Diana, Nice to hear that you also are in the middle of the shipping period. All "PRE" orders were confirmed in writing stating a delivery date before the end of July. Now with the current wave of orders all should be sent out before week ending 2nd sept. Orders coming in now should have a 2 weeks delay. No confirmation is send out now. Maybe I should make an announcement in the "news" section of the web site that orders placed now will only be received within 2-3 weeks. How to deal with impatient customers? In principle we continue to respond rapidly and with courtesy even to the particular impatient gardeners. I think, Diana, that it is worth it and should not take up all that much time. All along the line I encourage early planting, so all is geared to get it out of the door as soon as possible. I have the impression that Europeans are less violent in their reactions (judging from Diana comments). The only problems here is when the post office has not found the right address (or the person was not there to receive it). In that case it always comes back, but it may take up to 4-6 weeks. This year all parcels are sent out with "collissomo suivi" which allows both sides to locate the parcel, which is useful in case of a return. Any way, courage, be sure to know that we are all with you "ha&rd at work in the height of the season. Greetings Lauw le 17/08/06 18:18, Diana Chapman à rarebulbs@cox.net a écrit : > This is an appeal to other mail-order nursery owners. Everyone else can > skip it!! > > I am bombarded with e-mails asking when customers will receive their bulbs, > even when I have already given as accurate an estimate as I can. If I say > "August", in early August all the August people will be e-mailing me, often > in very nasty terms. This is taking up a considerable chunk of my computer > time each morning, and even if I respond, I still get more e-mails (it isn't > here yet! Has it been sent?). Obviously, the more time I spend answering > these e-mails, the less time I have to pack bulbs. The large nurseries must > get inundated. > > Do others have this problem? Does anyone have a solution? I certainly > don't want to be rude or ignore customers, but it is truly getting out of > hand. Lauw de Jager http://www.bulbargence.com/ South of France (Climat méditerranéen; zone 8 Olivier) Latitude 34° N Altitude: 4m