Why don't vendors include prices

larrygaga · June 2014

And why is it when I ask for prices they send me the menu again with no prices. I'll cut you, vendor.

loveislouder · June 2014

I HATE that. Or when you find a venue that looks fantastic and you send an email, they don't reply for a week so you call and then don't pick up

Angusaur · June 2014

It's definitely frustrating. I hate when they try to talk you into coming in before discussing pricing. How about NO, I need to know if you are even remotely in my budget before I waste my time coming in there.

larrygaga · June 2014

Angusaur said:

It's definitely frustrating. I hate when they try to talk you into coming in before discussing pricing. How about NO, I need to know if you are even remotely in my budget before I waste my time coming in there.

Exactly! And since the area I'm looking at is about a two hour drive from home, I need to be really sure I like it before I lug my ass over to you. It's a waste of time on both ends.

Fran1985 · June 2014

I had to remind this caterer 4 times to send me a proposed menu because she wouldn't send me menu prices, only a proposed menu. I finally get it and its 25k for just food. Umm you could of saved us both a lot of time by giving me a range 6 weeks ago.

AddieCake · June 2014

$25k for food?!?!

chibiyui · June 2014

As a sales person, we try to avoid giving hard numbers so we don't get shopped/have people match our prices at a competitor. Also some people are really, really bad at sticking to a budget, so if I get you in that top of the line tempur pedic without telling you the price first, it becomes a lot more tempting. And the midrange I Comfort looks like a bargain in comparison.

Tl; Dr, I gotta eat and you look like dinner.

huskypuppy14 · June 2014

We spent 20K for food and alcohol (including tax, fees and gratuity). It would have been 25K if we had 100% attendance (~150 people).

And this wasn't the most expensive place either (though it also wasn't the cheapest).

monkeysip · June 2014

I get that a lot of prices are negotiable, and I also get that if we meet in person, I might be more willing to go a little over my budget. But yeah, when my photography budget is $1000, and your prices are $3000-4000, you're just wasting my time. There's no way you're going to talk me into spending that much, and there's no way I'm going to be able to haggle you down to a reasonable price.

huskypuppy14 · June 2014

Some venue took 3 or 4 weeks to get back to me. I already booked my venue, by the time they responded to my email. I sent them a snarky response, saying maybe I would have considered them if they got back to me within a reasonable amount of time. (They were outrageous anyway...75 dollars for a kids meal!)

ShesSoCold · June 2014

Angusaur said:

It's definitely frustrating. I hate when they try to talk you into coming in before discussing pricing. How about NO, I need to know if you are even remotely in my budget before I waste my time coming in there.

We're having a DW and only had 4 days in the area to pick a venue. Plus we wanted to vacation a little so we wanted to be wise with our time. We knew one place would be at the top of the budget and I tried to reflect that we were on a small-ish budget without saying flat out "our budget is X - can we afford you?!". The contact - who has the same name as our dog - there seemed super nice in emails but gave me extremely vague prices. So we go there and start talking numbers and she automatically makes it clear that we're not good enough for her hotel and basically tells us there's no use in us being here. I can see FI getting really mad. So on our way out, I thank her for her time and, as nicely as I can, tell her that our dog has the same name, which is hilarious and appropriate because she's old and crotchety too.

CMGragain · June 2014

The purpose of an internet site or advertizement is to make the phone ring. The phone rings so they can schedule you for an appointment for a sales presentation. If they give out too much information, you won't come through the door, and they won't have a chance to sell you their venue.

I was a very successful real estate agent.

Cookie Pusher · June 2014

I was very lucky that almost all my vendors were upfront about their prices (either already listed on their websites or they sent me package info when I asked). That hasn't been the case with other events I've planned, especially for work, and it's really frustrating. However, it's sadly how sales works. It's easier to sell to you in person where they can charm you.

theartistformerlyknownas · June 2014

Where are you looking? I might have friends who've gone there/gotten quotes there.

beethery · June 2014

Fran1985 said:

I had to remind this caterer 4 times to send me a proposed menu because she wouldn't send me menu prices, only a proposed menu. I finally get it and its 25k for just food. Umm you could of saved us both a lot of time by giving me a range 6 weeks ago.

AddieCake said:

$25k for food?!?!

HOLY SHIT. Twenty-five thousand dollars. Our meal estimates are coming in under $6k, with an extra $600 for 22 dozen cupcakes. How many guests are you having?

theartistformerlyknownas · June 2014

beethery said:

Fran1985 said:

I had to remind this caterer 4 times to send me a proposed menu because she wouldn't send me menu prices, only a proposed menu. I finally get it and its 25k for just food. Umm you could of saved us both a lot of time by giving me a range 6 weeks ago.

AddieCake said:

$25k for food?!?!

HOLY SHIT. Twenty-five thousand dollars. Our meal estimates are coming in under $6k, with an extra $600 for 22 dozen cupcakes. How many guests are you having?

Errr... our catering estimate (still very TBD based on consumption bar) is $20k... but that's for 250 people. Not including the cake.

beethery · June 2014

lolo883 said:

beethery said:

Fran1985 said:

I had to remind this caterer 4 times to send me a proposed menu because she wouldn't send me menu prices, only a proposed menu. I finally get it and its 25k for just food. Umm you could of saved us both a lot of time by giving me a range 6 weeks ago.

AddieCake said:

$25k for food?!?!

HOLY SHIT. Twenty-five thousand dollars. Our meal estimates are coming in under $6k, with an extra $600 for 22 dozen cupcakes. How many guests are you having?

Errr... our catering estimate (still very TBD based on consumption bar) is $20k... but that's for 250 people. Not including the cake.

That's a good point. FILs are providing the booze so that's cutting my food/bev budget down a bit. I've also been budgeting for 140 guests max, so 250 makes more sense for that number.

ElcaB · June 2014

SO ANNOYING.

larrygaga · June 2014

I budgeted like 8k for catering/bar but that's in northern michigan where everything is practically free.

stef42188 · June 2014

CMGragain said:

The purpose of an internet site or advertizement is to make the phone ring. The phone rings so they can schedule you for an appointment for a sales presentation. If they give out too much information, you won't come through the door, and they won't have a chance to sell you their venue.

I was a very successful real estate agent.

This kind of thing is actually a huge turn off for me. I want all the pertinent information up front. If a vendor doesn't give it to me - especially information like pricing, which helps me decide if I'm wasting my time and theirs - I stop becoming interested and go with someone else. In fact when picking our venues we only went to the ones who responded to our request for pricing, and were more willing to work with them because they were more up-front and honest. If they didn't, they lost our business without even having the chance to sell us on it.

theartistformerlyknownas · June 2014

stef42188 said:

CMGragain said:

The purpose of an internet site or advertizement is to make the phone ring. The phone rings so they can schedule you for an appointment for a sales presentation. If they give out too much information, you won't come through the door, and they won't have a chance to sell you their venue.

I was a very successful real estate agent.

This kind of thing is actually a huge turn off for me. I want all the pertinent information up front. If a vendor doesn't give it to me - especially information like pricing, which helps me decide if I'm wasting my time and theirs - I stop becoming interested and go with someone else. In fact when picking our venues we only went to the ones who responded to our request for pricing, and were more willing to work with them because they were more up-front and honest. If they didn't, they lost our business without even having the chance to sell us on it.

I've done the same with car dealers. I BUILT the OEM websites and know them inside and out - I know exactly which car I want, and the range of monthly payments I could be paying, I just want you to tell me which one of those prices you're offering me. If you won't, I'll go to the dealer who will and he'll just trade for that specific car that I wanted and get your commission.

climbingsingle · June 2014

This is what I loved about my venue. They sent me a menu with pricing options as soon as I asked for it.

larrygaga · June 2014

lolo883 said:

Where are you looking? I might have friends who've gone there/gotten quotes there.

I am poking around at several places in saginaw and bay city

larrygaga · June 2014

I am underlining for some reason. What I have to say right now is really important, I guess. Thanks Knot!

Basically I just emailed someone asking if their forest green hotel carpet is still in their ballroom. I was nice about it, but I don't want to get married someone with green hotel carpet. You guys all know what carpet I'm talking about. The weird indoor outdoor kind that has been there since the 80's.

Seriously, you have a beautiful ballroom. Get some wood floors, damn.

lkristenj · June 2014

I don't think people can get a free pass on common decency in the name of sales. If someone asks you a question, it's polite and right to answer it as completely, correctly, and quickly as you can. THAT's good business. I don't understand why rude sales tactics (that perhaps do work sometimes) are given a pass just because "that's sales". It's disappointing.

The photographers that did not have pricing online and didn't respond promptly to my emails with clear information were not given another look. The one I hired has pricing up front on his website, both for packages and add-ons for any extras. When I met with him, he was honest, polite, and straightforward.

ETA: In my case, "too much information" was what got me in the door with my photographer. I made that call because I liked the information I was seeing. Meeting him just sealed the deal he already laid out. No surprises, no run-around. It does work too.

larrygaga · June 2014

I also pass up vendors who don't have a website or email. The website because it's just silly not to have one in this day in age. How can I trust you to be modern and a good business if you don't even have your chit online? The email because it's literally 4 seconds and free to get one, and I want everything in writing.

It really puts me off when businesses aren't online. I can't wrap my head around how they do business anymore.It makes me think that they aren't willing to change and grow.

NYCBruin · June 2014

CMGragain said:

The purpose of an internet site or advertizement is to make the phone ring. The phone rings so they can schedule you for an appointment for a sales presentation. If they give out too much information, you won't come through the door, and they won't have a chance to sell you their venue.

I was a very successful real estate agent.

I understand this and this model may work for some businesses/potential customer bases, but not others. My work hours are crazy, unpredictable and long. I don't want to spend what little precious free time I have during the hours when vendors are available to be speaking to vendors. I've done (and continue to) do a lot of wedding planning either during 5-10 minute breaks during the day or at odd hours in the middle of the night. I also literally get hundreds of emails every day, so there's no way in hell I'm giving out my email address just to get a price (I don't want to risk getting spammed). That meant for us we didn't even consider any vendor who didn't have prices readily available online.

In today's world where people are used to being able to get whatever they want whenever they want (I can order shoes online at 2 am in my pajamas, I can order groceries online during my lunch break, etc.), I think the market for people who are willing to play the chicken and egg pricing game (I don't tell you my budget, you don't tell me your prices) is shrinking.

larrygaga · June 2014

@NYCbruin I made up a whole new email specifically for wedding stuff. Now I can give it out freely and never worry about getting spammed in my usual email.

NYCBruin · June 2014

larrygaga said:

@NYCbruin I made up a whole new email specifically for wedding stuff. Now I can give it out freely and never worry about getting spammed in my usual email.

I did that, too. And it sorta worked. But it didn't solve the problem of having to sort through a bunch of "special offer" type emails before getting to the ones I care about. Plus I hated having to check another email account. So I ended up giving our vendors my real email and now never look at my wedding one.

flyingfoxes · June 2014

I hated that too - we went with a venue that listed their price on their website. Ain't nobody got time for those that won't be up-front with their cost.

climbingsingle · June 2014

That green carpet sounds fugly.

Why don't vendors include prices

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