Buyer’s Beware! by TJ’s Floral & Gifts
Buyer’s Beware!
Let’s chat a little about something a lot of people don’t know
about in the floral industry. Back in the day, floral shops we’re
so happy when a company called, FTD opened. FTD was
originally designed for flower shops to send each other orders
without having to call each other. This was great! Soon after,
Teleflora followed suit, and then more of these companies did
the same. However, in today’s age, more and more of these
services have opened shop, but have become a florists’
nightmare. Today, these shops have changed the way they do
business. We now call them “order gatherers.”
At first, they seem promising. Websites are user-friendly,
prices are too good to be true, photos are always of beautiful
bouquets. But here’s what you don’t see…
THEY AREN’T REAL FLORIST! When you google flower shops in
Walker, MN, you’ll come up with a few shops. And yes, one of them being Tj’s Floral & Gifts. But when you start scrolling…you’ll see a few more. However, these other shops you are seeing are these “order gathers.” They are companies pretending to be floral shops in our area. When, really, they are out in New Jersey, or Maine, or wherever they are, taking your order and then sending it to us. Now, I’m sure you’re wondering well, what’s wrong with that? Well, here’s the trick… Say you spent $100 on your order to one of these guys, these guys then take 20-40% of YOUR $100 and pocket it for themselves! Then when they call us, they give us the remaining. So, when we get their call, they want us to send your order, for less than what you paid for! We want you to know, we care about where your money goes! If you are spending that $100 with us, we will guarantee you will get what you paid for, with no tricks or secrets.
Now, let’s jump to another reason we don’t like these companies. Not too terribly long ago, FTD and Teleflora, along with the rest of these companies started to realize that floral shops were protecting their customers by not accepting their orders, they started sending out their flowers themselves. Now sounds great, right? Well, here in MN, we all know the weather can be quite unexpected. When these companies send out your flowers, they place the vase and flowers in a box and ship them to your door. A lot of these times, you WILL end up with broken or frozen flowers, also unarranged. So, you are going to have to put them together yourself, in that vase, that is also broken. Personally, if I am going to be receiving flowers, I wouldn’t want to have to be arranging them myself, nor would I be happy if they came in frozen or broken.
Moral of story. Just call us directly. If you are not sure who is a true florist in the area you are searching for, here are a few tips;
- Always check the florist’s website for a physical address to where you can find this flower shop.
- Look for a phone number, that does not start out with “1-800”
- When all else fails, drive to your closest flower shop in your town, and ask them for help. They’d be happy to help you!
- Tj’s Floral & Gifts
- 106 5th St. S./PO Box 644
- Walker, MN 56484
- 218-547-2614
- www.tjsfloral.com
- facebook.com/tjsfloral
