Non-responsive customer: how long should I wait?

brewerpaul · Post by **brewerpaul** » Tue Jun 14, 2005 1:33 pm

I have a customer who ordered matching whistles in C and D Cocobolo. As long as I was at it, I started an Eb to match so I could take some webpage pics of a matched set.
On 5/24 I e-mailed her at the same address I've communicated with her in the past telling her the whistles were approaching readiness, that we needed to settle on final choice of metal fittings, and arrange payment (I don't generally ask for a down payment except for really unusual stuff I might not be able to sell otherwise). I got no response at all, so I re-sent the message a week or so later. Still no response. Her e-mail is apparently through her employer judging by the domain name, so I sent it to information@(heremployer).com and got no response. I then did a yahoo people search for this person's name in the city where her employer is based. I found one match so I called that phone number and left a message on the answering machine saying that I was looking for the
"Jane Smith" that ordered these whistles, excusing myself if I had the wrong person, etc. Still no reply.

How long do you think I'm obligated to wait for this person before putting these whistles up for sale? I think I've done due diligence and would like to complete the instruments and find a good home for them.

ChrisA · Post by **ChrisA** » Tue Jun 14, 2005 1:38 pm

Just finish them and send them to me. I'll take good care of them.

Seriously, I do think you've done a reasonable job of trying to notify the person. Maybe you should wait another bit until the 24th before choosing your own finishings for the whistles, then you can say you waited a full month from the initial contact. I wouldn't expect anything though, at this point, it'd just be a matter of principle, that 'a full month' seems like a good long wait.

brewerpaul · Post by **brewerpaul** » Tue Jun 14, 2005 1:43 pm

FWIW-- I just called the company, and they said they had no person by that name employed there.

littlejohngael · Post by **littlejohngael** » Tue Jun 14, 2005 1:58 pm

ChrisA wrote:Just finish them and send them to me. I'll take good care of them.

Seriously, I do think you've done a reasonable job of trying to notify the person. Maybe you should wait another bit until the 24th before choosing your own finishings for the whistles, then you can say you waited a full month from the initial contact. I wouldn't expect anything though, at this point, it'd just be a matter of principle, that 'a full month' seems like a good long wait.

I'll agree on that one. A full month is long enough. That way, if she's on vacation you'll still have the possibility of reaching her. I mean, who goes on vacation for a month, right?

jonharl · Post by **jonharl** » Tue Jun 14, 2005 2:26 pm

The other thing to consider is that no money has changed hands. Too bad you don't have a snail mail address you could send her a certified letter. I do think that she's given you an answer just not directly. I'm for selling the whistles as a set.

KDMARTINKY · Post by **KDMARTINKY** » Tue Jun 14, 2005 2:48 pm

Whats your gut tell you?

I think that if you have used every method available which you have resources for to contact the person and don't get a response, then you have done all you can do.

Post by **Dale** » Tue Jun 14, 2005 3:11 pm

littlejohngael wrote:
ChrisA wrote:Just finish them and send them to me. I'll take good care of them.

Seriously, I do think you've done a reasonable job of trying to notify the person. Maybe you should wait another bit until the 24th before choosing your own finishings for the whistles, then you can say you waited a full month from the initial contact. I wouldn't expect anything though, at this point, it'd just be a matter of principle, that 'a full month' seems like a good long wait.
I'll agree on that one. A full month is long enough. That way, if she's on vacation you'll still have the possibility of reaching her. I mean, who goes on vacation for a month, right?

Agreed.

Redwolf · Post by **Redwolf** » Tue Jun 14, 2005 3:34 pm

My guess is she was laid off from this company, and either hasn't thought about contacting you, or is embarrassed about contacting you.

I think you've done everything you can. I'd say choose whatever fittings you think look best for the whistles and sell them .

Redwolf

billw · Post by **billw** » Tue Jun 14, 2005 3:37 pm

DaleWisely wrote:
littlejohngael wrote:
ChrisA wrote:Just finish them and send them to me. I'll take good care of them.

Seriously, I do think you've done a reasonable job of trying to notify the person. Maybe you should wait another bit until the 24th before choosing your own finishings for the whistles, then you can say you waited a full month from the initial contact. I wouldn't expect anything though, at this point, it'd just be a matter of principle, that 'a full month' seems like a good long wait.
I'll agree on that one. A full month is long enough. That way, if she's on vacation you'll still have the possibility of reaching her. I mean, who goes on vacation for a month, right?
Agreed.

Hrm. Well, I've had trouble in the past couple of months with my web hosting company. As a result of this, I've lost orders and emails that were sent to me, and have even had a PayPal complaint filed (which has since been settled amicably). I guess with all that, I've the tendency to cut some extra slack. I have a target of 90 days to get whistles to my customers once they've paid for them. I think 60 days isn't an unreasonable length of time to wait for a customer to get back to you.

That said, I also think that a policy of pay-me-now or at least a deposit on your whistles, which are a good deal more difficult to make than mine, would be a reasonable way to avoid the problem in the future. We tend to not ignore things in which we already have a vested interest. It's how I work my "on approval" process, and so far, nobody has failed to pay up or send back, depending. (It gives me a snail-mail addy, too!)

Just my 2p
Bill Whedon
Serpent Music

Wanderer · Post by **Wanderer** » Tue Jun 14, 2005 3:56 pm

I tend to agree with Redwolf. If you've tried for 3 weeks or so, you've really done all you can. If the person hasn't paid a deposit, they're really not out anything but time, and it certainly appears that they're in no hurry to get in touch with you

If they turn up in the future and decide they want a whistle, there's no reason why they can't order another one then.

Then again, if you don't need the money, ChrisA's suggestion of waiting a full month does feel like the right thing to do.

fluti31415 · Post by **fluti31415** » Tue Jun 14, 2005 4:35 pm

Well, if she is a teacher or does/did seasonal work, she might be away for much longer than a month -- I have been away from home for entire summers before. But I make sure that people I do business with have contact information, as well, and I don't use a work account for personal business. (how virtuous of me

)I think for most people, a month would be plenty of notice.

Actually, the only situation that I can think of where this might *not* be plenty of notice is if all three of the following are true:
* There was a long wait for the instrument.
* The instrument took significantly more or less time than was initially discussed, making the completion date a bit of a surprise.
* You have not been in contact with the customer with updates.

It sounds as though you have been in contact with her through the production process, so it seems to me that this should not be an issue.

FWIW, it sounds to me like a month should be fine. Would you have any regrets if you sold the whistles today and she contacted you out of blue tomorrow? Next week? Next month? Would you feel more comfortable about it if you kept documentation of all the attempts to contact this person, just in case? You have even tried to get hold of her in this forum, I know, so we all know your are begin diligent about this.

brewerpaul · Post by **brewerpaul** » Tue Jun 14, 2005 4:48 pm

Update: I called the company and they said they have no such person, and have no idea how she was using their domain name for e-mail. I sent her one more e-mail saying that it was OK if she didn't want the whistles, just let me know. If she does want them but is short of $$, that's OK, we can work together, etc. I will wait the full month, then finish up the set to my personal preferences.

jsluder · Post by **jsluder** » Tue Jun 14, 2005 4:58 pm

brewerpaul wrote:Update: I called the company and they said they have no such person, and have no idea how she was using their domain name for e-mail. I sent her one more e-mail saying that it was OK if she didn't want the whistles, just let me know. If she does want them but is short of $$, that's OK, we can work together, etc. I will wait the full month, then finish up the set to my personal preferences.

As a sometime whistle buyer, that sounds quite reasonable to me.

John

scotta · Post by **scotta** » Tue Jun 14, 2005 5:20 pm

sell 'em

slowair · Post by **slowair** » Tue Jun 14, 2005 5:36 pm

Sell them, you can always make more.

Mike

Chiff and Fipple Forums

Non-responsive customer: how long should I wait?

Non-responsive customer: how long should I wait?

I don't know about that...