Florist News

No consultation fee but do know those that do and then deduct that from final price at one time tried but no one was prepared to pay just went elsewhere

Hi Rach

What night hawks we are. Yes I've found that too- that people are not prepared to pay even though they can take an hour of your precious time. Does anyone out there make brides pay for the consultation successfully or do they just go somewhere else?

Yep you got it Aurora, it works for us this way, but you need to assess each one really, if I thought I would loose a wedding I really wanted because of the way we work then I would be flexible and change tactics. I don't charge for a consultation, not sure about that one, I would be worried it would put them off specially if they are going to shop around.

Suppose it depends on what you call a 'consultation'. If it's just a first visit to find out if you're able to do the sort of thing she wants and at the same time she is deciding that she has enough faith in you to do her wedding, then that shouldn't take very long and i wouldn't charge a fee for that. Just as if you asked a builder round to find out if he could do your extension and was indeed capable of doing it, he wouldn't normally charge for the visit. (only plumbers are allowed to do that). I rarely book 'consultations' where i tell the bride she will have my undivided attention for an hour. I am just not in a position to do that. If the phone rings, i will answer it, if someone walks in to buy something, i will serve them. I can normally keep them occupied looking at pictures and choosing ribbons etc for it not to be too much of a problem. If it gets to be a problem then i would have to cut it short and reschedule. Fortunately, this hasn't happened, but that's probably more down to luck than judgement. I usually explain that if they would like a consultation with no interruptions then i would need to charge a fee like everyone else, say £35. They usually say, 'no that's allright, we don't mind waiting'. Again, more luck than judgement and i suspect that quite a few would indeed get the hump and just walk out. I can only ever remember one actually doing that,but a week later she came back and i did her wedding. I know i've gained quite a few just because other florists charge for the initial visit and that puts them off straight away. Especially if they want to pop into 3 or 4 florists before making a decision.
If someone wanted to talk to you about a large number of pieces for a funeral, would you charge a consultation fee?

True we have had 2 few years back one was a drug dealer who had been shot and we had what I called hencemen from all over the shop never ceased for 2 days and was scary delivering pieces but cheapest piece was £200 the other was for travelling community and they were all married into each other my god took 3 hours to get through that lot but again weddings and funerals travellers pay up front half of them had hardly a shoe but they really push the boat out

My best one was an irish family a few years back. Son was found at the bottom of a quarry. 'suicide' yeah..ok..ordered a few pieces and paid for them. Then two days before funeral phoned up to order about 5 other large pieces. Wanted a good show. They would be in Monday morning (day of the funeral) to sort out the money. Thought..that's ok, mum works with the nuns and is very religious, not a problem. Worked all weekend on this. Monday morning, never showed up, but then do you expect them to on the day of the funeral. So delivered them all and waited a couple of days before phoning. Other son says, yes will come in to sort it out. This went on for weeks. sent numerous letters, still didn't get paid. Last year mum wins £50k on the lottery and has her picture in the local rag. Still didn't get paid. So up sh#t creek really. Not long ago, a local heavy said he would buy the debt off me and go round and collect it. I'm pretty sure he would have got the money, but i would probably have lost my window in the process. Just another lesson learned (do you ever learn!) ALWAYS get the money first

Yes I was caught out as well son was killed in London and mum ordered and paid for 2 large pieces ordered 2 more 1 coffin spray and 1 for sister paid £30 and promised to pay balance day before funeral I must have called at her house every week for 1 year and every time she peeked out from behind the curtains but never answered the door anyway she had the bloody cheek to come in and order another large piece for someone else paid full amount was given bill and asked to settle said she would be back next day to settle but was told we wouldn't deliver piece unless she did she didn't come back didn't get funeral piece and we didn't get balance think we have all been caught out at some time and no we will never learn

Did have a good one last week 2 weeks ago customer who comes in reg. saw a plant she liked the look of and said she would come back following week when she had cash (regular occurence) as usual we told her to take it with her and pay next week anyway phone rings 'that plant I got is a disgrace it is dead call and collect it and bring me another plant but I don't want the same one again' YEAH RIGHT I know her well so I said sorry delivery is xxx 'no you pass my house on your way home' now I'm pissed of 'sorry you didn't pay for it in the first place and if it has died bring it in and choose your own plant'
Think she is fell out with me now

we never took wedding for valentines week, mothers dy week or xmas week, reason it wasnt worth the hassle.most of the brides were not customers of ours and have never stepped foot in our shop before or after there weddings, most of the time they were from different areas and there local florist had told them the same as us .we just said that we were fully booked up for them weeks and they all understood, well i say all, there are afew people that come in and say do you do weddings, and we say yes, when is the wedding and they say now.WHAT??????did they not think to order the flowers, NO, why? because they think floristry is all about throwing flowers together. I know ive got alittle of the mark with this chat, sorry.

Don't worry we do it all the time