She ordered flowers to cheer up a friend. Her experience left her unhappy, and she's not alone
Sunday, 26 July 2026
Buyers who used online flower site Bloomex claim bouquets arrived days late, contained poorer quality blooms than advertised, and appeared far smaller than what they paid for.
Customers reported clicking on Bloomex after seeing online advertising promising local, same-day delivery in specific towns, only for orders to be couriered from elsewhere.
The Commerce Commission has received 182 complaints about Bloomex and its affiliated sites over two years, prompting an upcoming compliance project.
Consumer NZ is warning Kiwis to avoid Bloomex and its related trading names due to a history of complaints.
Solving stuff is where we investigate reader complaints and push for answers. You can read more about the project here, and submit your story for consideration at the end of the article.
In this instalment: Bev Carrick wanted to brighten her friend’s day with flowers. But she claims the Bloomex flowers that arrived a day late looked nothing like what she paid for. Natalie Akoorie reports.
The problem
Bev Carrick wanted to cheer up her friend, and what better way than with a beautiful bouquet of fresh flowers. Or so she thought.
The Cambridge woman said she searched online for local florists in Waimauku, where her friend lives, and up popped Bloomex.
She clicked on the website and was met with targeted advertising that read: “OUR FRESHEST WAIMAUKU FLOWERS.”
Above that it read: “Looking to send flowers in Waimauku? At Bloomex, we’re all about making your gifting experience effortless. With our unmatched budget-friendly prices and same-day delivery across Waimauku, sending the perfect arrangement has never been easier.”
Carrick said at first glance it read as if the online florist and gift retailer was local to the area and she was keen to have same-day delivery.
So she selected a regular-sized bloom from the Harmony bouquets for $59.95 “excluding tax”, and together with a card, GST, shipping and the same-day delivery fee, the order came to a smidgen under $99.
Carrick tried to pay online but she couldn’t find where to enter the recipient’s details so she rang the listed 0800 number.
It took a few goes but she finally got through to a person.
“I asked for it for the same day and they assured me that it would be.”
What went wrong
Happy with the order, Carrick paid by credit card and waited to hear from her friend. That was on Wednesday.
“And then I got a message saying it was on a courier and would be delivered tomorrow.”
Disappointed, Carrick contacted Bloomex to question why the flowers would not arrive the same day, despite her getting the order in before the close-off time for same-day delivery.
“The entire point of this order was to get it there today,” she wrote in a complaint to Bloomex, seen by Stuff.
“I was advised it would be there … I am so disappointed. I would not have placed the order if I knew it was going to take until tomorrow,” she wrote.
“Tomorrow is not relevant. It had to be today. Why not be upfront at the ordering stage?”
A minute later she received a response.
“Dear Bev, we’re sorry for the disappointment. Your order is already in transit and is currently scheduled for delivery on 2026-07-23,” it read.
“If you’d like, we can also help with the latest status details for this delivery.
“Bloomex New Zealand's Official Florist Team.”
Carrick wrote back stating she could see where the order was, again pointing out it was not same-day delivery.
A minute later she received another response along the same lines as the first one.
In total, Carrick received eight replies, one for each of her contacts, each a minute after her message and each repeating much the same information.
Carrick suspected she was corresponding with a bot.
“It was the same AI message all the time. It just went round in a loop.”
At one point the responses broke from the mould and stated Carrick would now receive a complementary upgrade of the flowers, to which she asked how this was possible since they were already in transit.
She also pointed out their explanation that Waimauku was outside the “delivery zone” seemed weak when the advertising was targeted to the area and the order-taker assured her of same-day delivery.
To add insult to injury, Carrick’s friend sent her a photo of the flowers when they arrived in a box the next day.
“I could have got them from the supermarket for $15,” Carrick told Stuff.
Other than a “really nice perfume”, according to the recipient, the bouquet did not resemble the advertised bloom with fewer flowers and some looking worse for wear.
The couriered box also contained a Whittaker’s chocolate bar, which Carrick said she would never have ordered for her friend.
Another unhappy Bloomex customer, who didn’t want to be named, said he had a similar experience to Carrick.
The Whangārei man spent $201 including $154.95 on the supersized Harmony bloom plus extra for same-day delivery for his wife on their wedding anniversary in April.
“For that price I was expecting something decent, but alas. The flowers arrived a day late and were very disappointing.”
He said the bouquet, delivered by courier from Auckland, was a fraction of the supersize he paid for.
The man said he’d spent the past three months seeking a refund from Bloomex “but kept on getting the runaround”.
What we did
The man said he ordered his flowers through another online florist called From You Flowers but when he complained he received a response from Bloomex.
“The products for sale on the two websites are identical.”
Stuff searched online for From You Flowers and also found three other websites; Mel’s Flowers, NZ Blooms, and Kiwi Flowers, that all featured the same pictures, products and services as Bloomex.
On the New Zealand Companies Office website only Bloomex is listed, trading as From You Flowers and Mel’s Flowers.
Its three directors are Hai Binh Hoang based in Victoria, Australia, and Dmitri Lokhonia and Olga Slouguina, in Ontario, Canada.
Bloomex appears to be active in Canada, the United States, Australia and New Zealand.
In March 2024 the Federal Court in Australia ordered Bloomex to pay $1 million in penalties after it admitted making false and misleading representations on its website, following an investigation by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.
On review website Trustpilot, Bloomex had a 1.1-star rating with hundreds of predominantly negative reviews.
We also found critical reviews on Reddit and Google including Aaron Bloomfield who wrote: “The roughest bunch of flowers I have ever seen”.
Stuff sent questions to the Commerce Commission, Consumer NZ and Bloomex.
We also rang Bloomex’s 0800 number and waited 14 minutes to speak to a staff member who said Bloomex’s directors were aware of Stuff’s emailed questions and would respond on Friday.
Commerce Commission head of fair trading and product safety investigations, Simon Pope, said it had received 182 reported concerns about Bloomex and its affiliated websites in the two years from July 2024.
Pope said the Commission intended to undertake a compliance project for Bloomex, which would begin shortly.
“The project is the result of the continued high volume of concerns from the public.”
He said the Commission had previously sent two letters to Bloomex, reminding it of its obligations under the Fair Trading Act and providing guidance on steps it should take to address practices that may breach the Act.
Pope said last year, the Commission began a compliance project in response to an increase in concerns about fake boutiques/ghost stores - online stores that misrepresented themselves as local Kiwi businesses.
To date the project had resulted in 30 websites being taken down.
“The Commission continues to identify websites of this nature and is committed to taking action to protect New Zealanders.”
He said the Fair Trading Act made it illegal for traders to mislead consumers, give false information, or use unfair practices.
The law applied to anyone in trade – from big organisations to small or temporary businesses.
Prosecutions taken under the Fair Trading Act had maximum penalties of $200,000 per offence for individuals and $600,000 for businesses.
Pope said there were a number of red flags that online shoppers should look for to identify dodgy websites, including:
• AI-generated images;
• Pressure tactics such as 'closing down' sales;
• Unrealistic or storewide discounts;
• No physical address or contact details;
• Poor or generic product descriptions;
• A business name that sounds local, but no .nz website address.
Consumer NZ head of advocacy and research, Gemma Rasmussen, said they had received complaints from Bloomex customers.
“These complaints were focused around the quality of flowers delivered, with bouquets being sparser than advertised, often with cheaper flowers substituted, and at times the flowers were dry and in poor condition.”
She said Consumer NZ had also received complaints about Bloomex gift hampers, where promised high-end gourmet products had been substituted for cheaper alternatives.
“Our advice to New Zealand consumers is to steer clear of Bloomex given their dicey track record, and also NZ Blooms, which is also owned and operated by Bloomex.
“Our sister organisation CHOICE awarded them a Shonky award for 'flowers that didn't deliver' in 2022 after a mystery shop investigation and numerous complaints.”
Rasmussen said Consumer NZ recognised Bloomex was “aggressive in their marketing search tactics, often appearing at the top of local floral delivery Google searches”.
“We recommend shoppers aim to shop local to ensure flowers are fresh, and if they have concerns, to call and verify with a florist before placing an order.
“If a shopper is delivering to a remote location where florists are not available, often nearby florists are happy to deliver, and there other reputable larger floral companies like Interflora that deliver across New Zealand.”
Rasmussen said if a customer had an issue with Bloomex, she recommended they keep copies of the advertisement, website listing, and any emails from the company.
“Contact Bloomex directly and explain how the product differs from what was advertised and state the remedy you're seeking (refund, replacement or compensation).
“If Bloomex refuses to resolve the issue, you can make a complaint to the Commerce Commission if you believe the business has breached the Fair Trading Act.”
Unhappy customers could also take an individual claim to the Disputes Tribunal.
“If you paid by credit card, depending on your circumstances with Bloomex, you can file for a chargeback, however there are time limitations on how long after purchase you can do this.”
We had not heard back from Bloomex at the time of the deadline for this story.
Did we solve it?
No, but we have highlighted concerns about Bloomex and found the Commerce Commission is about to begin a compliance project on it after receiving 182 complaints.
Meanwhile Carrick, a former banking specialist, said she had cancelled her credit card as a precaution.
She said she was usually careful buying products online and often searched reviews first but in this instance she didn’t.
The New Standard: If it’s unfair to you, it’s fair game for us.
Use the form below to tell us who is giving you the runaround. Or email natalie.akoorie@stuffdigital.co.nz