The folks over at FTD blew it for me this Valentines Day. They managed to charge my credit card, but the flowers never showed. Nancy and I had a good laugh about it and wondered how such a mishap might affect a shakier relationship. I’m considering calling FTD and telling them that their mistake has me sleeping in the garage and fending off costly divorce proceedings. Just for fun.
In the end, the FTD fiasco meant very little and we enjoyed a great dinner at Town Hall in SF. . . but FTD, you still suck!
Update: when it comes to cataloging FTD suckitude, the blogosphere delivers.
Update 2 (02/16/07): FTD is trying to kiss and make up — but what, no flowers?
Dear Valued Customer [nothing warms me up like an oddly-spaced generic greeting! – CD]
We regret to inform you that we were unable to fulfill your order for delivery on Feb 14.
We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience that this may have caused and we will be issuing a full refund of all charges made to your credit card as a result of your order.
In response to this issue, by clicking through the following link [link redacted] you will be entitled to receive $15.00 off on all orders placed with FTD.com through May, 30, 2007.
Once again, we sincerely apologize for any inconvenience.
FTD.COM.
Customer Service
Chad Dickerson's blog 
I also had a terrible experience with them. I won’t use them again.
Long ago I learned that most floral sites suck. It’s far better to just contact a florist directly and order flowers from them. You almost always get better arrangements than the generic catalog ones FTD mandates, that cost less since there’s no middleman taking a share. Plus FTD simply sends the order to the florist closest to the destination, so it’s not like you get any say about it being a good one. Next year, order from Fujii in Santa Clara.
I have had good luck with ProFlowers on a number of occasions. The one time they sent substandard flowers, they sent a new bouquet out right away.
Wow, coincidence or conspiracy? I give you my friend Randy’s complaint letter to FTD on this same subject: http://www.rocktober.com/blogarchive/2007_02_11_blogarchive.html
At least they got back to your inquiry and issued a refund. I haven’t heard anything back from the email I sent them and when I called them myself they said no refund beyond 20% for shipping/service fees was possible. I filed a BBB complaint….
FTD does SUCK!
First of all I received my order in a box (Horrible presentation) I and extremely embarrassed that i even used FTD as an option to send flowers to a loved one. But I was even more upset that the quality of the flowers were unacceptable the roses were delivered with the edges all brown which to me means that they were not fresh at all, I also bought a box of candy and they were not delivered until the next day. they said the candy didn’t get there on time because of an act of “GOD” (Weather) they did give me a refund for the flower but not the candy. Never again will i use FTD!
Being one of thousands of REAL FLORISTS throughout the world is not an easy job.
Many of us were also hurt on Valentine’s Day through no fault of our own.
If you’d like to read more about what the Real Florists and Consumers have to deal with each and every day then visit FloristDetective.com and other related sites.
As a Real Florist we feel badly that anyone had problems on Valentine’s or any other day, which is why we feel strongly that to minimize potential disaster in the future it is important to support the local Real Florists and cut out the middlemen.
The Real Florists always give you what you pay for !
CHECK OUT EDIBLE ARRANGEMENTS
AT 631-462-4624
Let’s just hope that this year Real Florists will be the front runners.
We’ll deliver nationwide, through Real Florists, without gimmicks and surcharges.
Direct calls appreciated at 631-878-3600 or 3607
Good luck this year
My wife never received her flowers from the FTD florist (though they did call for directions to her work). The issue is now I can not get them to refund my money. I can’t believe that their customer service is so poor and that they charged me for nothing! I will never use FTD again and hope others follow suit.
Hi – Valentines day can be a very busy time for us in the trade. We work throughout the night to fulfil our valentines orders. We would not take on more than we could make in one night and actually take off the buy now icons from our website when orders reach a certain level. You did well to get out of the dog house with your wife/partner though – well done.
Don’t ask for a refund. If you pay with a credit card, just tell the credit card you never received the service and to issue a credit for services not received. Let them fight it out (FTD and Credit Card). If you paid and did not receive the flowers, just let the credit card know and have them credit the amount back to your account. If FTD tries to charge a second time, tell the credit card it is a fraudulent charge and ask them to take it off your account again. That is why it is better to pay with a credit card for these sort of things. It offers a little bit of protection.
Can anyone suggest a very good Florist near Greenwell Springs Louisianna ? i prefer one who specializes in Tulips.”.’
I really love sending flowers to my loved ones. I specially like sending Tulips and Roses.”,’
As a retail florist, we would never be a member of FTD. Never. We are 100% independent. The problem with FTD and the big on-line flower brokers is (well there are plenty) but the main issue is, they are simply a middleman. They take your money and forward the order to the real florist, often making many errors in the process. The sales reps at FTD often know nothing about flowers at all, they just take a cut of your money and send the order off. They never touch flowers! Save yourself some time, money and frustration and order through a real florist in the neighborhood where you need the delivery made!