I HATE feeling ripped off.

(This post will not be going into my Gratitude Journal.)

I hate dealing with customer service. I hate telephone trees. I hate paying for one thing and receiving something quite inferior in value.

(Yah, I know: first-world problems.)

Remember my frustration trying to order flowers last December?* Well, I ended up looking for local florists in each of the three locations I was sending flowers.

It's always hard when you order flowers: will the arrangement be as nice as I hope? The photographs online are always so lovely, but the actual item may be quite different. And they all reserve the option of "substitutions," which begs the question of whether the end product will in any way resemble the promised item.

My in-laws thanked us and then sent me a photograph along with a very warm, heartfelt thank you.

I looked at the picture and felt very disappointed. Here is what I ordered.

FTD Season's Greetings Bouquet

Elegant, monochromatic, compact (so you could use it on the dinner table but still be able to see the other guests), modest, but still festive.

This is what they received.

Also, purportedly, an FTD Season's Greetings bouquet.

A gangly, foliage-heavy, red and white arrangement in a garish vase. Yes, I realize that on a checklist, they match:

• A few white roses: check
• Mums and carnations: check
• Wintry foliage: check
• Christmas baubles: check
• Christmas-ornament-shaped vase: check

But you cannot convince me that they are comparable in aesthetic appeal. The sales picture was created by a true floral artist. The delivered product was created by someone with as much skill as I: I am very good at plunking flowers into a basic vase and arranging them using the "lift and fluff" method.

I, however, do not charge for my floral services. I have sent them an e-mail.

I am grateful that my in-laws were happy with what they received, but they are gracious people, so it doesn't surprise me. Besides, who doesn't enjoy receiving flowers? It's always such a pleasant surprise.

*Follow-up on the Sears fiasco: Sears has not responded to the letter I sent them. I did go into a store and, after much frustrating time over the phone with the credit card department, reactive my card and cash in my Sears points for $160. As soon as I get the statement with the $0 balance, I am closing the account.