Mother’s Day disaster

Internet card firm is under fire for dead flowers and late deliveries

WILTED bouquets, late deliveries and cards sent to the wrong person – these are all stuff of Mother’s Day nightmares.

But that is what hundreds of sons and daughters had to deal with after online card firm Moonpig and flower delivery service Interflora botched their orders.

Dozens of angry customers took to social networking sites to complain how Mother’s Day was ruined by bouquets that were dumped on doorsteps, looked markedly different from what was advertised – or simply didn’t materialise.

The same went for cards, which in some cases were sent to the wrong person or did not turn up at all – even after customers paid up to £12 for next day delivery.

Both companies use beleaguered delivery firm Yodel, which has come under fire for struggling to deliver parcels during busy times.

One customer, Helen Palmer, said she had to drive 141 miles to deliver flowers to her mother after the bouquet she ordered from Moonpig arrived dead and in a smashed vase.

She posted a picture of the wilting flowers, which did not look like the bouquet the company had advertised on its website, and added: ‘Just drove 141 miles to give my mum flowers because your customer services are useless!’

A user named Scott Brown wrote: ‘Well done @MoonpigUK for not delivering Mother’s Day card. But it’s alright why not celebrate it a day late?’

Customers also complained about being kept on hold for 30 minutes when they tried to call Moonpig.

The firm was forced to issue more than 100 apologies online after customers besieged it with complaints about its poor service.

Interflora received similar comments from customers saying that their bouquets did not show up or were a ‘terrible version’ of what they ordered.

A user named Sophie tweeted Interflora, saying: ‘My order along with hundreds of others hasn’t been delivered at all or lost.’ A Moonpig spokesman said: ‘We can confirm that an issue with one of our suppliers has delayed the delivery of flowers to some of our customers this weekend.

‘We know how important Mother’s Day is and we have apologised to and compensated all customers who have experienced a delay.

‘We’ve been working hard to put things right and by the end of Mother’s Day almost all orders have been delivered. We hope our customers accept our sincere apologies.’

An Interflora spokesman said: ‘We apologise to the customers affected and will ensure that all queries are resolved as soon as possible.’