How does Bloomex stay in business?
May 14 2009 by Ellen Roseman
That’s a question I hear a lot about this online florist, which has unfriendly policies and poor customer service. The company hired a PR person who worked with me on complaints. But now she’s missing in action, much like the flowers that Bloomex delivers.
Mother’s Day has come and gone, generating many complaints about floral tributes arriving late or mangled. So, I’m starting a new thread about Bloomex and www.1800Flowers.ca, also managed by them.
Here’s some advice to frustrated customers: Instead of pursuing the company for a refund, which will just frustrate you, call your credit card issuer. It’s easy to get a chargeback when you can show you paid for services that were not rendered.
If there are enough chargebacks, this company will find it hard to maintain its credit card privileges. And that could be the first step toward not staying in business.
Bryce from Calgary
May 14 2009
On Friday, May 8, I placed an order for some flowers for Mother Day at around 8 a.m.
I placed a call and ordered a bouquet of flowers, with 2 balloons and a card expressing ‘THANKS’ to my mother for Mother’s Day. I paid a premium to have this package delivered that day and hung up the phone thinking that was it.
The day went by and by about 3 pm, I noticed that the order had not been delivered. I contacted their call centre and asked for an update.
I was told that the order takers were just that… order takers… and they could not help me. They suggested I leave a message for Customer Service. And so I did.
I left 3 messages that day and expected a call Saturday as I was told that someone would contact me then. No flowers were delivered Friday, Saturday or Sunday, Mother’s Day.
Over the weekend, I managed to leave a few more messages of disgust and ask for someone to call me to fix this. Again, throughout this whole process, I was told that the ‘order takers’ would not be able to help and that the best way to get help would be to leave a message. 6-7 Messages later…nothing…natta thing.
Monday May 11, at 12.30 pm, my mother calls me and tells me that the flowers had arrived. She tells me they are dead, wilted and had been sitting inside a trailer all weekend and that 1 Balloon (I ordered 2 at $3 each, paid for 2 and received ONLY 1 and they were to have Happy Mother’s Day on them, well it was just a balloon that had been blown up by someone like you and me…that’s it) had been half ass tied to the box, it was deflated and dragged along the floor as she picked up her parcel.
Looked awful and was an embarrassing thing to have to go pick up, garbage as she coined it. I asked her to take pictures.
So here I am, fuming. Expecting a call, any call…still nothing. I have called in and explained my anger to the ‘order takers’ and have not yet received a call regarding this incident.
I was sent an email Monday expressing an apology, and indicating that they would resend ***FREE OF CHARGE*** my flowers. Are they kidding me????? FREE OF CHARGE????
OK, so let me read between the lines….am I supposed to feel thankful that they are doing what I paid a premium for them to do???? Give me a break.
Long story short, I have written them countless emails telling them to refund my money in full and I will never buy from them again. Nothing in return.
So I have asked VISA to launch an investigation for fraud against BLOOMEX and they have initiated this as of Monday.
It is now Wednesday, May 13, and I have not received a call regarding this at all. I have given up.
I am now writing all newspapers I can and will continue this process until I get the word out that these guys are CROOKS. Anyone who will write this story, write a story or blog this. I am willing to tell all.
I have written many blogs, added comments regarding this company and have seen many others who have had the same issues with these people. Please see:
http://www.xomreviews.com/bloomex.ca
http://www.ellenroseman.com/?p=136
http://www.redflagdeals.com/forums/showthread.php?t=407471
http://www.measuredup.com/review/NEVER-SHOP-BLOOMEX-4438
I will keep doing this until I get a full refund, or until they are no longer. Supposedly Michelle Robitaille, the PR person who did or does work for Bloomex, according to blogs I have read, has refrained from answering any more complaints…
I guess when you get so many, it would take up all your time, so for business purposes, forget em! Or so it seems that way.
If anyone is willing to make an example and put a stop to this, there is a huge story here. Until I get my full refund, I am going to keep writing and telling….so someone from Bloomex had better get hold of me.
Dig deeper into this and I bet you could write a book.
I look forward to hearing from anyone and everyone who is willing to write this story
Kindly,
BP
May 14 2009
I am having an absolute nightmare with 1800flowers.ca.
I ordered flowers online for my mother on Saturday, scheduling a Sunday delivery. I received a confirmation email stating that my order was received.
A short while later, I received an additional confirmation email, stating that delivery was scheduled with the local florist in Thunder Bay and that my credit card was processed. Great, I went on with my day.
Sometime before 8:00pm Saturday evening, I received a blank form (Dear ____), we are sold out of your order. We will call you on Monday to reschedule. If you have any questions, please call us at the number below.
When I called the number below, the office was closed for the remainder of the weekend. Since then, it has been an absolute nightmare to get the issue resolved.
I cannot get anyone on the phone. Their number goes straight to voicemail and they will not return my message. I email their ironically named wecare@1800flowers.com email to no avail. I’ve tried their Twitter account, too.
No one will get back to me. The only way I can speak to someone is via “live chat” on their site. I was told that someone would call me in 24 hours, and then kicked out of live chat when I stated that 24 hours was unacceptable.
While on lunch today, I received an additional email from 1800flowers, stating that my delivery is rescheduled for tomorrow (Tuesday). If I wish to cancel, there will be a 25% cancellation fee.
I am extremely frustrated and at my wit’s end. My mother has no flowers, the surprise was ruined when I had to explain the situation, and no one at 1800flowers will take a vested interest in helping to resolve my case.
This is by far the worst customer experience I have ever had. I understand mistakes happen, it’s how you handle them that sets you apart. This is NOT being handled well.
————————————————————
I finally got a snarky refund via the “live chat” service on 1800flowers.ca.
No flowers were ever delivered and no offer to somehow rectify the situation.
I plan to contact my credit card company to ensure the entire amount is refunded, as I suspect they will still try to charge the penalty.
1800flowers.ca is operated by Bloomex in Canada. I tried calling and emailing every email contact and telephone number I can find. No one cares to even return my message.
What an awful company to deal with. I hope you will share with your readers one day, seeing as it’s just one of multiple complaints you’ve received.
RK
May 14 2009
Well, here we are in April of 2009 and it seems nothing has changed at Bloomex.
I ordered a bouquet online of pink and lavender roses as a thank you to a client for a Breast Cancer function we had attended.
My order was accepted and I received an email confirming this. Later that afternoon, I received an email saying they had changed the order to a different colour as they had run out of this colour.
I immediately responded by sending an email back stating that I hoped they had not sent them. I received nothing back.
I phoned the client’s assistant to see if the flowers had been delivered and to my horror they had sent 8 red roses. They were sub-standard and totally inappropriate.
Since that date I have emailed the management and the wecare@bloomex.ca addresses and have been totally ignored. They have not even had the decency to respond to any of the emails. I am appalled.
The work you did, by bringing this to the table to be discussed and giving them the opportunity to make things right, has had absolutely no effect whatsoever.
I think you may have wasted all your time.
A Totally disgruntled Bloomex customer.
SS
May 14 2009
I wish I had visited your blog and read all these complaints on BloomEx, as well as the litany of complaints all over the net on the scam that this company is pulling on innocent people before I ordered my Mother’s Day floral arrangement this weekend.
I have never been so angry with any company in my life as I am with BloomEx. They truly do not care.
I have demanded a full refund, but I am certainly getting the big runaround. Today, they tell me that if I cancel my order I will be billed $25. Talk about adding insult to injury.
Visa has been notified of our dispute with BloomEx but cannot trigger an investigation or do anything for us regarding a refund, until the 14th of May.
This I understand is to give BloomEx an opportunity to resolve the issue and provide a refund.
However, after reading the horror stories of others on your blog and elsewhere on the net, I highly doubt they will do so. Rather, they seek to turn it all around to make themselves look like the good guys, offering a replacement arrangement - after they screwed us in the first place - and holding us for ransom vis-a-vis “cancellation of order” for additional $25.
I have tried everything, contacted their (non-existent) customer service - who don’t return calls, emails, live chat line (too busy most of the time to answer questions), even sent an email to the Owner. I am aghast!
This company is ripping people off left, right and centre and getting away with it. I have never seen such unethical business practices in all my life.
Somebody, somewhere, has to do something fast to either shut them down or, at the very least, protect the innocent out there who (like me) inevitably will become entrapped by this giant con game called BloomEx. Thank you for all your efforts to bring this to the public’s attention.
TR
May 14 2009
First time using Bloomex to send flowers to a funeral. I spoke on the phone with a customer service rep at length and she confirmed 2 dozen long stem pink roses with baby’s breath to be delivered with vase and card.
The flowers arrived, but only 22, wrong colour and no baby’s breath.
When I contacted the online rep, she referred me to company policy about no colour guarantee (the telephone rep had neglected to inform me that her colour guarantee was worthless and that there was a policy which could override her representation).
They unnecessarily went on to say it was my word against the possible word of the rep and that there were no recordings to prove them wrong. Yikes!!! They would look into the wrong number of flowers.
Got an email telling me to return the flowers with a $9.99 delivery cost for refund. I replied that I was not going to ask a family going through a death to bundle up their flowers and arrange a return.
They should have provided some sort of credit for their mistakes. End of story.
They use the intimidation of having to return the whole order and pay for delivery to avoid providing some kind of compensation for wrong orders.
This company provides bad orders and it seems terrible customer service.
I filed a complaint with the BBB, but from the internet I see that Bloomex just ignores it. In the most recent communication to me, their people say there were 24 flowers sent…so they are blowing me off on that too.
Best advice I think is to advise people before using internet services to Google the company name with the word “complaints”. That should warn off the most trusting potential customer.
And I would hope you will keep your complaints blog open, so it can be updated with further incidents. The apparent adversarial, almost paranoid, attitude of the owner saying that most of the complaints are from competitors, his refusal to deal with BBB complaints, the lengthy disclaimer policy online which even excuses them from delays in delivery, the punitive return policy, and their boasting online of 99.7% satisfaction (wonder how they reach this figure without a customer survey following service) is evidence of how nasty this company is to deal with and the attitude which permeates its service.
Lior
May 14 2009
It appears that nothing has changed over at Bloomex. A thread was created on the very popular Red Flag Deals forums shortly before Mother’s Day where people were asking about ordering from them, and I did my best to warn them. Hopefully they heeded the advice, as it clear that the only thing Bloomex wants is your money without really delivering anything in return.
Anna
May 28 2009
Some dubious practices from Bloomex.
Some people posting from the Ukraine in Europe have been posting on my blog, “bigging up” bloomex.
Could this be some sort of paid attempt at PR from Bloomex?
Quite disappointed with that sort of behaviour!
http://www.bargainmoose.ca/canadian-coupons-bloomex-flowers-delivery-%E2%80%93-20-discount-site-wide/
Karl
Jun 11 2009
I tried getting a chargeback but they would not give it to me because I did receive the flowers, even if they were late and in poor condition.
I am in the process of getting Bloomex to take the flowers back and give me a refund, but they will be charging $10 for this experience.
Brian
Aug 17 2009
Everything was fine with the order and flowers were beautiful. Very good timing as she was just walking in the door!I have a very happy friend indeed!
Lucy Kukac
Aug 29 2009
Sent an arrangement to a funeral home for a family member. You can never imagine the embarrassment I felt when I saw this wretched excuse for a flower arrangement. It was not the arrangement that I ordered and all the flowers were dead.
When I called to complain, they asked for a picture, which I did not have, so they will not do anything about it.
I am $84 out of pocket for this and $170 for the new arrangement I sent to the home to try to recapture my credibility
Ed Strapagiel
Sep 3 2009
These stories are both maddening and heart-breaking.
Buying flowers isn’t like buying socks. When you send flowers to someone, the weight of the emotions attached is far heavier than the flowers themselves.
My wife has her own flower shop, and we also worry that experiences like these will put people off buying flowers altogether.
Nevertheless, the bottom line is still that consumers have to watch out for themselves when buying anything online. This is especially so when it comes to flowers because of certain features of the florist business.
There is an article about this. For those who would like to know what to watch out for, plus get a few practical tips on how to protect yourself, please see Consumer Beware!.
Laura Rohatinsky
Sep 16 2009
From Singapore, A VERY unhappy customer:
I tried to deliver flowers to my mother in Calgary, Canada on September 12th. I left the address, a contact number and the time when the flowers should be delivered and on what day.
When the flowers were not delivered, I emailed the “we care” email address and told them the flowers were never delivered.
After a few emails, I told them to contact my father who would then set up a different time and day for the flowers to be delivered. A representative called my father and they figured out a time and date for the flowers to be delivered (again). This was three days after they were supposed to be delivered.
The BloomEx rep asked if the flowers could be left on the front door step. What kind of flower company asks a client if the live flowers can be dropped off and abandoned on the front door step?
My father said “no, please deliver them at the time I have provided and we will be home.”
The flowers never came.
Another two days passed and endless phone messages and emails from me resulted in a management email explaining that UPS delivered the flowers. I was given the tracking order and that was it. UPS just dropped the flowers off on the doorstep (according to the tracking).
My parents NEVER received the flowers and I was charged the full amount for something I never received. They stole my money, they treated me like I was a pest, and they were completley unorganized, uncaring, and impersonal.
It has been quite a while since I have come across such a horrible place of business. It’s a shame. I hope somebody reads this and saves themselves time and money by NEVER ORDERING FROM BLOOMEX!!! What a terrible company.
Jessie Wynant
Sep 29 2009
I have just had the most frustrating and disappointing experience with Bloomex. I placed an order on Friday AM of flowers for a death in the family and was promised delivery on that Friday. It is now Tuesday and still no flowers have shown up.
I have tried contacting Bloomex many, many times. I have written emails, I have tried cancelling the order etc. etc., all to no avail.
I wish I had seen this website before I started all this. I have lodged a complaint with RBC Visa and I hope that Visa cuts this company off.
Steve Vigneault
Oct 10 2009
My brother-in-law Colin, who is currently posted in Afghanistan, ordered the blue ribbon basket from Bloomex.
The list of items included in the basket bore only a passing resemblance to what was listed on the site. The selection of “gourmet nuts” amounted to one 150 gm bag of PLANTERS SUNFLOWER SEEDS AND A 23 GM BAG OF BLUE DIAMOND ALMONDS.
One of the staff must have taken an airplane trip recently and pocketed the snacks!
The gourmet coffee was 5 generic teabags, which looked like they came from the same dollar store where most of the other contents were purchased. I’m not kidding. At least 3 items in the basket actually had “imported by Dollarama” written on them.
To say we are ticked is putting it mildly. The jumbo box of truffles contained exactly 2. I would hate to see the small!
My 8 year old dog could have done a better job of wrapping this package than whoever did so. I could go on, but you get the idea.
Oh, by the way, did I mention the package arrived 3 DAYS AFTER her birthday? Avoid these idiot ripoff artists at all costs.
Karen
Oct 11 2009
I worked part time at Bloomex for Christmas last year. Substitution was the policy.
For gift baskets, you put the same number of items in the basket as there are in the description. If someone orders a cookie basket with 10 items, you put 10 random packages of cookies in, but they aren’t the cookies in the description. They are cheap dollar store cookies and candy.
If there’s no cookies left, you just substitute canned tuna or something. Most of the stuff was from the dollar store. I think it would cost less if the customers just buy their own food from the dollar store, cuz then you could spend $10 on the basket instead of $50.
The flowers also sucked really bad. They made horrible and ugly bouquets and would put them in a box and send them with Canpar shipping, which is like Fedex but cheaper.
We had to make them really fast, because customers always complained their flowers would arrive frozen and dead. Bloomex would just resend another bunch of half dead flowers every time they complained until they gave up complaining.
They didn’t have good flowers because they were cheap flowers that got shipped from Ecuador without water. I’m really embarrassed I ever worked there.
Did you also know they bought http://www.complaintscanada.com, so that when people Google “Bloomex Complaints” they get that website, which just takes them to the Bloomex website?
It’s a good thing this blog comes up as the first hit instead, so people can know the truth.
Karen
Oct 11 2009
I’m not sure how accurate these numbers are, but here is some phone numbers for Bloomex warehouses, so you can talk to a production manager if you can speak enough Russian:
Ottawa: (819) 483-1407
Montreal: (514) 877-0200
Vancouver: (604) 325-3066
If you call the numbers on their website, you just get the 1-800 customer service people.
Tammy K
Oct 21 2009
Hi Ellen,
Please read my previous complaint for details of my order, http://www.ellenroseman.com/?p=136.
I was not rendered the product ordered, so instead they offered a credit toward a future order purchase (via email).
When I was in touch with VISA, they informed me that this is the way Bloomex covers itself. VISA cannot dispute these cases unless the company does not produce or offer the service or product that was paid for. They offered a credit instead.
As I did not want any future orders with this company, I chose to pay the $25 cancellation fee. I assumed this cost to avoid the entire cost of $109.41.
Simply appalling! I paid $25 for what?….zero product and total humiliation. I expected to see the flowers at the funeral home, only to learn later by email that the delivery date had been changed to Monday!
nick18880
Nov 11 2009
It seems to me that much of the info being presented here is one sided. Perhaps if you are publishing all these complaints for 2 years now, you should let happy customers speak as well. Clearly the company is doing well enough to continue, so there must be happy customers out there somewhere.
BF
Nov 12 2009
I live in England. On Oct. 20, 2009, I ordered a $140 (US) hamper for my 86 year old mother’s birthday – to be delivered to her address in Nova Scotia on Nov. 10.
I paid extra to have it delivered in the morning when I knew someone would be with her to accept it.
On Oct. 22, I received an ‘Order Status’ email thath essentially confirmed that everything was okay – no worries, they have my money.
The hamper didn’t arrive and it still hasn’t arrived two days later.
I contacted Bloomex, only to be told that my mother lives in a remote area – just outside Halifax – and they couldn’t deliver there on the 10th.
They didn’t offer an apology, but 30 minutes later I did receive a new email to say that my order ‘Status’ had changed. They refunded the money I’d paid to have it delivered in the morning of the 10th.
I’m a businessman, I appreciate that things can go wrong, but I don’t under stand how Bloomex can accept an order which they know they are unable to deliver.
I guess the remote area where my mother lives requires a dog-sleigh to get to at this time of the year.
I’m going to share my experience wherever I can. Certainly I’ll try to ensure that none of my very large extended family ever use Bloomex — and try to persuade the 11,000 plus colleagues in our company that they shouldn’t either.
Kim
Nov 14 2009
I ordered orange and deep blue gerberas, lilies and irises, and got pastel pink cheap carnations. I hate carnations. The company refuses to refund or replace. I thought it might be too late to have my credit card credited, but I’m going to try, seeing as they refuse to deal with the BBB, who have 388 complaints registered, and an “F” rating.
Cheryl Moore
Nov 30 2009
I placed an order for a Super Deluxe Basket to send to my aunt after my uncle passed away. I paid extra money for next morning delivery so they would be at the funeral home after that time.
My aunt had never mentioned anything, so I asked if she received it four days later. No, of course, she didn’t receive it.
So I asked for confirmation from the customer service team. They said that it was attempted, left at the door, but seeing my aunt didn’t receive it they would send it again (despite their policy that they are not responsible for items that go missing that are left at the door - which makes me think it was never delivered at all!).
So two days after that, they deliver the basket and more than half of the fruit was rotten, completely rotten and unedible. My aunt threw out what wasn’t good. So apparently that was wrong, as she was supposed to call them, pay $10 for them to come pick it up and replace it.
Forgive me but when you pay $100 for a basket, it should be on time and it should be edible. Why should the recipient pay $10 to get a replacement of what was sent to them as a gift and should be good to begin with??
The company refuses to admit any wrongdoing, will not give me a refund, but is willing to send another basket “free of charge”, like they are doing me a favour. If I can have at least one other person not use this company, it would be great and that’s all I ask for.
Also if you look at the Better Business Bureau, they are given a score of F for not responding to complaints, with over 200 active complaints against them right now. They do not care about their customers at all…DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY!
Julie Taylor
Dec 8 2009
Absolutely the worst customer service I have ever received. You don’t have the option to wait in the queue.
If you are lucky??? enough to reach someone and ask for something, it does not happen.
They stupidly send you a customer service survey, but don’t respond to any complaints you bring up. Ridiculous!
Brian
Dec 16 2009
On Dec. 12, I ordered 3 baskets which were described as:
“Ring in the season with style by sending our stunning poinsettia basket! A terrific gift for a dinner table, office decoration or to make any holiday decor delightful. Great assortment of extra large poinsettia plants accented with Christmas decorations and greens is arranged in 12″ bamboo basket.”
They arrived the same day, but that’s where the good part ends. What I received were 3 baskets, each containing 3 medium sized poinsettias – no greenery, no decorations. If I had wanted just poinsettias, I could have bought them at the grocery store and I sure wouldn’t have paid the equivalent of $20 each.
So, of course, I tried to contact customer service. There was no answer. I then tried chat.
Eve : How May I help You?
Brian : Question
I just received my delivery. However, it’s not what I ordered. It should have been 3 items of LF57-60. There were 3 baskets but they just contain poinsettias; there was no greens or decorations.
Order number (optional) 00922926
Eve : Just a second, I’ll check.
Eve : We are very sorry for this feedback. Thank you for informing us. Will you be so kind to send us the picture of the product received at our e-mail address, wecare@bloomex.ca, for us to be able to investigate this matter? (If this is the case, we will send you a new order free of charge).
Brian : OK, I’ll send it shortly. Should it go to anyone’s attention?
Eve : Yes, I’ll inform the manager and she will investigate this matter.
The photo was sent and I received no reply. I followed up with emails, which have been ignored. I tried “customer service” again, but got no one. I left a message, but heard nothing back.
And to add insult to injury, the poinsettias are now losing their leaves almost faster than I can pick them up from the floor.
This company seems to work on the principle that if the order is OK, then they can breathe a sigh of relief. But if there is a problem, they figure they’ll just ignore it because there isn’t much recourse for the person who was ripped off. Total scam.
They should change their email from wecare to wedontgiveafatratsass.
Kristyn
Dec 28 2009
I recently sent flowers to a friend via Bloomex. I also spoke to an order taker, who assured me the flowers would be there that day. I paid extra for same day delivery.
Two days later, they arrived. I was so embarrassed. Furthermore, I never received any receipt/confirmations and I was unable to track my flowers online.
I have sent them numerous emails and voicemails since this incident took place a couple of weeks ago. I have yet to hear anything.
I plan on launching an investigation with Amex to see what they can do to help.
Bottom line: Bloomex is terrible!!
EK
Jan 26 2010
I had the worst experience I have ever had with any company!! I see most of you have had the same experience that I had. I URGE ALL OF YOU TO CONTACT THE BETTER BUREAU!!!! I have but the more people who do the better chance we all have.
Claude Milot
Feb 2 2010
I ordered and paid for flowers that were never delivered. I tried to communicate with customer service, left many messages on phone and email, no answers.
A number of days after, still not received the flowers. Nightmare, worst company ever.
Sean L
Feb 5 2010
Wow, I wish I had seen all this prior to my order.
Just 2 days ago, I ordered some flowers to be delivered to my girlfriend for her birthday. Surprise and surprise, they didn’t get delivered on time or within their so called delivery time of 12-5.
They claim the flowers were delivered at 5:45 pm, but seeing how most offices including my girlfriends close at 5:00, how can that be???
Their customer service manager (if you want to call it that) Sarah couldn’t provide any details and told me no one signed for the delivery!!!
So instead of doing the right thing and offering me either a full refund or even half my money back, they offered $10 and a 15% discount on my next order with them. What a joke!!
I asked Sarah to speak to her supervisor and she said no one was there and they were not there to speak to customers or me. Previous to that, when I was trying to speak to their customer service, I was hung up on.
All I can do now is spread the word about this company and try to get my money back through Visa. I still don’t have the flowers and my girlfriend’s birthday surprise was ruined!