COLUMBUS – Calling her a “heartless grifter,” Ohio’s attorney general is demanding a defunct Xenia florist who left dozens of couples at the altar without flowers pay the consumers back.
Dave Yost’s office says Desiree Gilliam Pace, owner of Flowers by Des, violated consumer protection laws and is seeking more than $50,000 in restitution for at least 48 people he says either paid in full for services or put down a 50% deposit, only to find themselves without flowers on their big days.
“Weddings are meant to be a celebration of love, not a chance for a heartless grifter to leave couples empty-handed and upset. This action won’t take the sting away from that day, but I vow to help these couples get some payback,” Yost said.
Pace either canceled the contracts within days of the events or failed to appear at the events, forcing couples to scramble for flowers for their weddings “at considerable additional cost” while others were left without flowers for their events.
Pace told consumers who requested refunds that their contracts required them to wait 90 days but, in nearly every case, failed to give customers their money back, Yost said.
Yost says Flowers by Des, which has gone out of business, violated Ohio’s Consumer Sales Practices Act.