Occasions

The WOW factor!

Getting my wife onto a flight to Durban after her father died was hard to secure a seat in the days before the start of the world cup. It was only well after the flight had left that the sad reality of her being in his empty home alone occurred to me.

Flowers (not often my style) seemed the only sensible option; but what, who and how could a timely delivery be ensured, especially late at night? There were multiple florists on Google, but one stood out: Flowers for Africa. Liked the name, nice neat professional web site, prices seemed sensible and a Skype phone option so I could talk to a person. A quick e-mail in the early hours of the morning (about 00:30 am UK time) was answered almost immediately by Brendon who offered condolences and the assurance that they would do everything to help, via Lize at the shop in the morning.

A chat to Lize in the morning identified the best option (a mixture of miniature arum lily plants in full flower) that made sense. The delivery details and a message were emailed.

A phone call in the early afternoon from Jenny expressed her absolute delight to have the flowers delivered, not long after she arrived at her Dad’s house. She felt much less alone having them, especially the way they were delivered. She said such kind people delivered them to the door (to ensure she got them) and empathised with her. After no sleep the night before she travelled (worrying about her father), a full day’s work on the day she travelled and about 18 hours travel to get to Durban, the welcoming flowers, message and the way they were delivered gave Jenny a “big warm love from the family” and made the next few days easier.

The colours were exquisite, and the plants were passed on to a lady who had looked after her Dad – she too was delighted with them. 

Lize and Brendon did us proud, and showed Flowers for Africa to be a company that has the WOW factor, and goes that extra mile, or two, or three!

Good luck to them for the future.

Peter Bach – UK