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CAUTION: What you may not know
about Internet "Florists"
about Internet "Florists"
Internet search for a local florist
Let's say that you want to send a flower arrangement to someone special in town XYZ, California. You
go to the Internet, search for "Flower shops in XYZ, California" using a search engine such as Google,
Yahoo, etc.
Some search results are national brands whose names may be familiar to you (e.g., 1-800-flowers). In
addition, you will see the listings for businesses that claim to be a local florist. The listings might say,
"XYZ's finest florist" "Florist in XYZ" "Family operated for -- years" "Local flower shop" and so on. Since
you want to order from a local florist and not a national telemarketer, you click on one of the "local florist"
links and place an order.
Order Gatherers
Most of the time, the "local" florist you just placed an order with, is actually an Order Gatherer, who is
neither local nor a florist. It is usually an individual running multiple Internet "florist" sites while sitting in
front of a computer and telephone in a random location, some even outside the US.
In Google, try to look for "Flower shops in New York City"; in the results, guess which one is really a local
florist. Then do the same with "Flower shops in Huntington, NY (our location)." You will see some of the
same "local florists" show up!? When you go to these sites, please click on "About us" to see if they
have any physical addresses at all. If they don't, they are almost certainly Order Gatherers.
What Order Gatherers do and don't.
Order Gatherers take your order and electronically relay it to a real florist operating in the town to which
the customer wants to send flowers. Order Gatherers do not make your arrangements nor deliver them;
they are the middle-man. By relaying the order, Order Gatherers collect a commission (usually 20% of
the order) from the florist who actually makes and delivers your flowers. Order Gatherers also collect a
Service fee from the customer (usually $10 or so).
Order gathering itself is a legitimate business. The problem is that many Order Gatherers give
customer the false impression that they are the florist making your flower arrangements, while they are
just the middle man. Their web sites might say "We are experienced in delivering to --" "We deliver to - 7
days a week" and so on. But who are "we" that they are referring to?
Many customers are falsely led to believe that these Internet "florists" have either special affiliations with
local florists or have their own local branches. In fact, there is no affiliation at all between Order
Gatherers and the real florists to whom they are relaying the order. When we receive orders from them,
we often don't even know who are relaying the orders to us. Some Order Gatherers go to the extent of
using fake local addresses to deceive customers into believing that they reside in the local towns (Read
a Federal Trade Commission Alert).
"Free" Delivery Scam
Nothing can be "free" in business. If something is said to be free, the actual charge is included
somewhere.
To deliver flowers, florists need to pay for the gas, maintenance, insurance, and the driver's wage.
Traditionally, florists cover these costs by charging a delivery fee rather than deducting this from the
value of the floral arrangement. We do this because many customers will pick up the flowers
themselves. Generally speaking, florists do not profit from delivery fees and often take slight losses
from making deliveries.
Be suspicious if you see an Order Gatherer site claiming "Free Delivery." This is because the delivering
florist, to whom the Order Gatherer relay your order, will always deduct the delivery fee from the amount
you paid. In other words, $40 buys $30 flower plus $10 delivery charge (if that is the fee charged by the
local florist), not $40 flower plus "free" delivery.
Because of the additional service fee paid to the Order Gatherer, which is usually around $10, and the
delivery fee deducted by the delivering florist, in the end, your generous $50 order might buy only $30
worth of flowers! In our opinion, this is a terrible deception suffered by customers and one that we hope
you will be more cautious of in the future.
For more info, read "Free delivery ruse" at FloristDetective.com.
Call a local florist directly; or call us at no extra charge
If you directly called a local florist who actually resides in the destination town (most of us have 800
numbers), you would at least save the order-relay service fee. More importantly, you would be told how
much the delivery charge would be. For example, if you want to send $40 flowers, the florist will tell you
that you need to pay $40 for flowers, plus their delivery charge and local tax. No deception involved.
Moreover, you would be dealing with someone who actually makes your floral gift.
Remember, even if you have no time to look for the local florist or don't know how to do it, you can always
call a florist in your town. Or just call us; unlike Order Gatherers and many other florists, we don't charge
you any "Service fee" for the order-relay (i.e., "Wire-out") services for domestic destinations. We would
be happy to help you to place an out-of-state order!
Virtually all the florists are members of at least one national wire relay services (FTD or Teleflora) and
can relay your order to any member florist in the world, just like Order Gatherers do. Besides, we are
real florists, not just guys sitting in front of a PC. If something ever goes wrong, we promise to work
together with the other florist to resolve the problem to your satisfaction.
For more information about deceptive Order Gathering practices and how to protect yourself, visit Florist
Detective. Thank you for reading!
Let's say that you want to send a flower arrangement to someone special in town XYZ, California. You
go to the Internet, search for "Flower shops in XYZ, California" using a search engine such as Google,
Yahoo, etc.
Some search results are national brands whose names may be familiar to you (e.g., 1-800-flowers). In
addition, you will see the listings for businesses that claim to be a local florist. The listings might say,
"XYZ's finest florist" "Florist in XYZ" "Family operated for -- years" "Local flower shop" and so on. Since
you want to order from a local florist and not a national telemarketer, you click on one of the "local florist"
links and place an order.
Order Gatherers
Most of the time, the "local" florist you just placed an order with, is actually an Order Gatherer, who is
neither local nor a florist. It is usually an individual running multiple Internet "florist" sites while sitting in
front of a computer and telephone in a random location, some even outside the US.
In Google, try to look for "Flower shops in New York City"; in the results, guess which one is really a local
florist. Then do the same with "Flower shops in Huntington, NY (our location)." You will see some of the
same "local florists" show up!? When you go to these sites, please click on "About us" to see if they
have any physical addresses at all. If they don't, they are almost certainly Order Gatherers.
What Order Gatherers do and don't.
Order Gatherers take your order and electronically relay it to a real florist operating in the town to which
the customer wants to send flowers. Order Gatherers do not make your arrangements nor deliver them;
they are the middle-man. By relaying the order, Order Gatherers collect a commission (usually 20% of
the order) from the florist who actually makes and delivers your flowers. Order Gatherers also collect a
Service fee from the customer (usually $10 or so).
Order gathering itself is a legitimate business. The problem is that many Order Gatherers give
customer the false impression that they are the florist making your flower arrangements, while they are
just the middle man. Their web sites might say "We are experienced in delivering to --" "We deliver to - 7
days a week" and so on. But who are "we" that they are referring to?
Many customers are falsely led to believe that these Internet "florists" have either special affiliations with
local florists or have their own local branches. In fact, there is no affiliation at all between Order
Gatherers and the real florists to whom they are relaying the order. When we receive orders from them,
we often don't even know who are relaying the orders to us. Some Order Gatherers go to the extent of
using fake local addresses to deceive customers into believing that they reside in the local towns (Read
a Federal Trade Commission Alert).
"Free" Delivery Scam
Nothing can be "free" in business. If something is said to be free, the actual charge is included
somewhere.
To deliver flowers, florists need to pay for the gas, maintenance, insurance, and the driver's wage.
Traditionally, florists cover these costs by charging a delivery fee rather than deducting this from the
value of the floral arrangement. We do this because many customers will pick up the flowers
themselves. Generally speaking, florists do not profit from delivery fees and often take slight losses
from making deliveries.
Be suspicious if you see an Order Gatherer site claiming "Free Delivery." This is because the delivering
florist, to whom the Order Gatherer relay your order, will always deduct the delivery fee from the amount
you paid. In other words, $40 buys $30 flower plus $10 delivery charge (if that is the fee charged by the
local florist), not $40 flower plus "free" delivery.
Because of the additional service fee paid to the Order Gatherer, which is usually around $10, and the
delivery fee deducted by the delivering florist, in the end, your generous $50 order might buy only $30
worth of flowers! In our opinion, this is a terrible deception suffered by customers and one that we hope
you will be more cautious of in the future.
For more info, read "Free delivery ruse" at FloristDetective.com.
Call a local florist directly; or call us at no extra charge
If you directly called a local florist who actually resides in the destination town (most of us have 800
numbers), you would at least save the order-relay service fee. More importantly, you would be told how
much the delivery charge would be. For example, if you want to send $40 flowers, the florist will tell you
that you need to pay $40 for flowers, plus their delivery charge and local tax. No deception involved.
Moreover, you would be dealing with someone who actually makes your floral gift.
Remember, even if you have no time to look for the local florist or don't know how to do it, you can always
call a florist in your town. Or just call us; unlike Order Gatherers and many other florists, we don't charge
you any "Service fee" for the order-relay (i.e., "Wire-out") services for domestic destinations. We would
be happy to help you to place an out-of-state order!
Virtually all the florists are members of at least one national wire relay services (FTD or Teleflora) and
can relay your order to any member florist in the world, just like Order Gatherers do. Besides, we are
real florists, not just guys sitting in front of a PC. If something ever goes wrong, we promise to work
together with the other florist to resolve the problem to your satisfaction.
For more information about deceptive Order Gathering practices and how to protect yourself, visit Florist
Detective. Thank you for reading!
| Copyright © 2006 KA Floral Inc. All rights reserved. |
| Fake "Local Florists" |
(631) 421-4410 Local
(800) 992-3345 Toll free
(800) 992-3345 Toll free
Huntington, New York 11743
