What Are My Options If Flowers Arrive Damaged or Late?

If flowers arrive damaged or late, your options are to report it to the sender's florist straight away with photos, agree a solution with them (most often a replacement or redelivery, depending on the shop's own rules), and in the meantime rescue what you can, because many bouquets that look tired on arrival recover within a few hours. The faster you act, the more options you keep: a problem reported on the day of delivery is far easier to resolve than one raised a week later.

Below we walk through it the way we would with a customer: how to tell real damage from transport stress, what evidence actually helps, what to do when the bouquet is late rather than broken, and how to order flowers to Russia so that problems are less likely in the first place. Whether you are the sender abroad or the person who opened the door, the steps are the same.

First, tell real damage from transport stress

Not every droopy bouquet is a ruined one. Flowers travel out of water, and in cold or very warm weather they lose moisture quickly. Slightly soft petals, a rose head that has tipped forward, or leaves that look dull usually mean the stems are thirsty, not that the flowers are dead. Real damage looks different: snapped stems, petals torn or bruised brown across the face, heads crushed flat, mould at the base of the petals, or a bouquet that is clearly smaller or different from what was ordered.

Give the bouquet a fair test before you decide. Cut 2-3 cm off every stem at an angle with a sharp knife, put the flowers into a clean vase of cool water and leave them somewhere away from radiators and direct sun for two to three hours. Roses with bent necks often straighten completely; we explain the deep-water method in Roses Arrived With Bent Necks? Here Is How to Fix Them. If the flowers lift, the problem was transport stress. If they stay limp or the damage is mechanical, you have a genuine complaint.

One caution: do not wait days to see what happens. Take photos before you start the rescue, so that the original state is recorded even if the flowers recover later.

What to photograph and how to report it

Good evidence makes any conversation with a florist short and friendly. Photograph the bouquet as it arrived, still in its wrapping, from the front and from above. Then take close-ups of the damage itself: the broken stem, the bruised petals, the empty water capsule if there was one. If the box or packaging is crushed, photograph that too, because it shows where the damage happened. A photo of the card and the delivery time helps if the issue is lateness or a wrong address.

Report it on the same day. Write to the shop where the order was placed, give the order number, describe in two or three sentences what is wrong and attach the photos. Be specific: 'four of the eleven roses have snapped stems' is far more useful than 'the bouquet is bad'. If you are the recipient and the gift came from abroad, send the photos to the sender as well, since the order and the conversation are theirs.

With Turboflora, the quickest way is to message a manager on WhatsApp with the order details and photos. The same chat is where you agree the time, address and card text before delivery, and where we can send you a photo of the bouquet before it leaves, so you know exactly what it looked like on its way to the door.

Bouquets we can deliver

Bouquet of 1 yellow sunflowers

$13

Bouquet of 3 white roses with eucalyptus, 50 cm

$18

Bouquet of 3 red roses with eucalyptus, 50 cm

$18

Bouquet of 3 pink roses with eucalyptus, 50 cm

$18

If the flowers are late: what actually happens and what to ask for

Lateness has a few common causes: traffic, a wrong or incomplete address, an entrance code nobody passed on, or a recipient who was not home. Before you assume the worst, check what was agreed. A time window such as 12:00-15:00 means the courier can arrive at any point inside it, so 14:40 is on time, while an exact-time delivery has a narrower margin. With us, an exact time means plus or minus 30 minutes, and the standard windows are 09-12, 12-15, 15-18 and 18-21.

If the window has passed, contact the shop rather than waiting. Ask where the courier is and what the new time is, and if the occasion was time-sensitive, such as a morning birthday surprise, a hospital visit hour or a ceremony, say so clearly, because it changes how the problem should be handled. For more on this situation, see Flower Delivery Arrived Late? Here Is What to Do Next.

A missed delivery is not the same as a late one. Our courier calls the recipient about 15 minutes before arrival. If nobody is there, we agree a second delivery the same day, or with the sender's consent hand the flowers to a neighbour or concierge. That is why a correct phone number for the recipient matters more than almost anything else on the order form.

How to save a bouquet that arrived tired

While the conversation with the shop is going on, keep the flowers alive. Remove all wrapping, ribbons and the rubber band or string at the binding point, because a tight tie stops water reaching the inner stems. Strip any leaves that would sit below the waterline; they rot quickly and cloud the water. Trim the stems again, place them in clean cool water and add flower food if a sachet came with the bouquet.

Pull out anything broken rather than leaving it in the vase. A snapped rose or a bruised lily head releases ethylene and bacteria that shorten the life of the healthy flowers next to it. Often the remaining stems, rearranged into a smaller vase, still look generous. Odd numbers do not matter at home, so arrange what is left by eye rather than by count.

Over the next days, change the water every day or two and trim the stems each time. Keep the vase away from fruit bowls, radiators and draughts. If a bouquet that looked fine on arrival collapses within a day, photograph it again and add it to your report: early wilting can point to old stock, and a florist needs to know.

Sending flowers from abroad: reduce the risk before you order

Most problems we see could have been avoided at the order stage. Give the full address with building, entrance, floor, flat number and door code, plus the recipient's phone number. If the person works long hours, consider sending to their workplace or choose a later window. In winter, a short time window reduces how long the bouquet sits in a cold car.

Pick the timing that suits the occasion. In large cities we can deliver express, 1-2 hours after the order is confirmed; for a birthday or anniversary it is usually better to choose an exact time or a window, or to pre-order 1 to 30 days ahead so that everything is agreed calmly. City delivery costs 500 RUB; for remote districts and suburbs the operator confirms the price when confirming the order. You can pay online on the site by bank card, SBP or Yandex Pay; full details are on Delivery and payment.

Delivery is anonymous by default, so the courier will not name you unless you want them to. Put your name in the card if you do: the card with your text is free. Then choose the bouquet itself in the Bouquets catalogue, and if you are unsure what will travel and last best for the season, ask the manager before paying.