AB 1282 still awaits Governor's signature

According to Frank Russo of California Progressive Report, 550 bills await Gov. Schwarzenegger's signature this week. The governor has until Sunday, Oct. 14 to sign or veto the legislation and we local California florists hope he finally puts the pen to AB 1282 and enacts this much needed legislation to prevent telemarketers and other advertisers from misrepresenting their geographic locations as being in California cities in order to sell floral products.

AB 1282, backed by the California State Floral Association, and supported by florists across the state as well as by the Society of American Florists, will make it illegal for companies like TTP, Inc. (Flowers With Gifted Elegance), Best Floral and All American Florist from purchasing phone numbers with local exchanges, using local sounding business names and having the calls forwarded to out-of-area, out-of-state and/or out-of-US call centers.  

Sacramento's CBS 13 and Salinas' KSBW 8 both did stories this year about the telemarketing scams.

"Flowers are big on Valentines Day. But there's a warning tonight that some companies are posing as local florists and they're not. And if you're not careful, you could spend more than you should for a not-so-rosy arrangement.

Look for a neighborhood florist either in the phone book or online and you'll find listings like these. They have local-sounding names, Some even have local phone numbers.

"That call may be transferred to a call center. That call center could be located anywhere in the country," said Mary Engle, Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

So, while you think you're ordering from an area florist, you may actually be on the phone with someone hundreds, even thousands of miles away. The FTC says it's received complaints about the practice.

"What they do is they charge a processing fee on top of the cost of the floral arrangement. Or, they may substitute a less valuable floral arrangement than what the consumer ordered and pocket the difference," said Mary."

Twenty three states have enacted legislation outlawing these fake local 'flower shops', with State Attorneys Generals from Delaware, Virginia, Tennessee and most recently Florida filing lawsuits against phony florist operations.   

Florida AG Bill McCollum rightfully said

“Consumers are entitled to know with whom they are doing business, and companies who deliberately attempt to conceal their true identity or location have no business operating in our state"

It's time for Governor Schwarzenegger to stand up for California consumers and local florists and say the same thing by signing AB 1282.

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