1-800-Flowers denies a year’s worth of dog food to animal rescue winner

[Are_grits_groceries]

In April, 1-800-Flowers.com hosted a contest called “There’s a New Bunny in Town” Photo contest, where participants shared a picture of their pet with a pair of bunny ears and enter the photo for a chance to win a grand prize of: 1 Year of pet food from Wag.com, a year’s supply of assorted products for dogs and dog lovers from Planet Dog and a $150 Savings Pass from 1800Flowers.com

Maria Mandel, who has an amazing service dog named Stacey Mae (Stacey has 18,000+ fans on Facebook) entered the contest on behalf of our friends at Lucky Dog Rescue. Then, she promoted the contest on Facebook begging others to vote for Stacey’s photo… so that she could donate the winnings to Lucky Dog Rescue. Thousands of votes later Maria won the contest, on behalf of Lucky Dog Rescue. When 1-800-flowers contacted her for an address to send the winnings, she gave them Lucky Dog’s address.
<snip>
One of the last representatives she spoke with offered to take her number with the promise of a call back; when he did call back- the representative acknowledged the contest and that Maria Mandel was the winner. However, the representative informed her that the prize was “non-transferrable” and by Maria requesting that the food be shipped to Lucky Dog rescue it made the winnings null and void.

When 1-800-Flowers posted the contest it stated: ‘No clear Official Rules, Entry Frequency, Country Restriction, or Age Requirement’ and when Ashley told that to the representative He responded: “I’m sorry if the rules weren’t clearly stated, ma’am”;  Ashley proceeded to ask him how can there be rules if non are stated, and if the company was clearly intent on not honoring the promised winnings for someone who entered the contest from the start advertising that she was going to give her winnings to an animal charity- she got a ‘yes ma’am’ in response.
<snip>
http://blogfourpaws.com/2012/1-800-flowers-denies-a-years-worth-of-dog-food-to-animal-rescue-winners/

They really are a worthless, unethical company.

[xchrom]

1. ...

what do they fuckin care what address the fuckin dog food goes to?

[joeybee12]

3. I bet they were planning on not giving it to anyone...

Any excuse would do.

[Sherman A1]

118. Precisely

There never was going to be a prize and the marketing benefits from both the prize and this little escapade will be seen as far exceeding an negative press they will receive.

[Aerows]

25. Bunch of Right wingers

Look for any excuse to back out on a deal. It's what they make their livings off of. If you know someone is a right winger, you'd best count your fingers after they shake your hand. They pride themselves on it.

[freshwest]

112. On the ALEC or BFI list of wingnut busineses, if I recollect correctly.

[drm604]

105. Really!

This is ridiculous. How does it hurt them if the food goes to a rescue shelter?

[ejpoeta]

2. wouldn't that have been good advertising for the company?

i would think so. Now I definitely won't ever use them.

[MADem]

4. She needs to call legal aid and get a lawyer. Then she needs to contact all the major networks.

Then she needs to let this outfit know, through her lawyer, that she's contacted all the networks. Then she needs to fire up a facebook page complaining about these jerks and getting people to send them emails complaining about what a putz they are and how meanspirted/shitty they are. I won't use them after hearing about this, and I've used them in the past.

Push come to shove, she should take delivery of the stuff at her house and have a volunteer schlep the shit to Lucky Dog rescue.

[whathehell]

15. +1 n/t

[primavera]

38. She's got a case

The trouble is always that corporations will make it so expensive to pursue a legal remedy that it's never worth a plaintiff's time and money to follow through. It would probably end up costing her $20,000 in court costs and attorney fees just to win a year's worth of dog food. Nobody's ever willing to go through that kind of ordeal, so the corporations get away with reneging...

[1monster]

46. No legal aid needed here. If everyone here posts to all of their social networks NOW,

Last edited Mon Jul 23, 2012, 12:56 PM - Edit history (2)

1-800-Flowers will feel the heat, almost immediately.

So, LET'S DO IT! I'm Facebook bound now.

edit: there their they're

[MADem]

49. I think a pro-bono lawyer leaning on those guys would not hurt.

I am willing to bet that there's a pet loving lawyer out there, somewhere, who will lean on those bums for free. Sometimes, just a threat is all that is needed!

[Mz Pip]

67. I just did.

Am also sending the article to my son requesting that he not use these creeps again when he orders flowers. He sends flowers to everyone in the family for birthdays, etc.

[rhett o rick]

84. How about Tweeting? I am not a participant but isnt that a good method. nm

[1monster]

85. I suggested that everyone post to ALL OF THEIR SOCIAL NETWORKS...

I don't tweet, but I'm all for anyone who does to tweet about this.

[MADem]

108. I checked "the facebook" earlier today and they were getting their asses handed to them! nt

[ArcticFox]

107. I would love to handle that case.

I wonder if it all occurred in Mississippi.

[Stuart G]

5. K and R nt. thanks for posting

[drynberg]

6. 1-800-CHEAP-BASTARDS

Is it me, or do those 1-800 flowers STINK?

[Kookaburra]

13. It's not just you

I've used them exactly twice -- both times the flowers were disappointing when they arrived and dead within a day or two. When I complained, they sent me a voucher for more flowers. Why would I send someone more dead flowers? Made the decision many years ago to never use them again.

[proReality]

34. Same thing happened to me plus

the bouquets were quite a bit different than what I ordered and much smaller than had been described, so I paid lots and got less. I'll never use them again.

[whathehell]

16. LOL!

It is not you, Sir!

[Hubert Flottz]

26. Like shit they do!

Dogshit!

[MADem]

50. Ha ha ha ha!! That''s brilliant!!!!!!! nt

[jp11]

7. So giant faceless company has pretty bad employees at the lowest levels

who don't know what is going on because they are probably not properly informed about those things, have short memories or just ignore whatever information they are given, email/handouts.

It sounded pretty clear she never spoke to anyone who had any real power and that certainly is a failing in the company that the people she did get to couldn't escalate her to someone with power or who gave half a shit.

Obviously the lack of clear rules is a problem but nearly all contests state you can't transfer the prizes or even get a cash equivalent, ie for a trip you can't get the 'cash value' you either take it or you get nothing. Though I've not seen the pretty crude 'you want to give it away, oh then go to hell you can't have it null and void' attitude but I don't read all the tiny print in the few contests I've entered.

I'm fairly sure with the story and negative press and social site buzz they will make good, her noble act of giving it to a charity, their lack of any clarity on the rules and the ineptitude of their staff/company in even getting answering her all make them look like crap.

[haele]

76. Allowing cash equivalent used to be standard in contests back before the 2000's -

It cost the contest runners less to send a check for "the amount" of the trip or item than it did to pay to book the trip or ship the item. And you could always fudge the cost of the new item or the trip without most winners knowing the difference. My Uncle won a
Hawaiian week "cruise vacation" in the early 1990's from a mail order company and chose the money instead; the company running the contest probably saved a good $5000 establishing up front an "off season" value for the trip and were happy to just send him a check instead of waiting and potentially paying more to book the cruise and overnight hotel depending on when he'd choose to take the vacation. Not to mention the cost of the time and efforts their employees would have to spend dealing with both him and wherever logistics they'd have to go through to deliver his prize.

Of course, now with the internet, it's much harder to low-ball the cost and both shipping and travel has gotten comparatively cheaper, so the cost savings to give out money is not as profitable as it was back in the day. It's not much harder to send the prize winners the prize than it is to send them a check.

Haele

[Vinca]

8. 1-800-BOYCOTT

[2pooped2pop]

9. I think they need to hear from about 100,000 people

Maybe that would change their mind. I imagine calling 1-800-flowers will not get us to anyone who cares unless they are really hit hard.

Perhaps we could get the snooze media to go with it too.

any ideas?

[Shankapotomus]

10. Why doesn't she just give them her regular address?

They won't accept her home address now?

[William Seger]

30. She lives in Colorado, Lucky Dog Rescue is in Mississippi (n/t)

[progressivebydesign]

71. It wasn't even her own dog in the photo... she entered a shelter dog.

that's the issue. They could choose to donate the food this time, but they need to tighten their rules so ordinary people have a chance to win, or perhaps have a separate contest for rescue organizations.

[pinboy3niner]

75. Read the OP's linked story: she entered her own dog, Stacey Mae

Maria Mandel, who has an amazing service dog named Stacey Mae (Stacey has 18,000+ fans on Facebook) entered the contest on behalf of our friends at Lucky Dog Rescue. Then, she promoted the contest on Facebook begging others to vote for Stacey’s photo… so that she could donate the winnings to Lucky Dog Rescue.

http://blogfourpaws.com/2012/1-800-flowers-denies-a-years-worth-of-dog-food-to-animal-rescue-winners/

[LisaL]

103. No, it's her dog.

But her dog is on special diet, so she wanted to donate food to the shelter.

[1-Old-Man]

31. Exactly! This entire story is one of utter stupidity

So all she had to do was use her own address to ship her winnings to, and then if she wanted to give it away to the animal rescue people good for her. What I could not believe is all the replies telling her to lawyer up or do other absurd things. Give a good address and take the dog food, how fucking hard is that to understand?

[Are_grits_groceries]

36. What don't you understand about

the fact there was no restriction on transferring the prize? She acted in good faith. Because of what was posted about the contest, it was a good address.

[joeybee12]

39. No, your post is utter stupidity...

The winner wanted them to send it to the Rescue, so instead of calling and telling her she couldn't do it, they called and told her not only could she not do it, they would now NOT send it to her because the winnings are now null and void because of her request.

Get it? Or do you want to post another knee-jerk response?

[William Seger]

42. Actually, they didn't even call her to tell her that

That just ignored her. It took repeated calls and being passed to numerous representatives before they even acknowledged that there was a contest!

[William Seger]

41. There was NO reason for her to think she couldn't give the prize to Lucky Dog

Retroactive rules are bullshit. The only "utter stupidity" I see is on the part of 1800flowers.

[Patiod]

57. It's like retroactive retirement. Retroactive rules!

What's so hard to understand about retroactive rules? Geez.

[MADem]

66. What was utterly stupid was 1-800-CHEAPASSHOLES failure to understand what a PR debacle this has

become. The backlash is fierce and already they are re-evaluating.

They should have learned the lesson of Mitt RMoney--don't fuck with dogs. People LIKE dogs. More than people, often as not.

How fucking hard is that to understand? Not very, I'd wager!

[obamanut2012]

68. Photo Ops with the winners and the rescue dogs and rescue owner

Who is attractive (ie good for PR). FREE, feel-good PR for a company that uses what is basically slave-labor flowers.

[rfranklin]

11. I don't know how to do it, but a Facebook page "1-800-Flowers Sucks" might help....

See how many friends you can get. They might pay attention.

[Honeycombe8]

12. Lucky Dog should forgeddaboudit. Maria/Lucky Dog did not enter and win in the spirit of the contest

It wasn't her and her dog...it was an organization that had a lot of dogs to use, and further, got thousands of votes based on her organization. That basically unfairly washed out individual winners who didn't have the ability to get thousands of votes based on her popularity, not the contest photo.

Take it like a man. Hope the org. gives the prize to the runnerup. Lucky Dog needs to move on. Oh, wait. Lucky Dog can't move on....it's not a person!

[Are_grits_groceries]

14. and she was the only one who did this?

There is no restriction stated.
Don't give me 'spirit of the contest.' That's vague and meaningless. The point is to win by the rules and not by some arbitrary idea that nobody knows about.
They should have stated the restriction so there were no entries like hers.
I'll bet cash money that if the entries and votes were known, there would be others.

[Honeycombe8]

18. Doesn't matter. The org. should take it like a man. It had an unfair advantage...

and that was not the spirit of the contest.

It's just a contest. Let an honest person win, someone who didn't get thousands of votes based on nothing but popularity. Someone who actually got votes based on teh photo.

[Aerows]

21. They are a bunch of wingnuts at 1800 flowers

Why are you defending them? They stayed with Rush and with Susan G. Komen. I don't do business with people that have offensive ethical practices.

[Honeycombe8]

101. Because I actually agree that the org. had an unfair advantage to the individual entrants.

I am totally in favor of rescue organizations. I have two rescue dogs myself, and I had one before these two. And I've had two rescue cats.

But it really is unfair to win by having your organizations' members vote for you, instead of winning on the merits of the photo, like the individual entrants had to.

She could've entered fairly, and if she had won, given her winnings to the org. herself, instead of directing the winnings go directly to the org. If you notice, she didn't enter individually, it says she entered "on behalf of" the organization.

We don't know the rules of the org, since they are no longer published. The article says there is a statement that there are no rules, but an article I read said there was a link to the rules, which are now gone, since the contest is over.

I just agree, is all. No matter how much I like the entrant, and how much I dislike the politics of the contest holder...that has nothing to do with the issue, the way I see it. I'm surprised that it would have anything to do with it, in anyone else's opinion, either. What difference does it make that you dislike the contest holder because of politics? That doesn't enter into these facts at all. Like in a court of law. It's the facts of the case, and nothing else.

If you were an individual entrant in that contest, you might feel differently.

Where I do agree with the article is the response by teh flowers co. is piss poor, if that's all they said.

[tru]

24. excuse me, take it like a "man"?

What exactly do you mean?

[rhett o rick]

81. I believe he means be tough about it like a man and not like a weak women.

Everyone knows how weak women are.

[Tsiyu]

92. I alerted but they let it stand

But by their words you can always figure them out, and that one has been on my radar for a long time.

Not surprised they are sexist, am surprised the comment stood.

But I'll take it like a woman!

[Honeycombe8]

93. Quotes with "Man" idioms and statements:

Idiom: an expression consisting of a combination of words that has a figurative meaning. Examples: pulling my leg; took me to the cleaners; When will you drop them a line?; keep an eye out for that; keep my head above water; devil is in the details; early bird gets the worm.

Each idiom has at least two meanings: a literal meaning and a figurative (=idiomatic) meaning.

There was a time when men were expected to take whatever happens, stoically, with a stiff upper lip. No whining, no crying. "Take it like a man." To a certain degree, women are still given more latitude in their reactions to bad news.

So "take it like man" means take it stoically, like an adult, without whining or complaining or crying about it. To suck it up.

"Man" quotes and sayings:

Quote from the movie "Spencer's Mountain": Open it, Son, take it like a man, whatever it says.

TRON
(1982) "Like a man says, "There's no problems, only solutions.""

The Maltese Falcon: I do like a man who says right off he's looking out for himself.

The Four Seasons: "Walk Like A Man, Talk Like A Man"

Confucius: A superior man is modest in his speech, but exceeds in his actions.

Plato: Any man may easily do harm, but not every man can do good to another.

Mark Twain: A man is never more truthful than when he acknowledges himself a liar.

Albert Einstein: Let every man be respected as an individual and no man idolized.

Abraham Lincoln: No man is good enough to govern another man without that other's consent.

Ghandi: To deprive a man of his natural liberty and to deny to him the ordinary amenities of life is worse then starving the body

Oscar Wilde: What is a cynic? A man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.

....and so on.

[Tsiyu]

94. Not impressed

you had to know that was flamebait - you've been here long enough

go puff someone else's ulcers please

[Honeycombe8]

97. You may not be impressed. But you have learned. Go forth and stick to the point of posts, and not

personally insult posters because you don't like what they have to say.

You have now learned what an idiom is. It's a good day when a person learns something.

[Tsiyu]

99. Thanks but I know what an idiom looks like

and I also know what an idiot looks like

I'm smart that way

[Honeycombe8]

121. Apology accepted. As a feminist, I knew you'd know that I wouldn't approve of a sexist statement.

But a common idiom (like devil is in the detail - what? Are you saying my idea is from satan???!!!!), like "take it like a man" isn't something to be concerned about. Your apology is accepted.

[Tsiyu]

123. Assume as you wish

You've been here too long for this BS but it apparently means a lot to you - you used the outdated, idiotic and sexist statement not once but twice. And you won't even let it just go.

So here's a little lesson for you:

There are many things people "used" to say that intelligent and progressive people just don't say anymore.

Your call, but not my apology.

[rhett o rick]

115. If you had a point there, I missed it. To me "take it like a man" means dont take it like a woman.

Take it like a man meaning take it like an adult is even more insulting. Are women not "adults"?

[Honeycombe8]

95. It's an expression. An idiom. A common one. You've never heard it? Are you maybe young?

It's been around for ages. It means, "take it stoically" "suck it up" "don't whine and cry." Coming from the societal expectation of men that they not cry or carry on, no matter what may happen to them, which has historically not been an expectation of the female sex. Hence the expression, "take it like a man." Which may be said to a person of either sex.

I guess you change the radio station when the Four Seasons' song, "Walk like a man, talk like a man" comes on.

I guess you can't read books by Mark Twain, Confucius, Oscar Wilde, or every other famous writer and philosopher, since they all use expressions with the word "man" in them.

Political correctness is great, up to a point. But to whine about an old, common expression, to get away from the point of a post, is well....not sucking it up.

[Honeycombe8]

98. Wow. I had no idea so many people didn't know what an idiom is, or not heard that old idiom.

It's an old, common expression. Been used forever. See my post below.

It means, "take it stoically" "take it with a stiff upper lip" "don't whine and cry...take whatever is coming." Etc. It's an expression, based on the historical expectation of men to take whatever comes their way with a stiff upper lip, and no whining or crying, unlike the expectation of women (more acceptable for them to cry and carry on, historically). Hence the expression "take it like a man."

It basically means, "suck it up."

[Chan790]

116. No, some people just reject the use of offensive idioms and turns-of-phrase. n/t

[Honeycombe8]

120. Whether you like it or not, it's an idiom & a common old expression. "Boys will be boys."

Devil is in the details (what? Are you saying my idea is from satan???!!!!).

As the Four Seasons said, "Walk like a man, talk like a man...."

Being politically correct can be a good things quite often, but sometimes people just get carried away with it. I'm a woman, and a feminist. I have no problem with that expression. There are a lot of things to be worried about in this world. "Take it like a man" as an expression isn't one of 'em.

[Chan790]

122. Some of them should be retired.

Particularly those rooted or spread by sexism, racism, homophobia, classism, transphobia or religious persecution. (If I missed any obvious discriminated class, that omission is mental and not intentional.)

As much as I loved my grandfather I used to cringe every time he spouted any of the 1000s of discriminatory or truly-offensive idiomic banalities that he'd drop as casually as asking for the salt to be passed because to him they were merely idioms and not actually *-ist sentiments. I think we're better off that many of those have now left the language.

[iamthebandfanman]

47. oops, somebody didnt read the original post completely!

as others have pointed out, the shelter wasnt the one who posted pictures of the dog. it was her dog.

guess that right wing gut feeling is kicking in for some folks on DU these days

[rhett o rick]

82. If you follow the rules you are not taking "unfair advantage" by definition. nm

[Aerows]

22. Absolutely right

You either win or you lose, and if you lose, you act like a sportsman, not like a spoiled-sport.

[trumad]

17. OK---it was her dog first of all.

And where was the rule saying she couldn't get votes anyway she wanted to

[xmas74]

91. Every day on facebook I receive messages in my inbox and

posts on my timeline asking me to please vote for someone's baby, for their dog, for their town, etc. And they ask me to share the posts with all my friends. That's thousands of people they are sharing their info with, same as what happened here.

I'm like you-I don't understand what the big deal was about how she got her votes. People do it all the time and I know a few have won that way.

[IdaBriggs]

28. Hogwash. The point of the contest was to get people visiting the website.

And "knowing the name" of the company doing such a "cute promotion" - Maria did exactly that. The spirit of the contest was honored, but the prize wasn't. Total cost (as a reasonable thing) for one year supply of dog food for one dog = $500.

$500 is not a lot of money for any size company when it comes to advertising and promotion, especially when Maria got "thousands" of people to come visit their website (and probably "like" them so they can get future ads, promotions, etc.).

BOYCOTT.

[sammytko]

55. I was thinking the same thing - not more than 1000 dollars at the top end

I have six dogs and buy two 16-lb bags of Evolve dog food - no corn, wheat etc. a month. They run about 18 dollars a bag, so about 432.00 a year!

What cheapskates.

They are small dogs BTW.

[magical thyme]

29. actually, it was her and her dog

she posted the link on her dog's facebook page and asked her dogs fans to vote for her dog's pic with the intention of donating the prize to a dog rescue.

There was nothing to stop others from posting the contest on their own facebook pages and asking for votes.

How many times have we seen people link to contests here on DU, begging for votes to win prizes for *their* favorite shelters?

800-deadflowers didn't make any rules about prizes not being transferable. That was their mistake. Certainly they should have realized that people who rescue dogs may be interested in helping other dogs than the ones they were personally able to rescue.

If it were me, I would immediately have just asked them to send the food to my home address and then delivered the food (or a check in lieu) myself to the rescue. Maybe she tried, and they still refused her the prize.

Either way, what 800-deadflowers did was piss-poor pr and possibly fraud. I think I'll give them a call and ask them what they think.

[joeybee12]

40. It was her dog, she entered honestly...she just

wanted the winnings to go to the charity...honest, is there any fucking corporation you WON'T defend?

[snooper2]

45. what does the blue filling taste like?

[MADem]

54. You are willfully obtuse. The winner of the contest designated where she wanted HER prize sent.

The people who issued the prize decided they didn't like where she wanted the prize directed.

They overstepped. They will feel the wrath of people who think they are cheap assholes. They will suffer a loss of business as a consequence.

[progressivebydesign]

69. thank you, totally agree. n/t

[1monster]

86. It was her dog. Reread the article. Her dog won. She requested that the prize be given to

the shelter.

She didn't cheat.

Lucky Dog didn't cheat.

1-800-Flowers DID CHEAT.

[Aerows]

19. They are a bunch of right wingers

Stayed with Susan G. Komen even after all of the flap.

I wouldn't do business with them if they gave flowers away.

[unblock]

20. some real p.r. geniuses at work there!

[tru]

23. wait

So, the food is shipped to her and she takes it to Lucky Dog Rescue. What, 800-westink is going to have security posted outside her house?

She probably has to pay taxes on the value, but she gets a tax deduction for donating goods.

[Aerows]

32. Have Mercy

Are you defending this?

[Ineeda]

35. Sure, just hop in the car and drive from her home in Colorado to shelter in Mississippi.

(Read the thread.)

[IdaBriggs]

27. Join the Boycott - Let them know! (Keyboard Kommandos, Unite!)

A reasonable person would expect a one year supply of dog food for one dog to be worth about $500 - and the address it was being shipped to was no one's business (but could have been some additional good publicity for the donating company).

The link to register your opinion to the good folks at 1-800-FLOWERS is:

http://ww11.1800flowers.com/serviceform.do?cm_mmc=IM_AFFILIATES-_-Linkshare-je6NUbpObpQ-_-1-_-10&bannerBeacon=true&shopIdBeacon=true&conversionTag=true

Your customer service representative will direct your calls to Public Relations at [phone].

Any chance we can get maybe 10 people from DU to join in on the "SHAME! FIX THIS!" band wagon?

[Ineeda]

37. I did, and suggested doubling the Lucky Dog Rescue donation to redeem themselves. n/t

[MADem]

51. You can make your ire known in the form at that link, too. nt

[99Forever]

63. Done, thanks for the link.

Sent the jerks a little love note.

[Beringia]

77. I sent an email

thanks for the link. If enough people write, they will sing a different tune.

[Angry Dragon]

33. They are guilty of fraud

either within the state they reside in or perhaps even federal if the contest was national

[neohippie]

43. If there were no clear rules, then they should honor the prize winner's wishes

The contestant, won the contest, there were no clear rules posted, then they should honor the winner, she is being generous enough to dontate her winnings, what is the problem with shipping the prize where ever she wants, as long as the prize is the same, one year's worth of dog for for a dog, who cares which dog or if more than one dog eats the prize?

I have done business with several companies through the 1-800 Flowers web site and I have filled out the customer feed back form letting them know that I will no longer do business with any company on their web site until they re-think this bad decision and I will also use the same PR methods that they used by posting my boycott on social media web sites and telling my friends and family not to do business with them until they honor the contest winner and award the prize. Why would any company want this bad PR for such a little thing, it doesnt hurt them in any way to award the prize, in fact it would have been great PR

[LisaL]

104. She didn't break any rules of the contest.

[Angry Dragon]

110. I was referring to 1-800-Flowers

[Bluenorthwest]

44. A terrible company. This is the second worst thing I have heard about them.

And that's saying something.

[Ken Burch]

58. OK...what's the worst thing you've heard?

(somebody had to ask, y'know).

[obamanut2012]

48. They are deleting Facebook comments and blocking posters

They just did it with me.

[HillWilliam]

60. After I posted this link to FB it got 3 shares in the first minute

and each of those was immediately shared a couple of times.

If that's any example, I think 800Flowers is screwn.

Couldn't happen to a nicer.

I've hated those bastards for years. They screw everybody they come within a mile of.

[MADem]

62. It looks like they are starting to get worried, though...!

1-800-Flowers.com
about an hour ago
At 1-800-FLOWERS.COM, we pride ourselves on offering creative and engaging contests for our customers. We apologize that there has been a misunderstanding about the prize fulfillment regarding our recent There's a New Bunny In Town. We are looking into the matter immediately and we promise to follow up with the winner to ensure the prize is fulfilled appropriately.

[ProfessionalLeftist]

52. 1-800 flowers SUCKS - ordered from them ONCE

Flowers arrived wilted/dead. They were for my Mom. I demanded a refund. Never again. This company are nothing but a passel of swindlers. Surprised they're still in business.

[Wait Wut]

53. Ugh. They suck. Now, they suck more.

I made a small donation to Lucky Dog Rescue and left a comment. I wonder how many 'small donations' will be made because of this. Probably more than a year's worth of dog food!! Compare that to how much business 1-800-Flowers lost...who's the winner NOW?!!?

[obamanut2012]

56. Wag.com is sending a year's worth of food to the Rescue

They just posted on Facebook. Like them and order from them (if you order online pet stuff)!

[lupinella]

59. K&R n/t

[truebrit71]

61. They say that as of an hour ago on their FB page that that they are "looking into this"...

...the comments are amazing though...they really kicked the hornet's nest with this idiocy..

[IdaBriggs]

65. Stupidity = Rescue Group w/500,000 Fans; Winner w/18,000 Fans

Seriously, did they not understand that what the winner did to win ("drive traffic to their page&quot could be done IN REVERSE when they screwed her over?

Big mistake, over as little as $500! A public apology (and a private rebuking) are in order.

The internet giveth good publicity, but loves a Righteous Scandal more.

[southernyankeebelle]

64. Take it to Judge Judy. She loves animals and she would win.

[progressivebydesign]

70. Tho I'll be hated, I agree with the decision. It was for individuals and their own dogs.

I fucking hate those contests. It's something for a person to show off their pet dog for a chance to win something. But, because the companies are trolling for new names and likes, they turn it into a vote contest. Then you have people buying votes (yes, they actually do that,) and the inevitable rescue organization with their sad story and thousands of votes (often purchased,) so that the regular person who enters doesn't have a chance.

It'd be like you entering a photo contest for a free 4 week vacation at a resort... but the person who wins is a professional landscape photographer.

My friends and I have stopped even entering these things anymore. They're supposedly for individual people, but you get groups entering, AND you get people buying votes (which is very very common in these, wherein a group pays 250 bux for 10k votes.)

I wil never ever enter another facebook or internet contest that relies on votes.. they all cheat. Happened recently on a dog photo contest, too. And people were crying foul because it took a Romney Twitter Bounce on the votes.

If that was her dog, and she chose to donate, that's one thing. But they entered under false pretenses, regardless of the cause, it was wrong and unfair to the people who entered their own pets. In the future, these contests should have a separate RESCUE contest. But it was meant to be a person and their pet.

[obamanut2012]

74. The winner was an individual and her own dog

She just wanted her dog's winnings to go to the rescue org.

[Tsiyu]

90. What a sinister plot, right

She wanted to donate to a shelter...how awful!

Rightwingers ( and it seems there are more than a few on this site lately ) HATE when anyone does anything kind or altruistic. It just ruins their entire day.

Glad they resolved this

[obamanut2012]

100. lol

Seriously.

[LisaL]

102. It was her dog. And she chose to donate.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

72. 1-800-SEND-FTD

[booley]

73. From just a business stand point this is moronic

It's not as if there are a host of winners. Jut one person. The cost to 1-800 Flowers remains the same whether the winner or the shelter gets the food.

So why even risk the bad publicity (while losing the good publicity of giving to a dog shelter) and possible litigation over a fake contest (pretty sure that's fraud)..

.. Just because they want to have a rule they couldn't be bothered posting in the first place?

Bet you money Flowers changes it 's position soon.

[Initech]

78. 1-800-DONTBUYFROM1-800FLOWERS

[Courtesy Flush]

79. They've posted a statement on Facebook

At 1-800-FLOWERS.COM, we pride ourselves on offering creative and engaging contests for our customers. We apologize that there has been a misunderstanding about the prize fulfillment regarding our recent There's a New Bunny In Town. We are looking into the matter immediately and we promise to follow up with the winner to ensure the prize is fulfilled appropriately.

https://www.facebook.com/1800flowers/posts/10151297914179768

Lots of very negative comments followed. Not being deleted at this time. Really bad move for them (the original move, not the apology). This kind of thing can get caught up in the email forwardsphere for years. There are a lot of dog lovers out there.

[Arugula Latte]

80. Sounds like they're about to backtrack.

Idiots. That was PR Strike Two for them.

[Liberal_in_LA]

83. k&r

time to email 1-800 flowers

[rhett o rick]

87. Send them a message at below link.

http://ww31.1800flowers.com/serviceform.do

[IdaBriggs]

88. UPDATE: 1-800-Flowers AGREES TO GIVE PRIZE TO CHARITY

I received this as an e-mail from the company, and verified it has been posted on their Facebook page:

At 1-800-FLOWERS.COM, we pride ourselves in offering creative and engaging contests for our customers, especially, contests that promote the well-being of pets. We sincerely apologize for the miscommunication regarding the prize fulfillment for our recent contest “There’s A New Bunny In Town”. We are delighted that we were able to correct the matter and we look forward to fulfilling the prizes to the winner in support of Lucky Dog Rescue”.

Yeah, for the Internet!!! Good job, everyone!!!

[spooky3]

89. +1000

[William Seger]

106. Too little, too late

After a monumental PR fukup like that, just doing what you should have done in the first place is weak sauce.

[MADem]

109. BEHOLD the POWER of the INTERTUBES!!! Hee hee! nt

[Mimosa]

96. Unethical

In my experience 1-800-Flowers delivers wilted stuff. I received flowers from them.

[ailsagirl]

111. They advertise on Limbaugh's show-- I've already written them off

Thanks for posting so others won't make the mistake of using them to buy flowers.

[onestepforward]

113. UPDATE: After thousands of complaints, 1-800-Flowers donates 2 years of dog food

http://blogfourpaws.com/2012/update-after-thousands-of-complaints-1-800-flowers-donates-2-years-of-dog-food-to-rescue/

-snip-
As of 5:30pm EST, WTOK released a statement saying they had gotten in touch with a 1-800-Flowers PR Representative Yanique Woodall and she has confirmed that the company has donated a 2-year supply of dog food to Lucky Dog Rescue.

I'm glad the pressure worked!

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

114. Wouldn't a year's worth of dog food.....

....be a lot more for a shelter than one dog?

If we go by the fine print....is it what they estimate the amount of food one dog can eat in a year, or is it whatever the winner demands?

[Bolo Boffin]

117. I'm sure one dog's worth of food for a year is what was meant

and what was expected. A shelter might go through that in a week or two, but it would still be a great help.

[SkyDaddy7]

119. 1-800-flowers are...

a very unethical company! My brother & I use to use them all the time as they were cheap (first started) & the customer service was very helpful. However, as they grew i began noticing things I did not like. To make a long story short the last time i used them I began getting charges on my card from a third party company. They claimed I signed up for their service (not sure what it was)...I was furious as I had never signed up for anything. If my memory is correct during checkout there was a box with a check in it & if you did not notice it & uncheck it then you would be charged. It took many phone calls & fighting over the phone to resolve this & I have never used them again.

So, this story does not shock me at all.