Say it with flowers. (Online Flower Shops - Tips and Comparison)

Member Name: jammaker49

Product:	Online Flower Shops - Tips and Comparison
Date:	28/08/02 (882 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good, reliable efficient service

Disadvantages: A tad expensive

Sending flowers can be an expensive thing to do, even if you go into the shop yourself, and pick out what you want. I recently wanted to send some flowers to friends of ours in Ireland, as a thank you surprise for making our recent stay there special. Never having sent flowers by ordering on-line before, at first I was searching around in the dark, trying to come up with a good, reasonably priced service.

I first checked on Copernic to find suitable sites. There were numerous companies available, both in the UK and in Ireland, but somehow, none of them seemed quite what I was looking for. Some had vastly inflated delivery costs, still more had "hidden extras", some were simply way too expensive, and some didn’t even give you an on-line ordering option, simply a telephone number to call.

I tried Thornton’s Chocolate site, knowing that they did flowers as well, but their delivery cost was almost as expensive as the flowers, or chocolates ordered, because delivery was going to be in Ireland, and counted as oversees rate.

After almost two hours, I was ready to give up, when I finally stumbled on www.bloomingbritain.com. I don’t even think I found it on Copernic. It was from a link from another site.

Right on their front page, before you even enter the site, they make this statement:

“Blooming Britain giving you an on-line solution for Flower Delivery in the UK & Ireland Tel: 0800 072 3015. All our orders are hand delivered and subject to a £4.45 Delivery Charge”

So that took care of the delivery charge. On many sites, you weren’t informed of the delivery charge until you had almost paid for the flowers. On this site, you knew before you started exactly how much delivery was going to be, and could adjust your order accordingly.

WHAT DO THEY OFFER?

Bloomingbritain offer a same day flower delivery service for the UK, Ireland, the US and Canada. As long as
the order is received before 2p.m, they will deliver on the same day if required. There are no deliveries on Sundays or Bank Holidays.

The following information is taken from their “about us” page on their website.

“Blooming Britain was founded on the principles of providing excellent value for money and a guaranteed delivery service for UK, Ireland, United States and Canada deliveries. Orders for flowers received before 2pm British Standard Time can be delivered same day to any destination within the aforementioned countries.

Making a purchase could not be easier. Just browse the Catalogue, and click on any items that you wish to buy and put them into the shopping cart. After you have finished your selection, click on "Order" and you will be asked for a few details that we need to be able to satisfy the order.

We accept credit / debit card payment. If you are shopping from an International location, place your order and your credit card company will convert the transaction to your own currency.

We accept Visa / Mastercard / American Express / Switch / Delta / Solo / Diners. Please note that we do not accept Electron cards as the cardholder needs to be present in order for us to make the transaction.

We do not charge for any item until it is ready to ship. You may send your credit / debit card information via phone, fax, snail mail or over the Internet.

Monday to Saturday: Your order must be placed by 2 pm British Standard Time to ensure same day delivery

Sunday & Public Holidays: No Deliveries. Orders received for delivery for these dates will be delivered the opening day before the date. For example, if the order is requested to be delivered on a bank holiday Friday when we are closed, we will deliver on Thursday.

All prices are subject to a £4.45 deliver charge.

Your order will invariably be hand delivered by our florists. At peak periods we ma
y have your order delivered by Taxi to ensure prompt delivery.

Should we fail to deliver on the specified date requested we offer a full money back guarantee on your delivery, providing all the delivery instructions (including full postal address) were supplied and the order was received before 2pm on the day of delivery (no deliveries Sunday or public holidays).”

There was also a lot of other information, regarding security of payment, and special shipping conditions of fruit baskets, but as I am concentrating on flowers here, I have just used the information regarding those.

ORDERING AND PAYMENT

The website homepage, also gives you a number of categories from which to choose your flower options, including birthdays, congratulations, new baby and thank you.

They offer a selection of gifts for under £10.00. These include continental chocolates, cuddly toys and silk roses, but they are not governed by the same day delivery guarantee.

I clicked on the “thank you” option, and was then taken to what flower arrangements were on offer.

There were 4 basic designs on offer, each coming with 3 or 4 price ranges. For example, the option I finally decided on was a Seasonal Bouquet of flowers, and this was described as

“Suitable for absolutely any occasion. This is by far the most popular bouquet in our range. Containing an array of seasonal flowers available on the day. We pride ourselves in this bouquet in both its exquisite appearance, versatility and sheer value.”

There was then the choice of Classic, Elegant, Deluxe or Supreme, with the price increasing for each category. A picture of a sample bouquet accompanied the description. You simply clicked on the option you chose, completed the date you wanted the flowers to be delivered (I will come to this later), filled in any message you wanted them to include with the flowers, and added it to your shopping baske
t!

Once you were satisfied that your order was complete, there was a very simple form to fill out, including your own name, address and telephone number, the recipients name and address (and telephone number if you wanted to include it, although this was not mandatory), then went to secure payment, in order to send your credit card details. I completed all this in a matter of a few minutes, and received an almost immediate e-mail, giving me an order number, and asking me to confirm the details of delivery by replying to the email.

Simple……..except……..gu ess who forgot that Monday was a Bank Holiday, and ordered delivery for Monday? Yes..that’s right….MOI!

I need not have worried (although I did when I realised what I’d done!) The following day (Friday) I received a phone call from the company, asking me if they would like them to deliver on the Saturday or the Tuesday, as they were closed on the Monday! Now there is efficiency for you! I chose the Saturday (which by then was the very next day) and the very friendly girl on the end of the phone assured me that they would be delivered safely as requested.

I got an email from my friends on the Saturday, saying that they had been delivered on the Saturday morning, and that they were absolutely beautiful. Apparently they filled 2 vases, and the perfume from the blooms was exquisite.

The accompanying card, including the message that I asked to be sent with the flowers, was also more than the tiny ones often accompanying flowers when delivered.

WAS I SATISFIED?

You bet I was! I began this op by saying that flowers are expensive to send, and indeed, these weren’t your cheap £2.99 bunch from Tescos! I paid £29.99 plus delivery, which some people might find a bit on the expensive side. However, there were absolutely no hidden charges, and the quality of the blooms was first rate. They delivered when they said they w
ould, and even if they hadn’t, there was their guarantee of money back.

They didn’t assume that I would want the flowers delivered on the day after the Bank Holiday,even thought the mistake had been entirely mine, but rang to check. I also received another email, telling me that they had rescheduled delivery for the Saturday.

I would say, if you want to send flowers by buying online, and don’t want to be faced with hidden shipping and tax charges, then you would go a long way to beat this firm for service and quality. I know that I will certainly be using them again should I want to send flowers to those countries stipulated, i.e. Britain, Ireland, US and Canada. Try them. I’m sure you won’t be disappointed.

Website: www.bloomingbritain.com

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