Local florists score victory over telemarketing scheme

By: Gene Hanson

Class-action lawsuits filed by area florists and consumers against an out-of-town telemarketing firm using local names and phone numbers to snare business away from legitimate local businesses have claimed a major victory.

They have driven a New Jersey telemarketer out of business.

TTP, doing business as Flowers With Gifted Elegance, has filed for bankruptcy.

The filing comes about a year after Gladstone Flowers filed a class-action lawsuit charging the telemarketer with using deceptive business practices. The bankruptcy filing occurred Aug. 17, three days before a Clay County Circuit Court was to consider a motion by Gladstone Flowers to certify the case as a class action.

That case and a similar lawsuit filed in Clay County by consumers affected by the telemarketing scheme have been put on hold pending the outcome of the bankruptcy case.

Here is how the telemarketing system worked. An out-of-area company purchased a listing in the phone book identical to that of a local florist such as Gladstone Florist. The result was two listings in the Kansas City white pages with the same business name. One had an address; one did not. A person calling the number without an address, usually the first listing, unknowingly talked to an out-of-state telemarketer. If an order was placed, it was referred to another area florist and filled. The out-of-area telemarketer tacked on a handling fee. In addition, the sending service, such as FTD or Teleflora, would capture 20 percent of the order.

“The primary objective of both lawsuits is to get TTP out of Missouri,” said Gregory Leyh of Gladstone, the attorney for both class-action lawsuits. “TTP cheats by pretending to be a local florist so it can fool consumers and steal the legitimate business of Missouri florists. At least for now, TTP is no longer in the floral business in Missouri.”

TTP's president, Thomas Meola, said the company could no longer afford the cost of defending the lawsuits.

“This is a victory for us,” said Debbie Fulton, owner of Gladstone Florist on North Oak Trafficway. “We noticed our business began to pick up this summer, when it is normally down. Then we found out that the telemarketer had disconnected the phone.”

Leyh said there was a possibility local florists could collect damages once the bankruptcy was completed, but the odds were not great.

He said he would again try to certify his lawsuit as a class action. If the court agrees, he will then file action to ban TTP permanently from doing business in Clay County, and maybe in Missouri.

Missouri has no law banning the practice used by the telemarketer, but the New Jersey company has been the target of enforcement actions by the attorneys general of Delaware and Virginia for violation of consumer protection laws.

Business Editor Gene Hanson can be reached at 389-6638 or ghanson@npgco.com.