FTD = F*ck This Dreck?

So, I was in Japan over Valentine's Day. Sucked. The fiance was, of course, not overly joyed, but work called and there was about $40M at stake, so I had to go. Knowing I had to go, though, allowed me to make some preparations in advance. I purchased a card to leave for her the day I left (I left on Feb 13) so she would get it the evening before, and had made arrangements through FTD.com to have a very nice bouquet of flowers delivered to her at work on Valentine's Day. I know there are people who despise that day and say, "Why can't we show our love for each other every day?" I agree, but I also enjoy having *another* excuse to do a little extra sumpin' sumpin'.

I was taken in by the Vera Wang bouquet they were advertising - pink roses, and were arranged with a simple elegance. They were pricey, though. I figured I make enough money so I went for it and selected the option to have them delivered on February 14th.

So, I kept that all a secret from her and she didn't have a clue. I stay up late into the night and track the shipment to make sure it arrived on Feb 14th. According to UPS, the package arrived at the local distribution center at 8am that morning and it was mere miles from my fiance's work, so I went to sleep knowing that the flowers had arrived.

Or had they? When I woke up the next morning, I called her with a smile, expecting her to gush with joy over the beautiful flowers. She answers the phone, "Hello?" "Hey..." I say, nonchalantly. "What time is it over there?" she asks. Hm... doesn't sound very excited, "Uh... like 8:30 am. Hey wait, you don't sound very excited." "Why?" Not a good sign.

After some talking, I had to just let her in on it because it became painfully obvious that the flowers had not arrived yet. So, she waited at her work until around 6 pm, and nothing ever arrived. The flowers were, indeed, at the distribution center, but never left.

It wasn't until the following day at some point in the middle of the afternoon that the flowers arrived, slightly wilted. Having spent a pretty penny for those flowers, I was, naturally, upset that they were not delivered for the sole reason they were ordered. I wrote a polite email and expected a reasonable response. I received (what was likely) an automated response that assured me they would try to get back to me within 24 hours. I had had great experiences with FTD before, so I figured it would be no problem.

More than a week and several reminder emails later, I finally get a happy and bubbly response letting me know that they would be refunding me 20% of my purchase, which comes out to $14. I was not satisfied. And I was even less satisfied when I went to FTD.com to look up the customer service line and noticed that the same bouquet of flowers was *now* selling for $11 less than what I paid. That pretty much means I was receiving a $3 discount for a botched order. I responded politely, but sternly that I was offended and would be taking it up with a manager.

Haven't had a chance to call yet, but that simply is ridiculous. Will update when I hear back.