Are you ordering flowers this Valentine’s Day? You could be spending more than you should for a not-so rosy arrangement!

3 On Your Side’s Jim Donovan found companies are posing as local florists but aren’t nearby at all.

They have local-sounding names and use local phone numbers, but if you call some so-called neighborhood florists.

“That call may be transferred to a call center. That call center could be located anywhere in the country,” said Mary Engle, Federal Trade Commission.

While you think you’re ordering from a local florist, you may actually be on the phone with someone hundreds or thousands of miles away.

The companies take your order then arrange for shops in your area to deliver your flowers.

“What they do is they charge a processing fee on top of the cost of the floral arrangement. Or, they may substitute a less valuable floral arrangement than what the consumer ordered and pocket the difference,” said Engle.

Cameron Barrett searched online for a nearby shop. He found one and picked a bouquet. When it arrived:

“There was like 12 half dead carnations of a bunch of different colors. There was no vase,” said Cameron Barrett.

And along with being overcharged, he was hit with a foreign transaction fee! The flower shop he thought was down the street wasn’t even in this country!

“It was a Canadian company,” said Barrett.

Florists like Zoa Mendez said these third party flower brokers are giving them a bad name since they often take as much as a 30 percent fee off the top, leaving local florists less money to work with.

“The recipient is in some cases going to be very upset,” said Florist Richard Seekins.

Nineteen states now have laws making it illegal for any company to misrepresent their geographic location, including Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware.

But, according to the FTC, that’s not stopping it from happening.

“Not enough consumers are complaining about it to really bring it to the attention of law enforcement authorities,” said Engle.

So, what can you do to make sure you’re actually ordering from a local florist?

source : http://cbs3.com/

Ask them to describe where their shop is using local landmarks. If they don’t have a clue, they’re probably not local at all.