Urgent Help Needed: Troubleshooting a Last-Minute Order Dilemma

[slj1229]

I have a problem!!! My one host was like $50 away from the $400 show level, I told her I was going to put her order in last night. She called me this morning and said that she had another order and wanted to put it in so she could make it to $600. I told her it was to late, sje said that she wants to cancel the WHOLE SHOW and the people that book want to cancel too IF I can't add the order on to give her another 1/2 price item and $20 free product. I called H.O and the order is being picked, so it's too late to cancel, what should I do??

 

[vwpamperedchef]

Well, I am not an expert, but once it comes to her, tell her not to open it and call you. Can you return it? And submit a new show??

What a witch for saying she would cancel the whole show. I mean gosh, you told her what you were going to do. Its not like you did it without her knowing.

Or...you could submit the extra order as an individual and just eat the $20 and half priced item yourself to keep the Grinch happy.

See what everyone else says, but that's what I think IMHO.

 

[PCSarahjm]

I have read somewhere about canceling the order then re entering it. I don't if this is the same type of problem....I am sure someone will come up with an idea for you. sorry I wasn't much help.

 

[wadesgirl]

I had a host call me 1 1/2 weeks after her show closed (she had already closed early because she was mad that only 1 friend showed up) with another order wanting to know if it would put her over the next level. I told her that I was sorry, there was nothing we could do since she had decided to close her party without checking with her friend.

If it's enough to make another show, submit that but tell her that you cannot do anything about adding it to her show but maybe give her an extra $15 free if you feel like it. But don't let her bully you, if she does have a problem, tell her to call HO, they are the ones that set the rules on the show submissions.


One more thing, with the same host, she closed her show early (the day after her show) but I told her to call everyone who didn't make it to see if they wanted to place an order. I FORGOT to change her online show status so it sent a reminder email that her show was closing on the original date. She did get one more order that way. I had told her then that I would have given her the credit if that order had put her over but luckily it didn't. I wasn't going to give her any credit when she called a week and a half later because she was the one who didn't follow up with her friends when I reminded her to. Lesson learned - make sure to change internet show information if anything changes!!!

 

[ChefBeckyD]

I wonder how the people who placed orders would feel about her canceling the entire show....

She does indeed sound like a bully.

 

[chefann]

Here's what I would do:
Tell her not to open the shipment when it arrives. You get it from her and deliver the products to her guests, asking each of the bookings if they still want to hold. Then return her items, since she wants to cancel the order anyway. That way her guests aren't punished because of her, but she still gets what she wants.

 

[jennyl]

I had something similar happen but on a smaller scale. A host called me to close her show. I told her the current total and amount needed for the next level. She went ahead finalizing her order and I submitted the show. The next day she said her daughter wanted to add on to her order to get the next level for her mom.

A friend of mine was closing a show at the time the "too late" order came in so I combined the late order with her show, and got the extra host rewards to the goofy host by putting her in as a co-host.

But the people I was dealing with were much more pleasant than it sounds like this bossy host has been to you! That's your call about whether you want to make it work for her.

 

[Teresa Lynn]

What does she want for the other 1/2 price item?
I'd turn her orders in as a catalog show (do you have other straggler orders you can add) If it were a fairly inexpensive choice I'd pay the difference on her 1/2 price and count it as a gift if it were me.... Doing the math according to your post she must have collected at least $150 so you will make more commisssion it will count toward the Dec. sales special & promos being offered and will keep your bookings. It looks like you are just starting out so the BOOKINGS are important as well as a good recommendation from the host to ohers that you went out of your way.

 

[RebelChef]

Ok, my question is..exactly how does she know the ones who booked want to cancel? Supposedly she only found out you'd submitted the show when she called you with the extra order so is making that part up. Or....she knew that you'd submitted the show already and has already whined to the ones who booked and is now trying to force you to spend from your own pocket to satisfy her. I hope you find a way to work it out and make a ton of money off the shows that come from her show!

Lord, please keep me away from hosts like this. I'd be selling PC from a prison cell. lol

 

[chefann]

I agree with your assessment, Marisa. I think this host is just trying to weasel some additional product out of slj. If she has experience with some other DS companies, she may think it's possible to add to the show (some companies allow it because orders are filled partially from consultant inventory).

 

[cookingwithlove]

The very LAST thing I would do is cancel the whole order. I would rather lose some commission than lose all of the commission.

I always close my shows with the host on the phone with me. I say, Okay... I am going to submit the show now, so make sure there is nothing you want to add because once it is submitted you cannot add anything.

If you think it was a miscommunications between the two of you, you can do a couple of things to maintain a good relationship. Sounds like she has at least $150, so she can get another show out of it, at the very least you can give her $20 more free, you can just "eat" the $5. You can ask her what she wanted to have as her 1/2 price item. You would be making at least $30 on this little show, if what she wants is not too much you can apply your commission to it. If however, it is really large, say the pan set you will have to tell her clearly that you cannot afford to pay for such a thing. I think if you have the attitude that it was a miscommunication and explain that you will not be making any commission off her 2nd show she will be more amendable to the situation.

If you have another show that you are submitting soon, you can add her order to it and hopefully get the 1/2 price that she wants. I would OK it with the 2nd host first.

Good Luck!

 

[slj1229]

Ok, here's what I did. I called ALL of the people that had placed an order with her and explained what had happened and told them that wanted to ensure that they had their orders for Christmas. From that show I had 2 bookings, since I made the calls I now have 5 bookings. I told her not to open the boxes when they came and to return ALL of the items, I explained to her that I handled all of her guest's orders so she would not have to be bothered, I said that I was sorry for any confusion and was very polite. She wants the knife set as her 1/2 off and I am not going to spend that much on her, especially since she is being such a witch. So I entered all of the orders from her guest ( and got another $100 worth of stuff that they forgot to order ) and put them in as MY catalog show, so now I have 2 1/2 price items. NEENER NEENER NEENER!!!!!

 

[Gina M]

Good for you - and great job on getting all those extra bookings! May they all be pleasant good hosts

 

[missyciccolella]

Awesome! I hope you have nothing but polite hosts from here on out!

 

[RebelChef]

Oh my gosh! I know it may not have been the way you planned to have that show turn out but way to go on it working out so well for you! Three additional bookings AND more orders. Maybe the guests had seen her do this before? :angel: Someone's looking out for you. Awesome news!

 

[chefann]

So glad you figured out a way to make it work. Now to hope and pray that she actually returns the boxes and doesn't keep them.

 

[pamperedlinda]

So glad you figured out a way to make it work. Now to hope and pray that she actually returns the boxes and doesn't keep them.

My thoughts too. You might want to follow the fedex tracker and contact the hub and have them returned before they get to her.

 

[StephsKitchen]

Call home office!! That is horrible!!! What kind of person does that!

 

[Tanoi]

Glad to hear it all worked out...and for the better! Good for you for taking the extra time to explain it all to her guests. It sounds like they will be more understanding hosts.

 

[RebelChef]

You might want to follow the fedex tracker and contact the hub and have them returned before they get to her.

I thought that was going to say 'follow the fedex driver'. hehe

 

[vwpamperedchef]

Good for you for making it work to your advantage!!

What a witch is right....

Well, hopefully after this, you can have a Merry Christmas

 

[slj1229]

LOL, I told her that if she did not return the products within 3 days that her credit card would be charged. I know I can't do that, but she doesn't

 

[1upland]

Good job, you handled that very well. But I have to say this....THAT HOST IS A JERK!!. Ok, I feel better now. I'm praying your future host will be pleasant ones...God Bless

 

[Teresa Lynn]

be careful what you tell them, if she were to "verify" that with HO and they deny it, it could be a whole new can of worms.

 

[CookingwithMary]

Hope The Bad Host doesn't show up as an annoying guest :yuck:

Just my 2 cents worth :chef:

 

[slj1229]

yeah, I know and I don't like to "fib" but this yahoo was such a ......well......um........jerk that I didn't know what to say, and I dont want her to think that she can keep $400 worth of PC stuff!!! She is one of these women that thinks her you know what doesnt stink cause she has a big fancy house. But the truth is she hardly has any furniture in that half a million dollar house because they can't afford it, and I seen her Lexus on the back of a flat bed, so either she had car trouble (with a BRAND new car) or it was the repo man. Carma is a funny thing!!!

 

[Teresa Lynn]

I understand & it's hard not to judge them but, you don't want to ruin YOUR rep by getting caught in a "fib"
Bless her and release her

 

[PamperedK]

I'd like to know what you said to get those extra bookings! I'm not doing very well with bookings AT my shows...how do you get bookings on the phone afterward?

 

[mpkegley]

They will charge her credit card before they ship the show, am I right? Sure, they will credit it back, but when she sees her credit card statement, she will see that. I hope that does not come back to bite you!

 

[chefann]

They'll charge her card for what she charged. But since the other guests would have paid via check or their own cards, she won't care about their payments.My suggestion is to follow the shipment on the FedEx tracker, and either go pick it up from her the day it is delivered (and have it picked up from your house), or submit an adjustment to have it picked up the next day.

 

[sailortena]

So what exactly did you do? Put the difference in another show and the host got her items, or you cancelled the whole show with her as host and then transferred the guests orders to your own show and submitted that instead?
Me confused. lol.

 

[slj1229]

I can't cancel the show until she returns the items, but when she does then I will cancel it and enter all of the guest sales as my own show. She doesnt want her stuff at all. As for getting the extra bookings when I called to tell everyone what had happened I explained to them that she only needed anoth $40 in sales so that she could get 2 half price items and $60 in free items. They all said they didn't realize that you could get that much stuff with the small amount of people that she had at her party, (I think they're was about 7 or 8) they all thought that you had to have a HUGE party to benefit. As for the orders, the host put all of the orders on her card and had everyone pay her with a check because she wanted to points on her credit card, so the guests can stop payment if they need to, as for me, nothing went on my card at all.

 

[quiverfull7]

So her credit card has already been charged if they have shipped the show right? Those go through quite quickly don't they? Does anyone know? and how long will the refund take to get back to her so she can refund all the guests? You've done a great job handling this... I'm just asking for reference purposes if the awful situation should ever come up that the rest of us has to cancel an entire show too. Or did HO tell you that her card has not yet been charged? Did you tell them at HO that this shipment is going to be refused and returned or what?

 

[chefann]

As for the orders, the host put all of the orders on her card and had everyone pay her with a check because she wanted to points on her credit card, so the guests can stop payment if they need to, as for me, nothing went on my card at all.

That statement, combined with her eagerness to cancel the show sets off alarm bells for me. It's too easy in that instance for a host to abscond with the money and blame it on you. (It happened to me with a rep from another company. She cashed the checks from my party and used the money to pay bills. I had to take her to court.)

 

[slj1229]

I just talked to my hubby, and he is working in the housing plan where she lives today and told me that the Fed Ex guy just droppes off her PC, and she is at work. SOOOOO I had him snatch the packages and left her a note.

Dear Jan,
I am so sorry that your Pampered Chef show did not go as planned. I have gone ahead and cancelled the show as you reqested and I will take care of returning the products, I don't want to cause anymore of an inconvience to you. Thank you again for inviting me into your home.


So the boxes are in my Hubby's truck (a bit muddy cause it's raining and he was digging a foundation) but non the less they are ready to be shipped back. HO said as soon as they get the products back the entire show will cancel. WHAT AN ORDEAL!!!!!

 

[chefann]

So glad you were able to intercept the boxes and don't have to worry about them!
now just hope that none of the bookings invite her - she doesn't sound like she'd be much fun at a show (she'd probably start talking smack about you and PC)

 

[dianevill]

I have a weird question - is it ok that your husband took the boxes? I'd be worried that she claimed you/he stole them...

 

[chefann]

I think that as long as she keeps copies of the note she left and any communications between her and the host or HO, she'll be covered.

 

[slj1229]

I wondered the same thing, and I figured almost all of the stuff belongs to other guests, which gave me permission, and I did ask HO and they said to get the items back and they made record that she wants to cancel the show, and her card has not been charged yet, so the stuff is not hers. So I think I'm ok. I hope. I really hope that she is not a guest, if she is she will make a stink because I am not going to let her get the past hostess benifits.

 

[chefann]

Well, she's not entitled to them, since she told you to cancel the show.

She sounds like one of those customers/hosts we wish would just fall off the face of the earth. Fortunately, they're few and far between.

 

[pamperedlinda]

I sure hope she refunds the $$ to her guests.......that could get ugly.

 

[quiverfull7]

Did you ask all the guests that you called to call her and ask for their checks back or how did you handle that part?

 

[slj1229]

I just told them that since the checks were made to her that they would need to call her to get their money back.

 

[lockhartkitchen]

Good for you! Some people! You got the free items. Hee Hee Hee!!

 

[JAE]

So the guests are all assuming she will give them their money back. I'd be worried if I were them. Shouldn't you keep the items until they get the money back from her. If she doesn't give them the money, then they need their stuff. KWIM?