When You Ask Me "Can I Pay for It When It Arrives" ...

[Intrepid_Chef]

I am BEYOND frustrated. I just turned in a show of my own. Of the orders that were not mine, exactly TWO of the people who ordered something paid for it.

One is a friend. She will pay me for her item or she won't get her micro cookers.

The other is the sister of a friend. She will pay me or she won't get her stone.

The third one was a lady who rushed up to me at a fair, said she wanted a can opener, and then returned my call a week later while I was driving and said YES she still wanted it, and promised to get back to me that weekend. I left her numerous messages. I ordered it against my better judgment. She'll pay me when it comes or it will get sent back to the company, or sold on Facebook!

This is what I would say in an open letter if I could:

When you ask me "can I pay for that when it comes" what you're really asking me is:

* Can you pay for my order instead of your cell phone bill?
* Can you pay for my order instead of putting food on your table?
* Can you pay for my order instead of paying your utility bill?
* Can you pay for my order instead of putting gas in your car?
* Can you pay for my order instead of your medical bill?

I understand there are companies out there (I know of only one) that accept payment when the item arrives. Mine is not one of those.

When you ask me to front the money for your order, you are asking me to take it out of my own pocket.

Meanwhile, if you cannot afford your item, kindly tell me so. I will discount as much as I can, but I cannot give it to you for FREE!

 

[chefjeanine]

When you ask me "can I pay for it when it arrives" ...

"No" is not a dirty word. Simply say, "I'm sorry, I have to send in your money with your order. Do you want to order that now or do you need to wait until later." And as you said, it was against your better judgement to order the can opener. Don't do things that are against your better judgement, it just makes you mad!

 

[barbara_anne]

I hope they are paying you in cash when they get their items, otherwise you will run the risk of really giving those items away for free if a check bounces. I just tell people that Pampered Chef requires payment when the order is placed.

 

[raebates]

There are just a few people that I will allow to pay me when something comes in. They are dear friends who would never, ever leave me in the lurch. Since company policy is to have payment in hand when the order is placed, I have no problem whatsoever telling people just that. I was talking with someone once about this. Her comment was that it's usually $30-$40 dollars. Well, sure. But, multiply that by several people, and you're talking a hefty chunk of change.

 

[Intrepid_Chef]

Well the friend paid for her sister in law's order.The friend that wanted the micro cookers ... well, I am holding them. She won't get them til she pays.Finally texted the stranger who wanted the can opener. She texted back ... and strung me along for nearly a month. I debated sending it back for a refund but decided to just put it in my cash and carry. She will not get it ever. And yes, she would have paid cash only.

 

[byrd1956]

How about the ones that use their debit as a cc and when the show is transmitted it gets denied. So you try again unless you made a mistake on the #. You end up calling the person apologizing that you must have mis-read the # on the receipt they filled in. Then they say the $ was in there the day of the party but it is not there now. And of course it is the consultant's fault for trying to take the payment when it is not there.
Do people not subtract from their account when they make a purchase?

 

[Sheila]

I've had quite a few ask me that lately too. I just tell them "No, I'm sorry ... Pampered Chef requires payment before they'll process or ship the order."I also had someone ask me to order the stuff she wanted and bring it to next month's booth, so she didn't have to pay tax or shipping. I told her no too. That I was in the business of ADDING money to my family's budget, not breaking even or loosing money (tax & direct shipping would have cost me more than the commission I'd have made on her small order). She got mad & said she's order from another consultant. I was polite & said okay and mentioned that she might consider hosting a show ~ that she could get her products at a discount AND get free shipping. Fast forward 1 month to the next time she saw me at the same booth ... she booked a show! I just closed it at over $600 (catalog). She paid tax, but she got her free shipping and a WHOLE lot more. She was happy.