I try to underpromise/overdeliver... when I can
First off, your situation sucks, and on behalf of framebuilders everywhere, I apologize.
That said, at this point there is probably nothing you can do except be patient and keep contacting the builder. Getting angry on the phone or via email probably won't speed the process as much as politeness and calling every day to check up (email is easy to ignore). Try to be reasonable, likable, and yet still annoying enough that your bike gets shifted to the front of the line.
Personally, I try to be very transparent about my wait times. I post a waitlist that I update a couple of times a week, I explain the situation if I have something delayed for whatever reason, and most importantly, I generally add 20% to the time I quote compared to how long I think it will actually take. I have certainly had projects take longer than I quoted, it happens, but I try to stay in communication and make sure the customer understands that I'm trying to get their frame done, but I bent my last chainstay wrong, or their fork is on backorder, or I got the flu. People are very understanding if you just tell them what's going on, I find.
I could probably get a few more customers by promising impossible things, but I'd really rather not go down that road.
-Walt
First off, your situation sucks, and on behalf of framebuilders everywhere, I apologize.
That said, at this point there is probably nothing you can do except be patient and keep contacting the builder. Getting angry on the phone or via email probably won't speed the process as much as politeness and calling every day to check up (email is easy to ignore). Try to be reasonable, likable, and yet still annoying enough that your bike gets shifted to the front of the line.
Personally, I try to be very transparent about my wait times. I post a waitlist that I update a couple of times a week, I explain the situation if I have something delayed for whatever reason, and most importantly, I generally add 20% to the time I quote compared to how long I think it will actually take. I have certainly had projects take longer than I quoted, it happens, but I try to stay in communication and make sure the customer understands that I'm trying to get their frame done, but I bent my last chainstay wrong, or their fork is on backorder, or I got the flu. People are very understanding if you just tell them what's going on, I find.
I could probably get a few more customers by promising impossible things, but I'd really rather not go down that road.
-Walt
Rideroftrails said:I have a question for all you custom builders out there. When you give a customer a time estimate for a frame, how hard do you try to stick to that timeline? Does a customer have a legitimate right to be annoyed if a frame takes twice as long is you told him it would? And does that same customer have a right to be even further annoyed if they find out you've been working other projects while their order is 90% complete?
Obviously I have a custom frame on order and it is way behind schedule. I've been told "it will be finished and shipped this week" three times now. Emails have been mostly ignored. I called and was told that he had been busy with other orders - ones I know came in after mine. :madman:
So tell me, what do I say to this builder? And as a builder what would your response be?
