Florist Missed Orders: How to Make Sure Your Flowers Arrive
A florist misses an order for a handful of predictable reasons: an incomplete address, a phone number nobody answers, a recipient who is out, or a delivery time set in the wrong time zone. Almost all of them can be prevented before you pay. At Turboflora the courier calls the recipient about 15 minutes before arrival, and if nobody is home we arrange a second delivery the same day or, with your consent, leave the flowers with a neighbour or concierge.
This guide is written for anyone sending flowers to Russia, particularly from abroad, where you cannot simply ring the door yourself. It explains where orders usually go wrong, what happens on our side when they do, and the small details you can give us so your bouquet is handed over on the first attempt.
Why flower orders get missed
From the florist's side, a missed order is rarely about the bouquet. The flowers are ready; the problem is the last fifty metres. In Russian cities that usually means a large residential block with several entrances, a locked courtyard gate, an intercom code nobody shared, or a flat number left out of the form.
The second big cause is the phone. If the number belongs to the sender instead of the recipient, or the recipient does not pick up unknown numbers, the courier has nobody to call before arrival. Many people in Russia ignore calls from numbers they do not know, so a quick message warning them that a delivery is coming can make all the difference, if you are happy to spoil the surprise a little.
The third cause is time. Russia stretches across eleven time zones, and senders abroad sometimes book a delivery for 10 a.m. their time, which may be late evening for the recipient. Always state the time in the recipient's local time.
What happens when the recipient is not home
About 15 minutes before arrival, our courier phones the recipient. That call does two jobs: it confirms someone is there to receive the flowers, and it lets them explain how to get in. If the recipient answers and is out, they can often say when they will be back.
If nobody is home, we do not abandon the bouquet at the door. We agree a second delivery the same day, or we hand the flowers to a neighbour or a concierge, but only with your consent as the sender. It helps to decide this in advance and tell us when you order, so we are not waiting for your reply while the flowers sit in a car.
Delivery is anonymous by default, so the courier will not name you to the neighbour or the concierge either. If you want the recipient to know who the flowers are from, put your name on the free card.
Bouquets we can deliver
Writing an address a courier can actually find
A complete Russian address has more parts than many people abroad expect: city, street, building number (sometimes with a korpus or stroenie, which mark separate blocks), entrance number, floor, flat number and, ideally, the intercom code. Leave out the entrance number in a block of twelve entrances and you have built in a delay.
Add anything that helps a stranger: the colour of the door, a shop on the ground floor, which side of the courtyard the entrance faces, whether the gate is opened from a call button. Couriers appreciate this far more than a perfectly formatted postcode.
If the recipient works in an office, hospital or university, give the department and floor, and check whether visitors need a pass. Reception desks often accept flowers, but some buildings do not let couriers past security.
Choosing a delivery time that reduces risk
Express delivery in large cities arrives 1-2 hours after the order is confirmed. It is ideal when you know the recipient is at home right now, for example when you have just spoken to them.
For a surprise, a time window is usually safer than an exact time. The windows are 09-12, 12-15, 15-18 and 18-21; pick the one when the person is most likely to be in. If timing really matters, say for a dinner or a hospital visiting hour, choose an exact time, which we keep within plus or minus 30 minutes.
For fixed dates, pre-order 1-30 days ahead. Popular days such as 8 March and 14 February are exactly when last-minute orders are most likely to run into trouble, so booking early protects both the bouquet and the timing.
Surprises, holidays and other tricky deliveries
A surprise is the hardest kind of order to deliver, because the recipient does not know to stay in. If you want to keep the secret, involve someone else: a partner, a flatmate or a colleague who can confirm the person will be there and pick up when the courier calls. Give us that person's number as the contact and explain the plan when you order.
Holidays need their own planning. On 8 March, 14 February and the last days of December, everyone in the city is ordering flowers at once and people are often out celebrating. Book a time window rather than a vague 'some time today', and pre-order as early as you can, up to 30 days ahead.
Birthdays at a restaurant or a party at a friend's flat are lovely moments for flowers, but they add an unfamiliar address to the mix. Send the venue name, the exact address and the time the guest of honour will arrive, and we will plan the handover around it.
Keeping the flowers fresh if the handover is delayed
If the bouquet ends up with a neighbour or arrives later in the evening, the recipient should still be able to enjoy it for a week or more. Ask them to trim the stems by 1-2 cm at a sharp angle with a clean knife, remove any leaves that would sit below the water, and put the flowers in a clean vase with cool water as soon as possible.
Keep the vase away from radiators, which in Russian flats run hot all winter, and away from a bowl of fruit, because ripening fruit releases ethylene that makes flowers age faster. Change the water every day or two and re-trim the stems each time.
Choosing hardy flowers also helps. Roses, chrysanthemums, alstroemeria and carnations cope with a few extra hours far better than delicate seasonal stems. You can filter by occasion and flower type in our bouquets catalogue.
What to tell us before you pay
Most missed orders are prevented in the two minutes before checkout. Have ready the recipient's full name, the full address with entrance, floor, flat and intercom code, their phone number, the delivery time in their local time, and your decision about a neighbour or concierge if they are out.
City delivery costs 500 RUB; for remote districts and suburbs the operator confirms the price when confirming the order. You can read the full conditions on the delivery and payment page. Payment is online by bank card, SBP or Yandex Pay.
If anything is unclear, message our manager on WhatsApp. They can help choose the bouquet, agree the time, check the address and card text, and send you a photo of the bouquet before it goes out, so you know exactly what is on its way.
Frequently asked questions
Why was my flower order not delivered on time?
The usual causes are an incomplete address, a phone number nobody answered, or a delivery time set in the sender's time zone instead of the recipient's. Giving full address details and local time prevents most delays.
What do you do if the recipient is not at home?
The courier calls about 15 minutes before arrival. If nobody is home, we arrange a second delivery the same day or leave the flowers with a neighbour or concierge, with your consent.
Does the courier tell the recipient who sent the flowers?
No. Delivery is anonymous by default. If you want your name known, write it on the free card.
Can I choose an exact delivery time?
Yes. You can choose an exact time, kept within plus or minus 30 minutes, or one of the windows 09-12, 12-15, 15-18 or 18-21. You can also pre-order 1-30 days ahead.
How should the recipient care for flowers that arrived late?
Trim the stems at an angle, remove leaves below the waterline and place them in clean, cool water away from radiators and fruit. Changing the water every day or two keeps them fresh longer.
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