Pet peeves - Ugh!

[Handstitched]

G'Day, I'm still using hot spot on my phone, it works to a degree, but the phone signals out here in the bush are crap. A strong wind or some rain causes it to drop out... frequently. 

I'll have a new pooter in the (hopefully) near future. 

HS

[Nowandagain]

People who assume that because something is easily available in the U.S., it must be available worldwide, then, after you explain it’s unavailable in your country, respond by telling you where to find it in the U.S.

I should hasten to say I haven’t encountered that at this forum. 

Edited August 29 by Nowandagain
Clarification

[toxo]

TV sports commentators, especially the BBC. Usually they're experts at their sport but no consideration is taken for the rest of us that just happen to catch something that might be interesting and don't have a scooby doo what's going on. It would be great if one of the commentators was a novice and asked basic questions of the expert so we all know what's going on. I tuned into the paralympics the other day and if you were lucky someone might say "This is the mens GK or XY category ???? No mention about what makes up that category, what these athletes are dealing with. I watched a cycle race in the velodrome where one guy with one leg was racing against a guy with two legs???

[Handstitched]

I'm still here . I know I keep saying it, but I'll have a new ' pooter'.....one day . Still using public access atm and ' hotspot at home , even that can be hit and miss, a bit of wind or rain...and ' poof' and the signal drops out, even on the most up to date devices. 

 

I'll keep on keeping on 

 

HS

[Handstitched]

The other ' pet peeve' I have atm, is when customers don't pick up their items. I have a few horse rugs that I repaired, still sitting on the floor of my workshop, been there for about 2 months, unpaid. I have contacted the customer a few  times, , all I get in reply is " I'm busy" or " I have a lot on atm" or " I'm in Perth"  . They'll be going into storage pretty soon , they're taking up precious ' floor real estate' and I keep walking into the damn things. 

I can't be too agro, as I'm the only one that does horse rug repairs, and its a small town, don't wish to step on any toes. 

HS

[kgg]

8 hours ago, Handstitched said:

I can't be too agro, as I'm the only one that does horse rug repairs, and its a small town, don't wish to step on any toes. 

I do agree. I also have a customer that has not paid and that just irks me to no end. Not leather related but the principal is the same. This client boarded his personal dog with us recently and didn't pay. Not that the amount is a great amount but... Over the years when he was an active police dog handler we boarded both his working dog and his pet dog never a problem always got paid. Now that he has moved onto other police related duties he has become, to be polite, a not so good a client.

I did see this in the past back in 2008 / 2009 when the economy went down the toilet.

How I coped with the  "delinquents" and not peeve the good clients off in the past is when that individual wants / needs our service they pay for the amount owing and the amount for that visit up front by cash or e-transfer. No pay, have a nice day.

I figure this is directly related to the state of the economy. Not they are bad people but...

kgg 

Edited September 12 by kgg

[fredk]

I'll throw this in; In the UK it is the legal right for anyone doing repairs or such to set a time limit for collection, failing that they may sell the item, but hold onto the reasonable price raised for a further time limit, after that its theirs. All reasonable attempts to contact the client are to be taken.  emails don't count.

A judge ruled that basically the more expensive the item the longer the time limit for collection but the time limit to hold on to the money for its sale could be a minimum of 1 month

So lets take a saddle as an example. A not too expensive one. Repairs done. Not collected at time agreed. You send or telephone the client over next 6 months. No response from client. You then have the right to sell it. Not for $1, but for $150. You then have to keep those funds for a minimum of 1 month. They can be in your normal bank account but need to be paid on-demand. Still no response from the client? the funds become yours. A year later client comes looking his/her saddle. Sorry chum, its been sold. Client goes to solicitor/lawyer; No case to take, but they try

I have had a number of cases taken against me, not in leatherwork, but in other work. We have a 'Small Claims' system for up to about £5000 heard before a judge only. Each time the case has been thrown out, based on above law

 

[fredk]

Let me entertain you with a tale of wedding photos

I used to do gypsy weddings. They paid 95% up front with the other 5% plus a bonus on the day

A colleague wouldn't touch a gypsy wedding, he was more up-market. His prices were at least 4 times mine, but he was good, better than me at wedding photos. More artistic.

He did a wedding of a top doctor with a top surgeon. They were both eminent doctors. The had paid the basic deposit, which he charged everyone to cover expenses. A year later he was still chasing them for the remainder

One year became two, became three, then four. He handed it to a debt collecting agency. They got nowhere in the case

Time went on. He filed it away as a bad job, the wedding album and negatives were put in storage

Then one day a young couple walked in and said they wanted to pay off an old debt.

The doctors had got married, had children, divorced, the children grew up, their son had got married and was now standing in my friend's studio want to pay off his parents debt!

 

[Handstitched]

On 9/12/2024 at 7:40 PM, kgg said:

I do agree. I also have a customer that has not paid and that just irks me to no end. Not leather related but the principal is the same.

 Hear hear !! Its not just  the amount that irritates me ( $80 ) , its the principal , "its the vibe of the thing"( an Aussie expression) . You can't go into  supermarkets and say, 'I'll pay you later' or I'm too busy to pay.  I don't know what people think we live on.  

 

On 9/12/2024 at 8:39 PM, fredk said:

Then one day a young couple walked in and said they wanted to pay off an old debt.

Some years ago, I made a nice ranger belt for a customer, and posted it out, but never got paid. Weeks, months went by, phone calls, with the usual excuses, etc. So I sent out a letter demanding payment, but with a nice bright hi vis 'Final  Demand' sticker on the front, with "failure to pay could affect your credit rating" in the letter. I soon got paid 

But we shouldn't have to go through all that crap , and I sometimes wonder why they made the order in the first place  if they can't pay.

But I have had customers phoning me up to say cancel the order because of financial issues, I don't mind that, even if I have made the product , I can still sell it . 

HS

Edited September 20 by Handstitched

[kgg]

7 hours ago, Handstitched said:

But I have had customers phoning me up to say cancel the order because of financial issues, I don't mind that, even if I have made the product , I can still sell it . 

Things happen on a dime and you don't mind as they are being honest.

kgg

[Handstitched]

On 9/20/2024 at 6:16 PM, kgg said:

Things happen on a dime and you don't mind as they are being honest.

The horse rug client sent me a message last week asking me when I will be home to pick the rugs up, I told her, haven't heard from he since

I did these rugs back in June, I checked  the invoice. 

HS

[kgg]

13 hours ago, Handstitched said:

I did these rugs back in June, I checked  the invoice. 

Time is just a relative thing. Just a little longer for some.

Not a pet peeve but more of a chuckle and a half.

I sold my Sailrite Ultrafeed LSZ-1 the other day to a guy who drove 5 hours arriving on time. The guy brought his wife along which was fine by me. I had the Sailrite setup alongside the Consew 206RB-5, which is also for sale, in the basement.

So off all three of us toddle to the basement door. Both of them liked the Sailrite Ultrafeed LSZ-1 but he really, really liked the Consew 206RB-5. His wife asked what I thought was a simple question "where are you planning on putting the Consew". Without as much as cracking a smile he said "Our bedroom". Well off to the races the misses went, like a firecracker. It got so nasty I backed up to get out of the way. It got so heated he finally ask her in no uncertain terms to go sit in the "xxxxx" truck.

The only reason I didn't throw the two of them out was I figured I would sell one of the two machines to him. He bought the Sailrite Ultrafeed lSZ-1. I can only imagine what it must be like in private when the two of them get going based on what they acted like in someone else house they never meet before.

I would have liked to have been be a fly on the wall for that 5 hour drive home.

You just don't know how people are going to act.

kgg

Edited September 30 by kgg

[DaleksInc]

Skiving. I can never seem to get a consistent depth.

[fredk]

On 9/30/2024 at 11:34 PM, DaleksInc said:

Skiving. I can never seem to get a consistent depth.

Me too

I just gently and easily skive away until it looks even

[SUP]

On 9/30/2024 at 6:34 PM, DaleksInc said:

Skiving. I can never seem to get a consistent depth.

 

8 minutes ago, fredk said:

just gently and easily skive away until it looks even

 After I skive, I gently sand it to even it out.

[toxo]

If I didn't have my 801 skiver I'd only use a French skiver. They come in various widths and if you keep the same angle it's almost impossible to go through the leather because of the wings.