customers that ask for unreasonable accomodations

[JI]

What "unreasonable" accomodations have customers asked you for?

I have a new wholesale account. It is a small gift shop in the area.

My wholesale minimum for basic order is 250. He said that since his gift shop is very small (it is) he could only buy 125 worth. I relented and agreed.

He then asked me to swap out any that haven't sold for different fragrances. I said no. (I had images of swapping pine scents in January).

He then asked me if I would consider buying back unsold product since that is what his other vendors do for him, because afterall, he is just a small gift shop. I said no.

He went ahead and ordered the lowered amount of $125.

Don't you think he has a lot of audacity? When I said no on the last two he was truly surprised and said how disappointed he was that was not willing to be flexible. What??? Thought I was being with lowering my order from 250 to 125. I have a couple other accounts and those businesses have never blinked an eye with a 250 order.

Not sure how this account will work out...

[TallTayl]

I too learned the hard way about small WS accounts wanting special concessions, including the trade backs, special packaging, etc. when i ran the numbers those accounts cost me money, so i let them go. It was better (more profitable) in my case to not have them at all.

[Candybee]

I just dumped an account due to similar problems.

Customer had a small shop in town. I already had a good well established account with another shop in the same town down the street. My policy is not to sell to more than one account in the same area because of competition to them.

So, I explained that and we discussed creating them a whole new line of soaps special for their shop only which would not be sold by the other shop. Fine with me. So I spent the time developing the soaps. I had already explained my minimum to them and the fact that it takes 4-6 weeks for CP soap to cure so when they needed soap they had to order ahead of time due to theirs being made special for their shop only.

They asked for 6 scents but left it up to me to create them. So I did. So when the sample soaps were ready they agreed to come out to the Farmers Market to view them and place an order. They never showed. Same thing the next week. So I called and left a message that I had the soap but missed them at the market. So what do they do? they order 4 soaps in 4 scents. Thats 16 soaps. I was not happy. I never called them back.

I expect they are the type that would complain about me to others. Ha!! I would love to charge them for the time and money I spent in development and research of a new product line for their shop. Donkeys!!

Lesson learned. I will never develop a line of soap for anyone who doesn't pay up front for it. Non refundable that is!!

Edited November 7, 2013 by Candybee

[JI]

That is too bad. How much (# of bars) was the original wholesale min? Vs the amount they ended up ordering? 16 bars seems like not that much.

[Guest OldGlory]

I have had some really unbelieveable wholesale requests and I quickly let those customers go. There's a big learning curve when you start a business concerning just how far you will go to appease someone. They will ask for ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING. You have to be clear about your boundaries.

I require all of my orders in writing, with an expected delivery date. In fact, ALL communication must be done in writing so I have a record of it. I am clear from the beginning about how I will be paid. Unless something is of poor quality, I'm not taking it back. Period. You ordered it - it's not my fault if is doesn't sell. That's their liability.

[Candybee]

That is too bad. How much (# of bars) was the original wholesale min? Vs the amount they ended up ordering? 16 bars seems like not that much.

I don't go by a bar minimum. I go by a price minimum. 16 bars of soap in no way comes close and they knew that. The other issue I had was I knew right away they also didn't get the fact that a reorder takes weeks of curing time. If you are running low on soaps you order ahead of time-- the amount they ordered would have been less than the amount you need to keep enough soap on hand while you wait for your new order. I could see they were just trouble and more trouble.

In any event, I turned around and took those soaps to the next craft show the following weekend and sold most of them the first day. So in the end it kind of turned into a lucky thing for me as I now have a new line of soaps that sell very well. Funny how things work out!

[Node11]

Way to turn the negative into a positive, Candybee!

[ubure]

I also can tell stories about such customers - or rather my stupid tendency to make it always right - for the customer. I just finished a wholesale order for a customer in Switzerland. I ought to tell you that it is extremely difficult to sell something to this country as it isn't member of the EU and so regulations and fees are tremendous. But hey, I'm Mrs. U. and I can do everything! *lol* So I made an offer for him for my regular candles. It was fine for him, he even asked how I labeled the scent of the candle, I took a pic and sent it him. He said it was fine. So he accepted my offer, writing in his order shipping costs of € 20,-. For a pallette of about 160 kg, to Switzerland. I told him no way. He wounded and wounded, saying he wouldn't order anything and this is where he got me. I wanted this order, no, I needed it. So I made an offer to cover more than 50% of the transport costs. He agreed. In the course of making my candles he later asked about the labels. I wondered because he said nothing against my labels. Now he wanted oval ones, with his logo on. I researched and tol dhim they'd cost about € 140,-. He answered that he was confused as he bought the candles WITH labels. I had made another mistake. I hadn't clearly written in my offer of what exactly consisted this offer. At this point I already had my materials for the candles ordered and paid for so there was no easy going back. I agreed. So I had to order those labels in the US again, had to buy two new toners for my laser printer, had to convert the logo he sent me because it was entirely unsuitable....and then the shipping company I had hired told me that the shipping portal where I got their offer from had made a mistake by telling the shipping company that it was in Belgium the candles had to go to. The price for Switzerland was double + fees for customs etc. So instead of € 180,- I have to pay € 370 now. He had paid his share of € 85,-. All in all I haven't earned a single cent with this order, not even that, I made a loss with it. During the time I had to do his candles I wasn't able to do much else so my business with which I earn money (my normal customers) had to wait. Not very good. Yesterday the candles went on their journey to beautiful, expensive Switzerland. And it was all my own fault. Okay I have learned a lot. I hope I will remember next time. I already told him I won't ship to Switzerland anymore. But what I am angry about is: he as a swiss knows exactly about all the costs that come with a shipping to his country. He tried to kid me when he wanted those € 20,- shipping costs. And he wasn't prepared to share the costs when I told him about the mistake the shipping portal had made. So he benefitted from my ignorance and he knew it. But I cannot change anything anymore.

There is another wholesale request. I have to clearly define what my conditions are and I have to make sure that I don't outsmart myself by agreeing to everything the customer wants. Please remind me!

[Guest OldGlory]

Ubure - I hope those candles were of such great quality that he now regrets his haste in forcing the shipping costs on you. That would teach him a lesson too! And, just in case he DOES want to reorder, you have the right to charge him enough to cover what you lost the first time!

[ubure]

OldGlory, I certainly won't ever do another order for him again. He was clearly unfair by letting me run into this. He won't be satisfied with the labels anyway because his logo lost so much quality by scaling it to a much smaller size. But hey, he should have paid a professional for creating a logo format that can be used to such things and this is what he didn't want. Don't look a gift horse in the mouth, and it was gift, after all.

The candles are great, but he will complain anyway, I suppose.

[Guest OldGlory]

I don't blame you!

[Candybee]

Wow! Ubure. My gut feeling is he knew he was getting away with a bargain and took advantage. I would be really surprised if he came back for more but you never know!

I try to look at these disappointments as a learning tool. My suggestion is sit down and write out your shipping, return, and restocking policy. Think through all the different scenarios can think of and apply them to your policy to safeguard yourself. Then put it on your website. Take the knowledge you gained from this and use it to your advantage.

[ubure]

Hi CandyBee,

you are absolutely right. I really have to sit down on a not so busy day and put it all down. Here in Germany we have to respect so many laws concerning internet trading etc. anyway so it has to be waterproof.

BTW: htis customer called me on monday to tell me the candles have arrived. He liked them but had some other minor issues I dodn't react on, to be honest. I think I made it clear that this was a one-time only business.

[Candybee]

He had issues with the candles?!!!!! What nerve!! You should tell him you have issues with the shipping fees and send him a bill.