FLORAL ARTISTRY & ESPRESSO

Brides Beware! I bid on and won a Traditional Wedding package valued at $400 from Floral Artistry and Espresso in Lewiston. This did NOT end up being a good thing! I first spoke to Mike early December to set up a time to consult. It was determined that December 21 at 6:30, the only day my daughter would be in town, would work as long as he didn’t have a game to referee. If he had a conflict he was going to call. I didn’t hear from him and so we went to the store at 6:30 on the 21st and it was closed. I called the shop on Saturday, December 22 and the sales clerk that was working said Mike would call Sunday. I didn’t hear back from Mike. I wasn’t too worried because it was the Christmas Season and the sales clerk said Mike was going to be out of town the coming week. I waited until mid-January to hear from him. When I didn’t, I called him back and he said he were very busy until after Valentine’s Day and that we needed to send him the consult papers. I let him know that I didn’t receive the paper in December so he resent them to me at my Gmail account. I sent them back to Mike on Monday, February 25, 2013. When I spoke to Mike the first time I let him know that there were no bride’s maids but a man of honor and a best man and would like to substitute a bouquet for a boutonniere. Mike implied that he would work with us on these substitutions. We also discussed peonies and he quoted a price much higher than we had found anywhere else in the area. The second time I spoke Mike didn’t seem to want to be as accommodating on our substitutions and again quoted a very high price for peonies. At this point I began to get somewhat worried about the services that would beprovided, but I felt confident that we could work a fair exchange out. My daughter spoke to Mike Tuesday, February 26 and by then it seemed as if Mike’s willingness to work with us and to honor his $400 flower commitment had completely diminished. He put us in a pretty difficult position because we purchased the $400 flower package on good faith that he would provide the product we purchased and now it seemed to be in jeopardy. Listed below is the package we purchased and what we wanted. Yes there were a few changes and Mike said that made it a “custom” package and would cost more. 1 Bridal bouquet, 0 2 attendant bouquet, 0 2 Mother's corsages, 3 2 Grandmother's corsages, 2 1 groom boutonniere, 1 1 best man boutonniere, 2 1 grooms man boutonniere, 0 2 father's boutonnieres, 3 1 grandfather’s boutonnieres, 1 1 ring bearer boutonniere 0 1 flower girl basket of rose petals 0 1 toss bouquet-permanent botanical. 1 16 items 12 items The Garden fresh seasonal flowers that Mike offered in our choice of color; roses, orchids, lilies, carnations, calla lilies, and unique accent flowers were acceptable for the corsages and boutonnieres. Because of Mike’s cost for peonies we planned to get the brides bouquet and the groom's boutonniere at another florist. Here is a direct quote from one of Mike’s email. “Bottom line I feel you thought you were purchasing 400 worth of wedding flowers....that is simply not the case.” And his is right. I did expect $400 worth of flowers and services!! At this point it became very clear that Mike from Floral Artistry in Lewiston Idaho, was not willing to fulfill his $400 flower commitment. We did get our money back which we were thankful for, but the point is, we had bid on and won $400 worth of flowers that Floral Artistry was not will to give. We were depending on quality service. We have since gone to Old Post Office Floral in Troy ID and we are very happy. We are getting everything we want including the peonies for under $400. Yes it is more than the $160, but so for the service has been outstanding. I will review Old Post Office Floral after the wedding and let everyone know how it goes.