AIBU To Feel Ripped off by a florist?

[Blankfluff]

My partner had arranged to collect my Valentine’s Day flowers on Saturday morning, which he’d ordered and paid £80 for earlier that week for collection.

However, when he went to collect them, he couldn’t believe what he was presented with. He complained at the time that he didn’t believe the bouquet was worth anywhere near what he’d paid for, others in the store collecting flowers agreed with him but the florists dealing with the collection just gave him a snooty response and carried on serving other customers. He called me to explain, but I had assumed he’d been dramatic, however, when he presented me with them, I was equally shocked, I can’t have thought these would be more than £40 from a good florist or maybe £25 from M&S.

Looking to get some other opinions, would you be happy with these flowers for £80? Personally, I think he should have been offered a partial refund if he wasn’t happy, or that they could have added a little to the bouquet to fill it out a tad. But equally very happy to be told this is what flowers cost and we should adjust our expectations accordingly

YABU - this is good value for money
YANBU - they have had his pants down

An adult who has a choice on how to spend their own money.

@Blankfluff I've never been disappointed with Bloom and Wild. Even the letterbox flowers perk up within hours/minutes of being in water and all have lasted a decent amount of time.

Oh wow... my local tiny shop sells flowers for a ridiculous price when they're on their way out. The last lot I got was 12 white roses for 10p (I bought 2 lots) and they lasted another week 😲

I'd be really upset with these!

Well, op’s dh chose to spend his on that and paid up without a murmur, which does seem a little misguided, to say the least.

They should refund the whole amount, the flowers were wilted.

To be honest I don’t understand the issue, as in what was he promised it would be before purchase? How large of a bouquet, what flowers, how long was it anticipated to last for etc? Without that information it’s hard to know if what you had is not as described. For all we know, the florist may have been upfront that what you got was the expected product.

I don’t think it looks like it costs £80 but that doesn’t automatically mean the item was significantly not as described. It’s not unheard of for basic things to be overpriced. What was agreed?

Although the B&W do pick up, if it’s a special occasion, it’s underwhelming when the letterbox ones arrive, limp, floppy and looking half dead. For the money the amount was not great. I complained and they sent me another lot, so they are good to deal with. For a recent anniversary, however, they were a lot better, and they have lasted a long time.

The typical flowers for Valentines always appears to be red and pinks.
like you I’d prefer cream or whites.

I called a florist on the Friday before to order flowers for a sudden bereavement realising the chance of getting anything suitable was going to be limited. The florist did struggle, telling me what she had other than lilies (no to lilies ). White roses, eucalyptus gipselia green carnations and pink tiger lilies, very much like your bouquet but more.
£40 delivered. It was a beautiful display in a water box too.

I think your dear hubby, wasn’t just ripped off, but possibly given the wrong bouquet? Worth going in on that tactic.

They are not worth 30, not 5 even. He should ask for the full price back, and if they refuse he should contact Trading standards. £80 is a lot of money, even if they’d been fresh! Lidl would have been a better option.

Men don’t like complaining in shops. Me, however…

You really fail to comprehend that people live and make choices differently to you?

Except, he did raise it with the florist and bottom line being, it was still his choice.

They look poor quality but he accepted them, paid for them and left the shop with them so, on that basis, you are being unreasonable.

Nothing like photographs put up with your review to drive the point home.
They are awful.
He was ripped off.

Same thing happened to my husband a few years ago.
I rang them and sent in the photos and told them they were appallingly bad and the only reason my husband wasn't going in was because he had left on a trip.
I told them I would be circulating the photos to friends on WhatsApp groups.
I didn't even ask for replacement I was just so pissed off with the half dead bouquet for my birthday.
I received an incredible bunch later that day and a genuine apology from the owner who agreed it was a very poor showing.

True, and anyone who isn't assertive.

And sometimes you doubt yourself, especially in a busy shop and only realise later that ypu should complain.

Also, so many threads on women who've left the hairdressers with a haircut or service they're not happy with, but not everyone is good at raising it.

I have sympathy for florists having to deal with single days (mothers day being the other obvious one) that are so diaproportionately huge that they account for a meaty chunk of the entire year's bottom line. So on those days i would expect to pay over the odds. But there's definitely a limit, and that kind of money for a relatively modest bunch, clearly breaches said limit by a long way.

I’d speak to the owner and if they don’t refund you then id tell them you’ll give them poor reviews online with the photographic evidence! That mignt make them think!

Florist here!! 👋
Her price is correct... in that roses this valentine's have been £2.80 per stem wholesale. She has 10 roses plus foliage- these are a premium variety of rose also. If they have used the industry standard mark up (which remember is needed to actually pay the florist a wage, cover business costs such as rent and equipment) the price should be around £84 for the bouquet.
The price for this bouquet at the time of year (given hiked up wholesale costs due to it being valentine's) is completely right.

HOWEVER! The roses are very poor condition!
I don't like to knock others in my profession, particularly as i dont know the age of the roses, how they've been conditioned or the condition that the wholesaler sent them to the florist (which had been poor this year). But, I personally would not have sent out these roses, but thats just me! 😬

I doubt it’s just you, I’ve never seen flowers in such poor condition offered for sale anywhere I can think of.

Fifty quid per bouquet is a fairly hefty contribution to overheads.

Agree- supermarket for me!

A florist needs to cover rent, business rates, wages and more. It isn't £50 mark up per bouquet. Florists don't just unwrap the flowers and put them straight in a bouquet. There is preparation involved and skill. If you don't value a premium product then buy at the supermarket, but flowers from a major retailer are not a direct comparison.

Mine from Morrisons looked better than that! What a rip off.

All supermarket flowers look better than that!

Zero skill in that bouquet!
I want the 1% who voted YABU to justify their vote !