I'm confused and need some advice

Chuck Ellis

Member
Messages
6,997
Location
Tellico Plains, Tennessee
I have some or rather had some pepper mills on consignment at the local bakery. I've had them there off and on for about 3 years. The baker is a nice young man and seemed happy to have the mills in the shop. He has an area where several people put stuff on consignment. Today the wife and I went in for a loaf of bread and I was rather unceremoniously handed a box with all of my mills and a very cryptic, unsigned note that read "We do not appreciate your ungrateful behavior"... the owner nor his wife were there today, so can't talk to them, but the clerk working the front said she thought it had to do with some rolls that my wife asked about a couple of weeks back, then declined as they were not what she wanted. She also made a comment about the cost of the rolls... the price had doubled since the last time we bought them.

When I put the mills there the first year I offered to pay a commission on the sales, he declined. The next year I offered again, again he declined. This year I didn't mention a commission, but did speak with owner and he was glad to get them back.

I know I need to talk with the owner, but I suspect it was the wife who pulled the mills out... I think she was in the store the day we were there and asked about the rolls. I don't want to create any strife between the owners...
It's not a big loss to me to lose the outlet... they haven't sold a mill in about 9 months or more.

My question is: Should I talk with the owner or just leave well enough alone and chalk it up to "Oh Well". :dunno:
 
Ok, I don't pay much attention to this astrology stuff, but I've seen a few of my new-agy friends mention this on FB.

Mercury in Retrograde

Apparently, this affects things like communications between people and mentions specifically being a bad time to conduct business...

Now I'm not saying that I've seen 'communication issues' lately, but, uh, :rolleyes:, yeah, I've seen a few communication issues going on here and there.

All I can say is your post just puts another data point on that map for me.. :rofl:

Sorry I cant provide any real constructive advice, but sometimes you just can't get in the other persons head. Maybe they were just having a bad day and you were in the wrong spot at the wrong time and said something that they mis-interpreted. It happens all the time...
 
I'd do one of two things, first is the "Oh well" people are strange folks (I know, I am one too!) and just walk away.

The other thing that would consider is leave it for a week or more, let things cool off and and then go back, as a customer and buy something make sure the owner is there and then with a loaf of his bread in hand, just simply ask what happened? Don't be angry or upset just explain that you were not aware of a problem and you were curious what happened is all?

If he gets all huffy, then just back off and say that you are sorry you asked and compliment him on the good bread and leave.

Like I said, people are strange folk :dunno:
 
Folks is funny critters.
You may never know what hit their hot button.
Doesn't matter.
Take the mills and say nothing. What is to be gained by engaging in a discussion that is already on the downhill slide?
I would suggest you take a look at why your mills haven't sold after three years.
 
Folks is funny critters.
You may never know what hit their hot button.
Doesn't matter.
Take the mills and say nothing. What is to be gained by engaging in a discussion that is already on the downhill slide?
I would suggest you take a look at why your mills haven't sold after three years.

I've sold a number of mills there over the 3 years I've been putting them there... I change them out every few months... the store closes down over the winter and really only does well during the tourist season which is just starting up again.

And you're right it doesn't matter... just that we were a little mystified and frankly a little hurt by their attitude... we've been good customers for about 7 or so years... the last 4 1/2 since moving up here and we stopped regularly when we were coming up to visit before that.
 
so let me get this straight.
You have merchandise there and they gave it back to you because you had the nerve to mention they were selling you inferior baked goods at a higher price?

I wouldnt want my merchandise associated with someone whose standards of their own wares are obviously low and critism bothers them enough to toss a customer. (and Im sure they made money on your merchandise also)

Its nerve if you ask me, chutzpah!
 
And you're right it doesn't matter...

Chuck,

I know I'm going against the grain here, but I think it *does* matter. In fact, I think it matters very much.

Something happened. There was a conflict, a misunderstanding, something. It's led to a negative situation, and some kind of bond has been broken.

In other words, the fabric has been torn. It's up to you to mend it. When something like this happens to me, it troubles me. A lot. I can't live with myself until I at least *try* to repair things. This usually means a personal visit. Not a message or a phone call, but something face to face.

If it's the wife who felt bad, I'd talk to her. At worst, I'd get to hear about what a rotten human being I was. At best, I'd get some new lesson about human nature. In either case, we'd both walk away with a different point of view.

From a practical economic standpoint, it may not matter at all. Perhaps she won't go around saying bad things about you, and there would be no loss of reputation around town. But just from in a "being in the world" standpoint, it would be better to have tried to mend the fabric.

Usually, when I go to talk to someone after something like this, I'm pretty surprised by what they have to say. In most cases, it has to do with something I was doing that I thought was positive and helpful, but wasn't viewed that way.

There's no harm in trying. She probably won't knife you! ;) And you may make a friend for life...

Thanks,

Bill
 
I just gotta defend the baker a little.
Having owned retail stores, I understand the stresses of pricing and trying to keep customers happy. Raising prices is often a necessity to cover costs and, hopefully, make a fair profit. But, in doing so, you run the risk of scaring off customers because the new prices may exceed their comfort point for purchasing the item in question. Did I say there are stresses in retail? You betcha there are. An innocent comment about the new prices may have just hit the guy the wrong way at the wrong time. Or he may have just gotten a collection phone call saying his bill for flour is overdue and they were cutting him off. Then someone complained. Critical mass was achieved, explosion followed. Think kindly of the guy, after all, his job requires getting up at 1 a.m. Then move on.
 
I read all the responses here and can see the points of all of them... since I haven't spoken with the baker or his wife yet, I can't say what went wrong or what was said wrong... Stuart is a great guy and I've always had a good friendly relationship with him... I don't know Anissa, his wife, don't know if I've ever spoken with her. They are closed Sundays and Mondays so I can't talk with them until one day next week and when I'm in town again, I do plan to stop in and say hello, thank them for allowing the mills to have been posted there and ask them what happened... I'm not a guy to burn bridges until the very last resort.

I also understand the stresses of customer service... I worked 40 years in an almost pure customer service industry... I did international shipping and everything I shipped needed to be around the world at the fartherest reaches of the world the day before I got it to ship... I spent many many hours on the phone explaining why a widget that was shipped late on Monday night wasn't in Sydney, cleared customs and ready to be installed on Tuesday morning. And why it was going to cost $10,000 to get it there... nevermind the fact that it was oversized, hazardous, heavy, needed an export license and the flights to Sydney all left early in the morning and only twice a week.

I actually had a situation like that... I got a call from Nigeria that a part for a drilling rig was laying on the ocean dock in Houston to be shipped on the next vessel which was leaving the next morning. The caller gave me a serial number, box number, etc - all the data I needed to identify the piece he wanted.. I had to file a withdrawal from the steamship lines, have the piece removed from the container or load mechanism since it was already to load on the vessel for the next morning departure, pull it back to my warehouse, make sure it was packaged for air, then book with a carrier, and because the piece was 40' long, make sure the carrier could handled the piece and the connecting carrier could handle it since there's no direct flights from Houston to Lagos or Port Harcourt. I made all the arrangements, got the piece in the air after booking 4 pallet positions on the aircraft... and had the piece in Nigeria in 3 days. I also had to have an emergency Intertek inspection for the Nigerian government and get their release to ship the item.. My bill was $40,000.
Keep in mind they gave me all the details of what I was to pull from the docks and ship... I shipped the exact piece they wanted... on arrival it was the wrong piece. They had given me wrong information, but it was my fault the piece wasn't they one they wanted... it took 6 months and lots of threats to collect my invoice, most of which was costs to me to provide the service they wanted.

At any rate, that has nothing to do with this situation.. I just passed it along to see what the rank and file thought.. my initial reaction was indignity and outrage, but on thinking about it and seeing the comments here, a quiet conversation will likely smooth it over and we can remain friendly... at least I hope so.
 
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