Where are the Ethics?
Wire service rules read in part - members will be held responsible for ethical business practices and all orders shall be sent for full value paid by the consumer including delivery if collected. Incoming orders are to be filled for full value minus a florist delivery charge which should be the same as they would charge a local customer to deliver to the same address.
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Judging by recent postings here and elsewhere on the web, along with comments from florists about the difficulties they have when trying to leave a wire service, one has to ask, "Where are the ethics?"
The wire service's have turned a blind eye to the practices of their "member florists" where curtailment and skimming have been documented and demonstrated to be a continuing problem for both florists and consumers alike.
We know the reasons, it all boils down to greed, and the money readily available. The battle for order volume among the wire services seems to have taken away their ability to do whats right for not only the industry but consumers as well.
On top of that, the various National Floral Publications, and floral organizations like SAF have chosen to walk the fence on this subject, rather than to choose a side (either side) and make a stand. Florists have begun to do just that, make a stand, and as we move forward into the future, those companies, organizations and publications that choose not to do so, will more than likely be left without any florist support.
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We got so fed up with being billed by the wire service for orders from another shop, complaints from customers about orders we called out, and the every increasing cost - 6 years ago ~ said no more wire services. We call orders out to other shops ~ pay via billing or credit card and give customers phone # of florist if they wish - no more complaints - no more wire service bills for work they had nothing to do with....and most importantly - happy customers!
There's more to the story....especially with FTD. Passing on the delivery fees is great, but what about the "service fees." This is FTD's loophole to issue. We all know they charge a service fee of $9.95 to $12.95 and they don't pass that on. The customer pays more than they would froma local florist and ultimately receives less. Every complaint we've had about an order has been a wire order and it is always related to the fact that the customer ordered a product that cost them $55, but the recipient received the $29 product, because that's what FTD wired over.