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> September 07. 2014 12:01AM Harry & David: the next chapter Let's start with the good news about the newest owner of Harry & David: at least it's not a private equity firm. We all know how that turned out, with a big payout to the investors, lost pensions for employees and a bankruptcy for the company. Good riddance to Wasserstein & Co., which cynically stripped and bankrupted  the Medford business and 10 years later sold it for half of what it originally paid. The other, potentially, good news is that the new owner, 1-800-Flowers.com, is familiar with the Harry & David model. Its principal business is selling flowers via the Internet and phone, while Harry & David is renowned for doing the same with fruits and treats. Both face similar challenges in processing orders and delivering perishable goods long distances, so there are undoubtedly some similarities that will lead to synergies. That's the good news. There is also some, shall we say, concerning news about 1-800-Flowers and its way of doing business. That way, if brought to Medford, could lead to major changes for the community and for its employees. 1-800-Flowers brings some baggage with it as well. The company didn't get a lot of love letters from its customers on the most recent Valentine's Day, when it wound up issuing public apologies to customers who received broken or wilted flowers — or, worse, none at all. Perhaps the good folks at Harry & David could teach the folks in Long Island a thing or two about deliveries. Of more concern are stories about lawsuits and congressional inquiries into 1-800-Flowers practices. According to a New York Times story, the company was among a group of online retailers that were sued in 2012 for participating in what the paper described as a "cynical and longstanding scheme to cheat customers out of millions of dollars." That scheme essentially involved online customers clicking on a cash-back rebate option that registered them for a "near-worthless" membership card that charged their credit card for months or even years. The company was also the subject of a congressional report criticizing it for its aggressive online sales tactics. And then there is its approach to call centers — or rather its approach to moving away from call centers. According to published reports, 1-800-Flowers tested an India-based call center some years ago, but backed off after getting poor results. Now, rather than "off-shoring" its telemarketers and customer service employees, it has turned to "home-shoring" — in other words, employees who work with customers over the phone do so from their own homes rather than a company call center. We found reports of the company closing call centers in New Mexico, Oklahoma and Ohio and sending the workers — who remained employees — home to do their work. There are also recent reports of its call center jobs being outsourced to a New York-based company. We've read reports of skimpy training for the company's phone workers, which would stand in stark contrast to Harry & David's efforts to get its employees up to speed. The local call center folks, and others in the company, are well-versed in product lines, sales techniques and, yes, customer service. Many longtime customers expect no less. No one can predict exactly what the new ownership will mean for the company, its employees and the Rogue Valley, which has much riding on the thousands of local jobs in the fields, manufacturing plants and call center. We hope the new owners recognize that just as there are differences in product lines, there are differences in customer expectations. While there will no doubt be changes, and some of them possibly for the better, a one-size-fits-all approach would not serve Harry & David or its customers well.       http://www.mailtribune.com/article/20140907/OPINION/140909837 © 2015 Copyright © 1995-2011 Crain Communications Inc. All Rights Reserved. Terms of Use Privacy Statement -->