etiquette and your shaper

General Discussion
1

Hey all,

Last November I ordered my first custom board from a respected east coast shaper located a good distance from where I live. I corresponded with him using email and

paid for my board in advance to take advantage of a pricing incentive. My hope was to have to board in time for my trip to Costa Rica at the end of last Feb.

I ordered a board requiring a custom blank. The blank arrived on 1/19 and at some point before the blank arrived in Jan. my shaper had a personal type thing he had to go away for. In light of this I told him not to sweat it if my board wasn’t ready for CR. (I later learned that during mid-Feb he had a sale going on promising a 10 day turn around)

I came back from CR early March and emailed asking what the status on my board is. I was told on 3/9 that it was boxed up, would be shipping anyday, and would probably be getting the shipping info the following week. Well, I never heard back.

I emailed again on 3/22 asking for news and never got an answer,emailed again on 4/2 with n answer again. I’ve left two messages on his voicemail over the last week and have not gotten a return call.

The domain of their website was registered with a different

phone number which I found to be the one they list in the

yellow pages. I tried that number and it’s disconnected.

What do I do next?

I didn’t want to be the person calling every week “is it done yet”? I tried be patient out of respect for the craftsperson but since I found out that new orders were given a 10 day turnaround while the order I placed months ago was not completed I feel lousy & forgotten about.

At the same time, this is a shaper with a good,long standing rep so I feel like something big must have happened-but in over a months time I can’t believe no one has gotten in touch if my board is as “ready to ship” as I have been led to believe. Additionally, the person’s website has been updated with news and sales so it would appear to be business as usual for them.

If anyone has any advice I’d really appreciate it.

At this point I leaning towards contacting the BBB if I don’t have a board in my hands in 2 weeks. This is to be my first custom board and it’s turning into a bad experience.

-Jen

2

sounds like me…never ring people back ,never make deadlines ,dont answer emails ,only diff is i say 10 month turn around not ten days …

i have to admit ,i hate getting paid up front ,coz you spend the money then you feel like your working for free coz theres no incentive at the end of the job,

the ten day sale sounds a bit suspicious ,sounds like he was trying to raise some quick cash…

what about transport ,? i know i hate shiping boards ,its always a drama , coz im out of the metro area ,couriers of the big companies wont come here , they use a forwarding agent and the costs spiral…so its economical for me to take them up to the city ,when ive got enough reasons to do a few things at once…so sometimes boards wait around for a while before i get a chance to ship them ,even the small courier services wont take em to the transport depot for me coz they say its a hassle for them ,to get in and out and deal with security…

ive got one board ready to roll sitting since feb and another 3 in the last two weeks , im just waiting on enough boards to ship em all at once ,itll be another 2 weeks before i have enough to ship in one hit ,to make having a day off worthwhile,

so much easier when people just walk in the front door,and order boards…

so maybe hes flat out and is having time pressure ? would he have access to good transport??? what was the deal with transport ?

i dono what else you could do besides find someone on the spot to check whats happening…

regards

BERT

3

Things do happen, orders do get lost, but you paid up front, in theory your board is done and should have been on your doorstep some time ago. Like a month ago.

The Better Business Bureau is pretty useless. They are mostly good for collecting funds for the Better Business Bureau. In 20+ years running a surf shop, I have never heard anything from them one way or another other than being asked for money to be listed in their cute little directory.

I’d call until you get a human, not a machine, and see what gives. Then, get back to us.

hope that’s some use.

doc…

4

is a good distance 200 miles? Or 2000…when i look at the little ol map in my atlas in my dining room library it loks like yall ken drive jus about anywheres on thet mainland,I always remember the time we were far from home an ordered my new board at the shop in summerland…an I rememder the time I hitch hiked to pick another one over night thru big sur to get to the Santa Barbara train station at state street waiting for the shop to open …talking to a black man giving life lessons about parental life support being absent from his life and that seperating our realities on the road …I was just a voyuer…Take a drive enjoy the ride go visit the guy take him some pralines maybe he’ll give you a t-shirt that fits…every body wants to make a good deal…NEVER SAY TAKE YOUR TIME OR IT"S OK IF ITS NOT READY>>>true symptoms of insanity to recind a deadline…ambrose…after running a store far away from supplies for 30 years ,shipping is truely a bitch … a crystal clear analogy…anal elgy (appologies to english poets and spellers)

5

Sorry you are having trouble. It sounds so similar to what goes on in my neck of the woods. Pre-pays are first to get shelved when situations involving cash flow hit the fan. I could be more sarcastic and make nationalistic comments but I won’t. The bitch is the margins are so small.

6

JLB

  You said he was a prominent shaper on the east coast. Do you know of any of the shops he retails through or the glass shop he uses? If so, contact them and find out what the story is? People go through crisis and there could be a good reason for his delinquency. At this point it's probably the best way to find out what's up.
7

Thanks for the replies folks.

The person is too far away to make a round trip in a weekend to. I’ve been searching around on some surf forums from his

region and in addition to his rep for making beautiful boards he also has a quantity of customers that didn’t get boards by promised deadlines either.

My suspicion is close to what Bert described where it’s probably in a stack of boards that need to ship but before they run over to drop them off,but “wait-this board is almost done and it has to go too” and “wait, another’s going to be done tomorrow”, and another, and another…

doc, thanks for the reminder that the BBB is sort of a fake agency. That’s not really my style anyway, but I feel kind of helpless right now. I think instead I am going to see if an Internet aquaintence from that area can go into his shop and ask about my board for me.

8

depending on how far you want to push matters, and how you paid…

If you paid by credit card, your credit card company might still cancell the charge and

you’d at least have your money. Then you could offer to pay for the board on delivery.

If they have your board and have a cash flow situation this might help.

A bit pushy and radical, but better than having now $ and no board.

good luck

–4est

(some credit card companies will do more than others)

9

This might be a little sneaky, but it just might work. Call or email him posing as another person, in a sense, a new customer. Or you can have a friend do it. If you email him or leave a voice mail, tell him to give you a call so you can give him the details of the board you need shaped. When you finally get him on the phone, give him hell. Maybe throw in that your uncle knows people. You might still not get your board, but you’ll at least have the satisfaction of giving him a piece of your mind.

10
Quote:

Thanks for the replies folks.

doc, thanks for the reminder that the BBB is sort of a fake agency. That’s not really my style anyway, but I feel kind of helpless right now. I think instead I am going to see if an Internet aquaintance from that area can go into his shop and ask about my board for me.

There ya go.

Me, I find that I deal a lot better with either humans or with e-mail , 'cos it’s a little too easy to get into an argument by phone. And it’s awfully hard to blow off somebody that’s standing right there asking a question compared to somebody on the other end of many miles of electric string. And somebody local has a whole lot more chance of getting something done thatn you, who’s far off, a one-time order and somehow I don’t think you’re gonna reccommend this guy to all your friends.

11

Howzit JLB, I get customers who want to pay me up front sometimes and I tell them not til it’s done which inspires me to get it done and to the customer as soon a possible. I would say never give them all the moneyup front, maybe a deposit but that’s all, then tell them you’ll pay C.O.D., that should get them off their okoles. Aloha, Kokua

12

I agree with Kokua (I usually do…I’ll get him one day though).As for the the board you ordered I would be mad about the lack of communication,thats bad business.I have two prepaid back ordered boards that go back a year but I don’t lie or dodge the bullet.I just tell em Ill do em when I am ready and offer a refund.I get harassed but its in a good natured kind of way.It’s a tough call…go with Doc’s suggestions.

13

I did the pay up front bit because there was a nice discount

to be had by doing so. Consider this a lesson learned!

kenz, I condsidered your idea myself a few weeks ago but that’s not my style either.

tomatdaum, I realize shapers are people too with families and lives and things happen which is why up until now I’ve been trying to be patient and laid back. I did some searching around some local forums (don’t mess with a career computer geek!) and either my shaper or a convincing imposter logged into there today so I think he’s at least got Internet access,whatever’s going on in his life.

14

I deal with kind of stuff all the time.

The key is to just keep bugging them, but be polite about it. Usually if I can, I just stop by often and start snooping around, and that helps a ton when you can actually see what is going on and they can’t hide anything. If you can’t stop by I would call them every day and e-mail them until you get a response, be polite but make sure they can’t forget about you even for a day. Yes you may be a bit of a nucense to them, but that is what you have to do.

And it is best to not pay in advance for sure, a deposit that covers materials is cool but pay the rest when you get it. And a written contract that says you get a full refund if the board is not done by a certain time is good. Usually I ask them how long it will take and then I add a couple weeks on just so they have ample time.

Also, tell other people about what happend, give out their name. As long as you are fair and factual it is good for everyone to know this information.

15

I’m sorry but why are you guys making excuses for this guy?

The board was ordered in NOVEMBER it’s now MARCH and that’s BULLSHIT!

I say you call him out. Do a search of his name and plaster his name and your story on every hit you get and every fourm you can find. Dog him until you get your board or your money back. Maybe you should call him and tell him that’s what you’re gonna do if he doesn’t deliver in the next couple of weeks. Don’t take it laying down and don’t let it happen to anyone else.

16

mmm i dont think ive ever had a customer wait longer than 3 weeks!.. knock and ring and knock and ring until you do.

17

I agree. Name another industry where the craftman would be allowed to get away with this. For some reason we cut shapers slack and inturn they become slackers. This type of bad busnisses hurts the industry.

Just my 2 cents.

18

Unfortunately, it is a double edged sword, a customer called me about his order from a “respectable” east coast shop and custom ordered a board in November. He was scheduled for knee surgery after the first on the year, so he wasn’t in a hurry.I had other customs to go with the order, I shipped before going to Hawaii on March 17th for my much deserved vacation, it is April 14th and a phone call to the shop let me know my check is going out today. We all have to wait sometime, the customer is riding his board, he paid for it through the shop, the blank, glassing and packing are paid for, only Jimmy is waiting to be under paid for a job well done

19

I have to agree with JR1 on this one. You have gone beyond patience.

I know that things happen and we should have compassion for that, but for him to go that long without communicating a single word to you…that’s just plain criminal. How hard is it to pick up the phone for a 30 second explaination, or send a quick email? Four months without an explanation…there is just no excuse.

This guys actions say that he has no respect for you and is taking advantage of your niceness. I know it’s not your style, but being nice and patient didn’t work, and now you’ve got to get tough. Threaten to mention his name and bad actions in every message board you can find. Tell him that you have no choice but to recommend that others not order boards from him. Then if that doesn’t make him respond you’ve got to do it. You owe it to yourself and the surfing community. And he will learn a valuable lesson on how to treat his customers.

I would have been boiling if I hadn’t received my board before Costa Rica.

20

to put a positive spin on this- two years ago i ordered a board from mobley. i hate dropping names, but this is absolutely deserving. i was in a similar situation: ordered a new board and thought it might be nice to have in costa rica. the deadline was getting close, and my board wasnt done- solution: he sent a similar board (new?hardly used?- not sure) to me in time for my trip, then sent my board soon after (which actually arrived the day before i left). i dropped the “loaner” off to a local surfshop, gave the owner mobley’s number and havent heard a thing about it since.

now that is a bit extreme, but it offsets the f-ing your getting.

im on the east coast, new york specifically, so if its in the area, let me know and i can go check out the situation.

unrelated: mike or anyone in the know: im about to collect a slaves wage for my first sold board and id like to make good on my promise to turn over the profits to this forum. the only problem is that im getting an error message when i click on the “keep swaylocks alive” button- any thoughts? i run mac osx.