Remarks Made by Coaches at Gymnastics Club Fundraiser

[pcchefjane]

You can read a lot on the "Gymnastics Club Fundraiser" thread of what all was said this past week but I am asking anyone for ideas of ways to counteract what was said in front of parents etc. by two of the coaches last Saturday.

I brought in the Silicone Floral Cupcake Pan for them to raffle off. I brought a paper (mainly to cover my butt with these people) stating that I was giving it to them and they understood that I was reducing the amount I donated to them by $17 to cover the cost of the Host Special. I also stated on the paper that whoever won it would have to provide me with a name, address, and phone number or the guarantee would be null and void. They went off on me about it, claimed I had failed to provide it as promised. There was no getting them to listen to reason on that one. I had planned on providing one NIB and also the Silicone Crown Cake Pan to sell raffle tickets on at the table I was PROMISED at the two meets being held the 5th and 25th. Anyway, the male coach (I think it is the female coach's husband) starts going off on me that PC is a ripoff and they are conning people when they do fundraisers because every company he has ever dealt with gives a minimum of 40% return on what they sell, etc. Then he says, "And just how much money did you make on all we sold?" I smiled (and was so glad he asked that) and said, "I have a spreadsheet here for you to see. Since I donated 2/3 of my commission, paid for copies of all OOFs and other paperwork that went into the folders, donated 2-$25 gift cards to the high sellers, and donated free shipping, I went in the hole $36.05!" He just looked at me and was momentarily speechless for a moment, then the parent from the Booster Club I had dealt with mainly came in. The male coach made the remark, "Some parents said you contacted the people they made sales to. Just why did you do that? That is harassment." I just looked at him in disbelief and said, "I asked them who they bought the items from since no one gave me a list of who was participating and I didn't have a clue who the children were. I got random orders on my website towards this and without names, I had no clue who the sales should be credited to. Who exactly complained?" He said, "Well Lauren's person did for one." I looked at Lauren and said, "The lady complained? What was the problem? I had a question on her order." Lauren said, "She just wasn't sure why you called was all. She wasn't upset." I got a check from this woman with no name of a child and no order form. How was I supposed to know who she purchased it from?

These people obviously have no clue how direct sales works.:cry: This was to help expand my business and they not only changed what they wanted me to do, but made some really disparaging remarks about me and PC. Was there anything else I could have said? I am just hoping they don't spread this crap through the community to people who don't know what actually went on. I got all the orders most of them made on one order form with no possible way to figure out who bought what from each person. Now I have 4 cartons of products coming Wednesday to divide up. I am continuing the fundraiser with 5-6 of the parents who are interested in doing so. One even told me in an email that she steers clear of all the "politics" involved down there. The really sad part of this is that the Gymnastics Club is supposedly Christian-based. I am very disappointed in the whole experience. Has anyone else dealt with people like this? What can you say to them or is it better to just ignore the whole deal? I think if it wasn't for the fact that I could earn half-price or free registration for NC this month with sales, I would not even continue it through April, but I am determined that I am going to get something out of all this mess!

Any suggestions would be appreciated!

 

[Liquid Sky]

WHOA! I think you handled that situation with integrity and to the best of your ability and knowledge. That's a shame they think great customer service is looked upon as "harrassment" by those people. It's THEIR weird issues and all you can do is bless and release. Those who ordered products for the fundraiser will certainly know that you are a great consultant when you continually take care of them from here on out....especially thru CCC's.

Sorry that happened!!! Nice job on making the coach speechless

 

[pcchefjane]

Bumping for some more input. Thanks Liquid Sky for yours!

 

[etteluap70PC]

All I can say is WOW....

I would be tempted to call a meeting with all that had issues and show them again the original paperwork, Cover the mistakes that happened even though all the details were spelled out, and also write down what was promised you in return that did/will not happen.

After all is said and done of course.

 

[gailz2]

People just don't realize how little we make on fundraisers and that we actually have a business that we have to pay all the expenses on. Just remember all the other patrons that you have made happy with our fabulous products!

 

[raebates]

Sounds to me like you handled yourself well. The coach obviously had an issue that had nothing to do with you. Those around this coach know the truth. I think if it were me, I'd just continue as I'd planned. As people see you handle this with class and professionalism, the coach's comments will be forgotten.

 

[pcchefjane]

I'm so glad I handled myself in a manner that I was proud of. Tonight when I took the orders in to the parents, the lady, Lauren, who I dealt with mainly, came out to my car to get her stuff. She apologized profusely for the way I was treated on Friday and Saturday. In fact, she didn't even know about Friday night and few details of Saturday. She told me how appreciative everyone was for me doing the fundraiser and how glad they were to have it continued through April. She said she hoped I "did not have a bad taste in my mouth over the things said." I told her that it had really hurt me and I could not believe they said the hurtful things. She apologized again and said that they had not been in any of the meetings and that they didn't understand that PC was not a 50-50 fundraiser as some were. She felt they did very well overall and told me not to worry about getting my check to them until the PC check came to me as well! How refreshing that was! I have 6 parents doing it for April to close on the 29th, so hopefully it will be big enough to put me over the $2,500! I have 5 other catalog shows going this month and hope to add one or two more cooking shows! I have my first show in for the apron and one closes the 15th that is already over $200! WOOHOO!

 

[raebates]

That's wonderful. Behaving with grace and professionalism is always the right decision.

 

[Robynchefcanada]

You are awesome!!! I have had experiences like that with my "job" and recently with my PC business.. i know it can be discouraging but you have to know that what goes around comes around and that we at PC are professionals so we don't let it get to us no matter how much it does!

 

[esavvymom]

Why do people think that it is 'ok' to treat someone like dirt just because they are in business?? These are the same people that probably treat the cashier at Walmart like she's their servant or something- no regard for anyone, and no respect whatsoever.If they were the only folks you dealt with, I'd be tempted to drop the boxes at their door and let them deal with it...but obviously, everyone else involved seemed very understanding and appreciative of the event...so for THEM, you are doing the customer service. You'll know who not to work with in the future.

 

[pcchefjane]

I get the feeling that Lauren apologizes a lot for these two coaches! They have such a crappy attitude. I heard him yelling at the kids and that always goes over badly with me. I don't care who you are, yelling at kids does not make them do better at anything!

 

[pcchefjane]

Pray for me that I hold my temper going down there tonight! Lauren called at 1:30 while I was trying to get both grandkids down for naps DEMANDING that I get the orders to the Gymnastics Club tonight. I told her that I had gotten the orders and left voicemails for all parents this morning about when I could meet them tonight. She informed me that one of the people who ordered from one of the parents either wanted her stuff or a refund if she didn't get it herself tonight. I told her that it was all on one form and I would have to call the parent to verify which was whose! She went on how she was sick of being called about this fundraiser. I told her that I was sorry they didn't get the results they wanted and were disappointed but with only 6 parents out of 20 participating in March and 3 in April, they were not getting the full benefits! She said she should have been notified when I got in the products. I told her that she told me in March she wanted nothing more to do with the fundraiser for April so I didn't feel I should contact her. I also told her that because two of the orders were not turned in to me until April 2nd, I was donating 5% of my 15% commission to bring this 2nd one to 15% total. She said she was going to call each parent and tell them to be there tonight at 6:30 and if they weren't, I was to take the stuff back home with me and contact them for pickup! She made the comment she was tired of the parents calling her. I told her that I had talked to "mad parent X" 5 times myself this month and she was still under the impression it was my fault that the orders were not picked up on March 31st when she turned them in after 7 p.m. that night. I am so glad my phone shows when I called this morning to the parents and when Lauren called me. On the way home from dropping my DD and grandkids off at the Y so I could do any last minute things I needed on this, I got a call back from "mad parent X" who is being such a jerk. She informed me that she would not be there at 6:30 and I was to leave it with Lauren. I told her I was sorry but Lauren had told me that if a parent was not there at 6:30, I was to take it back home. I told her I also needed to know what of the orders belonged to the lady who called, threatening to cancel the order. She said she would handle that and the only way to get it to her tonight was to be at the Club at 5:30. I told her I would be there at 5:15 to be sure we didn't miss each other and could she please contact her friend to find out what needed to be done with her order or if she was coming tonight at 6:30. She told me that I provided poor customer service and she would never purchase anything from me again and that because I didn't turn it in, her child only got 10%. I said, "No Ma'am, your child will get 15% because I chose to donate 5% of my 15% commission so the Club would get 15% anyway! She paused then said, "Well you should have turned it in when I told you to at the beginning of the month." I explained again (I've done this 7 times now to her) that I had 4 other parents who said they had $100+ in orders they were sure for April and would turn them in but only one had. She was angry about that and I told her that this could have all been avoided if I had had a list of parents who were participating so that on Monday night, I could have called and said, "I don't have your orders yet. Are you still participating?" As it was, I didn't know until I received the orders who was participating so didn't know who wasn't!

Word of advice to anyone doing fundraisers with Gymnastics Clubs/Dance Studios, etc.

Make sure you get a parent meeting face-to-face with all participants. Get a list of names and phone numbers so if you have questions, you are not relaying everything through a "middle person". Make sure all deadlines are understood. (I gave them information in writing saying deadline was March 30th but they were told verbally to turn it in by March 31st.) I lost $38.79 on the first fundraiser because of paying for shipping, $50 in Walmart gift cards for top sellers, copies/ink cartridges, and donating 10% of my 15% commission. I "made" $8.15 on the second fundraiser by the time I paid for the $25 Walmart gift card and donated 5% of my 15% commission to try to make amends for the confusion/problems.

To top it all off, I was contacted by another Gymnastics Club in mid-April about doing a fundraiser for them and the lady was going to call me back after the Regional Competition on April 25th. I figured I was bad-mouthed so badly by Sonrise, that they won't be contacting me back! So much for using this to "launch" fundraising for myself!

After I get paid my commission tomorrow, I will give them my final check and be done with them... I am really hoping the one parent will still sign as my Recruit. She did really well selling the PC and I know she would be great as a Consultant. She can do the next one for them! LOL!

 

[babywings76]

Oh man, I'm so sorry you are dealing with all this. People just don't get it sometimes. What a sigh of relief when all this is behind you! Here's hoping that maybe that other Gymnastics Club will do one despite this and you'll have a better group of people to work with. I hope things work out with this potential recruit also! Hang in there!