"True Cost of a Floral Stand"
We came in on a Friday to rent six wire tripod floral stands in order to display floral wreaths from our families and relatives for my grandmother's funeral service. It was due to a misunderstanding that the stands were not available at the event center (the grocer florist where the flowers originated did not have any available to lend us).
At this store, we explained the situation to a staff person (who we later learned was also the owner). She brought out 6 stands for us, and we appreciated the fact that this business was able to provide us stands so we can display the memorial wreaths. We told the staff we can return the stands the next day after the service, but due to the store's closing time and the burial service, we were unable to work out a time to return the stands the following afternoon before 3pm. The store would be closed for rest of the weekend. The person who was behind the register told us it was be okay to return them on Monday.
In our haste to get the stands to the funeral location, I glanced at the receipt to find a charge of over $120 for the rental. I recalled feeling dismayed and surprised, and I don't even know why I didn't inquire further. Why didn't I speak up; perhaps it was the stress hormones clouding my logical brain, maybe I had reasoned that the charge included a deposit fee refundable upon return, maybe I thought that these stands must be very costly to purchase. I remembered feeling unsettled that the the owner didn't say anything to us as we rushed out. The next two days that followed were about honoring my grandmother and being with my family. So, I decided to look into this later and talk with the owner later when we returned the items.
The funeral staff were the ones who referred us to this local florist, and they have years of experience with such matters. They were very surprised by the amount we were charged. I learned that florists included these stands with their arrangements, and stands are often left behind after services; furthermore, it was common practice to re-sell these stands back to florists for a few dollars. Doing some research, I also learned that the general wholesale price was a fraction of the rental cost.
On that Monday, I approached the store staff and questioned the transaction. She then explained how the owner had charged $5/day per stand x 6 stands x 4 days plus tax. Now here's what troubled me: why didn't the owner tell us that she was going to charge us 2 additional days because the store was going to be closed? When she carefully said that it would be okay to to bring it back Monday, she should have told us that she would be charging us $30 plus tax per day for us to keep it in our car. Why didn't she offer to sell the stands to us or tell us that we might as well go buy the stands and keep them for what she would be billing? It didn't seem fair, and I shared my feelings with the staff (the owner was not in at the time) in light of this information. I felt that their behavior and lack of honest communication that day in response to my grief and rashness was not good business practice. I even relayed the information I learned from the event center staff, as well as my own product research. The staff directed me to talk to the owner herself who had handled the original transaction.
Just as we were about to board our plane to return home that afternoon after the funeral weekend was over, the store owner called me, and we had a very upsetting conversation without a resolution. I was frazzled by the owner's verbal attacks that I had offended her employee. She remained defensive and refused to explain to me why she had not been more transparent and honest that day; she also refused to tell me the unit cost to purchase one of the stands that we had rented. Neither one of us was in a state to have a productive conversation, and it ended on poor terms.
To the staff who tried to help me that Monday, who also to told me that life is too short to let an unhappy event consume me, I thank her again for this wisdom and have written her a letter of apology for upsetting her that day.
I really struggled writing this yelp, because I didn't how best to write it. My intention in sharing this experience is to remind myself and others to be mindful of situations like this one, where sometimes it is what is not said that hurts us.
My actions are my own. I'm not seeking compensation. I realize that I failed to seek to understand the choices that were available to me then, and I know that I accepted that rental transaction. I do not know or understand the true costs of running a floral business, but I feel and I hope that no matter what state we are in, we should try our best to be honest, be kind, and be open with one another in our business communication. read more