1-800-Flowers - Never Again!

Here is the letter I sent to AAA about my experience with this discount partner!  Save yourself the drama, pain and embarressment and choose a different florist!

I just wanted to send you a note to let you know of a recent experience I had with one of you Discount partners.  As a AAA member I try to take advantage of the discounts available to me and try to use companies that offer AAA discounts as often as possible.  Earlier this month I decided to send flowers to a good friend that lives in CT for her 40^th birthday.  She had invited me up to celebrate with her but I couldn’t make it and so I still wanted to do something very special for her.  Several weeks before her birthday I went online with 1-800-flowers and picked out the perfect arrangement and placed my order.  On my friend’s birthday I received an email that confirmed the delivery of the arrangement.  However, after several hours had passed and I hadn’t heard from her, I became concerned.  I contacted another friend that was at her house and confirmed that nothing had been delivered.   Her husband mentioned that there is another street in town with a very similar name and it had probably ended up there.  I called 1-800-flowers immediately about this and had to wait on hold for over 30 minutes to speak with a customer service representative.  I was then informed that there was nothing she could do for me at this time because it was after hours and there was no way they could contact anyone at the delivering florist.  I was directed to call back the next day during regular business hours and I got even more upset and explained to her that I had already had to wait 30 minutes to speak with her and that it shouldn’t be my responsibility to call back the next day.  She then put me on hold and disconnected the call.  I immediately called back and began waiting on hold again and while I was waiting I posted a scathing review on Twitter that was immediately responded to by one of their other customer service reps.  I was again told there wasn’t anything they could do at this time because the actual florists was closed but they would try to fix this but never really offered any kind of help.  After another 30 minutes I got through to another customer service rep who was much nicer and was actually trying her best to help me.  She kept apologizing and offered to have the flowers re delivered to my friend at the cabin that everyone was going to in VT for her birthday celebration.  I just needed to get the address and call them back in the morning.  The next morning I called back with the address of the cabin and was told they were sorry again, but they couldn’t deliver the flowers to this address at all.  My only option at this point is to have them try to re deliver the flowers on Monday (4 days after her birthday) and they would send me a coupon for $20 off my next order.  On Monday afternoon I hadn’t heard from anyone about the delivery and I again called 1-800-flowers to check on it.  After being put on hold for over 10 minutes the customer service representative came back on the line.  She proceeded to tell me that they had been experiencing computer issues all that day and my flowers were again NOT delivered!   They would however promise to deliver them the next day on Tuesday.   At this point I completely lost my mind and demanded that my order be completely refunded.  I explained how deplorable this service was and that delivering 5 days after her birthday was completely unacceptable!  I am so completely disgusted with this company and their customer service practices.  At no time during any of my conversations about the problem did they offer to do anything but say I’m sorry and send me coupons.  I can assure you that I will never do business with this company again.  I also plan to let everyone I’m connected with via social media know all about my experiences to save them the complete disappointment from this horrific company.  I thought you all should know about this as it reflects poorly on your company also for supporting them.  I’ve usually had great experiences with my AAA discount partners but I will be much warier in the future because of this experience. 

Regards,

Cheryl Patterson

Hit and Run

The week before Memorial Day I took a vacation with my parents to Cocoa Beach, FL where we had a wonderful time. The weather was great and the whole trip was very relaxing! That is until I got in the car to head home.

My trip home started Saturday, May 28th as I left the resort that morning and said goodbye to my parents. I headed towards the Turnpike and then finally got on I-75N where I planned to spend most of day.

I hadn’t been on 75 long when I decided I needed a pit stop and I pulled off the exit. At the bottom of the ramp was a red light and so I stopped and was waiting on the light to turn green. While I was sitting there, I was suddenly hit from behind. Ugh!! Just my luck!

I got out of the car to speak to the man that hit me and he immediately began to tell me his sob story! He explained that his anxiety level was through the roof and he was on the way to his father’s funeral. He wanted me to follow him around the corner. So, I got back in my car to pull around the corner and he just keeps going. I followed him through at least one red light and then started motioning for him to pull over by flashing my lights, honking my horn, and waving my arms like the crazy woman I was turning into. By this time I had decided this guy was completely full of crap. He says he’s on the way to a funeral, but seriously he wasn’t dressed to cut tobacco.

Once we are off the road again he starts explaining that he needs me to follow him to this tire place and seems frantic. I tried explaining to this guy nicely that I wasn’t following him anywhere. Mind you, I’m freaking out myself a little and getting very angry. I was expressing my concern that we had left the scene of the accident and he wanted to know what I wanted to do. My plan was to call the cops like normal people do and he started freaking out. He literally told me that “if I was going to call the police he was going to run like hell! “

Seriously???? Does this really happen to people? We were screaming at this point and I pointed out to him that I had his tags now and then he jumped in his car and sped off. So, what does any enraged woman do? I jumped back in my car and started the chase again. While driving I called my dad and he suggested I call 911. That sounded like a good idea. So, I called them and got transferred to the local Ocala, FL PD and ultimately had to pull over and wait on the police. I am now officially the victim of a hit and run!

Once my police report was finished I got back on the road to home and contacted my insurance company to explain what had happened. They assured everything would be taken care of and like a sucker I believed them.

Once home from vacation I finally spoke to State Farm and they informed me they would handle everything as soon as I paid my collision deductible. What??? Did I hear that correctly? My insurance company wants me to pay a deductible when I was sitting still at a red light and hit from behind by a guy that in turn ran like hell???

My Trainer and the First Workouts

So after my Wednesday meeting with the sales pitch trainer, I got to meet my actual trainer on Friday. His name is John Smith and he’s a really nice guy with, wait for it, RED HAIR!!! He’s not really the Jillian Michaels kind of trainer, but he still pushes me really hard in a nice way.

As of today I have worked out with John 4 times. Interestingly enough, we have yet to do the same exercise twice. Each visit is 30 minutes long and consists of a circuit of exercises. It’s kind of amazing to me how all of these exercises work so many different muscles. I’m finding that I’m sore in places I didn’t even realize were muscles.

After the first workout I was terrified. My thighs hurt so bad after that workout that I could barely walk for over 3 days. It comes and goes though. I’m sore somewhere new everyday, but it keeps me going somehow. I’ll try and keep you posted on my workouts and how they are going. I will say that it’s a lot like doing aerobics with weights. My heart rate is up the whole time.

After each training session I’m supposed to get on the elliptical machine for another 30 minutes. The first visit I only made it about 10 minutes and as of today I made it the complete 30 minutes. I really hate the elliptical machine. It does however, burn a lot more calories than the treadmill does. I guess no pain, no gain.

I'm Back

Hey there! Did you miss me? I can’t believe it’s been over a year since I updated this. I owe anyone that actually reads this a major apology for my slacking. I’ve had MANY blog worthy stories to share this year. I just never could find the time to write them down. Actually, I think the correct statement is, I just never took the time to write these stories down. So, I’m back on track. I plan to be much better about updating my blog and I also plan to try and retell some of the more unbelievable stories I missed this past year.

I’ve made some big changes in my life recently. First and foremost, for those of you who didn’t know I QUIT SMOKING!!! For real this time too people!!! I know I’ve said that before but this is really it. Now, don’t get me wrong, I still really want a cigarette, but I am done. I’ve made it past my milestone and won’t smoke again at least until I’m in my 80s and it doesn’t matter anymore.

The second big change in my life is I joined a GYM. No, this isn’t a joke, there is no hidden camera. I really did this.

For those of you who know me, you know I HATE to exercise. I think most of that is from when I was on the swim team in High School and the coach there scarred mea for life. We worked out 3-5 hours a day, 5 days a week, and probably 50 weeks a year. I did this for 3 full years and then quit the team due to events for another story. Nevertheless, I haven’t really worked out or been to a gym, more than 10 times since 1993.

To make matters even more exciting and strange, I hired a personal trainer. Knowing myself as well as I do, I knew I wouldn’t work out or push myself without someone making me do it Jillian Michaels or HS swim coach style. I’m lazy. I know this, you know this, and now the world knows this.

I do want to change though. I want a smoking hot body and to not get winded sightseeing on vacation.

So, how did all this come to pass? Well, to start with, most of the people I spent all my time with had babies this past year and therefore I never see them anymore. Then, I quit smoking and suddenly I had nothing but free time on my hands. When I first quit smoking (October 3rd) I had to stay busy to keep from smoking and so I finished almost all of my outstanding projects. Once they were all done, I realized I wasn’t doing anything except watching TV and knitting. So, I decided since I was gaining all this weight, was out of shape and had the time, that I should go sign up for a gym. The theory was that if I paid even just a little for a membership I would feel obligated to go and not waste my money. So, I signed up for a membership and it came with a free session with a personal trainer. What I now know is that these “free” sessions are well designed sales pitches. Now, don’t get me wrong. I am super glad I am doing this. However, after being weighed (no, I’m not sharing that awful number) and having my bmi (yes, he told me I was obese) taken by some hot young trainer and then doing what he called a 10 minute easy workout (totally lies). I was so worn out that my legs gave from under me and I wiped out on the stairs in front of the entire gym. I knew right then, I really needed help and so I signed the contract for 1 full year with a trainer.