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How long do you wait before closing a party and placing the order? Have been very frustrated lately with my demonstrator. My sister held a party on Sept. 11th and here we are 2-1/2 weeks later and our demo hasn't closed the party. Hasn't returned her phone calls either. Same thing happened the party before. After 3-1/2 weeks we started calling and sending emails asking her to please close the party and place our orders. Is it unreasonable to expect a quicker turnaround? I guess I'm just looking for reassurance here because even though she is a friend of a "stamping buddy" I am seriously considering dropping her and working with a new demonstrator in my area. Am I being unreasonable?
TIA, Sherry
Creative Director - My Favorite Things Dirty Dozen Alumni
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I try to close my shows within 3 days and then place the order immediately. My customers like instant gratification... so I don't like to keep them waiting. Maybe she has had a family emergency??? I hope you can get your party closed soon!
I am a new demo, but I plan to close them within 3 days unless the hostess has asked for something different. I like to get my stuff right away, I would imagine others feel the same way!
That is unreasonable...it sounds to me that she is using your party and sales for her time schedule and that is not right!!! My advice is get a demo who cares about making you happy! You will be amazed at the difference in the care you recieve if you work with a demo who wants to keep you happy!!! Good Luck!
Sneff
Are you sure she hasn't closed your workshop yet? You mentioned that she hasn't returned calls (which isn't helpful), but how do you know she hasn't closed the workshop & it just hasn't arrived?
I don't know all the details of your situation, but just so you know (& I'm just trying to give her the benefit of the doubt here) Stampin' Up! is in the process of moving to a new distribution facility & so orders are taking longer than normal to ship & be delivered.
Witty5,
I know she hasn't closed the workshop for two reasons:
She said she'd call 3 days later in case there were any add-ons, and she needs an address to ship to because my sister lives in an apartment and wants the order delivered to my mother's house. Our demo knows that and didn't get the name and address yet.
I know we've been trying to give her the benefit of the doubt all along. It's been hard dealing with this because she is such a nice person and we enjoy having our SU parties with her. It's just that once the party is over, you can't get a hold of her. Keep in mind that everyones' checks have been cashed, credit cards charged within a week. Each time you hope it will get better, but it doesn't.
Sneff, If you feel that this is needing to be addressed through SU! you should call them and let them know about this. If she has already cashed your checks and charged credit cards, the order should be placed and on its way!!!! I would call your demo and let her know BEFORE you do but if you don't hear back from her I would let SU! know what is going on. She may just not realize that this is poor business practice and may just need someone to give her a heads up about it all!
I've actually had this happen to me with a CTMH demo. I placed an order, and a month and a half later she STILL had not closed the order!!! Granted it was only about $30-50 but it still sucked. I contacted her many times and she had cashed my check 3 days after I placed the order.
What I would do is if you don't get a response or your stuff within the next couple of days is call Stampin' Up with the demo's name and if you have it, her demo #. It should be written on the top of your order form. They may be able to do something about it.
CTMH actually had to resend my stuff to me when I called to complain.
I'm the demo and my hostess took almost 2 weeks to close her show. She was waiting for a friend to get back into town so she could order. Her friend did end up ordering but I felt so bad for her other guests. They all knew ahead of time she was going to wait until this friend got into town. Which I guess they knew but still I felt bad. I had already put their checks into my checking account and was just waiting for this one order. Luckily it's all closed out now.
I told her I close the shows within 3 days but gave her an exception. I talked with Jen my upline and she suggested I send a little card thanking them for being so patient. I haven't done it yet but plan to do so this week!
Well, it does sound like you need to take the next step with SU!
I remember several years ago I had another demonstrator friend who had this problem with her downline. She was reported by unhappy customers & ended up losing her demonstratorship. SU! made every effort to compensate the frustrated customers. If I remember correctly the demo never submitted a workshop, but had deposited the money. SU! ended up shipping everything out to the customers for free. I don't know what the after effects were as far as if SU! some how got reimbursed from this demonstrator, but they did make sure that the customers were taken care of.
The # for SU! is 1.800.782.6787 You should get to Demo Support but just tell them who you are and why you are calling them and they should be able to direct your call. They are all very sweet and helpful there!
Having to wait 3-1/2 weeks is absolutely unacceptable. The workshop guests should be told at the workshop *exactly* when it is going to close, and both the hostess & demonstrator should stick to that date. Once checks are cashed & credit cards charged, the order should be placed within 3-5 days MAX. That gives enough time for the checks to clear and for the "3 day right to cancel" window to pass. After that, I place the order and send the hostess an email with the UPS tracking number so she knows exactly when to expect it. I agree with the other folks who told you to report this demo to Stampin' Up! She's tarnishing the company's reputation by giving you really lousy customer service...shame on her!!!
If she has charged the credit cards already, then the order should have been placed. Per Visa/MC rules - a credit card can't be billed until the item is shipped.
She should be careful because there are ways for the cardholder to charge the item back to her AND still KEEP the merchandise. Meaning - the customer would get a "free" order - the credit card company would issue them a credit and this demo would need to fork over the money and fees to the credit card company and her processor. (I used to manage this dept. for a credit card processor.) Not to mention - risk losing the ability to accept Visa/MC.
__________________ Karen Madison (6/7/00) & Mackenzie (8/22/04) & Trenton Joshua (3/30/06) My Blog WatercoloredDreams
Sounds like she might be trying to add on other orders and reap benefits for herself...a common trick. If she normally has the shipment sent to her house you can bet that is what is going on (I'm not saying that every demo who has the shipment sent to her house does this...I'm saying that the two things combine to make it highly probable).
I'd call her and tell her (even leave a message if that's what it takes) that you need to hear back from her within 2 days (or whatever) or you will be calling SU. And I would definitely find a new demo. You can even tell her why. It's one thing if this were the first time, but it isn't.
There is a demo in my area that has that kind of reputation...but the customers don't know the difference until they show up at another demo's workshops. Then they aren't very happy. Pity.
Best wishes!
__________________ Sharon Rogers
My Blog: www.stampwithsharonrogers.com Attitudes are contagious. Is yours worth catching?
I think I will call her myself tomorrow and leave a message that my sister has left her three messages already and that she needs to return her calls to close the party NOW.
I hate to complain to SU, because she is a good friend of my coworker and I know it will make hard feelings. I will just quietly take my business elsewhere (along with several other stampin buddies and sister).
Sherry
As a new SU demonstrator, I am shocked and truly hate what you are going through. I was a customer before I became a demo(had to fund the habit and use that wonderful discount!!!!) and as a customer I never dealt with anything like this. I do know that I placed an order several weeks ago and payed for expedited shipping, and I did receive half of it within two days but the rest is still trickling in. Apparantly there were a lot of unforeseen issues during the move to the new distribution center. But, I have made sure to notify my customers of this and appologize for the delay. (Glad I bought the Business Memos set-the "thanks for your patience" is getting plenty of ink these days) You should DEFINATELY contact Stampin' Up! first thing in the morning. Hopefully her demo number will be on your copy of the order. It should be there anyway. I have had no problems when contacting SU for any of my questions or needs and I am sure that they are just as wonderful and helpful to customers as they are to demos. Afterall, without customers there would be no need for us demos anyway. Please do not let this deter you from sticking with Stampin' Up! Call 1-800-STAMPUP in the morning and let us hear back when this matter is resolved!
__________________ In this life you will find that over the course of precious time, when everything is said and done all we have left are memories!
I usually close my workshops w/i a week. Usually folks wait for their paydays... I dont think I've ever held a workshop open longer than 5 days. I know how anxious I am to get stuff and just assume that my hostess and her guests are the same way. I'd call SU and ask for another demo in your area. Explain that they aren't returning your calls and the time that it is taking. It seems as if it's a pattern. Good luck and keep us posted.
Blessings
Kristy
everytime I host a party usually on Saturday's my demo usually closes it in Monday!!! I love to get my stuff as quickly as possible so she gets it all in and I get my stuff usually within a week!! I would go nuts if had to wait more than 1 1/2 weeks for my goodies!
SU always takes care of their customers and I had a similar problem. Before I was a demo and friend and I both booked parties off this one girl. Well my friend went first and she had a hard time getting in touch with the demo. She did not get her invitations until 3 days before her show. Thankfully my friend had been telling everyone that she was going to have this party so they could put it on their schedules. Well now it was my turn and 2 days before the party she still had not contacted me or given me anything and so I e-mailed her. For a day and a half no response. She finally e-mailed me and said she thought she had given me my stuff at the other girls show. I knew she was lying to me and then I told her that she was not going to run her business better than that she needed to drop out. She then informed me that her husband had left her and she was upset. I understand family problems but this track record of her's was not any good and I just could not bring myself to believe her. My advice is do what I did nad find a new demo. When I found mine my friend signed up and then I signed up under my friend.
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