diablo Posted June 2, 2006 Share Posted June 2, 2006 I have been dealing with Candles and Supplies for over 5 years now. And have never had any problems with them. As far as the restocking issue that is a normal charge for an item that is returned and has been opened and the packaging compromised. And as the new shipping policy its time. You probably don't do to much catalog shopping Many companies go by the amount that you buy. The more you buy the better the shipping price. UPS is raising their prices due to the gas prices and so is Fedex it won't be long before the US postal service goes up again too. I have purchased from many mail order companies and Candles and Supplies is by far one of the best. Thank you and have a nice:yay: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chicken Posted June 2, 2006 Share Posted June 2, 2006 Good for you! As you can see there are many others that have had bad experiences with C&S. I'm one of them. I't not just about the shipping charges - It's about their attitude towards their customers. If it wasn't for us candlemakers, they would have no business. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimC Posted June 2, 2006 Share Posted June 2, 2006 They sent an order to me in a USED box that originally contained plumbing supplies. What does that say about the cost of their containers? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crowded House Posted June 2, 2006 Share Posted June 2, 2006 Word of mouth is powerful advertising. It can make or break a business. I suggest we, who have ordered from them, email them and tell them how we think about their customer service. That would actually do them a favor. If no one offers them feedback on their service, but simply stops doing business with them and tells others to do likewise, that is the worst thing to happen to a business. Then they don't know why their business is failing. Sounds like they may have the news already. :tiptoe: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
islandgirl Posted June 2, 2006 Share Posted June 2, 2006 And as the new shipping policy its time. Time for what?? :rolleyes2 If you are a new candle maker and want to test out a few products or just needed a small order, ..why they heck would you want to pay a $10.00 shipping fee? Who's making $$ on that deal?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaybee23 Posted June 2, 2006 Share Posted June 2, 2006 :rolleyes2 I have been dealing with Candles and Supplies for over 5 years now. And have never had any problems with them. As far as the restocking issue that is a normal charge for an item that is returned and has been opened and the packaging compromised. And as the new shipping policy its time. You probably don't do to much catalog shopping Many companies go by the amount that you buy. The more you buy the better the shipping price. UPS is raising their prices due to the gas prices and so is Fedex it won't be long before the US postal service goes up again too. I have purchased from many mail order companies and Candles and Supplies is by far one of the best. Thank you and have a nice:yay:You obviously have not read this entire thread otherwise you would know it was not about a "restocking fee" or shipping charges, but a "repackaging fee" because the boxes were damaged in return transit. It would be ridiculous to file a claim with UPS over packaging materials, they would laugh you right off the face of the earth. Glad you have had a good experience with them, you need a supplier that you can trust. I know it won't be one I will be adding to my list.Sounds like they may have the news already. :tiptoe: - Looks that way.:rolleyes2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Margaritamama Posted June 2, 2006 Share Posted June 2, 2006 Sounds like they may have the news already. :tiptoe:My thoughts exactly.........:rolleyes2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laura9259 Posted June 2, 2006 Share Posted June 2, 2006 My thoughts exactly.........:rolleyes2I'm a little slow - how do they know? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CandleCouture Posted June 2, 2006 Share Posted June 2, 2006 Call me crazy but, someone (the only one) coming to their defense, being a person with only TWO posts under their belt, seems slightly fishy to me. Then someone who's ONLY post is in their defense also seems fishy.Laura, that is how we know that they know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Candles and Supplies.com Posted June 2, 2006 Share Posted June 2, 2006 Holy cow this is getting out of control! BEFORE ANY OF THESE POSTS EVEN TOOK PLACE - THE RETURN WAS HANDLED AND THE CUSTOMER WAS NOT CHARGED A RESTOCKING OR REPACKING FEE!!!In my defense here's the situation:- The melters that the customer ordered was out of stock so we contacted him to see if he would like us to backorder or substitute styles. He authorized us to ship the other style because he needed them quickly.- The customer contacted us when he received the melters because they were too small and asked to return them. We approved the return and informed him of our restocking fee policy. Every company has a restocking policy - we aren't special.(I don't know where the $15.00 per box charge came in for repacking - was this made up somewhere along the way?????? This is not something that would happen here.)- The customer returned the melters was issued a full credit WITHOUT a restocking fee and the full price of the melters was refunded to his card immediately.To address the shipping issue - yikes - I wish I could control the pricing or even predict what it will be. As I said in a previous email - actual shipping is calculated when your order is manifested and it may be less than $10.00. The amount listed on the site saves people from being shocked that their shipping amount may be higher than they expected.I encourage anyone with a problem that needs to be addressed to please call me directly at 800-819-6118 x201 or email cindy@candlesandsupplies.com instead of venting on the message boards. I'll agree that I have a lot to learn, but I can't fix it if I don't know what's broke! Constructive advice gets things accomplished!Cindy NovackCandles and Supplies.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gelcandles2000 Posted June 2, 2006 Share Posted June 2, 2006 Call me crazy but, someone (the only one) coming to their defense, being a person with only TWO posts under their belt, seems slightly fishy to me. Then someone who's ONLY post is in their defense also seems fishy.Laura, that is how we know that they know.I am not fishy as I am not like the rest of you on this site. I actually make candles and have an actual business to run and dont have time to sit on the computer all day and post things to message boards that are not true or correct until I know the facts and to see what the outcome is or how blown out of proportion everything gets on here.NOW I KNOW WHY I NEVER LOOK AT MESSAGE BOARDS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hewells Posted June 2, 2006 Share Posted June 2, 2006 Holy cow this is getting out of control! BEFORE ANY OF THESE POSTS EVEN TOOK PLACE - THE RETURN WAS HANDLED AND THE CUSTOMER WAS NOT CHARGED A RESTOCKING OR REPACKING FEE!!!In my defense here's the situation:- The melters that the customer ordered was out of stock so we contacted him to see if he would like us to backorder or substitute styles. He authorized us to ship the other style because he needed them quickly.- The customer contacted us when he received the melters because they were too small and asked to return them. We approved the return and informed him of our restocking fee policy. Every company has a restocking policy - we aren't special.(I don't know where the $15.00 per box charge came in for repacking - was this made up somewhere along the way?????? This is not something that would happen here.)- The customer returned the melters was issued a full credit WITHOUT a restocking fee and the full price of the melters was refunded to his card immediately.To address the shipping issue - yikes - I wish I could control the pricing or even predict what it will be. As I said in a previous email - actual shipping is calculated when your order is manifested and it may be less than $10.00. The amount listed on the site saves people from being shocked that their shipping amount may be higher than they expected.I encourage anyone with a problem that needs to be addressed to please call me directly at 800-819-6118 x201 or email cindy@candlesandsupplies.com instead of venting on the message boards. I'll agree that I have a lot to learn, but I can't fix it if I don't know what's broke! Constructive advice gets things accomplished!Cindy NovackCandles and Supplies.comI am glad to see that this supplier has come to her companies defense without a huge arguement, but I do believe that this is not the first complaint thread about this company. The company had been told about their practices before.I do not know Top personally, but I see he has no reason to make up anything...true he did not post the email...just its contents, but I am sure that the company was trying to salvage something from this return.I know shipping charges are a problem, but when I can get my supplies from another company that is many states away and it is cheaper then one that is close to me there is a problem. Don't these suppliers realized that we also ship product too and know what is up with shipping? Hopefully now that she is a member she will use the search feature and see what her customers were trying to tell her, that she neglected to understand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CandleCouture Posted June 2, 2006 Share Posted June 2, 2006 - The customer contacted us when he received the melters because they were too small and asked to return them. We approved the return and informed him of our restocking fee policy. Every company has a restocking policy - we aren't special.That's not quite accurate. Not every company has a restocking fee, in fact, most don't, to be honest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Margaritamama Posted June 2, 2006 Share Posted June 2, 2006 I'm going to wait and see what Top has to say when he responds..... either way, my issue was not only with the shipping, but with the attitude of the company. This reply seems to be in that same vein.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
topofmurrayhill Posted June 2, 2006 Author Share Posted June 2, 2006 There's nothing more I can add to clarify things. I haven't tried to start an argument over why I'm returning the melters or over any round trip shippng charges. I've been prepared to eat those and take responsibility for making a bad decision when it came to purchasing the melters.Prior to the return I was informed that there would be a restocking charge if the melters were used in any way or not returned in original condition. I also reviewed the company policy and clearly there would not be any extra charges as long as those conditions were met. All I expected back was the purchase price of the melters in exchange for returning them in good order, nothing more. It was confirmed that they did arrive in good order.The rest you can see in the e-mail excerpts I posted. There was not much more content in the e-mails and nothing that would alter the picture.All orders are shipped in brown corrugated outer shipping cartons. It's not the packaging of the melter -- it's just a shipping carton. The company policy doesn't say your order's shipping carton has to survive the round trip intact in order to avoid a 15% fee. Gosh, if I ordered the melters that cost twice as much, the value of the boxes would have skyrocketed to $150, LOL! If they wanted to charge me $5 for the shipping cartons I would have thought it cheesy but wouldn't have argued.So nice of you to come by but it doesn't change the facts. It's widely known you have customer service problems. If you care and want to be able to hold your head up high around here, you have some work to do with your staff and operations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
candlesprite7 Posted June 2, 2006 Share Posted June 2, 2006 I say stick with the Nesco Roasters.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ashlie K Posted June 2, 2006 Share Posted June 2, 2006 Ok so who called C&S? LOLI order my wax from them since they are the closest to me. I have had my order arrive the following day after placing the order as I live in NJ and they are in PA. Yes, I do admit that not knowing the shipping before hand is a PITA but its something out of my control, so I deal with it.I have not encountered any problems with C&S (yet), and I can only go by what I see firsthand.Now to gelperson2000Excuse me, I think your comment was a little rude. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
topofmurrayhill Posted June 2, 2006 Author Share Posted June 2, 2006 I'm making 2 additional posts to wrap this up.First I'm going to post the full communication between C&S and myself on this matter, in order to document what happened without any doubt or ambiguity.Then I'm going to post the message I received from Cindy (the owner). If you compare, I don't think her explanation is consistent with what actually happened -- but at least the situation is resolved.I'm glad to avoid having to go through the credit card company, but I'm still convinced that C&S is dysfunctional. Our public sharing of perceptions and experiences has made a VALID point and will hopefully motivate some change. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
topofmurrayhill Posted June 2, 2006 Author Share Posted June 2, 2006 Here is the full text of the e-mail exchange. I've edited the thread to remove my identifying information and invert the order of the messages so you can read from top to bottom chronologically.From: Krystal HartSent: Wednesday, May 31, 2006 3:32 PMTo: topofmurrayhillSubject: RE: MeltersWe have checked in the melters and we are in the process of crediting your account back for the return.There was a 15% repacking fee applied to the return as the melters were in good condition but the boxes themselves could not be salvaged as they had holes in them and the seam on the one box was broken out.I would suggest you contact UPS regarding the damage to the shipment to us and see if they will refund you any money on this as it was damaged in transit by them.KrystalOffice/Accounting ManagerCandles and Supplies.com-------------------------From: topofmurrayhillSent: Wednesday, May 31, 2006 5:07 PMTo: Krystal HartSubject: RE: MeltersThere was no special manufacturer packaging for these items. The melters were shipped in ordinary cartons with big wads of brown paper. The boxes were received in poor condition and braced with miles of shipping tape, hence I suspect they were not fresh when they left your facility. I will graciously forbear from charging you a repacking fee for substituting my own carton for one of the returns.You show considerable temerity to charge 15% to move the melters and paper wads into fresh boxes. I don't accept your conditions. I expect a full refund of the purchase price of the melters. Otherwise I'm prepared to take measures to recover my funds and I will be tenacious about it.-------------------------From: Krystal HartSent: Thursday, June 01, 2006 9:29 AMTo: topofmurrayhillSubject: RE: MeltersThe melters left our facility in brand new boxes as we even rebox them from what we receive from the manufacturer since they use really thin boxes and they break open by the time they get to us.We rebox and repack all melters that are shipped out of our facility. So if the cartons arrived damaged to you that would have been the way that UPS handled them until they arrived to you. You should have signed for them damaged so the cost of the shipping for you would have been paid. But since you did not that is why you were responsible for the shipping on these melters.As far as the repacking fee that is because it was not returned to us in original condition that it left our facility. The reason for the 15% fee that is charged to “move the melters and the paper wads” into fresh boxes is because we have to pay for the boxes that they are going to be shipped out in to other customers.I will credit your card back today for the return of the melters. That will post to your account within 48 hours.KrystalOffice/Accounting ManagerCandles and Supplies.com-------------------------From: topofmurrayhillSent: Thursday, June 01, 2006 10:52 AMTo: Krystal HartSubject: RE: MeltersHow much do new boxes cost?-------------------------From: Krystal HartSent: Thursday, June 01, 2006 10:53 AMTo: topofmurrayhillSubject: RE: MeltersThe size and thickness for the melters are $15.00 each. That is why we use them sparingly.KrystalOffice/Accounting ManagerCandles and Supplies.com-------------------------From: topofmurrayhillSent: Thursday, June 01, 2006 11:03 AMTo: Krystal HartSubject: RE: Melters275 lb. test boxes of that size from Uline cost approximately $2 each.The product was returned in original condition. Since when did your outer shipping carton become part of the product?-------------------------Subject: RE: MeltersFrom: Krystal HartTo: topofmurrayhillWell beings we do not purchase our boxes from them I guess now that you have informed me they are cheaper we will look into this.The packaging has always been part of the shipping of the products we send out.The credit has been posted to your account so the matter is complete on my end.KrystalOffice/Accounting ManagerCandles and Supplies.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
topofmurrayhill Posted June 2, 2006 Author Share Posted June 2, 2006 From: Cindy NovackI do apologize for the miscommunications with Krystal and I understand where you are coming from. I had a long talk with Krystal about the situation and she somehow thought there was something different going on than you just returning the melters. A simple situation got very complicated and I'm sorry that she did not handle the situation in a matter that was satisfactory to you. She had somehow thought that you used the melters and then wanted to return them and that's where the 15% came into play. You should see the full refund post to your card and we did not charge you a restocking fee.Believe it or not we have people who return melters to us that they never purchased from us or ones that they've used for 2 years etc. so unfortunately it obviously gave us a bad attitude with the way we handled your situation. I am truly sorry for that and the entire staff is instructed to go home, have a glass of wine and return on Monday with a better attitude! LOLThe message board somehow escalated into people thinking that we were charging $15.00 per box for everything that UPS damages and other stuff that wasn't true also and I just wanted to get it resolved as quickly as possible. I'm trying to resolve all of the problems and improve in the future too.Thanks again and have a great weekend!CindyCandles and Supplies.com, Inc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcroome2005 Posted June 2, 2006 Share Posted June 2, 2006 Dang.. I just read all 7 pages. This is nuts. Sorry Top that you had to deal with these idiots.They mentioned to you in an email that you didnt return the box in the condition that it left their store in right? Well tell them that the box was damaged when you got it and that THEY can call UPS for a refund. What @sses. That is a complete joke. I have heard about restocking fees but never box fees. Can you imagine if we did this to our customers? We would be out of business by now. This is crazy!Christina Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hewells Posted June 3, 2006 Share Posted June 3, 2006 Top,I am glad that this is resolved for you, and this does show that with the many of us that have refused to use their company did in fact make a difference.It may not change things for the future, but at least it brought perspective into the eyes of the owner that word of mouth does prevail. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
topofmurrayhill Posted June 3, 2006 Author Share Posted June 3, 2006 Top,I am glad that this is resolved for you, and this does show that with the many of us that have refused to use their company did in fact make a difference.It may not change things for the future, but at least it brought perspective into the eyes of the owner that word of mouth does prevail.I detect a touch of cynicism in your post regarding whether this will make any difference and I must admit I share it. Much as I'm glad to be rid of the headache, I get annoyed reading Cindy's e-mail.There was never anything said about thinking the melters had been used. I also don't give a rat's butt about customers who've tried to scam them. They knew I'd received the melters a week before and contacted them immediately to inquire about returning them. Why even bring that up except as a lame excuse? And as far as customers contacting them asking if they charge $15 for a box, the answer is no. No telling what they'll charge. In my case it was $37.50 per box.Some people have the stuff when it comes to managing a business professionally and some don't. Cindy has been at it long enough to learn and iron out the kinks and her operation still blows.I had a very successful business during the dot-com boom that I built up from nothing to millions of dollars in revenue. I knew how to hire employees that treated customers professionally, but if I had made a mistake and hired someone who couldn't do that, they would be fired. And that's not because I didn't support my employees. I respected the people who worked for me as the professionals that they were. We occasionally had customers inquire about our services and abuse the person who spoke with them. I called those people and told them we didn't need their business.It's all a matter of principle. That's what I hang my hat on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Dallas_Texas_Dean Posted June 3, 2006 Share Posted June 3, 2006 The products all arrived in wonderful condition, all packed really nice and they have replaced any items for me that have been damaged in anyway with no questions asked..For someone so quick to enter the message board to defend AND criticize, I would suggest that you read what you write before you post it. This doesn't pass the giggle test. If they "ALL arrived in wonderful condition....all packaged really nice" you wouldn't have had anything replaced from damage......with no questions asked!:rolleyes2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baileyrocco Posted June 3, 2006 Share Posted June 3, 2006 I wanted to let you all know that I have bought from candles and supplies many times and have never received supplies in boxes in that condition. I think that maybe you should look alittle further into the situation and see what happened with ups. I think that you all think every company is perfect and has no flaws. Just because one thing happens to another doesn't mean that they are a bad comapny to purchase from. I have got nothing less but great service from them. Please keep in mind that I have also heard that ups rates are going up so please try to remember that we all have to pay higher prices in gas so what makes you think that all other companies aren't going to raise the rates on the shipping cost.I'm trying to just understand why people like to put other people down for sometimes such simple things when they are also not perfect Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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