Estimated ship time.

[kebechet]

This is being posted in response to several comments I've read in the forums asking me to restate the estimated ship time on incoming orders. On the web site's Welcome, FAQ and Shiny & New pages it states [in various ways] the following information:

 

Please note that all orders, including domestic orders may take in excess of 14 - 21 business days to process, pack and ship out when we have a heavy workload, due to the process of hand-blending and the nature of our product. All oils are made once they're ordered to ensure freshness. We do our best to ensure that all orders are shipped within ten business days, but in some cases this is not possible.

 

This is correct. We are averaging a three week turn around on orders with little exception despite all efforts to speed up the process. Brian will be reposting his continually updated shipping thread as quickly as possible. Yes, we do hand-blend and bottle everything individually. Yes, this takes just short of forever lately. I apologize if some feel as though this wait is unbearable. When someone invents an android akin to those in a Philip K. Dick novel that is both efficient and affordable, you can be sure that I'll buy one to help expedite this process. When I am able to purchase enough of these androids to create my own international perfume delivery courier service, you can be sure I will do that, too. In the meantime, I do not foresee us being able to close the 14-21 day gap in the near future, though we are doing our best to work out the loose ends that are slowing down the process [as an example, disallowing changes to orders once they are submitted to us for processing].

 

Androids. Or clones. I can't forget the clones. Cloning is always an option.

 

I am also going to reiterate that we are doing our best to respond to all email inquiries in a timely manner. As you all know, Nella is still out of town, and it may take a day or two extra for Brian or I to have a moment to get back to you.

 

Thank you all for your patience. If anyone hears of a bent-android closeout sale in the near future, please feel free to PM me with the info.

[Ina Garten Davita]

The wait being unbearable speaks volumes about how much we all love your skills as a perfumer, Beth. It is in no way a dig against any of the hard work you, Brian, Nella are doing. Any order, large or small is worth every second of the wait.

 

Thank you for taking some of your precious time to let us know what going on. It's very much appreciated.

Edited June 26, 2004 by andrabell

[kebechet]

The wait being unbearable speaks volumes about how much we all love your skills as a perfumer, Beth.  It is in no way a dig against any of the hard work you, Brian, Nella are doing.  Any order, large or small is worth every second of the wait.

 

Thank you for taking some of your precious time to let us know what going on.  It's very much appreciated.

You're sweet, Andra. Thanks. =)

 

But will you love my androids, too? Damn if I don't want a couple that look just like Rutger.

[any_old_actress]

yeah, what andra said. knowing what the estimated time of waiting is makes everything a lot more bearable and it's really appreciated that, despite it being on the website already, you take the time to let everyone know here as well.

 

i have so much respect that everything IS hand blended and hand bottled by lovely, thinking individuals...so don't go the clone/android route ok?

[blackrayne]

Androids. Or clones. I can't forget the clones. Cloning is always an option.

 

If you get a clone I want one too (or two...that way, I'll have two of me here to catch up on orders, and I can ship the thire me out to LA to help the lab out! ).

 

I think your turnaround time is very reasonable considering the hand-blended nature of your products. I can understand impatience, too, though, as we all want to smell your divine creations just seconds after ordering them.

[Cegirls]

yes, i wholeheartedly agree with andra... i certainly don't mind the wait well-knowing the hardworking heart and soul that is behind the superior product i receive in the end ~ you've got my support, girl!

[bootso'rourk]

Beth,

 

I think Andra put it very well.

 

We love your creations so much that the wait seems long, yet worth it.

 

 

I know for myself that I'm grateful for this forum and those who created and run it. It is certainly a boon to those of us who love what you do with oils and knowledge.

 

I also can speak for myself by saying that you and Nella and Brian have been very responsive and kind in answering my questions and keeping us all informed.

 

edited to add this: If you do find some replicants, and find an extra Rutger Hauer model, I am interested.

 

Boots

Edited June 26, 2004 by bootso'rourk

[magpiedee]

Ya know how in the old Tom & Jerry cartoons, sometimes the character would do something stupid, and their head would appear briefly as either an ass or a sucker? I feel like that, but it's some weird "sucker-ass" combination. I got all riled up reading the "shipping" threads and emailed the lab to ask about my May 26 order. And, not 5 hours later, got my first Click n' Ship notice. And now I'm going to waste the lab's time for something that's already been taken care of, and I can't even send a preemptive "nevermind" email, because that's just one more brussel sprout on an already full plate.

 

So, apologies in advance, y'all. I guess my patience was just retarded today. But now i've got my long-lost bellydance costume, and I owe that partially to the wearing of Alecto, and my order is shipped, and all is well with the world, and i'm just going to feed my dog some blueberries, swig some Nyquil and go off to blessed, blessed dreamland.

 

Thanks so much for what you do, Beth! On days like today, your creations are all that keep me grounded and not freaking out. I mean, I was crying, but it was angry, purposeful crying, right? Alecto is perfect.

[eclecticaurora]

Beth, I only have a few of BPAL oils, but the ones I have...I adore! Your customer service is second to none and for this...a little wait is fine! Honestly, that time you give (14-21 days) is FINE for such a high end product! Thank you for the time you put into these forums and the oils!

 

 

**hugs and kisses**

~eclecticaura~

[TygherRayn]

I want a Beth-Clone. And if you figure it out, tell me and I'll have a Tania-clone made to come help you guys out at the lab ... my anal organizational skills need to be put to use somehow.

 

And honestly .. with the size of our recent orders ... I can wait months for the rest of the stuff we have waiting! Okay, so maybe not .. cos I'm DYING to try June Gloom now, and Havisham .. and Blue Moon ...

 

I've made sure I tell everyone I get hooked on your oils that they'll be waiting at least 3 weeks right now for their shipments ... just in case. Though .. Gods willing, that wait will get shorter in time.

[feline.by.design]

As someone who has put up her first order not even a week ago, I would like to say that I knew what I was getting into in terms of the wait period from reading various posts in the group.

 

Although I am anxious to receive the items I ordered and douse myself silly with scents, I made the decision not to send "Where's my order" messages until after it's been at least a month.

 

For now, I shall contemplate on what to get with the Red Moon order on the 2nd of July, which, from what I understand, cannot be combined with the order I placed on the 21st. Fine and dandy with me. I wouldn't think to ask otherwise, but then again, I'm a fairly low-maintenance person.

 

I live in the south. I'm used to people taking things slow.

 

Or, if you like, a quote:

 

"Anything worth doing is worth doing slowly." I believe that's Marlene Dietrich. Forgive my spelling errors, if any, it's a wee bit late here.

 

-doreen

[eve_of_destruction]

heh. so did everyone watch "blade runner" tonight on WGN (i didn't realise how used to the "director's cut" version i have grown...) - or do you just covet nexus six-model androids, generally?

 

best

eve

...who broke up with someone once, as he mocked me for crying pathetically when Roy dies, yet not at, say, "Bambi".

[allamanda]

Beth,

 

We just love your perfumes too much, the anticipation becomes unbearable

 

I hope and believe that we all understand how hard you are working for us and how much care and attention you put into not only your product, but also your customer service. I personally think many of the concerns stem from a lack of trust in the postal services and customs.

 

You're just too good.

 

Pam.

[VelvetSky]

I'm just a recent customer and so far have only received one order from you, Beth. It was perfect and fabulous, and I'm 100 percent ok waiting as long as it takes for you and Brian to get to it.

 

I'd rather wait a long time for quality than to get crap immediately.

 

Love your stuff,

 

Velvet

[spaceprostitute]

I placed my second order two days after receiving my first. So obviously I was pleased with the product. I don't mind waiting for a quality product. In fact, I expect it. But I did take issue with how the shipping statement was originally written for a couple of reasons.

 

a) I wasn't aware of how CCNow worked when I placed my first order, I wasn't a member of the boards at that time. So when it said shipped, I assumed that my order had shipped to me, because hey...that makes sense with how 95% of the other online businesses work. It also fit in with the original timeline stated on the shipping statement.

 

The original timeline stated something to the effect of "We strive to have orders ship within two to three days, but due to the nature of our work orders may take in excess of 14 business days." That's fine. I understand that, but that statement gave me the impression that the MAJORITY of orders (50-68%) go out in that two to three day time frame, that it's the rule, not the exception. Then I joined the boards and it seemed like that was a very unrealistic expectation and so then I kind of went back and interpretted the old statement as "Well, yeah, that's what we strive for, but really only 5% of the orders actually meet that and the other 95% we just go ahead and take that full 3 weeks or more."

 

 

Anyway, I read the new statement. I think it's a lot better. Cause I know for me, and obviously for others who felt the need to pipe up and say they didn't mind the wait, it was more about setting realistic expectations, than it was about waiting. (especially for those customers who don't frequent the boards and don't necessarily know what's going on). And hey, if things actually work out where you get it out in that 2-3 day time frame, well then the person gets pleasantly surprised rather than thinking "Yeah, it's about damn time they did what they said they were going to do."

Edited June 26, 2004 by spaceprostitute

[VelvetSky]

space, I believe Beth is trying to get rid of CCNow (forgive me if I'm wrong). I agree that the whole "order shipped" thing is extremely misleading on their (CCNow's) part. I thought the same thing.

 

I respectfully suggest that the statement on the website should just indicate that the expected wait for most customers is 4-6 weeks from the date of purchase (a bit longer for international customers).

 

Of course, it's Elizabeth's company and she calls the shots and knows what's best. As I said before, waiting is ok by me personally.

[Morrighana]

I respectfully suggest that the statement on the website should just indicate that the expected wait for most customers is 4-6 weeks from the date of purchase (a bit longer for international customers).

See, Beth's timeline is the Lab's timeline...it doesn't include the amount of time packages spend in transit, because the Lab has no control over that. An approximate of 4-6 weeks would be including shipping, and would be subject to an incredible amount of error due to that uncontrollability of USPS. It's a good thought, though.

[VelvetSky]

Most every online business I've ever seen or bought from says this kind of thing. I think that shipping timelines are fairly predictable, even the USPS gives timelines. It's a given that things sometimes go wrong and could take longer. I just think that 4-6 weeks is more realistic. But whatever....

[lorajc]

I second what Andrabelle said. It's hard to wait for something when you know how talented Beth is and how unique her creations are. Being addicted doesn't make matters any better. We love you Beth and Co! Sorry if we drive you crazy. Hopefully you'll be able to quit your day job soon. I know I'm certainly doing my part to contribute to BPAL and the economy for that matter!

Edited June 26, 2004 by lorajc

[clephan]

I know that I got much too excited when I saw that you guys had got the delay down to being only 3 weeks behind and thought that you were seeing some light at the end of the tunnel...

 

I'm trying to train myself to forget all about the orders I've placed for at least a month, unless I'm told otherwise that they've gone out earlier than expected.

 

I am desperately longing for the 'one-day' when the Lab has an integrated order placing and tracking system and we can just log in and see the real status for ourselves. Think of all the hassle that could save! For me, I don't care - really I don't! - if an order takes 2 months as long as I know that's how long it'll be (I should say, I don't know anything about any Lab plans to do this, I'm just wishing!)

 

I'd just like to add another huge thank you to Beth for sorting out a recent order of mine that had some problems: I'm excitedly anticipating its arrival.

 

I am grateful.

Edited June 26, 2004 by clephan

[Laurel the Woodfairy]

Definitely worth the wait. This is part of why I like imp-swapping, though--for more instant gratification! It made me so happy to know my imps were on their way the same day I PM'd their owners, and without extra work for the Lab. It's a good way to tide over all of us truly rabid BPALers!

 

Seriously, in the instant gratification department I wish I could just fly out to the storefront--but I would probably spend every last dime I have. My dream is to someday have this beautiful tower for my altar and witchy supplies (not unlike Professor Trelawney's tower in Harry Potter...) and there would be shelf upon shelf of neatly-labeled BPAL for every possible spell need. Keep dreaming...

[kebechet]

Thanks everyone for all the love and support. Your friendship and your patience keep me from grinding my teeth off in frustration.

 

I'm going to quickly address issues that have come up since my inital post, and then I need to get back to work. First: yes, we are quite desperately trying to get away from CcNow. It is not as easy a task as it seems, and has been a four-month-long process so far with very little progress made. I won't bore everyone with the details, suffice to say that the documentation that credit card companies require in order to give us merchant gateway access is staggering and has been difficult to produce in some cases. It's been a very rough time, but I have faith that the change will come within the next few months, and we won't have any problems with miscommunication through our current processor to deal with any longer.

 

Spaceprostitute, I understand your point completely.

 

Yes, I do know that not everyone reads these forums -- though I wish they would, as it would save some of my rapidly fracturing sanity. I do my best to keep the shipping notices updated on the site itself, but it becomes difficult when I have to repost the same thing here, there, on LJ, and communicate it to people all day in emails. Sometimes I neglect to update the info in one or more places. In addition, the 2-3 day turnaround used to be the norm. Despite the influx of orders, we still cannot afford to hire enough people to process orders as they come in, partly due to the bottleneck in the cash flow, again due to having to go through CcNow. When one thing goes amiss and a pileup ensues, it's very difficult to pull back out of it quickly. At this point I do not know how I could possibly be any clearer on shipping estimates. The average turnaround is three weeks, and the time gap seems to be closing, barring incidents like running out of a component oil [the Bordello situation, as example], the postal service delaying shipment for any number of odd reasons, or customs raping an international package. When I talk about the estimated ship dates, I can only speak for us, and I don't have any control over what happens to a package once it leaves my hands. I honestly don't feel as though it is necissary for me to state something along the lines of "Please note that all orders, including domestic orders may take in excess of 14 - 21 business days to process, pack and ship out when we have a heavy workload, due to the process of hand-blending and the nature of our product. All oils are made once they're ordered to ensure freshness. We do our best to ensure that all orders are shipped within ten business days, but in some cases this is not possible. In addition, you have to keep in mind that the USPS will do what it wishes with the shipments, and your order is at their mercy once it leaves our hands. Please allow an additional six months once you factor in the possibility of USPS incompetence, customs poking your order, alien abduction of your mail carrier and your package being struck by lightning. Thank you for your patience. You'll see the box eventually." I give as much information as I feel I should. However, if consensus says that I should state in fifty places that it will take months to get a shipment so that people will be relieved when it only takes three weeks, then I'll consider changing it.

[Belladonnastrap]

I think perhaps you should maybe bold it on the webpage Beth so it's more noticable. The way it is now (at least on the computer I'm on currently) the font is very tiny and tends to just blend in with the rest of the page. Bold it or make it a different color.

 

Just a suggestion. And I tend to order oils..and then promptly forget what I ordered so when the package comes its a happy surprise. I don't mind the wait so much...it adds to the experience

[spaceprostitute]

1) Thank you, Beth, for understanding my point. I was worried that perhaps it would get misconstrued.

 

And for what it's worth, I have a

 

2) I think what you have written is fine. 14 business days is a perfect amount of time. It's a bit of wait, but it's also a special product and not so outrageously long that it would deter people from ordering, imo. You have built yourself some leeway with the "14-21" and the "in excess", but have also recognized that as you work the kinks out it should speed up a little, and therefore gave us hope with the 10 days. While I like to think that stating how the USPS works would be overkill and unnessary, and that most people can use common sense, I know that's not always the case as I experience this with my job all the time. Sample conversation...

 

Customer: So, I'll get my *insert appropriate item here* tomorrow?

Me: Sir, you only just called today. All items are mailed the next business day.

Customer: So, you'll get me my item by tomorrow.

Me: No, sir, it will be mailed tomorrow.

Customer: Well, then I'll get it the next day.

Me: It's very possible, sir.

Customer: Well, just when will I get it?

Me: As I just said, all items are mailed out the next business day on our end. We are not the post office, however, so I can't guarantee just how long it will take your item to get from *my town* to *your town*.

Customer: Oh.

 

Or my favorite...which I think you'll like.

 

Customer: I didn't get my item. I always get my items on Wednesdays.

Me: Sir, you only called on Monday, and was mailed on Tuesday. It has only been one day.

Customer: But you don't understand, I ALWAYS get it on Wednesday. So what are you going to do about it? I can't go without this item.

Me: Well, you have to allow 7 days for the post office to deliver it. It has only been one day. If you still don't have it after 7 days, we can reissue your item.

Customer: Well, what if it's lost? Can't you find it?

Me: Sir, your item was sent yesterday and we don't track the items we send. Who do you speak with when you have problems with your other mail?

Customer: The post office?

Me: Exactly, so why don't you start with them, and if you don't receive it in 7 days, we'll reissue it.

 

Yeah, I have that first conversation conversation at least 5 times a day, the second one at least once. So at least you know that other people deal with it, too. But seriously, I think most people are able to figure out that you don't control the USPS or Customs. Don't try and speak for other people. Stick with what you know and set realistic expectations, and it'll all be fine.

Edited June 26, 2004 by spaceprostitute

[friendthegirl]

Pretty much what everyone else said. I don't mind waiting for anything as good as the oils you create.

 

And I think adding the 21 days gives you a little more leeway, and I just hope everyone that reads that realizes it's business days, because sometimes I forget and think, oh, only three weeks, when really it's just weekdays!