Sorry, I don't have anything better to say about a local business, but Flowers on 14th messed up royally, and I don't think they can be relied on to deliver something important. I will not use them again.
I called a week ago to order flowers for delivery to the local cemetery for placement yesterday in front of a gravestone for a one-year anniversary and remembrance. I explained over the phone that the stone was 2 feet wide and that I wanted an arrangement that would run the length of the stone and be about 10 to 12" high. I discussed the choice of flowers. The clerk interjected that they have a 2' wide container that they use for just this purpose. He described how the flowers would be arranged in the container and run the length of the stone, etc. We agreed on a $150 budget, including delivery and tax. Delivery was set for late morning. I went to the cemetery at 1 p.m., ahead of the arrival of the guests at 3:30. The arrangement that was delivered was a fresh-cut flower arrangement in a 12" tall clear glass vase. I called to report the mistake. The person on the phone was polite and calm, acknowledged the mistake, and said they were processing a refund immediately.
I acknowledged the refund but asked how she could fix it in time for today's gathering. With two and a half hours to spare, can they not arrange delivery of what I ordered so I can use it at the grave? After a brief hold, the clerk said she did not have a driver to deliver the flowers and that a refund was all she could do.
Here's why this store needs to be called out: For something as solemn and important as a cemetery gathering, there's no room for error or a do-over. I was 1000% clear about the purpose of the order and specific about what I wanted, right down to the gravestone's width. The clerk interjected the dimensions of the container they would use for the arrangement. That gave me great confidence that everything would be right. Instead, the clerk did not convey the most important details from my phone order, apart from the choice of flowers. Inexplicable mistake. Unacceptable. Awful. Lousy.
What more could have been done? I'm not sure. Like I said, there is no room for error when it comes to a dated and timed ceremony. Could they have been creative about how to get an arrangement to me when there were two hours to work with, and the cemetery was 1 mile away, like by Uber, or TaskRabbit, or something?
Barring that, could the clerk have offered to deliver an arrangement to my home as an apology and to try to earn my trust as a customer? That would have been nice and would have reflected a business that understood the impact of an error like this. Yes, I got a refund. The response about the money was clean and clear. But it was utterly unsympathetic to my experience and to the effect on other mourners on such a solemn occasion. It also doesn't explain what the heck caused this error in the first place. I couldn't have been more specific. The clerk could have been more affirming about their ability to do the job.
This kind of mistake and service drives away customers and will eventually kill a business. I wish the best for this local store that has been around for a while, but this was a big black eye for them and a death knell for my interest in patronizing them again for anything important to me. read more