BHF Flower Shop Provided by ArenaFlowers.com - Terms and Conditions of Use of the Website

1. Who is ArenaFlowers.com?

ArenaFlowers.com is the trading name of Arena Online Limited.  Arena Online’s company number is 6675240 and the registered address is Unit 5 Concord Business Centre, Concord Road, London W3 0TJ.  Our trading address is also Unit 5 Concord Business Centre, Concord Road, London W3 0TJ.  The ArenaFlowers.com website is wholly owned and operated by Arena Online Limited.  Read more general information about BHF Flower Shop Supported by Arena Flowers here and read our answers to Frequently Asked Questions here.

By placing an order with Arena Online Limited, either directly yourself on the www.bhfflowers.co.uk website (“the website”) or through one of our customer services team over the telephone, you are agreeing to the following terms and conditions.

2. Changes to your order

If you wish to change your order, please call us on 0845 873 1535 or email us at bhfflowers@arenaflowers.com Please note that any changes to your order (delivery address, gift message, additional items) must be made by 3pm the day before delivery, or by 1pm on Saturday for Monday delivery, to ensure that we have time to amend the order prior to dispatch.  Although we will endeavour to make amendment requests that we receive after 3pm on the day before delivery, or Saturday for Monday delivery, we cannot guarantee we will be able to make the changes.  Please also see sections 17 and 18 below with specific policies regarding changes to Valentine's Day and Mother's Day orders.

Please note that, once your order has been processed, cancellation of your order is possible only in exceptional circumstances and is entirely at our discretion.

3. Delivery

3.1 Addresses

Under normal circumstances, we will try to ensure that your order is delivered to the recipient's address you provide.  However, there are times when this is not possible due to problems with the address information that our customers provide or due to problems our drivers encounter when attempting to deliver the order.  It is therefore very important that you ensure that the recipient address you provide is accurate, in particular the postcode, and that you give additional instructions to assist our drivers to locate difficult-to-find addresses.  It is also very important that you keep us informed if you find that the recipient's address or availability changes prior to the order being delivered.

The email that is sent on completion of your order contains all the key information pertaining to your order.  It is very important that you check this to ensure no errors have been made.  If we are provided with an incorrect address and the flowers are sent out for delivery before the error is highlighted, you are not automatically entitled to a resend of a fresh bouquet.  In the event the flowers are irretrievable, we may, at our discretion, arrange for another bouquet to be sent out, subject to the details of the specific situation.

If you are unsure of the recipient's address, we recommend using one of the following address lookup and validation websites:

• Royal Mail
• 192

3.2 Deliveries to hospitals

Deliveries to hospitals can be problematic because patients often move from ward to ward, or are discharged.  This means that we are sometimes unable to deliver orders for customers at a very emotional time.  However, many of these problems can be avoided by ensuring that we have accurate and up-to-date information about the ward that the recipient is in.

It is particularly important that you provide the full name of the recipient of the order as there can be several patients with the same name in the same hospital.  This can lead to errors in the delivery that are beyond our control.  Many hospitals do not allow drivers to take Arena Flowers ly to wards because of health and safety regulations and in such cases our flowers will be delivered to reception or post rooms.

Some wards in hospitals do not allow flowers to be kept by patients.  You should therefore check that the ward to which you wish to send flowers allows patients to have flowers on the ward.  If flowers are not accepted in the ward, we will not be able to refund the cost of the bouquet.

Some hospital post rooms have a policy of refusing  to accept flowers for either patients or members of staff; it is important to check that the hospital is prepared to accept flowers.  If the hospital will not accept the flowers, we will not be able to refund the cost of the bouquet.

3.3 Deliveries for sympathy and to funeral directors

It is very important if flowers are for sympathy that you tick the box on the checkout to let us know this.  This will allow us to take extra care with the order and potentially vary how we process your order to absolutely ensure that it gets there.  The cards that accompany floral tributes for funerals or cremations are hand-written so we are unable to offer a text formatting service for these cards.  If flowers are going to a funeral, we recommend that they be sent at least a day before the funeral to ensure that any delays do not prevent them getting to the funeral in good time.  Also, if flowers are going to a funeral directors', it is essential that the name of the deceased and the funeral director are both included.  If they are not, the funeral director may not accept the flowers.  If flowers are not accepted, we will not be able to refund the cost of the bouquet.

3.4 Failure to deliver

As we appreciate that receiving flowers is often time-critical, if we are unable to deliver your order to the recipient's address, we will attempt to leave in a secure place on the recipient's property.  Where this is not possible, we will attempt to leave the flowers with a neighbour.  If this is not acceptable, please ensure that you tell us when you place your order. If we are unable to deliver the order, we will attempt to contact you via telephone or email as soon as we attempt delivery.  For this reason, it is very important that you provide up to date contact information.  It is also very helpful if you provide us with the telephone number of the recipient as this often makes it easier to resolve delivery problems when the recipient is not at home at the time of delivery.

In the event that we are unable to deliver the order to a recipient's address that you have provided, we will attempt delivery either that same day or the following day.   At our discretion, we may refund the delivery charge associated with the failed delivery.  We are not responsible for any other costs incurred by the customer due to failed deliveries.

For deliveries made by our distribution partner, Parcelforce, their policy is to leave a card if no one is in.  They may attempt redelivery later in the day but do not guarantee that they will.  If they do not attempt redelivery on the same day, they will attempt redelivery the next day.  We are able to track their progress using our system, and as soon as they have marked it as delivered, we will send a confirmation email.  If there are issues with the delivery, we should be alerted by the system and will attempt to proactively deal with the issues.  It is not always possible to contact drivers due to health and safety considerations relating to driving and talking on the telephone, so please be patient.

Signatures are required for delivery by Parcelforce drivers, unless you specifically tell us in your delivery instructions.  It is therefore very important that you let us know if you would like us to leave on the porch etc.

3.5 Timed delivery

We undertake to meet our timed delivery commitments and nearly always do.  However, if we miss our timed delivery slot for you, we will be happy to refund the timed delivery charge.  Please contact us to let us know if you encounter this issue.

3.6 Timing of free all day deliveries

We undertake to deliver between 8am and 6pm.  However if we miss this delivery time but still deliver the flowers, we will not make a full refund.  Similar to clause 6 below, we will discuss with the customer what a reasonable discount might be in the given situation.  By buying flowers from Arena Online Ltd you are not entering into a contract that guarantees delivery between 8am and 6pm or all your money back, you are entering into a contract that guarantees delivery between 8am and 6pm or some of your money back.

3.7 Delivery Instructions

On the first page of the checkout we ask for delivery instructions. This information is for our drivers and couriers and is to express your wishes for us to follow if the recipient is either out or unable to answer the door when we attempt delivery. We will always do our best to follow your instructions word for word but this is not always possible e.g. if you have asked us to leave the flowers with a neighbour but the neighbours are also out, we may either leave it somewhere secure around the property or if this is not suitable, return the flowers to our base and reattempt the following working day. If we follow the delivery instructions and the item is subsequently stolen, the loss is the responsibility of the customer; it is, however, possible that we may not follow the delivery instructions if we believe there is a great chance of the order being stolen.  If the delivery address is a business address, we need to have the company name and it is always appreciated if you could include what floor the recipient works on and if it is ok to take to a main reception desk.

Putting a phone number in the delivery instructions box does not mean we guarantee to contact the recipient to agree a delivery time as this is not possible for us to do and, when the order is being delivered by ParcelForce or Parceline, we will not ask you for a phone number for the recipient as they do not offer that option as part of their service.

4. Availability and substitution

4.1 Flowers

All floral products are subject to availability. In the event of any supply difficulties or if the flowers we have received from our growers that are needed to make up your order do not meet our high quality standards, we reserve the right to substitute any product with an alternate product of a similar style and equivalent (or greater) value and quality.  Where this is necessary and when time allows, we will try to contact you via email.  If you wish to discuss the substitution we have made, please contact our customer services team on bhfflowers@arenaflowers.com or 0845 873 1535.

The same applies to our same day relay service.  As our partner florists are less likely to have the same range of flowers that we do, there may be instances where we need to change your order to ensure it gets there on the day in question.  If we read the message and believe that the flower variety is key but the delivery is not time critical, we may move the delivery back a day and send our own flowers to make sure the correct product is delivered.  In such cases we will refund the £9.99 relay charge.  Conversely, if we read the message and interpret this as a time critical delivery (eg birthday, anniversary etc) then we will be more likely to make the substitution, to ensure that you are not let down.

If we are unable to contact you via the contact methods provided prior to the time that we make up your order, we will assume that you accept our decision re substitution or delivery delivery date move.

4.2 Other products

We offer additional high quality products relevant to the gifting market (vases, chocolates, balloons and soft toys).  We are not typically able to source these from our partner florists so these products are only available for sending with our own products (either with our own drivers or Parcelforce).  If you attempt to buy products with a delivery option where we won't deliver our own flowers, the undeliverable products will be removed from your basket.  All our products can be sent next day nationwide (up to 7pm for areas outside London), and up to 3pm same day within Greater London.

Very occasionally, we can be out of stock on a product that is still live on the website, though typically all the products on our site are in stock.  If we are out of stock of one of our products and you try to purchase it, we will try to contact you to discuss either removing the product from your basket and refund you the cost, or substituting another product in the out of stock product's place.  If we are unable to contact you, we reserve the right to make the decision on your behalf (remove or substitute), on the basis of the situation as we see it (as per our policy set out in 4.1 above).

5. 100% Satisfaction Guarantee/Damaged flowers and refunds

Although we do our best to ensure that this does not happen, on very rare occasions, flowers arrive at their destination damaged or fail to arrive due to an unforseen delivery issue.  If the recipient receives damaged flowers, please contact us immediately so that we can arrange one of the following:

• a re-send on the next available delivery date; or
• a full or partial refund (% refund depends on the specific circumstances of the issue).

Typically we will not offer both a refund and a resend.  Where flowers have been damaged we will normally ask for them to be returned or for photographs clearly showing the problem so we can use them to determine what is going wrong with our system, and to claim compensation if possible from Parcelforce (as appropriate).  It is important that we are contacted as soon as possible regarding issues.  We need to be informed of any issues within 3 days of the delivery to give us the best chance of successfully resolving the issue. We will, at our discretion consider issues raised after the 3 day deadline but reserve the right to refuse the options of refunding or resending the order.

In the event that a small item, such as a balloon or vase, should arrive damaged or be missing, we shall be unable to resend that item but would be happy to refund its value.

If we believe that there has been an abuse of our 100% Satisfaction Guarantee/Damaged flowers policy or if there are persistent claims for refunds from the same individual or group of individuals, we reserve the right not to resend flowers and to refuse to take orders from customers.  If we make such a decision, we will inform the customer in writing of our decision, via email or over the telephone.  It is important to note that this guarantee does not confer the right to an automatic 100% refund, but only to a fair resolution.

6. Small errors with orders

From time to time, there are small human errors made (for instance, very occasionally a message card  goes astray or a flower is forgotten).  In such circumstances, we will do our best to make the situation right for the customer.  We may, at our discretion, offer a partial refund or a discount on a future order, but do not guarantee that we will do so.  We believe in being fair and this is the spirit in which we will approach such situations.  We would not, for instance, give a 100% refund if a message card did not arrive, as the customer has received significant value in terms of the flowers nor would we give a full refund if some stems were missing or damaged; we would make what we would be considered by a reasonable person to be an appropriate compensation.

7. Shelf-life of flowers

Our flowers are incredibly fresh, as they are purchased daily off the flower auctions in Holland, transported direct to us and stored in perfect conditions in our large flower fridge.  They will normally last at least five days and most probably even longer, in the vase, although this varies by variety.  It is important that the flowers are cared for correctly as putting them by heat sources or drafts, or failing to change the water, will kill them very quickly.  We include instructions and flower food with all our cut flowers arrangements.  If we are informed that our flowers have died very quickly, we may, at our sole discretion, choose to resend another bouquet if we believe that there really was an issue with the flowers.  If flowers have not been properly cared for, we will not resend the flowers.

In some circumstances, our flowers are so fresh that they are not even fully open when they arrive.  This can be confused with poor flowers.  In fact this shows how fresh our flowers are.  The flowers will open quickly once they are in room temperature and will give pleasure for many days to come if cared for properly.

8. Fraudulent behaviour

If we believe that an order may be fraudulent in nature, for whatever reason, we reserve the right to cancel the order and refund the funds.  We are under no obligation to reveal why we believe the order to be fraudulent.  We will co-operate with the police regarding any criminal investigations.  We reserve the right to refuse to serve customers, block their IP address from accessing our website and any other blocking or fraud prevention measures we feel may be necessary to implement from time to time.

9. Duplicate orders

If we notice that two identical bouquets have been ordered, we may remove one, refunding the cost, if we believe it to have been ordered by mistake.  In such circumstances we will attempt to contact the customer but if it is urgent and they cannot be reached, we may make the call ourselves.  You consent to our having the freedom to make this decision when you purchase through our website.

10. Abusive behaviour

We will not tolerate abusive behaviour in any way, shape or form.  Whilst we endeavour to do our very best, and 99% of our orders go like clockwork, mistakes are sometimes made.  Purchasing from ArenaFlowers does not entitle individuals to treat our staff abusively.  If anyone is abusive to our staff, we will terminate any dialogue.  We will not resume dialogue unless it is in a non abusive fashion and with the level of respect to which every human being, on either end of the telephone, has a right.  We reserve the right not to deal with returning customers who have previously been abusive or offensive.  We may block their account or take any other measures we wish to prevent them using our services in future.

11. Special offers  and Promotional Codes

At our discretion from time to time, we may offer promotional codes or products at discounted prices. These offers are valid from the time that we introduce them to the end date of the offer and they cannot be used for purchases before the offer introduction date or after the offer end date.  A special offer or promotional code cannot be used in conjunction with any other special offer or promotional code.

In the event that a customer has made a purchase and the price of a product falls or is discounted due to a special offer or promotional code, the price of the product at the time of purchase shall 'prevail'.  We are unable to offer special offer discounts or apply promotional codes for purchases that have already been made.

As our special offers are often made available due to the availability of products, we may change the terms of special offers, or withdraw them altogether, at any time and without prior notice.  We also reserve the right to offer personalised special offers and promotions which will on be redeemable by the customer in receipt of the special offer.

12. Customer and recipient personal information

To ensure that we can communicate effectively with both customers and recipients, it is very important that you provide accurate personal information.  If you do not put your name into the message card field, we will not share your identity with the recipient, even if they ask us for it.  If they request it, we will email or call you to let you know that they are enquiring.

Please remember that we value your privacy and will never lease, rent or sell your private information. For more information, please see our privacy policy and the British Heart Foundation's privacy policy.
British Heart Foundation and Arena Online Limited are registered under the Data Protection Act 1998.

13. Unforeseen technical issues with the website and / or our systems

It is conceivable that errors may occur with our systems from time to time, due to unforseen circumstances.  For instance, our 3rd party hosting partner may lose access to the internet, causing our site to go offline or, if there is a problem with our server's internal clock, orders could theoretically be accepted by our system despite a cut off time having passed.  These two examples are just that - examples and do not cover all the technical things that could theoretically go wrong (with our or any online business).  We take every precaution we can to ensure that our systems run smoothly and problems are very rare.  When they do occur, we will do our best to  provide the service requested within the timing originally requested.  However, in certain circumstances, it will not be possible for us to fufil the order to the original timeline.  In the latter situation, we will ask the customer what they would prefer; for us to amend the timing of  the order, or to refund the order in full.  You cannot hold us responsible for any damages or compensation if your  order cannot be fulfilled for this reason (or any other).

14. Cut off times

Our cut off times for deliveries are shown on our flower delivery pages.  However, these cut off times are guidelines only and, whilst we keep to those times 99% of the time, from time to time we may move the cut off times forward or back, to respond to business situations that may arise.  If you wish to order flowers for same day or next day delivery, you are urged to get your order in early, to make sure you get it in before the cut off time passes.

15. Deliveries on weekends and public holidays

We deliver on Saturdays, but not normally on Sundays or public holidays.  On occasion, we can make special arrangements for such deliveries, however we do not guarantee it.  Please contact us if you would like to request a weekend or public holiday delivery and we will see if it is possible.

16. Changes to Valentine's Day orders

During this exceptionally busy period, if you wish to change any detail of your order, please call us on 0845 873 1535 or email us at bhfflowers@arenaflowers.com. Please note that any changes to your order (delivery address, gift message, additional items) must be made by 12 noon two days before Valentine's day (ie the 12th February) to ensure that we have time to amend the order prior to dispatch.  Although we will endeavour to make amendment requests that we receive after 12 noon on the 12th February, we cannot guarantee we shall be able to make the changes.

17. Changes to Mother's Day Orders

Should you wish to change any detail of your order over this busy period,  we are only able to amend orders if you give us sufficient time.  For orders to be delivered on the Thursday preceding Mother's Day, we need to be informed by 3pm on the Tuesday, preceding Mother's Day; for orders to be delivered on the Friday preceding Mother's Day, we need to be informed by 3pm on the Wednesday preceding Mother's Day; for orders to be delivered on the Saturday preceding Mother's Day, we need to be informed by 3pm on the Thursday preceding Mother's Day; for orders to be delivered on Mother's Day (Sunday), we need to be informed by 3pm on the Friday preceding Mother's Day; for orders to be delivered on the Monday following Mother's Day, we need to be informed by 12 noon on the Saturday preceding Mother's Day.  After these times, although we shall endeavour to make amendment requests we receive, we cannot guarantee we shall be able to make the changes.  Please call us on 0845 873 1535 or email us at bhfflowers@arenaflowers.com.

18. Photo Uploads

i) All photos submitted to Arena Flowers should be reviewed by the customer for offensive, racist or otherwise unsuitable material; whilst we shall do our best to review and monitor all photos, we do not accept responsibility for their suitability and it is the customer who shall be responsible for the content of their picture.  Furthermore, we reserve the right not to refund for offensive photos that we have to discard, as we have to print the photos before we are able to check them.

ii) Arena Flowers is not able to verify the intellectual property rights in a photograph; it is the responsibility of the customer to ensure that such rights are not infringed.  Almost all commercial works, including photographs, can be protected by copyright, even if they do not have a copyright notice. People's right of privacy must also be respected. All such issues are the responsibility of the customer; Arena Flowers will print and send the photos submitted to it in good faith.

iii) If you mark a photo file as "Public" in the uploading process, then this image may be displayed on our photos page where it will be accessible to the general public for viewing.  Marking a photo as "Public" does not guarantee that it will appear on this page and, in cases where it does appear on this page, it does not guarantee that it will remain there indefinitely.  We reserve the right to remove a photo from both the "public" area of the site at our absolute and sole discretion.

iv) If a photo is your own, you own the copyright to it.  However, by uploading a photo to Arena Flowers AND marking it "Public" you grant Arena Flowers the right to use your photo to promote Arena Flowers, our photo upload service and any other services that we might offer, in any medium we choose.  Should you wish to change the status of your photo from "Public" to "Private", please contact us and we will be happy to do so.

19. Video and Sound File Uploads

i) All videos and sound files submitted to Arena Flowers should be reviewed by the customer for offensive, racist or otherwise unsuitable material; whilst we shall do our best to review and monitor all videos and sound files, we do not accept responsibility for their suitability and it is the customer who shall be responsible for the content of their video or sound file.  Furthermore, we reserve the right not to refund for offensive video or sound files that we have to discard.

ii) Arena Flowers is not able to verify the intellectual property rights in a video or sound file; it is the responsibility of the customer to ensure that such rights are not infringed.  Almost all commercial works, including videos and sound files, can be protected by copyright, even if they do not have a copyright notice. People's right of privacy must also be respected. All such issues are the responsibility of the customer; Arena Flowers will send the videos and sound files submitted to it in good faith.

iii) If you mark a video or sound file as "Public" in the uploading process, then this image may be displayed on our videos page where it will be accessible to the general public for viewing.  Marking a video or sound file as "Public" does not guarantee that the file will appear on this page and, in cases where it does appear on this page, it does not guarantee that it will remain there indefinitely.  We reserve the right to remove any video or sound file from the site at any time at our absolute and sole discretion.

iv) If you do not mark a video as "Public" in the uploading process, that means that we will not display it on a public URL but it does not guarantee that the recipient will keep it private.  In order to transmit your video or sound message to the recipient, Arena Flowers will send them a unique URL, through which they will view the video or sound message.  The probability of this page being accessed by chance is infinitesimal.  However, the URL of the page will be visible to the recipient.  If the recipient chooses to forward the URL to others and this causes you distress, embarrassment or any other issues, Arena Flowers cannot be held responsible for this or be liable for any damages relating to the URL of this message page having been circulated.  Video / sound messages are shared with the recipient entirely at the sender's own risk.  You should not share any message that may, if subsequently forwarded, cause you distress.  If you do so, you do so at your own risk.  Basically, don't send anything that might cause you subsequent embarrassment or if you do, don't blame us if it backfires!

v) If you choose for your card message to be displayed on the same page as your video message, it is not Arena Flowers' responsibility if the message is disseminated.  If the recipient shares the URL of the video message page then your card message could also be shared by the recipient, despite your having not selected "Public".  The recipient will be able to share the unique URL of the video message page (which will include the card message if you have selected it to be included on said page).  As in clause iv, if the recipient chooses to forward the URL to others, you cannot hold Arena Flowers responsible for any distress or damages whatsoever relating to the URL of this message page having been circulated.  Video / sound messages (and included card messages) are shared with the recipient entirely at the sender's own risk.  You should not share any card, sound or video message that may, if subsequently forwarded, shared or disseminated in any form by the recipient, cause you distress.  If you do so, you do so at your own risk.

vi) If a video or sound file is your own, you own the copyright to it.  However, by uploading a video or sound file to Arena Flowers AND marking it "Public" you grant Arena Flowers the right to use your video or sound file to promote Arena Flowers, our video / sound file upload service and any other services that we might offer, in any medium we choose.  Should you wish to remove the "Public" status of your file, please contact us and we will be happy to do so, and we will cease to use it for any Arena publicity.  Also, should you want us to remove a video/sound file from the site completely, please contact us and we will do so as soon as reasonably possible.

vii) Whilst we would like to host both public and private video/sound files indefinitely, we reserve the right to remove access to files after they have been played ten times or they have been up for 30 days, whichever happens the sooner.  It's a new service, so let's see how we get on!

viii) In order to upload and process your video / sound file, we will pass it to a 3rd party partner.  The specific company that processes the video on behalf of Arena Flowers may change from time to time, but, in all cases, Arena Flowers undertakes to bind the processing partner to abide by the same levels of data protection as Arena Flowers stated in these clauses i to viii and our data protection policy.  The processing partner will not have any marketing or proprietary rights whatsoever regarding the use of these video or sound files passed to it by Arena Flowers, other than for their legitimate processing and transcoding on behalf of Arena Flowers.  Arena Flowers may make reference to its processing partner in respect of any publicity relating to the video / sound file service.  The processing partner will only refer to the service by linking to Arena Flowers pages on which the videos or sound files are hosted, and only if they are hosted in accordance with clauses i to viii inclusive, and will not take Arena Flowers content and move it off the Arena site, unless it gains written permission from Arena Flowers and the customer who created the content to do so.

20. User comments, feedback and other submissions provided by customers

You agree that any material, information or ideas that you transmit to this site is, and will remain, the property of Arena Flowers.

Furthermore, you accept that you are prohibited from posting or transmitting to or from this site any unlawful, threatening, libellous, defamatory, inflammatory, pornographic or profane material that could give rise to any civil or criminal liability under law.  You are solely responsible for the content of any comments you make.

We hope that the recipient will be delighted with any order you put through.

The BHF and Arena Flowers teams.