Originally Posted by Favorite Fabrics
Originally Posted by ghostrider
You could follow Hancock's of Paducah's model which is charge full shipping with the initial package, bill the credit card for backordered items only when they have been shipped, and do not charge for additional shipping on backorders. Their international (Canada excluded) shipping rates, however, are figured as a percentage (30%) of the cost of the complete order, not a box size rate. They are also a much larger operation than you are. :lol:
Yes, they certainly are bigger, and I'm not envying them because their headaches are probably bigger than mine too. (Does that entitle them to a BIGGER bottle of wine?) :shock:
Their $20 minimum shipping cost isn't so customer-friendly to the international shopper who just wants a little bit of fabric, though. Hmmm...
They may be bigger, but they are certainly NOT better. I've ordered from you and HOP. I've placed three separate orders from HOP. I have never received a confirmatory email from them for any of the orders. One order was cancelled because the items were "sold out", but I wasn't informed until two weeks after the original order. The last order was sent as a partial order, some back-ordered items, and one item (a kit) that wasn't listed as either back-ordered, or no longer available. This also arrived two weeks after the original order. When I called HOP, I told them to just cancel the back-ordered items, and the customer-service (oxymoron) rep agreed to do so. Fifteen minutes later I got a phone call saying they were going to be charging me an extra $15.00 on the shipped items, because I had received a special deal on shipping for ordering more than xyz amount, but since the cancellation dropped that amount below xyz, the special shipping rate no longer applied. Frankly, I am DONE with HOP. And no, they don't get any wine!! But I digress....
Send an email to the customer explaining that some items are back-ordered, and will not be available until approximately XYZ date. Give them a deadline to reply to the email (say 5 business days) and say that if they don't respond by then, the on hand orders will be shipped and the others cancelled. In today's world, there isn't any reason why someone can't check their email in a week if they don't want to. If they are camping in BFE backwoods, then it's just their bad luck. And I would do like HOP does, and add a little bit to your shipping costs and offer the second shipment at half or discounted price for those who want the back-orders to remain.