Their Flower Power is no match for my Glower Power!

Normally I'm not one to complain too much about things. In fact, I'm a pretty easy going guy. But this is one time where I can't just let it go. So here's the story...



Just before Valentines Day, Groupon (an online coupon company) had a deal with the online florist FTD. Being a reasonably romantic-type person, I had planned to send flowers to my girlfriend anyway, but this deal allowed me to buy something more expensive than I otherwise could have. I've ordered from FTD a few times before as they're quite large and that makes sending flowers to the other side of North America a little easier.



So the day before Valentines Day I get notification from UPS that they will be delivering my arrangement on the 14th to my girlfriend's apartment. I figured it was all set. On the afternoon of the 14th, I checked the status of the delivery and found that the flowers had been delivered. About 20 minutes later, I get a phone call from my girlfriend. Her neighbour had called her and said that someone had stolen the flowers. They left the box and vase but the flowers themselves were gone.



A bit of an aside here: how low has society sunk that someone would even think of stealing flowers like that?!



Anyway, I call up FTD. After an hour on hold with some of the worst hold music I've ever heard, I finally get connected to someone. She immediately apologized and promised me that another arrangement would be sent out the next day (Tuesday Feb 15). I agreed that this would be acceptable but only if I changed the delivery address to where my girlfriend works. I didn't want the flowers left outside again. I don't fault FTD for the flowers being stolen, but I do think that UPS needed to handle the delivery better. The doorstep of the building my girlfriend lives in is very exposed. There is absolutely no place to leave something without it being clearly visible to anyone within a block of her front door.



That next morning (Feb 15), I began to get a bit nervous that I hadn't received any delivery notification from FTD or UPS. At around 3 pm (MST), I got a call from FTD. My arrangement hadn't shipped because they were out of stock. Grudgingly, I agreed to allow them to send something similar and have it delivered on Thursday (Feb 17).



Last night (Feb 15), I received notice from UPS that they would be delivering the arrangement today (Feb 16). I was quite happy that they would arrive a day earlier than expected. However, once they arrived my girlfriend pointed out that a few of the flowers were browning and already starting to die.



To me this is absolutely unacceptable. This whole fiasco essentially ruined Valentines Day. On top of that, not only were they not able to send what I actually ordered, but it arrived half dead.



This story is not over yet. Expect updates later today as I attempt to get this resolved...


3:20 pm - Update
I received a call from FTD telling me that a new arrangement (the original one I ordered) will be sent out and should arrive on Friday (Feb 18). In addition they will be refunding my money. Unfortunate that it had to come down to this but (assuming it all goes as they say) it's about the best resolution possible at this point...