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Gina's phone got messed up in the accident and has now been replaced by her brother.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.
Lucky2010
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Re: Up update on Gina
Posted by brittndave
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?
Right. And her NOT making contact and leaving the bride in the wind results in a negative review. If I were the bride and the florist contacted me before my wedding to explain the situation, apologize, offer a refund, and maybe a referral to another florist then (albeit probably being upset and annoyed that I had to go through this) I wouldn't give her a negative review because of extenuating circumstances and her reaching out to me.
Although this pales in comparison, I had a hair trial scheduled and the person did not show up, call, or text me until 3 days after my hair trial. Thankfully it was just a trial but I was still annoyed that I wasn't contacted in advance because I could have made an appointment at my salon (since it was the day of my shower). But needless to say, I would never recommend this person (not an LIW vendor).
grkbarbie
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Posted by Clover23
this entire situation is incomprehensible. there has to be something going on that we don't know. it does not make ANY sense.
yepp
NYYankeeGirl72
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Posted by brittndave
i responded on bhb but i'll respond here too...
i'm really sorry she was in an accident and i'm glad she's ok! that being said, it still doesn't make it right that that bride was left in the dust though... she has all of those family members living with her and taking care of her and none of them could pick up the phone and call last weekend's brides? yea she can't talk but she can still email so why didn't she email the girl? gimme a break
eta: gina is the sweetest person ever and she's an extremely talented florist! the only thing that kept me from booking her was the fact that she does work alone and i was afraid that this very thing would happen to me
ITA......
RitasEngaged
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whose wedding was this?
i have to agree with everyone though. it is horrible and i feel bad but you still run a buisiness so there really is no excuses to just make a phone call
RitasEngaged
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nm i found the original thread how awful.......
luckycouple05
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AngnShaun
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Posted by luckycouple05
I am just surprised she didnt think of something on the fly, like going to a local florist and getting a bouquet done for her.I think im missing the whole story here
Do you mean the bride or Gina?
brittndave
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Posted by luckycouple05
this is all sad to me..I am using her for my wedding this Saturday 08/28 and I am completely just most concerned for her then about my damn flowers. Yes its a business and I agree with the backup plans and etc etc..But I just came off the phone with her, and its so saddening, she is the sweetest person ever. She is the one true vendor that made me feel she was in it more for our happiness than for the money. I just wish her and her family strength in getting through this.
As for the bride that had no flowers, It really sucks because u are expecting a service you paid for to be done. I am just surprised she didnt think of something on the fly, like going to a local florist and getting a bouquet done for her.I think im missing the whole story here
she did go to a local florist. she paid more money and got flowers she didn't like bc that's all they could do...you can't just show up at a local florist and expect them to be able to pull something nice together for you in such short notice.
luckycouple05
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RitasEngaged
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Posted by luckycouple05
Well yeah of course thats a given that the flowers from the local florist are going to be whack..
I think im the only one that believes in human compassion more than something materialistic. At the end of the day you are getting married to the man you love, flowers or no flowers...then deal with the issue at hand later, IMO...
but you still paid for a service - i am sure if she just got a phone call she wouldnt have posted her experience
RitasEngaged
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if any kind of vendor whether they were nice or not didnt show up on your wedding day without a call - you would feel the same way all of you
AngnShaun
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Posted by luckycouple05
Well yeah of course thats a given that the flowers from the local florist are going to be whack..
I think im the only one that believes in human compassion more than something materialistic. At the end of the day you are getting married to the man you love, flowers or no flowers...then deal with the issue at hand later, IMO...
The issue is that Gina was talking to people the day before saying all the weddings would be taken care of... so at that point, my compassion is running very thin...
RitasEngaged
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Re: Up update on Gina
Posted by AngnShaun
Posted by luckycouple05
Well yeah of course thats a given that the flowers from the local florist are going to be whack..
I think im the only one that believes in human compassion more than something materialistic. At the end of the day you are getting married to the man you love, flowers or no flowers...then deal with the issue at hand later, IMO...
The issue is that Gina was talking to people the day before saying all the weddings would be taken care of... so at that point, my compassion is running very thin...
wait so she didnt even get in the accident on babs wedding day - imo thats even more unacceptable
halfbaked
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Re: Up update on Gina
Posted by luckycouple05
I think im the only one that believes in human compassion more than something materialistic.
That's a pretty harsh statement.
The first thing everyone says is 'Wow, oh no, I'm glad she's okay.... but....' No one is saying 'Eff her health, I want my flowers!' The only thing anyone said was it was unprofessional to not have some sort of contingency plan in effect.
RitasEngaged
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Re: Up update on Gina
Posted by jilliibabii
Posted by luckycouple05
I think im the only one that believes in human compassion more than something materialistic.
That's a pretty harsh statement.
The first thing everyone says is 'Wow, oh no, I'm glad she's okay.... but....' No one is saying 'Eff her health, I want my flowers!' The only thing anyone said was it was unprofessional to not have some sort of contingency plan in effect.
ita
luckycouple05
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AngnShaun
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Posted by RitasEngaged
Posted by AngnShaun
Posted by luckycouple05
Well yeah of course thats a given that the flowers from the local florist are going to be whack..
I think im the only one that believes in human compassion more than something materialistic. At the end of the day you are getting married to the man you love, flowers or no flowers...then deal with the issue at hand later, IMO...
The issue is that Gina was talking to people the day before saying all the weddings would be taken care of... so at that point, my compassion is running very thin...
wait so she didnt even get in the accident on babs wedding day - imo thats even more unacceptable
No it was at the very least a few days before... she text a bride on 8/19 that everything would be handled for future brides and babs wedding was 8/20
JAAMS
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I hate to sound harsh, because this situation is truly terrible. I sincerely hope she fully recovers as soon as possible. However, there HAS to be a way for her to contact brides and make sure she follows up on contracts if something happens. What happened to her wasn't fair, but neither is it fair for these contracts to not be honored.
RitasEngaged
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Re: Up update on Gina
Posted by AngnShaun
Posted by RitasEngaged
Posted by AngnShaun
Posted by luckycouple05
Well yeah of course thats a given that the flowers from the local florist are going to be whack..
I think im the only one that believes in human compassion more than something materialistic. At the end of the day you are getting married to the man you love, flowers or no flowers...then deal with the issue at hand later, IMO...
The issue is that Gina was talking to people the day before saying all the weddings would be taken care of... so at that point, my compassion is running very thin...
wait so she didnt even get in the accident on babs wedding day - imo thats even more unacceptable
No it was at the very least a few days before... she text a bride on 8/19 that everything would be handled for future brides and babs wedding was 8/20
wow unreal - she should get her money back in full plus the difference she paid for the other flowers
