Flower delivery service claiming to operate out of Long Island racks up over 2,000 complaints in 3 years
NEW YORK — A flower delivery service that claimed to operate out of Long Island has racked up thousands of complaints nationwide.
Customers say their orders get canceled, and then they struggle to get refunds, sometimes for months.
One Hudson Valley woman turned to CBS News New York investigative reporter Tim McNicholas for help.
"They just made it so miserable for me"
This past fall, Celia Silberman bought her sister in North Carolina a $61 bouquet from SarataFlowers.com for her 90th birthday, but her plan quickly withered up when Sarata Flowers told her they couldn't fulfill the order. However, Silberman says they didn't refund her.
A customer service manager emailed her Oct. 28, saying, "I am actively working on resolving the issue."
On Nov. 18, she received another email saying, "We are addressing it promptly." On Nov. 23, they promised, "Your money will be returned ... as soon as possible."
"They just made it so miserable for me. It was a, well it's still a nightmare because they're still not doing anything to refund the money," Silberman said.
"Consumers have experienced delays and cancellations on their orders over and over again"
The business racked up more than 2,000 Better Business Bureau complaints over the last three years.
"If somebody looks online, they would see that consumers have experienced delays and cancellations on their orders over and over again," said Claire Rosenzweig, with the BBB.
SarataFlowers.com listed a Suffolk County business address, but the building owner said he's never even heard of them.
Someone from the flower delivery service replied to CBS News New York's interview request via email, writing that the vast majority of customers don't complain and that they've "refunded every customer that has ever complained with no questions asked."
Yet Silberman said she was still waiting.
"I don't like being out the money, but it's not a huge amount. It just made me angry," Silberman said.
Hudson Valley woman finally gets refund months after canceled order
Two days after McNicholas reached out to the business, Sarata Flowers did refund Silberman and said it was all a miscommunication.
"I'm amazed. I thought if I did get it back at all, it would take much longer than that, so I thought you must be a bit of a magician to make that happen so fast," Silberman said.
Sarata Flowers took their website down within a day of CBS News New York reaching out to them, and their email said the business has been closed for the past three months. They say the florists they work with across the country have not been able to satisfy their customers.
The Better Business Bureau says customers should always check online to see what kind of reviews a business gets, and when possible, try to confirm that they're actually located at their listed address, too.
