Terms and Conditions

Please read these terms and conditions carefully before using Daoflowers website, IOS App, Android App operated by Daoflowers Limited, a supplier of fresh cut flowers and green plants, packing materials and associated floral accessories.

Conditions of Use

We will provide our services to you, which are subject to the conditions stated below in this document. Every time you visit this website, use its services or make a purchase, you accept the following conditions. This is why we urge you to read them carefully.

Privacy Policy

We are the sole owners of the information collected on this site. We only have access to/collect information that you, our customers voluntarily give us via email or other direct contact from you. We will not sell or rent this information to any third parties.

We will use your information to respond to you, regarding the reason you contacted us. We will not share your information with any third party outside of our organization, other than as necessary to fulfill your request, e.g. to ship an order.

Unless you ask us not to, we may contact you via email in the future to tell you about special offers, new products or services, or changes to this “Privacy policy”

Copyright

Content published on this website (digital downloads, images, texts, graphics, logos) is the property of Daoflowers Limited and protected by international copyright laws. The entire compilation of the content found on this website is the exclusive property of Daoflowers Limited, with copyright authorship for this compilation by Daoflowers Limited..

Communications

The entire communication with us is electronic. Every time you send us an email or visit our website, you are going to be communicating with us. You hereby consent to receive communications from us. If you subscribe to the news on our website, you are going to receive regular emails from us. We will continue to communicate with you by posting news and notices on our website and by sending you emails. You also agree that all notices, disclosures, agreements and other communications we provide to you electronically meet the legal requirements that such communications be in writing.

Prices

All prices are clearly set out in our online trading platform – Online Offers. All publisheCustom Clearanced prices effective at the destination point (for the majority of our Clients in Europe it is Amsterdam). The flowers are delivered on Carriage Paid To (CPT) conditions to the point and are ready to be shipped for the end-point-transfer.

The customer specifies the destination point (chooses from the dropdown list) and our system automatically calculates the position price. The price depends on the destination point requested by the customer.

Daoflowers engages the handling service package provided by IP Handlers BV at the Amsterdam International Airport Schiphol, and includes these expenses into the price of flowers for the majority of customers upon customer’s request.

For every single online purchase the customer has to determine and inform Daoflowers managers by electronic means whether pre-cooling and handling services is to be included into the price for flowers or the customer prefers to pay for pre-cooling and handling services directly to IP Handlers BV. Please read more about pre-cooling procedure here: "What is pre-cooling and what is handling? Is handling and pre-cooling value included in the flowers price?"

Custom Clearance All published prices exclude custom clearance cost. Daoflowers stays out of custom clearance procedures that fully and completely are the customers’ liability.

Due to the market situation, seasonality, weather conditions, supply and demand, prices may change on a daily basis. All published prices are valid only on the day of publication.

Flowers

Daoflowers is a wholesale fresh flower company. The wholesale fresh cut flowers are purchased from a large number of farms in Ecuador, Colombia and Kenya, that allows us to realize our own potential and to meet demands of the flowers buyers.

On our website we use flower images for display purposes only. Actual products may differ from product images displayed. For example, most floral illustrations shown are photographed in full bloom. The flowers supplied may be in tight bud in order for the longest flowers time possible. Regardless of variations in products, we guarantee our customer the satisfaction with every order placed at and executed by Daoflowers.

Storage Conditions

The carriage temperature of fresh cut flowers supplied by Daoflowers Limited is +4 degrees Celsius at normal humidity. The flower products are stored in refrigerated rooms. Upon cargo arrival right after the flight, the temperature of the flower cargo may rise up to 10-13 degrees Celsius that is of common occurrence. For the storage temperature recovery and further flowers transportation the hub airports are equipped with vacuum pre-cooling and refrigerating units maintaining the +4C° temperature for the fresh cut flowers, and with the refrigerating units maintaining the +15C° temperature required for the potted plants storage suitable as well for heat-loving cut flowers such as Cymbidiums, Dendrobiums, Anthuriums, Strelitzia, etc. Please see more about pre-cooling procedure here: "What is pre-cooling and what is handling? Is handling and pre-cooling value included in the flowers price?"

Daoflowers Limited is responsible for the quality of the delivered products to the point of shipment (cargo transfer to the customer or to the transport agency according to the customer’s instructions).

Placing an Order

Usually we ask our customers to place their orders online using our web service “Orders” as it gives the customer cost awareness, prices control, quantities & grades required to fit his individual requirements. It is not possible to create an account (and therefore place an order) without agreeing to these Terms & Conditions. In the event Daoflowers processes orders on behalf of the customer, the customer also agrees to these Terms & Conditions. In this case, Daoflowers sales managers will choose varieties, stem lengths & grades on the customer's behalf unless otherwise specified.

Before obtaining an authorization on Daoflowers website, we suggest the customer to send us via e-mail dao@daoflowers.com a draft order or, at least, an example of his average weekly order at the regular (non pre-holiday) period of time. We ask the customer to indicate varieties, sizes and quantity, cut point (required opening grade of the buds) for each variety. The buying preferences and requirements to the flower cut point very in different countries.

A template for the order example with our product range can be downloaded here. The customer can send us his order example in any convenient form without using this template.

An example of the regular weekly order is the first step needed for further negotiation about cooperation.

Payment

Payment is taken via credit or debit card. We accept Visa and MasterCard only. Full payment is required before your order is placed in Daoflowers system.

Alternative payment option For the wholesale orders we can offer several convenient payment options (bank transfer), please contact our managers Contacts

Placing pre-order at Daoflowers Limited or buying from Daoflowers web market, the customer undertakes to pay according to the invoice, which will be provided (sent via e-mail and available on the website and mobile Apps) on the day of delivery.

Prepayment is carried out on the basis of indicative (statistical prices). The prices may be adjusted depending on the market situation at the moment of purchase, on the flight cost fluctuations for flower cargo and on the airlines rates, which will be used to deliver flower cargo to the destination point.

Each customer has its personal settlement system maintained by Daoflowers. In the customer’s profile, on the main page after login and on the trading platform the customer can see a valid digit; this amount is the state of his account. Click with a right mouse button will display the annual account activity.

Provided the amount prepaid was over the actual cost of the flower cargo, the difference remains on the customer’s balance sheet, and he can use the overpaid funds for the next purchase.

If the prepayment was less than the actual cost of the flower cargo, the customer undertakes to make an additional payment that will bring his balance to zero, or an additional payment that will allow purchasing the following lot of flowers.

Upon the customers request Daoflowers Limited may reimburse the funds remaining on the customers balance to the customer’s bank account (wire transfer) or to the customers card account.

Delivery

For the majority of our European customers the destination point is the International Airport Schiphol, Amsterdam.

The flower cargoes are available to be picked up at the refrigerating warehouse of IP Handlers BV at the Amsterdam Airport Schiphol 24 hours per day, 7 days per week.

Every time placing the new order, the customer specifies the destination point (chooses from the dropdown list). If the customer would like to set a new direction, we kindly ask the customer to inform Daoflowers about it in sufficient time in advance via e-mail: dao@daoflowers.com in order for us to explore and calculate the new direction in terms of logistics.

Quality Complains / Warranty Obligations

Quality control of flower products is carried out by quality control inspectors partially onsite (on farms) and partially at the shipment points (at the refrigerated warehouses of the cargo agencies).

Daoflowers Limited is responsible for the quality of the delivered products to the point of shipment (cargo transfer to the customer or to the freight forwarder according to the customer’s instructions). “Quality Control”

In the unlikely event the customer is not entirely satisfied with the flower condition and quality, delivery or any other aspect of our goods, kindly proceed according to our "Claim policy".

All quality or quantity claims must be informed via e-mail dao@daoflowers.com or through Daoflowers website within 24 hours upon receipt of delivery.

In the event of Claim we will provide the customer with the additional lot of flowers as the compensatory damages or refund advanced payment back to the Customer’s account.

There may be the problem with regrading when the farm has substituted the required variety with the one that the customer has not ordered. Sometimes the customer may be satisfied if the flower variety and quality was better then the one he has ordered, but other times, the other way round. In the later case, the customer definitely has to make a complain – please, see "Claim policy".

Daoflowers Limited will compensate for the damage all of the timely sent and justified complaints regarding the quality of the products including carriage temperature abuse, re-sorting/regrading, short delivery, damages, occurred before cargo arrival to the delivery point – the point of flowers cargo transfer to the customer or to the freight forwarder according to the customer’s instructions.

Cancellations

Once your fresh flower order has been confirmed with the sales managers of Daoflowers it is not possible to cancel or amend it although it may be possible to add some positions to the order if time permits.

There are several statuses of the order:
• placed / sent by the customer
• in process (purchase is in progress)
• executed (invoice has been issued, sent to the customer via e-mail and is available for download on the website and both IOS and Android devices

An order can be cancelled on the following stages:
• placed / sent by the customer
• in process (purchase is in progress)

In some instances an order can be amended, if it has not been dispatched to the airport. You can find it out over the phone +31 657 713385 with Daoflowers sales managers.

If an order has the status “executed” it can not be cancelled, however you can try to get in touch with Daoflowers sales managers and in case of shortage they may offer your order on the off-chance to the customer in need.

Terms and conditions – Farms (Plantations – Growers)

Getting acquainted with the flower farm - First steps

After the initial contact information exchange, we usually ask the farm to fill out a form indicating:

- Contacts of the sales department and managers who directly send flower offers and make decisions on price policy.

- Contacts of the department of invoices, claims, accounting, logistics (for coordination with transport agents).

Order types and parameters

Orders can be divided into some main types:

Personal standing orders. Such orders with a specially agreed assortment and a fixed price are usually prepared by farms on a regular basis every week for a certain day leaving the farm. Grades, sizes, quantities, packing standards and box types are usually strongly agreed and completed weekly by default for a specific customer. Typically, the client may ask to make some changes to a personal standing order only if a problem arises with the quality of one of the varieties (the client may ask to exclude this problematic variety or replace it with another one). Or upon the high season ends, the client may request changes to the assortment and prices in order to adjust this order for regular work during the low demand period.

Orders from the daily open market. Farms usually send us open market offers every day and we offer them to our customers at our website platform or through mobile application. Clients request a specific item from the farm with a certain price in the required quantity. This is how each micro-trade deal is formed.

Flower type, variety, size, box type, number of boxes (stems) for this item.

Weekly orders that we send to farms in advance, a few days before leaving the farm. Based on the current orders of our clients, we form preliminary requests for the required assortment and send them to farms asking to confirm in advance possible varieties, sizes, prices, quantities. Having confirmed with the farms the necessary items in advance, we reflect them in the current order status for customers and then proceed to purchase the remaining varieties from the daily open market.

Contract orders for holiday period. We usually send these orders to the farms a week or several weeks before the planned date of shipments delivery to the airport. Based on customer holiday orders, as well as purchasing statistics from previous years, we generate requests for preliminary contracts to ensure holiday deliveries to be completed. Having received contract order preliminary confirmations from the farms, we can begin to purchase missing items from the daily farm offers.

Box labels

For each of our clients we create a special label (client’s name in the purchasing system), which the farm has to depict in big letter fonts on a sticker for each box intended for this client. According to these labels, transport agents generate AWB air waybills and also distribute cargo between clients at delivery points.

In addition to the client's name, each box label must contain complete information about the flowers packed, namely:

- Packing date. This date can also be duplicated in bunch barcodes

- Flower farm name

The following parameters are required for each variety:

- Variety name

- Each variety grade/size

- Number of bunches for each variety in a given grade/size

- Number of variety stems in each bunch of a given grade/size

- Total number of stems

In case the flower cargo shipment flight is known in advance, then the AWB air waybill number must be indicated on the boxes.

All necessary information must be printed in big well-readable fonts so that transport company employees and loaders can identify each box.

The name of the client for whom this box is intended should be indicated in particularly big letters highlighted fonts.

Flower products quality control

Flower quality is supposed to include a set of parameters:

- Freshness of flowers

- Absence of diseases

- Presence of leaf mass on the stem (with the exception of gerbera and other specific types of flowers)

- Buds opening cut required by the client. This parameter differs depending on different consumer markets the client is buying flowers for. Typically, the opening cut degree is discussed at the very beginning of work with the client and is therefore assumed to be agreed for future orders. The removal of the first petal from a rose bud or its presence is also a requirement depending on different markets.

- Stem thickness, absence of сurved stems

- The quality of packing materials and the quality of packing flowers in bunches and boxes. Fixing the bunches inside the box to prevent mechanical damages during transportation. The presence of the obligatory technological gap between the buds and the ends of the box as well as between the buds in the bunch and the ends of the protective corrugated carton of each bunch.

- The density of the carton boxes in which the flowers are packed, the resistance of the carton to mechanical impact.

Preliminary quality control is usually carried out at the farms post-harvest packing areas.

We reserve the right to invite external independent quality controllers who are invited to the cargo agents warehouses and are authorized to randomly check the quality of flowers from particular farms before departure. If quality problems are detected, the flowers will be destroyed or sent back to the farms.

We reserve the right to charge the cost of quality control services to the farms in case there are found problems with the quality of flowers delivered to the airport for further transportation.

Issue of invoices and certificates

After delivering the boxes to the cargo agent, the farms are required to promptly issue the corresponding invoices and send them to us by email or post them on the website.

The invoice must contain information about each individual client. Ideally, a separate invoice should be issued for each individual customer. In some cases, farms issue one combined invoice for all clients, but it must reflect separately information about each client.

If the invoice does not show statistics on flower packing, then be sure to attach a corresponding packing list.

The delivery address for flower cargo in invoices must correspond to the address of the clients to whom the cargo is intended.

The invoicing address is the address of the company to which the invoice is issued, that is, the address of our company that pays this invoice.

Each invoice (packing list) must contain the following information:

- Invoice issue date (most often it coincides with the date the box leaves the farm)

- Flower farm name

- Name of the customer to whom the boxes are addressed

- Variety name

- Grade/size of each variety

- Number of bunches per each variety in a given grade/size

- Number of variety stems per each bunch of a given grade/size

- Total number of stems in each box

- Price and value for each item

- Total cost of the entire invoice

- Delivery terms according to incoterms

In case the flower cargo shipment flight is known in advance, then the AWB air waybill number must be indicated on the boxes.

Invoices must be provided not later than 8 hours after flowers are delivered to the cargo agents.

In case an error was made in the invoice regarding flower prices, the supplier has the right to correct it no later than 12 hours after the invoice is issued. After 12 hours from the moment of issue of invoices, changes related to price increases will not be accepted, as price information may already have been provided to our customers.

In case the farm incorrectly indicated the number of flowers in the invoice, it may cause problems with flower cargo customs clearance. If this problem is found out during customs procedures and the client suffers losses due to incorrect cargo declaration, we reserve the right to issue a claim to the farm to compensate corresponding losses.

A phytosanitary certificate must be prepared for each client or group of clients. A certificate of origin of flowers is also often issued. These documents are issued either by the flower farms themselves or by cargo agents in agreement with the farms.

We indicate the requirements for certificates in each specific order in writing form, and also post them on the website for farms and cargo agents.

In case of errors in the certificates that are found after the cargo has already departed, they must be corrected, and a new certificate must be issued and sent by email to our address. In most of these cases, a new (corrected) certificate has to be sent to the client by express mail.

Prices for flowers during regular and holiday shipments

Some flower farms elaborate fixed price lists for a certain period of time (most often seasons of high and low demand), and sell flowers strictly according to their price lists.

In most cases, prices for each item (micro-trade deal) are determined in the process of dialogue between managers and further mutual confirmation. Most often, the dialogue takes place in written or electronic form, and the price agreed upon as a result is fixed and recorded in the database.

The price for a specific item may depend on the market situation (flower market availability and corresponding demand for a given item), as well as on other prices of the package deal.

Prices are constantly changing, with the exception of prices for standing orders that are confirmed and fixed for a long period of time.

Sometimes customers indicate so-called “stop prices” in their orders. This is the price above which the position cannot be purchased. If the farm confirms and sells such a position, it means it agrees to the stop price specified in the order.

Before holiday shipments farms send out their quotes in advance for specific departure dates from the farms. Thus customers are encouraged to pre-book the desired varieties and prices in the required quantities.

Obviously farms want to receive high prices for flowers in such holiday contracts.

Substitution of varieties and grades/sizes

If the order parameters were not strictly observed by the farm, then the customer has the right to discuss the price after issuing an invoice. For example, if the order specified a white rose variety called White Chocolate in 60 cm - 1 box, and this position was initially confirmed by the farm, but in fact the farm delivered another white variety called Proud in 60 cm - 1 box (replacement of the variety without agreement with the customer), then the client can demand a discount for this variety or even refuse this box already delivered to the cargo agent.

Another example. If the order specified a white rose variety called White Chocolate in 60 cm - 1 box, and this position was initially confirmed by the farm, but in fact the farm delivered the variety White Chocolate in another grade of 50 or 80 cm - 1 box (grade/size replacement without agreement with the customer), then the customer can demand a discount for this item or even refuse this box, already delivered to the cargo agent.

All substitutions of varieties and grades must be agreed between the farm and the customer.

It should be noted that during the periods of high demand in the flower market, replacement of the grades and varieties are accepted loyally by customers, because the main thing is to fulfill the volume when there is flower shortage in the market. However, if the demand for flowers falls down, any replacement of variety or grade is perceived painfully by customers and they require significant discounts if such a replacement has not been agreed upon in advance.

When placing orders on the website or in the mobile application, customers have the opportunity to foresee the possibility of replacing varieties or grades/sizes in advance.

Coordination of delivery times for flower orders

An important parameter of any order is the date the boxes leave the farm and are delivered to the cargo agent. Sometimes the order is placed in advance and the boxes can be delivered within a few days. But orders always indicate the latest possible delivery date. If for some reason the farm is late and does not have time to deliver the box by the specified date, then the farm must urgently contact us and agree on possible actions:

1. Cancel an order that can not be shipped to the required delivery date

2. Get permission for next day delivery (in case the customer can wait)

3. Change the box label and forward it to another client

4. Negotiate a discount for flowers and sell the box in question with a discount to another client

The client may observe each order item that the farm has confirmed online in the mobile application and on the website.

If the box is not delivered on time (or the farm fails to complete it at all), then the customer will notice that it has “disappeared” from a previously confirmed order that may cause negative emotions from the part of the customer and as a result refusal to receive flowers from this farm in future.

Terms and conditions – Transport Agencies

- The flower cargoes acceptance from farms. Based on the preliminary information received from our company on the day of flower purchase, the cargo agency gets in touch with the logistics departments of farms to negotiate the receipt of boxes with flowers.

When the boxes from growers are accepted by the warehouse of the cargo agency, the cargo agent issues a delivery receipt of a specific format. This document is a confirmation that the goods have been delivered to the warehouse, and since that moment the cargo agency is responsible for the goods;

- Refrigerated storage of flower cargo before the flight;

- Providing information on available flights and airfreight rates for cargo;

- Place booking on a regular and charter flights of the airlines;

- Airway Bill (AWB) completion according to the instructions of our company;

- Installation of thermo recorders into the boxes of some flower farms in accordance with our instructions;

- Admission to the warehouse of the independent companies to control the quality of flower products;

- Certificates of Origin and Phytosanitary Certificates issue for flower consignments unless the farms do not grant ones;

- Providing with the information upon actual cargo departure. Provision of a copy of Master AWB, House AWB, boxes weight of each flower farm, copies of Phytosanitary Certificates and Certificates of Origin, provision of airfreight invoices for each individual AWB.

Within 12 hours after the departure of flight it is allowed to make changes in the invoices for air freight (recalculation of weights, measuring the cost of freight). Upon expiry of this time, the corresponding freight invoices will already be issued to the customers and it will no longer be possible to change them.

- Control of the cargo status during the flight with additional landings;

- Submission of claims to airlines in case of:

flight delays

loss or partial loss of goods

temperature abuse during the delivery of the flower cargo

Our company undertakes:

- To provide the cargo agency in due time with the information about the boxes expected from the flower farms.

During the procurement process, the information about each box confirmed by farm is posted on our website in a special section available for cargo agencies.

After the end of purchase, we send via e-mail a summarized file to the cargo agency, which reflects all the boxes that the cargo agency has to accept from the growers for the onward dispatch by air flights.

The mandatory attributes of the boxes are:

Release date from the farm. This date may be different from the purchase date of the box. For example, we can buy a box from farm today, but it can be delivered to cargo agency within the next two days.

Customer’s marking/label (Customer's nickname in our system)

Instructions on the preparation of export documents. The country and address of the consignee.

- To inform the cargo agency ahead of time about place booking - one week before the planned departure of flights at the usual time. Prior to holiday deliveries for the charter flights bookings, a volume request is sent to the cargo agency two months before the expected date of departure.

Lodging claims to the cargo agency

In the event of a problem with a flower cargo due to the fault of the airline, our company will lodge a compensation claim against the airline through the cargo agency. In this case, our company will authorize the cargo agency to lodge a claim and negotiate all the matters with the airline.

In the event of the problem caused losses through the fault of the cargo agency, we lodge the direct claim against the cargo agency.

Examples of possible reasons of direct claims against the cargo agency are described below:

The cargo agency has picked up the boxes from farms, but forgot to send them by required flight.

The cargo agency has picked up the boxes from farms, but mistakenly sent them to the wrong direction.

The cargo agency has lost our boxes in its warehouse, while the delivery receipt of the farm was issued, and the boxes were in fact transferred to the agency's warehouse.

The cargo agency dispatched a flower shipment by the wrong flight.

The cargo agency has lost the necessary documents and did not send them along with the cargo.