Hi All,

I have a bride who cannot come in for a tasting until next year...she wants me to send samples. I already emailed her stating that I do not offer that and I don't want to have to worry about temperature controlling etc. Anyhow, she emailed back stating that she knows I don't normally offer it, but will I just for her. It is something I really don't want to get into, since many of my brides are from out of town. I just need a nice way of saying it...everything I have written sounds so snarky!

Thanks!
Anita

You may want to consider offering this service at an enormous markup that would cover the cost of temperature sensitive shipping containers and the added hassle.

If she is so insistent I would do the following if I were you.
Figure out how many samples you want to send her and of what kind.
Find air tight containers that will hold each sample individually.
Pack these up in a box with lots of solid foam and bubble wrap and ideally an ice pack or two and then get a shipping quote for fed ex over night guaranteed by 9 am delivery with signature.

To this shipping quote add all the packing materials and your time- and quote her that amount for the samples.
If she still wants to do it then I say go ahead because it means she is a serious customer.

I agree with Auryn. She'll pay if she's serious!

I forgot to add
I buy frozen seafood from alaska
it is shipped overnight (the method I mentioned above) from Alaska to South Florida - they pack it with a handful of disposable ice packs and when the fed ex guy delivers it in the morning- before 9 am- its still rock hard

I would find out this bride's budget before you do anything else. Make sure it's even worth your time and energy to go thru all the trouble. If she has an unrealistic budget then it's really not worth doing.

If you really don't want to do it then I would simply say:
"I'm sorry I cannot accomodate that request. I am more than happy to set up a tasting next year when you are available to meet in person."

If she keeps pushing it you need to decide if you really want to work with her.

If you don't want to do so, this says it all:

I'm disinclined to acquiese to your request!

Thanks for the response. I will put an invoice together and charge for my time and expense and see what she says.

Thanks!
Anita