Has everyone gone insane?

[Scott Shepherd]

Anyone dealing with extreme levels of insanity right now? We're slammed and call after call seems to be more insane of a request than the last one. People call at 6:30 on Friday (when we are closed), leaving messages, wanting to pick things up on Monday. People are ordering jobs, we tell them 5 days, they call the next day and want to know if it's okay for them to stop by and pick up the order.

Just got an order this morning for 40 corian signs, all needed by Thursday. Hello? Today is Monday.

Not complaining, but jeez, can we get enough time to actually order the material and get it here before you're standing at the door to pick it up?

Anyone else seeing this, or is this isolated to us?

[gary l roberts]

Nope, but I think YOU are a victim of your own success..... Good Luck and don't spend all that extra money in one place!

[Gary Hair]

Just the typical stuff -
I get a call at 7:45 this morning, no message left. Same person calls at 8:30, no message left. Same person calls at 9:40, no message left. Again, same person at 9:45, this time she leaves a message saying "please call me back, I've been trying to get in touch with you for a while now". My voicemail greeting says my hours are 10:00 am to 4:00 pm yet she sounded very annoyed that I wasn't answering... I'm guessing that the $35 (my minimum) I will quote her for her jewelry box lid is going to be too much...

[Mike Troncalli]

Yep.... Lady calls last Tuesday, Wants 100 2x12 wood signs made, painted, rounded over, engraved and ready to go by Friday... Oh and she wants to pay $4.00 each for them...

[Jason Roehl]

Cheap, fast, good: Pick TWO!

[Mike Chance in Iowa]

Yup. Similar stuff here. On Saturday morning, a guy from the East Coast called around the 4am hour (my time) and didn't leave a message on voice mail. He then sends an email complaining that no one was there to answer the phone. His original issue was he couldn't pay via credit card on the web site because the web site asked him to input his credit card info. Apparently a lot of companies have that same problem with their web sites. They require you to input a cc number in the secure form. I guess I forgot to implement the latest technology where people do not need to input their cc numbers when they pay for an item they want to purchase.

[Mark Sipes]

Yep.... Lady calls last Tuesday, Wants 100 2x12 wood signs made, painted, rounded over, engraved and ready to go by Friday... Oh and she wants to pay $4.00 each for them...



Well look, she saved you the time of having to provide a quote...LOL

[Scott Shepherd]

Got 4 calls on Tuesday from the same guy. Has an event on Saturday, needs a business card size plaque engraved by Friday. Pays me the money, approves the proof in minutes. Rush it through Tuesday between jobs, priority mail it to him on Tuesday, delivery date of Wednesday. Event is on Saturday. Put his email in when I mail it from the post office, so it emails him the info as well, along with tracking number. I tell him "If you don't get it tomorrow, let me know and I'll track it down".

Emails me Sunday morning and says "Hey, the package never arrived, what's the deal". Who the heck needs something on Friday, and waits until Sunday to track it down? I email him the delivery confirmation info. Never hear back from him. It was delivered on Wednesday, as promised, according to USPS tracking info.

I know it was for a real event on Saturday because other people ordered things as well, and they all needed them rushed through too.

[Tim Bateson]

I had a guy call on Saturday, needing a trophy - to be picked up within a couple hours... With a fish on the top! Sure I have fish trophies just laying around...

[Ernie Balch]

I got an email request for a quote on 250 3x3" 1/4" thick wood hearts. I ask about the wood type, finish required and budget. The next email says they already have a quote for 33 cents each could I beat that?!

[Steve Clarkson]

About a month ago, I had 63 missed calls from one guy during a 24 hour period......the guy needed 2 zippo lighters engraved. Who calls someone SIXTY THREE times????

[ray hampton]

About a month ago, I had 63 missed calls from one guy during a 24 hour period......the guy needed 2 zippo lighters engraved. Who calls someone SIXTY THREE times????

did the 63 calls cause you to miss other important calls, in other words HOW many calls will your answering machine store ?

[Mike Lysov]

That's why I do not want to publish my phone number on my website. I have only skype in # with voice mail because sometimes it is just hard to promote your bushiness in internet business directory websites. If people need something they have to use either my email or a contact form on my website.
From my experience people calling on the phone just wasting time and causing huge delays in processing others orders. They can talk 20 minutes regarding $2-5 order which in most cases they are not even going to place.

[Lee DeRaud]

Cheap, fast, good: Pick TWO!I used to have a sign in my office that said that, but it was crossed out. Below it was, "Good or fast: pick one. Cheap is not an option."

[Joe Pelonio]

I was away on vacation last week and told my regulars that i was out of state (and country) until last night. I actually came back a day early but yesterday at 4pm got an e-mail with files and "urgent code red emergency" order for some signs (for a regular) that he had to get this morning by 6am. Luckily he also said "charge what you want for the rush" so I did.

[Rodne Gold]

We always get calls and stuff like that , the reputation my business has is that we can do the impossible and tackle the jobs others wont do.

I do have a largeish staff..so we can oblige most times.

As a trophy shop we are aware that a vast sum of money is probably spent on the event or awards ceremony , more than on the awards themselves , but the event or ceremony is nothing without the awards. The goodwill and thanks letters we get is worth it , apart from the new customer/business...

I had a panic call one Saturday morning at 10 am , from a swimming gala organiser..
She had ordered 1500 medals from a competitor and he had told her to fetch on that Saturday..she had gone to his premises , only to find it closed with a notice on the door "sorry , I cant supply you the medals" (or something to that effect.)
I am closed on Saturdays , but I called in a few of my staff and the lady herself provided 3 helpers. I digitally printed and cut inserts for the medals with their logos ,had all of us sticking them on and cutting, threading and joining the ribbon
We sat till 4pm until it was completed. I charged my normal price for all that , no extra. The result is that we now do all the swimming awards in my area.

[Scott Shepherd]

Got a call at 4:45 last Saturday, woman wanted to know if we did trophies. I told her we didn't and referred her to a trophy shop that's 2 blocks away. She said "I looked there, but they are closed on Saturday".

It's 4:45 on Saturday.If you walked in and they were open, when did you expect to get them? Saturday night? Sunday? Amazing to me.

Quoted a job 9 months ago for what turned out to be a picky customer. Small job, something we buy and install. 15 minute install, items cost $40. Quoted $250. Never heard from them. Got an email a few days before July 4, saying they wanted to place the order and have it installed on July 5 for a photo shoot they were having on July 5. I replied, telling them it says in the quote that it takes 10 days to get the product (we were very clear up front we didn't make the product and it had to be bought), so we don't be able to hit that date, since it was only 5 days away. Got a reply back telling me I should have told them and I've screwed up their photo shoot.

Decided I had enough of this customer's attitude, passed them along to a company that's literally 4 blocks from them, gave the guy all my files/quote/etc. and he says "I don't know if I want the job, your margins are so low".

$40 in material, 15 minute install, 4 blocks from you, and a selling price of $250, and I'm "so low". Wow....I wish I had people bringing me work with those margins in them all day long, and handing me the files for it all. He literally had to order the item, wait for it, then drive .1 of a mile, stick this thing on the wall and leave. 30 minutes total, driving to and from the place, plus install. That shocked me. Made me rethink my pricing :)

[Dave Sheldrake]

My single biggest repeat order that brings in £60k a month came from a company who's first order was £5, I got the repeat contract simply because of the 10 companies they approached 1 turned it down and 8 didn't bother replying leaving me to pick up the gravy :)

I don't mind how much of a pain a customer is, how many times they call me or to some extent what time of day it is, in reality they are kind enough to give me money to do what I enjoy.

best wishes

Dave

[Mark Ross]

We keep "safety stock" for certain customers because their orders vary so widely that it is better to keep a month or two worth of inventory finished in house so when a large order hits we have it ready. It is repeat business and the same thing over and over so its okay for us to keep the safety stock. More than once these customers have wiped out their safety stock.

From the sounds of it, some of these customers people have been posting about would go get breakfast and want their eggs fried on one side and scrambled on the other...same egg...

[Scott Shepherd]

I don't mind how much of a pain a customer is, how many times they call me or to some extent what time of day it is, in reality they are kind enough to give me money to do what I enjoy.

best wishes

Dave

Give me your contact details, I have a few people I'd like to test your theory on :) We try to help everyone too, but we're a small business and we can't spend but so much time working for free. I can't spend 4 hours worthing with you on proofs for 1 name tag. Like Steve, I had a guy who ended up being one of those crazy people. Would call 15 times a day and not leave a message and not email. He had specific work we agreed on for a price, and we specifically told him that we needed to standardize things if he wanted that kind of pricing. Then he floods me with every file being different. He sent me a screwed up file, I fixed it, then he chewed me out for not making it like he sent it, even though what he sent, he agreed was wrong. I told him to take his work to someone else. After that, he called me over 100 times in 1 week. For the next month, he called several hundred times, asking me to reconsider doing his work again and he'd pay much more than we agreed to.

I have all the time in the world for people with high standards, but I don't have a lot of spare time for people that are unreasonable or disrespectful.

[Tim Bateson]

Crazy & BUSY too! In the first 6 months of this year, I've created 4x more invoices than I did the previous 4 years combined. The majority are repeat customers. Working my "day job", coming home working to midnight or even 1 in the morning, then getting up early for a few quick jobs before I head back to the "Day Job" is becoming way too common.
The wife is beginning to beg for vacation time. "We'll see" is too often my answer.

[Mark Sipes]

Well there is the time I was stopped in the parking lot of Costco and asked what my store hours were, they are not printed on the ad panels on my truck. Of course this is Friday night at 6pm and she needs a baby cup engraved for Sunday morning. Told her I would be in the store at 9am Sat (we are not open on weekends) She was there at 9 and left at 9:10. I was paid 1 1/2 normal prices and received two free meals at a very nice local resturant she owned for my inconvience. She has been in several more times since, during normal hours.

[Scott Shepherd]

Well there is the time I was stopped in the parking lot of Costco and asked what my store hours were, they are not printed on the ad panels on my truck. Of course this is Friday night at 6pm and she needs a baby cup engraved for Sunday morning. Told her I would be in the store at 9am Sat (we are not open on weekends) She was there at 9 and left at 9:10. I was paid 1 1/2 normal prices and received two free meals at a very nice local resturant she owned for my inconvience. She has been in several more times since, during normal hours.

Good story Mark. I understand rush jobs, I do, I honestly do. It's the unrealistic expectations that make me crazy. Like asking someone to do 40 hours work and then giving them 24 hours to do it.

[Martin Boekers]

Being on an AFB quick turns are how should I say..... expected. I do my best to make it happen, but it does get difficult at times.

I have an idea that I want to put in place put haven't had time for it...(oh the irony :) )
That is to have a section of items maybe 10 -20 pieces that just take plates and are clearly marked
that these are "turnable" in 24 hrs or less, that way when the quick turns hit I give them and option
instead of them having the whole shop to chose from.

We'll see......

[Khalid Nazim]

I just wish I had your problems of so much business...

[Dan Ashlin]

Had a woman stop in today and ask if I sell chairs (what?) I said I didn't and she said that she saw some in a catalog somewhere that were engraved on the back. I know someone that makes furniture so I said it was doable, I would just need the pieces of the chair that needed engraved before they were assembled (I've never seen an engraver you can fit a full sized chair in, And I don't want to make that jig) She says great, find out what his prices are. I said I would and asked what her turnaround time was. She said "Tomorrow Morning, we have a few people retiring"

[Dave Sheldrake]

He sent me a screwed up file,

Seen more than a few of those Scott :)


but I don't have a lot of spare time for people that are unreasonable or disrespectful.

I've had a fair few as well my friend :) unreasonable I can live with, disrespectful I can live with....for me it's impolite I can't. People who rant I just hang up on, after a couple of dead lines they usually get the message one way or the other.
I guess we are quite lucky in the UK, the market is still very good and not many people realise laser cutting can be as cost effective as it is. It won't stay that way but then again I'm not planning on working till I'm 100 anyways (or stressing my way into a heart attack before I'm 50).Is it possibly an American thing? (even though I am American I know little about the culture there) are people impatient through social pressures? or is it normal? (I'm not being disrespectful, I genuinely don't know)
Where I am, anything fast is something between now and next month and most clients seem to be happy to find a laser cutting company that will take on the work.

Fixing lasers..now that's a different story :) that is something I couldn't do as a day job on a regular basis.... "It was working fine yesterday mate" when there has clearly been a serious fire or "Nothing changed it just stopped working" when water from the coolant system is flowing quite well from the electrics. If people realised it could save them 6 hours costs to just tell the full story from the start, life would be so much easier.

best wishes

Dave

[Bruce Boone]

My titanium rings have been insane this week. We had something like 80 of them going yesterday including over 20 meteorite rings. I've been working until midnight every night!

[Dave Sheldrake]

(sorry for the slight hijack)

Oh dear, I think I'm going to have to make that workload a bit worse Bruce, Those rings are fantastic and I've been wanting to get another ring for the wife.

Do you do international orders?

best wishes

Dave

[Dan Hintz]

Those rings are fantastic and I've been wanting to get another ring for the wife.

Yeah, thank God the wife and I can (should?) only get married once... I'd order Bruce's entire catalog one by one.

[Bruce Boone]

Yes, Dave. Many of the orders this week were international. In counting, we have 20 meteorite rings still to go after the boatload we got out yesterday! Last week was fairly normal. This one, not so much.

[Tim Bateson]

Enough already!!! Yet ANOTHER phone call this morning, sounding like a decent order with repeat business. Then the shoe drops... "As we are a non-profit charity could you donate or barter your services..." Listen, I REALLY do support charity, but I cannot give every sad faced beggar free merchandise. I do offer discounts, but that's my limit. These types of activities have a near zero chance of bringing in actual paying customers.

[Scott Shepherd]

Quoted a job for 1000 pieces weeks ago. They wanted a sample. I said "Sure, send me samples of the product and I'll cut one for you". Got the PO, waited, waited, waited. Got the stock at 1:00 today, cut it, put it in a package and mailed it at 1:30. Customer called "Did you get the stock?". Yes, I got it, it's been cut and shipped back to you.

"When you can get me the 1000 pieces?".

Middle of next week, but you haven't sent me the items yet.

"If I get them to you on Friday, when you can have them?".

Middle to late next week.

"I need you to ship them on Monday".

[john passek]

How many that posted to this thread run their business from their home versus store front. We had a lady come in one afternoon needing something for next day, no problem, then she calls at 3.25 AM to make a change, then called again at *.AM to say nevermind go with the original idea.

[ray hampton]

How many that posted to this thread run their business from their home versus store front. We had a lady come in one afternoon needing something for next day, no problem, then she calls at 3.25 AM to make a change, then called again at *.AM to say nevermind go with the original idea.


I AM glad that I am not a business owner , I could not stand the phone calls

[Mark Sipes]

""When you can get me the 1000 pieces?".

Middle of next week, but you haven't sent me the items yet.

"If I get them to you on Friday, when you can have them?".

Middle to late next week.

"I need you to ship them on Monday"."



"Overnight me the product for a Monday pick-up" would be my response!

[Scott Shepherd]

""When you can get me the 1000 pieces?".

Middle of next week, but you haven't sent me the items yet.

"If I get them to you on Friday, when you can have them?".

Middle to late next week.

"I need you to ship them on Monday"."



"Overnight me the product for a Monday pick-up" would be my response!

We told him it would be done, but it's about the last thing I needed to say.

[Bill Cunningham]

I closed up, and took the last week of June off and went fishing. I got back to a LOAD of emails, and every which way I've turned this month people have been shoving money at me. It seems to pay to take time off.. I'm closing for the first full week of August, and going on a solo canoe trip into Algonquin Park, hopefully when I get back, the same thing will happen.:D

[Belinda Barfield]

It's not just the engraving industry. I haven't fired up the engraver since the last "crisis, I need it immediately" job about a month ago. However, the counter top business has been insane. I sat down weeks ago with two purchasers for our main customer. They decided they needed to visit with me to see what could be done to shorten my lead time. They left disappointed that they didn't succeed. We met my mid year sales goal in May, so I was happy! Last week's insanity revolved around a custom onyx vanity top that is due to deliver tomorrow. Every single day I got e-mails and phone calls . . . is it ready yet? . . . how about now? At the beginning of the year I was assigned a new purchasing agent. He would call every 15 minutes until I answered the phone. Once I answered the phone, he would call every 15 minutes until the job was done. After about a week of that I sent him an e-mail explaining to him that calling every 15 minutes was not going to change the outcome of the project. January 2012 I was asked to provide a quote for a custom stainless sink. I don't stamp sinks so I had to contact a subtier vendor. They quoted the project, with a minimum order of 25, payment at the time of order. I supplied a quote to the customer. Heard nothing back. January 2013 I get a call asking if the quote is still good. It was. Heard nothing back. Two weeks ago I get an order for 1 sink. I remind them the minimum order is 25. They can't order 25. I can't order 1. Still waiting to hear back . . . And when I do, they will want them tomorrow!

[Scott Shepherd]

Had an inquiry about a month ago for a "custom made award plaque" that they were designing in their design department. Needed to be brushed metal, stand-offs, granite and whatever else they could fit into the puzzle. Asked if I could help them get it done. "Sure, send me your design and I'll take a look at it and get back with you". File on the way by the end of the day, so they say. End of day, no file. Follow up with them. It's coming, the design department is finishing it up. Have it today. End of day, no file. About a week or more goes by, "change of plans, we need an acrylic award, how much?". Can't really say, what's it going to have on it? Artwork on the way. Never came. A few days go by, "what are my options?". Send him a link to the JDS catalog and tell him to pick something. Emails me back with 1/2 a dozen different ones, wants to know pricing and delivery on them all. Give him prices without engraving (because I haven't seen any artwork yet), and I make that clear.

Well, we're 4 weeks into this now, and I'm not kidding, it's been 37 emails from them so far. Get the artwork and call him. What size are you thinking? Oh, I don't know, something like 4" x 6". How many? Just 1.

Really? 37 emails and 4 weeks to order 1 4" x 6" plaque with a photo on it? I don't have the heart to tell them it's going to be $750 with all the time spent on it :)

Oh, nice little kicker. "Is there anyway we can rush this through? We have money in the budget to expedite it, if possible".

:::::sigh:::::: You had a budget for this?

My response- "Sure, we'll do our best to make it happen". But that's as close to the definition of insanity as I can think of today.

[Dan Hintz]

It's not insane from their standpoint, Steve... they're getting paid to send all of those emails ;) The fact that you're not is irrelevant to them.