Blogger pet peeve.. well this bloggers pet peeve at least!

Can I just say this without making you guys mad? 

Actually scratch that- I really don't care.

Some PRs rock!
Some suck..

Can we pause and take a moment of silence for the PRs who are not going to make it out of this thing alive?
I have a new respect for them. I know what they do is just as daunting as what we do. It's gotta be, responding to emails.. keeping up with what has been shipped.. what's been written, what has ended- whose prize has been shipped. I know how my head is reeling sometimes. I have to do the same, pitches, who has responded, who denied, who told me to wait a while, remembering to write them back.. Getting the stuff reviewed, some of it is not assembly and/or craft free, plus pictures.. don't get me started again on my camera issues.. then there is writing the post, sending them the link, promoting it.. moderating entries, picking a winner (or two..  or three..) and waiting for their reply. Forwarding their info, announcing the contests end.. This is a lot of work!  So I know my twenty to thirty companies I might be dealing with in any given month is nothing compared to what they have to deal with. Sometimes it can take me up to three weeks to get around to reviewing a product for them. I hope they do not get exasperated with me. But I always respond to emails.
Lets applaud the PRs who everyone loves to work with. You'll know if this is you:

1. They always respond to emails immediately.
2. They always respond with a nice word about the review, even if it was less than favorable.
3. They always respond when you tell them the winners info.
4. And lastly they even will tell you when they have shipped to winner.
5. Extra points- when the winner says they didn't get their product, they respond to that email, and re-ship!

What got me to thinking about this is a few in particular that have always been a pleasure to work with, like:  Nicole Egan www.rlapr.com !

When the PR takes weeks to email you back..
that is not fun.
When they say they will ship the review item.. and it never shows up.. and you email them- and they never and I do mean NEVER respond. What is up with that?
SO RUDE!
But sometimes, they do ship.. eventually. Some of them end up on my *** list because I write their review, and I spend a lot of time on it.. and send them the link (Just like I agreed to do/am supposed to always do) and they never acknowledge that they even read it. Which doesn't leave me with high hopes that the winner will receive their prize.

Once, long ago.. when I first learned of blog giveaways, there's a story here.. wait for it! I happened upon them on Online-sweepstakes.com and (That- btw- is the BEST online listing site for your giveaways!) I get tons of traffic from that site! Sometimes.. it will be the ONLY site I list on! If.. I am super busy (especially) anyway I am off track. Um, what was I saying? Oh yes- I probably wasn't entering them right. But for newbies, you can get a great idea on how to enter, by just reading other people entries on the giveaway comments...

It took me literally FOREVER but I finally won a few. Some of which never showed. One were going to touch on came from a blog called MamaNordy... anyway.. I kept emailing her it never showed.. and she never even emailed me back. My proof, look here! Apparently it was going to her spam? IDK, which she wasn't checking? Or she didn't care and kept the prize to herself, gave it to a friend. I don't know. All I know is I never got it. Granted, it might have been the sponsors fault. Perhaps they refused to ship another. She could have at least said that. And if it was going to her spam.. shame on her for that- I always check my spam. Even today- if you email me and I don't get it, you can always DM me on twitter or post a comment on my Facebook wall. Anyways point of this ridiculously long ramble... it's because of her that I am such a good blogger. So even though I despise her (and I really do) for never helping get my item, which I was soooooo excited to never receive. That was two years ago.. I am like an eleephant, I don't forget these little peanuts you see! WTH, right? I can thank her.. because I treat my readers so much better than that. So point is- some PRs do suck. That might have been her PRs fault. TO BE fair.. I did email her way more than once.  I was so new to blog giveaways I didn't know how to DM someone back then, and this was way before Facebook blog fan pages. So if the PR never replies that they got the winners info. It troubles me because I don't want someone hating on my blog like I do hers. I hope that ANY PR reading this can learn form this post, and please stop doing that.  I/we understand how busy you are.. we are too! But it only takes a few seconds to reply to an email.

Lets touch on the 2nd horrible thing I cannot stand that PRs do.
You have a whole inventory/webstore.. so why do you insist on sending me something I don't like?
If you have a whole selection of items, why send me the ugliest thing you have? Is it because you have a ton of them and want to pawn them off? Am I supposed to be nice about it? It kind of sucks. Again, not pointing fingers.. but I have been scratching my head about this for a while. You would think they would send you the cutest, and sometimes they do! Sometimes they are just oblivious I guess.

I wasn't going to throw a ton of PRs under the bus here.. and I should! But one has to be talked about. Because this was simply ridiculous.

I was so excited to find an email address online for KimmyShop's PR/customer service. His name i'll opt to leave out. Bloggers beware.
This guy- he takes the cake.
First of all. Keep in mind, you are working with a blogger. Even though my follower number may be small... those aren't the only people who read this blog. And even though 35,000 hits a month may seem small in comparison to some blogs.. that is an awful LOT of traffic. I think it is.
So why in the world would you want someone with that kind of KLOUT (another great website of course! Love them and been with them since the beginning!) to have anything bad to say about you?
Everything he could have done wrong he did.
 I tried so hard to be nice.. but in the end. I gave up and I might have been rude. But not without reason! I hate to send them traffic of any kind.. but take a look around their site. Some really nice stuff. Overpriced stuff, but nice, nonetheless. Kimmyshop is the go to for Calliou products. They have more than anyone. But that's not all they have! They have all sorts of kids products. So needless to say- I was ecstatic.

Giana used to LOVE Calliou. So on August 1st the day before my birthday- he tells me they are going to send me a Calliou lunchbox for review/giveaway. I was less than thrilled but agreed. I thought Giana would be glad. Nope. She came home from her new private Christian school a few days later saying that kids make fun of her Backyardigans lunchbox and she cant carry it anymore. So I tell her about the Calliou one (I was going to surprise her) and she is very upset. I show it to her and she says it looks like its for a boy, shes too big for Calliou (DUH mom,. shes is first grade now!) and that the kids at her new school make fun of her because of the spoons I put in her lunchbox have animal characters at the tip and she can't carry them anymore. *sighs*  So I think, I'll hang on to it, for Devonny (yeah- in like 3 years when she needs it. lol.. ) or give it to my nephew for Christmas. I wait- and wait- and wait- and wait-- it never shows up! On august 30th.. yes almost 4 weeks later...
I write to him. He says it was shipped and he will reship. UPS/FedEx this time. I say in not so few words " is there any way I can get something else? and I also explain to him Giana's less than enthusiastic response and tales of being teased about her lunchbox and spoons, and the lunchbox being "babyish and boyish" (I told him that, keep that in mind as you continue reading on)  He says and I quote: "Which one would you be interested in reviewing ?

--
name withheld
Customer Service"

I email him, and tell him about 5 things we really like. I keep them all under 20$ since he was trying to send me a 10$ lunchbox I should have never agreed to review anyway..
And he never replies. Shocker, right?
Then, when I finally get a response from him, I say;  "What item are you sending?" curious which one he picked from my list.
He says "A Calliou Backpack." Shaking my head- no really I am shaking my head.
So I tell you my daughter will get teased for a Calliou lunchbox, and you send her a Calliou backpack? That freaking great, according to him it was already shipped. Strange, because I still haven't gotten it. But I am glad, because honestly i was going to write return to sender on it.

Why in the world did he ask me what I was interested in reviewing then? Which (naturally) I asked him.
He acted like he never said that- so I forward him his message. Long story short. Me bringing this stuff to you- sometimes comes in frustration already laid as the groundwork for the post.

Just saying.

Have you had similar experiences?