Saturday night, Julianna and Mark attended a Father-Daughter Girl Scout dance. Very! Exciting! stuff. She's been looking forward to it for weeks, she's been so excited I honestly thought she was going to burst. One of the things we did to make the dance special was order her a corsage. The dance has a black and white ball theme and she was going to wear a black dress. I told both of those things to the person I ordered the corsage from. I also told her Julianna was torn between two outfits and one had hot pink in it. I explained I wanted a very small wrist corsage, mostly white, with a hot pink ribbon.
This is what I picked up:
I was not.
This is not a white corsage with a hot pink ribbon. Not even close. They did get the small right, it truly is a perfect size for an 8 year old, but I am disappointed. I wanted things to be perfect for my little girl's night, and while I do have enough perspective to realize for her it was, I still believe I deserved to have what I had ordered. If they weren't able to do it for some reason, they should have called and talked with me, not just done whatever they wanted. That is a mostly purple corsage with a little bit of pink.
When I picked up the corsage, I was obviously disappointed. The owner of the business agreed it wasn't a white corsage and told me next time I order something to see her and she'd give me a good discount. Not the point. I wanted this right.
It was not cheap, $25.00 for a little girl's corsage is insane in my opinion, but I'm often shocked by what things cost so I went with it. But I do think I should have gotten what I ordered.
What do you think? Would it bother you or slide right off your back? To be fair, the owner did offer to give me two corsages, this one and another one someone ordered "a few days ago" and never picked up. She even stood there and pulled off all the dead flowers as we talked before she offered up what was left of it. Um, no thank you?
As usual, I think I'm a little upset at myself. Years ago at Jason & Lori's wedding I called to arrange for the petals for Julianna to strew as their flower girl. The day of the wedding what was there was not at all what I had ordered. I let that go. I thought that perhaps Lori or her mom had changed things and did not want to make an issue of it. Honestly though I really always thought the florist had just taken it upon themselves to change the order. That's exactly what I'm thinking happened with this.
Would you go back? Is it fair to cross this florist off my list? Unfortunately it's the only independent florist in our community and I do try to support independents when I can. At the same time, I really do want to get what I pay for. Was it fair to be upset about this one?
6 comments:
Hmmm. Well, if I get upset at a business the only way I continue to do business with them is if they give it a really sincere effort to make amends. If you feel the florist really did try to get your business back (with the discount on future purchase and offer of another arrangement) then use them again. But if you feel she brushed you off then I wouldn't.
I don't mind if mistakes are made if people really are apologetic about it. Honest mistake. But if I feel like they don't care then they can lump it. Know what I mean?
I'd be PEEVED! Particularly because my mom is a floral manager at our local Safeway grocery store and she is AMAZING! She does high high volume and is consistently one of the top floral departments in Northern California.
Why? Because of her attention to detail... She knows that the customer is ALWAYS right. And when customized orders come in ... which are VERY frequent ... she makes sure they're done right.
At her store, if something is not done to order, the customer can return it for a FULL refund ...
For $25 I would expect that the order be exactly as you wanted ... or your money back!
In my humble opinion of course...
As a florist, I am pissed. It gives out whole industry a bad name. While our shop isn't perfect, we would change the order for you on the spot (unless you were in a huge hurry and couldn't wait). I would refund your money and give you a new corsage. White is tricky with flowers. Often the white ones look like crap and the cream coloured are a better choice, but the purple waxflower and lavender ribbon? No way. I would have sprayed babies breath hot pink if worse came to worse.
Oh and BTW, to offer an OLD corsage is disgusting.
I would have walked out then and never looked back
When you picked up the coursage and showed disappointment, the florist should have worked with you at that time. She should have given you a discount and apoligized. Her business depends on people like you. It was a little silly to promise a discount for the future. It's kind of like saying, "I know you'll be back so we will take care of it then" Duh. How often do you use a florist? Could be a long wait for that discount.
I would've let it go for the evening (like you said, J didn't know what you ordered and was happy to have one at all), and if you don't want to stop going there, I would totally EMPHASIZE next time you order from her that it was all wrong this time and that you are giving her another chance because you want to support her, but she needs to get it right or you'll be forced to go elsewhere.
I don't blame you for being upset because it is obviously not something you ordered. I think instead of offering you a discount on a future order (because when will be the next time you're going to need to order flowers?) she should have discounted that one.
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