Am I living in the Twilight Zone?

[Bernadette]

I hope I can stop shaking my head long enough to write this.....

My website is open for order placement, but not shipping, until September, as I'm on summer shutdown, miles and miles away from the shop. (Good move this year with the incredible heat everywhere...not good for shipping meltable candles). I've done this every year for 10 years and never had any problems. There's a box at the top of every page you click on, on the site that gives the dates of summer shutdown, and states that orders placed during this time will be shipped beginning mid September.

Well, Wednesday, I get this order for products that traditionally have been purchased for weddings, so I thought I'd better email the customer and ask when they needed them. Early yesterday I receive a reply that she needs them by 8/20, so I write her back and tell her I was sorry she did not see at the top of the page that I was shutdown, miles from the shop, and would immediately cancel her order and refund her credit card so she could purchase them elsewhere and get them in time. So I cancel the order, refund the credit card, and email her that I have done so, so she would know it was taken care of. Then this morning, I get a reply to my cancellation email that September shipment is fine. Huh? You said you needed them 8/20, I told you I would have to cancel your order because I couldn't fill it by then, and cancel it. And you reply to your cancellation notice with "okay, September deliver is fine"?

What am I missing here? A customer places an order that I can't fill when they say they need it. I cancel it immediately so they can place their order somewhere where they can get them in time, providing the best customer service I can while on vacation. Then I get an email saying September is fine..... :tiptoe:

Edited July 22, 2011 by Bernadette

[AnnaSS]

My first thought is if they were for a wedding, she was probably wanting them earlier than she would need them. That way she was sure to have what she needed by the actual wedding date.

[Candybee]

Who knows why she didn't see your notice on your website but after you emailed she decided to go ahead with the order and tell you shipping in September is okay. So what's the problem?!!!

[Stella1952]

Seems like an honest mistake on the part of the customer (who is probably nearing acute pre-wedding insanity).

So does mean you have to uncancel the cancellation or what? While it may have been an honest misunderstanding, I think I would get him/her on the phone to be SURE both of you are on the same page about the order...

[Kitn]

I would tend to think pre-wedding insanity too.

[TallTayl]

My first thought is if they were for a wedding, she was probably wanting them earlier than she would need them. That way she was sure to have what she needed by the actual wedding date.

This was my thought - get them early in case there's a problem.

[AlwaysWondering]

Have you ever planned a wedding?

[Bernadette]

Have you ever planned a wedding?

Well...I've learned one thing...I will never make a post when "on the road" again.:tiptoe: Not enough time to post properly.

To answer your question...yes, my own, my son's and my daughter's, plus I work with several dozen wedding planners across the country. I work with many brides and their mothers directly. I was a power seller on eBay for years until they went wacky, but my online business has grown and I do this full time every day of the year, including Christmas and New Year's(and yes, I do get orders on those days), for 15 years now.

I have been on an annual summer shutdown since 7/15 thru mid September. I and my husband are currently driving from the desert southwest to New England, making larger deliveries along the way. I have very little access to the internet (only when we stop at night basically, on an unsecured network).

When this person placed their order, all they did was order a quantity of items, and specify color. They did not say they were for a wedding. I happened to be online within 2 minutes of the order coming thru. That's when I sent the first email, and what I didn't say before, was I also called her immediately but upon getting her voice mail, told her the website was shutdown for shipping at the moment, left my number and asked her to call me.She never did. When I received her email the following morning, she said she needed them by 8/20. I emailed her right back that I would have to cancel the order then because I could not get them to her until after 9/11. In an effort to provide good customer service, I cancelled her order and refunded her card, then immediately emailed her back telling her that I had done so. She replied to the refund notice with 9/11 was fine. I did not see her reply until I had access later on in the day, so I emailed her she would have to place the order again if she wanted them still, and explained why I had cancelled her order so quickly. I was away with limited access, and wanted her to be able to get them by her original need date of 8/20 from somewhere else. She has never said they were for a wedding, shower, or any other occasion. Since she will not/has not called me back, and since in my 15 years of doing this, I've had made to order products cancelled after they are made with cancellation charges passed to me by the processor, I was trying to provide the best service I could without knowing her situation, and without charges to me for refunding her card(which I get once the payment clears).

I've never had this problem before. Most brides, their moms, wedding planners, even businesses, prefer to talk to someone about their order anyway. They are way to nervous about them. That's why I suggested to someone else that they put a phone number on their site. In the week before I shutdown, I got 2 orders alone - one from a catering company, another from a country club - that totalled over 1K. I prefer to talk to brides, their moms, and wedding planners especially because they are really stressed over that special day. I understand this.