Exotic Flowers in Boston has been the florist of choice for at least three celebrities in the past 60 days. And while that star-studded business has led to some positive press — it also ended in one unexpected snafu, according to managing director Rick Canale.
 
On Jan. 9, The Boston Herald reported singer Bonnie Raitt had ordered flowers from Exotic Flowers for the funeral of legendary Boston bluesman "Weepin' Willy Robinson." A month later, the shop was in the spotlight again after it delivered a "ginormous" bouquet to actress Jennifer Garner, who was in Boston to shoot the movie "Ghosts of Girlfriends Past."

Exotic Flowers showed up again in the Herald's gossip page when a columnist reported on now former-Red Sox catcher Doug Mirabelli's Valentine's Day gift for his wife — an orchid bouquet from Exotic Flowers. The problem? The story, which ran Feb. 20, suggested Mirabelli had forgotten the holiday, when in fact he'd placed his order Feb. 12. The other problem? The paper reported the story based on a news tip from Canale. (Unfortunately, the reporter had "twisted" the tip to make it appear more newsworthy, Canale said.)

After the article appeared, Canale received a phone call from Mirabelli's assistant, who stated the baseball catcher's displeasure with the article. Too smooth over the situation, Canale apologized and waived the arrangement fee. He also offered Mirabelli "a few future free" arrangements and posted an apology to Mirabelli on his blog. For his part, Canale has taken a philosophical approach to the mix up.

With mistakes, you have to "be ready to do whatever it takes to make it right," he says. "The reporter is not going to print a retraction, but tell the customer you are demanding it."

And, in the end, customer service mishaps, when handled correctly and quickly, can still turn into positive shop results, he says. "The exposure I got from this mess up came at a marginal customer's expense which created huge buzz and exposure for my shop," Canale says.

Stay on top of media relations in your area with help from SAF resources, including  "Counteracting Harmful Floral Publicity" tips.

--Cassandra P. Foster
cfoster@safnow.org

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