A woman took to Facebook on Apr 29 to issue a warning to the public after a flower arrangement that she ordered turned out to be one-sided. She wrote that she was sharing her experience with Seasons by Dahlia, from whom she ordered a flower basket for her birthday.
Ms Teo put up posts on the COMPLAINT SINGAPORE Facebook page as well as on her own FB account. The florist eventually issued a refund along with an explanation and apology. However, they also demanded Ms Teo put the post down immediately or else they will take legal action against her.
She wrote that she was confused when she “received half a basket of flowers, when what I ordered was 1 basket of flowers.”
Ms Teo added photos of the arrangement she received, as well as an advertisement from the company.
In the ad, when the arrangement is given a 360-degree turn, flowers can be seen in the front and back of the basket where they are placed.
“I have purchased floral arrangements from other vendors and never had such an experience where the product received was different from what I received,” she wrote.
Ms Teo then sent the company a message about her order.
“They quoted a ‘misunderstanding’ on the product I received. When I responded with my thoughts, they replied that I could have checked with them and it’s all one-sided floral arrangements unless otherwise stated. I ordered the basket of flowers based on their photos and videos, which showed a full basket. It was not reflected anywhere on the product page that it was one-sided when I placed my order.”
Seasons by Dahlia also wrote that they had never had a complaint such as Ms Teo’s, but offered a refund after the arrangement was returned, which Ms Teo availed of.
However, the company sent her messages after she put up her post, saying that they had sought legal counsel and requesting her to “put down the post immediately” to “minimise further damages”.
After this, Ms Teo received the following message: “Hello Clarice, I am at my lawyer’s office to seek advice on defamation against you for making unsubstantiated and baseless comments on our company. Lawyer confirmed your words are defamatory. We now demand that you take down all posts on our company immediately, failing which we will seek aggravated damages against you in court. My lawyer is now preparing the Writ of Summons against you which will be delivered to you personally.”
In a Facebook post wherein commenting has been turned off, Seasons by Dahlia wrote that it had not been their intent to scam or cheat anyone. The post has received over 1000 laughing or angry-face emojis.
Netizens, many of whom have never heard of a one-sided floral arrangement, sided with Ms Teo, however.
Though one-sided arrangements do exist, it’s just not often done in the same way.
/TISG