# FTD has slipped a lot **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 11, 2012, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ftd-has-slipped-a-lot/621642 "2012-05-11T20:16:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![fifty-six](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@fifty-six](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fifty-six)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2012, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ftd-has-slipped-a-lot/621642/21 "2012-05-15T02:10:47Z")
I always find a local shop tell them a price range. It has worked great for me in the past. I do not need the middle man. They seem unhelpful. ---
**Author:** ![Girl\_Next\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@Girl\_Next\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Girl_Next_Door)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2012, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ftd-has-slipped-a-lot/621642/22 "2012-05-15T05:13:07Z")
I’ve had numerous problems with 1-800-FLOWERS, from no-shows to sending dead flowers. I also know other family members who’ve had trouble with them. Now I either call a local florist direct or I go to [FTD.com](http://FTD.com) and choose the selections which say they can be delivered by a local florist. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2012, 10:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ftd-has-slipped-a-lot/621642/23 "2012-05-15T10:17:53Z")
I used to deliver flowers p/t when I was in college. Mother’s Day and Valentine’s Day are absolute clusterfucks. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2012, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ftd-has-slipped-a-lot/621642/24 "2012-05-15T10:53:14Z")
> [@An\_Arky](#): > > I used to deliver flowers p/t when I was in college. Mother’s Day and Valentine’s Day are absolute clusterfucks. And it’s such a shame that they keep changing the timing of them so no one knows how to anticipate and plan ahead… ---
**Author:** ![JuliaSqueezer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/82dd89/32.png) [@JuliaSqueezer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JuliaSqueezer)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2012, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ftd-has-slipped-a-lot/621642/25 "2012-05-15T14:06:55Z")
If you do use a local florist, it’s probably a good idea to check out any review sites you can find. I say this because I’m reminded of an eye-opening article that appeared several years ago in a local city glossy magazine. The writing team called a half-dozen florists in the city and gave them identical orders. I forget the exact parameters, but it was something like “mixed floral bouquet in a nice vase, about “x” $$$ and be creative!” The orders were all delivered to one staffer’s home and photos were taken of each arrangement. The difference in the quality, quantity and appearance of the floral arrangements was remarkable. The florists’ interpretations of the “be creative” part was particularly funny. Request and delivery times, as well as the final costs were also included, and the florists were rated with stars based on each element. I remember the article created quite a stir, with threats of lawsuits and butt-hurt letters to the editor. ---
**Author:** ![Moonlitherial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Moonlitherial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonlitherial)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2012, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ftd-has-slipped-a-lot/621642/26 "2012-05-15T14:18:04Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > And it’s such a shame that they keep changing the timing of them so no one knows how to anticipate and plan ahead… Oh they prepare for it but you can’t staff all year for the couple of occasions you’re going to be run off your feet. If one delivery van is all you need 95% of the time you’re not going to have a second one just for those couple of days. Temp staff helps but it’s not the same as trained employees. Restaurants at least have a slightly larger employee pools so they just have more staff in and then they have to deal with the fact that there are a limited number of tables. ---
**Author:** ![shiftless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@shiftless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shiftless)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2012, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ftd-has-slipped-a-lot/621642/27 "2012-05-15T15:31:40Z")
I didn’t want to take a chance on FTD once so I called the florist in my wife’s building directly. I assumed that would give me an advantage when it came to delivering to her since they just had to take them upstairs. They apparently called FTD, or similar, so the flowers ended up coming from across town, two days late. Their excuse was that they were so busy, which is true on Mother’s day I’m sure. Still, calling the florist directly didn’t work for me. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2012, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ftd-has-slipped-a-lot/621642/28 "2012-05-15T15:37:32Z")
> [@An\_Arky](#): > > I used to deliver flowers p/t when I was in college. Mother’s Day and Valentine’s Day are absolute clusterfucks. > [@WhyNot](#): > > And it’s such a shame that they keep changing the timing of them so no one knows how to anticipate and plan ahead… The problem is, as pointed out, that the florists can’t hire several more delivery people for just one day. Or so I assume. I don’t go out to eat on Mother’s Day or Valentine’s Day or any similar holiday. Yeah, many restaurants have specials on those days, but the places are always jam packed and the servers are overloaded, so I will just say that I want something grilled at home, and we can go out another day. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2012, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ftd-has-slipped-a-lot/621642/29 "2012-05-15T15:43:36Z")
> [@Moonlitherial](#): > > Restaurants at least have a slightly larger employee pools so they just have more staff in and then they have to deal with the fact that there are a limited number of tables. The limited number of tables puts a cap on the number of customers a restaurant can attempt to service on their “super busy” day. As shiftless noted, no such cap exists for a florist, they can figure on getting a temp (or family member) to drive a rented van for the weekend, calling another florist, or some other way to service their ever mounting customer pool. These are days that help make their year profitable, it’s tough to tell a customer you won’t take their money. So, they stretch their capacity to the limit and hope for the best. ---
**Author:** ![Snickers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Snickers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snickers)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2012, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ftd-has-slipped-a-lot/621642/30 "2012-05-15T17:02:15Z")
> [@Antigen](#): > > It’s been my experience that florists are generally happy to put something together for you. I’ll tell them over the phone: “It’s for her birthday, I want to spend about $40, lots of yellow, and she doesn’t like lilies.” Exactly this. However, the florist in my home town has a revamped website with pictures and everything (not certain whether it’s affiliated with anything), so I did that this year. Both Mom and MIL loved their flowers. ---
**Author:** ![Gleena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b3f665/32.png) [@Gleena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gleena)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2012, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ftd-has-slipped-a-lot/621642/31 "2012-05-16T01:12:52Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Went through FTD this year for flowers for my mother and my ex-wife. Ordered them on Thursday. They arrived on Saturday from a florist local to each. No problems as usual. The flowers were beautiful. This for my Mom. I love FTD because they take my overseas credit card, and I have my Mom’s address in there already (and my maiden aunt’s as well). Never had a problem with them. ---
**Author:** ![ShermanAter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@ShermanAter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShermanAter)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2012, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ftd-has-slipped-a-lot/621642/32 "2012-05-16T04:29:27Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Merle Olson commercial. If he were alive today, Merle would football tackle the jerks that messed up my order. 😉 > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOpnEKR5A\_4](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOpnEKR5A_4) The guys name was Merlin Olsen. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2012, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ftd-has-slipped-a-lot/621642/33 "2012-05-16T07:55:05Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Yes, the big chains like FTD have photos on their websites. But I have to wonder whether every florist in every podunk town has the flowers to match the pictures. As others have noted, they don’t. The Consumerist website has featured [quite a few stories](http://consumerist.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-search.cgi?IncludeBlogs=1&limit=20&search=florist) about big flower companies like FTD, Teleflora, 1800Flowers, etc. In some cases, the difference between the photo advertised on the website and the arrangement that actually gets delivered is very noticeable. And, needless to say, the discrepancy is always in favor of the company, not the customer. There are also stories of late deliveries, failed deliveries, wilted flowers, etc. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2012, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ftd-has-slipped-a-lot/621642/34 "2012-05-16T08:11:38Z")
But his good friends called him Merle. 😛 At least I think they did. It’s been decades since I heard any former Rams teammates talk about Olsen. Rosey Grier did a lot of interviews about the Fearsome Foursome after he retired. > [@ShermanAter](#): > > The guys name was Merlin Olsen. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2012, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ftd-has-slipped-a-lot/621642/35 "2012-05-16T08:17:10Z")
Btw, my mom did love her flower arrangement. FTD gave me some headaches but the local florist did a good job with the flower arrangement. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ftd-has-slipped-a-lot/621642.md?page=1)