Ferns N Petals asked to pay Rs. 6,331 for late delivery of gift items in Hyderabad

HYDERABAD: Ferns N Petals was ordered to pay Rs. 6,331 by the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission for failing to deliver gift items on time to a Hyderabad customer.

T. R. Padmakaram, a 65-year-old Secunderabad resident, ordered a few gift items from the Ferns N Petals portal for a friend and paid Rs. 1,311 with his credit card. On August 14, 2023, Padmakaram learned from his friend (the gift recipient) that the gift items were not delivered.

Padmakaram received notification from Ferns N Petals on August 15, 2023 at 6:14 pm via no reply e-mail that order 44859371 was delivered to the recipient. When Padmakaram contacted Ferns N Petals regarding the delayed delivery of gift items, he was told that such delays were unavoidable.

However, Padmakaram expressed that he would not have placed the orders with Ferns N Petals if the delivery date and time were not guaranteed.

He further said that the delayed delivery ruined the purpose for which the gift item was sent since it was not delivered on the occasion, which hurt his feelings and caused him mental anguish. On September 11, 2023, he issued a legal notice to Ferns and Petals, but they did not respond.

He said that Ferns N Petals was solely interested in collecting money from clients and was unconcerned about meeting service agreements. Hence, Padmakaram filed a consumer complaint and asked the commission to grant him reliefs.

Despite receiving notification by October 23, 2023, they did not appear before the Commission and did not file a written version within the time frame prescribed by the Consumer Protection Act, 2019.

Based on the facts and data on the record, as well as Padmakaram's written arguments, the forum determined that he received confirmation for the orders he placed.

According to the documents, Padmakaram was also told of the expected delivery dates, and the gift item that was intended to be delivered on August 12, 2023 on the occasion of his friend's birthday was not delivered to the receiver.

Ferns N Petals acknowledged receipt of an e-mail regarding the non-delivery of the gift items. The court also noted that the the gift item was delivered to the recipient on August 15, 2023 at 6:14pm despite it was not expected on August 12, 2023.

Padmakaram was sent an e-mail on August 15, 2023 requesting Ferns N Petals to cancel the other two orders as the

opposite party was not committed to deliver the articles within the

time frames mentioned at the time of taking the orders.

The court noted in the case of Padmakaram Ferns N Petals that they were not serious about delivering the gift items within the time frames they committed to when taking the orders. The court further said that if Ferns N Petals had been warned prior to taking the order that the committed delivery date and time might not be met, Padmakaram would not have placed the orders and could have avoided the mental agony and torture.

The court also noted captions and advertisements of Ferns N Petals which says why choose us?

• Delivering emotions since 1994
• We deliver, on time – every time!
• An oder delivered every 2.5 second.

However, claims and promises given by Ferns N Petals in their advertisements with regard to time lines shown and the information given in the reply mail were contradictory.

Moreover, the Ferns N Petals never informed Padmakaram that the products that were shipped using the services of their courier partners would be delivered prior or after the chosen date of delivery since they were unable to commit an exact date/time of delivery (as mentioned in the reply e-mail dated August 14, 2023.

The court ruled that providing incorrect timeline information to customers and denying them exact delivery times constitutes unfair trade practice.

The court also noted that Ferns N Petals' contractual obligation to provide the goods as committed by them when taking orders from customers. Also, since Ferns N Petals claims that they deliver emotions, they are obliged to deliver their products on time.

The Ferns N Petals failed to appear before the Commission in this instance for reasons best known to them and the evidence. Padmakaram, on the other hand, went unquestioned and unrebutted. Hence, the court ruled in favour of the complainant.

The court also noted about the contractual obligation on the part of Ferns N Petals to deliver the articles as committed by them at the time of taking orders from the customers. Also, when Ferns N Petals says that they deliver emotions, they are under an obligations to deliver the articles on time.

The court ordered Ferns N Petals to refund Rs. 1,311, pay Rs. 5,000 in compensation, and pay Rs. 5,000 in litigation costs within 45 days of receipt of the order. If the opposing party fails to make the above-described payments within 45 days after receiving the order, the sums mentioned will bear interest at the rate of 6% per year from the date of invoice until the date of actual payment.