Whether you’re buying them for yourself, your mum, your grandma, a spouse, or a friend, floral arrangements are at the centre of gift-giving with many people wanting to buy and support local florists.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has commenced legal proceedings against ‘Meg’s Flowers’, an online florist allegedly using deceptive advertising to pose as a local florist.
The ACCC alleges that Megs Flowers Pty Ltd breached Australian Consumer Law between 1 January 2019 and 10 February 2022 by creating 156 location-based websites and 7462 Google advertisements claiming it was a local florist in multiple towns and suburbs across Australia. One of those suburbs was Lane Cove. The other locations were Ashgrove, Caboolture, and Tewantin in Queensland; Mawson Lakes in South Australia; Sunbury in Victoria and Ellenbrook in Western Australia.
Contrary to its ‘local’ claims, Meg’s Florist is a nationwide online business that distributes flowers through 13 corporate warehouses and subcontractors.
“Many consumers prefer to seek out local businesses to support, and many also wish to source the freshest flowers in a suburb close to the recipient’s address.
We are taking this court action because we allege Meg’s Flowers misled consumers into thinking they were ordering flowers from a local florist, when they were dealing with a national business and the orders were often fulfilled from a corporate warehouse outside of that suburb” ACCC Commissioner Liza Carver said.
Claims made by Meg’s Florist included:
- The domain name or website heading referring to a specific suburb or town.
- Displaying a photograph of a florist’s store featuring a branded ‘Meg’s Flowers’ scooter.
- Statements such as “the finest quality flowers in [suburb or town]” or “direct from our [suburb or town] florist.”
- Phrases like “It’s the local approach” or “our fantastic local service.”
- Inclusion of geographical details about the relevant suburb or town.
- The website’s copyright notice containing the words “Meg’s Flowers [suburb or town].
The ACCC also alleges 149 other Meg’s Flowers’ location-based websites gave similar misleading information, although not as detailed as these seven locations mentioned above.
Furthermore, the ACCC claims that Meg’s Flowers created a total of 7,462 Google Ads that targeted various suburbs and towns, with the ads containing URLs reflecting specific locations searched by consumers, accompanied with headlines such as “Meg Florist (suburb/ town).
The ACCC is seeking declarations, penalties, compliance orders, corrective notices, and costs.
A check of Meg’s Flowers Pty Ltd website shows they now include the following statements “we deliver to Lane Cove West” and “Our delivery drivers deliver to Lane Cove West from our workspace in Sydney”.
Not The First Time Online Florists Have Failed to Disclose Their Location
In 2021 a whistle-blower at one of Australia’s largest online flower retailers told ABC News she was trained to deliberately mislead customers.
The ex-staffer noted how her employer gave training material on how to evade questions of locality.
“DON’T LIE. Be positive, embellish, reaffirm but don’t lie. (e.g., Do not say ‘we are the florist in Paddington’),” the material stated.
The materials used to train the staff also included directions for what the company described as “controlling the call,” allowing them to sidestep direct questions on their location.
It also directed them to respond to a question about where their storefront was with “We deliver there all the time, what flowers did you have in mind?”
So How Do You Ensure You Are Buying From a Local Florist Online?
To ensure a good experience when purchasing flowers online the ACCC advises:
- Verify the presence of a physical address by researching the company and inquiring about the business’s location.
- Seeking out reviews on external websites to note their reputation and the reliability of the business.
- Explore social media.
- Inquire about where the flowers are coming from if this is important to you as a consumer.
Cover Photo: Our Cover Photo is from Meg’s Flowers Facebook Page.
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