- NetFlorist, South Africa’s oldest online retailer, is coming under fire for its late delivery of Valentine’s Day orders.
- Many were also unhappy about the flowers and gifts they did receive.
- Social media was flooded with pics of sad-looking bouquets.
Hundreds of NetFlorist consumers have rushed to social media to complain about its service on Valentine’s Day.
Consumers are demanding refunds for orders that weren't delivered, or for sad-looking bouquets and melted chocolates.
Photos of browning and dried flowers and gifts with spelling mistakes were widely shared on social media.
Hey @NetFlorist what is this you sent my girlfriend!? This is no where near what I expected from you. Absolutely shocking service. Is this what your R600 of flowers get me? The dog box #netflorist #terribleservice you need to make this right! pic.twitter.com/ttd5eJE0yX
— Mayur Kara (@Mayur_Kara) February 14, 2019
The company, which sold out of Valentine’s gifts early on Thursday morning, said heavy rain and load shedding were to blame for breaking its ‘same day delivery’ promise.
Same boat, R600 for this?????? pic.twitter.com/0fJBmcOPRR
— Jessica (@Jessica_Tshima) February 14, 2019
R676? For 12 almost dead roses? And babies that clearly have no breath? @NetFlorist this is totally taking the piss on #Valentines2019 Let’s make them famous! pic.twitter.com/6clnppCXKw
— Tim ?? (@TimLombard) February 14, 2019
Kavindra Juggath commented on Facebook: “How greedy is NetFlorist to overcharge and then give me last year's roses?”
Nkateko Mabunda joked that maybe NetFlorist went to the #MensConference, a fictional conference where men could go to avoid Valentine’s Day.
(as this was a special option) They delivered it 2 days late - and all the information was wrong. Wrong names were printed on the wrong coasters.@NetFlorist #Useless pic.twitter.com/kR11QRfJQ1
— _MagsK_ (@magrietperold) February 15, 2019
#Hospital #Chocolate #Melted Anyway, when the goods eventually arrived, one of the boxes of chocolates was completely MELTED. (see pic) (Expensive box of chocolates) I sent an angry email with the photo as proof, complained and waited for their reply.#Useless pic.twitter.com/s2tKOm2Jh2
— _MagsK_ (@magrietperold) February 15, 2019
Angelique McKenzie commented on Facebook: “Dear Netflorist. I ordered a valentines gift for my mother, for whom this is the first Valentine's day without my father who passed away in December. You have not delivered it.”
NetFlorist managing director Ryan Bacher said the combination of rain in Gauteng and loadshedding created the perfect ‘storm’.
He said despite difficulties, 90% of its orders were delivered successfully.
“Our drivers couldn’t get to our pick up points in time and then, when they did, couldn’t move on the roads fast enough to get all our orders out in time,” Bacher told Business Insider South Africa.
Also read: Netflorist was started by accident - now SA’s oldest online store gets 730,000 orders a year
“We should have prepared better for this, we didn’t and we let our customers down.”
He said the company will be redelivering today "to anyone we didn’t deliver to".
“It’s going to be a tough few days for us, our teams, but most importantly our customers – we will do whatever we need to make this right.”
For more go to Business Insider South Africa.
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