Host Upset About Out of Town Shipping!

pamperedcheermom · Oct 28, 2008

Not sure if this is the right thread but it will work............

I had a host whose show was scheduled for early Oct. It had been on the books for about 2 months. Two days before the show she cancelled saying no one could come. I offered the catalog show idea and she was fine with that because she already had some outside orders. The show ended up at around $300. One guest was from out of town and she placed an order through my website. I went into PP3 and pulled the order through and everything was fine.
The host received the order on Saturday and called me last night and said the order for her out of town guest came to her instead of going directly to the guest. I told her to let me check the website and I saw that the guest only paid $4.25 and the shipping instructions said "Ship to Host". I've never ordered from myself online so can someone tell me if the guests are given the option of where to send their orders? I would think they have that choice when they are out of town.
I told the host she only paid for regular shipping and it would go directly to her and she was NOT happy and said she didn't think she should have to pay the shipping to send it to the guest. She said the guest had already paid the shipping and that she didn't think that SHE should pay anymore. I explained to her that the guest was given a choice and she chose to have it sent to the host. (Is that right, was she given the choice?) The extra shipping would have been around $6 - $7.
I also told her she could send it Priority Mail for around $4.80. The order was three small things so they aren't heavy.

Should I offer to pay the shipping and send them to the guest or let the host do it. She cancelled her show two days before it was scheduled and she asked me for 5 additional catalogs (besides what was in the host packet) and I won't get those back. With all the catalogs she requested I thought the show was going to be around $500 from what she was saying. What would some of you do in this situation? I didn't offer to pay the shipping and take care of sending it to the guest but I know tha's what she was expecting and wanting me to do.

chefsteph07 · Oct 28, 2008

I had this same thing happen in August..I had a host whose friend ordered from out of state and she paid the $4.25, ship to host. I didn't really think anything about it because I thought maybe they were going to see each other soon, etc, or the host was going to take care of shipping it to her or something....soon after the host received her products, she sent me an email stating the same thing, her friends order came to her, etc, but she lives in NY and now she has to screw around w/ shipping it to her. I checked the website to make sure that her friend did put "ship to host" and I copied it and sent it to her via email. I DID offer to reimburse my host the money for shipping it to her friend. I told her I should have asked, since I saw it was an out of town order, and so I told her that as soon as she shipped it, provide me w/ the reciept from the post office and I'd reimburse it to her for her trouble.

She actually came to a show of mine in Sept, ordered a TON of cookware and I just took the money off the payment for her order AND she is doing a catalog show for Nov. SOOO...my advice would be to please the host, offer to reimubrse the postage, but ONLY once you get a receipt (I just told the host I needed it for my records). And in the future, I am checking w/ all my hosts who have out of town guests order that the shipping is correct.

And yes, the guest does have a box to check if it is direct ship or ship to host.

pamperedcheermom · Oct 28, 2008

THANK YOU! I couldn't decide what to do and I hate for the host to think I'm a horrible person for not offering to pay the shipping. But I've had host who will take advantage of me if let them and I get tired of that after a while. Honestly I didn't even look over the order when I pulled it through to PP3. I had to review it on my website before I could transfer it but I didn't check the shipping. I'm like you, I assumed maybe they were seeing each other soon or something. The host had sent me emails for some out of town family and friends and this was the only out of town order that was placed. I'm glad there weren't anymore or she would REALLY be upset if they were all sent to her.

I could tell she was upset last night when we talked and I emailed her this morning to tell her that I checked the website to see how the guest did the shipping. I told her I was sorry for the inconvenience, etc. but she never responded. I'll email her and offer to pay for the shipping. After this I won't do it again. I'll make sure the out of town people know to have it sent directly to them and that it will cost more to do that. Otherwise I'll go broke paying the shipping for out of town people all the time.

NooraK · Oct 28, 2008

To be quite honest, my first reaction was, the host should settle it between herself and the guest. I'm assuming she knows the person who placed the order, as it's from her show.

Then again, that's just my FIRST reaction.

Nanisu · Oct 28, 2008

Yeah, me too. It's pretty clear on the website when they order about the shipping. She and the guest should work this out.

BethCooks4U · Oct 28, 2008

For future reference: I always check with the host on outside orders that are out of town. I ask if they will see each other soon. Most of the time they will be getting together so it's a non issue but I have had a couple that were grateful that I asked and it was fixed before the show was sent in.

mrssyvo · Oct 28, 2008

Here is something that I do, and it might help in the future- When I receive an E-mail that an order has been placed on the website for a show, I e-mail the customer, and copy the host on the E-mail, re-iderating (sp) the details of the order. the E-mail goes soemthing like this -

Jane, Thank you for your order on Karen's show. I know that Karen appreciates it as well. Your credit card will not be charged until after the show closes, and your product will be sent to Karen, per your request. Please let me know if you have any questions about your product once it arrives.

Sue Syverson

This process has helped me tremendously once I got into the habit of doing it immediately after I receive the E-mail notice of an order being placed. That way, it makes the customer and the hostess aware that I am aware, and if something is not right, it can be changed before the show closes. The E-mail changes, depending on the specific order (Your product will be shipped directly to you, I will contact you for payment, per your request, etc)

DebbieJ · Oct 28, 2008

The shipping issue has been answered, but the catalogs--you can always ask for them back. I always tell my hostesses to leave any extra catalogs in their doctor's waiting room or other public places like that.

pamperedcheermom · Oct 28, 2008

Here's what I ended up doing:

I copied and pasted the online order and put it in the body of an email to the host. That way she can see that the guest chose the wrong shipping and it wasn't something I made up. Then I offered to pay for the shipping IF she took care of sending it to the guest herself. I told her to send me the receipt and I would reimburse her. I explained that I didn't want any hard feelings because of this and that I hope she'll continue to be a PC customer with me. I ended the email asking that she let me know if this works for her. So far I haven't heard back but she's at work so it'll probably be later today. I'll call her to follow up in a day or so. I asked her to send the products to the guest herself because #1, this SHOULD be between her and the guest and #2, I'll reimburse her only if she sends me a receipt. If she doesn't send a receipt she won't be reimbursed.......but she can't say that I didn't offer. I feel that doing it that way will cover me if she tries to say she shouldn't have had to pay the shipping.

I'll let everyone know how it all works out!

Chef Kearns · Oct 28, 2008

If I have an outside order in a different state who chooses Direct to Host I always send them an email to clarify. So far, everyone who did it did it on purpose. I try to pay attention to that to avoid this type of situation. Hopefully your host will be receptive to you trying to fix the situation.

chefsteph07 · Oct 28, 2008

pamperedcheermom said:
Here's what I ended up doing:

I copied and pasted the online order and put it in the body of an email to the host. That way she can see that the guest chose the wrong shipping and it wasn't something I made up. Then I offered to pay for the shipping IF she took care of sending it to the guest herself. I told her to send me the receipt and I would reimburse her. I explained that I didn't want any hard feelings because of this and that I hope she'll continue to be a PC customer with me. I ended the email asking that she let me know if this works for her. So far I haven't heard back but she's at work so it'll probably be later today. I'll call her to follow up in a day or so. I asked her to send the products to the guest herself because #1, this SHOULD be between her and the guest and #2, I'll reimburse her only if she sends me a receipt. If she doesn't send a receipt she won't be reimbursed.......but she can't say that I didn't offer. I feel that doing it that way will cover me if she tries to say she shouldn't have had to pay the shipping.

I'll let everyone know how it all works out!

Good for you, like I said, that's pretty much what I did with my one host from August, I did bear SOME of the responsibilty for not following up to make sure since it was an out of town order that it should be shipped to her or the host.
And, the host did provide me with a receipt (I told her I HAD to have it to know how much to reimburse and for my personal records for tax purposes)and she shipped it out herself. So, now we are all good and I learned a lesson! Good luck!

ChefPaulaB · Oct 29, 2008

mrssyvo said:
Here is something that I do, and it might help in the future- When I receive an E-mail that an order has been placed on the website for a show, I e-mail the customer, and copy the host on the E-mail, re-iderating (sp) the details of the order. the E-mail goes soemthing like this -

Jane, Thank you for your order on Karen's show. I know that Karen appreciates it as well. Your credit card will not be charged until after the show closes, and your product will be sent to Karen, per your request. Please let me know if you have any questions about your product once it arrives.

Sue Syverson

This process has helped me tremendously once I got into the habit of doing it immediately after I receive the E-mail notice of an order being placed. That way, it makes the customer and the hostess aware that I am aware, and if something is not right, it can be changed before the show closes. The E-mail changes, depending on the specific order (Your product will be shipped directly to you, I will contact you for payment, per your request, etc)

I just love this site! I just had a guest do an online order and have it sent to the host and I used your little email, used it word for word other than changing the names! It's perfect! Thank you so much! I never would've paid any attention to where it was sent, I am usually just so excited when one of my hosts gets an online order, I never even thought about that part. Thank you for this thread and your words of wisdom!!!!

Host Upset About Out of Town Shipping!

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What should I do if my host is upset about shipping delays for out-of-town orders?

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