when not to take a custom order

[skip]

I was at a Horse Expo this last weekend and a Woman asked me to fit her horse for a new saddle. I brought up some trees to check for proper fit and told her what I was doing to make sure that the tree I would make for her horse would fit properly. then I asked her to show me the saddle she had been using. She told me that she had it custom built about six years ago for aproximatly $1500.00 She then pulled out this very old looking and brittle saddle for me to check out, I asked what happened to her saddle? She replied that she put it in to her bath tub to clean it and that she didn't get clean enough the first time and did it a second time. There wasn't any natural color left to the leather and if I took a piece of it my hand I could have ripped it. in fact it looked as though it had sat on her fence for a couple years in the weather. I told her that she basically had ruined her saddle and attempted to teach her the finer points of cleaning to which she basically ignored me and kept talking and asking me questions about my abilities and whether I could actually build her saddle for her. I proceeded to infor her of my skills as well as the extra training I have continue to get from various classes tought at different leather trade shows as well as talking to other saddle makers.

After talking to this woman and finding out that she has been riding horses most of her life, yet still didn't know how to take care of her custom saddle, this person isn't without and education either she actually teaches in one of the local collages in the area. After considerable thought and talking to a few others about the situation I described above I have decided that it wouldn't be in my best interest to build her a saddle.

Now this is where you come in and share what your thoughts are and let me know what you think about my situation.

[Drac]

hot potato, plague, 3 dollar bill...

what I consider the worst about people like this isn't the fact that they obviously don't take care items made custom for them, but when others ask them "who made that?" your name comes up and it looks bad on you even though when the item was handed over it was a great piece of work.

[JRedding]

Skip, not every customer is a good customer, she sounds pretty toxic to me, folks like that usually end up costing you so much in time you end up not making anything in the end and you've put up with the headache for nothing. Usually a saddlemaker has two choices with a situation like this either pass on the job alltogether, or plan on it being a pain in the a#$ and price it accordingly for the extra time and misery you'll likely endure.

[Russ]

This is usually when the "lead time" for a custom saddle for the customer becomes about 9 - 12 months. Someone that doesn't take care of their equipment won't have the patience for that. She'll forget about you and your name and move on to someone else, but no harm to you as you didn't refuse her....

[RyanCope]

I think it depends primarily on whether or not you want YOUR name in HER bathtub.

[gtwister09]

Man I agree with the customer comments and the bathtub comments! The positive aspect is that there will be no bathtub for the saddle because there would no customer for it...at least not this one.

Regards,

Ben

[steveb]

unless your really sucking wind for business, i'd run for the hills...

you dont need a relationship with this customer and that's what people like this usually want -

they want "you" on the hook and once you take their money -

your on the hook, like a wide eyed leather pounding fish - oy!

been there done that!! aint no fun!! hurts like hell!!

IMSHO you exircised excellent judgement...gold star for Skip

[mulefool]

Anymore when I hear that voice in my head yelling "Run, dont walk!" I listen to it. Sometimes I'll come right out and tell them why. Other times discretion is the better part of valor and my lead times just get totally unreasonable. Anytime I ignore that voice I regret it.

[whinewine]

you dont need a relationship with this customer and that's what people like this usually want -

they want "you" on the hook and once you take their money -

your on the hook, like a wide eyed leather pounding fish - oy!

been there done that!! aint no fun!! hurts like hell!!

IMSHO you exircised excellent judgement...gold star for Skip

You will find that some people are psychic vampires... they keep on & on with the same questions & the same preconceived ideas & don't hear a damn thing you say & only hear what they want to hear- but you keep telling them the same thing, the same facts, the same truths- over and over and over again... & in trying to get through to them you suddenly realize all your emotional energy has been sucked out of you. A person like this is too high maintenance. Graciously thank her for her time & send her away.

Edited March 13, 2008 by whinewine

[David Genadek]

I've turned away five orders so far this week. Like Steve said if you are sucking wind for business you have to do it to survive but usually you would be better off getting a job at Mc Donanlds to tied you over than to take on a customer that will cost you more than they are worth. The customer is not always right for your business and knowing what your business is is critical. It really drives them nuts when you send them away though. Some times they learn and end up being really strong cutomers in the future. One gal this week had Peruvian Passo the horse whose feet were trimmed wrong and it clearly had two to three ribs out of place and was crooked as all get out. She had sent her tracings in with a check so she was ready to go. I called her and gave her the news and she wasn't real happy but she got with her trainer and vet and they confirmed everything I had told her now she has a plan for the horse and I will hear from her in the future. She is a reasonable one though.

David Genadek

[bcurrier]

Sounds like you're dealing with a horse snob, but there's two kinds: the kind that will come back to you because of problems they caused, and those that won't.

I wonder if she might fall into the second category - you didn't mention her complaining about the original saddle maker, for example. If she does fall into that category, there's really no downside in selling to her.

These are typically the really wealthy people that can literally afford to use equipment to the point of being careless with it, and replace it, equally without thought. That's the kind of person that thinks nothing of mucking up a custom pair of two or three thousand dollar riding boots ... after all, you can just buy new ones ... There's lots of these people in the horse world.

Bill

[skip]

Hey thanks for all the good feed back. I didn't mention that she did complain about my starting price which is $2,000 and felt it was a great deal to pay for a saddle. so I am still going to let her know that I cannot take her money and that she should take my suggestions and find another saddle to fit her horse. Most of the comments are what I have felt and discussing it over with my financial advisor "My wife" she has similar feelings in that I should send her on to someone else, not necessarily another saddle maker but to a retailer that sells a lot of different saddles.

thanks again for all your comments and Johanna for making this forem a viable entity for us to come and get some of the additional help we may need take car and happy leather working.

Skip

[bcurrier]

Walk away.

Bill

[Todd]

This is similar to a woman who is trying to get me to build a saddle. Her horse bogged down in a slough and layed over in the water with the saddle still on. It created a big stain on the left side and she thought a garden hose and some hot sun was the solution.

Fortunately , I have enough of a client base and waiting list that I can pick and choose new clients. I only wish to custom build my saddles for people who will cherish them and care for them as much as I do. As the others have said, Its my name going on that piece of gear and even if it never gets displayed in a museum somewhere, I don't want it seen in a bargain bin either.

You made the right decision.

Edited June 13, 2008 by Todd