1-800-Flowers to Pay $375,000 Over Automatic Subscription Renewals

A New York settlement will require 1-800-Flowers to pay $375,000 and refund eligible customers after state investigators found that some consumers were enrolled in automatically renewing subscriptions without clearly understanding the recurring charges.

The agreement involves Celebrations Passport, an annual membership offered across 1-800-Flowers brands, including Harry & David, Cheryl’s Cookies and Shari’s Berries. The program offers free shipping and reduced service charges for a yearly fee that initially ranged from $14.99 to $29.99.

New York investigators found that between February 2021 and June 2022, key subscription terms were sometimes placed in fine print, linked terms and conditions, or boxes that customers had to open. Some offers highlighted free shipping and other benefits without giving similar prominence to the automatic renewal, future price, or cancellation terms.

The Attorney General’s office also found that some customers did not receive adequate information after signing up or before their memberships renewed. Consumers complained to 1-800-Flowers and government and consumer agencies about unexpected charges and difficulty canceling. One customer said they discovered they had paid for the membership for two years without receiving a renewal notice.

Along with the $375,000 payment, 1-800-Flowers must provide refunds to qualifying customers. Some New York consumers who complained about unexpected subscriptions, renewals, or cancellation problems may receive their most recent membership fee back. Certain consumers in New York and elsewhere who paid for the program without using its benefits may also qualify for $20 refunds.

New York’s automatic renewal law is meant to prevent consumers from unknowingly agreeing to recurring charges. General Business Law § 527-a requires companies to clearly show important subscription terms before a customer signs up and to obtain affirmative consent before charging for an automatically renewing service. Businesses must also provide cancellation information after the purchase and make it reasonably easy for consumers to end the subscription.

Affirmative consent means a company must do more than place recurring payment terms somewhere on a website. The customer must be given a clear opportunity to understand and agree to future charges. That requirement is central to New York’s findings because investigators say some Celebrations Passport customers had to follow links, open additional boxes or read fine print to find information about renewal and cancellation.

Federal law provides similar protections. The Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act requires online sellers to clearly disclose important terms, obtain informed consent before charging consumers and provide a simple way to stop recurring payments. The Attorney General found that 1-800-Flowers violated both federal law and New York laws covering automatic renewals and deceptive business practices.

1-800-Flowers neither admitted nor denied the Attorney General’s findings. The company agreed to resolve the investigation without a court proceeding.

The company must now change how it presents and manages recurring subscriptions. Among other requirements, 1-800-Flowers must make renewal terms clearer, obtain informed consent before enrolling customers, provide cancellation information after purchase, and give consumers notice before their memberships renew.

Under the settlement terms, 1-800-Flowers must issue the required refunds within 180 days and comply with the subscription rules set out in the settlement.