I called to speak with the owner, Ruth, to talk about the delivery of a bouquet my sister (in Michigan) had ordered to be delivered on my 40th birthday through 1800Flowers. The delivery was an absolute train-wreck: I work on Clemson's campus, which closes at 430p, meaning all outside doors are locked. Ruth called my phone at 458p (mind you, this is basically a half-hour after closing, and I am home with my family enjoying their birthday surprises and absolutely not looking at my phone) and left a voicemail (which I wasn't able to check until several hours later) so unprofessional it was both shocking and hilarious. She ended the message with "I'm just going to put them down on the sidewalk" and the message ended.
This morning, assuming the end of the voicemail is the end of the delivery story, we find the flowers in our office and are surprised they survived the night outside in the rain and figured the facilities folks were kind enough to bring them inside when they arrived. Since my sister spent all sorts of cash and worry on this, I thought it would be fair to contact the owner to have the conversation about what happened.
This conversation did *not* go as one would think. In fact, the owner yells at ME. Because it was my fault I didn't answer my phone when she called (Because everyone answers unknown numbers and she thinks I could have let her in my locked office building from my house?). Because "I was there at 430p!" (No, you weren't - unlike people, timestamps don't lie.) Because "If I had it my way, Clemson University wouldn't even be on my delivery list!" (you're the owner, you can probably make that call, eh?). Because "Clemson has such a good reputation, but you can't even afford to put up street signs!" (really, lady? i'm calling about a botched floral delivery and you want me to address your concerns with city/campus infrastructure? ok.) And then, because I think she'd really felt like she'd gotten herself into a satisfying fit of rage over ALL. THE. THINGS. she hung up on me.
Now, in her defense, she offered (screamed?) that someone leaving let her inside to drop them off, after she had left the voicemail stating she was leaving them on the sidewalk, so they did not spend the night outside as we had originally thought.
Needless to say, I gave my sister the website and direct line for Tiger Lily Florist in Clemson. read more
