The "joy" of international flower delivery

At Simon Says Roses, we co-ordinate hundreds of international flower delivery orders every year.

Sure we can deliver to 160 countries worldwide, but some countries are easier to deliver to than others.

Case in point was a recent order going to St. Maarten or Sint Maarten, as the locals would say.

Thanks to worldatlas.com, it's that tiny island between Puerto Rico and Antigua, in the middle of the Caribbean. The island is actually two countries, split in half. The north is French speaking St. Martin and the south is the Dutch speaking St. Maarten.
The total population of St. Maarten is slightly over 37,000 people.

So far so good, but the "joy" starts now with various issues:

1.  The language spoken in St. Maarten is Dutch. Our international department is based out of Chicago. They don't speak Dutch is Chicago. So the order must be sent through Interflora Holland for translation & processing. Result is a day lost.
2. The order is relayed to the florist in St. Maarten, but the recipient is a patient in the hospital. We request a Delivery Confirmation but in the interim, the patient has been discharged. The hospital will NOT provide a forwarding address.
3. We inform the sender in Tampa, Florida of this situation, and find out that the person is now staying at a hotel awaiting test results. Further, the last name was spelled incorrectly. We forward this information back through the international department, to Holland, and back to St. Maarten. Another day goes by.
4. We request a Delivery Confirmation
5. We get the reply that the patient is not at the hotel.
6. We ask that they check the hospital once again.
7. They confirm the patient is back in hospital, and will be delivered later today.
8. We ask that a Delivery Confirmation be provided.

The original delivery date was for September 1st and it apparently will be delivered today, September 11th.

Bottom line is that we just wouldn't quit. We could have said to he** with it & refund our customer, but that's not in our nature. Sure, some orders are easier than others, but it doesn't matter.

Thankfully it works out in the end, and eventually we'll get it done!

UPDATE: The recipient was discharged once again from the hospital. Knowing the delivery was coming however, she contacted the filling shop and arranged for delivery to her home. It was finally delivered yesterday!!