@doschicos, if you don’t send a photo and thank the sender, they have no idea what you actually received and can’t decide whether or not to keep doing business with the company that sent the flowers. My folks have gotten flowers re-delivered (fresh bouquet) when they received one that was pretty wilted once, after they let the purchasers know. The florist was very apologetic. HI is quite hot, so flowers do wilt quickly, but they looked peaked when they were delivered, which shouldn’t be the case.
Yes, doschicos, I definitely agree that florists take advantage of those who send flowers long distance. It’s happened to me enough times that I’m very wary to use any of the big name internet florists.
But I really disagree with sending a photo to the giver. Any implication that the gift may be, in even some small degree, substandard is just not appropriate. I would thank them warmly and leave it at that because you do not know any details about the order they placed. Now if the sender was my mother or sister, I may be more forthcoming with the details but I never would to a friend who made a very nice gesture by remembering me.
After a particularly disappointing delivery to my mother in law, I called the national floral delivery company and was told by their agent that it’s always better to call and give very specific directions rather than place an order online. He fessed up that the pictures online are staged to look bigger than they actually are by tricks like pushing all the flowers to the front rather than spreading them completely around the container. Now I either call a local florist directly and make it clear what I expect or I have had good luck with Costco arrangements because they give a detailed count of every flower that will be in the order.
@HImom Well, I’ll definitely thank the sender because it is something I’d always do anyway. I’m very appreciative of the gift. It is a different florist than the one that delivered flowers last time this person sent them so maybe they are doing an FTD thing or maybe they forgot who they used last time. I think your suggestion is to send a photo is a viable option. I just have to decide if I want to do that or not as I’m more inclined by nature to follow @GRITS80’s line of thinking. I’ll definitely never use the florist, though, and might call them tomorrow to let them know that. 
One company I can vouch for is Farm Girl Flowers, shipped by mail. A relative always uses them and they are just lovely and generous bouquets. https://farmgirlflowers.com
About the only person I send flowers to is my mother, and I have two florists there whom I trust. I call them directly and am specific about what I want. When she lived down in Hilton Head, I found a florist there whom I also called directly.
The one time I used FTD through a local florist it was to send flowers to a funeral. When I went to the wake and funeral, I was appalled and embarrassed to see the horrible arrangement the local florist delivered, and I complained to my local florist who had placed the order.
Here’s what I think happened to me once - and could apply to doschicos situation. We received a large corporate gift basket and one of the items was a $50 off certificate for flowers from one of the big companies. Shortly thereafter, DH’s secretary was hospitalized and he asked me to send flowers. Online, I selected an arrangement that was about $80 plus delivery charges, etc. and I applied my gift certificate to the order. DH stopped by the hospital for a visit and asked me why I sent such a small arrangement. Because I placed the order on the national online site, I’m suspicious that by the time it filtered down to the local florist they weren’t working with the full $80 because of the gift certificate. That’s not OK but I can sort of see how something like that could happen so I decided that the next time I get one of those certificates I’m going to send myself some flowers just to see what I get.
I think businesses who cut corners may forget what a small world it is when things can be posted online, including reviews. Perhaps thanking warmly and then a bad review on their website might be more effective.
I know this person did not use a certificate. This person has sent me flowers before (different florist) and it has been much nicer. That’s what gives me confidence that this particular florist is just being cheap and ripping customers off.
@doschicos, reviews are your friend and can let others be forewarned so they won’t get ripped off too.
Dos, happy birthday or whatever the occasion is.
What’s the difference between living in a tiny house and living in a trailer?
The cachet!
The trailer is more mobile–many of the tiny homes are not meant to be moved, I believe.
See how this group rolls? I automatically assumed VH meant those neat little campers. Fascinated by “small living.”
THOW (tiny homes on wheels) are made to be able to be towed. I have been looking at then for some time now, am looking to get one approximately 160 square feet. Trailers are not meant to be moved, they are generally stationary in a trailer park.
Of course, a tiny house can have an interior bathroom. Lol.
Growing up as a tween, I lived in a one bedroom classic silver Spartan trailer. My sis and I shared the bed, and my mom slept in the living room. We lived on a mountain with a generator for an hour a night. It had a tiny bathroom. We heated pots of water to bathe in the shower. I LOVED living there. Then life changed and I moved to a small town home. The trailer was more fun, but it was nice to have my own room finally. It was alos nice to have electricity 24 hours a day.
@VeryHappy @lookingforward @CottonTales @MaineLonghorn
Wow!!
I have stories from those days on the mountain. Keep meaning to write a book, but I don’t know if people would believe it.
To pique interest… Soapstone pipes…naked people in the woods…skinny dipping…boxes of cherries…big converted school bus…Disneyland…recording songs from the radio…the orchard…lamprey eels…inner tubes… Ah, life as a hippie child.
@Lindagaf, that is very cool! Sounds like a small version of our cabin in the mountains. I LOVE going there. People look at me funny when I tell them there’s no electricity. We DO have running water now, because DH rigged up a system, complete with a water collection system that funnels rain water into a 1000-gallon cistern in the basement. There is an electric pump - when it needs to work, we plug it into our car’s “cigarette lighter” charger. We also have a propane fridge and stove.
My stories involve: Building a concrete block basement by hand, seeing a moose’s head coming at me through a car windshield, fireworks shows over a remote lake, ER trips, shooting stars over Flagstaff Lake, running on logging roads with an air horn to scare off moose, hiking the Appalachian Trail, laughing with friends next to a campfire until the middle of the night, skinny dipping, snowshoeing up a mountain to get to the cabin in February, potluck dinners with our road association, playing cards by lantern light with the kids, etc., etc.
@Lindagaf Curiosity makes me ask, how much of the hippie life have you embraced in your own adult life or did the experience make you run in the opposite direction?
Lindagaf and @MaineLonghorn Have you seen the movie Captain Fantastic? Raising kids off the grid theme. Good movie.