06/05/2021
Worth re-posting... Something I published to Facebook on July 12th, 2018:
WARNING! THE DARK SIDE OF THE FLOWER BUSINESS...
So, most of you have ordered flowers for someone. Many of you have ordered flowers for someone in another town or in another state, and many through the familiar "wire services", like FTD, or Teleflora.
But few of you probably know the term, "order gatherers", but you should! Watch out for order gatherers! They are the scam artists of the floral business.
Order gatherers advertise as if they were a retail floral business or as if they were a reputable "wire service". But they are not florists at all. Basically, order gatherers operate websites and call centers. The websites entice people who think they are placing a regular floral order. The call centers are basically like telemarketers, who begin calling number after number looking for a real florist who can fill these orders.
They "gather orders from the internet.... not attached to a physical, bricks-and-mortar flower shop or warehouse; instead their businesses are built on websites visible... through online search listing."
They generally are mercenary, unethical "flower brokers", not florists. On their best behavior, most of their practices are unethical or dishonest. Some of their activities are fraudulent or illegal. And at their worst, they are defrauding people who are wanting simply to send beautiful flowers to someone they care about, while defrauding them of products and services, fraudulently representing themselves and the products and services they claim to offer, breaking state and federal law, tricking people mostly just to gain access to their credit cards, and offering relatively little, or nothing, in return.
To better explain, here is a fairly typical scenario:
Somewhere in Ohio, Charlotte is a young mom, a business woman, and is a very busy person with activities involving her kids, their schools, her community, and her friends.
One particularly hectic week, on a Friday afternoon, Charlotte has the sudden horrible realization that her great grandmother's 80th birthday is tomorrow. She hasn't mailed a card or arranged for a birthday present. So she goes online and looks for a florist in the small town where her MiMi lives. She sees several advertisements at the first of all the listings. She skips past these in search of an actual florist.
She sees a listing for Mom & Pop's Flower Shop,and clicks on the link. On her computer screen, she sees a slick website, with colorful photos and selection menus for building her order. She sees options for various upgrades. MiMi is worth it all. She customizes her flower order, fills out form fields with a special message for her great grandmother on her 80th birthday.
She places her order and adds the necessary details, including her own credit card information. Since she really wants her flowers to arrive on MiMi's special day, she selects to pay an extra $15 fee for guaranteed delivery. But MiMi's birthday is tomorrow, and a box opens up announcing that there will be an additional $10 added -- a rush fee, for guaranteed next-day delivery.
On a computer in an office in Ohio, nearly an hour after she remembered MiMi's birthday, Charlotte finalizes this very important online purchase: $95 for MiMi's very nice floral arrangement, $40 for a teddy bear, $20 for a Happy Birthday balloon, a $10 rush fee plus $15 for guaranteed delivery, plus tax. Her total comes to just under $200. That's no problem, MiMi is turning 80!
On a computer at "Mom & Pop's Flower Shop" (a call center in Thailand), Charlotte's very important order is represented as a very long number in blue, on a single line at the very end a scroll of thousands of other lines just like it, each one an order very special to the person sending it, and the person meant to receive it.
Seven hours later, a young Thai man with a very heavy accent and a barely intelligible grasp of communication in the English language, concludes a call with a flower shop in California. It's the first floral order he has processed on his shift at the call center. He presses a button on his Sisco phone. The California florist call drops, and the next order comes up.
Ten more hours pass. And, right before the young man in Thailand ends his shift, Charlotte's order pops open on his screen.
He sees MiMi's zip code, and pulls up results for florists in that zip code. He starts calling phone numbers. "Who am I speaking?" "Okay, you fill order zip code 06021?" "Yes? Okay. You accept payment Dove Network?" "No. Okay. You accept Visa?" "Okay. You have yellow rose?" "Okay, you have pink carnation?" "Okay, you have stuff animal?"
The florist answers no, and the caller in Thailand ends the call, and moves on.
After several more phone calls with negative results, the call center operator calls yet another listing for an area florist. He again repeats his previous spiel, and now continues, "Okay, you have birthday balloon?" "Okay, you deliver order yellow rose, pink carnation, with animal, balloon, for $70?" "Okay. Send order to..."
A florist near MiMi's Connecticut home has accepted the order. Here, it is mid afternoon. MiMi is now 80 years old, and has had a long and tiring day, with many birthday wishes from family and friends. She wonders if Charlotte will be calling. Charlotte has waited to call, unsure whether MiMi had received her birthday surprise. Later, she does call, and is shocked and confused and angry, because her great grandmother STILL has no flowers. She spoils the surprise, because she wants MiMi to know she should be receiving them.
The Connecticut flower shop is building flower arrangements, but it will be a few more hours before MiMi's is ready for delivery. The entire order, including delivery, must be filled for the $70 quoted by the "Mom & Pop's" call center. If it weren't for Charlotte's personal message to MiMi, the florist would not have known the occasion was a birthday. They will be filling an arrangement to include three roses and six carnations for only $30. (They are losing money on the arrangement at this point, but they chalk it down to customer service -- for MiMi and for whoever placed her order.) $15 buys a plush dog resembling Snoopy, and $10 for a mylar balloon. The remaining $15 will pay for the delivery.
MiMi's order goes out on the final delivery run for the day. She has already gotten ready for bed, but suspends her evening to await the flowers from her granddaughter. It's nearly dark when the delivery driver's headlights shine on the house. MiMi is thrilled with the small, but beautiful bouquet. MiMi doesn't like dogs, but the one she now holds is cute, and it's from Charlotte, so it's wonderful. And she giggles about the balloon. At the end of an exhausting day, she is very happy with the delivery she has received. She calls Charlotte to say thank you.
Charlotte is really angry that MiMi didn't receive her order until the very end of the day, but she's delighted with MiMi's excitement. But that passes quickly: "They sent a dog?? I can't believe that, you hate dogs after that one attacked you. They were supposed to send a bear!"
MiMi says, "Well that's fine. I love it. And the flowers are beautiful. I love yellow roses, and the arrangement has three of those, and some pink carnations..."
"All you got was three roses???" Charlotte tries to talk her through photographing the arrangement and sending it to her, but it's frustrating for MiMi.
The elderly woman assures her that it's fine,that it's wonderful even. But as they conclude the call, Charlotte feels cheated. Because she was.
The next day she tries to get answers. She tries to get some sort of refund. She gets nothing except more angry. She even calls the actual florist who delivered the order, angry and demanding they make it right. They explain that, given the amount paid for the order, they've done the best they could.
Order gatherers are nothing like local florists. In fact, they can only fill orders by calling actual florists.
Floral Vistas has received countless calls for orders, which have turned out to be from order gatherers. We have stopped accepting from these, due to the problems they cause. We continue gladly to accept orders from legitimate wire services, from real florists who call us, and from you, of course. But we have tried to accommodate all callers, whenever possible, in the interest of filling deliveries for our Canyon Lake neighbors.
Please help us to spread the word. When it comes to placing your order, do it by phone. Does it sound like you've reached a call center? If you're suspicious that you might have reached an order gatherer, ask for their sales-tax i.d. number. Call center employees aren't likely to have this information. Ask their physical address. If their answers raise any flags, you probably reached an order gatherer.
In Texas, any company who advertises as a local florist, but isn't, is breaking the law and should be reported.
We are local to Canyon Lake and Comal County. We have a real "brick and mortar" shop here. We are an actual floral business. We are Floral Vistas. We appreciate you, and we're here to meet your needs for floral design, fresh cut arrangements, and local delivery to the greater Canyon Lake and greater Comal County areas.
Reach us at (830) 964-3989
Thank you for your patronage!
Floral Vistas Garden Boutique and Gallery
1582 FM2673 (Sattler)
Canyon Lake, Texas 78133
-- with Barry A. Conner and Rachelann Conner
