How to choose a florist

Buying flowers used to be simple; you go to your local flower shop, pick out some flowers, and walk out with your goods. Now we have the Internet, with access to countless vendors, special services, and customer reviews. It’s time to utilize these tools to narrow down the factors that matter most when finding a florist that best suits your needs.

1. Price vs. Value: Budget is one of the largest factors, which plays a role in the decision to choose a florist, but remember the old saying “you get what you pay for”? Beware of places which boast very low prices, because it may affect the quality and service. Always check the customer reviews when you are looking at a low budget vendor, if they aren’t stellar, think about increasing your budget to maximize the value you get for your money. Adding $10/20 can mean the difference between a fresh arrangement and better vendor to a total disappointment and grief dealing with a low end operator what we call basement forwarding/relay shop.
2. Customer Service: Nothing shows you the quality of customer service like when things go terribly wrong. When flowers are incorrectly delivered, the way a florist chooses to resolve the issue can speak volumes about how they treat their customers. Make sure you ask about their refund policy, if they have a satisfaction guarantee, and if they have a contingency plan in place to address any discrepancies. There are some florists who have back up flower arrangement offers in case the specific item you want runs out, or a delivery guarantee where if the recipient hasn’t received their arrangement within a specific window of time, the cost is refunded, but the recipient still gets to keep the item delivered. No business is perfect, so preparing for the unforeseen can put your mind at ease.
3. Full Service: Florists come in all sizes and locations, why not find the most convenient location with the most to offer? Places like “Flowers on 1^st” located in Vancouver, Canada offers local delivery of arrangements for all occasions within lower mainland British Columbia, secure online ordering and a wide array of roses, birthday cakes, wine and cheese baskets, organic fruit baskets and other product options. It is the epitome of a one-stop-shop where you can customize your order to fit the specific occasion, budget and design you are looking for.
4. Customer Relations: Not to be confused with customer service, customer relations is the way a business interacts with the public on a larger scale and how they choose to represent their brand. The time a business takes to enhance their online presence, the types of special offers they have, and how trustworthy a reputation they have. I have been on websites which are extremely confusing; the prices are not easily visible, there are few pictures with low quality photography or zoomed in with the intention of magnifying the product to look bigger than the actual size, low product selection, and hidden extra cost/charges, all are a big red flag for any potential customer to be aware of. One prime example is when you see an advertisement with big bold letters saying “A dozen red roses only $19.95 or FREE DELIVERY, no such a thing, you will be paying for the delivery one way or another.
5. Full disclosure of florist’s Physical address/location: If a website is not showing/displaying on their contact page a full address and local phone number I would think twice before placing an order, it is a red flag, go back to the internet and keep searching, you do not want to use a relay florist located hundreds or thousands miles away from the location you intend of sending flowers  or a gift basket, usually these relay online flower forwarding services would either charge you a service charge or will keep 20% of your funds and send only a portion to the delivery florist, you will be losing in both cases.
6. Vancouver Florist: Our flower shop is located in Kitsilano, we offer nonstop daily deliveries to VGH,UBC,SFU and YVR as well as to BC Women’s and Children hospitals, Saint Paul’s, Burnaby general, Richmond General and Lion’s Gate hospital on the north shore, call us anytime at 604-558-0303.