[Jewelry making - Article 01038] - Re: [Orchid] Special Order Blues

[myredcar]

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    Aloha Everyone, Here is a great site to practice on for clarity of
    every step taken prior to final payment made.  By now if you have
    not heard of www.vistaprints.com then please go there to study their
    format. They have expanded immensely since I first purchased my
    business cards with them.  Their site is very specific in design as
    to make the customer type in the info, select a print, change to
    another image as many times as possible, then when satisfied proceed
    to check out. CHECK OUT IS NOT POSSIBLE UNLESS THE BUYER DOES THE
    FOLLOWING: insert a check mark in a box which describes that the card
    selected is the one the same for the information to be printed on the
    card if the box is not checked, a customer may not proceed insert the
    customer's initials prior to submitting the text for a business card
    and other stop gaps to keep a customer from coming back to them
    saying this is not what I ordered. On the contrary, every click of
    the mouse to put a check in a box is made by the customer before
    purchasing, the customer must use his or her initials prior to
    checking out only after all the safety features have been inserted by
    the customer, the check out and payment proceeds. We have discovered
    through hindsight that we will only take a custom order for a
    designer necklace if the customer signs a legal document that the
    customer has ordered the work.  The customer must thereby place a
    60% deposit on the customized job placed.  We have the customers
    work with our designer, set up the stones in a specific manner, then
    when their vision of what will be created into a necklace is finally
    approved by him or her, the 60% down payment is accepted, with the
    balance due listed along with applicable taxes. We had a stamp made
    and stamp the pages that if they decide to change the design once
    work has commenced, they will be assessed another $30.00
    re-stringing or alteration to the original design. As the designer
    for this company I have no qualms about asking for the money in
    portion up front because I don't want a custom job completed but not
    paid for once the item is completed. In essence, the customer knows
    right at the beginning that we require they are serious by the down
    payment requested.  As some past customers' saw the job as it was in
    the completion stage and decided he or she did not like it, if one
    change was made, there would be another assessment of a straight
    $30.00 fee that would be made. The customer inspects it, accepts it,
    and must sign off and initial about 4 locations before the sales
    receipt is placed into the hands of the customer and the item
    wrapped if they prefer.  Many just put it on and walk out. They must
    inspect well. They must pull, tug, and try to break it before I
    allow them to take it.  Once they have done this, they must sign
    that it met with inspection and if they bring it back next month
    because it broke, there is a fee for fixing it. Human nature has
    taught me to be tough but be accommodating.  With designer
    necklaces, a clasp, or closure is there to be used to remove the
    necklace from their body.  I have witnessed so many customers who
    prefer necklaces about 18 inches to 22 inches pull the necklace off
    their heads and try on other necklaces.  I have explained that the
    best way to remove a necklace in the manner is not front to back but
    the reverse of it.  Remove it be grasping the back, and gently
    lifting over the head to the front.  This takes stress off the
    necklace. Some people are hard wearers of jewelry.  I had a customer
    give the company about $2,000.00 just in re-stringing fees because
    she was so hard on her jewelry and how she took it off and placed it
    on.  I taught her a simple way to do this without stressing the
    lines, or the strings of the necklace.  Once week after she picked
    up a customer made order she called me and said it broke.  I asked
    her to bring all the beads and gems from the necklace with her. 
    Once she arrived, I asked her how did this happen because she
    inspected it well, and signed off, she tested the strength of the
    materials and it did not snap.  So I needed to know why these
    sturdily made necklaces were being returned for re-stringing.  She
    showed me how it broke.  She pulled the front of the necklace over
    her head, it got stuck in her hair, frustrated she starting tugging
    and pulling to get if off and a line the would withstand 400 pounds
    of pressure snapped. I recognized that when she showed me how she was
    removing the necklaces, I had no qualms in charging her another fee
    for re-stringing. Is that right to do?  I say yes, some of you will
    say no, but we are in business to make money.  Since she is a good
    customers I give her small gift tokens that appease her and make her
    return repeatedly. How can a custom order be taken, without money
    down?  It is human nature that teaches all of us that not all
    persons will play fair nor will they pay for a custom job in the end
    if they DO NOT HAVE A PERSONAL STAKE IN THE OUTCOME. $$$$down =
    customer pays balance or forfeits the down payment which should be
    made very clear in the documents for custom order job a business
    undertakes.  This is my spin on it. I wish every one of you a
    prosperous year. 

Much Aloha,
Waynette
Buyer/Designer
HQCE



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