Breitinger's Flowers

ID: [redacted]
Order was placed in our store on Ii/29/13’to be delivered on 12/1/13. The flowers were
to be sent to a funeral home in Greensburg which is out of our delivery area. While the
customer was in the store we called a florist in that area because she wanted specific
flowers & colors that they may not have in stock. The florist did not have the requested
flowers, but would be able to order them in for the next day. We placed the order with
them. The customer called with a complaint on 12/2/13 stating that the colors were not as
she ordered & the roses were open. We talked to the fifing florist & were assured that
the carnations were indeed peach & white and the roses were brought in for her order &
were the freshest available in the market. We talked again to the sender & offered her a
couple options, one of which. was a partial refund. She stated that she would let us know.
we never heard form her again until approx February 10 when. she began posting on our face
book page & we received a letter from the Revdex.com. After a period of’ about 70 days I will
not go after the filling florist for a credit, I would have had more negotiating power back
in December. I believe that the flowers were as she ordered & the yellow roses were
fresh, they do tend to open quickly, That florist is very reputable & has been there for
more than 100 years. Our share of the order as the sending florist was $25.60. I will
refund that amount to her if she agrees. I believe this is more than generous for an order
that was just as she ordered it.

Reply to customer’s statement: Her claim was that the roses were wilted, she spent $140 on the flowers & the carnations were not Contrasting enough. She has since sent numerous posts to our face book page. One of her posts states that the roses were not wilted, but open. The florist...

filling the order in Greensburg did not have yellow roses on hand & ordered them fresh for her. They were as fresh as they could be. Yellow roses often open quick but open does not mean dead. ???She raved about all the other flowers at the funeral home., the same florist that filled her order did most of them. She requested yellow roses; peach & white carnations; wheat & cattails. The price was $120. She claims she did not get what she ordered. The carnations were not “peachy” enough. They were peach & white as requested, don’t know how to determine if they were? peachy enough. To the best of my knowledge, which shade of peach was never discussed when she placed the order. When she called with the complaint she again talked to the same sales person. We offered her two of options - a partial credit or we could make her some flowers that she could take to the cemetery. Her response was, “I’ll let you know”. I did not chase her down to ask her decision & she never contacted us again until mid February (original order was December 15t), When she did respond she did so very publicly with multiple face book posts, and contacting Revdex.com & Angie’s List. I feel that she has inflicted undue damage to our business & reputation. I have no intention of negotiating with her now. Some of her posts on face book~ have been. slanderous. Her last post on face book states that we give. her a full refund she will let EBB & Angie’s List know. And also make a note on our face book page. To a small business your reputation is everything & a new post on face book wilt not un post the damage.

Review: Breitinger's Flowers accepted about $140.00 from me for a large bouquet of yellow roses which arrived half dead at the funeral home for a memorial service for my mother. Not only was the bouquet not what I ordered in that the carnations were supposed to contrast with the yellow roses, but the roses were old. I was horrified and embarrassed at what was sent. I emailed them to let them know of the problem. A woman named [redacted], who was the same woman who took my order, seemed very concerned, said the owner was concerned and would be in touch with me. She also said they had stopped using the florist who actually filled the order. The owner, she said, was considering how to compensate me for this bouquet that should never have been delivered in this fashion. It's now been over two months and I've sent another email to the owner with no response.Desired Settlement: I would like my money back. There is no way to redo flowers for a service that is now in the past, unfortunately.

Business

Response:

Reply to customer’s statement: Her claim was that the roses were wilted, she spent $140 on the flowers & the carnations were not Contrasting enough. She has since sent numerous posts to our face book page. One of her posts states that the roses were not wilted, but open. The florist filling the order in Greensburg did not have yellow roses on hand & ordered them fresh for her. They were as fresh as they could be. Yellow roses often open quick but open does not mean dead. ???She raved about all the other flowers at the funeral home., the same florist that filled her order did most of them. She requested yellow roses; peach & white carnations; wheat & cattails. The price was $120. She claims she did not get what she ordered. The carnations were not “peachy” enough. They were peach & white as requested, don’t know how to determine if they were? peachy enough. To the best of my knowledge, which shade of peach was never discussed when she placed the order. When she called with the complaint she again talked to the same sales person. We offered her two of options - a partial credit or we could make her some flowers that she could take to the cemetery. Her response was, “I’ll let you know”. I did not chase her down to ask her decision & she never contacted us again until mid February (original order was December 15t), When she did respond she did so very publicly with multiple face book posts, and contacting Revdex.com & Angie’s List. I feel that she has inflicted undue damage to our business & reputation. I have no intention of negotiating with her now. Some of her posts on face book~ have been. slanderous. Her last post on face book states that we give. her a full refund she will let EBB & Angie’s List know. And also make a note on our face book page. To a small business your reputation is everything & a new post on face book wilt not un post the damage.

Consumer

Response:

?

Dear [redacted] of the Revdex.com,

This is a rebuttal to [redacted]’s response to my original complaint (ID [redacted]) from 2/10/14.

[redacted] is twisting my words, continues to refuse me a refund and is now accusing me of slander.

In my original email to him (and in the conversation with his employee [redacted] and in subsequent emails by me to him and in my complaints to the Revdex.com, Angie’s List and in my Facebook review), I have consistently asked for a refund because yellow roses were delivered to the funeral home completely opened and starting to wilt. These were not fresh roses and others at the funeral home commented on that fact and were surprised. The memorial service for which the roses were ordered only lasted a few hours at the funeral home. They were wilted when I arrived. How wilted do flowers have to be before they are old? They shouldn’t have been wilted at all. I ordered and paid for fresh flowers and did not receive them. Whether he uses the term “wilted” or “old” or some other floral term, does not matter. The product I ordered was clearly not fresh. They were much closer to dead than fresh--nearly dead, did not serve the purpose they were supposed to because of this, and I want my money back.

The comments I made to [redacted] about the color of the carnations and the other flowers at the funeral home have been twisted as well. I did not rave about the other flowers at the funeral home. I simply compared the wilted roses in my order to those of the beautiful flowers around them. Mine should have been beautiful as well. The reason [redacted] and I discussed the color of the carnations over the phone was because she wanted to know whether her personal service to me had been adequate. I originally placed the order in person in Breitinger’s shop and was there when [redacted] called the other florist. She and I had a discussion that day about how we both thought the roses would be best set off not with yellow carnations as that florist suggested but with a contrasting color. In that subsequent phone call, [redacted] asked me about the colors and contrasts. I didn’t think they were wonderful, I told her and certainly not what she and I planned together, but that was not the reason I requested the refund. In my original email, I described the colors to remind her of our conversation in the floral shop and to try to show [redacted] that there was one thing about his service that I did value and that was his employee and the care she took. While the colors were dismaying, it was the roses that were wilted and the reason I requested a refund for the order. I did not just call them up and complain that my carnations were not peachy enough as he suggests.

[redacted] also claims I was offered options for refunds and this is twisted as well. He said there was an option for flowers to be redone and delivered to the cemetery, but this doesn’t make sense given that my mother was cremated and there never was and never will be a cemetery involved. Also, it was noted in a Facebook response that [redacted] didn’t have authorization to make refunds.

Small businesses DO rely on their reputations for growth, prosperity and repeat customers. Solid reputations are achieved by word of mouth by happy customers. When customers aren’t happy, they should complain. Word of mouth can be between friends. It can be through reviews on places like Facebook. It can also be through complaint processes like here with the Revdex.com and Angie’s List. Businesses who want happy customers take care of issues customers have when something goes wrong. Something clearly went wrong between the time I ordered the flowers and when they were delivered. [redacted] did not take care of my complaints placed directly with his business. I chose to complain more broadly, as is my right. Does he have a Facebook page with a review area expecting that only good reviews will be placed there?

I am his customer saying I was wronged and unhappy with his product. This is the truth of what happened. The definition of slander is about defaming someone with lies. I have not lied. I have complained to his business and in appropriate venues. If he has felt “undue damage” as he claims, it is because he did not take care of this customer appropriately. He took my money and didn’t deliver the product we agreed upon. Then he twisted my words to try to make it seem like I simply wanted “peachier” flowers and that I had refused refund options. He is the one presenting untruths. Who is slandering whom?

In absence of a refund, perhaps my complaints will be followed up again on Facebook. I should tell others there that my advice to them would be to only order flowers from Breitinger's with a credit card. That way there is some chance of an independent refund. Or perhaps I should consider small claims court?

Also, Mr. [redacted], we spoke about my sending you the email I sent to Breitinger's in February, approximately a day or two before my complaint to the Revdex.com, Angie's List and my Facebook review. I remember now that I sent that email via Breitinger's website, so I do not think any copy would have remained on my computer. But wouldn't that email be available through them?

Sincerely,

Gwendelyn [redacted]