Anyone use the online flower delivery services for Valentine's Day or other occassions?
(First of all I have to say I'm shocked not to receive the "Would you like to post this as a question...response after typing my question! When did that change?" Now to the question... Have any of you used the pro-flowers.com or other online flower delivery service? If so what was it like and are there any tricks to reducing the price? I found a year old link for this but the responses didn't offer the information I needed. Have a couple birthdays next week and I would like to consider the service but never having used it...I'm wary. What's the good, bad and ugly about this?
Here's the link from a year ago: http://deals.woot.com/questions/details/7196afd5-51d2-494b-a05f-9748672183db/good-cheap-flower-delivery-service-for-valentines-day#15
by
cindihoward
asked 4 months ago
Not sure on discounts, but retailmenot.com might be a good place for some codes.
I have used/received Proflowers a couple of times. Only once when I sent them were the flowers not so fresh. But a call to the company resulted in a lovely replacement batch. Great customer service that was professional and friendly. Just be sure to check with those you are sending the gift to make sure it arrives as beautiful as you expect.
The times I have received roses from them, I have been very pleased. Not only were they fresh, packed nicely even when a vase was not included, but large and beautiful and they did not begin to drop petals until a solid week or more.
You will get better service and usually better quality my shopping with your local florist. You can save money online but many of the times I have used online florists the results have been less than stellar. I've had to call and complain for dead flowers as well as them looking othing like the picture.
Also check put these links on consumerists. http://consumerist.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-search.cgi?blog_id=1&tag=1800flowers&limit=20
I've had the same experience that @dpn0121 reports, mostly with arrangements looking nothing at all like the illustration that caught my eye. If I recall correctly, Consumer Reports did a user survey on web-based florists a while back and got the same not-so-great reports.
@dpn0121: I definitely agree. If you are familiar with the area to where the flowers are being sent, you will get a much better deal (usually) by calling a local florist directly. Look online to find the type of arrangement, noting the model number--like "the FTD Hottypants #917 arrangement for $49.99." When you call the florist, tell them you are interested in sending a similar arrangement. What sort of deal can they give you since you are cutting out the middleman?
You might find you'll receive a surprisingly good deal. It also helps to fib a bit and say you can't wait to see the arrangement when you visit the recipient the following day. It makes the point that you WILL know exactly what you ordered and what actually was delivered. It's a sneaky way of making sure the $50 arrangement you've ordered & paid for doesn't turn out to be $17 bucks worth of baby's breath and daisies.
The online florists are a complete rip-off. You hear the offer on the radio: "Dozen long-stemmed roses, plus a free box of chocolates only $20!" You think, "wow, that would be a great, easy gift".
So you go online. You find out that you need to buy a vase for $10. You find out that "standard delivery" is $15, and isn't good for Valentine's day - that will cost you $5-10 additional.
At the end of the day, you could go to your local florist and get a much better, fresher bouquet for about the same price.
Or you could do like me - avoid buying flowers around Valentine's day because they're ridiculously, artificially overpriced. You can buy a dozen roses for $10 off-season, why should they suddenly be $100 for Valentine's Day? You could say supply and demand, but at Thanksgiving, the turkeys are always on sale...
My husband has ordered flowers from them a few times. Anytime he ordered tulips they came partially unbloomed.
I have in the past and always ended up feeling like I spent way too much money on what she got.
I've always been surprised and pleased with mom and pop florists. I've been using the same one that we did all of our wedding flowers for the past 10 years. With a few orders per year, I've been able to build rapport with the owner/manager/head florist.
I've used 1800flowers and Proflowers in the past with very good results but not within the last six or more years.
As people above have stated, a local (to the recipient) florist is usually as good or a better deal. When the florist is local to both you and the recipient, you also can avoid delivery charges and see exactly what they will be getting.
I have almost always avoided flowers around Valentine's Day (I agree COMPLETELY with @tsfisch's comments above regarding price gouging).
Thanks...so much for pro-flowers. I'm calling a local florist.
@tsfisch: The turkeys are on sale on Thanksgiving because most shoppers are buying about 50 other things and they want you to buy them at their store. It's called a loss leader. Florists aren't going to see a boom in other sales by getting you in the door with cheap flowers. Which is not t say that buying something else or going local isn't a better idea.
Stats
- Asked
- 4 months ago
- Asked By
- cindihoward
- Answered
- 10 times
- Viewed
- 247 times
- Voted Against
- 0 times
- Voted For
- 19 times
10 Answers answer
Sort By: