Warning, FTD.com is not mile worthy.
 

Twice this year I made purchases on FTD.com and they failed to deliver my flowers. The first time was Valentine's Day, and the second was Mother's Day. Both times I made my purchases with FTD because of the added benefit of receiving airline miles (AA & DL). They failed to deliver both times and they almost managed to ruin both holidays for me.

At least on Valentine's Day when they didn't deliver, I was able to go to a local florist at 7:30 PM and pay top dollar for a dozen roses for my wife. However, I wasn't that lucky for Mother's Day, since I live in NYC and they flowers were being delivered in Florida.

I haven't tried 1-800 Flowers yet, but you can be rest assured that I will never make a purchase on FTD.com again. The attraction of the airline miles is not worth their lack of service, and the total disappointment and empty feeling you feel for not being able to deliver a message of love to your family members.

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I've always gotten great service and wonderful flowers from FTD.com. It all depends on the local florist since that's all FTD is: a network of participating florists. The florists that happen to serve the zip codes that I've used have all been outstanding.

1800flowers.com, on the other hand, ships flowers out from a central location. I stopped ordering from them about a year ago when they sent my wife a dozen very tired-looking roses. My wife (also an AA Platinum) knew exactly why she got tired roses in the mail instead of fresh ones delivered at work: bonus miles. She busted my chops pretty good for that one. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/eek.gif

Added bonus with FTD.com is that they can take a same-day order. It's too bad the locations you need have bad FTD florists. I tend to avoid Valentine's Day and Mother's Day for flower-ordering because I fear that places will skimp on quality or not show up at all...

I stopped ordering from both because the miles never posted & it was a hassle to get them posted. My time spent getting them to post wasn't worth the measly 500 miles. I just use a regular florist whenever I order flowers now.

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Sharon

I think is depends on who the local florist is. I've used FTD twice, the second time everything went according to plan - miles posted after about 6 weeks.

The first time, the florist forgot to attach my message so the recipiant (elderly aunt turning 70) didn't know who had sent the flowers. After a call to FTD then sent out a second bunch the same day for free.

Good customer service but maybe a few bad local frachises.


-- Dambus

Would you fly on an airline if you were told that they had good customer service and bad airplanes? I think not.

FTD.com http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/thumbsdown.gif

Just sent out flowers to my Mom on Mother's Day using 1-800 Flowers. The flowers arrived on time and fresh. Now we´ll just have to see if/when the miles post

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http://www.benjaminwagner.com
Great music!

We used FTD.COM twice to send flowers to my MIL in Brooklyn.

In both cases, the flowers were delivered from a florist on the other side of Brooklyn (about a 30 minute drive) and were sub-standard.

We questioned FTD why the flowers were coming from so far away, and they said that they give the business to florists on a rotating basis. I find that hard to believe. There are LOTS of florists in her area of Brooklyn and on both occassions they came from the same far away place.

I think there's more to it than what they told us. Perhaps the florists pay a placement fee to ftd.com to get more business via the internet.

We were able to get a refund for one of the deliveries.

Mary

Been using FTD.com for a few years and never had a problem getting the flowers delivered or the miles posting.

I have had great success using FTD and getting miles to UAL.

I've had nothing but success from ftd.com. The AA points actually post with several days of placing the order.

I have ordered twice from FTD and both times the flowers never arrived on time. In one instance they were two days late. It was even more difficult to get the miles credited. I have become smarter and purchase my flowers in a locally where I walk out with them after I pay!

Call me another unhappy FTD customer. Last year's Mother's Day order arrived the day after Mother's Day, even though it was oredered several days in advance. This year we used 1-800-Flowers (for the SPG points) and all three orders arrived on time, and fresh, in 3 different states. Now, lets see if those points post!

Robin

I've ordered flowers well over a dozen times from FTD.com and once from 1800Flowers. My one experience with 1800Flowers ended up with the recipient getting practically dead flowers.

All experiences with FTD.com have been exactly as promised. All flowers arrived on the proper day as promised and were always fresh (as far as I know).

I primarily send flowers to Albany, NY - Troy, NY - Wilmington, DE - and Bear, DE.

-Chris

I used FTD.com for the first time this past weekend for mothers day. Even though I placed the order on Thursday, they delivered them on time and - according to my mom - in the most beautiful shape she has ever seen roses in. She said they came from the best florist on Long Island and wanted to photo them.

I think it probably does depend on the florist they use. In this case I was very lucky. I will use them again.

I have used 1800 flowers in the past and have not gotten such glowing review from her. In one case, they delivered them a day late for her birthday, which I find unacceptable if the recipient is home and they accept the order.

I will definitely go with FTD - especially if they keep offering the 1200 united miles with the order.

My bad experience was with 1-800-Flowers. The flowers I ordered arrived on the wrong day, with a card that included an incomplete and misspelled message.

I've used FTD.com twice in the past three weeks (with delivery to two different states), and was very happy with their service. I was pleased to know that flowers can be delivered the same day, and conversations with the recipients afterwards indicated that the flowers were in great condition.

I think many of you are correct that it may be more about the local florist than anything else.

Edited to add that the AA miles from FTD.com posted within a couple of days. Love that!

[This message has been edited by Savannah (edited 05-13-2003).]

1800flowers.com is my usual florist. They offer slightly more miles than ftd.com.

However, this year due to a desire to line up my order w/next month's billing cycle for the Citibank MastercAArd I have come to love, 1800flowers.com was unable to get anything to my mom in time for Mothers Day. So, I went with ftd.com and they delivered on time, as well as posted my miles quickly. And the really important thing (not the miles), Mom really liked her flowers. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

FTD has let me down too many times. A safer option is to call a local florist and see if they are willing to take the order. Not getting flowers delivered is not worth the miles.

I am not a heavy user but I have used FTD.com twice (sending flowers to Germany) and it was excellent.

Flower arrangement was huge and fresh, delivereed right to the bedside of the patient in the hospital I was sending them too within. Miles posted within a couple of days to AA.

Very pleased with the service.

When sending flowers, it is usually to someone close to your heart, be it you mother, wife, or whomever. It is an emotional purchase and one that you want to go smoothly. The flowers should arrive on time and be worth the money you paid for them.

It seems the problem with FTD.com is one of reliability. The concept is great, but the product and service is too erratic to trust.

Even for miles!

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Latitudes.

For my part, I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel’s sake. The great affair is to move; to feel the needs and hitches of our life more nearly; to come down off this feather-bed of civilisation, and find the globe granite underfoot and strewn with cutting flints.
Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–1894)

I'm surprised to hear this because the FTD network has been around for YEARS (when you would place orders with your local florist who would transmit the order to a florist in the recipient's area.) I'm surprised they've lasted so long if their service is so shoddy.

I ordered from The Flower Club a few years ago and the recipient was thrilled with their service. Has anyone used them recently? I know they still offer CO miles, and probably others.

I've had great experiences with Proflowers.com, even though I've never found any way to get miles for using them other than using my FF-earning Visa to buy their flowers.

Another reason not to use FTD,com is that you can not use internet coupon codes AND get miles. Currently there is a $10 off code ( http://www.couponmountain.com/FTD/FTD_coupon.html )
There is also one for 1800 flowers. While I love the miles, I'd rather have the cash!

I used FTD to send flowers to both my mother and my husband's mother in Austria. FTD is the only company that specifically lists Austria in their list of international destinations. I was surprised this time that the miles posted within a week (plus an AAdvantage Gold bonus). 800Flowers on the other hand, at least for me, had to be coaxed into giving me the miles...and that's after many calls.

1800flowers.com has saved my a$$ a couple of times when I was OOT on mother's day and birthdays.

I just used FTD.COM for Mother's Day and got excellent service. I messed up the delivery date (I somehow asked for June 6) and an actual human at FTD noticed that the card said Happy Mother's Day, so she phoned and e-mailed me and I was able to straighten everything out. Mom loved the flowers, so they were aces on that account too.

If I'm sending flowers, I want the highest possible likelihood of a successful delivery.

I always call a florist directly, using online info to find a florist who is located close to where the flowers will go. When speaking to the florist, I can discuss the type of flowers as well as the time/details of delivery.

I've never had a non-delivery. I've obviously missed out on several thousands of miles, but the value (to me) of assured delivery is far greater than the value of the lost miles.

I agree. Their flowers are always beautiful and they last forever. I ordered some roses for my mothers birthday from them and they lasted for 2 weeks. This was in July in Las Vegas!

Always call a local florist or have a concierge service do it. 800-FLOWERS, FTD, etc, end up charging you more for less with more complexity (resulting in more problems).

I also used FTD.com for Mother's Day with perfect results. I've used them about a dozen times and have never been disappointed. I used the FTD link on goldpoints.com for the 100 goldpoints/$ promo which was then converted into AAdvantage miles at a ratio of 8:1, slightly better than AA's promo of 10 miles/$. I'd use FTD again without hesitation.

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AAdvantage Platinum Member, OnePass Member, Mileage Plus Member, SkyMiles Member, WorldPerks Member, Dividend Miles Member, FlightFund Member, Radisson Goldpoints, Hilton Honors, Marriott Rewards, Starwood

Glad to hear from you that said miles from
FTD posted in a couple days BUT mine is more like those that did not post that quickly..And are not posted yet. The posting for special deals should not depend on individual florists..The FTD web site
is where the orders are placed and that is where the miles should post from. The costs
to the individual florists should be included with the commission that they are charged by the web site

I have to give FTD the thumbs up
The best mile earning deals/promos for the ordering of flowers
As good or better pricing then 1-800 Flowers
Speedy miles posting less then 2 or 3 weeks
And outstanding quality from the last 6 orders placed
All these companies can blow it on a given day.And I've been there http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif
I have many orders botched by both Flower Club and 1- 800 flowers
With a little work I was able to resolve the issues.
But it is not fun to have your order show up
a day after the holiday or not at all !
Because each order goes through different contracted florists it opens the door for mistakes.
Depending how you order on line or by phone creates the next possibility of problems depending on the accuracy of order taker.
Those human beings arrggghh
Yes they can mess it up http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif
On line from my experience works a bit better
as you can specify more clearly all your specifics.
I also find FTDs website to be easier to order on over 1 800 Flowers
Better luck next time around ? !


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AA & Starwood,Marriott Platinum
Hyatt, Hilton Diamond
Swissotel Club Gold
U/A 1k

[This message has been edited by 777 global mile hound (edited 05-20-2003).]

I've had good results recently with Proflowers.com and receive miles on Midwest Airlines.

I am also a believer in just calling up a local florist near where the flowers are going to and thus bypassing all of the middlemen. The money that is saved is worth a lot more than any points that could have been earned. Plus, there is only one entity to hold to the fire if something goes wrong.

My experience with FTD has been extremely positive. The deliveries were timely, flowers were fine quality, & the miles posted within 3 weeks. The 20 mile/$ UA promotion in May was a easy way to obtain substantial mileage.

Next time try Proflowers.com. They are always great and their roses last forever it seems. They don't give miles though.

Yup, me too.

For the bosses promotion, co-workers special events, the office gal where I live: FTD.com cause it's no big deal if they get there on time, etc.

For my MOM: I call "Pearl" at the local florist in Cumberland, Virginia. Haha. I keep Pearl's name and history in my PDA and somehow my Mom always gets a HUGE beautiful arrangement.

But, boy, does Pearl like to talk! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif


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Just trying to keep up with the gals in the trailer park next door.

If a good local florist near me rolled out a solid online interface, I'd drop FTD in an instant. I've been very happy with FTD.com and the miles I've gotten - but I'd love to go straight to the source. The problem is, the only interface I've found to a local florist is via FTD.com.

Never Again!

FTD also blew both Valentines Day and Mothers Day. Valentines Day flowers finally were reveived two days late and Mothers Day were three days late. I also had little choice but to just roll with it as I was 1000+ miles away.

Unreliable and poor customer service. They offered a $10.00 credit - 15%.

I found the florist in Mom's little village (not even a stoplight in town, though the speed limit does drop from 55 to 25!) by looking in the online Yellow Pages or their equivalent. Of course, I have to use phone time to book the order as they don't have a website.



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Just trying to keep up with the gals in the trailer park next door.