The English Garden

Ordered a certain arrangement for my best friend (suddenly in her final days in Methodist Hospice). 7/25 Ordered from the provider's website. Same day delivery was offered and requested. (Available if order placed before 2pm-it was). When I called, on the order date, to ask about the when of the delivery I was told they would go out that afternoon. I also asked if all the flowers in the picture were available and was told "It will look just like the picture." I was hopeful of a timely delivery of a lovely arrangement. Neither happened. An arrangement was delivered after 2pm on 7/26. The arrangement looked NOTHING like what I had seen on the website. When I spoke to the family who were in the room when the arrangement arrived, I was told the flowers didn't even look fresh. They took a picture and emailed to me. Not even the colors were right. It was a small, grim, and amateurish presentation. I quickly found the email address for Ms. Cheri Howle, listed on the website, and advised her of my deep disappointment and sense of offense. Her first reply was regret, explanation of why she changed what I ordered to what was delivered (her decision, not of necessity), that she would make another, that she again was sorry but would "make it right". (Friday night, 7/26, at 9:42pm) Unfortunately, my friend had slipped into unconsciousness by then. Emailed Ms. Howle 8am Monday 7/29 that a new arrangement was too late, that the only way to make it right was to credit my card. Sent 3 more emails to her before getting a very grudging response (8/21) to send her my address so she could mail a check-- "If I refund any money". Her not so subtle message in her comments effectively let me know that she thought I was at fault somehow. Sent address right away. Sent 2 more emails, the last one on 9/10. No check, no reply. I finally filed a billing dispute with my cc company. I faxed a copy of the emails to them. They approved immediately and the charge was removed from my card. A stressful experience in a very sad time. Ms. Howle should be ashamed for handling a customer that way--especially one in this situation. I gave her every opportunity to do the right thing. She declined.

I ordered flowers several days ahead of time from The English Garden to be delivered to my fiancee' at work on Feb 13th (the day before Valentine's day) before 4pm. The flowers arrived very late in the afternoon, around 5:45 pm, after everyone in the office had already left for the day. They were left at the receptionist's desk. When my fiancee' went to work the next morning, she picked up the flower arrangement and sent me some pictures. The flowers looked horrible, were wilted, thin, and some appeared half dead. This was a huge embarrasment for me. I forwarded several of the pics the the florist and asked for either a refund or immediate replacement, to which I never received a reply. I have since called and emailed at least 5 times with no response.

I would not give them a grade less than A+ on everything. I think of them very highly.