Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
OGDEN — Former employees say they are owed money as a defunct Ogden company works to fill orders.
Several employees of Eco Flower say they are owed money, and customers are too, after the business shut down.
A Utah Labor Commission spokesperson said there had been more than two-dozen wage claims filed since March against Eco Flower. The company made bouquets out of eco-friendly materials and sold them online. The company gained momentum after an appearance on the TV show, “Shark Tank” in late 2016.
“We did a record number of sales that month,” said Jasen Dowdy, who said he was a general manager at the company for a little under two years.
Dowdy said the company could not get supplies in quickly enough to keep up with demand, creating a backlog.
“We just got buried. We grew really, really fast in a short period of time and just kind of got too big,” he said.
More than 2,000 people have joined a Facebook group titled, ‘Eco Flower Screwed Me Over’. In the discussion, people describe their experiences waiting on orders or refunds.
“Six months and we’re not hearing anything about it. We’re calling in to customer service and there’s nothing,” said Tyler Smith, a member of the group.
Smith said he and his wife had ordered several products and were satisfied initially, but after the “Shark Tank” appearance, he said delivery times began to slip. After waiting past the expected delivery date for an order, Smith decided to go to the business in person.
“It just so happened to turn out that the last order that we placed with Eco Flower, this truck and flower arrangement here, they happened to have in the back and so I got it while I was in there that day,” he said.
Related
Amid online turmoil, local company featured on ‘Shark Tank’ trying to restore image
Since Eco Flower, an Ogden-based business that sells recycled materials morphed into flowers and home goods, was featured on "Shark Tank" in November, customers have fumed online about missing orders. The company is now trying to fix that.In July of 2017, the Utah Division of Consumer Protection fined the company for not shipping orders or issuing refunds in a timely manner. By mid-April of 2018, the company stopped taking orders. Dowdy said several employees were still waiting on paychecks.
Eco Flower CEO John Allard said Friday that he was still working to get employees paid. He said he planned to send out two checks that day. As for customers who were still waiting, he said a former employee was still working to complete the orders. Allard said he was paying out of his own pocket to get the orders shipped as funds would allow. He said he was working to resolve the orders as quickly as possible, but had no estimate on how long it might take.
