Unprofessional conduct in the bridal industry has a snowball affect and leaves a bitter taste in the mouth of brides using wedding vendors.
That hold true to forums, administrators and moderators running forums.
Due to some true unprofessionals, we have chosen to leave some forums along with several very reputable vendors for this very reason.
Even though there may be a few good vendors left , the ones that were a mainstay, acted with courtesy and respect for other vendors and have contributed for years, are pretty much gone. They will not advertise on these forums as they do not want to be considered or grouped together with unethical, non-professional people.
We have been in the wedding business for over 23 years, and find it sad that pathetic attempts are made by others to undermine, deceive, lie and blatantly play games on forums to try to convince the brides that they are professionals and know what they are doing.
Last year alone, we had 5 brides contact us to tear apart or fix bouquets that were made by a vendor on a board. They approached us in many cases in tears, and it was evident by the way these bouquets were put together that someone that didn’t know what they were doing had put these together, and used inferior product contrary to what the bride was paying for. These brides did not come from one forum, but a few that lets anyone advertise a business. Even with faux flowers, there is a right and wrong way to do things.
Our company only has full-time staff working for us with the exception of installers for decor on the weekends.
We graduated at the top of the class in floral design, work with both fresh and artificial florals, and are extremely well known in the industry by our peers. We socialize with our suppliers regularly and have regular social times with not only our competitors, but many in the wedding business.
For years we have had great working relationships with other vendors, even those in direct competition with us, but the newcomers in the last while seem to think they should bulldoze over everyone and try to fool the brides.
The vendors sections have steadily gone down hill and continues. The proof was in a poll I recently took, and most brides don’t even look at the vendors section anymore for various reasons.
The emails I have received from brides and other vendors in support of comments that have been made is overwhelming, not to mention some are very sad due to the goings on by these same vendors on other forums.
Brides have told us that these vendors that feel threatened, have any kudos of our work removed from other forums. If that isn’t a direct sign of inferiority I don’t know what is! I would mention the forum names, but don’t want to give them free google advertising. This and many other stories have been told to us just how far threatened people will go. How sad and inappropriate for that vendor and the owner of the forum. We still have correspondence coming in, and on another forum a bride told quite a lengthy story about her nightmare with these same vendors.
Who loses? The brides first and foremost, the actual forum itself as good vendors won’t advertise, other forums and even other vendors.
Price is not an issue here, quality, customer service, and professionalism is.
Many of the reputable vendors have lower prices to fit any budget, but the finished product is far superior to any of these vendors of the work that many of us have seen.
One of the things I find to be the saddest, is that we mentor, help, advise and give lessons to many up and coming industry hopefuls. They have continued on to be successful, without any malice towards others in the industry. These threatenend vendors however continue to bash, play games and in general make themselves look truly unprofessional and in turn it reflects on the industry itself.
You are welcome to email me with your comments and questions about these vendors. As we are involved with consumer advocate groups, we will be more than happy to direct you to the proper sources with your complaints as we have done in the past. Any comments left here are moderated, approved or denied prior to being published.
We will now advertise only with forums that are involved with checking credentials of vendors and that keep it fair, respectful and monitor closely those that are involved.
An Update On Update posted below-August 3, 2009
The vendor I am talking about below, is the scam artist that took thousands of dollars from unsuspecting brides, and left them high and dry…. taking their money and running. See my post on August 2, 2009 about forums.
An update however is worth injecting here. Just this week ( May 21. 2009) a supposed professional went onto several forums and publicy accused another vendor of trying to ruin their reputation by sending a private message to a bride. They didn’t mention who the vendor was, just that they were being trashed by them.
This very same vendor being trashed, posted several items on a board and bumped ever other vendor off the page, then played dumb about it. They are now posting how terrible that something like this could happen to them. Well HELLO!! Why are you posting all over the internet if you don’t want people to know that your reputation is being trashed. Seems like a sympathy trip to me and she got it… as well as another way to advertise freely… Sheesh, it takes all kinds. Several vendors emailed me about this same company, we had a laugh or two, then I left that forum as well. However I had planned on it for several months anyway.
Another problem with specific forums is that some mods are friends with some vendors. They go out of their way to push and refer their friends, which in itself is unfair. Doesn’t matter if the vendor is good or not…. and that is a biased opinion being given that certainly doesn’t help the bride at all. My point is in the above post with having to re-do bouquets.
On another note, an owner of a destination forum decided she didn’t like a couple of vendors, and removed all postings about them, and will not let brides give good referrals about these same vendors.
We appreciate all your information, emails, phone calls, and correspondence about what has been said and done. All of the problems are documented and turned over to our group for reference.
Competition is healthy, and we welcome it. True professionals do.
With all this being said, it is now time for us to get back into the business of weddings, and focus only on keeping our brides happy as we have for many years. forget forums pretty much, and do what we always do with success.
