Seavers Flowers
June 17th, 2008
I was a little reluctant to make this post because I like to support local business but I felt it might be helpful to anyone who is considering ordering flowers or gift baskets in the area.
My sister who lives on the west coast was shopping online to have a gift basket delivered to Ethan and me for our anniversary a couple of weeks a go. She picked Seavers Flowers on Concord St. and ordered a “Gourmet” food basket and although it said all orders placed by 1pm will be delivered that day, she went ahead and ordered a few days before just to be safe and received conformation via email when she placed her order.
From their site:
My sister called me Saturday morning and said she didn’t want ruin the surprise so she wouldn’t say what it was but wanted to make sure someone would be home Saturday to recieve a delivery. So I waited until Ethan woke up to run some errands and then came home and later in the afternoon had to go out again and checked with Ethan to see if he was planning on going out so that one of us would be home.Â
I got home around 5 and still no delivery. My sister called and was surprised that we had not received anything- she tried calling but  Seaver’s closes at 5 and does not have voicemail, they’re closed on Sundays, so she called Monday.
When she got someone on the phone she explained what happened and that it was for an anniversary and she had recived confirmation of the order and it’s delivery date but it never arrived . She told me the guy just responded with ”ok”.  So she said “Well I’d like to cancel the order and have my card credited the amount since it never arrived and he just said “okay, I’ll look it up and cancel it”.   The guy told her he’d call her that afternoon to let her know that her card was credited but he never did so she had to call the next day and got confirmation.
The guy at Seaver’s wasn’t obnoxiously rude, but he never apologized or made any effort to somehow make her want to use their flower shop again- she just got the feeling they didn’t care. As a customer she trusted that they knew how to follow through on what they offer.  Maybe they just had an off day, but this was my sister’s experience and I thought this might be helpful to share it.
We received an arrangement from Seaver’s once and it was incredible how poorly put together it was. Nothing coordinated, which I think is a feat that is difficult to do even if one were trying.
Comment by Dave — June 17, 2008 @ 9:19 pm
Seavers’ was never a GREAT florist shop, but they used to be “OK”. In the past few years, I think they’ve really gone down. Our church used to use Seavers’ for sending flowers, but I don’t think we’ve used them in at least 5 years. They DO have a disconnected and couldn’t care less attitude. No, they’re not rude or obnoxious - they just don’t care.
The church now uses Talvy’s (I may have spelled it wrong) in downtown Ashland. They’re much better than Seavers’. I’ve also bought flowers once or twice from “The Frugal Flower” in Sudbury which wasn’t too bad.
Comment by Rev. Bob Baril — June 18, 2008 @ 9:16 pm
On Frugal Flowers in Sudbury (owned, I believe, by a Framingham family), at the end of May I ordered a dozen “lavender roses” for my lovely wife for our anniversary. On the phone I was assured by FF that they had them in the warehouse. I went to pick them up on a Sunday (which was convenient), but when they brought out the beautiful arrangement, lo and behold the roses were dark pink (maybe fuschia). I stood speechless for a few seconds, then said that these were not lavender roses, as lavender is a distinct color known well to me (and my wife). What I got from the young woman behind the counter was a feeble apology and an admisson that they weren’t in fact lavender but were as close as they could get. (What I got from the three other folks behind the counter was complete silence). I explained that I would not have ordered the flowers had they informed me that they were going to give me “the next closest color”. I felt stuck, and reluctantly took the flowers so I could have something to give my bride of 19 years, but was not very happy. I expected a little more from a longstanding local proprietor than “I’m sorry” and, honestly, as much as I had a good first experience with FF 10 years ago, I’d be hard pressed to return again — not becuase they erred, but because of the lack of considerate follow-up with me.
Comment by Matt Elliott — June 18, 2008 @ 10:24 pm
Too bad Seaver’s stinks, but I appreciate you telling us like it is. What a shame we can’t get business owners to care. I could list a few others who don’t give a rip about how they are perceived by their customers. The manager at Walgreens on Rte. 9, for example, is terrible. He treats customers like garbage and doesn’t care at all about how And when I asked him for his name he lied to me and gave me a made-up name.
Comment by Sarah O. — June 20, 2008 @ 11:32 am
Had a similar problem with Seavers. Ordered a flower arrangement for a wake for my brother in law. When I walked the line my brother in law pointed and thanked me for the flowers I sent. I was appalled at how small the arrangement was and was placed on a small table because to small to be near the casket. i paid $90 not on the low end. Since I bought on line maybe they thought I was not going to the wake and see what they sent. I email on there sight a scathing email and no responce. I tell this story every chance I can get. I think when you can you need to go to any flower shop to pick out the arrangement. It is possible flower shops send whatever if you call or email the order.
Comment by Ed — June 24, 2008 @ 3:19 pm
Really seaver’s flowers I think is the greatest flowere shop around there always friendly and ontime. I love Seavers’s and Seavers has ALWAYS loved
Comment by fred — August 16, 2008 @ 10:05 pm