I just wanted to give you all an update on Gina (Flowers & Designs by Gina). We are using her for my shower this Saturday and also for my wedding. I live very close to her and my mom and I have been in close, weekly contact with her throughout the past few months. I have gone to see her countless amounts of times and she has always been so amazing. She has always responded to any calls, texts, and emails within minutes, which is why I was so shocked after reading that she did show up for that girl's wedding. My mom went to her house yesterday to see what happened and her dad was there taking care of her. She was asleep at the time and could not come downstairs. She did text me late last night when I was sleeping and I spoke to her this morning. She sounds HORRIBLE. She has a broken rib which makes it very painful and hard for her to talk, and it was very hard for me to understand her. She was in a car accident on Union Tpke with an oil truck and her daughter was in the car with her. Her daughter was rushed to the hospital. Thankfully her daughter is now home and is alive because she had her seatbelt on. This has been a true nightmare for her as I'm sure you can understand.
Gina's phone got messed up in the accident and has now been replaced by her brother. She lost some contacts but wanted me to tell everyone that she will be returning all emails today and tomorrow (she has over 200 angry and neurotic emails from brides). Again, because of the broken rib it hurts to talk so she will be emailing everyone, not calling. She is really upset about causing grieft to any bride. My mom and I are going over mid-week to see how she is and I can give you all an update then. She wanted me to assure everyone that everyone will be taken care of. She has 3 men florists coming in this week to help her with everything for this weekend and her brother and boyfriend will be helping her with deliveries since she is in so much pain. She told me that after discussion with her brother, she plans on having assistants help her with EVERYTHING from now on so that nothing like this ever happens again. I just wanted to keep everyone in the loop.
Obviously we all feel horrible about what happened to the poor bride who had no flowers for her wedding, but there are 2 sides to every story and I just wanted to tell you all what i found out about Gina. If you have any questions feel free to FM me because I will be visiting her this week.
brittndave
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Re: Up update on Gina
Posted by Becca2010
Posted by CarolAnn721
If I was in a car accident, where I got smashing into by a truck, my phone was broken in the accident AND my daughter had to have surgery, I wouldn't care about someone else's flowers. And that is why I am not a florist or any type of vendor. I couldn't even imagine what she has been through and I have been in close contact with her and wish them both the best for a speedy recovery.
ITA!!!
Yeah, sure it stinks for the bride who had no flowers, but If I were Gina, I'd just give her the money back, maybe some extra since she had to get other flowers, but then I'd want her out of my hair. If my daughter/close family member/I had to have surgery, I'd be entirely focused on that and nothing else.
yea it's a horrible situation for everyone. the point is though, that gina chooses to work alone and not have assistants, etc. that could take over for her in that kind of situation. she had a binding contract with ONE bride (this isn't a big business where she would have had to make dozens of phone calls, etc.)... how long would it really have taken her to send an email saying 'i'm really sorry but i was in a car accident and my daughter needs to have surgery. i'll refund your money as soon as possible but please make other plans for this weekend?' and yea, you're right in saying that no one wants to think about work when you're in that kind of situation, but when you have your own business and you have a contract with one person you have to deal with it whether you want to or not. it's the nature of the beast... you wanna do it, you have to do it right.
grkbarbie
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Re: Up update on Gina
its unfortunate what happened on BOTH ends. This was the reason why I had reservations about booking with Gina. She assured if anything were to happen, she would have her brother taking over. I guess this wasnt the case. I can honestly say she was the ONLY vendor i didnt worry about and the ONLY vendor that didnt pi$$ me off. I just dont knwo how to react. I feel sooooo bad for the bride.. and im still not convinced about some stuff... which is why i've been laying low about this. I still have questions that I need answered before I can recommend her to my friends/family. something still isnt sitting right with me
Becca2010
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Re: Up update on Gina
Posted by brittndave
Posted by Becca2010
Posted by CarolAnn721
If I was in a car accident, where I got smashing into by a truck, my phone was broken in the accident AND my daughter had to have surgery, I wouldn't care about someone else's flowers. And that is why I am not a florist or any type of vendor. I couldn't even imagine what she has been through and I have been in close contact with her and wish them both the best for a speedy recovery.
ITA!!!
Yeah, sure it stinks for the bride who had no flowers, but If I were Gina, I'd just give her the money back, maybe some extra since she had to get other flowers, but then I'd want her out of my hair. If my daughter/close family member/I had to have surgery, I'd be entirely focused on that and nothing else.
yea it's a horrible situation for everyone. the point is though, that gina chooses to work alone and not have assistants, etc. that could take over for her in that kind of situation. she had a binding contract with ONE bride (this isn't a big business where she would have had to make dozens of phone calls, etc.)... how long would it really have taken her to send an email saying 'i'm really sorry but i was in a car accident and my daughter needs to have surgery. i'll refund your money as soon as possible but please make other plans for this weekend?' and yea, you're right in saying that no one wants to think about work when you're in that kind of situation, but when you have your own business and you have a contract with one person you have to deal with it whether you want to or not. it's the nature of the beast... you wanna do it, you have to do it right.
I agree with you 100%, it's just that when things like that happen, your mind is somewhere else completely and nothing else matters. Sometimes it takes a terrible situation to make you focus on what's really important and if you have a business with people depending on you, you realize that you CANNOT work alone. Obviously, she figured this out. It is terrible that it had to happen this way though.
CarolAnn721
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Member since
Re: Up update on Gina
Posted by Becca2010
Posted by CarolAnn721
If I was in a car accident, where I got smashing into by a truck, my phone was broken in the accident AND my daughter had to have surgery, I wouldn't care about someone else's flowers. And that is why I am not a florist or any type of vendor. I couldn't even imagine what she has been through and I have been in close contact with her and wish them both the best for a speedy recovery.
ITA!!!
Yeah, sure it stinks for the bride who had no flowers, but If I were Gina, I'd just give her the money back, maybe some extra since she had to get other flowers, but then I'd want her out of my hair. If my daughter/close family member/I had to have surgery, I'd be entirely focused on that and nothing else.
I am sure Gina will try over and over again to rectify all this, but I wouldn't have done anything differently in the same situation.
CarolAnn721
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Re: Up update on Gina
Posted by brittndave
Posted by Becca2010
Posted by CarolAnn721
If I was in a car accident, where I got smashing into by a truck, my phone was broken in the accident AND my daughter had to have surgery, I wouldn't care about someone else's flowers. And that is why I am not a florist or any type of vendor. I couldn't even imagine what she has been through and I have been in close contact with her and wish them both the best for a speedy recovery.
ITA!!!
Yeah, sure it stinks for the bride who had no flowers, but If I were Gina, I'd just give her the money back, maybe some extra since she had to get other flowers, but then I'd want her out of my hair. If my daughter/close family member/I had to have surgery, I'd be entirely focused on that and nothing else.
yea it's a horrible situation for everyone. the point is though, that gina chooses to work alone and not have assistants, etc. that could take over for her in that kind of situation. she had a binding contract with ONE bride (this isn't a big business where she would have had to make dozens of phone calls, etc.)... how long would it really have taken her to send an email saying 'i'm really sorry but i was in a car accident and my daughter needs to have surgery. i'll refund your money as soon as possible but please make other plans for this weekend?' and yea, you're right in saying that no one wants to think about work when you're in that kind of situation, but when you have your own business and you have a contract with one person you have to deal with it whether you want to or not. it's the nature of the beast... you wanna do it, you have to do it right.
It wouldn't have been hard, but her cell phone was ruined, her brother took her computer and she was in the hospital. She runs a smaller operation which enables her to keep prices lower than other florists. I am sure after this, she will have an assistant and more back-up and her prices will HAVE TO go up.
mrsdraskin2009
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Re: Up update on Gina
Posted by AngnShaun
I absolutely feel for her... and i know its not easy to go through a serious accident like that...
but being a sole proprietor... its inexcusable that she didnt have anyone get in touch with the brides that were relying on her...
I completely agree. It is not professional in the least.
grkbarbie
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Re: Up update on Gina
when was BABS wedding?
Lucky2010
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Re: Up update on Gina
Sh*t happens. We know that. But as a professional business woman, you have to have a back-up plan. This occurrence has, I would say, heavily damaged her reputation and that's something people work a lifetime to achieve - a GOOD reputation. In this case, she should have done everything within her power to contact the bride and arrange for immediate compensation or a back-up vendor. The fact that the bride was left on her wedding day with no flowers is one thing, but it's worsened by the fact that Gina did not reach out to her and give her a heads up.
brittndave
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Re: Up update on Gina
Posted by grkbarbie
when was BABS wedding?
friday - 8/20
miamimerger
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Re: Up update on Gina
This isn't a wedding, but when I worked in Student Activities, I dealt with vendors on a daily basis, so I've seen MANY accidents/mistakes/etc happen over the years. They've ALWAYS called to let me know--even if it was an hour before hand and they were going to be 10 minutes late because of traffic. I remember specifically that I was once working with a vendor (who owned the business herself) whose mother had a stroke and she immediately had to cancel my event. She let me know as soon as possible, and luckily--since it was my career and not a wedding--I always had a backup plan. Even in family emergencies, they need to let their clients know what's going on one way or another. It's really easy to lose thousands of dollars of business otherwise.
Edited for typos .
Lucky2010
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Re: Up update on Gina
Posted by miamimerger
It's really easy to loose thousands of dollars of business otherwise.
Yes, exactly. People will really second guess booking with her. At this point, I hope she's not booking more weddings until her health situation is in order and she can accommodate all her upcoming weddings.
brittndave
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Re: Up update on Gina
Posted by Lucky2010
Posted by miamimerger
It's really easy to loose thousands of dollars of business otherwise.
Yes, exactly. People will really second guess booking with her. At this point, I hope she's not booking more weddings until her health situation is in order and she can accommodate all her upcoming weddings.
right! that's why it baffles me that she didn't take a minute to just email babs... she's going to lose so much business because she didn't handle it the right way, and that's unfortunate!
Soon2BNavi
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Re: Up update on Gina
Posted by brittndave
Posted by Lucky2010
Posted by miamimerger
It's really easy to loose thousands of dollars of business otherwise.
Yes, exactly. People will really second guess booking with her. At this point, I hope she's not booking more weddings until her health situation is in order and she can accommodate all her upcoming weddings.
right! that's why it baffles me that she didn't take a minute to just email babs... she's going to lose so much business because she didn't handle it the right way, and that's unfortunate!
ITA I bet this woman's reputation will be tarnished for quite some time because of this
Chelechel1
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Re: Up update on Gina
Posted by CarolAnn721
If I was in a car accident, where I got smashing into by a truck, my phone was broken in the accident AND my daughter had to have surgery, I wouldn't care about someone else's flowers. And that is why I am not a florist or any type of vendor. I couldn't even imagine what she has been through and I have been in close contact with her and wish them both the best for a speedy recovery.
ITA!!!!!!! Some things in life are just more important than others!!!
AngnShaun
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Re: Up update on Gina
Posted by Chelechel1
Posted by CarolAnn721
If I was in a car accident, where I got smashing into by a truck, my phone was broken in the accident AND my daughter had to have surgery, I wouldn't care about someone else's flowers. And that is why I am not a florist or any type of vendor. I couldn't even imagine what she has been through and I have been in close contact with her and wish them both the best for a speedy recovery.
ITA!!!!!!! Somethings in life are just more important than others!!!
im sure Babs felt similarly about her wedding day... no one is expecting Gina to get up and handle weddings the next day... But just to notify the bride of what was happening...
ETA: She was texting a bride on 8/19 that she would be handling all weddings... but didnt handle a wedding on 8/20
MerSaysEh
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Re: Up update on Gina
I'm wondering from the OP if Gina said anything about BABS wedding situation and why it occurred/how she plans to handle it now?
mybabylovesmoi
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Re: Up update on Gina
Posted by Chelechel1
Posted by CarolAnn721
If I was in a car accident, where I got smashing into by a truck, my phone was broken in the accident AND my daughter had to have surgery, I wouldn't care about someone else's flowers. And that is why I am not a florist or any type of vendor. I couldn't even imagine what she has been through and I have been in close contact with her and wish them both the best for a speedy recovery.
ITA!!!!!!! Some things in life are just more important than others!!!
Sorry, I just have to say this. Gina talked to several brides on 8/19 via text/email etc so she WAS lucid and able to communicate.
The bride's wedding was 8/20. Why didn't she get ANY contact? That is just wrong...there's no reason for that?
I agree, I would be a basket case if my daughter was injured but she obviously took the time to respond to other brides???
that's the part I can't make sense of...
brittndave
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Re: Up update on Gina
Posted by AngnShaun
Posted by Chelechel1
Posted by CarolAnn721
If I was in a car accident, where I got smashing into by a truck, my phone was broken in the accident AND my daughter had to have surgery, I wouldn't care about someone else's flowers. And that is why I am not a florist or any type of vendor. I couldn't even imagine what she has been through and I have been in close contact with her and wish them both the best for a speedy recovery.
ITA!!!!!!! Somethings in life are just more important than others!!!
im sure Babs felt similarly about her wedding day... no one is expecting Gina to get up and handle weddings the next day... But just to notify the bride of what was happening...
ETA: She was texting a bride on 8/19 that she would be handling all weddings... but didnt handle a wedding on 8/20
exactly my thinking... yea, i probably wouldn't have done the flowers either! i'm sure no one would have. but not contacting her is the part that makes everything about it wrong. i'm sure if she had contacted babs, babs would have found another florist and it all would have been fine. yea it would have ******, but it would have been fine. she contacted other people so what was keeping her from contacting babs?
mrsdraskin2009
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Re: Up update on Gina
Posted by Chelechel1
Posted by CarolAnn721
If I was in a car accident, where I got smashing into by a truck, my phone was broken in the accident AND my daughter had to have surgery, I wouldn't care about someone else's flowers. And that is why I am not a florist or any type of vendor. I couldn't even imagine what she has been through and I have been in close contact with her and wish them both the best for a speedy recovery.
ITA!!!!!!! Some things in life are just more important than others!!!
Which is ALL THE MORE REASON that if you are PROFESSIONAL vendor your HAVE an emergency plan in place when, God forbid, you have an emergency.
Clover23
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Re: Up update on Gina
this entire situation is incomprehensible. there has to be something going on that we don't know. it does not make ANY sense.
