I would give zero stars, but that's not an option.
I ordered what I thought was a large bouquet for a friend on a significant birthday and I knew it meant a lot to her. I actually wanted another flower shop but they couldn't deliver the same day. I asked for other florists in the area and she gave me this one. I didn't look on Yelp first or would have seen that this one has bad reviews.
I called this florist shop and they promised delivery for that same evening. They did not end up sending the flowers until the next day at about 1 or 2 pm. It's not that that's horrible, but they had promised that they would deliver it the same day - that was the reason that I chose them instead of another shop.
In addition, the woman I spoke with was utterly rude to me - she was annoyed when I paused for a tiny second to figure out what to say on the card for my friend's flowers. And she made other remarks ('do you want these flowers or not? I'm busy'). I later told my friend in Bloomington how rude the woman from the shop was and she told me that, funny enough, she had been thinking the same thing, but hadn't wanted to say anything - that the flower shop was rude to my friend, the recipient! My friend relayed the conversation in hilarious detail about how the woman basically yelled at her for nothing.
I might have let all of this go, but the kicker is that I was mortified when my friend sent me a photo (text) of her flowers, thanking me. They looked tiny. I had spent $90 on them. I actually told her that I was embarrassed and thought they'd be bigger - it was a bit awkward, but she is a close friend and this birthday meant something to her and the flowers were just really small.
I decided to call the shop to ask about it. The man who answered was so immediately arrogant, rude and blaming that I politely asked for the owner. He in turn said that he was the owner - one of them.
Had he even just said nicely that he understood my disappoint, but that this was the nature of the business of flowers, I would have accepted that and walked away and never written this review. But he didn't.
Instead, he asked to see the photo, and then railed on me. He was outraged and stated that he himself had put the flowers together. He became offensive in his attitude and language. I was stunned.
By then, I had read the Yelp negative reviews, but did not mention them. But when the owner said that his shop never had problems with customers and that my complaint was the first he had heard, I relayed that there were Yelp reviews that were consistent with my assessments.
He responded that there were only a few Yelp reviews that said that they were from three years ago and that everything was 'taken care of' from that period of time.
Since I hadn't read the dates of the Yelp reviews or looked at them carefully, I assumed he was telling the truth and said ok and got off the phone. Even after I wished him well - but he replied in a snotty manner, said something and basically hung up on me. Later, I looked at the reviews from Yelp and elsewhere and they were not from 3 years ago! They were current and bad reviews. I did see a couple of good reviews and frankly question their origin.
I was surprised that a service provider would act so rudely. The only thing I can think is that since I am out of state, he assumed my business was not important anyway? And that I would be too embarrassed and ashamed to relay the information to my friend?
Here at least, and I assume elsewhere in Bloomington, service providers value their customers and reputation and want to know their image and foster a good relationship. This did not seem to be a priority in this shop.
Anyway, following our awful experience, my friend from Bloomington asked around and said that friends/family said this shop has a horrible and unprofessional reputation.
Do yourself a favor. Do not use this flower shop. I can't suggest another one to use because I don't know Bloomington, but at the very least call a few to see if they are nice/professional and read reviews. And if you see a positive review, double check that you really think it came from a valid customer and not by the shop itself.
I can't tell you how disappointed and angry I was that I wasted $90 and didn't give my friend the bouquet that I had hoped for on a day that was special to her. I would never recommend this shop again. I wish I had read the reviews and spared myself this bad experience and waste of money. read more