1-800-Flowers is A great idea on Mother's Day or Valentine's Day
Written: May 28 '08
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| Full Review |
Now that my parents live about 3000 miles from me, I have to get creative when it comes to holiday gifts. I hadn't used 1-800-flowers before, but we had seen that they were offering a special online, and that was what drew me to the site for the first time. For those unfamiliar with the web-site, they specialize in sending flowers by utilizing a network of florists that they work with around the country. The site works as a buffet of sorts, where you go through the different arrangements of flowers, and decide which one(s) would best fit what you are looking for. They can range from a few roses to a few dozen roses, or many other types of flowers placed together to present a good arrangement for your gift recipient. They can be sent with vases, cards, and various other things that can be included either in one of their packages or added separately.
After perusing through the site for a little while, I came across what I thought would be a good choice in their rose section. My choice was two dozen long stem multi-colored roses, and I went with the option to include a vase with the purchase. The multi-colored selection allowed for several different colors of roses to be included in the overall bouquet. The vase cost a little extra, and while the choices also offered a frosted and colored vase, I went with the clear option. I thought it would best "set-off" the flowers, and could be re-used in many other fashions without clashing with its surroundings. Choosing the flowers is probably the easiest part of using the site, because once that is accomplished you have to go through the process of deciding which shipping method to go with. They offer many different options, which can be next day if you really need it, but can stretch to a ground option that could take a few days if you want to order that far in advance. This doesn't mean that they are shipped a week before they arrive, but rather they get pushed down the list of priorities for the ordering system.
I went with having the flowers delivered two days after I was placing the order. Ordering them on Tuesday, I wanted them to arrive on Thursday, just in case anything went wrong, because it would give me plenty of time to work on something else for my mother. With the purchase confirmed I entered all of my credit card information into the system, and received a confirmation e-mail shortly after that was finished. UPS was scheduled to pick up the flowers, and it had me a little worried, because they indicated that the flowers would be packaged in a nice box alongside the vase, and when they arrived at the doorstep, my mother could then put the arrangement together. It was a little stressful thinking about the flowers going into a delivery truck, and in what state they would arrive, but I went with the assumption that the site must know what they are doing having been in business for so many years.
The flowers did arrive in great condition, looking very healthy, and presented in a nice box that made it easy to take them out and place them in the provided vase. It was a great relief for me to hear that everything had gone perfectly, and it made me a very satisfied customer with 1-800-FLOWERS. One of the things that might be a small deterrent for people using the site is the cost, which was just over $40 for the two dozen roses and the vase, with tax and then the shipping charges put on top of the purchase. It was fine for me to spend that amount for the whole package, but I can see how that could be extremely expensive for someone on a tight budget. They do have much cheaper options available if you are indeed on a budget, and there are also some even larger arrangements that can set you back close to $100. I found the site very easy to use, and with the purchase I was able to send a nice little card to let my mother know that the flowers were from me. With a perfect experience, and absolutely nothing that I can think of that would have made the purchase better, I give this site a very high recommendation.
Recommended:
Yes
What product did you purchase or try to purchase? two dozen roses, clear vase
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