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Consumer Reports Tests FTD and 1-800-Flowers Before Mother's Day

By Jim Donovan: Mother's Day is around the corner, and if you're like a lot of people, you're planning to present the special women in your life with some flowers. While I always suggest that shoppers should deal directly with a local florist shop that they know and can trust, often place orders with what I like to call the "Big Guys". Consumer Reports recently checked to see how two of the biggest online flower delivery services, 1-800-Flowers.com and FTD, compare.

They had a similarly priced and composed rose and mixed bouquet from each service delivered on the same day. Then they placed a second order a few days later, for a total of eight deliveries. Consumer Reports took pictures of each arrangement in their photo studio. Then 112 people filled out two questionnaires.

The first asked them how happy they would be on a 1-to-5 scale (1 being completely unsatisfied, 5 completely satisfied) if they received each arrangement. A second questionnaire asked them how happy they would be with the arrangements when they compared them with the online photos. They also checked out the services' websites and policies.

To see the full results of Consumer Reports findings on everything from price to guarantees visit: http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/2014/04/comparison-mother-s-day-flower-delivery-websites/index.htm

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