Please excuse the length, but I must set up the situation. Thanks Andy Last week, I picked a customers new board from the glass shop, one in which he had customed order. I took a quick once over and was very pleased, paid and went home. (This shop is very reputable and glasses for one the world most renown shapers) Last night my customer came over to pick up his board and make the final payment. As we were checking out the finer points of the board, something extremely upsetting caught our eye. On the left rail it looks as if someone brushed up against the blank taking away some paint and then tried to touch it up. The repair looks like crap, they used a darker shade of blue to try and cover it up. It is very noticable. BUT THAT’S NOT ALL! On the bottom of the right rail about 3/4 the way from the nose there was a ding in the rail approx 3/4 inch in diameter and approx. 1/4 inch deep. Apperently someone at the shop hit the rail, dinged it and attempted to touch up the area with paint (which was a darker shade of blue) and then glassed over it. The ding is totally noticable the attempted cover up looks like crap as well. Fortunitly my customer is a friend and checked the board before I sent it to the glasser. He knows that I didn’t do this. However, He is unhappy with the damage and as a good, honesty business man I must either discount this board tremendously or give him the option of having a new one shaped in it’s place taken a huge loss on my part. Although I didn’t do this damage, this reflects my craftsmenship and rep. as a shaper. My question is this. What should I expect from the glass shop in order to remedy the situation? I was never told about the damage they tried to hide it, ruined my board and it’s too late to try and fix the board correctly. Any suggestions/comments will be greatly appreciated. Thanks Andy * I have pics that I can upload If some can tell me how
My question is this. > What should I expect from the glass shop in order to remedy the situation? > I was never told about the damage they tried to hide it, ruined my board > and it’s too late to try and fix the board correctly. Any > suggestions/comments will be greatly appreciated. Thanks Andy First off, forget the board is for a friend. What would you do if it was for any other customer? The glass shop should stand good for anything you have to do to satisfy your customer and keep your reputation. It might help to come up with some numbers and talk to the glass shop manager prior to settling with your customer. Many real businesspeople will stand good only for the cost of what they did - i.e. cost of glass job - which might lower the price enough to either make your customer happy or give the board a low retail rack price if you have to replace. That’s how it could work in the real world. I’m interested in how it plays in the surf zone. I’ve known shop owner/shapers to eat costs so as not to piss off glass shops…that sucks. Nels
Please excuse the length, but I must set up the situation. Thanks Andy>>> Last week, I picked a customers new board from the glass shop, one in > which he had customed order. I took a quick once over and was very > pleased, paid and went home. (This shop is very reputable and glasses for > one the world most renown shapers) Last night my customer came over to > pick up his board and make the final payment. As we were checking out the > finer points of the board, something extremely upsetting caught our eye. > On the left rail it looks as if someone brushed up against the blank > taking away some paint and then tried to touch it up. The repair looks > like crap, they used a darker shade of blue to try and cover it up. It is > very noticable. BUT THAT’S NOT ALL! On the bottom of the right rail about > 3/4 the way from the nose there was a ding in the rail approx 3/4 inch in > diameter and approx. 1/4 inch deep. Apperently someone at the shop hit the > rail, dinged it and attempted to touch up the area with paint (which was a > darker shade of blue) and then glassed over it. The ding is totally > noticable the attempted cover up looks like crap as well. Fortunitly my > customer is a friend and checked the board before I sent it to the > glasser. He knows that I didn’t do this. However, He is unhappy with the > damage and as a good, honesty business man I must either discount this > board tremendously or give him the option of having a new one shaped in > it’s place taken a huge loss on my part. Although I didn’t do this damage, > this reflects my craftsmenship and rep. as a shaper. My question is this. > What should I expect from the glass shop in order to remedy the situation? > I was never told about the damage they tried to hide it, ruined my board > and it’s too late to try and fix the board correctly. Any > suggestions/comments will be greatly appreciated. Thanks Andy>>> * I have pics that I can upload If some can tell me how The shops that glass our boards have always taken full responsibility for their mistakes. If there is significant damage, they advise and we discuss options. One option is very straight forward; the glass shop discounts the entire glass job. Another option is the shop buys the board, giving credit for costs. They absorb the costs to repair the board and then they can sell it or use it. The key words are “advise,” “discuss,” and “responsibility!” I think any shop (or enterprise), that is in business for the long haul, that values its clients, has very little difficulty with this policy. Good luck! Barry
The shops that glass our boards have always taken full responsibility for > their mistakes. If there is significant damage, they advise and we discuss > options. One option is very straight forward; the glass shop discounts the > entire glass job. Another option is the shop buys the board, giving credit > for costs. They absorb the costs to repair the board and then they can > sell it or use it. The key words are “advise,” > “discuss,” and “responsibility!” I think any shop (or > enterprise), that is in business for the long haul, that values its > clients, has very little difficulty with this policy. Good luck! Barry It all boils down to integrity. No doubt you find out how important that singular and most important part of bussiness is to the propieter. I won’t make any predictions. Let us know what happens. Good Surfin’, Rich
Please excuse the length, but I must set up the situation. Thanks Andy>>> Last week, I picked a customers new board from the glass shop, one in > which he had customed order. I took a quick once over and was very > pleased, paid and went home. (This shop is very reputable and glasses for > one the world most renown shapers) Last night my customer came over to > pick up his board and make the final payment. As we were checking out the > finer points of the board, something extremely upsetting caught our eye. > On the left rail it looks as if someone brushed up against the blank > taking away some paint and then tried to touch it up. The repair looks > like crap, they used a darker shade of blue to try and cover it up. It is > very noticable. BUT THAT’S NOT ALL! On the bottom of the right rail about > 3/4 the way from the nose there was a ding in the rail approx 3/4 inch in > diameter and approx. 1/4 inch deep. Apperently someone at the shop hit the > rail, dinged it and attempted to touch up the area with paint (which was a > darker shade of blue) and then glassed over it. The ding is totally > noticable the attempted cover up looks like crap as well. Fortunitly my > customer is a friend and checked the board before I sent it to the > glasser. He knows that I didn’t do this. However, He is unhappy with the > damage and as a good, honesty business man I must either discount this > board tremendously or give him the option of having a new one shaped in > it’s place taken a huge loss on my part. Although I didn’t do this damage, > this reflects my craftsmenship and rep. as a shaper. My question is this. > What should I expect from the glass shop in order to remedy the situation? > I was never told about the damage they tried to hide it, ruined my board > and it’s too late to try and fix the board correctly. Any > suggestions/comments will be greatly appreciated. Thanks Andy>>> * I have pics that I can upload If some can tell me how One option is to shape another board and have the glasser do it for cost or for free (that would be nice). Your first board is not ruined or you would have seen the problems when you picked it up. Mistakes happen sometimes , so have faith that something good could come out of a small disappointment. You can still sell the first board for a discounted price to regain some costs. I like Barry’s approach.
Do you guys think that most glass shops treat backyarders and pros the same? I had a board glassed about a year ago and I asked for a thru-the-deck leash attachment. I like the clean, classic look of a hole compared to the standard leash cup. When I went to pick the board up, they told me that the glasser accidently put in a leash cup. Realizing the mistake, they dug it out, filled the hole and drilled a tiny hole down the middle of the patch job. Looked terrible and kinda ruined the whole “clean, classic” idea. I guess everyone makes mistakes.