My new Vendor Policy...Thoughts?

[terrormasue]

I have been burned by several vendors and as I read I see that I am not alone. I have personally adopted my own policy when dealing with any vendor even one's that have NEVER burned anyone and here it is..... I pay half down and the other have when I have my tracking number in my hand and know that it has been shipped or it is at the shippers with a tracking number ready to go out the door. I do understand that vendors get burned themselves and that many run on a very tight budget but money is tight for me as well and if I pay and don't receive that's like using cash to start a fire..... I know there are great vendors out there, don't get me wrong but I know myself and to have that little bit of security in hand is worth it to me. I really don't see why the vendors would not be willing to deal with buyers in this manner? Any thoughts? I know at one time we tossed around a "MAIN" distributer say like Amazon... a third intermediate party if you will which in a sense guaranteed both sides, the vendor and the buyer.... Guaranteed the vendor his money if he came through and delivered his product, the buyer would be guaranteed the product. More like a "holding area". Someone holds the money for the buyer then assures the vendor the money is there and they would recieve it if and only if the product was delivered in tact and in a timely manner.... This assures NO STRESS on either party.....thoughts? I would lOVE to do business this way. I do not need the stress of wondering hey am I going to get ripped off again and damn this one room revolves around the product that I dont have yet...will it arrive in time????

Sue

[Gore Galore]

Gore Galore Policy

Sue,
Your policy is almost exactly how we ALWAYS do business.
50% upfront, Balance just prior to shipping. We determine the shipping from the carrier by giving them dims on the crate or box before shipping so that we are also charging exactly what the cost of the shipping is rather than over or under charging. We did this to both save us money and the customer in the long run.
However, We will NOT ship without having payment in full.
the 50% will cover the build for any vendor.
But COD is NOT something we could EVER do.
The 50% upfront is enough to confirm the order and make sure the customer is secure in the order. But we HAVE to receive the balance before shipping.
SOOOO many customers in the past would receive a net term and then never pay it or wait months. Then we have to start charging an interest fee. sometimes that would motivate them to pay, or else at that point we have to turn it over to a collection agency. What a waste that is because then we only receive a % of those funds.
SO, this is why we established our current policy.

However, here is an idea. SOmething John Laflamboy of Zombie Army did the first time they ordered from us. I was required to sign a contract that stated the deadline on when the order would be delivered. If we didn't meet the deadline by say 30 days we would discount the order 10%. If we missed the order by 60 days or more then the order was discounted even more, or if the customer did not want to wait any longer then the deposit would be refunded. All this was spelled out very clearly in the contract. SO, that helped to guarantee a timely delivery or else we lost profit because of our neglect of taking proper care of an order.

[terrormasue]

Kevin, yes I totally understand. But you are one vendor that is on the up and up and no one has to worry about your ethics or honesty. But there are many vendors out there that take the money and run....... So we as buyers are up the creek. Yes I like the idea of a contract but again that only goes for honest and dependable vendors such as yourself. It's a huge problem and I am not sure of the solution. A few dollars here and there is not a problem but when thousands of dollars is at stake thats another story. I do like the idea of a middle man even if it does cost just a little more. Peace of mind is worth that to me. I know to start producing a huge order for a buyer is costly and would most likely run about 50% of the total sale but to have a neutral party hold the other 50% until the vendor completed the order is not a bad idea and if the vendor took off then the buyer would be out only 50% which is better then 100%. It's a tough thing to say the least. Look at the other threads, Jueanu Studios and Johnson animatronics and I could name more..... There are vendors out ther right now that have put buyers in a panic because they couldn't deliver the product in time for haunt season...So what do you do about that? Cash and carry? All good for some of the smaller things but huge animatronics and other big items is a no go......thousands of dollars is thousands of dollars....I would love to work on this to insure both parties are satisfied. Ther has got to be a way out there somewhere...

Sue

[Gore Galore]

I would certainly pay by Credit Card for one or even paypal. Set specific deadlines and take no excuses. Well, maybe allow a vendor to extend that deadline once. THen say you have 30 days to complete the order or else you are going to reverse the charges. if you don't get the order in that time frame then do just that.

I hate saying this but I would also most certainly out dirty vendors. when you do get screwed make sure everyone knows about it. It is another way to teach vendors to be on top of communication and taking care of their customers.

I really have trouble believing that there are more than maybe a couple vendors out there that don't do their best to be reputable vendors. I mean I KNOW of a couple. But most really try to do their best. Their best may not be good enough but they are NOT trying to rip people off. They might be good artists but Bad business people. Sadly, it is hard to be a good artist and a good business person too. It almost requires 2 different brain types. But that is one reason we have an office manager on top of me being a decent business man.
Not the greatest but decent.

Oh but maybe just buy from us or other reputable companies. Then you know you will be taken care of. and not taking a chance. I mean think about it this way. Companies that have been around a while and build a reputation for taking care of business deserve to be rewarded for being the top of the heap. Don't you think?

It is great supporting the upstarts and new vendors. But you have to stick to your guns with them.
And teach them how to do business. Not how to take advantage of customers.

[poison]

I agree with Kevin. If you pay using a credit card you have 90 days to do a charge back and sometimes you can make a claim out to 120 days.
That would get your 50% deposit back easy.
Vendors should be able to deliver in 3 months.

[morte615]

My vendor policy is dependent on the vendor. I will base how I work with a vendor depending on many factors, first off by how much business I have already done with them. A company like Gore Galore (Picking on him because he's in this topic! But he's a great company to work with) I will usually work with their terms (and always pay with a credit card.)

A company that I am new to, or I have not heard good things about, my policy is closer to yours. And if they are not willing to work with that then I go elsewhere.

There is also a good service to use that protects both parties, an escrow service. For a small fee they will hold your money until the product is delivered, then they will release the money to the vendor. That way the vendor knows the money is there, and the client knows that their money is safe until they receive the product.

[Jim Warfield]

I Know a Vender

Who gets their credit card info, but would not run the info until the package was going out his door. He may have done it like this to keep himself on-time?
When he once had an item simply vanished at the other end of the country, he had to wait 30 days before the US Post office would declare it "Lost'......not a good thing for him.
I have only lost a very few ticket sales , people I trusted , "Were going to pay me later." They were almost all classmaates of mine from High School! (It's a very small school, 40-50 kids in a class!)
One little old Grandma who never paid .. I don't really care because she was THE FUNNIEST, Swearing, Screaming-est little woman I have EVER had inside of this house!
I'd love to get her back in ere and film every second of her!
America's Funniest Video Prize Money , here I come!

[wickedfarmer]

Credit card

Kevin & Adams credit card advice worked for me. I put down payment on a credit card at Transworld a couple years back. Then in summer the company put the other half on the credit card. My flying monkey never came. If I say I never got through to the vendor to see what was going on that is an understatement. I simply called credit card company; told them what had happened and they reversed all charges including March charges. Done business with Kevin -Gore Galore and Adam-Poison Props and never had an issue. You will likely even see them on here in summer and fall of 2015 updating their current order status and updating cut off time to even order next summer.

Wicked Farmer

[screamforadream]

I am lucky enough to witness and experience both sides of the experience.

As a vendor (www.DecimatedDesigns.com) I only take credit cards, I will do cash only if it's for display items at a show, other than that, unless I know you rather well, you're paying on a card, that's the safest way for both parties. And because I own 3 haunts, I only allow us to take as many orders as we can fill prior to the start of my haunt season. Which is good for me as a vendor, because I know I will be finished well before September with all major Tradeshow orders (this year they were all shipped by July)! And my customers who know that I own a haunt have felt comfortable ordering because of that. I'm not on the outside looking in, I'm right there with them! I wouldn't want to be waiting for lord knows how long, so I'm not going to make my customers. We do half down, then the balance plus shipping once it's ready.

As a buyer, I do wish the Tradeshows that haunt vendors attend were more proactive in protecting the buyers. There are MANY vendors who have burned me, and many others, but Tradeshows still allow them to show up and steal! It's disheartening, and it's my belief that Tradeshows need to be more proactive in turning away vendors who are known crooks.

I do like the idea of a haunt-escrow company. It's definitely something to look into starting.... But the concern is, would that prevent some vendors from being able to deliver if their funds are held up and they aren't able to produce because they don't have the additional cash flow needed to order all materials in the meantime? I know my foam bill is UP THERE but I have to order it in bulk after each Tradeshow because that's how I keep my costs down, if I didn't have the immediate half down, affording a foam bill well into the thousands, plus latex, paint, wood, etc, would be REALLY difficult, then fronting the shipping would be another nightmare with freight.... There's a lot to think about.

[Gore Galore]

Tradeshow companies

Tradeshow companies can't control what vendors do.
BUT what they will do is respond to their customers.
If buyers who were wronged by a vendor contacted the company producing the tradeshow and let them know the situation they might be more equipped to possibly do something about it. Atleast they would be informed of the situation. I mean onesies and twosies wouldn't make anything happen. But if 10 or 20 different customers were to contact the producers and expressed their concerns something might be effected.

[screamforadream]

Kevin, all I know is, I've never had a more jovial expression on my face reading a hauntworld post, you using the words "onesies or twosies" was pretty hilarious. That was funny. Thank you.

But yes, you're right, more people should voice their concern to the Tradeshow companies about poor vendor experiences.

And back to kidding......I have some friends at Judge Judy should anyone wanna go that route! Lmao

[Gore Galore]

Yup,
I know how to NOT take myself too seriously

But I would also venture to say you do NOT have friends on the Judge Judy show. I watched the episode. LOL

[Gore Galore]

Back to a serious point.
I really think this thread has real value.
It does seem to be getting somewhere.

As a long standing vendor with a good reputation it does really concern me when a customer feels screwed by any vendor.
Because I think it hurts ALL vendors. Those customers are much more cautious with spending their money. They should feel comfortable with their purchases.
Yes, sure there are always going to be issues sometime with getting product in a timely manor. But ATLEAST the customer should ALWAYS receive their product. AND if the vendor and the buyer have an open line of communication then there usually are no problems.

something that helps us as vendors is again our policy: I am giving this information to other vendors to help them become better vendors.
ALL orders require 50% down. An order is only a quote until we have the deposit. It does not go into the production schedule without it. In other words, the order does NOT exist without money backing the order. When we receive the deposit then we discuss a deadline. And with that deadline we determine when it goes into the production schedule. When the order is up for production we contact the buyer and let them know it is going into production. When the order is ready to ship and when we have contacted our shipper and have an exact shipping cost we again contact the buyer, let them know the final cost. The order is packed up and sits until the balance is paid for. Sometimes this is immediate, sometimes it can take a month or more. When the balance is paid then the order ships out the same or next day.
That is how we do it and since we started handling our orders this way our order problems have dropped immensily. We don't make exceptions. Everytime we do we get screwed.


But I really do think the way to protect the market is for buyers to be vocal about their experiences both good and bad.
Then that allows other buyers to weigh their decision based on what other's have experienced.
I know that we get alot of business based on our reputation.
Word of mouth is everything for your haunted house as it means everything for the haunt vendor industry. This is a very small industry.
And you the buyers really do or can control how it operates.

1. Support the long standing vendors w a good reputation
2. help new companies with innovative products get started but do business with them in a certain way that protects you and them. I think the escrow account is an interesting idea. I don't know how it would work. But it is interesting. Or pay by credit card like we discussed and set a 90 day delivery. and stick to your guns.
3. If you do or other customers get screwed then be vocal about it ( I don't like seeing vendors getting bashed, but sometimes coming and posting on the boards does seem to always get an immediate response. It should always be the last resort but it does seem to always work.
4. If you have a great experience with a vendor be vocal about it. PLEASE!!!!!

then the quality vendors will come to the forefront and those that can't run a business will fall back and eventually disappear.

[wickedfarmer]

But...

Tradeshow companies can't control what vendors do.
BUT what they will do is respond to their customers.
If buyers who were wronged by a vendor contacted the company producing the tradeshow and let them know the situation they might be more equipped to possibly do something about it. Atleast they would be informed of the situation. I mean onesies and twosies wouldn't make anything happen. But if 10 or 20 different customers were to contact the producers and expressed their concerns something might be effected.

But that would possibly mean the one end of the Dark Zone would totally vanish! And I got left out in the cold on order after meeting with the owner in dark zone personally going over order and let him know I actually defended him on here about the 'gang piling" other haunts would sometimes engage in in years past. As one of my friends said to me 'They finally screwed you too huh." This was after several of their VERY LARGE props made their way to my farm.

Wicked Farmer

[Gore Galore]

Well, So be it! LOL

But seriously,
based on this thread I started a new facebook group
called Haunt Vendor Review
https://www.facebook.com/groups/764567573606370/

This group will allow a place for buyers to clearly demonstrate their experiences with vendors.
We will try to keep it vacant of drama and allow customers to simply present their experiences with vendors both positive and negative.
We will establish a criteria by which to evaluate your experiences.
I am hoping this group might help buyers be able to make better buying decisions.
Feel free to join, but be patient to allow it to get up and running.