Riley's Flowers — Local services in St. Louis

If you're getting married, please READ this review. Now, that I'm all settled from the wedding and honeymoon, I can finally take the time to honestly express my feelings about Riley's Florist. I got married on May 4, 2019. I found Riley's Florist on Yelp. There were many raving reviews--so much so that I felt compelled to pay them a visit. This was on January 18, 2019. Now, let's get to the actual order. My wedding colors were navy blue, burgundy and champagne. I ordered 4 bouquets, 2 corsages, and 20 table floral arrangements. The chosen flowers were white hydrangeas, champagne roses, dark blue delph and burgundy stock. The total came to $714.51. I paid half--$357.26. Just one week later (January 25, 2019 to be exact), I called in to pay the balance of $357.25 over the phone. I received receipts via email for both payments. In early March, I revised my order. ). Because of this bridal party change, I requested one of the bouquets slightly bigger and to add a boutonniere. Additionally, I got an exact table count for the reception venue and found I'd ordered 2 extra table floral arrangements. Riley assured me that the 2 less table floral arrangements would offset the cost of the bigger bouquet and boutonniere and I'd essentially break even on cost. He said he'd email the updated and paid invoice. It took two months to get a new emailed invoice. I even had to show proof of full payment twice when inquiring about the new invoice. On April 1, I finally received the invoice. But, here's the catch, the paid in full balance reflected a grand total of $692.73--$21.78 shy of the amount I'd paid. I was only one month out from my wedding. I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to find a replacement florist at such late notice. So, even though I noticed the invoice manipulation, I still pressed forward. I even sent Riley an apology email because of my oversight. When the wedding day arrived, I will say that they arrived on time with everything ordered--including the corsage I said I didn't need. But, none of the floral arrangements were in my wedding colors. The dark blue delph appeared to be purple-ish, the roses were white/beige and the burgundy was very minimal. The only appealing flower was the white hydrangeas. But, let's just look on the bright side--at least I HAD flowers and they arrived on time.

I would not recommend Riley's Florist for large events--especially weddings. I just don't believe they are very professional and hold themselves accountable. I must not fail to maintain that Riley has a way of taking you on a rollercoaster ride of conversation--to the point that you forget what you were even asking about in the first place. I'd assume it's his clever way of deflecting from a situation. True, Riley boasts about the duration and success of his business and how his top florist, Scott, is well-known on television but, the fact is, fame means nothing when you forget about the little people. I'm a woman who didn't have a heap of money but I paid upfront because I wanted the perfect wedding--and I trusted Riley to help with the floral aspect of that. I guess I wasn't...

I know this is long but the details are important. The service here was absolutely terrible! To start off, my wife decided that she wanted to celebrate her birthday dinner at Eleven Eleven Mississippi. I wanted to surprise her by having 2 dozen roses and a balloon sent to the restaurant. After contacting a couple of floral shops I decided to go with Riley's florist which I came to find out later was a bad decision. I placed my order with Riley, who happens to be the owner, and he assured me that he's familiar with the restaurant and that my 2 dozen roses and balloon would be delivered between 4:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. on Saturday, July 5th. We arrive at the restaurant right at about 4:30 with family and friends and im waiting patiently for the flowers to arrive any moment. After an hour went by I spoke with the restaurant manager to make sure I didn't miss the delivery and made several phone calls to the floral shop. I eventually settled within myself that the flowers weren't going to be delivered and my surprise went down the drain. I called first thing Monday morning to speak to Riley. He apologized and told me that they were not even open on Saturday July 5th. My credit card was never charged but I told him this was a momentous occasion and I'd like to know what he was willing to do to correct the mistake they made. He said he would send the order out at no charge to me on Friday the 11th. The flowers actually arrived this time but it was one dozen roses with no balloon which is not what I ordered. I called again spoke with Riley to explain that my order wasn't right and that I was dissatisfied with the service I've received. He told me that he sent the dozen roses as an apology for the inconvenience. I told him that if he was going to substitute my original order for something different as a way of apologizing he should have communicated that with me so I wouldn't expect anything different. He said thats all he was willing to do and I told him I will share my experience with social media so no one else would have to go through this. He replied with "Hey dude you can do whatever you want!", then hung up. Wow! This company obviously doesn't value my business nor does it understand word of mouth is still popular today. Little does he realize he didnt only lose my business but the business of those that I may choose to recommend to patronize his business. Also despite the fact that he never charged my credit card, I feel as though he was just being cheap by not wanting to send out my original order that was almost $100. If I go to a restaurant and order a filet mignon and they completely mess up my order, I don't expect them to substitute my original order with an order of onion rings as a gesture of apology especially if im spending good money at your establishment. Now I see why the company's facebook page only...

I had a horrible Valentine's Day experience yesterday, and it was even worse today. I went to the store a full week before V-Day to order tulips and irises for my fiancee. I spoke with the owner for a few minutes, and everything seemed great. I ordered about $80 worth of tulips and irises, and they said they'd throw in some "spring mix" in order to fill the bouquet out.

Fast forward to V-Day, and the flowers don't arrive until almost 7PM. I called the store at 3:30, 5:30, and 6:30 trying to find out where the flowers were. The person on the other line said all the trucks were out for delivery. I asked to speak to the owner at 5:30 and 6:30, but the person told me the owner was out delivering flowers himself. Once the flowers finally arrived, they were not up to par with what I ordered. She received a whopping 6 tulips, ZERO irises, and some other random flowers.

I called to speak to the owner this morning, and he was completely unreasonable. First, he insisted all his truck drivers were done delivering flowers by 5PM. Second, he didn't see what the issue was because she got the flowers, even if they weren't exactly what I ordered. Third, he flatly told me that they didn't receive any irises for V-Day, so that's why there weren't any in her arrangement. After scolding me, he put me on hold so that someone else could "deal" with me.

The new guy I spoke to was much more reasonable. He pulled up my order and saw that I had paid a good bit for flowers that didn't get delivered in a reasonable timeframe and that they didn't have the flowers I had ordered. Since they didn't have irises, he offered me a full refund. And this is where it gets really interesting... the owner picked up the phone and asked the other guy what he was doing to resolve it. When the other guy told the owner he was giving me a refund, he said he didn't think it was fair, and he told me "Sir, I hope you're listening. Please don't ever come to my store again."

So, if overpaying for the wrong flowers not delivered in a reasonable timeframe (plus dealing with an insulting and rude owner) is what you're in the mood for, feel free to get flowers from this place. I, however, do not intend to ever give them my...