Thursday, June 4, 2015

Order of the Odor: Volume 10

Welcome to the Order! We are so excited to bring you two new members to the Order: Michelle from Waxing About and Liz from Furianne! These ladies write awesome blog posts about smelly stuff and we are honored to have them join us. Please chime in on our question this month:

Have you had any wax ordering frustrations?

I'm sure most of us will have big, long answers to this question since we have all been buying wax for quite some time. Yes, there are many a frustration when buying wax, some I can get over and some I cannot. Let's start at the beginning wofith the ordering process. 

1) If a vendor has a bad website, it's a pain in the ass. If a vendor doesn't lay out their specific instructions for ordering, their contact information and things like when they are opened and closed, turn around time (TAT), etc, it's a pain in the ass. I am very easy to please, but I have a really hard time wanting to buy from someone who has a website that looks like a maze.

2) Vendors who do not have their scent lists clearly laid out on their website. What? How am I supposed to know what to buy if it's called "Meryl's Magnificent Mother's Milk"??? BECAUSE I WILL AUTOMATICALLY ASSUME IT SMELLS LIKE BREAST MILK AND I WILL NOT BUY YOUR BREAST WAX.  Give us a general idea for crying out loud, and also, don't make us click through. every. individual. item. on. your. site. to. see. each. scent. listed. on. every. single. solitary. item.

3) It's not a thrill for me to wake up at 3am west coast time to sneak out of the bedroom with my phone/laptop and doddle around the house like I am planning some lascivious act because you're a mid-west/east coast vendor. Most vendors are good about this, but some are not. Just saying, it makes me look like a hooker.

4) Vendors who automatically assume everyone and their mothers are on Facebook. I just so happen to be, obsessively so, but I know several wax buyers who do not frequent these groups and/or Facebook altogether because they either don't have time for them, don't want to see any unnecessary drama, don't use Facebook all that often anyways, etc. This part does not apply to me, it's just a general concern. Don't assume everyone will be on your Facebook page to get the scent list, which brings me back to point #2, just put your scent list on your darn website!

5) One thing I cannot and will not ever get over or tolerate is bad customer service when ordering wax, and this doesn't just apply to me, it should apply to everyone. I have only experienced this personally on a few rare occasions, but this includes: 
  • vendors lying about where a package is, and/or not sending tracking information when asked
  • vendors lying if a package has been sent or not, even when it is auction winnings/round robins/supplies, etc
  • vendors who say they accidentally sent someone else with a similar name my package (WUT??? this really happened to me and a couple other people I know)
  • vendors who make their wild/wrong/off-putting/horrible racist, sexist, homophobic, ableist, ageist views known in public forums...there are TONS of vendors who participate in other all-purpose Facebook groups and get themselves into a bind for saying something bad/wrong/messed up/out of context and someone interprets it wrong and starts a rumor that they are XYandZ, but then there are the vendors who are just straight-up batshit crazy, there's no denying this fact. There are plenty of good, normal vendors out there, so don't waste your time buying from shitty ones who value one human's life over another. It is frustrating to say the least when I have been giving my money to a vendor who is so intolerant.
  • vendors who use crappy packaging and as a result, get customers who are pissed off that their orders were messed up. I know the post office has a hand in this sometimes, but when you're not adding enough packaging or padding altogether, things WILL jostle around and create a mess.
I have ranted for too long, but these are some of my major frustrations. LOL.

Deb hauled from a newer wax vendor and is quite impressed with their TAT, scents, throw and pricing. What new vendor has snared Deb's hard to capture attention? Come and find out, you will want to order too!

There is a vendor that Sunnee tries to never miss a sale from. Check out her most recent post showcasing just such a sale haul. Her gorgeous photos and blend picks are sure to create a lemming. 

Jamie Lauren Cupcakery and Confection in Wax (JLCCW), a old popular vendor who closed and is now slated to re-open (for the second time- fingers crossed!) has a reputation for cute and strong throwing wax creations. Liz was one of the lucky old crew that hauled a nice order before JLCCW closed and is reviewing some. Check out how JLCCW wax is faring years later.

Mystery tarts, custom brittle and scent shots that have lightening fast TAT are all great things but when the brittle is Pink Peppermint you KNOW that is the cherry on top. And you probably know who hauled it.... Lauren! Haul posts are rare gems from her, so make sure not to miss this one!

Lasting Scent Candles announced they are closing, but will still be selling off their stock on their website with announcements on Facebook, until they run out. Julie shares her recent LSC haul with wishes we can all grab some last stragglers before they are gone forever.

Plum Wine Sandalwood, Jasmine Vanilla Green Tea Peach, and M'Lady's Boudoir fragrances... can you guess what vendor these unusual and innovative blends hails from? Michelle shares her recent haul that includes these cool scents, great photos and ordering information.  

16 comments:

  1. You hit the nail on the head with the website frustrations! I hate hate hate clicking through for scents! I learnt to live with time zone differences (well, I have to) but it's really no fun rolling out of bed at 7am and groggily trying to spend money.

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    1. Clicking through for scents...ain't nobody got time for that! It cannot be that hard to put them all in one place on the site, as well as Facebook!! I live with the time zone thing, too, but one time in particular, I had to wake up at 2:30am because the vendor was opening at 6am east coast time! GAH!

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    2. OMG, 6am EST and 2.30am PST?! That's nuts or maybe the vendor was hoping that it would ease traffic somehow.

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  2. Lauren!!!! I am dying laughing at your hooker behaving breast milk loathing self. Yours is hilariously accurate.

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    1. I had to balance out my anger with humor, it's the only way I know how to be critical. :P

      I am glad you enjoyed, though, I got a kick out of writing this one, even though it was sort of touchy!

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  3. Oh my! Hooker breast milk. That's a mental image I'm not sure if I want burned out of my mind or locked away for a rainy day when I need a laugh.
    Unprofessional attitudes are such an annoyance! You really grasped my feelings on the subject!

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    1. I find it best to keep that image locked away for a rainy day. Or, on a day you're super frustrated with wax buying. "Those darn hookers and their darn breast scents!!!" ;)

      I really hate the unprofessional attitudes...just be kind to everyone! It's not that hard! Glad you agree.

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  4. Vendors should read this! Your frustrations mirror mine, so you've got to assume others feel the exact same way! Yes, I hate clicking a million times for scents, just please list them out. And sometimes I don't want to 'watch the facebook group' do you know how many groups I'm in? They get lost in the shuffle.

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    1. At one point, my list on the side of Facebook got to be over 50 groups. When I logged on near some friends, one of them asked, what IS all that stuff on the side?! I had to explain and sounded like a crazy person, LOL. I hope vendors don't take our suggestions the wrong way, I was trying to bring a bit of humor to the situation, sure, but they are legitimate issues others obviously have, too!

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  5. OMGggggggg Lauren! This post needs to be published. How is it possible to be this funny and spot on?
    My fear of not being married to Facebook vendor groups runs deep. I know that if I don't check FB regularly, I'm going to miss out on a ton of information.

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    1. Deflection with humor = MY STRONG POINT. LOL. :)

      It is a double-edged sword of sorts. You either obsessively check Facebook and be in the know, or don't and not get any information/not buy any wax. It's gotten to be there are just too many groups and vendors to keep up, so I just sort of hide under a blanket and don't do anything.

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  6. I laughed too at the hooker breast milk line of thought but what's almost funnier is that you never do say WHY you're getting up at 3am with your phone. LOL! Go back and read point #3. I assume you mean getting up 3am to try and catch an opening and place an order, but you don't actually ever say that. LOL

    But yes, good points you've made. Assuming everyone is on Facebook and in every group irks me. The few vendor groups I'm in are usually only for access to scent lists. OH!!!! Dangit, I should have mentioned that in my post! Why can't vendors leave their sites open even they aren't taking orders?!?! I'd like to be able to see what scents there are, what products there are, what prices things are....so I can get ready for an order next time.

    Another rant about scent lists is HAVE THEM COMPLETE AND UP TO DATE!!!! And in one place!!!

    Oh my, soooo many more frustrations are coming to mind now......

    ~Deb

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    1. Good point. I like the see the sites too even if close for ordering. Scents lists are like a menu at a restaurant, they should be up to date and include all scents! Yes!

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    2. LOL! DEB! I should have explained, I guess I just assumed, but this way it's waaay more funny! LOL.

      It shouldn't be that hard to leave ONE page of a site opened with the scent descriptions available for people to see in the off-open times. Especially bloggers or instagrammers etc, who want to give scent descriptions in their posts. Grrrrr!!

      There are TONS of vendors good at keeping their scent lists up to date, but others are just sort of lacking. Sorry to give you more frustrations! LOL

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  7. Yes.. ain't this the truth. My pain in the ass vent would be vendors who don't keep bad customers in check. Letting customers jump on people and not keeping balance is just wrong.

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    1. I didn't think about that, hmm! Interesting thoughts on "bad" customers. I feel like, when I first came onto the wax scene, I WAS a bad customer, you know? Always posting on wax boards. This has changed a lot now because I am a bit more reserved about posting constant photos on wax groups...I usually stick to Instagram and this here blog!

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