Vender Warning

[RTD]

Beware of Millennium Tanning Products.
Do Not Accept anything not in writing and signed.
And from this company, I would be wary of even that.

There are a lot of honorable, trustworthy suppliers out there.
Some advertise and many of them rely on cold calls to sell their products. We have dealt with a few and have had no problems.
Olio is a good example. The salesman made an offer to accept for return the product if we were unhappy with it.
I relented and placed an order. One of the products was great, but the other not so hot.
It was returned with no problem.

However,
In June we called Dave of Millennium Products. He was selling Swoosh Sunless Spray.
We were looking for another DHT solution but requested a sample to try.
He couldn't provide one, but promised to accept the product for return with full refund including shipping cost.
We accepted and ordered it. We weren't happy with it.
It has now been 3 months of attempting to return solution.

3 MONTHS !!!! The excuses for the delays have been:
I had to fire the whole office staff. (I really liked that one)
Dave was fired. (I called back 2 hours later and guess who answered the phone.. Dave)
The fax machine line was being repaired.
The person who handles returns was on vacation.
The person who handles returns was out sick.
The return form is in the mail.
We tried to fax it but couldn't get through. (the faxed worked fine on my end)

Now I was just informed by Diane, who supervises 5 companies??, that Dave told her that he
never said we could return the product.
Yes of course. We made that part up because 100 bucks will break our budget and send us into bankruptcy.
I have given them every chance to make good on their promises and all they will now offer is
compensation in the form of another product. As if I would deal with liars and thieves a second time.

Be aware of who you deal with and what they "say" they can or will do before you make any purchase.
Companies like this give other suppliers a bad name.

[I am not a supplier for any tanning equipment, product or service. I am just a salon owner who thinks
that the companies we deal with should conform to at least minimum standards of honesty.]

[dcjjp1]

I recently got one of the infamous calls from Rio and telling me about their fantastic new product, New and Improved Body Butter, something or another...

I told her I got hung with the 12 Body Butters I bought 1.5 yrs ago that I threw away after they wouldn't take back (after they said they would within 30 days of receiving it, which it was on the 16th day when I called.)

I asked her what did she think about that??? She hung up... LOL!

[clubtan]

Play by the "Golden Rule" which is - "He who has the Gold, makes the rules."

[Alan @ TanToday]

I get these calls alot of the time too. When I ask for samples if they start with the "we are the manufacturer and dont have samples but can give you a great deal on a case" I put them on hold never to return to the phone or tell them the owner isnt in. Either way they are out of my hair.

[RTD]

I agree and I must hang up on 20 calls a week, but we were looking for different sunless sprays and Swoosh
had an ad in the IST, so we thought we would give it a try.
When Dave said he didn't have samples, I said sorry and was about to hang up. That was when
he told me "If you are not satisfied, you can return the unused porton and I will even cover the
shipping cost on the return."
To me that was very reasonable and I said OK.

I didn't even get really angry with the bulls**t delays until I was told by the office manager or whatever
her title is, "The salesman denies making that offer."

That was just too much. We have to deal with a lot of venders, contractors and hopefully a lot
of clients and this two bit company is going to call me a liar! Over a lousy 100 bucks!! Give Me A Break.
This company violated my trust. Lied to my face (over the phone) and then insulted me as well.
That is just stupid business practice.

[Jancy]

I encourage all professional salon owners to always, always, always demand a sample from anybody who offers a new product. Why would anybody buy multiple's of something that they've never heard of, see, experienced or tested? Are we so greedy that we are thinking about the profit we could make instead of what kind of results the product produces?

I stick with my primary distributor. Period.

If we can get all salon owners to demand a sample from these people who cold call us in the middle of our working days, even just a couple of ounces (I'd pay up to $5 postage to see a sample....) eventually these manufacturer's of new products will get the idea that nobody wants to get stuck, screwed, shafted or mistreated because of a few bad individuals. It doesn't suprise me that these manufacturer's have to sell you "brand new great products" in large lots at low introductory prices... it's cheaper to sell to you than to pour it down the drain.

I HATE telemarketers, I HATE that they have to sell to us by the case only (which is bull**** of the highest order) and I HATE that other salon owners can't figure out when they are being played for a sucker.