Holding a finished order?

jkf96a

Well-Known Member
I had a customer place an order probably 4 months ago. I told him 2 months to completion. I finished on time. I generally email a customer when I start their knife, and I did so in this case. He wasn't too communicative, so I emailed him again before I attached the mammoth scales he wanted. He said still OK. Now it's been about 6 weeks since the first time I sent him pics and said the knives were done. He first replied that he still wanted them but was having money trouble. He hasn't replied to two further emails. He's a previous customer that I traded a knife to for some antler. How long should I hold on to his knives before I give up and post them up for sale?
 
Do you have a phone number to call and *make sure the emails are getting through*?

When was the last time he did respond?
 
I don't think there is a set time for something like that, I generally give a month but if the customer communicates and has an idea of when they can pay then I will hold it longer.
 
I don't have a phone number. He has responed to email in the past, but hasn't since 9/27. I first told him they were ready on 9/18. Timetable on the original post was off, since I hadn't checked the email threads.
 
A suggestion: If your taking an order that you want to get paid for, ensure you write down ALL of the order's specific information when you take the order, and keep good records of your orders. I used MS Word to build a form that I then printed and double sided copied. I took it to the local Staples store, had then run me 50 copies, then had them spiral bound. This is my "order log". It contains ALL the contact and shipping information, along with all the specifics of the order.

Only you can decide how long you "hold" a knife for a customer. Personally, my policy is that once an order is completed, I give three contact attempts, then hold the knife for 30 calendar days. If the customer does not contact me in those 30 days to make arrangements, on day 31 the knife becomes available.....and I will not take any future orders from that individual, without full payment in advance. That might sound hardcore, but as a business, whether it be "casual" or full fledged, you must establish some "rules". If for no other reason than to created a measure of protection for yourself from this type of situation.
 
My records aren't as good as yours, Ed, but then neither are my knives :) When I take an order, I have a notebook that I put it in along with the specifics of each blade. Size, type, steel, handle material, pins, filework, and R/L/horizontal sheath along with the price I quoted. I also save all emails until after the money and knives change hands. I'd done a FTF trade with this guy before, but never a money deal. I also did some checking, and this isn't the first time he's disappeared around payup time. I did get a phone number for him, but it was disconnected. Sent him another email today to two different addresses, likely will post the blades tomorrow if he doesn't get back to me.
 
Things like that are what causes us to change our business practices. There was a time when I would actually send a customer a knife WITHOUT being paid first. My thought pattern was to allow the customer to look it over, decided if they wanted to keep it, and then either send me payment or send the knife back. That worked great until a customer who had purchased three knives from me previously, decided that he was going to run off with $800 worth of knife and stiff me for it. I had all his information, called him....disconnected. That was before email was around, so I send a certified letter which came back to me marked "No longer at this address".

After that the policy became, Money in hand before knife leaves the shop. Even later came the exception to "special designs" or "special features". We are constantly evolving in how we conduct our business. For the most part I consider the knife community to be more fair and honest than most, but I have also learned that there are those out there who will take advantage if they can. Our job is to attempt to protect ourselves from individuals like that, but yet do our best to be trusting and open to the best of our abilities.

Sometimes in our quest to be customer oriented, we take it in the shorts, and have to take a loss. This generally leads us to re-evaluate our business practices, and build "rules" based on our experiences. The good thing is that the knife community is very "self-policing", and word will quickly spread if a customer or maker is not treated fairly....generally to the demise of the offending party, within the community.
 
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