ProFlowers.com Got Me For $53.68 and The Shipping Rebate is No Deal
Like any other red blooded American male, I hadn’t got a Valentine’s gift for my girlfriend by today, Saturday, February 13, 2010. And like any other savvy flower business, ProFlowers.com was offering guaranteed delivery for Valentine’s Day at the last minute. By the time these two gladiators got done battling, ProFlowers.com had $54.68 of my money after I bought a $19.99 rose flower arrangement.
The fees, costs, and charges:
12 Red Roses $29.99: $19.99
Glass Ginger: Free!
Standard Express Delivery: $14.99
Guaranteed Feb. 14 Delivery: Why? $9.99
Care & Handling: $2.99
Promotional Vase Shipping: $1.63
Tax: $4.09
As you can see, I got jacked. Normally, I wouldn’t have given in to the pressure of convenience but my girl friend lives a 6 hour drive away. If you’re in the same boat, it’s not a bad deal, but you know ProFlowers still gets over because of the sheer volume of orders they’re getting and all the add-ons you see above.
There is a “rebate” available from FreeShipping.com but it is a waste of time. You may or may not be able to get the $15 rebate but then you have to have a trial membership at FreeShipping.com which if you don’t cancel (and I’d imagine the trial isn’t easy to cancel and on top of that getting your money back is probably extremely difficult). The catch is they want you to enroll in their $11.97 monthly club BS membership.
If it’s Valentine’s Day eve and you’re scrambling, it may cost $55 or more dollars but that’s a lot better than having a sad significant other. This completes my review for Pro Flowers.
I just experienced exactly that same for Mother’s Day. A $30 special ended up costing $75! It had $10 shipping plus another $20 for guaranteed delivery plus the default option was a $10 vase so I had to go back and check the “free one” that was with the advertisement. With the rest of the taxes and fees it ended being $65 (with the free vase). This IS NOT acceptable.
So, I went to 1-800-flowers.com and bought something very similar. Both had two dozen roses, a vase, and some chocolates. Their $30 special ended up costing $46.18. Much more tolerable than proflowers “scam”.