Monday, July 14, 2008

#332: when in doubt...get out?

june 28 - saw a venue. kind of sort of fell in love with it. blabbed about the place with my entire family and fiance and got everyone excited
july 1 - had quite a long chat with the venue's coordinator and emailed a list of what we envision for the day so she could get back to me with an estimate
july 11 - sent a follow up email

TODAY - still haven't heard from her.

what do you think. i'm thinking...maybe she's no longer interested in my business (she knows i have this blog and my $$$ expectations). and that makes me saddeth.

i'm considering just crossing this place off my list and starting my search anew. that's what i'm thinking. but would that make me reckless? does it normally take a while to pull an estimate together? like over 2 weeks?

hm. if it does, then i'll re-title this post as a 'newbie mistake'.

if not...

36 comments:

Jess said...

Call call call. I didn't hear back from the caterer I wound up using for quite awhile after I first met with them, and nearly gave up, but their food was so good that I gave them a call just to see what had happened, and it turned out that the woman I'd been emailing with had abruptly left the company. I was given a new contact who turned out to be fabulous.

Only One Heidi said...

keep calling if you want them that bad :) We've gotten timelines from the people we've spoken with as to when to expect the proposal. It's been about a week with each which isn't so bad. Maybe give it a couple more days and then call?

style-for-style said...

I agree, not everyone in the business is on top of e-mail (or the 21st century for that matter)

Call, and give us the update.

Linda said...

I'd call. You never know what their work flow is like.

Dubbs said...

sadly, some people just aren't up on emails for whatever reason. i wrote off places that can't contact me via email, but that's just me. it absolutely does not take 2 weeks to have an estimate, and the least they can do is to respond with a 'hey, we'll work on it and get back to you' or something.

if you love the place, call and give them another chance. be careful though that if they are not responsive when you haven't even signed anything, it's highly likely that they will be same, and probably worse, throughout the planning process.

good luck, keep us updated.

Emily Takes Photos said...

I second what Dubbs said. I used to work as an event coordinator, and one of the things you need to be as a coordinator is to be on top of things. I was, but I had clients who weren't, and let me tell you: the ones who were bad about calling/emailng during the initial planning stages were like that up until the day of the event.

If you're truly in love with this venue, I'd give her one more call, and set a drop-dead date before moving on. But if you do book with them, beware that probably the rest of the planning will be like this, and if you're anything like I am, it'll drive you nuts.

Good luck!

Anonymous said...

Even though putting together an estimate does not take very long you should give vendors two weeks to get back to you. Since you sent in your request during the week of the 4th of July, I wouldn't even count that week and would expect something by the end of this week. If you don't hear from them by Friday give them a call.

Thing happen - internet goes out, people get sick, etc. Don't cancel them out yet.

Anonymous said...

What's the venue? Just out of curiosity...

Anonymous said...

Definitely call. The coordinators at both my venues are super sweet and helpful but email communication wasn't always speedy. I was able to meet them in person and speak on the phone at different times though, so I trusted that even if I didn't hear back from them in a week, I would eventually. I'm also planning my wedding for next year so I'm not as concerned right now -- I've sent in my contracts and all that so *shrug*. I really wouldn't give up unless you truly have exhausted all forms of contact. As much as we'd love people to be thinking about our wedding all the time, I think that we need to accept that we are not the only clients and things on their plate.

Now if they truly had an issue with your blog and budget, then maybe I'd look elsewhere. They'd be crazy to let something like that deter them from doing business.

Cate Subrosa said...

Ditto everyone above. It's unbelievable to some of us but some people really are still useless with email.

Anonymous said...

I agree that you should call, but just in case your e-mails are being spam-blocked and they haven't received them.

However, follow your gut when it comes to possible red flags.

If this company provided you with a contact e-mail address, then they should be monitoring their e-mail. If a company is not professional enough to check the e-mail address that they give to prospective clients, there is a problem.

It should NOT take 2 weeks to work up a quote. At the very least, you should have received a quick reply letting you know that your request had been received and how long it would be before you could expect to receive the quote.

Like Dubbs said, if they're bad about getting back with you now, when they have the chance to make some bank off you, they're going to be way worse later on.

Don't let a good price overwhelm your good judgement. :)

Give them one more chance by phone (and the excuse better NOT be an "excuse"), then move on.

Anonymous said...

This stuff takes longer than we'd like it to. I'm waiting for a quote from my caterer... it's 2 weeks late but the food is great and the price will (I hope) be right, so I'm hanging on.
I forget what your timeline is... our wedding isn't for a year so I'm not worried about waiting a bit but all the same I get impatient.
I'm also trying to keep our budget to 10K & blogging: elenalovespip dot blogspot dot com.

Cassandra B said...

I have found that people in the wedding industry are stuck in the 80s where it must have been acceptable not to return phone calls for days. Don't even get me started on emails. It took me roughly 2 months to get a contract from my venue. If you really want this place, call the person in charge...the boss, the owner, etc. They don't want to lose business but some employees could care less.

Colleen said...

Ok, call me crazy, but if you’re about to drop any amount of money on a venue, they better damn well be in contact with you! Yes, yes, I agree, some vendors aren’t that great with email, but I am a stickler for customer service. This woman knows she met with you. She knows that she has a prospective client out there. Why wouldn’t she follow up, regardless of the email situation? However, with that said, I’m notorious for cutting off my nose to spite my face, and I wouldn’t recommend my approach to many people…so give them a call, and kill them with kindness…maybe she’ll feel bad for sucking so much!

Anonymous said...

My mom and I have also had trouble with people getting back with us. We had made an appointment to go look at a place last weekend, and upon arrival she asked us what the date we were interested in was, and when we told her she was like, "Oh, I booked that date this week. Sorry I should have probably told you that before you drove all the way out here."

uhhhh.... ya think?

Wedding Professionals are not always so "professional." So if you haven't heard back from them you should definitely keep calling if you really like the venue!! It is summertime too and alot of people are going out of town on vacation- I've encountered this as well. Don't give up!

Anyta said...

Call :) I know how frustrating it is to secure a venue. In Singapore, space is limited and many hotels/venues will be booked way ahead of time. Good luck!

Anonymous said...

Call. I have had so much trouble getting vendors to return emails but they will generally call me back.

Anonymous said...

I would say to call too. But at the same time, do trust your gut instinct on things -- especially if this is one of those "I want this place!" place. Also, I think you have to keep in mind that you'll be working with these people for a while and you're gonna want someone who will be on top of things. I always kept this in mind. Actually...the place we did end up choosing weren't so interested in us from the get go. At first I thought they were just full of themselves, but later I figured they just aren't the pushy type -- or so I am telling myself that now. After we told them we'd be putting our deposit, they totally changed their tune. Hmmm, makes me wonder now....oh well.

Unknown said...

Keep in mind what your vendor's schedule may be like. My venue coordinator has events all weekend, takes Monday and Tuesday off (that's her "weekend"), then has Wednesday through Friday to respond to e-mails, do tastings and linen choices with upcoming events, meet with prospective clients, and all the other aspects of her job. A couple of weeks including a Holiday week may not be all that many real working days. Like fallonroxann said, give it another week. And like everyone else said, call - a lot of people aren't great with responding to e-mail.

Anonymous said...

It's Monday, I know for a fact event peeps do not work at their desks over the weekend and usually have Mondays off. Wait it out till the middle of the week. Then, call.

Noaki Jewelry said...

Two weeks seems a little absurd to me. I mean I get that people get busy but that's a pretty long time even in the middle of wedding season. My experience is if people are this unresponsive at the get go, it may not change. I might call one more time but I'd also listen to your instincts. Good luck!

Erika said...

Not a single one of my vendors sent an estimate without a follow-up phone call from me. Hello? Remember me? You said I've have that estimate/contract/receipt in hand two weeks ago? I just got used to it, and decided that I had to be on the ball and follow up every time. It does add a lot of work for the bride though.

Anonymous said...

We saw the title of your blog on Elizabeth Anne Designs, a blog which we love and I couldn't resist clicking the link. We love it! Our budget for our wedding was $13,000 so we're right there with you and if you need any help or ideas totally drop us a line and let us know. Sucks about your coordinator. Just plain awful. I look forward to reading more! :) -David

Little Ms Blogger said...

I'd call again. I'm planning a wedding and have been upfront with costs and the date. If you've been that way, then you would know that you don't want your business in your initial conversation. I think they just got busy with wedding season.

Ms. 122 said...

call just to make sure, but if you're having doubts maybe you should look around a little more before signing on the dotted line. fh and i had a place we were almost sure that we would use, and then we started having doubts, now we've found a place that will work perfectly for us, sans doubts.

also, i put on the 122rollcall

:)

Anonymous said...

I'd give a call but would starting looking for other options...if they're not responsive enough that might be a red flag. You definitely don't want to run after after the week before the wedding to finalize details!

On another note, I was browsing through dresses and found this one that made me think of you:
http://womens-apparel.smartbargains.com/go.sb?pagename=prod&fd=true&fcloc=search&sp=All%2BProducts%252f%252f%252f%252fUserSearch%253d%257c%257c%257c%257c%257c%252f%252f%252f%252fWomen's%2BApparel%2BBargains%252f%252f%252f%252fDresses%2B%2526%2BEvening%2BWear%252f%252f%252f%252fAttribSelect%253dBrand%253d'Kay%2BUnger'%252f%252f%252f%252f&dk=Dresses%2520&%2520evening%2520wear=&deptid=9&catid=1408&prodid=1411486660&t=Cat-Refine.dept-9.cat-1408.prod.9

Super cute for an informal wedding!

Anonymous said...

Here's the link (I hope it works!)

http://tinyurl.com/5olw8o

Anonymous said...

I am inclined to agree with Emily P...I am afraid that the entire experience will be frustrating for you--not what you want or need when planning the big day.

I imagine that at this point you may have already called her again, any response? Have you thought about speaking to a manager?

Madhavi said...

This is the big frustration. I get it from my photographer, my caterer, my rental store.. they never call back or return my emails. I keep wondering if they want my money too and I dont run a wedding blog. Be persistent.

RhodeyGirl/Sabrina said...

i would call, and if you have to leave a vm and no one calls you back i would call the general line and ask for someone else.

i had written over 5 follow up emails and left 2 vms before calling my venue's general line. Spoke with someone else and found out the woman i had been working with quit suddenly (and therefore no response).

there is a realllly high turnover in this type of work so just be patient, but straightforward!

Anonymous said...

any updates on the situation =)?

Anonymous said...

Agreed - we're on the edge of our collective seats! Do you have an update?

old said...

If you love it, call, call again! They'll probably be like this the whole time you work with them though. If you love the place enough though, just keep at it.

Good Luck!

Anonymous said...

So did you call? Did you give up? This situation would be so frustrating! My fiance and I are also looking for a venue for our wedding. I have sent out a bunch of inquiries (via email mostly). There was one place in particular I completely forgot I had inquired about and I magically got a response about two weeks later. It definitely made me think twice about considering the place, but as of now the price is right so it's still under consideration. :-)

Anonymous said...

I totally went through the same thing with the first venue my fiance and I wanted. I stalked the catering manager for WEEKS before deciding we didn't want to work with such flaky people. We eventually found a really great restaurant with a woman who actually returns our calls and e-mails. Best of luck! I read your blog all the time and totally relate...

Anonymous said...

i found your blog yesterday and am madly in love. with your blog. (i mean not that you aren't equally great...) no offense.

anyway. i read the entire thing. from the beginning. good work. :)