Alajane Posted May 26, 2010 Share Posted May 26, 2010 I'm getting worried about Alabaster Candle Supply in Alabama. It seems that every time I need to order wax or jars, they're out of stock and it takes quite a while to get restocked. Last fall, they were out of stock of some fragrances for over 3 weeks. I ended up finding some of the FOs I needed from other suppliers, but they were more expensive for what seemed to be the same FO, and of course shipping was more since I'm a few hours' drive from Alabaster.Does anybody have any "inside info" about what's going on with them? It may be a problem that other suppliers are having also--I wouldn't know since I try to get all my wax and jars from them to avoid having to pay shipping. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faerywren Posted May 26, 2010 Share Posted May 26, 2010 I live in Alabama, too. And still order from others besides Alabaster. Sometimes I'd rather have something shipped and it's the same shipping from Peaks as it is from Alabaster! And Peaks always has what I need/want. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alajane Posted May 26, 2010 Author Share Posted May 26, 2010 Faerywren, good to find out you're a fellow Alabamian. I, too, order fragrance and other items from lots of suppliers, but I try to get all my wax and jars from Alabaster--I wait until my stock is low and get a truckload--it usually saves me about $500 in shipping, so it's well worth taking a day trip to stock up for a few months. My business is small enough that I only have to get truckloads a few times a year. Candle Science's shipping price is the best I've found for wax, but shipping on jars is really bad everywhere I've checked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faerywren Posted May 26, 2010 Share Posted May 26, 2010 Faerywren, good to find out you're a fellow Alabamian. I, too, order fragrance and other items from lots of suppliers, but I try to get all my wax and jars from Alabaster--I wait until my stock is low and get a truckload--it usually saves me about $500 in shipping, so it's well worth taking a day trip to stock up for a few months. My business is small enough that I only have to get truckloads a few times a year. Candle Science's shipping price is the best I've found for wax, but shipping on jars is really bad everywhere I've checked.That's great to know! I just started with candles/tarts so haven't ordered much wax or jars yet. I will definately make the drive when and if I get more into that hobby. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NancyT Posted May 27, 2010 Share Posted May 27, 2010 I don't normally order from Alabaster but I was at the TN Soap and Candle Social a couple of weeks ago and Carol was there to do a lotion demo. We were all disappointed that she didn't bring anything to vendor. Up until the week of the social, we were under the impression that she would be bringing at least oils to sell. They must not need our business I guess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alajane Posted May 27, 2010 Author Share Posted May 27, 2010 I went to that meeting 2 years ago and Todd and Mike were both there--they did bring some products to sell and all their fragrance samples to sniff. They did a fantastic demonstration, too!I've had conflicts during that weekend the last 2 years but plan to go again when I get the chance--it was lots of fun! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Birdie Posted May 31, 2010 Share Posted May 31, 2010 (edited) Jane, I don't know what's going on with them. As Nancy said we were not told they wouldn't be vending until a week before the meet! That, in itself, is not good business. I do know that Mike is no longer with them. They are suppose to be at the Prattville ALA meeting in June so I am curious to see what happens there.Hope to see you in TN again! (May 14, 2011, is the date of our next meet!) Edited May 31, 2010 by Birdie cause I can't spell :o( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alajane Posted June 1, 2010 Author Share Posted June 1, 2010 Oh, I'm sorry to hear Mike isn't with them any more--he was very helpful every time I talked with him and I'll really miss him. He was more the face of Alabaster to me than anybody else, because he always loaded my truck and often returned my calls when I had a question about a product.I don't go to the Prattville meeting since I don't make "real" soap, just M&P, and I know most of it would be over my head! But I'd love to hear if you find out any more info about Alabaster. My DH had to drive to Tennessee this morning to get me some jars since Alabaster was out of them and we found a guy in Tennessee who sells jelly jars--of course, that doesn't help with any of the other products. I love getting my jars and wax both within driving distance but can't find any other wax suppliers close enough to drive. Surprisingly, shipping cost for wax isn't quite as prohibitive as for jars! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Birdie Posted June 2, 2010 Share Posted June 2, 2010 Jane, do you need more jars? I could bring them and meet you somewhere along the way when I go? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alajane Posted June 2, 2010 Author Share Posted June 2, 2010 Thanks, Birdie, for the nice offer--DH picked up a truckload for me yesterday, so I'm set for a while! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lightkeeper Posted August 22, 2010 Share Posted August 22, 2010 Yes, What is up with them? (RANT!) I was going to post a new thread but came across this one. I do not know how supplier's can stay in business when they have such terrible Customer Service. I ordered some oil 3 weeks ago, was told it would be shipped out the next day. (My CC was never charged though) Well, 3 weeks later, still no oil - I see that it is out of stock. OK I understand that, but how about returning one of my 5 or so messages that I left to find out the stauts? Or maybe respond to my emails that I also sent? This is not the 1st time this has happened to me. Had the same problem with jars that I was waiting and waiting for last winter.I keep going to them because the price is better, but I am beginning to think that saving on the price isn't worth the headache & bad customer service.I just don't get it, I have been in Customer Service for years, and could not imagine treating customers this way and still expecting to stay in business.Anyone else have any recent dealings with them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pleasureridgecandles Posted August 23, 2010 Share Posted August 23, 2010 I too have had problems with them in the past. They used to have a warehouse here in KY and when I ordered from there I never had a single problem and I could pick up my order.... and there was ONE guy that ran this place!! They closed that one and I had problems almost everytime I ordered from AL. Each and everytime I ordered Hawaiian Tropics I was sent Hawaiian Paradise... and had to call to have them send the right one. There were times I was shorted on wicks, tart trays, warning labels (all in the same order). However when I would call they had no problem to fix it and send me what I was shorted or that they gave me the wrong bottle of. But one of the last times I ordered from them they sent me the wrong lids and some of my jars were broken. We called and they said they would send us the correct lids which we never got and was told as far as the jars go that X amt of broken jars out of X amt was not bad.... WHAT??? We were asked what would it take to make it right for us and we said replace the broken jars and send us the right lids and we'll send back the wrong ones at your cost of course.... No response. So after seeing some compliants on another board the owner contacted us and apologized and offered us a 10% discount on our next order. I have ordered a few times since then but not too much since they have left a very bad taste in my mouth and alot of the things I have gone to order have been out of stock... aroma beads (which were out of stock for over a year and now are no longer on their site) tart trays etc. So I have had to go elsewhere to get what I need. I have not ordered anymore scent from them as the last time when we had the other problems I thought the scents were watered down. I'm not saying they did this, but, the bottles of scent I got (which were one's I had used many times from them) smelled weak or not at all like my previous bottles did and I have not even used them. I did mention this to the owner that there were huge differences in some of the FO's and that he may want to look into it to make sure someone wasn't cutting them to make orders (if they were low on that scent) or if they were trying to get orders out more quickly... and I never got a response.... So?? I actually compared the bottle of Love Spell to a previous bottle that I had gotten from the KY warehouse and just looking at them you could tell a difference. The one from AL looked like water and the KY one actually had a tint to the FO and the KY one was so much stronger OOB. And as for the broken jars I know that things can get broken in transit but when you send me 300+ jars and you put them all in a big box with no packing that is your fault not mine. I was hoping that things were changing with them but it appears that it isn't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alajane Posted August 23, 2010 Author Share Posted August 23, 2010 I'm getting very concerned about them--for years they were a very reliable supplier but now I'm to the point of looking elsewhere for as much as possible. I tried for months to get wax which kept being out of stock, and another person in my area (who orders a LOT more than I do--he orders 25 lbs of FO at a time and pallets of wax) told me this weekend that he's going to have to start looking elsewhere also. He's been waiting for wax for quite a while and can't get it from Alabaster.I would really hate for them to go out of business, but if they don't improve their customer service, all their customers will look elsewhere and that may happen! I'm a person who practices dumb loyalty and will hang on to a supplier for longer than I should, but I'm nearly there!Jane Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
islandgirl Posted August 23, 2010 Share Posted August 23, 2010 Post your concerns on http://thescentreview.com/ forums too. It is a supplier owned board run by Alabaster. Maybe if you post your problems there, they may answer it quickly, or delete the post.. LOL But it's worth a try to get an answer to your questions and concerns since they are not answering emails or getting back to you about your orders. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pleasureridgecandles Posted August 24, 2010 Share Posted August 24, 2010 ok I went to Alabaster today as I am running low on wicks and caution labels and they are about the only place that carries both the wicks I use and the size caution labels I prefer and guess what... they are sold out of both. So now I have been looking for another supplier that would have both and so far not finding any luck. BCN carries the wicks but they do not have the 1.5" inch labels. BCN is where I have been getting the wicks from for some time now. As for my previous post I forgot to mention that we did let Alabaster know that since we had such problems with them (and while we seemed to be ignored at the time) that they lost out on an order from us which was over 2000.00. Now they can make that 2 orders over 2000.00 that they lost. That may seem like peanuts to them but when you start to loose business like that by mulitple people it's gonna start to hurt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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