We get it, we do understand, “we” being florist’s that is. We know many consumers are duped into thinking that they will get a good quality experience with fresh flowers when they order “direct from the fields” as claimed by Proflowers.com and other direct shippers of perishable product.
But, when you ordered from Proflowers.com did you really intend to send your emotions in a box?
Yes, ladies and gentlemen this unsuspecting customer ordered from Proflowers.com for a funeral. And yes, this is an actual picture taken in a Philadelphia PA, funeral parlor recently. I do not doubt for one minute, that the sender intended to send a beautiful bouquet. Proflowers.com pictures many nice looking designs on their site, but they come, as shown above in a box.
And before you think this is an isolated case, think again. This type of thing happens time and time again, day in and day out all across North America. Unsuspecting consumers trust a beautiful picture to convey their emotions, but receive something much different.
We can’t blame the funeral directors either. They are not floral designers, what would you expect them to do? They either have to leave the box out back in the garage or flower room, or simply set it in the parlor so that the family knows it’s there. Usually they leave them out back, and give them to the family when they are leaving to go home. But, in some cases as you can see above, they place them in the viewing room for all to see. I certainly would not want the grieving family to know I did not care enough to find a local real florist, and sent flowers in a box.
When you need to send flowers either in town or out of town, give us a call, or visit the florist directory on our site and select one of our recommended real florists. Flowers in a box just don’t cut it…ever.
{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
Great writeup! Is it OK if I use it on my website? I’m a real florist, too. This article tells it all and should be required reading. Thanks!
Of course Dan. All to often we’re hearing of this happening at funeral homes across the country when people order from ProFlowers.com and any of the other “direct from the fields”, flowers in a box vendors. The consumer is duped into thinking they are saving money, when in reality they are getting a box of flowers that sits in the flower room of the funeral home or the freight room of a hospital.
I’ll send you the original image in an email.
Spread the word.
You’re doing a wonderful job educating the customer about the floral industry and thank you so much for adding Fleurty to your directory!
Much Luv from CA!
Sachi
Come on! - Surely it’s common sense for the funeral directors to take the flowers out of the box? We know that a huge amount of flowers being sent are by boxed flower delivery and this article just seems to be trying to support “real” florists who deliver by hand
Perhaps people are fed up with paying money to “real florists” and there relay networks only to see a portion of the money spent going on the bouquet?
Its the consumer that has shaped the future landscape of online florists by demanding the convenience to order online.
Wake up and smell the coffee - Much the same way as Yellow Pages directory is being ditched for the online equivelant, you simply cannot stop the evolution of online consumers.
Martin, thank you for visiting and your comments.
Sure, I would agree that it is “common sense” for the funeral director to take the flowers out of the box, but alas, what to do with them then? They are not designed inside the box, they are simply strapped in in bunches. Roses are shipped with the thorns on in a growers bunch the same way a florist receives them, often with no foliage or vase.
I doubt too many funeral homes have a supply of vases sitting on a shelf just waiting for a box of flowers to arrive. Every funeral director I have spoken to about this, hates it, often stating “I am not a floral designer” and they do not want some unprofessional design in their viewing rooms. More often than not, they give the family the flowers in the box, and the sender never knows, because they get a “thank you for the flowers” card that never states “how” the flowers arrived.
I agree with you completely about the siphoning off of funds by “floral networks” hence my mantra of contacting a real local florist directly, and that’s the very reason I offer links to other florists both here and on our ecommerce web site. I want every customer to get their full values worth. It’s the likes of FTD that often add on a “service fee” of upward of $14.95 that they keep along with 30% of the purchase price that is fouling up the works for consumers and florists alike.
Not sure about the “convenience factor” your talking about. Most local florists have online presences, but I would agree the internet is changing the landscape. One point, I do not consider Proflowers a “florist”, rather a broker or middleman. I would never want to stop the evolution of online consumers, every day our web business grows and I’m very thankful for that. The thing that is changing more than anything, is long distance customers are going around the likes of FTD and Teleflora and ordering directly with the delivering local florist. That is a very good thing. The florist gets paid 100% and the consumer gets 100%, it’s a win/win.
Next time you have a chance, ask your local funeral directors for their thoughts on “boxed flowers” and whether or not they put them in water, or send them home in the box… I wonder if they take the thorns off myself.
wow, Martin, common sense? Im sure the funeral directors have all the time in the world to arrange boxed flowers in between everything else they have to do! Gimme a break!
Great blog BOSS, keep up the good work dude!
Adam
>Come on! - Surely it’s common sense for the funeral directors to take the flowers out of the box? <
Dear Martin: You have got to be absolutely freekin kidding….right? You really think it is the the ‘funeral employees’ job to remove potentially messed up boxed flowers from a mailed item and be able to repair them to a ‘professionally designed appearance’ for a death visitation? Funeral Directors everywhere are livid and very upset at this occuring. And the grieving Families are in a state of shock when they see the less than acceptable designed flowers at THEIR loved ones wake. Wow! ..are you one confused child. All to save just a few dollars AND the Funeral Director has to pay for the disposal of the packaging. …oh my goodness.
Wow, that is something. Those drop-ship companies probably get a lot of one-time customers but not much repeat business. As a florist myself, I’m all for online ordering. People can easily order directly from an me or any actual florist in an an actual shop.
Martin, your quote: “Perhaps people are fed up with paying money to “real florists” and there relay networks only to see a portion of the money spent going on the bouquet?” does not apply to real florists, but online order gatherers and the big wire services who collect fees from their members while competing against them for customers.
If anyone is unclear on the difference, go to this website: http://www.floristdetective.com
Believe me
As the wife of a funeral director I have seen my fair share of boxed flowers arriving at the funeral home.
Funeral directors aren’t floral designers. They have no design tools and no design skills and many times these items show up with no vase to even place them in.
I do have some experience in floral design and even I am amazed when the boxes show up. We once unpacked boxed flowers and attempted to display them at the funeral home. When we opened the box we found 10 stems of iris (no greens, no filler flowers) strapped into the box with shipping straps (that we had to run around and find wire cutters to even get them out,) a short vase, and a pack of “flower food”. We put water in the vase, I cut the stems (which is more than any funeral director would have done), and added the “flower food”. It was a sad sight. I was hoping that the sender would see it and sadly, she did. She wanted the number of the florist who delivered the flowers and when we pulled her into the office to explain how they were delivered she was mad at us (or embarrassed with herself) for taking the flowers out of the box. Needless to say, we never did that again.
When we hand over the box of flowers to the family they often reply with the same question that we had when the flowers arrived, “What are we supposed to do with that?”
Martin,
You sound like you work for the boxed flower company. I bet you do!
I for one am very happy to be informed of something like this, how else would we ever know crazy things like this are going on. I would hate to have sent flowers thinking I was doing something nice for a grieving family only to later find out I had stuck them with a box they had to drag home. The flowers in that box are probably dead ugh. The horror!
I cannot speak to all comments above but I don’t really know why Florists are going after ProFlowers when “FTD” and “1-800″ offer Flowers in a box (which are actually from a wholesaler or a distributor) rather than the actual growers (which ProFlowers does actually come from).
It is FTD and 800 that charge membership fees to fulfilling florists just to be part of their “network” and yet then they want customers to actually by the “direct” product which isn’t even direct. Therefore, they are making money on both ends and neither of those dollars are acutally put into the bouquet.
Thank God the culture of boxed flowers has not arrived in India (and I hope it does’nt). We still transmit orders to the local florist in other cities.
Daman Anand