War of the roses: Hairdresser slams florist for refusing to fix her flowers… despite buying them at Tesco

• EXCLUSIVE: Sharon Dempsey went into London florists with the Tesco flowers
• Cogger’s in Bloom refused to upgrade bouquet bought for a friend’s birthday 
• Florist says you wouldn’t ask a restaurant to re-cook someone else’s food

A hairdresser publicly shamed an independent florist because they refused to fix her flowers – despite her buying them from Tesco.

Sharon Dempsey went into Cogger’s in Bloom, Walthamstow, London, with some flowers that she admits she had purchased from a local supermarket and asked them to turn them into a ‘fuller bouquet’ for a friend’s birthday present.

The hair stylist and teacher alleges that the staff member turned her away arguing that they wouldn’t ask a restaurant to re-cook someone else’s food.

The florist feared being blamed if there was still an issue with the flowers so refused to budge and both parties claim the other then became abusive, resulting in Sharon being thrown out of the store.

Sharon then took to social media and blasted the shop in a Facebook post, tagging them and shaming them by saying the employee kicked her out of the shop while ‘hurling abuse’ and she was left ‘in shock at the way she was treated’.

Sharon Dempsey publicly shamed an independent florist because they refused to fix her flowers – despite her buying them from Tesco and not them

Ms Dempsey went into Cogger’s in Bloom (pictured), Walthamstow, London, with some flowers that she admits she had purchased from a local supermarket and asked them to turn them into a ‘fuller bouquet’ for a friend’s birthday present

The florists hit back publicly at Sharon, claiming that she’s ‘manipulated’ the story and ‘only given her side publicly’.

Since then a spokesperson for the shop claimed that Sharon approached them asking if they would ‘dress’ some flowers that she’d bought from Tesco.

The florist say they told her that it wouldn’t be something they could help with because ‘if you went into a restaurant [with meat purchased] from Tesco, they wouldn’t be happy touching or cooking someone else’s product when they are running a business that cook and sell meat’.

The shop say that Sharon swore at them and argued that as a hairdresser, if someone asked her to fix a bad hair cut she’d give them a new do at ‘cost’ but they argued that it ‘isn’t how you run a business’.

The store denied ‘hurling abuse’ at Sharon but admitted to describing her as a ‘rude woman’ once she’d left the shop.

Local residents were quick to jump to the florists’ defence describing Sharon’s request as ‘ridiculous and rude’.

A spokesperson from Cogger’s in Bloom said: ‘She brought some flowers in from Tesco. She was very rude to a member of staff.

‘She’s come in and asked for something. She swore in here.

‘I don’t understand why she posted it on Facebook. People have given their views on it. They’re only telling the truth.

‘I think it’s rather ridiculous. It’s in black and white what was stated but she’s not going to put what she’s done.

‘If there was something wrong with the flowers then I’m getting the blame. You generally wouldn’t do that.

Sharon then took to social media and blasted the shop in a Facebook post, tagging them and shaming them by saying the employee kicked her out of the shop while ‘hurling abuse’ and she was left ‘in shock at the way she was treated’

The florists hit back publicly at Sharon, claiming that she’s ‘manipulated’ the story and ‘only given her side publicly’

‘I’m getting up early every day to get fresh produce from my shop. The whole thing from start to finish, the cheek of it, you wouldn’t take a drink into a bar and ask for a glass, ice and a mixer.

‘You wouldn’t take food into a restaurant and ask them to cook it for you.’

Sharon also complained that she was left waiting for more than five minutes before she was served but the florist responded by saying they had been on the phone to a grieving widow when she went into the shop.

But she went on to admit that she too had been on the phone to a friend through the entire interaction.

Sharon said: ‘I’ve had a lot of backlash, especially on Facebook. It’s quite a negative response that I’ve had from the local people which is absolutely fine because everyone is entitled to the response.

‘They were really rude. I’ve never experienced anything like it in my life. I had a witness because I was on the phone to my friend and they couldn’t believe the way I was treated.

‘Their post isn’t a reflection of what happened.

‘The local people are supporting the local businesses. I wanted to pay but it wasn’t about the flowers in the end. It was how he was speaking to me.’

Commentors defended the business for refusing to dress the supermarket flowers for Sharon and described her as a ‘spoilt child’.

Sharon says that she accepted their decision to refuse her request but wrote the post because of the employee’s ‘unprofessional manner’.

One commentor wrote: ‘I might take my Primark suit into Tom Ford for tailoring.’

Another said: ‘Surprised the bloke didn’t tell you to f*ck off straight away.’

Commentors defended the business for refusing to dress the supermarket flowers for Sharon and described her as a ‘spoilt child’

A third commented: ‘I cannot believe anyone would buy flowers in Tesco and then go to a florist to ask them to dress them. It’s beyond ridiculous to do that. And rude.’

Another added: ‘Well done Coggers. I’m a florist and would do the same.’

A fifth said: ‘If you wanted to be treated as a ‘valued client’ then you should have got your flowers from there in the first place.

‘Sorry but from the sounds of it, the florist is 100 per cent in the right and you sound like a spoilt child throwing their toys out of the pram when you didn’t get what you wanted.’

Sharon wrote in her original post: ‘What an absolutely rude, unprofessional business.

‘I walked into this shop asking for help when buying a bouquet of flowers from a local shop but wanted a more fuller bouquet for a friend’s birthday.

‘I was left waiting for over five minutes while he was on the phone which wasn’t a good impression from the start.

‘Then when I explained my situation, he point blank refused to touch anyone else’s flowers which is fine.

‘Then went into a rant, telling me ‘would I ask a restaurant to re cook someone else’s food?’

‘When I replied I’m a hairdresser and if someone had a bad cut previously, I would openly provide service at a cost.

‘He then snapped back to get out of his shop. I was so much shocked as he continued to hurl abuse as I walked out of his shop.

‘I will never recommend. Such as poor level of service.’

Cogger’s in Bloom responded: ‘Hi Sharon, as I explained by myself and I will once again explain it on here publicly.

Some people commented on the post with their own comparative examples of Sharon’s expectations of the florist

‘When you entered our shop I politely smiled and explained I was on the phone (taking a funeral order from a lady crying over her dead husband) so my time was spent consoling her and making sure my client’s needs were met.

‘You kindly acknowledged me and said you were happy to wait.

‘When my call ended and I asked you how I could help you said ‘I hope you can. I’ve gone to Tesco and bought some flowers, can you dress them for me?’

‘I then explained this isn’t something we would do because, for example, if you went to a restaurant and purchased meat from Tesco, they wouldn’t be happy touching/cooking someone else’s product when they are a business that prepare, cook and sell meat.

‘This was an example given to you so you could understand why I wouldn’t be able to help you.

‘You then gave your hairdressing example which I don’t think made any sense or equally a valid point.

‘You wouldn’t give a new client a haircut at ‘cost’ because they’ve had a bad experience in a different salon. That’s not how you run a business.

‘I’m sure you’d be more than happy to try and help them but saying you’d give it at cost doesn’t seem valid at all.

‘I felt you were very rude and irritated at my response and it wasn’t necessary.

‘You then said ‘it’s only flowers’ with some attitude and you weren’t willing to acknowledge my response.

‘You forgot to add you swore when leaving our shop. To which I replied ‘please leave’.

‘You have clearly manipulated a story and only given your side publicly which is false information.

‘I appreciate you were then behind a closed door when I said ‘what a rude woman’ so maybe you thought I was shouting abuse but I was just stating a fact.’

Another person commented: ‘Coggers have always been brilliant with me and I will continue to use them’

Sharon replied: ‘This is not a true reflection of the event. I was on the phone to a friend who witnessed the whole situation.’

Cogger’s in Bloom responded: ‘I assumed you would come back with a response like this.

‘We aren’t here to argue, especially when we are busy running a business during these times.

‘We’ve made our point clear which we think is a valid point and from the comments on this post it seems people understand why we couldn’t help you.

‘It’s not a personal attack. I’ve politely explained why I wouldn’t touch flowers purchased from another retailer.

‘I hope you can understand and respect that. We won’t be saying any more on this matter. Wishing you all the best.’

Sharon replied: ‘The flowers weren’t the issue. I accepted that you didn’t want to touch anyone else’s flowers. It was you telling me to get out of your shop.

‘It is your unprofessional manner is what I’m struggling to understand.’

Tesco apologised that the customer was not satisfied with her flowers and said she could return them for a full refund if she brought proof of purchase. 

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