# Honey Land Farms



## longrangedog

I ordered 4 carniolan queens from Garry at Honeyland Farms with instructions to call me on the day he shipped from Florida so that I could make arrangements to stay home from work the following day to receive them. Garry didn't call and when I got home from work Wednesday I found a UPS envelope with four queens. Two were dead. I called Honey Land Farms to inform them of my problem and got their answering machine. No return call. Thursday afternoon I called Garry to inform him of the dead queens. He said that he didn't have time to call his customers to inform them of ship dates. He offered to replace the 2 dead queens and have the replacements sent out on Monday for overnight delivery on Tuesday. I called Monday to make sure that he shipped the queens. Got his answering machine and left the message that I was expecting to receive the queens Tuesday. No return call. I missed work Tuesday waiting for the queens. When the UPS truck drove past my house without stopping on Tuesday I called Garry again only to be told that the queens didn't go out yet but would ship today (Tuesday) for delivery Wednesday or Thursday. As you can imagine, I won't be troubling Garry at Honey Land Farms, Howie-in-the-Hills, Florida, for anything else.


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## riverrat

I think this time of the year I wouldnt blame the queen breeder. It is a very busy time of the year for queen rearing. Getting his answering machine proves this. If he is rearing lots of queens he probably dont have time to call everyone who orders. My guess would be you will run into the same problem with any queen breeder this time of the year. Would it be possible to have the queens delivered to work or to someone who you know will be home. Shipping queens is tough early. You cant hardly nail the shipping date down because of the weather.


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## iddee

Rat, although I agree with the busy part, I think a man should know his business well enough to tell the customer he can't call, at the time of the order, not after shipping and killing queens.

Poor communication and unkept promises have put many businesses under. They should have the common sense to tell the customer what they can't do, rather than promise them the moon and mess up their whole plan.


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## BULLSEYE BILL

I agree with Iddee, if you are going to succeed in business you have to excel in all aspects of running a business or you are going to have problems. If they can't get the job done, then they need more help.

I have had all my shipments come to work, there is always someone there and we know the delivery personnel.

I have lost queens in shipping, a long ugly story, but I also run a business and understand that even though a seasonal business is harder to run, you have to have balance. Production is only a part of the queen rearing business, as hard as it is, probably the easiest part of it.

I don't care to deal with customers, but they are a necessary evil if you want to be in business.


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## tbeddy

Expectations are everything. The supplier needs to do what he promised, if he said that he would call then you then then he should have called, but the opposite is also true.


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## longrangedog

*The end*

Queens came in todays mail (priority envelope) and look good. I believe the first shipment with two dead queens were banked too long. The cages were covered with propolis. Today the cages are clean. I've expressed my displeasure. I don't wish ill of anyone but would hope there are lessons learned.


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## JohnK and Sheri

>>>The cages were covered with propolis.<<
Propolis on the cage does not _necessarily _mean the queen was banked a long time. The cage may have been recycled, having been used several times.
Sheri


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## Scut Farkas

iddee said:


> Rat, although I agree with the busy part, I think a man should know his business well enough to tell the customer he can't call, at the time of the order, not after shipping and killing queens.
> 
> Poor communication and unkept promises have put many businesses under. They should have the common sense to tell the customer what they can't do, rather than promise them the moon and mess up their whole plan.


With customer service like that, he won't have to worry about being busy in the future.


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## Trevor Mansell

The truth is you only ordered 4 queens he probably isnt going to take the time to make sure you are happy. You should try Miksa in Groveland he is more knowledgeable and will actually take time to talk to you. He also has a better product, just my opinion.


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## Chef Isaac

does not and SHOULD NOT matter if you order one queen or a 1000. You MUST treat customers equally. If not, you will be out of business.


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## Kurt Bower

I recently (March 18) ordered 8 queens from Garry. In our discussion he stated that the queens would ship on Monday March 24. I was thrilled to find early queens and Garry has always accomodated me in the past with similar requests.
The queens ended up being delayed in shipment for 2 days and were not shipped out until Wednesday. After having spoken with Garry in the past I believe this was due to the weather. He does not like to jeopardize the queens when shipping them north as in this case to North Carolina.
The queens arrived next day and all were quite healthy as was my experience in the past.
Now we will wait to see how well they lay out. I have had some concerns about the quality of the queens but never the delivery.

Oh yeah... I called him Wednesday, left a message and was called back same day to inform me about new ship date.

Kurt


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## Dan Williamson

Chef Isaac said:


> does not and SHOULD NOT matter if you order one queen or a 1000. You MUST treat customers equally. If not, you will be out of business.


A commercial producer will be out of business if they focus too much attention on the one (or only a few at a time) queen buyers. They will spend their precious little time... with those who are paying their bills. 

I'm not saying that is the ideal situation... I'm just saying that is reality.

Chef... you are in the restaurant business. 

I waited tables in college. Regardless of the ideal... you find as a server that you evaluate the potential of the customers. You look at the table with one person or the table with 6. Table with one is getting soup and salad.... Table six is ordering drinks, appetizers, high dollar items. As a server you are going to do your best to meet the needs of the table with one person. However, you are going to spend any extra time you have trying to exceed the expectations of the table with 6! Why? Because Table with six is your paycheck. If you fail to provide perfect service to Table with one... its not good but not the end of the world. If you fail with Table 6 it greatly impacts your income!

I know that's a simplistic way of looking at it... but the reality is that given only so much time and a choice between the two... one has to make a decision as to the best place to focus the attention.

This is why I prefer to deal with the smaller queen producers. They by necessity are looking to sell to the smaller consumer. They can't mass produce. You get better service and in my opinion better queens because they aren't doing that mass production line. (My opinion with my limited experience)


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## MapMan

*Minimum order policy*



Dan Williamson said:


> A commercial producer will be out of business if they focus too much attention on the one (or only a few at a time) queen buyers. They will spend their precious little time... with those who are paying their bills.
> 
> I'm not saying that is the ideal situation... I'm just saying that is reality.
> 
> Chef... you are in the restaurant business.
> 
> I waited tables in college. Regardless of the ideal... you find as a server that you evaluate the potential of the customers. You look at the table with one person or the table with 6. Table with one is getting soup and salad.... Table six is ordering drinks, appetizers, high dollar items. As a server you are going to do your best to meet the needs of the table with one person. However, you are going to spend any extra time you have trying to exceed the expectations of the table with 6! Why? Because Table with six is your paycheck. If you fail to provide perfect service to Table with one... its not good but not the end of the world. If you fail with Table 6 it greatly impacts your income!
> 
> I know that's a simplistic way of looking at it... but the reality is that given only so much time and a choice between the two... one has to make a decision as to the best place to focus the attention.
> 
> This is why I prefer to deal with the smaller queen producers. They by necessity are looking to sell to the smaller consumer. They can't mass produce. You get better service and in my opinion better queens because they aren't doing that mass production line. (My opinion with my limited experience)


Perhaps the queen breeders who wish only large orders should have a minimum order policy.

I see your point about where the money is when waiting tables, but I'm glad that you weren't waiting on my table. Quite often I scoped out restaurants by myself, and if I got good food and service, I would bring one of my employee gatherings or groups of clients out to the restaurant. I figured if I meant a lot to them as an individual, they would care for my continued patronage. 

MM


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## Chef Isaac

Dan:

No offense but if you run a restaurant that way you will be out of business quick. You have forgotten SEVERAL key points. 

First, a single person at a table ordering soup and salad. Soup is a utilization outlet for left overs from the previous night and therefor cheap as far as cost goes. Salad is as well. So in reality, the profit margin is more on that single person versus the 6. 

But it goes deeper then that. Want a customer for life? Treat them well. A server knows to treat guests with the upmost attention. Why? Because the lively hood of a restaurant is at stake. 

Check it out, the person who comes in and eats soup and salad is usually a person that comes more often to that restaurant, at least according to the National Restaurant Association. The table of 6 might or might not come back depending on outside cicumstances. 

My point is is that with less and less commercial beekeepers and sideliners out there and more and more hobbyests, one would think that they need to treat the single orders as well as the orders for larger amounts. 

What is it saying to someone who orders 1 or two queens? that they get shafted because they are not a big enough operation? Come on!!


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## JohnK and Sheri

In an ideal world what you say is so, Chef. In the real world, however, things don't always work out that way.
At any restaurant, in an ideal world, of course, EVERYONE gets perfect service. But in the real world, an unexpected large group (or three!) comes in and the "little guy" suffers through no fault of anyone but poor timing. Or, the little guy gets wonderful service and the large parties suffer. Human resources can only stretch so far. Yeah, hopefully there is a surplus of staff for cases like this but too much extra staff and the restaurant won't stay in business either so management must guess what their needs on a particular night are. Guess wrong and service WILL suffer, no matter the ideal. Extra staffing costs must be passed along, raising costs.
Anyone who runs a business knows the trade offs at work here.
A reasonable person can look around and tell the difference between temporarily overworked staff and poor service. I don't automatically blame a restaurant in cases like this, and certainly not the server who may be _running_ between tables now, trying his/her best. This is assuming there is even enough cook staff to get the food out. I wouldn't trash someone's reputation by complaining on a public forum before I knew it was common practice and not just overwork due to seasonal demands, despite trying their best.

I will give you a personal example. I was recently on the phone with a very nice gentleman who is purchasing 2 colonies from us, to be picked up in a few weeks. We were having a nice chat when the truck delivering our bees pulled in the driveway from California. I had to get off the phone very abruptly. If he WASN'T such a nice gentleman he might get on a forum like this and give us a bad rap for not being attentive enough to his very small order. I know this isn't a good analogy but the point is.....in most operations there are only so many hours in the day. If two (or a dozen) things are happening at once, how do you deal with everything in that particular time frame, short of having expensive human resources on hold for busy times, which are hard to predict? I simply must promise to call folks back. Most understand but it is the few who think the world revolves around them that urk me no end. Some people think everyone sits on our hands waiting for their phone call. (Or the entire restaurant staff is waiting for them) (Or the queen rearers are sitting around waiting for their order.) Etc, etc, etc. These are the few who think they must jump to the front of the line. These few are welcome to do business elsewhere and no one is sorry to see them go.
OK enough ranting We are lucky that our customers are exclusivly great people.

My point is, at the absolute busiest times a business can have, it is common sense and the kind thing to give a little slack. [email protected]#$% happens! 
Queen rearers are shipping thousands of queens a day, and it is understandable (I didn't say justified) that a small order phone call slip his mind. He is worried about the 500 queen order he _*has*_ to have ready for shipment by the time UPS comes at 2pm. These guys are working under their own particular gun at this time of year. 
Yes, this queen shipper *should* have called, he inconvenienced the OP mightily, and I would be angry too, under the circumstances. I would suggest that the shipper's _attitude_ satisfy the OP, ie, if the shipper is sufficiently appalled at the problems he caused the buyer, maybe another chance would be justified. If not, find a queen rearer who is more focused on customer service and smaller orders, but expect to pay more.
Sheri


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## Dan Williamson

Chef,

I'm not saying its right. I'm just saying that is what happens. So lets take your soup and salad example... Profit margin is higher but only times 1 person. You take less profit per person on the 6 but overall you still make alot more money.

Same with bees. You order 1 or 2 and the profit margin per queen is higher. Let's call it $5/queen. So with 2 Queens the producer makes $10 However, compare that with the guy who is buying 100 queens. The producer is getting say $3/ queen. Bottom line is he made $300 vs $10 profit margin. The results are in the numbers....

Now say he made that one small customer as happy as can be... He's got a customer for life as you say.... Yet at two queens a year... and a profit margin of $5/queen it would take 30 years for the small guy to provide as much income as the big guy did in ONE ORDER.

The problem with using a restaurant as a comparison (my fault) is that we eat all the time. Queens are purchased maybe 1-2 times A YEAR!!!

A point that isn't that important necessarily to this conversation is..... you treat that table of 6 people fantastic and 1 person avg.... you have 6 people out there giving rave word of mouth reviews vs 1.

From a server perspective a single person at a table eating soup and salad is often (but not always) a detriment to their paycheck that day. What's best for the server isn't always what's best for the restaurant. I can give you examples....We could talk about this in PM's if you wish...

Anyway.... I understand the commercial economics perspective. That and other reasons are why I try to utilize the smaller players when I can. My restaurant example falls short because of frequency of buying issues. It would take a long time for the small player in the queen rearing business to make up the difference.

Treat the small player like a king and he will tell other small players. Treat the commercial guy like a king and he will likely tell other commercial (big order) guys.

I don't think that the commercial guys intend to treat the small players bad. They just have to make a decision sometimes who to make a priority.


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## Dan Williamson

MapMan said:


> Perhaps the queen breeders who wish only large orders should have a minimum order policy.
> 
> I see your point about where the money is when waiting tables, but I'm glad that you weren't waiting on my table. Quite often I scoped out restaurants by myself, and if I got good food and service, I would bring one of my employee gatherings or groups of clients out to the restaurant. I figured if I meant a lot to them as an individual, they would care for my continued patronage.
> 
> MM


Some do have that policy.

I made good money waiting tables in college. I averaged nearly 20% in tips and to this day always tip 20%+ unless service is horrible. Its a great gig for a college student. My best tip ever was a 100% tip. You get good at reading people after a while. For the record, I ALWAYS tried to give excellent service to everyone. But when you are getting swamped, (do they say "in the weeds"), sometimes you have to make a calculated gamble. Whether you realize it or not, it happens in every restaurant and every business.

How did I take this so off course!


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## Jeffzhear

Dan Williamson said:


> "...But when you are getting swamped, (do they say "in the weeds"), sometimes you have to make a calculated gamble..."


Dan, I agree with you...if only all of us had more time to do it perfect..."


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## okb

You know I really feel stupid whenever I call a company that does bussiness with larger outfits. I can see them trying to fill an order for say 500 queens, then the phone rings and its me and I want to order 1 or 2 queens. Then I have questions as to how and when they will be shipped. Or maybe even what to do with it when I get it. 

Do you really think they want me on the other line??
Bet they would all say yes but I can hear them after they hang up. IMO.


BTW Anyone out there ever work at a place like this and know how some really feel about the smaller guys??


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## Dan Williamson

okb said:


> You know I really feel stupid whenever I call a company that does bussiness with larger outfits. I can see them trying to fill an order for say 500 queens, then the phone rings and its me and I want to order 1 or 2 queens. Then I have questions as to how and when they will be shipped. Or maybe even what to do with it when I get it.
> 
> Do you really think they want me on the other line??
> Bet they would all say yes but I can hear them after they hang up. IMO.


I honestly think they are happy to have your order and want to give you a good product. However, when under the gun and problems arise.... you won't be their priority. Again, I have no doubt they want to provide you with a good product and good service. When stuff hits the fan though... don't expect to be first on the list!


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## JohnK and Sheri

I agree with Dan.
I think most are glad to have you as a customer and want to supply a quality product. Who knows, you may order 500 next year. Or know someone else that will.

But, if you want to chit chat, the best time is before their busy time arrives. 
In the summer, John sometimes isn't even in from the bee yards til after 9, and we are _WAY_ smaller than some of the big outfits.
We are more than happy to talk bees and micro diagnose the hobbyists 1 or 2 colonies in the winter, but once the bees get back from California it is tough to take that kind of time as much as we would like. It comes down to questions like "Do I spend half an hour explaining something to this guy who could look it up just as easy on the internet" (I do refer to beesource!) or "do I go feed that load of 512 that just hit the ground from California and are on the brink of starving?" Ya know what the answer to that is. 
Sheri


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## tarheit

A quick phone call or email letting the customer know the queens have shipped is a simple, inexpensive thing to do and good customer service. The time to package the queen takes more than the 1 minute such a call takes. If your volume is so large (most of us can only dream), then use one of the automated phone services that run at 12 cents per call or less (with no setup or monthly fees). 

-Tim


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## Chef Isaac

All I can say is from my experiance, which I learned at the hotels. 

My establishment has been open since 1970. Since then, there was been 15-20 restaurants that have opened and closed around us. People know, whoever they are, we are glad to service them like they are the only ones in the room. When $hit hits the fan, the Chef and managers are on the floor helping out. 

A crying kid? No problem... grilled cheese sandwhich made to look like a fishy really makes them happy. Want holllondaise sauce with the steak? No problem, we will make a small batch. 

Sheri and Dan, we will never agree. It is good to have people like ya all to "represent" folk on in large busineses. And nice to have pain the butts like me to represent smaller folk. But to be honest, negelct to the smaller folks is the exact reason why customer service as gone to ****. 

We will never agree. I am a Chef. I try to keep the restaurant afloat by giving customers outstanding service. It is not hard and the thanks people give you is enouromous. 

People close down because the word "no" is used to much. 

Remember this key key key factor.... EVERYONE has a voice. Give a bad customer service experiance to someone and they will pass it on to ten other people. Rememebr that!


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## tarheit

I understand the sediment that the 'higher profit' customer gets the most attention, but you can't ignore the small guys. They may be your big customer tomorrow, and have more voices and often the time to use it. Don't discount the influence of the small guy.

Case in point...My wife's business is small and her advertising budget outside of newspaper advertising is small potatoes. But she's active on many chamber of commerce groups and committees with many of the big companies in the area. This has not worked out well for the radio station that treated her horribly, but has resulted in many new clients for the TV station who treats her well.

I guess my point is, you shouldn't base too much on the size of a customer, you just can't predict what influence they can really have on your bottom line.

-Tim


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## JohnK and Sheri

Well, I never envisioned myself as a spokesperson for big business, lol. Maybe I should ring up Ivana for lunch. Dan, you want to join us? Maybe we can take the Lear to this fine place in Seattle I've heard of..... 

Seriously, with any business, I think clear communication and understanding of expectations and then fullfilling those expectations is important. Hopefully you get what you think you paid for.
I don't think even you, Chef, would expect McDonalds to cut a sandwich in the shape of a fish, or mix up a batch of Hollandaise sauce. (I am laughing at that imagery)
Your restaurant goes the extra mile. I would imagine, though, that for your superior service you charge a premium. I know there IS no free lunch ) ok, pun intended).

In business you can only choose two of the following...... 
................GOOD.................QUICK................CHEAP
Oversimplified a bit, granted, but the principle remains. If the OP wants personalized service, or I want Hollandaise mixed to order, we need to go to places that cater to that clientele, pay the premium and leave McDonalds to deal with the masses.
Sheri


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## Chef Isaac

Funny thing is that we are NOT high priced. We have one simple belief which is when serving a customer, they are the only ones in the room. That is why we have been in business for so long. 

So, when you call for queens, one should ask: are you good? are you cheap? are you quick? Come on! 

Simply put, if you cant give great customer service because you are too busy then you have grown too much without thinking about the back support end of things. 

Tim is right. 

So Sheri, you are saying that the beekeeper paying for 500 queens is more important then the guy paying for three? That is like saying I only serve white people first because, according to some study, they have more money. 

Why pay less attention to the small beekeeper? Just curious (and with all do respect), do you do this with people who buy honey from you?


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## Chef Isaac

Not to get on the soap box but sometimes I feel that not enough small beekeepers speak up. And I am not just saying beekeepers but the overall consumer. 

Someday, putting the smaller guy behind the bigger guy will come back and bite people in the butt. We too have a voice and to be frank, it can be more powerful then the big boys. Dont forget, hobby beekeepers out number!


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## JohnK and Sheri

Chef Isaac said:


> So Sheri, you are saying that the beekeeper paying for 500 queens is more important then the guy paying for three?


Did I say that? I don't think so. What I said was
"it is understandable (*I didn't say justified*) that a small order phone call slip his mind."
"this queen shipper should have called, he inconvenienced the OP mightily, and I would be angry too, under the circumstances."



Chef Isaac said:


> ....Just curious (and with all do respect), do you do this with people who buy honey from you?


Do I do WHAT????? My customers are quite happy, thank you, even the lady that came and only bought 2)2# jars today. I walked out to the shop through the snow just for her. Is that customer service good enough for your critical eye? Shall I give you her phone number so you can check?
Really, Isaac, I am quite offended by your question and your tone. Obviously you are missing my points. Sorry, I am being as clear as I possibly can be. 

{Aside to Dan and Ivana....let's forget that place in Seattle, I hear the waiters are rude.} 
Sheri


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## Angi_H

Sometimes stuff happens but yet you can never forget to help the little person. Just like the restraunt thing. What if that one person sitting there that ordered the salad and soup was yet a mystery shopper or the Zagget guy or the food critic and the service you give or dont give will come back to bite you in the butt or will be there to reward you with greatness. You can never over look the small order either. As that small order might be a test order to see how well things went and to test how well the queens did and how fast shipping took and how well customer service went. If everything went well then that person next week or a month later orders 1000 queens and also tells his 3 partners who then orders each 500 queens. You can never leave the small person out as they might be your saving grace the next time. They might also turn out to be one of the biggest outfits but was hiding under a smaller person just to see how well things went. I guess what I am saying is if you allways treat everyone as equals then you will never offend anyone and you will always have a customer for life. And a reputation of outstanding status and you will over sell ten fold.


Angi
who yes has done alot of mystery shopping and yes it does effect a stores reputation


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## Chef Isaac

Sheri:

I think I was not clear either. I am not talking to you directly but rather to the open discusion of the topic. 

My point, overall, is that, just like in the restaurant business, there is not gobs of money in beekeeping so ANY sale is a sale, regardless if it is 1 queen, 1 pound of honey or 1000 queens or 1 barrel of honey. 

Not talking to anyone directly, but it pisses me off that the small guy gets shafted by bigger guys. It is all a bunch of crap. A sale is a sale. 

Angi: One thing that the Bee journals have been lacking is a mystery shopper. I would love to see this happen, especially with queens.


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## JohnK and Sheri

Chef, first you say:


Chef Isaac said:


> So Sheri, you are saying that the beekeeper paying for 500 queens is more important then the guy paying for three? ...
> Why pay less attention to the small beekeeper? Just curious (and with all do respect), do you do this with people who buy honey from you?


Now you say:


Chef Isaac said:


> Sheri:
> ..... I am not talking to you directly but rather to the open discusion of the topic.


Please excuse my confusion. Usually when someone puts my name in front of the comment I consider myself addressed directly.

edit***Chef's jab at me and some others on this post who try to shed a little light on how business works is a typical knee jerk "kill the messenger" reaction. I merely try to convey, from my experience, how the beekeeping business world works, which is opposed to how he wants it to work. Businesses look after their own best interests, as well they should, and that is defined differently by different businesses. If you don't like one particular business's policies, or a business doesn't satisfy your needs *look for one that does*. Period! All the thunder and fury any of us can expound will not change the order of the universe. 
I know this will be perceived by Isaac as an endorsement, (what more can I do?lol), far from it. 
Sheri


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## Chef Isaac

First, I would like to appologize for what I said to Sheri.


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## Chef Isaac

I did not take it as me making a jab at anyone and if I did, or was preceived that I did, I am sorry. 

On a side note, I am a firm believer that business succeed or fail by who they decide is more of an important customer. Thsi is only my belief. I know how big operations run (outside of beekeeping but same rules of business apply). I do think that the statues quo does have a serious problem with customer service. Peopel can argue the subject but look around, businesses close just on that matter. 

Again, I apologize to Sheri and Dan.


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## JohnK and Sheri

Chef,
Apology accepted. I understand your comments come from frustration.
Sheri


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## Chef Isaac

It just pisses me off that the small guys get pushed aside by bigger orders.


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## Ravenseye

Phew! I love the passion here. One thing I do know. Chef....John and Sheri, you are still in business largely due to how strongly you feel and not because you can push someone else out of your competitive arena or spend a ton of money marketing an image that's empty of service or quality product. I actually think you're both saying the same thing in a different way. Your businesses need good customers. Those customers deserve business owners that make great decisions. Since all of you care enough to take the time and discuss this, it sounds to me like I'd be a fool to think that any of you were less than the best. So, I'll thank you all for the spirited perspectives and look forward to breaking bread and talking bees with you someday!

Just had to say what I felt.


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## Chef Isaac

spirited perspectives is a great way to put it. I try not to get on the soap box too much! Tends to offend people1


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## MapMan

Angi_H said:


> Angi
> who yes has done alot of mystery shopping and yes it does effect a stores reputation


My wife and I have also performed numerous - hundreds- of secret shopping excursions - as restaurant patrons, retail and service operations. And, let me tell you, it opened many owner's eyes. The firm my wife worked for also developed training programs to increase customer service. Customer service was so overlooked at some firms that when they went through a complete overhaul in the way the customer was handled from in the door sales through to after the sale follow-up calls, sales for all establishments at least doubled, and often tripled from before the training.

My wife now manages for a national retail establishment. And, you never know who/when someone is secret shopping the store. They have to be on the ball all of the time - busy or not busy, even when short-staffed. Their store's customer service rating is the best in the district, and near the top in the region, with sales surpassing all expectations for a relatively new store. The reason? Customer service!

MM


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## Chef Isaac

Feel great to hear that. So many business have bad customer service.


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## Angi_H

Sorry if the Mystery Shpper was a bad rep of what I was trying to get at. What I mean is you never know exactally who your customer is just because they are placing a small order and you have never herd from them dosnt mean they are not a big business just out there checking to see how thing are and how the quality is first. I know there are places here locally that I have mystery shopped at that I will never go again even though it was the first time I was there when I did that shop. One because they were either rude or the place was as dirty as all get out and the food was bad. Or they were dirty and rude and would not help me find the product I was supposed to check to make sure they had and would help me with. All it takes is that one person who does mystery shopping for a living or who does word of mouth advertising to make a company fall apart these days. With blogs and online forums words spread fast now a days. Just sorry if what I had used as an example was not right it was the only way I could think of to explain what I was feeling.


Angi


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## longrangedog

I've reported the negative experience with Honeyland Farms but there is also a positive in my experience with them. I introduced the 4 Queens with push in cages in a 5 frame deep nuc (3 frames bees, pollen, honey- two frames foundation). After a week 3 of the 4 were laying with the fourth nowhere to be found. Shortly after I moved to 10 frame equipment adding some drawn comb and a few frames of foundation. Since then I've fed sugar syrup. I checked today and found all three queens laying beautifully. I'll need to super the three hives soon.


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## Dan Williamson

tarheit said:


> I understand the sediment that the 'higher profit' customer gets the most attention, but you can't ignore the small guys.
> 
> They may be your big customer tomorrow, and have more voices and often the time to use it. Don't discount the influence of the small guy.
> 
> -Tim


I agree wholeheartedly... I don't think anyone here is saying that it's ok to ignore the small guy.... What I'm saying is that I understand WHY it happens. It doesn't excuse it....

Chef says....

Sheri and Dan, we will never agree. It is good to have people like ya all to "represent" folk on in large busineses. And nice to have pain the butts like me to represent smaller folk. But to be honest, negelct to the smaller folks is the exact reason why customer service as gone to ****. 

Once again Chef you are reading more into the comments than are there. I don't represent ANYONE BUT MYSELF. I hardly think my current level of 50+ hives puts me representing any large businesses... For the record... I've merely attempted to point out what happens in the real world and WHY it happens. There should be a better system but this is reality. For this reason I try to give most of my business to smaller players. I don't order enough queens to be a big guy... and as you say... people have choices. I have most often chosen the smaller player. I've been absolutely thrilled with my queens from tarheit and will order from him again. I am a small beekeeper and a small producer to local folks. I can give better customer service IMHO than a big player... just laying out reality Chef... not taking sides.

Oh... and an apology to me not necessary. I don't take anything on this site personal. We should all be able to voice our opinions and have a debate about the topics. As long as its done with the right attitude and spirit.

Chef says....
It just pisses me off that the small guys get pushed aside by bigger orders. 

I say who cares. Choices right? As a small beekeeper, I say stay with the small producers. You'll likely get a better queen and better customer service.

Did I mention tarheit has good queens?


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## dcross

Honeyland Farms(WI location) isn't far from me, I drove down last summer and bought two queens. We stood and shot the breeze for a while, and he kept offering to add attendants to the cages if I wanted them, all while his work crew stood around waiting on him! I ordered packages from him this year


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## Andy Miksa

Trevor Mansell said:


> The truth is you only ordered 4 queens he probably isnt going to take the time to make sure you are happy. You should try Miksa in Groveland he is more knowledgeable and will actually take time to talk to you. He also has a better product, just my opinion.


Hey, Trevor what about the Miksa in Polk City?


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