WATCH OUT! There are hijackers at work in the floral industry.  They are internet companies who are ripping off consumers by posing as local florists. These pirate order gatherers  spend millions to grab prominent positions for their web advertising and lure people surfing for a good florist. Once they get the orders, they forward the order to a genuine florist in the location of the recipient to be filled and delivered. The ripoff occurs when the order gatherer pockets a hefty  "service charge" plus a big chunk of the value of the order and then hands over as little as half of the money to the florist to go into the flowers. The customer gets fleeced and the genuine florist gets the blame for a smaller than expected arrangement. Most quality florists don't accept orders from these order gatherers but the pirates have learned to go underground and create a host of fake florist names to operate under, tricking the filling florist into accepting the orders.  For more information on these crooks as well as tips on how to avoid them, see www.floristdetective.com

In  May, WRAL TV of Raleigh did an expose on this problem and it featured Victoria Park Florist as well as Ming Garden florist, so if you want to see a bit of Margaret and Dave and our shop, click on the picture link next to this and click to watch the video at the WRAL website once you get there.  Get informed, stay vigilant and don't fall prey to these pirates of the internet waves.