Unresponsive Vendor

She can't be bothered to take your money?!?!

Do you have time to book a new videographer?

I am going through the same thing with my dj. all I want is for him to send me my contract so I can sign it and send him the money! I understand that he's busy so I am giving him through this weekend. If he does not get me the contract I have now asked for 3 times in almost 3 weeks I will be finding somebody else. Depending on how long it's been and how unresponsive he is I would say to call/email whatever and tell him that he has until ** to get done what you need him to do. If by that time he doesn't assist you with what's needs to get done you will be finding somebody else. Lack of a response from him indicates an inability of him to do his job and you don't want incompetent people working your wedding.

Do you mean you're trying to give her an installment payment, or do you mean you're attempting to set up an appointment so you can give her a deposit and execute a contract? If it's an installment payment according to your contract, you just need to send it to her. If it's about her accepting a deposit, she may no longer have your date available. If it's about a deposit/contract, I'd email and follow up with a phone call letting her know that if you don't hear from her within 24 hours, you'll assume she has passed on the job. Then begin looking elsewhere.

I'm trying to sign the contract and pay the deposit. Thanks for the advice, I'm going to email her and let her know I can only give her 24 more hours. I'm getting married in May wedding planning is stressful enough and this just makes it worst. It also leaves the lingering thought in my head of, "Is she going to be unresponsive the day of or not show up".

If she is too busy to email or call you back then she must not need the business. I would find someone else if possible, someone who is willing to be there to answer questions and accept payment.

Move on. This will not get ANY better.

How much time are you giving her to respond. I sometimes feel this way, but then realize I've only emailed then like less than 12 hrs ago. These people have other day time jobs sometimes, so may not get a chance to respond so quickly. They say you should give them at least 24 hrs to respond.

Lol if she won't even respond to you trying to PAY her, what makes you think she would respond for anything else?

Send one last email saying you're unhappy with her lack of communication and be done with it. Huge red flag.

ETA: Just to add, I went through something similar with a vendor. I liked the guy, was happy to pay him, asked him several times over the course of THREE MONTHS to send me the contract so I could give him the deposit. I gave up and found someone else, who we LOVE, so it all worked out for the best. Sure enough, he emails me back a couple of weeks later with the contract. I had to tell him we went with someone else and he was mad we didn't "let him know" and that he was holding our spot. I was shocked he could even try and make me feel bad. I put him in his place pretty quick, and I have since heard from a couple of others that he was horrible with communication and they regret their decision. Dodged a bullet!

A few of my vendors took longer than 24 hours to respond , but got back to me and apologized. I do get they are busy. Like florists are busy over valentines ...and other things. If it's been weeks I'd move on. But if it's hours or just a few days. Give her time. Did u try to call ??

If you have heard back each time but it takes a while it's one thing but after three weeks of nothing it's time to move on. For your time frame time really does mean money.

It's rare that an established business owner would make it difficult to set up an appointment to accept a deposit and seal the deal. That's the point of being in business. When this happens, I tend to think the vendor booked the date. Should she advise the person making the inquiry? Yes, she should.

Move on. I've had this happen too. It was strange but I definitely didn't want to have to worry about them not showing up on the day of. If they don't want your money, it's their loss!

I had a post like this a few weeks ago about a potential DJ that I hadn't heard from in over a week (UPDATE: A month later and STILL nothing, btw), and a lot of WW ladies thought it wasn't a sign that he would be non responsive throughout the process, but I sure took it as one! I say cut him and look for another DJ. What if he's nonresponsive the week of your wedding?

I found another DJ, a lot more but totally worth it! We'll be signing a contract next week.

I have been dealing with this from my caterer since the beginning. Now my hair & makeup lady, and photographer have jumped on the bandwagon. Why is it so hard to reply to a voicemail or email??

I go through the same thing with my caterer... he is just so flaky and unresponsive. I had to go out of my way several times to his place of business and let him know the severity of the situaton and the importance of keeping in contact

My venue never answers emails either, ever, like weeks go by They're reputable, but they suck at emailing. They're responsive when I call, but aren't apologetic for never answering my emails. Frustrating.

My venue broker sucks, my photobooth woman is iffy (I've asked repeatedly for a copy of the contract and she text me a picture of it and explained her scanner is broken and promised to get it emailed but still hasn't. However she did really help me with a catering referral). A catering contact that I was trying to send her a deposit and signed contract and she just never responded (she works for a national chain Italian restaurant as their catering coordinator). My photographer has been hit and miss and the lady I did an hour long skype floral consult with almost 2 weeks ago has never sent me my quote. Another local vendor also has had such horrid and unprofessional communication that I have considered blasting her all over facebook. I simply don't understand. This is these people's BUSINESS and they are just so damn flaky.

I would absolutely take this as a sign and do in another direction!! Good luck!

I had a similar issue with my florist. I called a couple times with a "we will send you the estimate" then heard nothing. I even thought briefly about paper flowers. My sister (MOH) called them for me and they sent me the estimate. It was cheaper than I thought, and I'm happy! I was upset to start, but am happy we went with them. Good luck!

I know some wedding related businesses can be busy - partly because they may be bi-vocational. But a week is more than enough to wait for a response. A contract for a DJ might be $300-500, a contract for rental might be $500-1000, and a catering contract could easily be north of $1,000. To expect a response or even a contract in a timely manner is not being difficult. If a scanner is broken, then they should be able to afford a $2 charge at FexEx/Kinkos. Certainly your vendors are throwing up red flags - which you shouldn't ignore. Make some calls, but tell your new potential vendors of your previous flight. I'm sure you'll have your next videographer will be more responsive.

I understand the concern.

I find it baffling that there are businesses currently running that do not keep up with social media, and other forms of communication. Getting your name out there is huge, and being responsive is so major in the beginning stages and following through right until your wedding.

I skipped past a lot of local vendors because they didn't have a website, or an active facebook page at the least. I won't waste my time blind-calling a bunch of vendors because I have no other way of obtaining info about them.

This rant is becoming less and less on topic, but it is something I feel strongly about, haha.