Serenata flowers - No delivery & no refund due to "bad weather"

bantamsteve

This is my first ever post on here but I feel I need to make everyone aware of this poor company.

Serenata flowers refuse to deliver flowers during "bad weather" which seems to be snow, ice, rain or wind (so most of the UK weather). and also refuse to redeliver or refund. THEFT?

We paid on friday for flowers to be delivered on Saturday, to which they didn't manage to deliver. No notice, feedback or anything, we had to approach them. The first lady was reasonably helpful and asked us no to worry. The following day still no sign so we asked for a refund because we explained they were getting delivered to a hotel and due to the non delivery we were no longer at that hotel.

We received a message back saying:

Thank you for your recent correspondence.

Please see the following statement from our terms and conditions:

"During adverse weather conditions such as heavy snow, ice, flooding or high winds, our delivery teams may not be able to delivery orders on time. This is outside of our control and we cannot accept responsibility for the late delivery of the order. Therefore, in the event of adverse weather conditions, we aren’t able to refund or offer re-delivery of affected orders.’

Unfortunately, if the order is not delivered on your chosen delivery date, this is outside our control and at the point of placing your order, you will have ticked a box to confirm our terms and conditions and that you understood that should delivery fail due to weather conditions we would be unable to compensate. "

We have tried numerous ways of trying to speak with the flower company to discuss, they have banned us from their Facebook page. I'm all for companies making a profit but taking money for a product and not delivering at all and refusing to refund is surely theft?

Interestingly they have a guarantee page which goes against their email response with a refund policy, again they have ignored that.

We all travelled to this hotel from a great distance with NO issues in a normal car. Serenata flowers have since told us the courier is 30 minutes away and they felt they weren't able to travel. Despite the roads being clear and us travelling 45 minutes across the moors I can almost forgive them. What I can't accept is they will NOT deliver them now nor will they refund the money. So basically £32 for nothing, no flowers, no refund, NOTHING!

They argue it is in their terms and conditions, but on there website it has a page dedicated to "Guarantees" and how they will refund in the even to of non delivery. Customer services refuse to refund.

So I thought it important that I make everyone aware of this small print so that they use an alternative flower company. Having looked around online now it would seem I'm not the first (and probably not the last) to suffer this companies unbelievable policy and what I would deem THEFT!

Please share with your friends, family etc. I wouldn't want anyone else to suffer the disappointment this company brings. Supplying flowers is meant to be a special moment, a "thank-you" to someone, this company RUINS that.

Steve

halibut2209

Their "terms" are meaningless and unlawful.

Send them a letter before action, then sue them.

McKneff

And report them to trading standards.

Unfair terms, exactly

pulliptears

misleading terms aside, what area was the shop that were delivering in?

I ask because here in Staffordshire over a foot of snow fell incredibly quickly on Friday evening and I know more northern counties were affected a lot worse than us.
As it stood all our local bus services were cancelled, local roads, including main roads were impassable and many shops closed because people simply couldn't get out.

Sometimes allowances do have to be made for bad weather, and whilst I'm in no way sticking up for this company as their T&C's are atrocious, it isn't surprising that they couldn't complete a delivery in the conditions we had here on Saturday.

ETA, you say you reached the hotel ok, but that doesn't necessarily mean the area the shop was in was snow free. Stoke on Trent was at standstill last weekend yet a few miles away in Crewe there was barely a dusting. Just because you managed to get there it doesn't necessarily follow that they could from their area

However, I'd be sending them an LBA now for the money to be refunded. That is awful practice.

bantamsteve

The hotel was in Otley, Leeds. The hotel is sat on a hill, however, although yes we are up north, we are used to bad weather and local farmers are employed to keep the roads clear with their tractors. All the roads were passable even in the morning, and by the afternoon the rain had come down and cleared most away.

The area I live is exceptionally high, and vehicles were all getting up and down the hills.

The delivery agent made no effort at all to deliver them. It is nothing more than excuses. The fact they refuse to deliver them another day is unbelievable. Had I ordered a £500 TV would the courier have just kept that too?

The company is poor. No telephone support, no feedback when deliveries will be missed, and a no refund or delivery policy.

Could you explain to me what an LBA is?

halibut2209

It's "Letter Before Action". Basically it's a letter saying that you want a refund within 14 days or you will commence legal proceedings. Have a quick google for some examples

pulliptears

Yes, sorry, Letter Before Action. There are many templates across the internet like this one here:

http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/england/consumer_e/consumer_taking_action_e/consumer_legal_actions_e/consumer_small_claims_e/before_you_take_someone_to_court/letter_before_action.htm

Make sure the letter is sent via trackable means and keep copies of everything.

pmduk

Alternatively, if you paid by card, contact your card issuer and enquire about a chargeback. Perhaps you should name and shame the company.

halibut2209

pmduk wrote: »

Perhaps you should name and shame the company.

I think the first word of the thread title might give a clue

crazyfj

Interesting, sorry can offer no addition tips apart from thanks, a company I will avoid. Hope you get your money back.

dacouch

Reviews... http://www.trustpilot.co.uk/review/www.serenataflowers.com

Hang on check the reviews on their own website and how many they get a day...

http://www.serenataflowers.com/Reviews