This Is Framingham

Last year I threw a baby shower for my little sister at my house and thought getting an Edible Arrangement would be nice.  We get these at my work every now and then and the fruit is usually good quality so I thought it would be nice to have something pretty and healthy with the desserts.We picked it up about 30 minutes before the shower and put it in the fridge.  When we brought it out for dessert people thought it was adorable and while my sister was opening her gifts people sat around and ate their dessert. My other sister, Elaine, and I noticed that melon was really crunchy and tasteless.  We saw people took one or two bites of fruit and just left it on their plates.It was towards the end of the shower and Edible Arrangements had alreday closed for the day (the close at 3pm on Saturday) so we called the next day.  Sometimes I let things like this slide but these things aren’t cheap and for $62 we wanted people to enjoy it.  So we were hoping to at least get a partial refund and kept what was left of the arrangement so we could bring it in if they wanted “proof” the fruit wasn’t good.Elaine offered to call and explained to them how we got an arrangement for a baby shower and about the fruit not being ripe enough to eat and the person said she was sorry and left it at that.  Elaine then asked if we could get a refund or partial refund and she said she’d have to ask the manager and would call her back.We got a call back saying all they could do was bring us another arrangement but we’d have to get it that day and to the same address. Elaine explained it didn’t make any sense because the baby shower was the day before and no one was even going to be home where we had the shower today.Since they would not give a refund and did offer a replacement she asked if she could just get a credit for another time and the person said no, they can’t do that.  So she asked why, if they were willing to replace it, does it matter when they replace it.  She was told she (the EA person) would have to speak to the manager and would have to call her back.  Elaine asked to just talk to the manager but apparently he/she was on the other line.The manager calls back this time and after a few minutes of convincing, the manager agrees to Elaine’s request and sends a letter to my house saying sorry the fruit wasn’t good and I will be given a $50 (not $62) credit just mention this number when ordering.A month goes by and I decide, since I was having Thanksgiving at my house, I’ll use the credit for that day.I called to order it and gave them the code on my letter and was told it was invalid and then silence. I said I have it right here on a letter from the manager.  The person asked me for my name and told me she’d call me back. I got a call back saying the code still was coming up invalid and I said “Well, I can come down and show you the letter if you want” and she said “No, I have a copy of the letter right here in front of me, that’s not the problem” and I asked what the problem was and she said the code was invalid for some reason (apparently this was my problem).  I asked to talk to the manager who was again on the other line and would have to call me back.  She called back a while later and said she would fix it and took my order.So it wasn’t a total nightmare but the whole situation was something that should have taken one phone call to fix in the first place.  The Thanksgiving arrangement was just ok, not as bad as the time before but it just wasn’t as flavorful as when I tasted them at work.They’re just “eh” to me.