They Brought a Smile to my Face and a Warm Glow to my Heart (bunches.co.uk)

Member Name: lel1969

Product:	bunches.co.uk
Date:	16/01/09 (198 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Beautiful flowers

Disadvantages: The sender may not see the beautiful flowers they have sent

Well I suppose my life has just begun - I was 40 last week!! I received many lovely and exciting gifts and lots of surprises. With these many gifts I was given 5 large bunches of flowers and indeed had to go out and buy more vases! One of these bunches was a great surprise being from a friend I hadn't heard from in a while, you know these situations where the longer you leave it the harder it is to get in touch again. So you can imagine how pleased and over the moon I was when I received this beautiful bunch of flowers through the post.

The flowers arrived with my usual postman just before lunch. They were packaged in a tall, narrow, quite compact, yet very sturdy brown cardboard box, which was easily opened by pulling a tab to open the box with a zip like effect. On the bottom of the box was a small gift-box of 8 milk chocolates and situated just above the chocolates was the most beautiful bunch of flowers I had ever seen. I had been very dubious as to what state the flowers would be in having come through the post, but was really stunned at how perfect the flowers actually were. The flowers were quite tightly tied together with the usual cellophane protection around them and they were beautifully wrapped and finished in a bright pink tissue paper. It did state on the box that the flowers may look a bit tired after their journey through the post and that the sooner they were put into water the better, but I can quite honestly say my flowers were in absolutely perfect condition. I removed them from the packaging and as instructed cut the bottom 2cm from each of the stalks at an angle in order for the flowers to have the maximum area for absorbing water and carefully placed the flowers in a large vase of fresh water along with the cut flower food provided. Once I had arranged my beautiful flowers neatly in the vase making sure that each and every one of the different shades of pinks and whites complimented the other I proceeded made myself a coffee and settled down to enjoy my chocolates Mmmmm.

I had never really thought of ordering and sending flowers by post before, having always thought they would probably not reach their destination in very good condition, but after receiving my beautiful bunch of flowers I decided to have a nosey at the website through which they had been ordered - www.bunches.co.uk

==A Bit About The Company==

Bunches is a family run business, which was first established in 1989 as a small market stall in Nottinghamshire. Business was booming and within just 16 weeks, after finding out that bunches of flowers could be sent in boxes using the Royal Mail postal service, new premises in a factory were found and a partnership was made with Royal Mail. Royal Mail would take orders for flowers over the post office counters and phone these orders through to Bunches. Over the years the company had grown considerably and now operates from purpose built premises delivering thousands of bunches of flowers every week.

==A Bit About The Website==

The website www.bunches.co.uk is a very bright, colourful and cheery website, which is very easy to navigate you way around. There are plenty of very clear photographs giving a good idea of how the bouquet you have chosen will look. I can confirm my bouquet "Cherry Blossom" looks identical to that of the photograph shown on the website. Their bouquet selection is extensive varying greatly in both size and price with prices ranging from £10 to £60. Also available to order are houseplants and helium balloons

==Ordering and Delivery==

Deliveries are only made within the UK, but orders can be taken worldwide. When ordering it is important to correctly enter the full postal address and postcode of the recipient as this will help to ensure deliveries are made on time. When placing the order you should enter the date you wish the flowers to be delivered on. Flowers are then despatched 2 days before the delivery date and should arrive on time, although no responsibility is taken if the flowers do not arrive on time. All prices shown on the website include first class Royal Mail delivery. For guaranteed delivery on the date of your choice there is an additional fee of £4.95 - this guarantees delivery between 8am and 3pm Monday to Saturday. Obviously no deliveries can be made on Sundays or Bank Holidays as delivery is made by Royal Mail.

Payment can be made securely using most credit or debit cards.

==Message Card==

A glossy Message Card is included in the box of flowers. At the end of your order you can type the message you wish to appear on the card, remembering to include who it's from! The message can be up to 5 lines each containing 30 characters, so quite a good size message can be sent.

==Customer Service==

Although great pride and care is taken with every order if you do have any problems at all customer services can be contacted Monday to Friday 8.30 am - 6.00 pm and Saturday 8.30 am - 12.30 pm. If you call during these times your call will be personally answered, otherwise, at all other times a message can be left. Alternatively you can send an email to flowers@bunches .co.uk. Any complaint should be placed within 7 days after despatch. I cannot say how efficient the customer services department is as I had no problems at all and therefore no need to contact them. I did however contact them just to ask a few questions about ordering through their website and they were very helpful.

==Posy Points==

"Posy Points" is basically a loyalty point scheme whereby you receive 1 Posy Point for every 10p you spend therefore a bouquet of £10 will give you 100 Posy Points, which will in turn give you 50p off your next order. A bit of an incentive to make you order more I think! Posy Point balances can be checked by logging into you account.

==Taking Care of your Flowers==

The website also has an extensive care section where it is explained in very easy to understand and interesting terms how you should care for each of the different varieties of flowers they supply in order to prolong their life span.

==Ethical Flowers==

All flowers purchases by Bunches are environmentally grown using organic fertilisers. Their Columbian grown carnations are all grown by workers over the age of 18 and all receive 20% more than the Columbian minimum wage.

Bunches is also part of the Fair Flowers Fair Plants Initiative. This is a scheme set up to ensure all ethical standards are being met by the companies growing and producing the flowers. Working alongside other companies who are also members of this scheme helps to maintain these high ethical and environmental standards.

==My Views==

Overall I would definitely recommend this website to others. When I first visited the site my first thoughts were that the bunches of flowers were a bit on the expensive side but when I thought about the beautiful, long-lasting bunch I had received and after investigating their website, I can quite happily say the flowers are definitely worth it! It was such a lovely surprise to receive flowers in this way, bringing a big smile to my face and a warm glow to my heart. And I know that when I get around to ordering flowers for someone in this way, I know I'll get a very satisfied feeling knowing that it's my turn to give someone a surprise and bring a warm glow to their heart!

==For More Information==

www.bunches.co.uk

Freephone (UK landlines only): 0800 626 249

01623 750343 (Standard rate)

From USA and Canada: 011 44 1623 750343
From Australia: 0011 44 1623 750343
From New Zealand: 00 44 1623 750343

From all other countries: + 44 1623 750343

Phonelines open 08:30am - 6:00pm Monday-Friday and 08:30am - 12:30pm Saturday.
They are closed on Sundays and bank holidays. An answer machine service is available outside opening hours.

You can send a fax on + 44 (0)1623 758704

Alternatively you can write to them at:

Bunches Florapost Ltd.
Unit 19, Hazelford Way
Newstead Village
Nottingham, NG15 0DQ
United Kingdom

For more details about the Fair Flowers Fair Plants Initiative you can visit their website www.fairflowersfairplants.co.uk

Many thanks for reading.

© lel1969

Summary: Great service and beautiful flowers