Deceptive Floral Order Gatherer to Make Restitution in Tennessee
Teleflorist, Inc., of Southampton, Pa., a floral order gatherer, has agreed to give every Tennessean who placed an order with the company $40 in restitution, after misrepresenting itself as a local Tennessee business in 39 cities, using more than 50 assumed company names. The restitution is part of an agreement between Teleflorist (in no way affiliated with the wire service Teleflora) and the Tennessee state government after the state filed suit against them in September.
The total amount to be paid out to 413 Tennessee consumers is $16,000. Teleflorist also has agreed to pay $13,000 to Tennessee, to stop representing itself as a local business and to disconnect all of their phone listings.
The Tennessee State Florists' Association (TSFA) brought the matter to the attention of the director of consumer affairs, Mary Clement, in May, 2006, and then met with the attorney general in July, 2006. "We did all of our homework, prior to going [to the meeting]" says TSFA executive director Jerry Hankins, AIFD.
Despite this victory, the battle with companies like Teleflorist isn't over, he says. "We're still fighting this," says Hankins. "There are a couple more companies...that we know are doing the same thing."
(Original story at http://www.safnow.org/content/view/5882/72/)
We real florists have a lot of names for companies which deceive consumers like this. The most polite are "order gatherer" and "skimmer". Descriptions dive into public unrepeatibility quickly. Companies which pretend to be local florists are bad for the industry, and bad for the consumer. Nothing makes a real florist madder than a skimmer. We hate these scum of the industry. In the best cases, they're adding on huge service charges and giving poor service. In the worst case, they are simply a rip-off.
Here are a few ways to protect yourself from deceptive phone listings:
1. If you're looking at a website, look for a physical address. Real florists make their location obvious on their websites.
2. Call the shop, and ask where they are actually located in that town. Skimmers will hmm-haw around the question.
3. If you're still unsure, ask the person taking your order what the fastest (or usual) route to the community hospital, or a certain funeral home is. Real florists know. Skimmers will have no clue.
4. Make sure the shop you are calling will actually make and deliver the order. In larger cities, it's common to have a van pool, so your arrangement may be made by one florist but delivered by another. Your concern is who is making the arrangement, not necessarily who drove it to the recipient.
Once the arrangement is delivered, ask the recipient what florist's name is on the enclosure card. Most florists make it obvious who it came from, although some use blank cards. However, if another shop's name is on the card, call whomever took the order immediately and demand an explanation.
It's not enough to trust a yellow pages ad or listing on Yahoo--these can and often are bought. Neither the yellow pages nor Yahoo are in the business of providing accurate information--their business is selling ad space. The key giveaway to skimmer's ads is a phrase such as "We Proudly Serve Cities Near 'Some City', Including :" and a long list of cities linked to web pages with more of the same.
To learn more about deceptive phone listings (and other floral scams), check out Florist Detective, a site dedicated to protecting floral consumers. Protect yourself, and make sure to choose a real florist when you order.