Full Refund with FTD

10 Easy Steps (without them picking up the original delivery)

1. Remain Calm. This will be easy because you know you will always get a full refund using this process. With that knowledge, there is no need to raise your voice. Trust me, you win at the end.

2. What’s Your Name? Get the name of the person and an extension just in case you get disconnected “accidentally” — especially when you begin to ask for your full refund. It’s not uncommon for their representative to put you on hold for quite a bit and then you get disconnected. Hmmmmm … wonder what happened.

3. Calmly State Your Case. If the order received/delivered doesn’t match the description on their website, just tell them some of the details. I offered to email pictures of what I received vesus what was described on their website. They didn’t want to see it.

4. Good as Gold. Refer to their Good as Gold policy which simply reads:

The FTD ‘Good As Gold’ 7 Day Satisfaction Guarantee

We guarantee fresh, beautiful floral arrangements and plants that will last at least seven days.

If you are not satisfied with the freshness of your flowers, please contact us within that time period and we will replace your item or refund your money.

5. Their Solutions. They will now offer you two options:

a. 10% discount for their mistake
b. Redelivery of what you ordered, but they take away what they originally sent.

In my case, neither of these were acceptable. The 10% isn’t even on the table as a consideration. And my stance on redelivery of what I ordered and taking away what was delivered is simply tacky.

I told the representative what if this was a funeral (mine was a Valentines delivery). Would you actually go and take the flowers off the memorial site. He said that is not their policy, but my point was either a funeral or Valentines, both events are emotionally charged and should be considered the same. You simply don’t take away flowers that have been sent to another person … Martha Stewart Etiquette 101.

6. The Policy. They will refer to their policy: “In order for a full refund, they need to pick up the original order.”

7. MOST IMPORTANT STEP: Re-quote their Good as Gold Policy and calmly ask them to refer you where it says on their website further details regarding they have to pick up the original order first. They will hymn and haw, but stand your ground. They will repeatedly say, “it is our policy” — in my case, I ended up speaking with two people, the last a supervisor, and I heard “it is our policy” at minimum of a dozen times.

a. As soon as I asked the first representative to show this to me, it’s as if I opened up Pandora’s Box. She didn’t know how to respond other than the scripted “it is our policy.” She eventually broke and said that is what the “higher-ups” tell them and my immediate response to that, “Great, that’s who I need to speak with.” They will transfer you, but again, refer to step 2 above — don’t give them an opportunity to just disconnect and make your legitimate issue another person’s problem after you have to call in and repeat everything you just said. Accountability is key here.

8. Supervisor. Now you have the supervisor. Remember step 2.

9. It’s Not There. They will eventually reveal this information is not on their website for us, the consumer, to opt-in or opt-out. As a consumer, we didn’t have an option to accept this return policy or not so drumroll please … the consumer wins all the time.

10. Full FTD Refund. They will send you an email regarding the full refund and you don’t need to explain to your wife, your BFF, your mom, your dad, your support staff, or your kids why someone is standing at the front door or wreaking havoc in your  work cubicle wanting to take away your thoughtful gesture of sending flowers.

Remember to stay calm. You win at the end. Now I’m waiting for Groupon to respond to my full refund request for my FTD Groupon. I obviously won’t be using FTD in the near future and I don’t want to keep watering this Groupon.

Any suggestions to work with Groupon is greatly appreciated. I used their online “contact” form to briefly describe the issue.

Lastly, make sure you get a second opinion before you start asking for full refunds. In my case, the items don’t even look similar. Wrong vase. Wrong display. The only thing “bountiful” about the arrangement description was the amount of time I spent with FTD on the telephone. Total of 48 minutes, but to recover nearly $200 for a Mickey Mouse arrangement, it was time well spent.

 

10 Steps for a Full FTD Refund without them picking up the original delivery.