Turn your @(#*$^& machines on...

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mcf

mcf

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Aug 2, 2004
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Houston
www.memorialcityflorist.com
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TX
Chasing bounced orders today because people turned their Doves off.

Everyone wants the commission and rebates from sending, but no one wants to fill anymore. Everyone wants to help their customers get orders across the country, but forget the original concept was a give and take.

I realize no one wants to deal with the OGs, but...

Please, people... turn the machines on (at least through Friday).

Calling out orders is just a pain in the !(#*#&^% !!!
 
mcf said:
Chasing bounced orders today because people turned their Doves off.

Everyone wants the commission and rebates from sending, but no one wants to fill anymore. Everyone wants to help their customers get orders across the country, but forget the original concept was a give and take.

I realize no one wants to deal with the OGs, but...

Please, people... turn the machines on (at least through Friday).

Calling out orders is just a pain in the !(#*#&^% !!!
Click to expand...


If your orders are going in the NE. They may have shut off thier doves because we are in the middle of out 3rd snowstorm and navigating the roads is slow and treacherous. Four people have been killed because of the conditions...It is taking in excess of 8 hrs to deliver 10-13 deliveries when we should be able to deliver 20-25....
 
I just don't understand it.

We try to NEVER suspend the machines...many of the orders (for Christmas) are specials, and when they start coming in around the 23. 24th, many have open order 2nd choices.

But, every market it different...

- H

PS - Florida is the worst...especially at Mother's Day...
 
It just makes it that much easier to give the customer the direct number to the florist.

Sending out orders is done at this date for that very same reason. I can't tell you how many times we had to do that during Mothers day and it becomes a non profit situation.
 
I haven't had any troubles yet :) If you have Indy orders, send them right over. We haven't needed to suspend the machines, we have been able to get everything done even though we are up in everything right now (more wire orders, more cash and CC orders, all with dropping a store too ;))
 
We haven't suspended here in Long Island, nor do we anticipate the possibility.
We're caught up until the 24th and working on the walk in stuff for the 25th.
We'll run flat out until Noon on Christmas Eve.
 
No suspends here, but I am almost sold out on all specials...I do not anticipate having to suspend at all...unless a delivery issue arises..
 
Sorry, but we will suspend both dove and merc tomorrow. We have to; we simply can't handle the volume, even though we carry no WS-speciality containers. I think it has a lot to do with the fact that our shop is the only FTD in our town. If we leave it ON, the number of wire-ins could actually exceed the number of local orders. I don't hire a temp just to fill for incoming orders.
 
True confessions from someone who turned their machine off....

Unfortunately we are on our 4th major snowstorm in 2 1/2 weeks. It took two people to do deliveries out of one vehicle yesterday, roads weren't great but were passable, it had to do with delivering in a very congested downtown area that was at capacity with snow from two storms just this week and the ability to get in and out of parking spaces and parking lots and getting close enough to the delivery location. We have half the snow we normally do in a year and more than we did the whole year last year.

We are also at the top of the list for the largest city in our state, our staff is operating pretty much at capacity right now.

In addition, at this time I'd rather call my orders out to ensure the delivery can be made before the holiday than to send it blindly over the dove hoping the florist on the other end will fill their end of the bargain and reject in a timely manor if they can't fill it. We all know some shops just ignore the order and it just makes for a disappointed customer on both ends.

That all being said, if we get a call in order and we can possibly fill it, we do. Especially for our floral friends across the country, both fellow flower chatters and non flower chatters.

Blessings from the great white North East.
(where this Sunday's forecasted rain is now being forecasted to possibly include some urban street flooding before changing over to snow.....)
 
WE have to turn ours off, after all the other florist in town turn off tonight. We are ready with extra desgins and all sizes, howver we only get the ones we have REF, and OG sending out the old ones from all the days before. It is very flustrated that we keep getting orders, for what we have already told these people we are OUT of etc.
We all in different place, we are a retirment community, therefore all you northern folks that send, the last three days experience these tuen off or not able to get out.
Yes they go else weher, but generally we are filling OF order up to a week after each holiday, beacuse they could not get anyone to deliver them on 23 ot 24 or there is NO subsit. on the order.
Again, enjoy the holidays as you can. Life is good.
 
flowerknife+us said:
Go ahead, turn off the Machine. To hell with Customer service. Give them another reason to shop elsewhere.
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I'd change that to: It's good customer service...

While I said the machine would be off, I did not say I would not take phone ins. IMO it offers me the opportunity to tell you that I am out of red points, I have some beautiful Azaleas, both regular and topiary, we are out of Christmas Cactus, but still have nice Amarylis. We're done (thankfully) with fruit baskets, but will still do gourmet and candy.

We have begun closing some out laying delivery zones that have been done, and have no future deliveries as of last night. (most of these are 15 or more miles in one direction)

It's all about "customer (yours) service"...oh and making MY life easier...with only 2.7 business days to go til I lock the door for the holiday.
 
flowerknife+us said:
Go ahead, turn off the Machine. To hell with Customer service. Give them another reason to shop elsewhere.
Click to expand...

In my opinion it would be POOR customer service to leave the machine on and not be able to fulfill obligations on orders already taken.

As Bloomz sayz, opinions vary. I'm glad you do not ever have reason to do this.

Merry Christmas!
 
No Dove or Merc here, but we'll be glad to take your orders via phone or via IFA. We deliver to all of the SC towns/cities listed below.
 
We will be turning off the machines as soon as the stupid starts up. As many of us have tracked incoming wire orders being down somewhat, we want to sell thru the product we have purchased, and come up a little more in sales for the year. This has been a tough season on me this year, but I won't be quitting till I can get it all done.

MCF has a point about shops shutting down early in the week. Most dicussions here are suggesting very few of us shut down before late Thurs/FRI/Sat. Some of this goes back to Bloomzie's point of shops needing weeded out. Are you really too busy on Mon/Tues?

Also, should you really be trying to get specialty product out at this time without checking to make sure they can do it? I'm with Boss on the phone wire orders. In and out, someone needs to checking to see if their customer is taken care of, when you get really close to the holiday. We all sell out and sub at these late dates. I'm out of boxwoods, TK's, white poinsettias, etc., etc., call me I'll do my best.

And, while I'm on a roll, some good customer service could be extended to our fellow florists. Nasty wire order takers don't make the day go better either. I can handle some inexperience, but leave the broom riding shrew off the phone. Really.

Just my two cents for the day. Good luck peoples, and busy cash registers to you!
 
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We shut dove down last night at 4:45 and have set it to restart Sunday evening for Monday orders. Monday morning we will determine our capacity for additional orders and adjust accordingly.

The important thing to remember in this is that we all need to do what is best for our individual businesses and refrain from being too judgemental about what other businesses have to do.
 
Merry Christmas to ALL of you, ESPECIALLY those of you that shut your terminals off which kinda "violates" the whole purpose of having them in the first place.
Love you ALL.....
 
Terminals and machines and the ease of sending just by punching in a few keystrokes and bingo.....Done !!! And then tracking the order, hoping the filling shop reads the card right, no typos, then finding out they don't have, or the order got routed because this one shut the machine off, or this one is down, or any host of reasons........Just one more reason to not belong to a wire service.

If I call you for my customer, then I will know right then and there what I can and can't tell my customer and what you can and can't do for my customers. Being able to tell your customer this and that and calm his or her concerns right then and there at the time he or she is on the phone or in your store..........In my book, that's pretty good customer service.
 
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