Potomac Floral Wholesale, Inc. — Attraction in Kensington

So, this will be a bit longer of a review as I have to touch on a few things but overall, I'm pleased with my recent experience. I've purchased from Potomac Floral a few times. I typically place my orders for pick up as I do not want to pay the large delivery/overnight fee. I live about an hour away. Upon arrival for pickups, there is not much organization or direction. There is a "pickup" sign but you can easily linger without anyone approaching or helping you for quite a while. Some people are friendlier than others. You will eventually get help and you'll get your flowers eventually but you'll likely be waiting for a bit. Every time I've placed a pick up order, something has been missing. Despite their statement in their order confirmation emails of, "We will notify you within 1 day if changes are made to your order." Don't trust this statement.

That brings me to my recent experience. I ordered some filler (only 5 bunches) for an event and I went ahead and paid the delivery fee since it was a small order. Fast forward to delivery day - no word and no delivery. I call several times only to be quickly transferred and my concerns basically ignored by the first woman (poor customer service). At this point, I'm panicking as I need these greens. Thankfully, I got another gentleman the third time I called and he was a bit more sympathetic to the situation. He eventually transferred me to his manager, Mr. King. It turns out the order never shipped because (his guess) they didn't have those greens in stock. Again, failed to "notify me of changes in my order within 1 day" thing. I, desparate, ask Mr. King if there's any resolution as they put me in a bad situation with no product 2 days before my event. He worked with me and sent out some other greens to be delivered by their personal driver the next morning. I got a text around 7am saying they had been delivered. Overall, I'm thankful for Mr. King and his assistance (along with the gentleman before him) and I'm glad the issue was resolved. But, it shouldn't have been my problem to fix. I had to spend at least an hour of frustration and correspondence to get it fixed.

Leaving 4 stars because in the end, they made it right. But, there is still a lot to be improved with their operations. I'll potentially use them again in a pinch but I'm guarded as it could turn into another stressful episode. Proceed...

In my previous experiences with Potomac Floral, I have never encountered any issues. However, today proved to be quite a harrowing ordeal. I had placed an order for 300 pieces of a specific leaf and arrived promptly at 10 am for pick up. Upon entering the establishment, there was a distinct lack of staff to provide guidance, leaving me to search for any signs indicating the location of the pick-up area. Eventually, I discovered it tucked away in the back.

I patiently waited behind another customer who was receiving assistance, only to be informed by an associate after 15 minutes that if I was there for pick up, I needed to go to the front and sign in to be called. It would have been greatly appreciated if someone had informed me of this protocol or if there had been a clear sign indicating the necessary procedure. Reluctantly, I made my way back to the front and signed in, by which point it was already 10:20.

The woman at the front desk informed me that the wait time could range from 30 minutes to an hour. It struck me as rather unreasonable to wait an hour for something I had pre-ordered, but I chose not to voice my concerns, hoping that the wait would be closer to the promised 30 minutes.

Now, it is 11:28, and I approached the front desk to inquire about the progress of my order. To my dismay, I was informed that it might take another hour, but she couldn't provide a definite answer. The idea of waiting a total of 2 hours to pick up an order is simply preposterous. How can one effectively manage their time under such circumstances? It would be far more considerate to either allocate specific pick-up time slots or clearly communicate to customers that they need to set aside a substantial amount of time for order retrieval.

I struggle to fathom any other retail establishment where such a practice would be deemed acceptable. Can you imagine waiting an hour for your pizza or dedicating 30 minutes to 2 hours for a carryout order?

While management may dismiss this as a mere customer complaint, I implore them to critically examine their internal processes and make earnest efforts to enhance the overall customer experience. At the very least, they should proactively warn their customers about the inconvenience they are likely...

I ordered the stars of my daughters wedding along with other flowers and fillers. I was never informed that there may be a problem prior to the day before they were to be sent out. The man who called to inform me had a arrogant blunt attitude, no apology no customer care, and a very heavy accent. I was in such a state that I didn't want to have to interpret what he was saying and asked to speak to someone who didn't have such a strong accent. He took a great offense as if I was prejudice. He seriously had to know he had a strong accent. My star flowers where not coming one day before they were to arrive. All they wanted to do is have me pick other flowers. I found one woman good but only spoke with her once. Spoke to who was to be the sales manger who spoke really slow. Maybe too strong of a depressant? Maybe I was given him because of my request? Again, no customer care plus as he was the only one paid for our conversations, he was bothered for having to talk to me. Most of the order arrived in poor shape, not because of shipping, and the magnolia leaves were dead for some time. The flower heads were much smaller than depicted. Maybe if I have eaten all of my outraged feelings and not just a good portion and spent the time to decipher the first man, they would have been better. This is another case of having to trust that it will come right back on them. I am actually writing this as I am still trying to fill in the missing flowers, didn't realize I'd need under studies for them. I am hoping this will cause my anger and frustration to be diminished. I think maybe the grower or this business had a higher paying order who could have order after me, yet got the flowers I believed were coming. The freesias have open more and they still smell like greens, not as advertised. Unless the fragrant they were proclaiming was grass and friends. Considered picking them up but thought the time was not worth it and family that lives close had enough with having to bring their pets but I wonder how much better it would have been if it...