Rant about suppliers

[EricofAZ]

So I like to buy from some of the suppliers listed here. Lonestar is good. Genwax is good. Peaks is good.

Some suppliers demand that we give them an email addy. So I use "nospam@candlesandsupplies.com" for example.

Any supplier that takes my credit card, 3 digit ID code, and verifies mailing address is fine.

The suppliers that require that I join and give them my email so they can spam the daylights out of me and destroy my domain name are nasty.

I have also noticed that some of our suppliers are incapable of hiring good html coders. For example, a website might work well with Micro$oft Exploder 8 but not with Exploder 6. Or not at all with Firefox.

HTML coding is easy. The coder can write a browser detection code into the index page that directs the user to a Firefox friendly site, or a Micro$oft friendly site, etc. Takes all of 10 seconds.

As for spam, when you own a domain, and your email is abused, the only fix is to abandon the domain. If you have been in this situation, you know that just closing an email addy only leaves that addy open to the joe job guys and spammers. You have to close the domain and there is no de-regestering. You simply have to abandon it and start a new domain and you can't use a forwarder or a redirect.

So I just want to buy supplies without giving domain information, meaning no email addy.

I filled out my cart on candles and supplies in firefox 4, and the shipping info was covered up by another box. I couldn't see the ground price vs. the priority price no matter what I did. I logged in with M$ and there was no cart (so that tells me they made a feeble attempt at separating browsers, but not a reasonable attempt at optimizing the site for the browser.)

For the suppliers that have secure credit card info and ask for credit card info, I'm glad to comply. For those same suppliers that offer a "join our club" option, I'll opt out.

For the suppliers that demand that I join, and refuse to sell to me if I don't give you my domain information.......................

..........

Screw off. I won't do business with you.

Please don't ask me how I REALLY feel. Too many hours at the computer trying to balance item cost vs. shipping cost to find out that the supplier I selected won't sell to me unless I give them my domain information. You don't need this for the credit card. Not at all. You only need this for spam purposes and I'm not even slightly interested in your "oh, we honor privacy policy" because it is too much of a risk.

Suppliers, please, offer your products without demanding domain info. Don't demand email addresses or the color of our cars or the type of toilet paper we use. Just stick with the basic CC info and then I will believe that you are secure. When you demand those other information items, I know you are simply building databases for sale for spam despite your promises that "Oh, """I""" am not the one that spams, """I""" just want your domain info for fun."

Knock it off.

I won't buy any more from suppliers that mandate that I join their club and accept emails and spam and newsletters, and, oh, that porn outfit in Sao Paulo Brazil that you sold my email to.

Do business like upright folks. I do. You can too.

[MOOdY_Girl]

Wow! That was well said

[SliverOfWax]

Much ado about nothing.

I don't get emails from suppliers unless I check that I want to be on their mailing list.

Destroy your domain name? How dramatic!

I use Firefox and have never, ever had a problem getting on a supplier website, nor have I ever had a problem ordering. I've also never had the shipping info covered up by boxes, or whatever.

I don't much like "joining" to place an order, but they usually "save" your orders so you can go back 10 years later and see what you ordered. Sites like WSP work extremely well that way. That's the point of joining.

I don't know why you're having the problems you're having, but I'm wondering if a lot of it is caused by the fact that you've embedded too much crap into your own code.

PS. Try a throwaway email addy. Get one at hushmail. Keep it active just for orders. Nobody said you have to use your legitimate business email addy. Good Grief! The problem seems to be you. Forget the fact that you want them to think you have a thriving business by tossing your domain name and business email addy around. It's not necessary.

Second PS: I've also never had a supplier sell my email addy. As for the porn, I don't get that, either. You've heard of cookies, haven't you? The sites you're visiting (non supplier) are the problem. Yep, the problem is you.

Edited March 30, 2011 by SliverOfWax

[Noodle]

With all due respect, I gotta agree with SliverOfWax. If you order online, you should give your email address. I also never get annoying emails from suppliers either. I check the box if I want notifications, sales updates, etc... If I receive too many emails, I just unsubscribe. It takes all of 10 seconds to do this. The only site that ever drove me crazy was FNWL, but I stopped ordering from them years ago.

Edited March 30, 2011 by Noodle

[Bella Rose]

I've also never had a problem with my suppliers..I'm usually happy to receive an email from them. This means they are probably having a sale, or have new items in stock, etc . Also, I have a couple email addresses. A personal email, which I have folders set up for: Personal, Online Bills, Candles, etc. I will never use my candle business email address for purchasing supplies, ever. Only to interact with customers.

I also like having my order history saved with my supplier incase I don't have my data near me when placing an order.

[Candybee]

I just use a personal email but I do use one because I want to get order confimations, shipped confirmations, etc. Never got any junk mail from a supplier.

I like the feature of joining as long as its not required. I like the ability to go into my account and track an order or look up an old order. I also like that when I sign on I don't have to always refill all my info all over again every time I order.

BTW-- C&S doesn't put the shipping charges on their cart. They figure it out once they filled the order and pack it. Then you get the full charge on your card. Don't care for their system as I would rather see the actual shipping charges before I complete my order. But I do know that they charge fair shipping so I am okay with that.

Eric-- you must be having a bad day!:awww:

Edited March 30, 2011 by Candybee

[ChrisR]

In all the years I've been doing this and all the suppliers I've used, I have never received any spam. The only emails I get from any supplier is a confirmation for my order and a newsletter or sale notification which I have to sign up for separately. If I don't sign up for their notifications, they don't send me anything. Don't know who you are saying spams you, but I know it isn't any of the 30+ suppliers I use and I've never had one that made me sign up before completing my order!!

I also like having a valid account with my suppliers so I can check past orders, it makes it real handy.

[Ring of Fire]

Weird.....I second, third and fourth all the others.

[Nanasnecessities]

I give my email address to suppliers. I want them to email me the link to my shipping information. I join the newsletters and have them automatically go into an email file, when I want to order from them, I look into that file and see what they have on sale, etc..

There used to be a popular saying...shit happens, well spam happens. I wouldn't blame it on a supplier. They do not have to "harvest and sell your email. There are all kinds of ways to get your email.

I have a bunch of websites and I do not drop one because of spam..... I block it, etc. Just like I do for my personal emails. Perhpas you can go onto your servers and check your email if you are sfraid to download it to your computer.

Maybe you should follow the advise from others here and have an email just for ordering. Maybe use yahoo for ordering. Hotmail, facebook, myspace they all have free easy access email that you do not have to download.

I don't understand that you would rather give your cc before your email. But then my Grandfather went crazy whenever anybody asked for his "tax number" He even kept the letter the government sent him when he got his ss number stating he never had to tell it to anybody except the federal government.

[wildwings]

I can understand your frustration but if I have a problem with your order it is so much easier to send an email rather than try to catch you on a phone line.

These days even when people are home they don't answer because they assume that you are some type of telemarketer and then I have to leave a message and wait for you to call back. If I can simply send a quick email first it is so much simpler.

Maybe we are not understanding correctly because if you are ordering online, using an email address is part of the process.

[jaxxcandles]

Just FYI for anyone interested...C&S has update their site and now shows the shipping charges upon checkout. Be sure to go to:

http://www.candlesandsupplies.net

For some reason it is .net and not .com now. HTH.

[Candybee]

Just FYI for anyone interested...C&S has update their site and now shows the shipping charges upon checkout. Be sure to go to:

http://www.candlesandsupplies.net

For some reason it is .net and not .com now. HTH.

Really?!! It's about time!

[EricofAZ]

www.annsartgallery no longer exists other than "for sale" because it cannot be deregistered.

I used my email, eric@ ann... for a supplier one time and the porn and stuff started showing up. I did some traceroute and there was a pattern.

Not long after, I got angry emails from people telling me they didn't want my porn. Addressed to admin at ann.. and info at ann.. etc.

It didn't take long to figure out that tons of emails were being sent out by a spammer in Sao Paulo and another in Beijing. One in Florida and one in Phoenix as well.

After raising a fuss, the spammers hit the site with over 10,000 emails a day being sent out on Outlook (which allows you to send with 2345, etc @ anydomain.) Spammers can send higher quantities and put any address in the return box they want. Thanks microsoft.

Eventually, we had to close the site because of the complaints.

Not dramatic, real life heartache. Ann was a nice lady who had great art that has been purchased by international buyers including the British minister of arts. She deserved better.

I won't go through that again. Too much of a risk. It hasn't happened to you so you think it is over dramatic. Wait until you go through it and have to close a domain. It will be even more dramatic when you lose your business.

Supplier demands domain info = I don't do business. That simple. Let me put in a fake email like "nospam @ supplier domain" and finish the purchase and I'm good with that. Make the final acceptance page fail on formatting and I'm not good with that.

Edited April 1, 2011 by EricofAZ

[EricofAZ]

Really?!! It's about time!

But it fails with Firefox on the last page where shipping charges show up.

[TraciS]

Sounds like a mess. Why not just get a free yahoo or aol address for your orders? I use yahoo for all my personal stuff, one for orders, one for msg boards. Never noticed spam...or farmgirls-lol.

www.annsartgallery no longer exists other than "for sale" because it cannot be deregistered.

I used my email, eric@ ann... for a supplier one time and the porn and stuff started showing up. I did some traceroute and there was a pattern.

Not long after, I got angry emails from people telling me they didn't want my porn. Addressed to admin at ann.. and info at ann.. etc.

It didn't take long to figure out that tons of emails were being sent out by a spammer in Sao Paulo and another in Beijing. One in Florida and one in Phoenix as well.

After raising a fuss, the spammers hit the site with over 10,000 emails a day being sent out on Outlook (which allows you to send with 2345, etc @ anydomain.) Spammers can send higher quantities and put any address in the return box they want. Thanks microsoft.

Eventually, we had to close the site because of the complaints.

Not dramatic, real life heartache. Ann was a nice lady who had great art that has been purchased by international buyers including the British minister of arts. She deserved better.

I won't go through that again. Too much of a risk. It hasn't happened to you so you think it is over dramatic. Wait until you go through it and have to close a domain. It will be even more dramatic when you lose your business.

Supplier demands domain info = I don't do business. That simple. Let me put in a fake email like "nospam @ supplier domain" and finish the purchase and I'm good with that. Make the final acceptance page fail on formatting and I'm not good with that.

[SliverOfWax]

But it fails with Firefox on the last page where shipping charges show up.

No, it doesn't. It works just fine. For me, 24 combo warmers shows $37 shipping. No problem, no hassle.

The two things I don't like about C&S new site is you have to find the damned place to click to enter. I hate that. Also, you have to completely fill out the information before knowing the shipping. I like the ones where you just plug in your zip code and, voila, the shipping charges are there.

Oh, well, I went ahead and set up my information with them just to see if it worked with Firefox, and it does. Now my information is saved. I do occasionally order combo warmers from them, so I'm good to go.

As I originally said, the problem seems to be you. You know if you stay off those porn sites and stop flashing your business information around, that won't happen. Unless you've got a hacker specifically angry with you.

Edited April 1, 2011 by SliverOfWax

[CareBear]

I've also never had a problem with my suppliers..I'm usually happy to receive an email from them. This means they are probably having a sale, or have new items in stock, etc . Also, I have a couple email addresses. A personal email, which I have folders set up for: Personal, Online Bills, Candles, etc. I will never use my candle business email address for purchasing supplies, ever. Only to interact with customers.

I also like having my order history saved with my supplier incase I don't have my data near me when placing an order.

I've never had trouble. Neither with their web sites nor with spam.

If no one could order from the sites, how would the companies still be in business? What is it that's different about your computer setup that makes it so?

Color me confused.

ETA: and you don't need to give them your domain info. Jimminy - just set up a yahoo email or something.

Edited April 1, 2011 by CareBear