No Bouquets for 1-800-Flowers.com

A Catalog Age staffer recently placed an order at 11 a.m. on the Website of 1-800-Flowers.com. The site specifies same-day delivery for orders placed prior to 2 p.m., and the staffer received an e-mail confirmation promising delivery before 7 that evening. But instead of flowers, a customer service call was later delivered, informing the staffer that the flower order had not and could not be fulfilled that day. The phone rep could not cite why, other than “sometimes the local shops get behind schedule and are unable to honor same-day delivery.” Since the time-sensitive occasion was over, the staffer cancelled the order and had to personally deliver a conciliatory belated bouquet from the local supermarket early the next morning. Although the company did send the staffer an $8 gift certificate, it hardly makes up for the disappointment and hassle incurred. So much for the online convenience factor…