Before you spend big bucks on flowers this Valentine's Day, it's good to get an idea of what to expect when you get them.
NBC consumer reporters across the country, including myself, have been ordering flowers from some of the biggest flower websites. Our consumer teams across the country are a close-knit family - we want to show them some love! So, we decided to try out different flower delivery companies, comparing the flowers they deliver with the pictures they use to advertise.
You know it's almost the big day when all of a sudden flowers are really expensive. The average person's going to spend $146 this year, according to the National Retail Foundation.
That doesn't stop hopeless romantics, though, and online flower companies all want a piece of the action.
Steve McFarland of the Better Business Bureau says the pictures in advertisements are, how shall we say this, a little too perfect.
"Quality is the number one complaint," he says.
So six NBC stations across the country set out for The Great Valentine's Flower Comparison of 2017.
Time to grab a partner.
NBC Dallas and NBC New York send each other flowers through FTD.
NBC San Diego and NBC Miami are trying 1-800-Flowers.
And our date is consumer reporter Christiane Cordero at NBC Connecticut. We order the "One in a Million" bouquet from ProFlowers with the ginger vase.
The site asks us to pick a relationship.
I'm going with other, because I'm happily married. This is the first time in 22 years I've sent flowers to a woman other than my wife.
The total is $77.96. Christiane deserves only the best.
In Connecticut, Christiane's sending us the same bouquet.
It's about 2 o'clock in Los Angeles. We just received our Valentine's Day flowers from our station in Connecticut, so we take them to the office, open them up and see how they compare with what they actually ordered.
The results? I just got a stem! I mean, they're pretty. They just haven't opened. They're not as full as in the picture, a little more purple. And there's supposed to be a note somewhere but we can't find it.
Overall, the bouquet looks fairly similar, but there are some that appear to be fairly wilted in the middle.
Christiane gets our flowers, too, and the note. Most of them are in good shape, they come out looking very similar.
As for the other stations, not exactly. San Diego's purple passion roses are not as full as the picture. Neither is Miami's bouquet. And the flowers Dallas and New York are supposed to get look a little bit smaller even after blooming. The good news is all six shipments arrived on time.
McFarland says you can chalk up the differences to the different florists the flowers actually ship from.
"You're going from different florists around the United States," he says. "The timing from when they harvest these could be different."
He says if you feel you didn't get what's advertised, take a picture and send it to customer service for a refund.
We have to say, we're pretty happy with our Valentine's Day bouquet.
I discovered something new about myself: I like getting flowers.
