AIBU - a bunch of gladioli is not a "bouquet"

[chesirecat99]

I bought a monthly flower subscription for DM as a Mother's Day gift. She has been loving them, a different seasonal bouquet every month. I am less impressed. Last month they sent her 10 Agapanthus stems that died within 48 hours (they are guaranteed to last 5 days), not even a shred of greenery with them, this month it is a bunch of gladioli in a random mix of purple, peach, pink and yellow. It's almost a feat to come up with such an ugly combination.

AIBU to expect a "bouquet" to have more than one type of flower or at least some foliage, and/or be an attractive combination of colours/flowers?

These are the example bouquets on the website. They also offer multiple different individual bouquets for next day delivery that are the same price as the subscription.

Have you been in touch with the company to ask why there is such a difference in the pics and what's actually delivered.

You can purchase a bunch of gladioli as a "bouquet", so it doesn't seem that wrong

It sounds like a bit of a scam - the first few are lovely then the rest are dreadful. Try social media to shame them into responding to you?

If it's Bloom and Wild then they're really good with customer service - if you email and politely explain why you're disappointed you'll most likely get another (better) proper bouquet.

I don't think a bouquet has to contain mixed flowers or foliage, so I wouldn't complain about receiving just gladioli (I've only ever seen them arranged on their own with no 'filler').

The quality is the problem, so I'd definitely let them know that the flowers are dying with two days of receipt.

A friend just brought me a bunch today and they’re beautiful

So it might be personal taste but I suppose it depends on what the subscription offer is as to whether your bunch fulfilled what you’ve paid for.

So many of these subscription services rely on the 'letterbox' delivery packs, so the flowers tend to be small and lack impact.

I do a monthly flower delivery for my mum with Freddie's Flowers. They cost the same as Bloom and Wild but you get around double the amount of flowers and they're properly sized bouquets. They are not letterbox delivery, so they can do bigger and better quality flowers.

I would complain and probably cancel, if possible, @chesirecat99

At least that gladioli bouquet has a deliberate contrast/clash and a balanced amount of each colour and is arranged attractively @alltheemptyfields. These look like someone has just grabbed a random handful.

I guess I wouldn't have minded so much if it hadn't been 2 months running with just one flower or if they had shown a "mono" bouquet as an example. Someone with skill has selected and arranged the flowers in the example bouquets. I could nip to the local supermarket and buy a bunch of agapanthus or gladioli for a lot less than the subscription. The cost of the flowers in the gladioli bunch is probably the same as the cost of the flowers in the examples but the whole point of buying a bouquet is the added value of the florist's skills.

I get Freddie's Flowers fortnightly and they're fantastic quality. I had another subscription previously which... wasn't so good, let's say. I'd definitely complain OP., if they're not lasting. They will most likely replace them with no quibbles.

This has always been a bugbear of mine with online flower delivery. The majority of the time they are gifts so the recipient is not likely to complain. I always ask for a photo of them so I can check.