Suppliers - General rant arrghhh.....

Here HERE!!

i know exactly what you mean ud think they were doin us a massive favour with some of them! they should be trying to impress us! Not tarring all with this brush obviously!

Have to agree with you... it's one of my pet hates when people dont get back to you when they say they will

I strive to answer all queries within 2 hours of them coming through, not always possible but I do try my best.

Customer service to me is the upmost of importance, if I fail on that, then I may aswell kiss my business goodbye..

I think you have given the firework people plenty of chances.. If it were me, I would be looking elsewhere to take my business

Debbie

x

Oh WOW Claire, your having fireworks?!?! I am desperate to find some VERY cheap but cant

x

If you can't rely on them to give you a quote, how can you rely on them on the day? Mind you email has a lot to answer for because the number of emails that end up in spam or bounce back is a nightmare. If I need to contact someone urgently now i print and post the email as well as back up. Some people only seem to read email once in a blue moon. Unlike me who checks it every chance I get OH says it's compulsive obsessive (but I am that anyway)

Yeah I would go with another F/W company but havent got a lot of choice, about 3 around the area and the other 2 sounded rude on the phone and couldnt be bothered?

Wouldnt mind a discount of $150 though that would heal the pain!!

?

Probably around that price tag. Do you mind asking the company? You can private message me if you need to. I need to check if the venue can have fireworks, but if it can, i want to have them as a suprise for H2B

X

I too agree that it's very frustrating when people don't get back to you. When you're getting married you just want to get things sorted not be kept waiting for weeks on end forever sending out chaser emails/calls. I respond as quickly as I can as I value any potential customers and have received many comments on my quick responses and it's not because we're not busy, I just hate to keep people waiting. I think that this also gives a good impression on the type of supplier you are dealing with too as well as the quality of their products/services. I check my emails regularly, probably a bit too often LOL. I strive to give excellent customer service as that's what I expect to get when I'm making enquiries! ?

Ditto! I always answer emails within 24hrs because I hate it when people don't do the same for me. I can't understand why people don't check emails daily... it's electronic post! Would people not open their proper post on a daily basis? It's just the same. To me, anyone who doesn't send quotes out on time or has to be continually chased for quotes doesn't deserve business!

Totally totally totally agree! I even take my laptop on holiday with me so that I can respond to enquiries and my brides that have already booked me and have a question. I only ever stay in hotels with internet access. There really is no excuse these days.

?

Well said!! Imagine how much business these idiots are losing from being lazy........... suppose it gives new businesses a chance to get in there and grab all their work!

Where can I buy a warehouse full of fireworks........................mmmm ?

This is one of my pet hates too. It seems half of the UK does not work at weekends or early mornings or evenings, so when I want to call people or send emails they are not there. And when you do send an email or leave a phone message they never return the call or answer the email. It drives me bonkers. ? I find the U.K. suppliers the absolute worst ☹️, my European suppliers answer the phone or emails 100% of the time. It is no wonder nothing is made here anymore.

However from a suppliers point of view, sometimes emails are so difficult to read. The spelling and grammar can be so poor I cannot make head nor tail it. I haven't always got the time to act as code-breaker and translate the emails into some kind of language, so I delete them. Sometimes the person may come into my shop and refer to an unaswered email and I will fish it out of the recycle bin and read it to them, to see if they can make sense of it! they normally can't.

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 ?

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!!

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.

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.

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.