WATCH: Late or missed deliveries and dead flowers are just some of the complaints aimed towards a Canadian online flower company. Elaine Yong has the details.
For many children, there’s no better present to give on Mother’s Day than a beautiful bouquet of flowers.
But two B.C. daughters were heartbroken when their intended presents were badly botched by Bloomex – a flower delivery company with perpetually poor ratings from the Better Business Bureau.
“I would like to see these guys shut down. Improper business practice infuriates, and I’d really like a refund,” says Sheila Coleman, a North Vancouver lawyer.
Coleman wanted to give her mom the the most expensive bouquet from Bloomex, which costs $154, for the Friday before Mother’s Day.
“For Mother’s Day, it seems to be the easiest thing to do when you’re so far away. I tried to pick them well, she’s a real aficionado,” said Coleman.
When the flowers came on Friday, Coleman’s mom was late getting to her apartment’s front door when Bloomex rang. By the time she got there, they had left a note saying they would be back on Monday. When they arrived, they were wilted and had black mold.
“They looked like they’d been sitting on a truck all weekend,” she said.
Coleman wasn’t the only British Columbian with problems with Bloomex on Mother’s Day. Victoria resident Allyson Miller and her twin sister ordered two flower displays for their stepmom and grandmother in Penticton. They paid $140 for a Saturday delivery, but one appeared on Friday, at the wrong address, with red roses instead of multiclour ones.
“Her flowers are pretty, but it’s kind of weird to send your Grandma a dozen red roses on Mother’s Day,” said Miller.
Their other set of flowers never arrived, despite paying extra for Saturday delivery.
“It took seven calls to reach someone, I said I just want you to know my flowers haven’t been received, they were ordered for Friday and it’s now Monday, and then they hung up on me,” said Miller.
It was only after their experiences that Coleman and Miller searched online, and saw the litany of complaints against Bloomex. Over 250 complaints have been lodged against them from various Better Business Bureaus in the past three years.
When Global News ordered three displays from Bloomex last week, two arrived with broken stems and wilted mums, while the other never arrived on the requested date.
Bloomex emailed afterwards to explain they didn’t have weekend delivery in the area, and offered to upgrade the order at no additional cost – but they didn’t respond to our formal interview request.
Coleman and Miller want to make sure that their experience doesn’t happen to anyone else.
“I did consider a small claims suit, but that would probably be more of a nuisance for me,” said Coleman. “They offered me credit, but I don’t want that because I don’t intend to ever send someone moldy flowers again.”
– With files from Elaine Yong
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