Leonard, D A CPA

Coleman Florists has been staffed with designers that have been in this business for plus years and have worked at a variety of different shopsOur entire staff does whatever is possible to ensure our customers are happySometimes, a customer requests a flower that is hard to obtain due to
growing seasons, and not everyone realizes thatIn this particular complaint, that is the actual problem*** came to us for her first consultation and when she requested both the Dahlias and the fresh hops, we responded that we would do our best, but that there is a significant chance that we could not get the requested flowers in because of the season, and if that were the case we would have to substitute her flowers for another option, but she would ultimately have the choiceFive days before a wedding is not an unusual amount of time to contact a bride about her flowers because any earlier would be too early as what the flower market has in stock changes frequently and we do not have any way of being 100% sure before thenThe timing on this had nothing to do with the holidays, and that is why we make sure we only have one designer and one manager overseeing a wedding customer so that way the two of them together can make sure it is done correctly regardless of what else the shop has going on, hence why *** and *** were the only two handling the matterWhen we informed *** that we did indeed have an issue getting in the flowers she requested, we contacted her to figure out what she wanted, as she was the brideWe also explored other options to make sure there was no other way of getting what she requestedAt the first consultation, *** offered to get the hops since her husband worked at a beer brewery because that is not usually something we get as florists for a wedding flower, but we told her nonetheless we would tryWhen she never gave us the hops and we could not get fresh hops, unless she wanted to pay the extra $500, we special ordered silk hops per her approvalThe extra $was a price quoted to us from a flower market that had garland with hops included in the garlandIf *** would have chosen this route we offered to her, it would have cost our shop $as we would have had to pay our designer to pick through the garland and remove the hops and then put them in the bouquetWe only quoted her for $in order to help with some of the costs because we really do try to make all requests happenAt this time, she also informed us that she was concerned with keeping the price the same, her own bouquet, and the colors, otherwise she was not too concernedWe did our best to ensure those three things were met to ***’s standardAll substitutions at this time were approved by ***Since our main focus was on the price, her bride bouquet, and the color she picked, the rest she seemed relaxed on which is why we are shocked to see she was unhappy with almost everything else, and we also did not hear from anyone about the wedding until a week later, after the wedding flowers were accepted and usedIf it would have been brought to our attention as soon as she was unhappy, we would have had a designer there immediately to fix whatever she wantedShe had our number and it was possible for us to come to venue and help out to make sure she was happySometimes this happens, no fault of ours or the customer, and we always fix our mistakes so that our customers are happyFor example, we could have added more to the flower girl’s bouquet in five minutes, or added wrist bands to the corsages in even less time than that, but we had no ideaWhen a product is specially made and then accepted, it is hard to imagine that we would then have to fully refund herAs a small business, almost $is not something we can just hand back over, and we would have rather fixed the problems and taken that cost rather than just refunding the entire weddingWhen price is stressed so much, and then after the fact the customer is so unhappy, it makes us wonder what the motivation isIf the flowers are the actual problem, we usually hear about it the day of, whether it be a wedding, birthday, every day bouquet, or whatever it may beWe never want our customers unsatisfied, but we have to know to fix the problem in a way that is suitable for both partiesAs far as a resolution, we want to make this as right as possibleAlthough we are satisfied with our work and the way our team handled things, we realize that problems will still ariseWe would be willing to refund her 10% of the cost of the weddingAt this time, we feel this is fair, but want to do whatever possible to keep out record with you all clear of any negative comments for future customersPlease let us know of any other steps that we need to take in order to get this resolvedThank you for your time and understanding and we look forward to hearing back from you all

Complaint: ***
I am rejecting this response because:On Wednesday, December 6, I stopped by the store and was told by *** that the flowers were not ordered on time because the concentration had been on the holiday open house, and that is why we were having an issue *** also advised that I should not have to pay extra for the hops, as they were agreed upon in the initial consultation She specifically recalled *** stating that she would have her husband order the hops and it is specified on the receipt that they were available through Etsy (as Lauren had advised during the consultation) I’m not sure where *** or *** came up with the story of my husband working at a brewery? He does nothing of the sort, he works in education Per the written receipt (which I was provided a copy of at the tim of the consultation) there was no mention of Dahlias being ours of season at the time of the wedding For the bridal bouquet & bridesmaids bouquets, and officiants coursage- burgundy dahlias were listed specifically in the detailsI was told on December that a similar replacement had been ordered and overnighted (which is why I seemed calm as mentioned in their response to my complaint) however none of these flowers were present in any of the above mentioned bouquets The flower girls bouquet discussed was to be a small version of my bouquet The wrist coursages could not be worn by our mothers, as they were too top heavy and falling apart due to the amount of florists tape that was used on them I told *** at the time of my visit that we were uphappy, to which she responded that she didn’t blame me and if it were her wedding she would expect to be refunded for some items When I called to the shop, after identifying myself, she said, “we were expecting your call”, therefore I’m not sure why Coleman’s is now acting surprised by the complaintAll of the above items total $per the receipt that I was provided by Coleman’s at the time of the consultation, which is what I believe we should be compensated for as they were not the products that we orderedI believe this is being generous, as we are not asking to be compensated for the artificial Hop boutonnières or the extra coursages that did not match the others as they were supposed to Per our phone conversation when they were ordered
Sincerely,
*** ***