Are we all being conned?

[bombini]

To me price is not the only factor when deciding on which Company I choose to get my products from.

• Customer Service - am I made to feel important to them? Do they have a good technical enquiry line? Do I feel a nuisance when I call for the 9 zillionth time with the same problem that I just can't get sorted?

quote]

The above point is the deciding factor for me when choosing a supplier. I have just been researching companies for my skincare range, finally decided & called to place an order...unhelpful, obstructive, rude etc. etc.

At one point the lady i spoke to put me on hold to work some prices out (after a great deal of huffing & puffing on her behalf) & i just thought why the hell am i putting up with this so i hung up.

This particular company lost £400 of sales - Im tempted to write & let them know this to :wink2: .

I then placed an order with my 2nd choice that were a dream to speak with & today my order arrived with a full size carrier bag of samples FREE !

 

[VHunter]

To me price is not the only factor when deciding on which Company I choose to get my products from.

• Customer Service - am I made to feel important to them? Do they have a good technical enquiry line? Do I feel a nuisance when I call for the 9 zillionth time with the same problem that I just can't get sorted?

quote]

The above point is the deciding factor for me when choosing a supplier. I have just been researching companies for my skincare range, finally decided & called to place an order...unhelpful, obstructive, rude etc. etc.

At one point the lady i spoke to put me on hold to work some prices out (after a great deal of huffing & puffing on her behalf) & i just thought why the hell am i putting up with this so i hung up.

This particular company lost £400 of sales - Im tempted to write & let them know this to :wink2: .

I then placed an order with my 2nd choice that were a dream to speak with & today my order arrived with a full size carrier bag of samples FREE !

Yup, that pretty much sums up my local experience and why I went abroad :wink2:

 

[marketing-geek]

To me price is not the only factor when deciding on which Company I choose to get my products from.

• Customer Service - am I made to feel important to them? Do they have a good technical enquiry line? Do I feel a nuisance when I call for the 9 zillionth time with the same problem that I just can't get sorted?

quote]

The above point is the deciding factor for me when choosing a supplier. I have just been researching companies for my skincare range, finally decided & called to place an order...unhelpful, obstructive, rude etc. etc.

At one point the lady i spoke to put me on hold to work some prices out (after a great deal of huffing & puffing on her behalf) & i just thought why the hell am i putting up with this so i hung up.

This particular company lost £400 of sales - Im tempted to write & let them know this to :wink2: .

I then placed an order with my 2nd choice that were a dream to speak with & today my order arrived with a full size carrier bag of samples FREE !

Why write? Do you honestly thing they deserve an explanation if their service was so poor?

 

[bombini]

Not to explain... to complain !

 

[tarnygirl1]

Hi I have to say ive been a wally but i will put it down to experience.

I bought hundreds of rhinestones from ebay and thinking what a bargain but the ones ive got on my toes now look white so ive made a big cock up and cant use on clients as if i do they wont come back as they wont be pleased so instead of buying them i shouldve bought the proper crystals.

I belive its like evrything its all trial and error but these well known companies are well known for a reason i reckon.

Its always to try out different things and what better place to find out whos good or bad than here on this wicked website.

Ive never known such a great bunch of people, always helpful and friendly.

Well done to the person whos idea it was but more so to all us techs who keep it alive and so nice.

Bye for now
Tanya

ps everyone has a choice, i made a **** but i will be more careful next time hee! hee!

 

[madferrit]

Hi just thought i'd add this-
If you put a big price tag on something(ie trainers) people always tend to buy the more expensive option rather than the cheap ones. I think there is a stigma attached to buying cheap for some people.They would prefer to wear a "known brand", when in fact sometimes the cheaper version will last alot longer and be of better quality. It's all about trying out whats best for you and what works the best for your clients. Its really great when you get value for money BUT a really great product that keeps on evolving!

 

[Nailsinlondon1]

Any company can make promises and tell you that their product is the best.... but talk is cheap and my time isn't.....the best feedback on any product or company products is from Nail Technicians, guys that have road tested their chosen product and will give you an honest answer and don't have any hidden agendas....
the second best feedback and come to think of it, the real important one is the client, did it rock for her big time or was it just ok.....
Just ok wont cut it for me, it has to rock and when it does that time after time after time then I have faith that it will do excactly what it pomises me...
After 14 years as a Technician, I have tried a few I can tell ya, and what looks cheaper at first can cost money in fixing later, so not so cheap when you have to do the dreaded freebie because you think its your skill and don't even question the product, afterall the supplier has promised you the earth and eternal beauty if you use this.....and you trust them don't you....But I don't trust a company that has to slate another just to get the business, bad ethics, I say let the product, the quality of it do the adverting, because if it is fab it will soon become a houshold name... this is the same rule that Techncians apply to their competition.....never bad mouth another Technicians work so why should it be different for product companies....
We let our work speak for us.....

 

[Jeni Giles]

How funny that this thread should appear today after dealing with much the same issue with one of our own suppliers. We are very lucky and have a GREAT distributor who gives us support not only in education but in time and helping us meet our needs. Keep in mind I am in a school and we have to buy supplies for 70 to 100 students at any given time.

Had we not been fortunate in our choice of distributor (supply company) we would STILL be waiting for our nail technician students kits with ALL of their supplies...L &P, fiberglass, manicuring and pedicuring creams and lotions and all of their implements. Our distributor went out of their way to have them overnighted to us so that our students would get the supplies they needed. The company that puts the kits together was willing to set us up on a school account direct with them at a lower cost, but they would not be able to garuntee that we would get our supplies in timely fashion as they were going through some restructuring and were having problems with back orders.

Moral of this story...the 25% discount was not worth the time involved for tracking down orders, waiting for product and scheduling an educator more than a year in advance, for that 25% I get my supplies on time or as close as possible, if they don't have EXACTLY what I want or need in stock already packaged, they put it together for me, and it doesn't matter which brand I choose, they will give me the best deal they can afford to and still make a profit also.

The manufacturers, suppliers and distributors are business people and they cannot give deep discounts to earn our loyalty, they have to do this with good old fashioned business ethics. Customer service, quality product, technical support and reasonable prices.

You can take a pretty good guess which supply house my students go to... we have 4 in our area that carry about the same nail supplies, I send registration information to all of the suppliers so that they can purchase nail supplies and equipment, they usually go to all them and end up (without me telling them which one) going to and sticking with the supplier we use. You can't hide quality. If it works for you, then use it!!

 

[Dom]

I am quite new to the industry and when I went through training they gave us L&P ibd products but I heard about Creative and loved everything about them so when bying my gel kit I went creative not IBD as I want to switch brands and as soon as I run out of my L&P products I will be making the full switch to Creative.

I have found that the distributors that I have been dealing with here in Brisbane Australia are all ANTI creative. Now some of the people working at the distributors are nail technicians and have said they dont use their products and their products are over priced etc and have really pushed other brands and made me feel like i was a total idiot.

Personally, I think people should use the products they want to use and as a customer if I have gone in and said I WANT CREATIVE PRODUCTS they should be assisting me with the purchase of these products and not try to push other ones on to me.

I love everything about creative and what I love most is the SUPPORT, ranging from their educational videos but more importantly their customer service. I now call the hotline before going into the suppliers and ask all the questions I want and get them to help me chose the right product for my needs. I just called the other day to talk about something as stupid as to which files do I use for what.

Anyway dont think there is a real point to my story LOL just wanted to contribute.

 

[Nafia]

although I believe that both side have valid points are talking about the right to choose product or the tech giving an opinion on what product they like either way it is a choice ultimately have at make for themselves

 

[marketing-geek]

Not to explain... to complain !

To complain is fine - but any decent company would profit from any complaint - ie they should ensure such a complaint doesn't happen again - so you'd be doing them a favour!

 

[nailzoo]

some products are ridiculously priced for what they are, i think you guys should check MSDS to see what some products actually are, some of them you already have, but in different forms, one example, (i could name heaps) from various companies ....... imagine buying thickened manicurists alcohol (at twice the price) just because it's thicker and had fragrance added, i'd feel a fool (and i have done) for purchasing such items in the past

 

[The Geek]

MSDS sheets do not give much information aside from some relevant hazard information. Imagine an MSDS for a muffin: Flour, Water and Nuts.
It doesn't talk about the type of flour or nuts (or anything else used to hold it together). The crappiest monomer will state EMA and so will the most expensive - however that has zilch bearing on the quality of the product (there are several types of EMA out there).

In the end, your focus should not be on price (high or low) it should be focused on:

• does the preformance meet or exceed my expectations
• do I get good value for my money

For some people an Avon enamel will qualify those two points and for others it wouldn't.

Not buying a product because you simply assume the brand is trying to screw you for the name is just plain silly. However buying simply for a brand name is also silly.
A name can give you confidence in what you're buying - however if it doesn't meet the two points listed above - then why bother?
Finally, there are those that fall into the price trap. If 1 brand is £5 less per bottle, they think 'Hey, I must be getting screwed by the more expensive product' and switch. They are £5 richer, but find themselves spending an extra 5-10 minutes per rebalance fixing problems so they could shave off £ 0.10 per application!!!

Which is more unethical? Selling inexpensive product that under performs or selling something more expensive that actually works? Remember folks, we are literally talking pennies per application between the two.

 

[nailzoo]

point taken ..... and understood
But what about renaming common products and charging twice the price by tweaking, renaming and repackaging?
As a supplier 5 bucks is nothing per week, but ....as a consumer 5 bucks shows as a percentage

 

[marketing-geek]

point taken ..... and understood
But what about renaming common products and charging twice the price by tweaking, renaming and repackaging?
As a supplier 5 bucks is nothing per week, but ....as a consumer 5 bucks shows as a percentage

It's often the tweeks that make the difference between a good product and a not-so-good product.

 

[*Glynis*]

• does the preformance meet or exceed my expectations
• do I get good value for my money

Finally, there are those that fall into the price trap. If 1 brand is £5 less per bottle, they think 'Hey, I must be getting screwed by the more expensive product' and switch. They are £5 richer, but find themselves spending an extra 5-10 minutes per rebalance fixing problems so they could shave off £ 0.10 per application!!!

Which is more unethical? Selling inexpensive product that under performs or selling something more expensive that actually works? Remember folks, we are literally talking pennies per application between the two.

I agree with what you said Sam. Of course the other "price trap" lots of us fall into is assuming that if you are paying £5 more it is a better product. This is not always so.

In the end I think it totally comes down to personal choice and whether the product, as you said, meets or exceeds your own expectations.

 

[Mrs Geek]

Absolutely superb thread Sassy. I have read everyones excellent replies and point of views and have learnt something from these responses.

I do still firmly believe that suppliers / distributors must have a firm belief and passion for their brands; that it shouldn't just be about the money but about the want, to make their customers better... because if their customers have great businesses, they will trust in the people that helped them get there.

As long as we as a company keep those values and our culture intact, then I can always stand by what I do. The day it goes... is the day I will say good bye to this industry and I will walk away. Simple!:!:

 

[marketing-geek]

Absolutely superb thread Sassy. I have read everyones excellent replies and point of views and have learnt something from these responses.

I do still firmly believe that suppliers / distributors must have a firm belief and passion for their brands; that it shouldn't just be about the money but about the want, to make their customers better... because if their customers have great businesses, they will trust in the people that helped them get there.

As long as we as a company keep those values and our culture intact, then I can always stand by what I do. The day it goes... is the day I will say good bye to this industry and I will walk away. Simple!:!:

Exactly. If you're not passionate about what you're doing, then you can't do it well. A good supply company works in partnership with their customers, listening and responding to their needs. A successfull business is NOT all about taking - more about giving. Giving advice, giving excellent service, giving help, and supplying products that are ethical and represent honest value.