A Fayette County flower shop is sounding the alarm after learning another out-of-state business appears to be impersonating its company to deceive its customers online.
Neubauer’s Flowers in Uniontown has been serving customers for over 100 years. The owner told KDKA Investigates that a website is mimicking his company to trick people into thinking they’re ordering from his shop.
“They think they’re on your store and they’re not being served, and it’s got my name on it,” said Steve Neubauer, owner of Neubauer’s Flowers.
During an online search on Microsoft Bing, a search for “Neubauer’s Flowers Uniontown” shows a sponsored link to what’s called Blossom Flower Delivery. That page is not the well-known Neubauer’s Flowers in Uniontown.
According to the Better Business Bureau, Blossom Flower Delivery is a company based out of California and appears to be impersonating the Fayette County flower shop.
“If you go in and try to find out ownership here, this company is based in California, but the listing, the ownership group, it’s people in Iceland,” Neubauer said.
Over the past month, Neubauer said he’s gotten at least a dozen calls from customers raising the red flag about the website, while others are calling with questions about bouquets on the scam website.
“It makes us look like we don’t know our own website,” Neubauer said.
Neubauer’s Flowers has been around since 1921.
“We’ve been here four generations, 104 years. You find a Neubauer in the store every day that you come in here. And you know, we’re protective of our name,” Neubauer said.
Scam sites targeting florists
Neubauer said scam sites have become a growing problem for florists across the country.
“My friends that operates in larger metropolitan area, we were aware of the problem. But being in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, we thought, ‘We’re a small town. Nobody’s going to care about Uniontown, Pennsylvania,'” Neubauer said.
According to the BBB website, Blossom Flower Delivery pops up in eight states across the nation, all with an “F rating.”
“This company currently has an ‘F’ rating with the Better Business Bureau due to failure to respond to 823 complaints that have been filed against the business and failure to resolve five complaints,” said Caitlin Driscoll, the public relations director of the Better Business Bureau serving Western Pennsylvania.
The BBB said Blossom Flower Delivery has had 848 complaints over a three-year reporting period, citing delivery product issues and billing and customer service issues.
“Orders weren’t delivered, the flowers that they thought they were getting isn’t what was delivered,” Neubauer said.
Neubauer said he decided to call Blossom Flower Delivery.
“I said, ‘Oh, I see you’re located in Uniontown, Pennsylvania. I’m always looking for a new florist. Where’s your shop?'” Neubauer stated. “And she says, ‘Well, it’s on Jefferson Street,’ which is where St. John’s church is. So, I had her. I said, “Really? I’m right around the corner from there.'”
KDKA Investigates went to Jefferson Street and called Blossom Flower Delivery. The person who answered told us they were Neubauer’s Flowers, but their physical store wasn’t open due to construction and was only taking online orders.
KDKA asked where they’d be located once they open, and the employee told us it would be on Jefferson Street.
“Jefferson Street? OK, I’m actually on Jefferson Street. Which building will it be?” KDKA’s investigative reporter Erika Stanish asked.
The person on the other line did not answer. After several attempts, KDKA hung up and called again.
“Hi, yes, I was just on the phone with you. I just wanted to, I guess, double-check that this is Neubauer’s in Uniontown, Pa.?” KDKA’s Erika Stanish said.
The person who answered told us again that they were Neubauer’s Flowers before hanging up. Neubauer’s Flowers has been working for over a week to get the website taken down.
“To no avail so far, which is why we called you,” Neubauer said.
Microsoft takes action
Since KDKA Investigates started looking into it, Microsoft has corrected the issue online.
A spokesperson released a statement to KDKA-TV saying, in part, “We take user safety and security seriously and are committed to maintaining a trustworthy advertising experience.”
While the issue has been fixed, the BBB said this is far from an isolated incident.
“It’s important to avoid a case of mistaken identity, and certain industries are more prone to this than others, but especially with online florist flower companies. You want to verify that company’s actual location and their contact information. Verify it directly, especially if you’re looking to deal with a local business,” Driscoll said.
Before it was removed, Blossom Flower Delivery was a sponsored ad on Microsoft.
“That’s definitely a misleading marketing tactic that is being utilized,” Driscoll said. “Definitely do your research. It’s not uncommon for companies to purchase sponsored ads based on targeted demographics, specific keywords to appear higher in online search results.”
How to protect yourself
Driscoll recommends checking businesses’ profiles on the Better Business Bureau and calling your local florist directly if you’re placing an order. If ordering online, Driscoll said shoppers should pay with a credit card.
“This method of payment offers protections, additional recourse, makes it easier to dispute charges, if necessary, if there’s an issue with the transaction,” Driscoll said.
As for businesses targeted, Driscoll said they should make it known to their customers to help prevent orders going to the wrong place.
“Whether that’s posting on your website, on your social media, notifying current customers, if the business utilizes any kind of E-newsletter or email system … use that to make it known that this is a situation that’s happening,” Driscoll said. “You can also contact the specific ad provider, ad server that this is being served through. A lot of them have specific processes, policies for disputing a potentially incorrect or misleading advertisement, and following those specific processes.” Driscoll said.
She also recommended that companies contact the BBB.
“You can request a specific alert be posted to the company’s business profile, so that way, when consumers are searching for that business, potentially going to file a complaint against that business, finding out that there may be another situation at hand where that’s not necessarily the business that you would want to file a complaint against,” Driscoll said.
When ordering flowers, Driscoll said it’s important to read the full description online of what you are ordering and take pictures. She added that it’s important to track the purchase.
KDKA Investigates reached out to Blossom Flower Delivery for comment. An automated email was sent back asking to verify our email address. Once we sent that back, another automated response was sent saying, “Thank you, Erika. I have saved your email and connected you with a human support representative who will contact you.”
In an email on Monday night, Nayomi, the manager for Blossom Flower Delivery, provided KDKA a statement that said:
“We want to clarify that Blossom Flower Delivery is an independent business and is not affiliated with Neubauer’s Flowers in Uniontown, PA. During your call, one of our shop representatives made an oversight by mistakenly confirming “yes” when asked if you had reached Neubauer’s Flowers. This was unintentional, and we’ve taken steps to ensure our team provides accurate information going forward. We sincerely apologize for the confusion this caused and appreciate the opportunity to clarify the situation.”
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