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Post by webber on Dec 15, 2018 11:13:42 GMT -5
No one will like what I am going to say, but, being a paid gunsmith is a business. Being a good gunsmith doesn't mean one is a good business man and vice versa. But, after one is in the business long enough one should learn some business sense unless there is something wrong with him. A business man with any sense will have a built in cushion on time of a delivery. He should know what the AVERAGE time it will take to do a job and then add some time to allow for problems that occur along the way, sickness, tooling problems, parts suppliers being slow and whole host of things. Maybe he should add two or maybe three months to the average delivery time. He should have an idea. If he doesn't he needs to get with the program. If he doesn't want to add cushion time he should at least notify the customer he is going to have to have longer to deliver the goods to the customer. If he doesn't his business and his manners are lacking. Manners are equally important on both sides. Why should I show all the manners and the gunsmith show little if any? Manners can be shown but ways other ways not only verbally. The gunsmith stringing along a customer simply because he let his mouth write a check his behind can't cash is poor manners too. But, little ole me being afraid to call him and ask questions when I am paying a high tariff for his work is bad manners, mean ole me. Shame on me for showing such bad manners. Me I let the other person set the tone after I first be kind and mannerly. A behind is a behind is a behind. I say call him and ask. If he hasn't allowed time for phone calls then there's that bad business thing again taking in more work then he knows he will be able to deliver in a timely fashion. More bad business practices.
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WARDOG
.30 Stingray
Retired.....mostly.
Posts: 199
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Post by WARDOG on Dec 19, 2018 0:50:47 GMT -5
Let the deadline come and go. The 'smith gets enough phone calls from 'tire-kickers', Pakistani Viagra salesman, and subcontractors. It is difficult to get any work done during business hours. For full custom shops they have their problems: employees, machinery, material / barrel shortages etc. Then each subcontractor has the same problems. I have seen a bad batch of barrel blanks, incorrect heat treatments, poor blueing jobs blow 3 months worth of deadlines in one day. But it is tough to wait for a new boom-stick ain't it?
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Post by webber on Dec 19, 2018 4:29:32 GMT -5
Let the deadline come and go. The 'smith gets enough phone calls from 'tire-kickers', Pakistani Viagra salesman, and subcontractors. It is difficult to get any work done during business hours. For full custom shops they have their problems: employees, machinery, material / barrel shortages etc. Then each subcontractor has the same problems. I have seen a bad batch of barrel blanks, incorrect heat treatments, poor blueing jobs blow 3 months worth of deadlines in one day. But it is tough to wait for a new boom-stick ain't it? Wouldnt that work in with what I said about a savy gunsmith adding cushion time if he is worthy of being a smart business man.. A contingency plan. You know, expecting the unexpected when quoting a delivery time. Also not taking in so much work that it would take a miracle to even approach a quoted delivery time. How smart would he have to be to know these things? Also, a smart business man should know when a customer is dropping heavy coin on a custom gun said customer will be curious on the process that is going to be extracting said heavy coin from his billfold. Again how smart would said gunsmith have to be to know these things. If I were quoted say 12 months and I waited 12 1/2 months with no notification on my gun or any courtesy notification as to the interruption on delivery you can bet I would be calling. I wouldnt care if he liked it or not as he sure wouldnt be showing me any manners. Two way street to me.
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Post by potatojudge on Dec 19, 2018 11:14:27 GMT -5
Lack of communication has bit me not because of how long anything has taken, but because the gun arrived on my door step and was not the work I requested. I send in clear instructions, contact information with an invitation to call and discuss if anything is unclear, then don't hear back and come home one day to a package containing a custom gun built to the builder's specifications- not mine.
When it comes to informing you customers individually of the shop schedule, I don't think that's realistic. I do think general updates on social media like "building this today" or "waiting on .510 barrel blanks" or "installing a new XXX in the shop today" is reasonable and good self-promotion (See Nolan Custom Guns on Facebook for a good example). I also think a 5-10 minute phone call before starting more involved jobs is time well spent in customer satisfaction and to keep guns coming back for corrections.
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Post by 45MAN on Dec 20, 2018 7:16:15 GMT -5
WHEN YOU CALL SOMEONE YOU NORMALLY INTERRUPT WHATEVER IT IS THEY ARE DOING AS RARELY IS SOMEONE JUST WAITING AROUND FOR YOUR CALL. I THINK IT IS BEST TO SEND THEM A SHORT EMAIL AS GUYS NORMALLY CHECK EMAILS REGULARLY AND IT IS NOT AN INTERRUPTION. IF YOU WANT TO BE A PAIN IN THE ASS, CALL, IF YOU WANT A STATUS REPORT, SEND A SHORT EMAIL.
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Post by webber on Dec 20, 2018 8:25:05 GMT -5
WHEN YOU CALL SOMEONE YOU NORMALLY INTERRUPT WHATEVER IT IS THEY ARE DOING AS RARELY IS SOMEONE JUST WAITING AROUND FOR YOUR CALL. I THINK IT IS BEST TO SEND THEM A SHORT EMAIL AS GUYS NORMALLY CHECK EMAILS REGULARLY AND IT IS NOT AN INTERRUPTION. IF YOU WANT TO BE A PAIN IN THE ASS, CALL, IF YOU WANT A STATUS REPORT, SEND A SHORT EMAIL. Again shouldnt a savy gunsmith/business man know that phone calls will happen? Just goes back to what I said before . Cushion rime, cushion time. Smart business practices. No cushion time bad business time. Answering machines are also good business practices.
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Post by bushog on Dec 20, 2018 9:52:45 GMT -5
If you have a good longstanding relationship with the builder they don't mind hearing from you.
If you don't then work to build one.
Email which the guys I trust with most of my work is an easy way to check on status. This way the smith can sit down and go through messages all at once.
Just call and check in. They aren't going to bite you know....then asking when you should call again to check on your project is the next step.....
None of this is rocket science fella's
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Post by kings6 on Dec 20, 2018 10:54:47 GMT -5
I have visited with at least 3 different gunsmiths the last month or so and all told tails of the late summer early fall nightmare of the local guys showing up on their door steps with this rifle to get fixed, that scope to get mounted correctly and even "this damn rifle won't even hit the paper, I need you to sight it in" stories. One guy came back from lunch and there were three trucks in his driveway with guys needing little stuff done ASAP since they were hunting outside of town on one of the big ranches and they were having trouble with the set up.
Sure, they haven't been waiting for a year plus to get a custom revolver done but they are friends, neighbors, the kids baseball coach etc. that live next door and the gunsmith sees them at the store, church or whatever and finds it hard to tell them "Sorry, I can't hep you right now because I have this custom project on the bench and I can't do anything but work on it until it is done.
Little jobs like that are also what helps keep the lights on until that $3k custom gets done and out the door. Just another part of a small businessman staying in business. I also know that I don't want any of them machining, stoning, filing or welding on my project with one hand while they are talking to me holding the phone in their other hand.
Like I mentioned before, having a custom revolver built is not a process that is everyone can go through or endure. In the same way there are folks that should never have a custom house built, they are just better off buying one already move in ready.
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Post by squawberryman on Dec 20, 2018 14:14:59 GMT -5
Ask Doc, Jack, Alan, anybody else how much they like it when they hear "When's it gonna be done?" I did have a sour encounter with a good and well known engraver. I was told he'd get to me in about two years. After one year I called and asked about surface prep for engraving, as the gun was also going to be refinished. He muttered the squeaky wheel gets the grease. Yeah but it's expensive grease. The gun didn't get engraved.
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Post by webber on Dec 20, 2018 14:42:02 GMT -5
There isnt anyone advocating being stupid about calling. Anyone with a half of a brain knows if the gunsmith says 12 month dont start calling in a month, two months, or even eleven months. That is just being stupid. But, if he said 12 months and after 12 1/2 or 13 I say call. He was the one making the mistake not the buyer of his services. Its time people stop being mamby pamby with people we are paying out good money too. Making excuses all the time for being messed with just gives more leeway to getting more of the same. I am a very patient person with custom services that I know will take a long time but I am not going to be toyed with. But, I am not going to be stupid either.
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Post by mart on Dec 21, 2018 12:45:40 GMT -5
I'm with webber on this. If it goes past the promised completion date with no communication, then by all means call. They have your gun, probably a pretty healthy deposit or possibly have been paid in full from the beginning and should not be put out over a call from someone who has put a significant sum of money in the smith's economy.
I spent a frustrated year waiting on four molds from someone considered to be the finest mold maker in existence. Others ordered molds after me and received them before me and yet I could get no answer by phone or email. Out of the blue one day they showed up with two extra sticks of lube to make up for the long wait. Originally I was told three months. The molds were fine but I'll not order from him again. I'm not going to bug a builder before the promised completion date but if I don't get an update as to the status of my build as that date draws near, I will begin to get antsy.
A few short emails during the course of a build would go along ways to ease the minds of those who have a few hundred or a few thousand on the line for a custom build.
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