Hi everyone, we need your help! It's a bit of a long read but please bear with us. Recently with Valentine's Day, and previous holidays to be sure, we have had an influx of calls from upset recipients. Comments range from "they were left on the step and froze" to "why did I have to put the arrangement together myself?". These complaints all have one thing in common; they were not sent through us. There is another company out there called Bloomex, notice how their name is very close to ours? We are mistaken for them all the time. The catch is they don't have a location here in Brandon and to fill those orders they ship them through common overnight couriers in a box and are most often left on your front step like any other package. If you are lucky, maybe you are home to bring them in right away. If not, well everyone knows we have frost warnings in the fall and spring for a reason and it can be blistering in the summer. On the bright side if they are frozen you could set them up outside your living room window and enjoy them until the spring thaw, just don't bring them inside.....
Bloomex and other companies like them are based on massive call centers and websites designed to convince you they have physical locations where they really do not. We have caught them claiming to have physical shops in places like Alexander MB and St. Francis Xavier MB. We call them Order Gatherers or OGs for short, and they don't care if you are happy or not because their policy is never to refund, ever. Once they have your money its gone regardless of if you are satisfied with what you received or not.
These companies are usually pretty easy to spot with only a couple of general rules. Note in the picture above this blog that everything on their site is hugely discounted, 40-50% off is not uncommon, or at least appears to be. More on that in a minute. Second, they claim to send flowers, well, literally everywhere and anywhere "same day 24/7". While we would love that to be true, the reality is some places are just too remote. Remember when I said they don't do refunds? Yeah, where you are trying to send to means nothing. They get your money and they keep it, period. A good rule for life has always been if its too good to be true, it probably isn't.
Regarding their "discount prices", they really aren't at the end of the day. For this write up we started placing an order for a classic half dozen roses. Note the vase wasn't included, so we added that in since 99% people choose to have a vase with their purchase. By the time it was all said and done, it comes to a total of $78.37 and you've saved a whopping $40! Wow, good deal right? Except that our half dozen roses vased comes to $61.25 taxes in, delivered, and that's our everyday price. Almost $20 less and 100x the quality. It's also worth mentioning that we hand make every bouquet, call every order to make sure someone is home to receive it or it doesn't leave the shop, delivery within Brandon is $5 vs the $14.99 they charge, we have a 7 day guarantee, and best of all we are local. Sure beats the recipient assembling the flowers themselves or having the product you paid hard earned money for freeze on the step right? These guys are predators through and through, and they are pros at getting your money.
Of course this is our page so we will always promote ourselves first and foremost, but there are two other local shops in Brandon that would also love to serve you if we aren't your cup of tea. Sending somewhere outside of Brandon? Apply the simple rules above or better yet give us a call and we can put you in contact with a local shop almost anywhere you are sending to. We don't make any money or commission on this, but offer it as a service to our clients at no charge to make sure they are getting value for their money and a quality product on the other end. The main point is we want you to be happy with the flowers you send or receive and the best way hands down is through a local florist, even if you choose someone besides us.
Please share this with all your friends and family no matter where they are, and remember local florists are your best bet for sending beautiful fresh flowers anywhere and everywhere!