I have placed orders from many CP plant nurseries around the globe and except for one or two I have had really slow service. Many do not even acknowledge receipt of an order or answer questions in a timely manner. Have I just grown accustomed to good, professional service from other industries on the web; or are these CP nurseries just slow because they know they have rare plants and often are the only source. I understand it can get busy during the peak shipping periods, but is this really any excuse? If you are in it for the money you should treat it like a business, not a hobby. There are so many computer programs that will automatically respond to e-mails that I wonder why these are not used. Another complaint is the dealer that has a web page that is hopelessly outdated (links that do not work, prices and plant availability wrong). I wish we had a system like the Orchid Grower's Rating and Evaluation System (see http://www.proinnovation.com/ogres/). Even if the dealers do not respond, we could vent a little steam.
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If you click on the link mentioned above it will not work. Try the address without the ). Correctly it should be:
http://www.proinnovation.com/ogres/
http://www.proinnovation.com/ogres/
NickHubbell
It’s a trap!
Many of the CP nurceries are part-time-businesses. These are businesses that are built on a hobby and many work full-time jobs elsewhere.
Some places only ship a few times a month. They wait for several orders to be placed and filled before running a shipment to the post. It would be very time consuming to run a single package 20 miles just to have another waiting when one returns.
Some people receive hundreds of emails a day. It takes time to answer them. I usually wait 4-5 days before I resend an email.
Just some thoughts on the subject.
Some places only ship a few times a month. They wait for several orders to be placed and filled before running a shipment to the post. It would be very time consuming to run a single package 20 miles just to have another waiting when one returns.
Some people receive hundreds of emails a day. It takes time to answer them. I usually wait 4-5 days before I resend an email.
Just some thoughts on the subject.
As you said.. .much depends on what time of year it is and WHO you are dealing with.
I can speak for us only.. but we are a full time operation that had dedicated staff to packing orders. We have a very nice (and expensive) automated system that has helped our customers but some customers want more ...
When you're dealing with live goods, it makes it hard for things like inventory management --- which is the back bone to many systems that do the automated contacting etc. We struggle with this as well.
So, What I have to say on that matter is. It does take us a couple of days sometimes to answer questions. And honestly if the question is just downright stupid... we dont' waste time to answer it and forward links to our forums and other resources. People whine about their order taking so long... but if you only had a clue on how many calls we have to answer emails that we have to answer etc etc you would probably understand. Most of the time if we weren't bombarded with emails on senseless things we'd be able to spend more time packing the orders to get them out.
However, being a full time professional dealer, you can always pick up the phone and call our company and get a quick answer. Why people don't call if they haven't gotten a response to email, I'll never know.
But no matter how you look at it. Nurseries are busy... not generally technically advanced and most dont' have a clue about customer service or basic business practices.
I personally believe that we've gained a very good reputation for the attention we give to the orders and the customer, but let the truth be known that emails sometimes go unanswered and orders get delayed. That could change if we increased our prices and had full time email/phone people to filter through the TON of mail we get from people asking the same question over and over that is posted on most reference sites as well as our forums.
Just my .02 or .03
I can speak for us only.. but we are a full time operation that had dedicated staff to packing orders. We have a very nice (and expensive) automated system that has helped our customers but some customers want more ...
When you're dealing with live goods, it makes it hard for things like inventory management --- which is the back bone to many systems that do the automated contacting etc. We struggle with this as well.
So, What I have to say on that matter is. It does take us a couple of days sometimes to answer questions. And honestly if the question is just downright stupid... we dont' waste time to answer it and forward links to our forums and other resources. People whine about their order taking so long... but if you only had a clue on how many calls we have to answer emails that we have to answer etc etc you would probably understand. Most of the time if we weren't bombarded with emails on senseless things we'd be able to spend more time packing the orders to get them out.
However, being a full time professional dealer, you can always pick up the phone and call our company and get a quick answer. Why people don't call if they haven't gotten a response to email, I'll never know.
But no matter how you look at it. Nurseries are busy... not generally technically advanced and most dont' have a clue about customer service or basic business practices.
I personally believe that we've gained a very good reputation for the attention we give to the orders and the customer, but let the truth be known that emails sometimes go unanswered and orders get delayed. That could change if we increased our prices and had full time email/phone people to filter through the TON of mail we get from people asking the same question over and over that is posted on most reference sites as well as our forums.
Just my .02 or .03
/shrug
Can only speak for myself, but I ship every day except Thursday, Friday and sometimes Wed. So depending when the order arrives, inventory is checked, and payment settled, it might ship the following day or it might wait a few days. I ship if it is a single plant or a dozen boxes. Believe me.. I know what it is like to be anxiously awaiting a package!!
I don't use an automated email order responder because even with keeping my pricelist up to date on a regular basis, sometimes a plant goes out of stock. Or something happens to them (ie I screw up) and the plant doesn't look right when an order comes in. I prefer to verify all the plants visually at the greenhouse and send a personally written reply to any order coming in via the website.
Tony
Can only speak for myself, but I ship every day except Thursday, Friday and sometimes Wed. So depending when the order arrives, inventory is checked, and payment settled, it might ship the following day or it might wait a few days. I ship if it is a single plant or a dozen boxes. Believe me.. I know what it is like to be anxiously awaiting a package!!
I don't use an automated email order responder because even with keeping my pricelist up to date on a regular basis, sometimes a plant goes out of stock. Or something happens to them (ie I screw up) and the plant doesn't look right when an order comes in. I prefer to verify all the plants visually at the greenhouse and send a personally written reply to any order coming in via the website.
Tony
superimposedhope
Somewhat Unstable
It's not just CP's though, I have had slow replies from many different nurseries. If you want slow try to order from Bob Smoley, though he has a magnificent selection of non-CP tropicals and others. I think that it is worth a little wait as Tony said if the plant doesn't look right and you are going to personally write to me or something of the like. A friend of mine owns a local business and as the name implies people with a BUSINESS are BUSY people.
Joe
Joe
