Valentine’s Day Blunder: 1-800-Flowers Screws Up Customer Deliveries

Valentine’s Day is typically a pleasant day for most, with people expressing their love by sending various gifts to friends and significant others. However, this past Valentine’s Day became a nightmare for many customers of 1-800-Flowers, as the retailer failed to deliver floral arrangements to many customers in a timely fashion, or in some cases not at all.

A horde of disappointed customers flocked to social media after loved ones had not received their flowers and gifts, flooding 1-800-Flowers with complaints on both Facebook and Twitter. Many customers did not receive their orders when requested, even after paying an additional charge to have them delivered on Valentine’s Day. In addition, when customers tried calling the company’s customer service phone number, they were met with automated messages and disconnections. 1-800-Flowers explained in a Facebook post, “due to the weather issues we experienced, wait times are longer than we would like.”

The floral retailer was clearly not feeling the love over the weekend, with a torrent of angry messages left on various social media. Christopher Brescia, who had purchased a floral arrangement for his mother to be delivered on Valentine’s Day, took to Twitter when his delivery date was changed to two days later:

“I wanted her to have her flowers on the 14th,” Brescia said. “They failed me and they failed my mom. I am disappointed in the brand. I am not going to use them ever again.”

Many customers echoed these sentiments. Vy Nguyen from South Carolina also used social media to describe her feelings on the subject:

“It’s been a very frustrating experience,” Nguyen explained. “We tried to do something nice for my Mom and she ended up with no flowers on Valentine’s Day and she was very upset as she should be.”

Here is an official statement from 1-800-Flowers, issued via Facebook:

To our Valued Customers: At 1800Flowers, we are fully committed to our 100% Smile Guarantee. Our customer service center is open 24×7 and our caring team is working hard to resolve every concern, and won’t stop until we do. We appreciate your patience and your trust in us to deliver your smile. Due to the weather issues we experienced, wait times are longer than we would like. If you contact us to check on your order or have a question, we promise to respond as soon as possible. Thank you.

And this condensed version from Twitter:

We are committed to our 100% Smile Guarantee. We appreciate your patience as our caring team is working hard to resolve every concern.

— 1-800-FLOWERS.COM (@1800flowers) February 15, 2014

It should be noted that weather conditions have been poor during this winter season, which obviously had an impact on deliveries. Yanique Woodall, a spokeswoman for 1-800-Flowers, indicated that many customers did receive their orders on time despite the inclement weather. She also suggested that people typically take to social media in these modern times as a means to vent frustrations, noting that 1-800-Flowers is a “transparent company.” The company appears to be offering various forms of refunds and discount vouchers to qualifying customers.

The 1-800-Flowers website indicates the company cannot guarantee delivery on major floral holidays such as Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day due to the high volume of orders received, but this disclaimer may not provide much comfort or many smiles to customers affected by the delays.