- New York AG Letitia James has secured $375,000 from 1-800-Flowers.com, Inc for allegedly misleading consumers and enrolling customers in automatically renewing paid subscriptions in violation of New York consumer protection laws.
- The AGs office asserts that investigation found that many customers did not realize they had signed up for a yearly subscription and were charged recurring fees for a service they had never used because 1-800-Flowers failed to clearly disclose the terms of a subscription service that included free shipping, allegedly disclosing them only in fine print, in linked terms and conditions, or in pop-out boxes a consumer had to click on; failed to provide consumers with the post-purchase subscription acknowledgement required by New York law; and did not notify subscribers before the subscription renewed automatically.
- The settlement requires 1-800-Flowers to pay $375,000 in penalties and provide refunds to eligible New York subscribers who filed complaints with the AGs office, FTC, or BBB. Additionally, 1-800-Flowers must improve their disclosures, get informed affirmative consent from subscribers who sign up for recurring subscriptions, provide customers with a subscription acknowledgement that includes cancellation information, and sufficiently notify consumers before their subscription renews.