Salty Revolution News update 15th March 2023 - includes a bit of a rant.

Salty Revolution News update 15th March 2023

Hi,

Hi everyone, here’s a little news update on what we’re doing this week. If you’ve texted/emailed/messaged and not got a reply yet, then don’t worry we will get back to you, but, this week we are packing lots of orders and that takes priority over enquiries on products etc.

Last week.

Ok so we had been doing pretty well at getting out 70-150 boxes per week. Last week because we were running behind on emails etc I looked at the 150 boxes planned to go out and cut that down to 60 boxes so we could catch up on emails. This would mean 90 people that could have had their delivery booked for last week it then wasn’t booked, but, as people that hadn’t had a reply straight away to the first email were then sending basically the same email again, which then takes longer to answer and causes disjointed email chains which makes things harder work. It wasn’t a decision I took lightly as 90 people that could have had their delivery then wouldn’t get it, but, it gave me time to catch up on the email backlog.

Bit of a rant.

This plan failed because having announced this plan then 3 times as many people emailed compared to normal, which at peak hit 96 emails in just 40 minutes. Despite me saying to everyone repeatedly that every email I get reduces how many orders go out. Whilst the overwhelming majority of people are waiting patiently, as ever a small minority email/text/message every week/every day and in some cases several times a day.

So just in case anyone has missed the many previous posts/emails etc on this subject, this is the system.

If you need to amend the address, alter the items on your order, or want to cancel or part cancel an order, the email me at: jamesgoodchild@live.com

You can text me, but, I tend to check texts when I have spare time and not in the shop, so if it’s anything to do with an order I won’t be at the pc, or near the paperwork. So if it’s anything to do with order amendments then email instead. Please don’t phone me, because I don’t answer any phonecalls. Chances are I’m either elbow deep in water, driving, or at the other end of a noisy shop from my phone and won’t hear it ring. I used to answer calls but it turned into me being on the phone 12 hours out of every 24 hours as a 24 hour national free help me with my tank line, I like helping people, but, I simply can’t sacrifice 12 hours of every day to answering calls. I know you think your call will only take 5 minutes, but, that’s also what the other up to 200 people in a day also think, and some of them are a lot longer than 5 minutes too. If anyone thinks this is highly unreasonable then just let me know your mobile number and I’ll put my calls on divert to you!

There are other way to contact me such as Instagram messenger, Facebook page messages, Whatsapp, etc. I only check these occasionally, sometimes not for 14 days or more at a time, so it’s not a good way to get an answer. The same with commenting on Facebook posts, I get up to 600 notifications a day, and Facebook only shows me the last 99, or what it thinks is the most important 99. On an average week I get about 2,500 notifications, even though I’ve switched off most things to be notified about, out of these I reply or view at most 20, so I’m unlikely to see it.

Is my order ready yet?

Ok this is the system, I’m sure most people are aware of the system, but, some are very determined to ignore it.

1- When your order is ready we will email you to let you know.

2- If we haven’t emailed you yet, then it’s not ready yet.

3- If at any point you decide you’re not happy to wait let us know and we will cancel and refund it for you.

4- If at any point we decide you’re not happy to wait we will cancel and refund it for you. This may seem harsh, but, I’m not prepared to let the 2% least patient people cause delays in getting out the orders to the other 98% of people, it’s a huge waste of time replying to multiple “is my order ready yet?/when will my order be ready?” emails, and not fair on everyone else.

I now mark the orders each time someone chases one, so I can spot the ones doing it the most. So far I have cancelled 68 orders in the last 14 days, and that’s saved about 2 hours a day for other jobs.

This week

This week we are mega busy sending out orders. I have 158 boxes going out this week, totalling around 400 of the 780 live orders on the system. To get this done means not everything else will get done this week. Livestock care, and essential business tasks have to be done, as does all the fragging and packing etc. Leaving little time to reply to emails and messages etc. Once all the orders have gone out this week I’ll pull up all the messages and pick out the 2% of people that have sent the most non-essential messages and cancel their orders, then I’ll start working through the other 98% of people’s messages. Those with an order number in the title get replied to first, then any others after that.

Sorry

Sorry if you are awaiting a reply, I will get back to you as fast as I can, but, there’s likely to be a delay in replying. I am trying my best I worked 146 hours last week, and 156 hours the week before. I really am doing my absolute best to get out as many orders as possible as quickly as possible.

James