Florist flower substitution - thoughts please?

aliasojo

Just wanted to gather some opinion please.

A relative died recently and I needed to order a wreath. I live 200 miles away from the person/where the funeral was taking place so I ordered a wreath online.

I noted the small print which stated flower substitutions may be made and was ok with that as I expected the overall look would remain the same regardless of which particular flower was used.

The wreath I ordered was a bright, fresh looking wreath with a lovely balance of pink and white flowers.

The wreath that was delivered was all pink. The white roses had been substituted for pink roses and all the other flowers that were white or light in the picture, were also now pink. The pinks used were all of a similar dark shade so the whole wreath was dull and looked nothing like the original picture.

Other members of my family who had seen the wreath online before I ordered it, told me my wreath hadn't arrived, simply because it looked nothing like the wreath that was expected. The individual flowers were pretty but they were all far too heavy and dull looking put together the way they had been. I would have expected the shop to have some sort of white or even light pink etc flowers that they could have used to brighten the thing up. :undecided

The florist has other branches and everyone else's wreath arrived as expected, it was only mine that was affected. I'm assuming this was down to the personal choice of whoever actually assembled the wreath, if the original flowers were not available.

It doesn't seem right to complain about a wreath and I wont be making huge issues about this, but I wondered what others thought? Wreaths are very expensive things that are often chosen with some sort of sentiment in mind (my relative was young minded, bright and fresh which is why I felt the wreath reflected that and is why I bought that particular one) and if what arrives is not as expected, then what?

bcl999

I had the same thing happen a few years ago with my aunt's wreath. We ordered an expensive one with stargazer lilies and various of her favourite flowers. What was actually delivered to the cemetary was a hideous mutli-colour thing with all those terribly artificial-looking chryanthemeums - vivid blues, electrifying pinks, etc - no lilies or any of the other flowers we ordered. I did go back to the florist and complain and all she said was a Monday (the day of the funeral) was a bad day for flower choice and that she had put flowers to an equal value on the wreath. Of course, she made no mention of this when went in to order, even though it must have been clear then that the funeral was a Monday. I even went to our local council consumer advice shop and they contacted the florist and got nowhere.

Needless to say, i have never used that florist again and I still make every effort to dissuade anyone I know from using it.

fluffnutter

bcl999 wrote: »

I had the same thing happen a few years ago with my aunt's wreath. We ordered an expensive one with stargazer lilies and various of her favourite flowers. What was actually delivered to the cemetary was a hideous mutli-colour thing with all those terribly artificial-looking chryanthemeums - vivid blues, electrifying pinks, etc - no lilies or any of the other flowers we ordered. I did go back to the florist and complain and all she said was a Monday (the day of the funeral) was a bad day for flower choice and that she had put flowers to an equal value on the wreath. Of course, she made no mention of this when went in to order, even though it must have been clear then that the funeral was a Monday. I even went to our local council consumer advice shop and they contacted the florist and got nowhere.

Needless to say, i have never used that florist again and I still make every effort to dissuade anyone I know from using it.

To be fair you don't make 'every effort'. If you did, you'd have mentioned their name in your post!

mountainofdebt

I have to admit I think I would be abit miffed if i was expecting a pink and white flowered wreath and got an all pink one.

If you're not happy (but not so miffed as to kick up a huge fuss about it) why not write to the florists telling them this - that whilst you appreciate that they may not have had white roses, then by subsitituting pink roses, the overall appearance of the wreath was affected and that you were disappointed as the expected appearance suited the persoanlity of the deceased whereas the one that was supplied didn't?

(I guess though they may argue that you might have felt short changed in getting an alternative white flower instead of a rose, regardless of colour, if that makes sense!)

It may just make them think twice about any subsitutions they make for future wreaths

aliasojo

mountainofdebt wrote: »

(I guess though they may argue that you might have felt short changed in getting an alternative white flower instead of a rose, regardless of colour, if that makes sense!)

I did think about that but then thought that this was a large wreath with a lot of flowers in it. Even if they had substituted pink roses for the white ones, I'm sure they could have used some other white or light flowers dotted throughout, instead of the other pink ones, just to lift it a little.

I called the company to voice my thoughts. Girl on phone told me the manager would call me back but that was hours ago now and nothing yet.

fluffnutter

It reminds me of an episode in Sex and the City at Miranda's mother's funeral. The flowers appears - huge and inappropriate. Charlotte says the immortal words "We wanted the flowers to say 'I'm sorry, we love you'. Not 'you're dead, let's disco'".

Joking aside, wreaths are important and florists should take extra special care to ensure their choice of blooms is appropriate and sensitive. Any florist who doesn't do this isn't worth their salt, quite frankly.

bcl999

fluffnutter wrote: »

To be fair you don't make 'every effort'. If you did, you'd have mentioned their name in your post!

So, do I know you then? ( I did say anyone I know!)

aliasojo

Well I'm offically annoyed now. Manager has not seen fit to spare 5 minutes out of his busy day to call me as promised, so I'm thinking my original thoughts may have escalated into an right old grumble now, worthy of proper complaint.

piglet25

You need to ring her tomorrow, as to be fair its been Valetines day today so she would be busier than normal. You need to tell her you weren't happy and if she doesn't offer any sort of reasonable solution tell her you are going to contact your card provider for a chargeback, unless it was ordered through a relay, in which case you need to speak to them as most will refund you. I think the threat of a chargeback will make her realise she has to do something as she will not only loose the money for the wreath, she will get fees on top of it.

If the manager is 'unable' to come to the phone, tell whoever you speak to that unless you are contacted within one hour then you will be on the phone to the bank / relay company - and then do it!

Substitution is fine if you are contacted in advance and told of the problem but can you imagine a nice red rose bouquet being substituted for a bunch of yellow chrysanthurums today? Same principle applies to both cases.

fluffnutter

bcl999 wrote: »

So, do I know you then? ( I did say anyone I know!)

Touche. But MSE allows you to spread your message beyond your friends and family!

piglet25

If you get no joy today then I would definately name and shame on here, just to save other people wasting their money with a business who can't be bothered once they've been paid - there are too many of them about!