Donna & Larry's Flowers — Local services in Northville

EDIT TO ORIGINAL REVIEW: 9/10/2020 - My original review was posted before the actual delivery of the flowers. I ordered the flowers for my mom's 70th birthday one week prior to the date of delivery. On the date she was supposed to receive the flowers, I had to call the store twice because the flowers had not arrived. It wasn't until 6pm that the flowers were delivered. I paid $121 for a large bouquet, birthday balloon, delivery, taxes, etc. When the flowers arrived to my mom's house the evening of her birthday, the arrangement was not as impressive as I had hoped and there was no balloon. When I reached out to the shop, I was told the delay in the delivery was due to the Labor Day holiday as they were waiting for the flowers and that they added "high end" flowers to the arrangement. I specifically chose a local shop thinking I would get a much better presentation of flowers/balloon for my mom's birthday than if I had blindly picked an arrangement on ProFlowers or one of the other flower websites. I am disappointed with the way everything was handled after my initial phone call with the shop. In their defense, they did offer to bring a balloon back over to my mom's house, but at that point it was already almost 7pm and I told them not to bother. I feel the shop is probably a decent business who has served the Northville community for many years. I just wish my mom's bouquet received the same attention that the other customers who have commented. My opinion is my mom's arrangement was rushed because of the delay in the flower delivery and the deadline to have the flowers delivered on a specific date. I was not issued a refund for the balloon nor sent a receipt for the order. They also charged me twice for the flowers so if you use this florist check your bank records as this seems to be a common practice with them. Also, check the Yelp reviews as they are more accurate than the Google reviews.

ORIGINAL REVIEW:

I have to admit that, at first, I selected Donna and Larry's Flowers solely because I saw a picture of their Golden Retriever on the website. After speaking with Donna, I knew I made the right choice. I was looking for a local shop to put together an arrangement for my mom's 70th birthday. I was so pleased with my conversation and the "can do" attitude of making my idea for my mom's flowers come to life. With the big box stores and online flower delivery, finding someone that can take an idea and make something beautiful is a dying art. I recommended this flower shop a million times for their professionalism, customer service, and...

If I could post "zero stars" today, I would. My 83 year old mom purchased a flower arrangement for my husband and I from Donna & Larry's which was to be ready on Christmas Eve. Due to COVID, Donna & Larry's is placing their finished arrangements outside of their store for pick-up. While this is fine, there were no obvious name tags on the arrangements - only cards on the inside (more on that later!). My (adult) daughter drove my mom over to pick up THE ONLY GIFT SHE PURCHASED this year and another male customer was carrying away what looked to be my mom's arrangement. It was very specific - round with red plaid bows, large candle in the center etc. When my daughter approached the man carrying it, he said "I was here before you, so this is mine," and he left with the arrangement. Not totally the man's fault as, again, there was no way to identify who they belonged to on the outside of the arrangements. While I understand COVID challenges, there is no excuse for this sloppy distribution of flowers that meant a lot to those who purchased them. It would take about two seconds to put the names of the purchasers on the OUTSIDE of the packages if they're leaving them outdoors for the taking.

There was nothing else outside their store that even resembled the flowers my mom had purchased. Again, she's 83 and had designed them specifically for us, so by now, she was literally in tears. They told herand my daughter that they would make her another arrangement to take its place. After waiting there almost an hour, what we got was a totally different arrangement with flowers that began falling apart and dying the next day (see photo) PLUS it contained a card inside that said "MERRY CHRISTMAS MAGGIE." We are/were not MAGGIE! We, too, got some else's arrangement. Clearly "Maggie" didn't get her flowers, that day, either! So sloppy and inconsiderate to do business like this. Our flowers are already disposed of because they looked so bad and literally fell apart. Such a shame and we highly recommend choosing someone else for your flowers if you have the opportunity. They did not make this wrong right by substituting someone else's flowers on Christmas Eve. THEY made a mistake by not labeling their arrangements and they should be refunding those who didn't get what they paid for or got something that was to go to someone else's home. Hope whoever got flowers for "Oliver & Donna"...

I used Donna & Larry's today for the first time and was blown away with the customer service and quality of product. I pretty frequently send flowers to my long time girlfriend, just to let her know that I am constantly thinking of her. I always order the flowers online from one of the local florists because I like to look through the different arrangement offered so that I can always pick something different than one I've ever sent in the past. I always get excited when I find the perfect bouquet and then I always get disappointed when she sends me a picture of what arrived and it looks nothing like the photo that I choose. Of course I never let her know that. Regardless, today I decided to give Donna & Larry a try. And boy did I find a beautiful exotic looking arrangement on their website. I placed the order with fingers crossed that it would look even remotely like the picture once it showed up to my sweetheart. Thirty minutes later I got a call from Donna, asking how long my girlfriend would be at work today because the delivery may be slightly delayed. As the arrangement I chose included several flowers that she did not have in stock. She explained that she would happily drive over to her supplier, obtain the flowers and produce the the bouquet exactly as I ordered it, just that this would take some additional time and she knew the delivery was going to a place of business and wanted to make sure she would not be too late. I was blown away by this level of commitment. I am not a florist but I know she is going above and beyond taking the time to make this happen. I also know from experience that no other florist in the area would drop everything to go get the correct flowers, they would just build me whatever they thought equaled the amount of money that I spent. And they wouldn't even give me the common courtesy of a phone call to let me know that I should expect a bouquet that looks nothing like the one I ordered. I wish I had been using Donna & Larry for years as opposed to the sub par competition in the area. My special gal loved the flowers and so do I! All of my floral needs will be going through Donna & Larry from now on....