trying to alert others. Have a good day.

[jnieman]

One of the reasons I don't use the on-line companies who deliver by UPS or Fed-ex is because they leave the package on your front porch and it could be hours in the hot sun before you come home to discover them. By then they are ruined. I recently received a delivery from Sherries Berries and it was chocolate covered strawberries and and chocolates. When I arrived home to find them they were all melted. They refunded the money to the person who sent them. I like a local florist because at least they won't deliver them unless you are home.

[JoMar]

ProFlowers is just like any other e-commerce company......in fact they have been sued and settled (without of course admitting any wrong doing) for hundreds of thousands of dollars. In addition it is a second tier subsidiary of Liberty Media so regardless of their marketing and advertising, they are only a part of a large conglomerate. I prefer a local florist so when I have an issue I can walk into their front door and deal with it.