Florists Urge FTC to Investigate 1800Flowers.com "Free Shipping"
Just in time for the holidays, 1-800-Flowers.com is offering free delivery on all orders. From the consumer's end, this looks like a great deal. But hold on--there's no such thing a free shipping.
What 1-800-Flowers.com is billing as "shipping" for florist delivered items is actually a service charge they keep. According to their contract with florists, the price a consumer pays for a florist-delivered arrangement includes s $7.99 delivery fee. That means, for a $39.99 arrangement, $7.99 goes toward delivery, and $32 is for the flowers.
Let's review that--the prices shown on 1-800-Flowers.com's website include a delivery fee, in addition to the $12 "Shipping" fee they are discounting. Hiding a delivery fee does not make it free, and many, many florists take issue with this practice of adding and discounting a false "Shipping" charge as providing free delivery.
A request, signed by over 100 local florists (signed by most bloggers here at FloristBlogs.com) has been sent to the FTC. You can read the full complaint, and see the signatories, at Florists Urge FTC to Investigate 1800Flowers.com "Free Shipping". 1-800-Flowers.com is not the only online order broker to try the free delivery deception. Visit Florist Detective for more background on the Free Delivery Ruse.