Refusing a job?

[JohnBarton]

Holly,

You have to know when to "hold them" and when to "fold them"! This is a hand I would fold on. I would tell him very nicely that you're concerned about meeting his expectations which you feel may not be realistic. If he can convince you that he will be satisfied with your art, then fine, go for it. Just remember, it takes a long time to establish a good reputation and one person to ruin it! Send him to Peter Main!

Bob

Bob,

I respectfully agree and disagree at the same time. I agree that one person can tarnish a good reputation but I disagree that they can ruin it. I have seen people unhappy and willing to get on a pedestal to wreck a maker's rep and what happens time after time is that many happy customers chime in and drown the unhappy customer's voice and put it all back on them.

Sometimes I think we overestimate the reach of customers. (and sometimes underestimate it as well). The point is that if you do your best and do what you said you would then it all comes out in the wash.

Nevertheless none of us wants unhappy customers for any reason be it their OCD or our own bobbles.

Sometimes I think that unhappy customer in a circle of happy ones serves to strengthen the maker's rep and forces the unhappy one to look inward and see if maybe they aren't being unreasonable.

I get people all the time who want to rag on me for my choice to have my custom shop in China. Visciously. I tell them to go out and preach the gospel and point all those unconverted potential customers to my website because I know that once they get there I will end up with more business than I had before.

Anyway, as always, I digress.

[Johanna]

In retail they say a happy customer will tell 4 others. An unhappy customer will tell eleven. When you are working retail, you appreciate "complaints" because they give you a chance to correct the problem, keeping the goodwill of the customer, and eliminate the problem for all the customers who didn't take the time to complain, just grumbled about the inconvenience. People who complained were actually doing us a favor.

It's the same way at LW. If someone doesn't hit the "report a to a mod" button or send one of us a PM, we might not realize that there is a problem, whether it's a technical glitch or an individual computer issue.

But from 15 years of doing custom leatherwork, I can say for certain there are some customers you do not want. Send them to your competitors. Send them to Wal-Mart. Send them away, or you will be out time and money, and kicking yourself for letting yourself be persuaded to do the job. These customers are different than the jobs we take because there are bills to pay and we don't like the work. I'm talking about customers who are not going to be happy with your work, or not pay you.

Johanna

PS-John, we need an update of your best creation- do you have more pics of your daughter to share?

[Bree]

Walked away from one yesterday. Guy comes over with an expensive purple racing style leather with white and lime green leather stripes. The purple leather was perforated. The garment had beautiful green and white inner pocket flaps/liners and some pretty snazzy lining under the coat and sleeves.

Well seems that the dog got hold of it and generated a 4" L tear on the outer backside of the sleeve. It's a nasty tear because the lether was sheared so it basically created a 1/8" graduated skive. A stitch in one of the perforations next to the tear can't hold because the leather is too thin to hold the stitch. Stitching it in the next perf hole yields the ugliest Frankenstein repair imaginable.

Underpatching it is essential but will be very visible. The tear itself has to be held with cement... probably high strength vinyl cement. What a mess.

Best suggestion... underpatch with cement and stitches to stbilize the rip... cover with sew on patches or design appliques on both sides of the racing stripe on the sleeve... probably both sleeves to be symmetrical and hide the fault.

No way was I going to tackle it. You can't charge enough and the customer will seldom if ever be happy. I sent him away with free advice and turned down the job.

[kevinhopkins]

Hi....I'd have to say that Johanna is right on with this one.... Too many red flags equals too many headaches!

Kevin Hopkins

[Saddlebag]

Having worked for a prominent museum is the repair and restoration of library materials I learned that bibles have no marketable value even the quite old ones. Once Guttenburg got a printing press rolling bibles became the #1 best seller for many many years. If this fellow is hoping to restore the bible, that it might have a marketable value, he's in for a big disappointment. But, he may just hold this particular one in high regard and wishes for a new cover. If you've never covered or recovered a book it is something you will need to research. Does he want the leather as a soft cover or on book boards?

You can always tell him you have too many orders at the moment and to perhaps check back with you in 6 months. That way you will have clearer thinking about not getting in over your head.

[wildrose]

It's a protective cover, not re-covering....guess I wasn't clear on that.