Occasions To Celebrate — Local services in New Bern

Not that my one star will make a difference nor will the ladies that work/operate this business even care but I feel entitled to leave my personal dealings with this business. I’ve come here multiple times to get balloons blown up. The first time I went there, a younger lady helped me. She was very kind and assisted in getting a few balloons blown up for me.Fast forward about 3 years later and I go in and ask to have maybe 10 balloons blown up and the woman I spoke too asked with a very bad attitude “you want them done now?” When I said yes… because the party was later that day she grabbed the balloons and had another lady start filling them. I was slightly irritated with her attitude but at the same time I understood that my coming in the day of could have been an issue if they had other orders to fill so I just let it go. Now fast forward another two years… I contacted them ahead of time and I asked about dropping MY OWN balloons off that day to be aired up for my children’s party that that would be the following day. I got a response that sounded as if it wasn’t an issue at all, so as soon as I got off of work I went by there. I walked in with my toddler in hand and by baby on my hip and said “hi I’m here to drop some balloons off to be aired up”. The woman at the counter then asked with the snottiest attitude “your own?” So I said “yes”. She asked to see them so I pulled them from my purse and laid them on the counter. This lady, with the same “lovely” attitude, walked around the counter and pulled another older woman around who proceeded to ask when I needed them by. I told her “tomorrow at 12” and that I could pick them up at 11 if possible. She looked as if it was an inconvenience so I then said “ I could come back later today if that would be better for y’all”. For roughly 15 balloons I was going to be charged the same as it would have cost for me to buy my own helium tank, which is what I ended up doing. In conclusion, they have been rude more times than not and I will HAPPILY take my...

My family has used Occasions to Celebrate often. From birthday bouquets to event planning, Windee delivers top notch service every time. She can work with any budget, giving her all to every job. She is passionate about her business and it shows in her work. Every event is special to her and she goes above and beyond to deliver exactly what you want. Windee is excellent at planning; she communicates promptly; her rental items are in great shape; her store is welcoming, clean and cheerful. The linen department is 5 stars; always fresh, clean and ironed to perfection. Occasion’s to Celebrate only use flowers of the highest quality. The arrangements are always better than imagined and exactly right. The design tools Windee uses to plan events are so helpful to ensure the vision is clear. She is able to make your dream event happen, never pushing her own ideas or plans, but very helpful with necessary information that you never think of. Her years of expertise takes all the stress out of event planning. She will ensure everything is right, on time, and perfect. Multiple sources consider Windee the go to person for any occasion. I’ve attended many events planned and decorated by Occasions to Celebrate and each one is stunning...

I specifically cancelled my order with 1800Flowers and decided to go with Occasions to Celebrate because I wanted to support local businesses and they "guaranteed" to deliver on the date I requested.

Well, I sincerely regret my decision. Not only was my delivery late, I attempted to call and left several voicemails during working hours only to be blown off by them. I did not receive a call or email back from them. Once I was finally able to speak to someone after several hours and 5 calls later, I was told that delivery would be late and the reason for late delivery was, and I quote "That's just the way it is".

I will never be shopping here again and I STRONGLY suggest others look elsewhere. I am all for supporting local businesses and in the past I have had great experiences with local, small businesses but this is one small business that I would avoid.

The cherry on top of the awful customer service is the fact that the quality of the flowers was mediocre at best. The bouquet was much smaller than expected. I purchased the "Best" option on their...