Two years in a row I used ProFlowers.com to deliver Valentines day roses. I used them based on the suggestion of a friend who had purchased flowers through them and not had any problems. The first year, my wife did not receive her flowers because delivery was so late. The flowers themselves were poor quality, small, and on deaths door. I received a good amount of hazing from her and her co-workers for this debacle.
My friend assured me that his flowers were fine, and that it must of been a fluke. So again the next year I order flowers from ProFlowers and this time they were delivered within the time window requested, but once again are of poor quality and near dead.
At this point I'm really pissed, and I call the company to complain about them ruining two Valentines in a row for me. Their customer service was poor. TAfter a good bit of discussion, they offered to deliver another set of roses, but at this point I'd had quite enough of their dead roses and I wanted a refund. They said the flowers had been delivered as contracted so no refund was forthcoming.
I filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau and we went around and around with letters and responses from ProFlowers without any resolution. After the third letter I believe it was, the BBB considered the issue resolved since we could not come to a conclusion and the company had replied to me. They closed out the complaint and considered it "satisfied".
The BBB in San Diego lists a number of complaints against this company, but lists none of the details of any of the compaints (mine included). They also fail to rate the company instead offering what reads like an excuse for the number reported (33 in past 36 months). Also they only show complaints back for 36 months, so I have no idea what their history was before then. Of the 3 quality complaints, I can only assume mine is one of the three, and all 3 are listed as resolved. Mine was certainly not resolved to my satisfaction. From the BBB site:
"Customer Experience
"When evaluating complaint information, please consider the company's size and volume of business. The number of complaints filed against the company may not be as important as the type of complaints and how the company handled them."
Of course you don't know how the company handled them because the BBB doesn't make the complaints visible. Also, why didn't the BBB state whether this company was satisfactory or not? It sounds from the above like they are apologizing for the number of reports.
I suggest consumers think twice before using this organization to purchase flowers. Maybe you'll get lucky and you will get quality flowers, but then again maybe you won't. I would also caution you about taking the feedback on the BBB as gospel. Consumers would be well served to cross check information against other sites such as this one
Note ProFlowers does not appear to be a BBB member, and I don't know if they advertise with BBB or not.
0 comments