| One of the big attractions of buying things using the | | | | address of the company. Bogus operators generally |
| Internet is avoiding the middleman. By buying direct | | | | don't list an address at all, or it may possibly be a false |
| from the manufacturer, or at least from a wholesaler, | | | | one. Try calling and asking where their store is located, |
| you avoid a whole lot of transport, storage and | | | | and if you don't a quick, concise answer, chances are |
| advertising costs added to the price of the product, as | | | | you've found a dodgy operator. |
| well as general business overheads. It's easy to think | | | | The other thing to consider is whether or not trying to |
| that florists online are the same. So when you've got a | | | | deal with a local florist in New York is really going to |
| sick cousin who lives in New York, you might think the | | | | achieve anything. Nowadays most local florists are |
| best thing to do is get online and do a search for "New | | | | linked into some sort of national network, so if you go |
| York florists". By ordering flowers locally for your | | | | and order your flower arrangement at your local florist, |
| cousin, you believe you'll get fresher flowers and cut | | | | they will pass the order across and you will still get the |
| out any extra fees charged by a centralized ordering | | | | flowers you want, delivered at the time you request. |
| service. | | | | Although this means you might still end up paying an |
| Of course the big problem with the Internet is that | | | | ordering fee, the good thing is that if anything goes |
| appearances can be very deceiving. Unfortunately this | | | | wrong, you know you can go back to your local florist |
| has happened to the florist industry online. National | | | | and complain. That's not always possible with an |
| companies set up websites or advertisements online, | | | | anonymous online company. |
| which appear to be for a local florist in New York, for | | | | If you still want the convenience of buying flowers |
| example. But although you might think you're ordering | | | | online, then spend a few minutes checking to see if the |
| flowers from a New York florist, so you get a better | | | | local florist you're considering is genuine. Check for a |
| deal, in fact your order gets sent to a central booking | | | | contact address and a toll-free phone number. Look |
| office and is then sent on to a local florist - with extra | | | | for industry certification or membership, and a |
| fees included. | | | | customer satisfaction policy. When you're ordering, |
| It's a very frustrating situation, because it's not always | | | | check the URL starts with the letters "https", and for |
| that easy to spot the bogus advertisers. Often they | | | | added security, it might even be better to call them and |
| have thousands of web pages online, each one | | | | place the order that way. |
| targeted to a specific city. They also pay high prices to | | | | Don't let the behavior of a few disreputable companies |
| make sure their ads are at the top of the list. The | | | | discourage you from buying flowers online. There are |
| phone number is a local number, so it looks genuine, but | | | | lots of genuine, hard-working florists in every major |
| then it redirects to a central location. Many consumer | | | | city, and with a few small checks you will be able to |
| groups and other authorities have condemned this | | | | contact them and place your order. Failing that, visit |
| practice for its misleading nature, but it still happens. | | | | your local florist so that you have the added peace of |
| So as a consumer, how can you make sure you're | | | | mind of knowing you have someone to talk to if |
| really dealing with a New York florist, rather than a | | | | anything goes wrong. |
| central booking service? The first thing to check is the | | | | |