I purchased a funeral arrangement for my dear father. I paid $187.25 to be exact. I wanted a heart shaped flower with the colors red, white and blue because my dad was in the military. I took the florist a picture of an arrangement that they had done in the past. They actually criticized the picture and said they couldn't believe THEIR florist did such crappy work. They guaranteed me that they would do MUCH better this time and that I would be very pleased.
When I arrived at the funeral home for the visitation, I immediately noticed the "white" flowers were actually yellow....and that's not the worst part...there were 14 DEAD flowers around the edges of the heart. And the ribbon wasn't even covering the styrofoam base of the flower. This was the ONLY cut flower my father got and this flower sat right NEXT to his casket (very noticable for all to see). I called in the funeral director for him to "verify" that the flowers were indeed dead. It was too late to contact the florist as they had already closed.
The next morning I called the florist and they didn't believe what I was telling them. They said they would have to send someone to "check it out" and they would get back with me. They called back and apologized and said that they had "replaced" the dead flowers. I told them while I appreciated the replacement flowers, it was a little too late to be "fixing" the problem at this point because the visitation was over. The flower was getting ready to be laid to rest on my father's grave. They said they would have came that night had we got in touch with them (there was no way to contact them after hours)! I asked how I could be compensated and they said that I had been UNDERcharged to begin with (their employee supposedly charged me incorrectly)...which is NOT my fault. They said since I was already undercharged, then that was all they could do.
After the burial of my father, I was still dissatisfied with the service I got from this florist. I went the next business day to talk to the manager. She was not there so I left a message. The next day she called back saying that she talked to the owner, and that since there were ONLY 14 DEAD flowers (which they replaced with fresh ones the NEXT day), they thought they went above & beyond their call of duty and that no other compensation would be made. And she pointed out AGAIN that I was "under" charged to begin with.
I am appalled and upset by the unprofessionalism and non-compassion of this business, especially during a time of grief for our family. My father served in our military (WWII) and he served our town for 53 years, providing excellent customer service and compassion during those years, even providing food & shelter for the homeless. I just wanted my dad to have a memorial funeral after all he'd done for our country and his town.
I wil NEVER do business with Flower Basket again. I learned from my father that sometimes you have to eat your mistakes...and that customers are always right (regardless if they are or not)..that's the key to providing excellent customer service. And his motto worked for his business because he left a legacy in our town in which we will never forget! read more
