Are your supply orders being processed in a reasonable time frame?

[TallTayl]

I am so disappointed in the investment firm that bought WSP and the others recently. I placed a simple order for 2 gallons of witch hazel distillate on June 8.  that same order used to arrive in 2-3 days.  As of today they still have not acknowledged my order. These service delays put everyone in such a horrible bind. 

 

Just placed the same order with another source I have used in the past, but chose not to on this one because of significantly higher shipping. Order #2 will be here in a couple of days. Low shipping is worthless if the product does not ship...

 

The damage is done though since my orders that need this ingredient are already late. boohoo.... I will be sending extra product to customers for their understanding which wipes out all shipping savings I would have had. 

 

Lesson learned. 

[Lizzy]

I used to love WSP but it's gotten so so bad!! People are pissed. And I don't blame them. It's a shame that it's gone downhill.

[TallTayl]

1 hour ago, Lizzy said:

I used to love WSP but it's gotten so so bad!! People are pissed. And I don't blame them. It's a shame that it's gone downhill.

The good news is others sell Crafter Choice brand products, so we are not really tethered to WSP for CC FO. If you have the up front cash, you too could be an authorized reseller 😂. Anyone want to go in on a crafters choice franchise? 🤣
 

saddens me that the turn times (and error rates) from the other retailers purchased have been noticeably worse.

[bfroberts]

1 hour ago, TallTayl said:

The good news is others sell Crafter Choice brand products, so we are not really tethered to WSP for CC FO. If you have the up front cash, you too could be an authorized reseller 😂. Anyone want to go in on a crafters choice franchise? 🤣
 

saddens me that the turn times (and error rates) from the other retailers purchased have been noticeably worse.

I kinda sorta briefly considered selling CC products, but I wasn't overly excited about it.  If ordering from WSP has gotten this bad, maybe I should revisit the idea??? IDK.

[Candybee]

Ever since the pandemic they started lengthening their order turnarounds. So for the past couple of years I know to order ahead about a month or more for what I need. They still have competitive prices but the order turnarounds are still a paint in the butt. I have noticed that more suppliers are going back to normal turnaround times this past year.

 

Interesting you mention other suppliers carry the Crafters Choice brand. I just noticed C&S carries the same lotion base I use for a lot less and the turnaround is a couple of days since we are both on the East coast. Even with the shipping added I still save money, so I put it in my recipe notes to order from C&S next time. 

 

Hope they realize that their lengthy order turnaround times are losing them customers. They are a big company and may not feel it right away, but other suppliers are catching up with variety and shorter order times and this will hurt them where it counts.

[TallTayl]

2 hours ago, Candybee said:

Ever since the pandemic they started lengthening their order turnarounds. So for the past couple of years I know to order ahead about a month or more for what I need. They still have competitive prices but the order turnarounds are still a paint in the butt. I have noticed that more suppliers are going back to normal turnaround times this past year.

 

Interesting you mention other suppliers carry the Crafters Choice brand. I just noticed C&S carries the same lotion base I use for a lot less and the turnaround is a couple of days since we are both on the East coast. Even with the shipping added I still save money, so I put it in my recipe notes to order from C&S next time. 

 

Hope they realize that their lengthy order turnaround times are losing them customers. They are a big company and may not feel it right away, but other suppliers are catching up with variety and shorter order times and this will hurt them where it counts.

Crafters choice bases are mainly Stephenson.  I just bought the same exact inci ingredient list from both bulk apothecary and brambleberry, 

 

the culprit late shipment  for me was from MakeYourOwn.buzz (sister to SaveOnCitric). 10 days postmorder and no movement. Ordered from essential wholesale this morning and it is already on a truck to me. 🤷🏻‍♀️

[NightLight]

I have had to wait months and months for some supplies, it’s insane. So now I have to plan on lead time at least 4-6 month in getting what I need. Some of my products are going away because it’s just no possible to have reliable sources.

[TallTayl]

25 minutes ago, NightLight said:

I have had to wait months and months for some supplies, it’s insane. So now I have to plan on lead time at least 4-6 month in getting what I need. Some of my products are going away because it’s just no possible to have reliable sources.

Same here. It is a nice excuse though since those products usually are ones I don’t love making anyway 😂

 

seems like MYO is using covid as the excuse for the delay when it may really be about the buy out. Just an angry opinion. 

[CLVC]

I'm starting to be proactive in ordering. I used to wait until I was almost out in the past because for most suppliers, I could order on Sunday night and get by Wednesday - Thursday at the latest. These days though sigh. Two weeks is the minimum lead. Who knew my production engineering class will come in handy. 

[Forrest]

Just a thought, but I doubt working at a candle supply place pays well and across the nation people are having trouble finding workers. The problem may improve when the supplemental unemployment ends.

[CLVC]

TBH, some of them are actually doing ok but the rest (I’m looking at you WSP and everything related to it) are not even trying at all. 

[SuzyK]

It's been a crazy year with shipping taking forever or items just simply not being available for months.  Most of it is understandable due to all the Covid stuff and places like Bramble berry are now back to usual quick shipping.  I have some items that I ordered in April and were supposed to be here soon but just checked on them and now it says September! I need my containers!

The same company that purchased WSP just recently also bought Elements Bath and Body (my orders from them now show WSP on my bills) and they also bought make your own.  It doesn't help that they keep having large sales on random items.  I'm definitely having to rearrange some things because of the long wait!  I'm in a few groups on Facebook and WSP is definitely losing people.

 

[Candybee]

13 hours ago, Forrest said:

Just a thought, but I doubt working at a candle supply place pays well and across the nation people are having trouble finding workers. The problem may improve when the supplemental unemployment ends.

 

Yup! Many suppliers minimized staff last year down to a skeleton crew to get all the work done. Now with states lifting some of the mask requirements and more people vaccinated staff should be increasing again over the past few months. I have noticed a difference in turn around times for some of my best suppliers but WSP is still operating like they are in full pandemic lockdown. Doesn't make sense to me to keep using it as an excuse anymore.

[Candybee]

Update:

 

I just ordered some supplies from WSP on June 21st. My order is arriving tomorrow on the 30th. Just a heads up that their turnaround and shipping times have vastly improved recently.  For me that is a normal turnaround time with them pre-pandemic. So I am happy. Also, stockwise, they are getting supplies in at a much faster rate and everything I needed was in stock.

[Cross-stitch]

On 6/19/2021 at 9:40 AM, SuzyK said:

It's been a crazy year with shipping taking forever or items just simply not being available for months.  Most of it is understandable due to all the Covid stuff and places like Bramble berry are now back to usual quick shipping.  I have some items that I ordered in April and were supposed to be here soon but just checked on them and now it says September! I need my containers!

The same company that purchased WSP just recently also bought Elements Bath and Body (my orders from them now show WSP on my bills) and they also bought make your own.  It doesn't help that they keep having large sales on random items.  I'm definitely having to rearrange some things because of the long wait!  I'm in a few groups on Facebook and WSP is definitely losing people.

 

My goodness, September?  Is it something that can be bought somewhere else?  I think if it were me, I'd cancel my order!  I've recently been ordering from Natures Garden and have been pretty happy with them. 

[SuzyK]

8 hours ago, Cross-stitch said:

My goodness, September?  Is it something that can be bought somewhere else?  I think if it were me, I'd cancel my order!  I've recently been ordering from Natures Garden and have been pretty happy with them. 

I thought about cancelling and then they arrived!  This wasn't something I could have ordered from nature's garden. I do like ordering from them though!

[Cross-stitch]

Thank goodness you got them!!! 😊  Too bad it took so long though, always worse when you need something but don't have many choices as to how to get it.  I've been there...

[Cross-stitch]

I ordered a few things from Nature's Garden on Friday and told that my purchase would be shipped out first thing Monday morning.  This is Wednesday and their website still says my order is being processed with no further email or notification.  I'm wondering if they might be short on supplies...

[Cross-stitch]

Update.  I sent a message to NG and my order got shipped 9/3.  It FINALLY got to my door yesterday 9/10 through UPS.  Pretty sad to have ordered that small amount on 8/27 in order to wait until 9/10 to actually get it!!!  But, I suppose I'm actually happy to just have it in my hands though!!!!