Suppliers - General rant arrghhh.....

Hi

Apart from bad manners it is downright ignorant ! I'm on the blower or email as soon as my clients want anything. I even have my autoresponder on my email set to tell people to ring me on my mobile or home number if they haven't received a reply within 24 hrs just in case there is a damn good reason I have not got back to them.

Dean

www.deancarney.com

Blimey sounds like I've been really lucky then! Just as an example I met with my florist yesterday afternoon for a free consultation & she had the quote emailed to me that evening! I will of course be using her & hoping my good luck continues I honestly didn't think these people who charge the earth as soon as you mention the word wedding would be so lapse!!

Rainbow Florist:

Must admit, I struggle with people who use text talk to email - as I'm not a texter myself, half of it I don't understand!  If I do text which is once in a blue moon, I have to use proper English Grammar and full punctuation!  Sorry, it's a thing I have - I'm a Queen's English person

 

High five, Rainbow Florist!  I'm with you.  I used to work at a very well-established university and I was astounded at how many essays I used to have to mark where the undergraduates would write 'u' instead of 'you' and '2' instead of 'to' or 'too' or '4' instead of 'for'.  Didn't they go to school?! 

I always reply within 48 hours but much sooner if I can.  I don't understand suppliers taking so long to get back to people - maybe they just don't want the business!  If I had to wait more than 2 days for a reply then I probably wouldn't bother with that supplier at all. 

Hi,

Count me in as well, what is frustrating me all the more is the fact that I am helping brides out currently who have been let down on favours and other items for their wedding and I am trying to source them.  Yes it is good for my business as I am expanding into areas I'd not considered before and fortunately have the suppliers to contact who are reliable and can get products to me quickly, however the poor brides I am working with have only a few weeks to their wedding.  1 bride currently contacted me last week now has 14 days, she is out of pocket with her deposit and I am trying to get favours and post box done quickly and as close to the money she has left so her day is still as perfect as it should be.  I dont want to let her down but I can say its stressing me out...

Jane

x

I've also had many Brides who ring in a panic 2 weeks before Christmas to say that they've had their flowers booked for months and the florist has only just realised that they aren't going to open over Christmas or that they can't get the flowers and they've been left high and dry.

hi, sorry you are having so much trouble.

I find it very annoying that these companies and many others really do not care about their customers, communication is the first thing and should be carried through the whole process of serving a customer before during and after. It is so important to treat customers or even potential customers correctly, after all a business will not survive without its customer base and good word of mouth.

I do hope you get everything sorted and i hope you are treated better in future :) x 

Hello all!

I have to say not replying to any message drives me insane.  If you email me, you get an auto response, and I try to get back to people within 48 hours.  But I have to be honest I don't always get the chance to check my email every single day.  Bad of me I know, but I'd never leave it to the point of someone chasing me for quotes etc. 

If I were you, I'd start looking elsewhere, because I'd worry about how punctual/reliable they'll be for your wedding.

K

Update!

This afternoon H2B had a voicemail on his mobile from the F/W company asking him to call them back.

Basically had to run through everything we wanted again................. He said they had called our venue and okayed everything with them regarding sound issues etc. Sent through a quote an hour later 600 quid for 4 minutes!!

Gonna let him stew for a week or so, then go back and say our budget is only 500 quid, what can they chuck in, mmmmmmmmmm will leave that to my ex-sales manager H2B to sort that one out!

Thanks for your replies X

Well considering I got internet access whilst on my honeymoon in Borneo and spent days on the computer helping out brides who had been let down by a shop I think that shows my level of communication. The honeymoon was a computer free zone for both of us but I had to break that rule.

It's understandable if one email gets lost in a spam folder but not several.

I now have my emails on my phone 24/7 and will email people to say I'm not on my laptop and I'll get back to them asap.

I emailed a supplier of mine twice last week with a major rant and they haven't got back to me so I'll be phoning tomorrow and won't mince my words.

PurrfectGems:

Well considering I got internet access whilst on my honeymoon in Borneo and spent days on the computer helping out brides who had been let down by a shop I think that shows my level of communication. The honeymoon was a computer free zone for both of us but I had to break that rule.

It's understandable if one email gets lost in a spam folder but not several.

I now have my emails on my phone 24/7 and will email people to say I'm not on my laptop and I'll get back to them asap.

I emailed a supplier of mine twice last week with a major rant and they haven't got back to me so I'll be phoning tomorrow and won't mince my words.

These crappy people clearly need to enrol in the PurrfectGems School of Business!

GEMINIBEBE:

PurrfectGems:

 

Well considering I got internet access whilst on my honeymoon in Borneo and spent days on the computer helping out brides who had been let down by a shop I think that shows my level of communication. The honeymoon was a computer free zone for both of us but I had to break that rule.

 

It's understandable if one email gets lost in a spam folder but not several.

 

I now have my emails on my phone 24/7 and will email people to say I'm not on my laptop and I'll get back to them asap.

 

I emailed a supplier of mine twice last week with a major rant and they haven't got back to me so I'll be phoning tomorrow and won't mince my words.

 

 

 

 

These crappy people clearly need to enrol in the PurrfectGems School of Business!

 

Na it's just I'm a moany cow and I give people such a hard time if I don't get good service and I never want anyone to complain to me like I do to others!

My moaning got me thousands of pounds off my venue cost so complaining rocks in the right circumstances!

Small businesses rely on word of mouth so much and it never ceases to amaze me when I hear about this kind of thing. I always aim to reply to enquiries within 2 days which isn't always possible at really busy times. If I can't reply in full I do send a holding reply (thank god for the blackberry!!)with a date when I will respond in full. On the very rare occasion when I do miss an email, I always offer a discount or something extra by way of an apology.

Lets face it some small businesses are run by only one person and it can be busy and stressful at times, but surely it is better to be honest and say that you can't take on any more work than to leave people hanging on waiting for your quote when they could be getting it sorted out elsewhere.

If they can't meet your budget of £500 I'd recommend you go elsewhere.....their loss!!

Corrine x

I agree as well....I hate when people not reply....I asked for a quote from a florist back in January never got a reply. Sent her another email a couple of weeks ago asking if she actually wanted any business....got a reply within the hour lol

I try to reply within 24hrs, at the moment it is manic with wedding season & all ther Charity events I am involved with so I take my lappy with me to try & keep up!  I had 10hrs of meetings yesterday so today will be spent catching up.

Even if I can't reply in full I try to semd an acknowledgement of recieving the email.