# Dadant order on 5/5, not shipped yet (5/14)



## xC0000005 (Nov 17, 2004)

I had the same experience with my order (a zipper veil and some thin surplus). I actually got a letter though, saying "We are heavily back ordered. Your order will ship as soon as we can. We are working extra hours." And it did ship, just took a while.


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## arthur (Apr 6, 2008)

Oh, I should mention that they were perfectly happy to charge my credit card immediately. Even knowing they might not ship for a long time.


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## Brenda (Nov 23, 2006)

I ordered a beginner's set up in March, which was promptly delivered. I recently ordered a veil jacket and got an email saying they were behind and it would be awhile. I received it about a week after ordering, which was a pleasant surprise.


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## EngineeringBeek (Mar 4, 2008)

I ordered a jacket/veil, an alexander veil, and hive tool on 5/3 and received it on 5/12. Just have patience, it will come.


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## EKW (Feb 2, 2005)

FWIW, I placed orders with three different suppliers last week. All three told me to expect a delay as they are backed up. Hey, it's spring, everyone wants bee equipment. I have always had great service from Dadant, from three different branches which I have used. 

Sorry to hear that your order has been delayed, hope your stuff shows up soon.


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## Ross (Apr 30, 2003)

Have you checked with Dadant office in Paris. They will ship locally if they have it in stock.


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## Hambone (Mar 17, 2008)

If you order off of their website their shipping is very slow. If you call the location nearest you shipping very fast. Thats how its been for me. I agree w/ Ross you may want to call their Paris store. The have done me right everytime.


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## Dan Williamson (Apr 6, 2004)

arthur said:


> You all that said they have poor service, in terms of shipping, were right.
> 
> I will not attempt to order again from dadant when at all possible.
> 
> ...


I don't understand the impatience some people have.... 

Here is a hint....Try ordering at times that aren't the busiest times of the season. You'll have better luck.


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## Angi_H (Feb 9, 2008)

I have never had any troubles with them with all of the stuff I have ordered from them this year. About 2500.00 worth so far and more to come. But it is there busiest time of the year and they are very very swamped with orders and lots of stuff are back ordered. I have learned to not order off there web site. Especially since I have found out ther eis one only 30 min away from me. I call in the order and if it is in stock they pull it for me. If it is not they put that part of the order in for me and place it on hold then call me when it is ready and will either ship it to me at no cost or I will go and pick up and buy more when I am there. Every one who works there is very nice. I would if I were you call which ever branch is closer to you and give them your order number and see what they say. You might be able to have it shipped now if they have it all in stock and you will save on shipping. If you use the online order you will have it shipped from there Hamilton Il office shipping will cost more and it will take longer to get to you. Although if you know what you need ahead of time you should order in Dec. I am not getting some things I need but I can wait. You have not been waiting to long really. I have waited for 2 months some times for stuff if you order during the busiest time of the year you have to have loads of patients and wait. 


angi


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## Keith Jarrett (Dec 10, 2006)

I would agree with Dan, I have a order that is slow in coming but I don't need it till summer months, And Dadant frames are worth waiting for.


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## arthur (Apr 6, 2008)

Dan Williamson said:


> I don't understand the impatience some people have....
> 
> Here is a hint....Try ordering at times that aren't the busiest times of the season. You'll have better luck.


Ummm, that's a nice business plan you like.

I made an order on 5/5. I called today on 5/19. They said they will ship today. I said if I do not receive an email indicating that it is shipped today, I will cancel my order.

Never planning to order from them again. Somehow WTK can ship promptly during crunch time, but dadant can't.

Have you ever been to the grocery store and there are tons of people and only three checkers? Your suggestion is the equivalent of telling me to shop at 3am, because there are fewer customers. Well guess what, maybe I CAN'T shop at 3am, and maybe I DON'T WANT TO shop at 3am. And I will go the store that has enough checkers to allow me to check out in a reasonable fashion.

Maybe if people COMPLAIN enough, they will improve their service. I didn't know about avoiding the website, and calling one of their local stores. Maybe they could put that up on the site ("we recommend you do not use this website to order, as your shipment will be delayed. Call one of our stores. It's a peculiarity of our business.")

Definitely a bad place to order from if you are a newbie hobbyist like me who doesn't plan orders 4 months in advance.


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## Dan Williamson (Apr 6, 2004)

I once ordered from Dadant online. 2 weeks later I called and no one had even noticed the online order. I ordered during the busy time and because it was during a busy time I cut them some slack. They apologized etc... Things happen. I'm not saying they are right.... 

Dealing with customers you find all kinds of people. Some of them think the world revolves around them. While I do my absolute best to provide quality service, for some folks its never enough. Those are the customers I'm happy to refer to another beekeeper. 

Just understand that if ordering during the busy time there might be delays. If you find a supplier you like better. Then use them. 

Personally, I felt you only gave them 9 days with your first post. Seemed a rush to judgment to me. But that is just my 2 cents.


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## alpha6 (May 12, 2008)

*Mann Lake Stinks too*

I placed a good sized order from man lake. They send me an email saying I should get it in 5 to 7 days later. Today is the 6th and I asked for a tracking number...they said they will send it to me when they ship...so they haven't even processed the order yet...and its going on a week. Last time baby...last frigging time.

For all you suppliers out there....if you don't want to lose business, staff up during your busy time. A little service goes a long way in this business. I would rather pay a buck or two more for something and get good service then sit with my bees up my ..... waiting for equipment from you. 

You better believe I am taking my business elsewhere.


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## Jeffzhear (Dec 2, 2006)

Actually, I like Mann Lake and Dadant both...having ordered and/or picked up thousands from them over the past year or so...Order early, receive early and avoid the rush!

I will absolutely continue to buy from those folks, they are two of the best in the industry, and I like Betterbee and Kelly too. Just my two cents, and I do feel for you having to wait...no one likes that.


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## BULLSEYE BILL (Oct 2, 2002)

Dan Williamson said:


> Personally, I felt you only gave them 9 days with your first post. Seemed a rush to judgment to me. But that is just my 2 cents.


Dan, I feel the same way you do on this except for one thing that bothers me, they tagged his credit card without shipping the product. I don't understand why a reputable business would do such a thing.


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## Angi_H (Feb 9, 2008)

Online orders will usually place a hold for that ammount to make sure that person has enough on the credit card to cover the cost of the ammount bought. Other wise they would decline it at order time if there was not enough. Hold fall off of credit cards if they have not been made perm with in 4 days. But that does not mean that that same charge wont come back later once they start processing the order. This is how online sales work.

Angi


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## Dan Williamson (Apr 6, 2004)

BULLSEYE BILL said:


> Dan, I feel the same way you do on this except for one thing that bothers me, they tagged his credit card without shipping the product. I don't understand why a reputable business would do such a thing.


Could have simply been an oversight. Mistakes happen. I'm not defending the suppliers here... I don't know all the facts. I just have a problem when people get on public forums and starts name calling, bashing a supplier, etc... without allowing the process to unfold. Give the supplier time to make things right if an error happened. It could be that it was just a one time mistake. Doesn't make a company bad or not worthy of doing business with again. Too many people are quick to rush to judgement and start trashing people.

There are legitimate gripes out that and I don't have a problem with that. For example your branding iron issue... that was a real issue... and the issue with the bee supplier down south taking money and months later people still don't have their items... they won't answer the phone etc.... Those are real issues that I would like to hear about... 

Let the processes play out, have a little understanding sometimes, recognize that mistakes happen, allow them to make it up to you, sometimes all it takes is... "We apologize".


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## arthur (Apr 6, 2008)

I believe that everything I have asserted about my order with Dadant has been factual.

I know what good customer service is. This is not good customer service.

Maybe you old-hands are used to this kind of service. I'm not.


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## BULLSEYE BILL (Oct 2, 2002)

I called Dadant and talked to Gina who explained that when placing orders on the Internet the computer does not know whether items are out of stock so the card is automatically ran. There is an explanation posted on the site.

When placing an order on the phone the representative can tell you right away if an item is back ordered, how long the expected wait is, and the card will not be run until the day of shipping.

Now I understand, and as usual communication is key.


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## Dan Williamson (Apr 6, 2004)

BULLSEYE BILL said:


> I called Dadant and talked to Gina who explained that when placing orders on the Internet the computer does not know whether items are out of stock so the card is automatically ran. There is an explanation posted on the site.
> 
> When placing an order on the phone the representative can tell you right away if an item is back ordered, how long the expected wait is, and the card will not be run until the day of shipping.
> 
> Now I understand, and as usual communication is key.


Thanks for clearing it up for us Bill!


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## alpha6 (May 12, 2008)

*Man Lake doesn't really stink*

I got on the phone with Man Lake about shipping my order. Somewhere between the internet side and shipping there was some confusion, but in seconds he had it cleared up and they are shipping so it should get here pretty close to when they said it would arrive.

From this and reading this and other threads I think that with internet orders if you are developing a problem with an order, calling to resolve the matter instead of exchanging emails appears to work much better.


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## arthur (Apr 6, 2008)

I received my order yesterday, 5/21.

Actual shipping charges using Priority US Mail: $4.80.

Amount that Dadant charged me: Over $13.

Time to delivery: if my math is right, 16 days.

AJ Beetle eaters are somewhat smaller and lighter than I expected. I figured they were larger given the exorbitant (IMO) shipping charge. 

Well, learned my lesson. At least it wasn't a big order.


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## EngineeringBeek (Mar 4, 2008)

arthur said:


> I received my order yesterday, 5/21.
> 
> Actual shipping charges using Priority US Mail: $4.80.
> 
> ...


Have you ever ordered anything online before? Many large companies don't calculate an exact postage rate. It's based on a scale of weight and sometimes price. They're not profiteering from the shipping, they're just streamlining their shipping procedures to speed things up. Many companies do that today. Also, the postage may have been $4.80 but I do believe it is called shipping AND handling. You're also paying for the packaging materials and the time it takes to package it up. So that, combined with the scaled shipping charges rather than actual, and thats where the $13 comes from. I think you really need to step back and consider this from a business standpoint. If you were Dadant would you take a loss on the packaging materials, time to package things up and ship them? Would you also construct a multi-million dollar warehouse just to stock exorbitant amounts of products so that the "last-minute-buyer" can get their items quickly? Dadant isn't here as a public service to any of us, they're here to make a profit, and to hold over large inventories costs companies a lot of money. There is no way they can satisfy every order rapidly without a back-order and still keep prices down. It just won't happen. So go to the small guy that has your products in-stock, pay a little more and suck it up. Or, order from the big guy, save some money and wait. Its all in what you desire, but if you're ordering during the busy season expect the possibility of a backorder or a short wait. I feel that your 16 day wait is completely acceptable. Considering that with the influx of orders they're receiving they are running about 4 days behind in the packaging department. Give them about 6 days to ship. Counting BUSINESS days from your order date (12 days) that leaves an extra 2 days in there.


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## Romahawk (Jul 11, 2005)

When I order from Dadant and the shipping charge is actually less than what I was charged they refund the overage to my credit card. Never been cheated by them yet.


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## iddee (Jun 21, 2005)

A local business here lets me have all my stuff shipped to them and shipping charged to their UPS account. That way, I only pay actual shipping, no handling.

Also, UPS charges more for residential delivery than for business delivery, so I save even more there.


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## John Smith (Jan 31, 2006)

*Busted to boom*

Well, Guys, the public have been asleep as far as beekeeping is concerned for maybe a hundred years. They are awakening now, so shortages of everything are probable.

Just brace yourselves for what will happen when they realize there is not enough honey to go 'round.

Unfortunately, the beekeepers have been asleep about that long too, and now we are caught out, standing on the wrong foot.

The bee is rising.

Cheers,

John


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## MichiganBee (Mar 20, 2008)

3 weeks to get a smoker and 5lb bag of Megabee. They did email and say they are backed up and order would be delayed but shipped in order recieved. Sucks waiting for stuff but I bet alot of places are.

Best Wishes!


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## Dr.Wax (Apr 30, 2008)

Haven't these businesses ever heard of "temporary/seasonal laborers"?

When you get backed up you hire additional help until the log jam is cleared or people eventually stop ordering from you. If they have a choice that is.

I suspect some of these companies are the sole seller of certain products and have become complacent and take their customers for granted.


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## Gene Weitzel (Dec 6, 2005)

EngineeringBeek said:


> Have you ever ordered anything online before? Many large companies don't calculate an exact postage rate. It's based on a scale of weight and sometimes price. They're not profiteering from the shipping, they're just streamlining their shipping procedures to speed things up. Many companies do that today. Also, the postage may have been $4.80 but I do believe it is called shipping AND handling. You're also paying for the packaging materials and the time it takes to package it up. So that, combined with the scaled shipping charges rather than actual, and thats where the $13 comes from. I think you really need to step back and consider this from a business standpoint. If you were Dadant would you take a loss on the packaging materials, time to package things up and ship them? Would you also construct a multi-million dollar warehouse just to stock exorbitant amounts of products so that the "last-minute-buyer" can get their items quickly? Dadant isn't here as a public service to any of us, they're here to make a profit, and to hold over large inventories costs companies a lot of money. There is no way they can satisfy every order rapidly without a back-order and still keep prices down. It just won't happen. So go to the small guy that has your products in-stock, pay a little more and suck it up. Or, order from the big guy, save some money and wait. Its all in what you desire, but if you're ordering during the busy season expect the possibility of a backorder or a short wait. I feel that your 16 day wait is completely acceptable. Considering that with the influx of orders they're receiving they are running about 4 days behind in the packaging department. Give them about 6 days to ship. Counting BUSINESS days from your order date (12 days) that leaves an extra 2 days in there.


When I order from Dadant, since they have a branch in Paris, TX, with ground service it usually arrives in 1 or 2 days which is great, the thing I object to is that they charge me shipping as if it was shipped out of Illinois. Because of this I order mostly from Brushy Mountain or Mann Lake. Both of them charge actual shipping rates instead and the shipping charges for the same items from them has always been significantly less than Dadant even though in both cases the shipping point is further from me than Illinois, so something just does not add up with Dadant's shipping policy. No matter how you try to justify it, they are not being competitive and as a result have lost business from me.


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## BULLSEYE BILL (Oct 2, 2002)

Dr.Wax said:


> Haven't these businesses ever heard of "temporary/seasonal laborers"?
> 
> When you get backed up you hire additional help until the log jam is cleared or people eventually stop ordering from you. If they have a choice that is.
> 
> I suspect some of these companies are the sole seller of certain products and have become complacent and take their customers for granted.


Sounds simple enough, just hire some more people and all your worries are gone. Too bad it doesnt work that way.

I have a seasonal rush that lasts about a month just before deer season. We run every lane to max capacity from open to close every day. If you don't make a reservation days in advance you don't get in. We even expand our hours of operation to accommodate customers.

Last year it just happened that one of my key full time employees took a higher paying job and had to go to school during the rush and couldn't even work part time to help out. He still works for me part time, but he put a strain on us. Then my day manager got PMS because of it and quit  

You can't just pick up the phone and get experienced people to step in and do the job, they have to be trained and it takes time to learn the ropes. Those of us that were left talked about how to handle it and decided that we would rather work overtime and short handed than to try to do our jobs and mother a new hand at the same time.

Surprisingly not one complaint from the customers who at times were having to wait their turns to be waited on. It was not my ideal situation but we and the customers worked our way through it.


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## Flyman (Jun 11, 2007)

Agree with Bullseye. Especially when old beekeepers walk in and want "you know, what you sold me last year.....the yellow one". Only experience, and knowing your inventory, can help.


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