re: FINALLY met our minimum + possible END OF COOP PRIVILEGE
Patricia Koontz
To members of the coop: I wrote this several days ago and forgot to send it. It will be a repeat of some info that I already sent but I think it bears repeating.
Regards,
Trish
We finally met our $1,000 order total yesterday. I’ll let you know when the shipping will occur.
More importantly, Tracy, owner of Hare-Today, let me know today that she does not want to work with our coop any longer because we do not get our orders finished in a timely way. Many times, we do not meet our $1000 minimum of goods ordered in the 4 day window of time that is set up each quarter. Coop members lag and drag and then finally pony up with an order or order increase. She says that no other coop but ours has this problem. Our orders are strung out across a big timeframe despite the pre-arranged 4 day order period and this causes her a lot of trouble because of many reasons (see her comments below). It has been an ongoing issue with Triangle Raw Coop in the last few years and it is very frustrating for Tracy, who has to plan for and then fill the order. Note: If she stops taking our coop orders then we would each have to order separately and have our order shipped to our own home – we would not get the shipping discount which is really important to me.
The members of the coop must decide if we are willing to do a better job at respecting the coop process with Hare-Today. There were several email reminders about the order timeline (as there have been in the past when other people have served as the organizer) but that has not worked to solve the problem. How can we, as a group, be more responsible and respectful with our ordering? Be aware that though we may make new commitments, Tracy may still not wish to give us another chance. She has plenty of business and our crummy treatment of her has driven her to the point of canceling her agreement with the coop. I’m not sure she feels she can trust us to keep our word any longer.
Trish
Copy of Tracy’s email to me:
Hi Trish,
It is not "not wanting to deal with the group" but this co op does this every time an order opens. They cant meet the minimums and I had addressed this with Jenn when she was still doing this in Oct of 2011.
I usually have 3 or 4 other co op orders going at a time and also all my regular orders. Logistically trying to keep inventory figured and supplies need is hard enough and then when the co op says the order will open March 30th to April 2 and now it is the 5th and the minimums have not even been met. It messes me up. I have freezers packed with food to be shipped and cant ship it because the orders are still opened and I have no idea when or if someone else is going to order to get the total up to where it needs to be. This jams up my freezer space.
I can not do the reduced shipping until the minimum is met as I have certain weights that must be met with UPS to get the discounted shipping rates.
I honestly don't know what the answer is for this particular group. Seems people are not vey organized and if they truly wanted this food they would order in the time frame specified. I actually feel it is rude of people to assume I will wait on them to decide to order or not. I always try to communicate well and to be courteous to my costumers but I don't feel the courtesy is returned with this group.
I am willing to keep this order open till Sat at midnight. This is almost 1 week longer that what I was told. If after that the minimums are not met The food that has been processed will be shipped to other people and I will refund the payments to the people that placed the orders and delete the exiting orders.
Tracy