[CraigC]

...am I being too impatient here?

To be blunt, yes, you are. You're not ordering a mass-produced widget from Walmart that someone has to just pick off a shelf and throw in a box with a shipping label. Most gunsmiths and gripmakers are one man shops and I know from experience, it can be difficult to accurately estimate lead time and answer emails. I've had several custom revolvers built, dealt with several gripmakers on dozens of custom grips, refinishers, engravers and leathermakers. Sometimes their estimates are accurate, sometimes they are not. ALL delivered what was asked and there are none I would not use again. Be patient and let him do his job. Every minute he spends on the phone or answering emails is a minute he's not doing the actual work.

 

[CraigC]

Hey Craig!
How about I give you a cost and timeframe on a custom paint job on your beloved Harley you`re planning on riding to Daytona Bike Week and I hold you off for a few weeks without giving a heads up on what the delay is?
Wouldn`t fly with me and I bet you might have a problem with it. I honor my commitments and schedule. That`s why they call it a schedule.
Someone doesn`t give me the respect that a customer requires and I`m done doing business with them. My customers recommend my work, communication and ethics.

The point is, stuff happens even to the most dedicated artists and craftsmen and that is unavoidable but to leave someone in the dark is inexcusable.

I can`t see any reason to accept that behavior.

Bill

It's custom work. If you need it done by a certain time, you're taking a chance. Especially if you don't communicate that in the beginning. I'm sorry but if you get quoted 4 weeks and you're go ballistic at 5, you're going to get an ulcer 99% of the time. I'm not saying it's right but it is reality.

I honor my commitments and schedule. That`s why they call it a schedule.

That's great when everything goes according to plan. Then life happens, as it always does.

 

[CraigC]

I run a large collision shop.....

Are you the only one working in your "large collision shop"? Do you have people to answer phone calls? Emails? Do you have a receptionist to take payments, pay the bills and order supplies? Do you have a bunch of guys working on cars while you're making calls?

Now imagine you're the only one running the shop, who has to order supplies, process payments, process orders, talk to customers on the phone (while you're trying to get someone else's order done!), answer emails AND do the actual work. Can you type emails while you're doing body work? Talk on the phone while you're pounding out a dent? Do you think you'd ever get your head above water? If you were going to cut yourself some slack somewhere, where do you think you'd start?

Besides, people typically need their car back yesterday. Revolver work is usually a little less urgent.

Case in point. In 2013, I had a customer place what was for me a relatively large order. A cartridge belt, two cartridge slides and four holsters. After a bit, I realized I was spending as much time responding to emails, answering his questions, doing research and helping him make up his mind than it was going to take to actually make the stuff. Which basically cuts my already dismal hourly rate in half, or less. I had to just stop answering his emails until I could get his rig done. No way around it. This is a part-time, after-hours venture for me anyway, so it's not like I'm cranking out several holsters a day. Couple weeks go by, his rig is 75% completed and he cancels the order. Not only was I out the many hours spent communicating but the hours spent at the work bench, materials and the cost of several ugly conchos he wanted. All while I was right smack in the middle of a home construction project that took way more of my time than I expected. Sometimes supplies come into short supply without warning. Sometimes folks like my cartridge conversion guy have unforeseen health problems. So yeah, you might understand how difficult it is to estimate lead time and answer every email from every impatient customer AND get the job done.

My advice to the OP, leave him alone and let him do his job. I assure you, he doesn't want to keep your gun any longer than he has to and I'm sure he doesn't need a daily reminder of what is yet on his plate. You're going to do what I did with one of my custom Rugers. I got so worked up because the gripmaker took way more time than he estimated and it ruined the whole thing for me. Hindsight, I should've taken the advice I'm giving you here. Relax, be patient, you'll have a more harmonious outcome.

 

[CraigC]

No Craig. I have nine employees. Have to watch every one of them like a hawk.

I come in at 5:30 AM, never take lunch and leave around 6 PM. I paint big model airplanes and Harleys for a hobby and still make time to restore an old prewar Ford each year. I`m 61 years old and it`s getting tougher to keep the pace.Haven`t taken a week of vacation in 20 years.
Still have to keep the wife happy too.

Know why I spend that much time at my workplace?
Because that is what it takes to do everything necessary for the success of this business I`ve CHOSEN.
If a business owner can`t perform the work, including the steps required to keep customers informed of delays or issues, then they should quit.
Obviously the work/job isn`t important enough to devote the time necessary to make it viable. I`ve yet to figure out how to have a check sent to my house without performing a service for someone else.

I have no pity for someone that lets a customer down just because they don`t have time for that person.
Interacting with each customer, no matter how difficult, is part of the job. I`ve had the tough ones. I just accept them as a challenge I can overcome.

Any questions? Otherwise I`m done.

That's my point. Your business can support nine employees. You're not telling me anything I don't know. Yes, I know you have to keep an eye on your business but you are still not watching every one of them all day. There's a big difference between keeping an eye on nine employees and doing the jobs of nine employees, plus your own responsibilities. You know any rich gunsmiths or gripmakers? I don't. Like I said, most are one man shops because it's the only way to be profitable. Most work more than 8hrs a day, most work more than 5 days a week and most never pay off their equipment. You didn't answer my question. What if you didn't have those employees and had to do all those jobs yourself, while maintaining contact with customers?

Yes, I know all about working your ass off. I've worked 7 days a week for the last 10yrs and will continue to do so until I retire.

When you commission custom work, you have a choice to make. You can either be patient and be blissfully happy with the result, even if it takes longer than is quoted or you can decide to be pissed off when it runs late and NEVER be happy with the result. Which do you think is better in the long run? Personally, I don't remember the weeks or months I waited beyond the quoted times but I do have several treasured custom or engraved firearms that enrich my life every day. Which do you think is the more productive attitude?

 

[CraigC]

Craig, I give up. I can`t seem to get thru that the size of the business or number of employees make no difference when it comes to doing the right things for customers.

It does make a difference. It makes a difference when you have too much for one person but not enough to justify hiring/training another.

This guy isn`t doing the job of nine employees or he wouldn`t have the backlog.

Neither are you, that's my point. You want to act as if your business is the same but it is not. There are several important differences and you refuse to even consider them or their significance.

CALL THE CUSTOMER with OCCASIONAL UPDATES. An email takes five minutes once a week. That would keep his down time to a minimum.

Now that is funny! Look, I answer emails every single day, 365 days a year, for TWO businesses. I only wish that five minutes a week is all that it took. Hell, five minutes a day would be a gift from God. How many customers do you work on at one time, with your 9 employee business? How far out do you schedule work, a few days, a few weeks at most? A gunsmith has to be able to estimate lead time for dozens of customers weeks and months out. If not years. Is he supposed to email or call dozens of customers every time his work is setback a week? Absolutely not. It would be pointless and exhausting. That's why we call them estimates! For example, John Linebaugh is one of the premier custom revolver builders. He runs a one man shop and has a backlog of three years. Do you think his customers start complaining at 3yrs 1 day? No. Why? Because it is understood that the job takes as long as it takes and that the estimate was exactly that. An estimate. The point is, he is not knocking dents out of your car. He does not have a dozen people working for him to do the actual work while he's on the phone telling every customer the details of every day and how that affects the schedule. No, he does the best he can to estimate the lead time and the customer is REQUIRED to be patient.

...if I had trouble keeping up with the workload I took on (remember the amount of work is a choice) then I would scale back my promise dates and not take any additional work until I was comfortable again....

You've obviously never dealt with a custom gunsmith. You would be stupid to stop taking orders. No, you push your lead time out and take whatever orders come in. If these guys didn't have a backlog of months and only took on the work they could finish in a few weeks, they'd be out of business. This is what I'm trying to tell you, your business and that of a custom gunsmith are fundamentally different.