Which would you work on?
A full time cue builder has the same bills to pay and living expenses as everyone else. He has the unexpected "gotchas" that cost money too. Aside from all the other things people deal with he is working with natural materials, adhesives, and finishes, all of which can fail to perform as expected. He will get behind sometimes, his fault or not. He isn't on a salary so when he gets behind it bites into his cash flow. Many have little or no cash reserves.
Now he has an issue. Does he work on the cue that is paid for in full and he still has to spend money to finish or does he do a quickee repair job or two, turn a few shafts, maybe whip out a quick sneaky? He only means to push back completion of the paid for cue a week or two and after all he needs money from these other jobs to pay for materials to finish that paid for cue.
You can say cue builder, gun smith, saddle maker, on and on, bottom line is that when a person is living hand to mouth and he has work to do he will receive money for and work that it will cost him money to finish inevitably there are times when the paid for work that he has done long ago spent the money from is pushed back.
NEVER EVER PAY IN FULL IN ADVANCE OF A PRODUCT BEING READY FOR DELIVERY! Yes I yelled that. No matter how great a guy a person is, how good a christian, whatever, inevitably those who are underfunded fall into the trap of having to get out the items that give them an immediate cash flow. Make sure that there is a good reason to finish your work. Unless components are unusually expensive a third down and a third at a certain stage along with a third at completion is reasonable. So is half and half, even half, a quarter at a certain point, and a quarter on completion. Depends on the exact project but always structure payments so that the person building anything has a cash incentive to complete the project.
Any time someone is complaining to me about work not done on time the first thing I ask is how much they have left owing on the project. Most of the time they have paid in full or nearly in full.
This isn't directed just at the OP, it is directed at anyone ordering anything from anyone. Most builders are good people but they are all human too. Don't put temptation in their path!
Hu
Ordered a cue from a certain builder in Nov. 2010 with a set delivery for thevalley forge tourney the following year and yes, you guessed it ...no cue ot was not even started so at that point I made a few changes to the design and then was told about 4 months for delivery..guess what? Yup..you're right. Initially I sent the agreed deposit and have since paid the cue in full. Here we are in june of 2012..still no cue just about 4 heavily missed delivery dates. Communication with maker is dismal and very inconsistant. Sometimes I het a reply sometimes I dont. I have requested progress pics to no avail and have even asked to stop by but got shot down there also. Keeps telling me hes working on it but frankly I am growing tired of the situation. Keep in mind before you reply...i realize some cues take a loooong time..mine however is relativly basic and I also have been promised delivery by a certain time on 4 different occasions...what would your next move be?
