Is this a chargeback situation?

Let me preface this by saying that I've never done a chargeback before so I really don't know what it entails or reasons why it is generally done.

I ordered DW roses for Valentine's Day and paid something around $150 for them. They were to be delivered to her work. They were never delivered that day, but my card was charged. The day after Valentine's Day, I called the flower shop and was told that their delivery vehicle had gotten in an accident and that's why several orders were never delivered. He offered to upgrade my order and include chocolates and a stuffed animal for free for the inconvenience. I told them that I just wanted a refund because I would look like a deadbeat if I sent them the day after (it would look like I forgot). He said that a refund would be processed.

My wife was not at the office that Friday, over the weekend, or on Monday (she works at different offices throughout the week and was only at that particular office on Valentine's Day). Today, she showed up and found out that they were delivered the day after Valentine's Day (a full 8 hours after I called them to cancel the order) and the front desk at her office signed for the order. The order was what I had initially purchased (not the upgraded version).

I immediately called the shop (a local florist) and the owner was adamant that I must pay for the flowers. He kept saying "so you don't think it's fair to have to pay something for the flowers?" I kept saying "absolutely not, I cancelled the order long before you delivered them." His argument was that they shouldn't have been signed for by the front desk at the office. I explained that she had no control over that and that he was more than welcome to come pick them up. In the end, he wasn't willing to refund the money.

So what's the best way to handle this? Thanks in advance!

Chargeback and then post on Yelp.

Roses after valentines day have about 20% the value anyways (same as pumpkins after Halloween or Christmas trees after Christmas)....you certainly shouldn't have been charged full price even if you agreed to pay for them.

I'd probably do a chargeback for this. I don't think most CC issuers would have trouble understanding the situation.

Merchant couldn't deliver item that was time critical. You canceled the order (do you have some confirmation for this?). They delivered late anyway, and wouldn't do a refund or return. Document it, send it to the CC issuer, and let them fuss with the merchant.

loheiman said:   $150 for flowers?

On V-day? Yes. Although, WalMart has them for like $8 on v-day...so...could have gone that route too.

Call it a lesson. $150 worth of flower for wife on V-day?

Infinion said:   loheiman said:   $150 for flowers?

On V-day? Yes. Although, WalMart has them for like $8 on v-day...so...could have gone that route too.

WalMart ups them to $19.99 on VDay from my experience with last minute flower purchases.

This year I really screwed it up. I got really old flowers that were sitting out at the grocery store the day of Valentine's day without really taking a close look at them. I didn't have a vase, but I had a giant plastic cup, so I got the bright idea to take them out and put them in the cup with the powdered flower food, but the flowers were too long and were making the cup fall over, and it says to cut them under water. Well they're really hard to cut with crappy kitchen sheers. So I end up destroying a bunch of the stems, and since the flowers had been sitting out for a while, the petals were falling off all over the place. And I took the plastic wrap off thinking they'd look nicer without it, which they did not. So I am like, "Here are some shitty flowers that I mangled in a plastic cup"

I'd have been better off trying to rip some flowers out of the ground and giving them to her.

Luckily the flowers weren't the only thing I had planned lol.

I think WalMart does different pricing based on the area, because I've seen stuff cheaper at one WalMart, but more expensive at the one located in a nicer area.

Al3xK said:   Luckily the flowers weren't the only thing I had planned lol.

I think WalMart does different pricing based on the area, because I've seen stuff cheaper at one WalMart, but more expensive at the one located in a nicer area.

This is completely OT, but yes, WalMart clearly does this. I have two walmarts near me. One is 3 miles West, one is 2 miles East on the same road (which is completely stupid). Anyway, they have different prices on things all the time. We really only buy a few food items, cat food, maybe some throw-away household items there anyway. We only go to one of them now, because the other one is a complete cluster with all the people that don't realize they can just go down the road to the next one and not deal with the ridiculous amount of traffic and completely insane people abound. Not that a *different* WalMart really helps all that much...but some.

Back on-topic, do the chargeback and be done with it.

Thanks for the info. I was out of town that day so picking up the flowers at WalMart wasn't an option. Great idea for next year, though.

Since you don't have proof of the cancellation and the flowers were delivered and accepted the day after, chances are the CC will tell you to pound sand.

But it's probably worth it just to annoy those jerks at the flower shop with a side benefit of possibly getting refunded.

Next year, give her what she really wants..

loheiman said:   $150 for flowers?

for wife????

SUCKISSTAPLES said:   Do you have any written proof they were ordered to be delivered on or before v day ? That will help your chargeback win.

Yes you should chargeback . Boil it down to three sentences: 1. Order for flowers to be delivered on v day 2. Merchant did not deliver on v day and claimed their truck was broken 3. I canceled the order prior to anything being delivered

The fact they delivered something after is irrelevant . Save the wilted flowers in case the c. Company asks to return them to merchant

BTW, yes I do have the order confirmation saying when they were to be delivered.

Charge it back, say it was not received. Say that you called them to complain, they made an offer to deliver them late which you refused. They cancelled the order and then delivered anyway. Let the person at the front desk who signed for the flowers have them. After you cancelled the order, they weren't yours anymore.

I really, really hate florists. When I was single and going out on a date, I sent flowers to the girl's house before I picked her up. This was maybe the 10th time I used this florist and they had my credit card on file. About a week later I get a bill in the mail and wrongly assumed they would bill my credit card like they did the last 9 times. About two weeks after that I get a nasty call with them threatening to call the recipient of the flowers and tell them that they weren't paid for and that I was a deadbeat. They literally threatened this without me saying anything. I told them to charge the credit card on file which they then did. Lady was a royal b***h and I was happy to see she went out of business maybe 4 months later.

Don't assume because you canceled that you will win the chargeback.

I had a situation where a merchant confirmed a cancelation for a full refund over the phone (this was for a service, not a product). They only credited half of the amount to my card and I disputed the rest. Because I didn't have proof of the phone cancelation, the merchant won the dispute (for a service that was never delivered). This was before Yelp et al or else I would have made them pay for their lying ways.

You have a much better shot because they didn't deliver when they said they would, but just pointing out that it is possible to lose a legitimate dispute in the case when the merchant is dishonest.

I've been busy so didn't have a chance to pick anything up for wife until the way home from work the night before V-day. Stopped at Hy-vee and decided to splurge and get a single red rose for $5. Flower checkout was way backed up so took it to the front registers. The lady didn't know how much it was supposed to be so she rang it up as $1. Best V-day ever!!

bossusa said:   got some flowers for my wife from Walgreens on sale for $10, she was happpy.

no reason to pay $150.

anyways, chargeback is the way to go.

Same here. I went to a grocery store that was open 24 hours with a floral department. I set my alarm early and went there at 5am. They had tons of pre-arranged flowers out. I picked out one for $25 and went through the self check out isle. My wife woke up to red roses and was happy.

I don't like capnkidd's suggestion of "just split it" because this was entirely the florists' mistake - not yours.

Another resolution option (before chargeback) would be to call the guy back, tell him you're going to file a chargeback but that you will accept a gift certificate from him instead -- I doubt you'll get the full $150 out of him but I'd accept $125 -- and then plan to use that next Valentine's Day or on another special day. This gives him the opportunity to win your business back without actually costing him the entire $150.

wfay said:   Another resolution option (before chargeback) would be to call the guy back, tell him you're going to file a chargeback but that you will accept a gift certificate from him instead -- I doubt you'll get the full $150 out of him but I'd accept $125 -- and then plan to use that next Valentine's Day or on another special day. This gives him the opportunity to win your business back without actually costing him the entire $150.Terrible idea, especially if the florist gets hit w/ a bunch of chargebacks from this V-Day situation. Businesses can lose their CC merchant accounts from too many chargebacks (perhaps too many SUCCESSFUL chargebacks). If that were to happen to this florist, it would likely be the demise of that business, making the proposed GC offer worthless. OP should immediately file a chargeback.

Which bank is the charge with? If it's AMEX, then you should have no problem with the chargeback. If it's Bank of America, be prepared to get bent.

The chargeback was successful! Thanks to all at FWF for your help!