Upset After Unsuccessful Housewarming Pampered Chef Party

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Discussion Overview

This thread centers around a participant's disappointing experience at a housewarming party that was also intended to be a Pampered Chef show. The participant expresses feelings of being misled by the hostess, who did not inform guests that it was a Pampered Chef event, leading to low orders and a sense of being used for catering purposes.

Discussion Character

  • Anecdotal
  • Opinion-based
  • Exploratory

Main Points Raised

  • One participant, identifying as a consultant, shared their frustration over the hostess not communicating that it was a Pampered Chef show, resulting in guests being surprised and placing minimal orders.
  • Another participant suggested that the original poster should confront the hostess about the lack of communication regarding the nature of the event.
  • Several users mentioned that the hostess's actions seemed unfair and that she may have taken advantage of the consultant's efforts.
  • One participant noted that they mail out invitations for their hostesses to avoid similar misunderstandings.
  • Another participant expressed a strong dislike for dishonesty in host-guest relationships, sharing their own experiences of feeling taken advantage of in similar situations.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants generally agree that the hostess's lack of transparency was unfair and contributed to the disappointing outcome of the show. However, there is no clear consensus on whether the original poster should confront the hostess or how to handle the situation moving forward.

Contextual Notes

The discussion reflects personal experiences and feelings related to hosting Pampered Chef shows, emphasizing the importance of clear communication between hostesses and consultants.

Who May Find This Useful

Consultants who have faced similar challenges with hostesses or are looking for insights on managing expectations and communication in their shows may find this discussion relevant.

Good luck Stephanie on dealing with this issue. It is hard to figure out exactly what she thought and didn't think. There is definately something wrong on how she treated the situation. I still can't get over that she had to open her presents in front of you too. She sounds like someone who likes to take advantage of others.
 
I would vent it out here, then kill her with kindness. All of the guests know what she did.

Sweetly, tell her that you know she is probably disappointed in the sales and that you, kind of, are too. Let her know that this is your income and that is why you worked sooo hard trying to make the food she wanted so she and her friends would be happy, buy a lot of products for her and book lots of shows.

Let her know that the best thing she can do for both of you is to treat it like a catalog show and collect orders. If she isn't willing then ask her if she can at least see if any of her other friends and family would like to have a show. Then she can get the 60% off the upcoming specials and you will have the bookings you should have had.

It will be tricky, but if you practice it will work.

Whatever you do, don't tell her off because you will be the *itchy Pampered Chef Lady. Everything you did will be for nothing.
 
Chefgirl2 said:
I would vent it out here, then kill her with kindness. All of the guests know what she did.

Sweetly, tell her that you know she is probably disappointed in the sales and that you, kind of, are too. Let her know that this is your income and that is why you worked sooo hard trying to make the food she wanted so she and her friends would be happy, buy a lot of products for her and book lots of shows.

Let her know that the best thing she can do for both of you is to treat it like a catalog show and collect orders. If she isn't willing then ask her if she can at least see if any of her other friends and family would like to have a show. Then she can get the 60% off the upcoming specials and you will have the bookings you should have had.

It will be tricky, but if you practice it will work.

Whatever you do, don't tell her off because you will be the *itchy Pampered Chef Lady. Everything you did will be for nothing.
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As always, well worded!
 
  • Thread starter
  • #34
Ok, I've responded to my "good cook" compliments. This is what I sent her this afternoon:


Good Afternoon Satan disguised as a Hostess! (I used her name, but this is really what I wanted to call her)

Thank you for all the wonderful compliments on my cooking. I'm glad you and your guests enjoyed the food. However, I think that my main objective was not accomplished.

In all honesty, I am not a great cook or anywhere near being a culinary expert. I am a busy wife and mother of 3 and like many, I am always looking for ways to simplify and shorten my time in the kitchen so that more time can be spent with my family. I joined the Pampered Chef for that very reason. I saw a wonderful opportunity to share excellent, time saving products with my customers so that they too, could spend less time in their kitchens. My main objective is to help hostesses and their guests purchase these items to acheive that same goal. And of course, in return, I am able to financially contribute to my family. I am very honest and forthcoming with anyone who allows me the opportunity to provide them my services. And all I expect in return is the same courtesy. It was brought to my attention that most of your guests were unaware that your housewarming party was a PC show. It was my understanding that by hosting a PC housewarming party, your guests would purchase your housewarming gifts from the catalog. If they chose to not do this, of course, that would have been fine. That being said, I feel it was probably against better judgement to not mention the PC show to your guests. I would never want a guest to feel as if they were mislead or deceived in anyway and I'm sure you would not want your friends to feel this way either. I don't presume to know your motivation behind not letting them know about the PC show, but please know that I felt a little uncomfortable trying to sell products to people who had no idea I was going to be there, especially when many of them spent a great amount of money on the gift they brought for you.

I put much effort into your show, as I prepared much more food than I would normally prepare. Again, my goal is to sell the products, not neccessarily the recipes. I did this with the assumption that many people would want to purchase products as you implied before your show. I can't help but feel embarrassed by how this experience unfolded. I'm sure it has been an uncomfortable situation for you as well.

To make a long story short, I am not a culinary expert or a professional cook. I represent Pampered Chef and their quality products and those products are what make my business thrive, not my cooking skills. I know of some wonderful caterers that would be more than happy to help you will large quantities of food if you ever need that type of service in the future. And when you are needing great cooking tools, I would be more than happy to help you in that area again as well. However, I will ask that when hosting a show in the future, that each guest be made aware of the show before hand. That way, everyone can relax and have a great time. Thank you for allowing me to meet your family and friends. I'm sure that our next show together will be less confusing and a huge success for you.





I wanted to use good manners, yet still get my point across. Too much?
 
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Sounds pretty good to me!!!!
 
I think that sounded excellent - you sounded very professional. I have to admit that I cracked up when I read "Satan disguised as a Hostess"!!!

Let us know her reply!
 
Great letter Stephanie! I hope she responds well to it. You should feel better getting that "off" your chest as well.
 
Great letter Stephanie..... I hope that she responds to it and you get the response that your looking for to and including "OH I am sorry" .... and I am glad that you were able to get it off your chest in a kind and professional way.
 
I think that's a great letter Stephanie!
 
Stephanie~

You said everything that needed to be said in a very professional way! Hopefully she reads that and is mortified by her own actions. Even if it goes over her head, you handled yourself soooooo well! I can't imagine that anyone else could have said it any better!

You MUST keep us posted if she replies or calls you back!!

Way to put her in her place without stooping to her (sleazy) level!

Be proud of yourself...and we are all proud of you for holding your ground and setting the record straight so hopefully she doesn't pull this kind of crap on anyone else!

Rock on sister!
 
Great job!
 
You rock!! Excellent email, you put it so much better then I could have ever done so. I can't wait to hear of her response.
 
That was graceful and very well put. She knows that you know...
 
Even though your letter was honest and well said, I think you are going to make this hostess really mad. You accused her of something and you didn't get her side of the story first before sending her that message.She is going to read into that email that you think she is dishonest, taking advantage of you and greedy. I got this message just by reading that in the email, and I didn't even attend your show.In all honesty even though she bought the ingredients beforehand, you should have told her that you were not going to cook that much food in advance if that is what you don't normally do. I have had hosts tell me they want tons of food, and I tell them what I am going to cook, and that's it. If they want more food, they are responsible for it themselves. They don't seem to mind that and usually have other things made as well.
 
  • Thread starter
  • #45
sailortena said:
Even though your letter was honest and well said, I think you are going to make this hostess really mad. You accused her of something and you didn't get her side of the story first before sending her that message.

She is going to read into that email that you think she is dishonest, taking advantage of you and greedy. I got this message just by reading that in the email, and I didn't even attend your show.

In all honesty even though she bought the ingredients beforehand, you should have told her that you were not going to cook that much food in advance if that is what you don't normally do.

I have had hosts tell me they want tons of food, and I tell them what I am going to cook, and that's it. If they want more food, they are responsible for it themselves. They don't seem to mind that and usually have other things made as well.
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I see your point and thank you for your concern. However, there were no accusations of greed in my letter to this hostess. Also as far as dishonest, anyone with a conscience would know that when you say "Don't tell Stephanie (which is me) that I didn't put the Pampered Chef show on the invitation", and "I didn't tell my guests that is was a Pampered Chef show because I wanted a lot of people to come"....that IS dishonesty. And she may take offense to it, but it is what it is. I feel that people should own up to their actions and if there are consequences that come with their choices, then you must accept that. Regardless of what her side the story is, the bottom line is that she purposely left out information on both sides and made many people uncomfortable.

You are right, I should have stuck to my guns and said, " I don't normally prepare this much food. If you want some extra dishes I would be happy to give you some great PC recipes." Hard lesson learned for me. I'll know better next time. Thanks for the advice

The letter is sent now, and can't be taken back. But I will say that I feel in my heart that I did the right thing for myself. It may not be the right thing for everyone, but I do feel it was right for me. As much as I would like to continue business with her and her guests, she may very well choose not to have me as her consultant. If that is the result then that will be the consequence of MY actions. Either way, I will stand tall (well not really, I'm only 5 ft 0 in, but you know what I mean) and know that I stood behind my principles! For now, it's just a waiting game...so we'll see. :o
 
I understand where Tena is coming from. This issue would probably have been better dealt with via phone than sending a letter. But the letter was very well written and is now sent, so there is no taking it back.

I always tells my consultants that email is for information only. It is not for building relationships, host coaching, solving problems, and the like. It is for sending a list of recipe ingredients or confirming directions to a show. We need to pick up the phone more!

I think this will be one of those hostesses that we bless and release....
 
  • Thread starter
  • #47
DebbieJ said:
I understand where Tena is coming from. This issue would probably have been better dealt with via phone than sending a letter. But the letter was very well written and is now sent, so there is no taking it back.

I always tells my consultants that email is for information only. It is not for building relationships, host coaching, solving problems, and the like. It is for sending a list of recipe ingredients or confirming directions to a show. We need to pick up the phone more!

I think this will be one of those hostesses that we bless and release....
Click to expand...

I tried the phone twice, but no answer.
 
I understand the e-mail point, but sometimes e-mail is good, such in this case when there is no answer and also she has written proof that she handled the situation well and was polite.

I understand the point too that there are always "2 sides" to the story, but according to Stephanie she wanted to host a PC party and then deceived the consultant and made attempts to tell others not to tell the consultant. That is wrong and childish and needs some "correction" and information.

Hopefully it'll work out in the end, if not and she likes PC...she'll move on to another victim, I mean consultant. Stephanie may lose a little business, but she's already lost more in time and effort here...
 
janetupnorth said:
I understand the e-mail point, but sometimes e-mail is good, such in this case when there is no answer and also she has written proof that she handled the situation well and was polite.

I understand the point too that there are always "2 sides" to the story, but according to Stephanie she wanted to host a PC party and then deceived the consultant and made attempts to tell others not to tell the consultant. That is wrong and childish and needs some "correction" and information.

Hopefully it'll work out in the end, if not and she likes PC...she'll move on to another victim, I mean consultant. Stephanie may lose a little business, but she's already lost more in time and effort here...
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Dido!!

I'm glad that you feel better Stephanie, it feels good to stand up for yourself dosen't! And you did it with grace;)
 
  • Thread starter
  • #50
UPDATE: Got a call from the hostess. First, she APOLOGIZED. Yeah! Second, she said that the last show she hosted was a couple of years ago and didn't have good attendance and the consultant seemed irritated. She said that she worried about that this time and so she took the advice of a sister in law who told her not to mention the PC show. She said it backfired and had a few of her guests ask her why she didn't include the PC show on the invite. That doesn't explain why she kept it from me, but hey she knows she messed up, so there's no use in adding salt to the wound...I left it alone. So now, I don't think her and the sis in law are not getting along to well, but that's none of my business so I changed the subject when she began talking about that. She is very embarrassed and would like to host a show in the future with me if I would be willing. So I told her I will help her improve her attendance next time. She also has collected 4 more outside orders and her show should close around $400...we are closing tonight. So all is well that ends well. I was polite, honest, and stood firm and it worked out this time. This could have easily gone the other way, but thankfully it didn't. Thanks for all of your thoughts, prayers, and great advice on this situation guys. I did a lot of praying about this myself. So I'll leave you guys with this:

Colossians 3:23: And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily as to the Lord and not unto men.

Make it a great day!
 
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MeesMom3 said:
UPDATE: Got a call from the hostess. First, she APOLOGIZED. Yeah! Second, she said that the last show she hosted was a couple of years ago and didn't have good attendance and the consultant seemed irritated. She said that she worried about that this time and so she took the advice of a sister in law who told her not to mention the PC show. She said it backfired and had a few of her guests ask her why she didn't include the PC show on the invite. That doesn't explain why she kept it from me, but hey she knows she messed up, so there's no use in adding salt to the wound...I left it alone. So now, I don't think her and the sis in law are getting along to well, but that's none of my business so I changed the subject when she began talking about that. She is very embarrassed and would like to host a show in the future with me if I would be willing. So I told her I will help her improve her attendance next time. She also has collected 4 more outside orders and her show should close around $400...we are closing tonight. So all is well that ends well. I was polite, honest, and stood firm and it worked out this time. This could have easily gone the other way, but thankfully it didn't. Thanks for all of your thoughts, prayers, and great advice on this situation guys. I did a lot of praying about this myself. So I'll leave you guys with this:

Colossians 3:23: And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily as to the Lord and not unto men.

Make it a great day!
Click to expand...

Awesome, it worked out well, she knows she messed up, is willing to correct it and hopefully you've started to build an honest relationship. Help her as much as you can next time and maybe in the learning what works and doesn't, she'll learn to be a great customer, host, and who knows, maybe someday a consultant after she sees how you handled the situation.

Yeah for good results!
 
That is great Stephanie! I am glad she was "a big girl" and called you back to apologize. Nice to hear a happy ending.
 
I'm glad to hear that it worked out.
 
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