Urban Florist ripoff Misleading delivery promises wrong product delivered horrible customer service Vancouver British Columbia

I recently ordered 18 yellow long-stem roses from this site to be delivered next day, my recently deceased mother's birthday (yellow roses were her favorite flower). I found this site by searching for "Chicago Florist" in Google. Accessing the site from that link in Google actually appears to brand the site as a Chicago florist. (If you delete the urbanflorist.com cookies, it no longer displays as a Chicago florist.)

The site suggested before placing order that it would be delivered next day; after submitting the order, the order confirmation (if you opened up the terms and conditions link) made it was clear it would not be delivered the next day. It also made it clear that Urban Florist is not a Chicago company, but a Canadian company.

Concerned that I wouldn't receive them the next day, I sent an email immediately requesting the order be cancelled (within 5 minutes of placing the order). I also called the customer service line. A sales representative (who was available--the customer service line was not) looked at my order and said it appeared that it would be delivered the next day.

I didn't believe the representative and called the customer service line again the next morning when they opened to confirm cancellation. The phone went immediately to voicemail; I left a message requesting cancellation and a call back.

I received no call back but received an email notification that the order shipped. Of course, they were delivered a day late. When I received the roses, they were multicolored, not yellow.

I continued to call the customer service line until I finally reached a customer service representative (perhaps 12 calls before I got through to someone). I explained my attempt to cancel the order immediately and that I hadn't recieved what I had ordered. I was told that their site indicated they could substitute whatever roses might be available and that the shipment timing was made clear upon submission of the order.

Thoroughly angry now, I escalated the issue to the supervisor at the customer service desk. She could not find the email I sent immediately after submitting my order. After resending the email twice and placing four more calls, I was told I would receive a full refund (since I had attempted to cancel the order immediately via email).

I have not received a refund to date (it has been two weeks) and all subsequent emails I have sent to customer service attempting to document and confirm my conversation with the supervisor are automatically bouncing back because the customer service mailbox is full.

I intend to contest this charge with my credit card company. If Urban Florist ever issues the refund, I will drop the contest.

The kicker: the ugly, multicolored roses delivered died within 2 days of receipt...the only one that lasted was the single yellow rose that was in the mix.

Denise
Chicago, Illinois
U.S.A.