FTD.com’s customer service is the worst I have experienced

Sorry, I know this is a really long post. If you don’t want to read it, the summary is that I recommend that you not use FTD.com to send flowers or other gifts. The customer service is literally the worst I have ever experienced.

This past Sunday evening, I ordered flowers through FTD.com for delivery to Jennifer yesterday. Because Jennifer is a temporary intern at a hospital with many employees, I knew that delivery might be a little difficult. As such, I provided FTD with Jennifer’s mobile phone number. The website indicated that she might be contacted to schedule delivery. I also tried to get the order status once per day on Monday and Tuesday. Each time I was told, “Your order is being processed by a local FTD florist. We will check with the florist on your order number FNK1564596 and provide you with a status update via email. Thank you for using FTD.com.” I never received an email.

Around noon yesterday, Jennifer called me and told me that a florist had tried to deliver some flowers to the hospital, but that the receptionist didn’t know Jennifer so they hadn’t been left. I know that Valentine’s Day is a busy day for florists, probably the busiest all year. However, I wish that the delivery person had, at that point, taken a more proactive approach. He or she could have left the flowers there. Doesn’t it make sense that, if I ordered flowers for a person at a particular hospital, I probably wasn’t mistaken that the recipient is there someplace? Alternatively, he or she could have called Jennifer on her mobile phone. I intentionally provided her number when I placed the order for just such a contingency. Instead, the delivery person took the flowers when he or she left.

In spite of the fact that I think the delivery person could have done something more, I can accept that delivery problems happen. I really can. But I cannot accept my experience that followed Jennifer’s call to me.

After she called, I immediately called FTD.com. When I did, I was told that, because of extraordinary call volume, the wait time would be in excess of 60 minutes. I literally didn’t believe the recording, and thought I had surely misheard the recorded lady’s voice. I hung up and called back. Again, I was told that the wait time would be in excess of 60 minutes. Because I happened to be on my way to a lunch-break appointment, I hung up and decided to call back when I got back to my office.

When I did, I put the call on speaker phone and just turned it down in the background while I did some work. While I was holding, a lady’s voice periodically told me that, for my convenience, I could, in lieu of waiting in the hold queue, visit FTD.com and send a message. Determined to talk to a live person, I didn’t hang up the phone but I did stop working for a few minutes and submit such a message. In response to my message, I received this email, clearly some sort of form answer:

Thank you for contacting us regarding your recent order. We are always happy to hear from our customers and enjoy assisting you. We are so sorry to hear that there are questions surrounding the delivery of your order. We will contact the florist immediately regarding the details of the delivery. Our goal is to respond to you within 24 hours. Thank you for shopping with FTD.COM. Sincerely, FTD.COM

When I got the response, I felt my blood pressure rise. I quickly typed a response, a copy of which I wish I had kept. I don’t remember exactly what I wrote, but basically I explained my experience up to that point with FTD.com and asked for someone to email me or call me with the name and number of the local FTD florist so I could simply call and schedule a delivery. I ended my email by saying that if the situation was not resolved then I would not use FTD.com for future orders. Not surprisingly, I received the following which, again, I believe to be some sort of form answer:

Thank you for the feedback. We are always happy to hear from you and address any questions or concerns you may have. Once reviewed, we will pass your comments to the appropriate staff member or department. If there are questions, we will contact you at the email address provided. Thank you for shopping with FTD.COM. Sincerely, FTD.COM Customer Service

After holding for 45 minutes – at least it was 15 short of the anticipated 60 – I spoke to someone in customer service. She assured me that another delivery attempt would be made yesterday, and that, if there were any problems, Jennifer would be called on her mobile phone to schedule a delivery time.

Jennifer heard nothing all afternoon. After 5:00, the time by which I was told another delivery attempt would be made, I again tried to call customer service. I expected a long hold again, but was willing to wait because I was fuming and, whether or not the poor customer service representative was personally responsible, wanted to take it out on someone. I was incredulous when I received a message that said, because of the extraordinary call volume, I could not speak to a customer service representative at that time. The recorded lady urged me to call back at a later time. I actually did try a few additional times, but received the same message each time.

Later yesterday evening, I received the following message:

Dear David, We regret to inform you that due to holiday volumes, we are unable to process your request for delivery confirmation at this time. Thank you for purchasing your order through FTD.COM Sincerely FTD.COM. Customer Service

I fired off another email that, again, explained the whole situation, informed them that I didn’t need delivery confirmation because I knew that it hadn’t been delivered, and requested a full refund. I followed up by going to the website and following a link to cancel my order. This morning, this gem of an email was waiting in my inbox:

Thank you for contacting FTD.COM. We are always happy to hear from our customers and enjoy assisting you. We received your recent request to cancel your order. Unfortunately, your order was already in the process of being delivered. We are so sorry that we were unable to accommodate your request. Thank you for shopping with FTD.COM Sincerely, FTD.COM Customer Service Order

So, the bottom line is that, not only were the flowers not delivered on the day I requested, but I was misled by customer service, and then couldn’t even talk to anyone else to try to work out a solution. The most frustrating part was the inability to get in touch with anyone, and the fact that, every time I sent detailed information and requests for some solution, I received what appear to be form responses. I chose FTD.com because I anticipated that they would be prepared for a huge Valentine’s rush and, being a name that is recognized world wide, I expected that things would go smoothly. If I had known that the customer service would be so poor, I would have made other arrangements with a local florist. Learn from my mistake; don’t waste your time and money with FTD.com.