Info on Non paying customers

L

LPCUSTOMCUES

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I need some advice................

I built a cue for a customer and I have emailed him over the last month and had no response.
He paid half down for the cue.

How long should I wait before selling the cue?

I would, of course, refund his deposit if he contacted me after the sale.

I have no "non paying customer" disclaimer on my website.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks
Lee
LP Custom Cues
 
I wouldn't do anything until you got in contact with him, whether it be phone, email or certified letter.
Refunds are the not the rule of thumb, but they don't lose it either, they always have a deposit in but if the price changes, it's their responsibility and the balance must be paid in full before I build the cue again. This has only happened once in 17 years and after 6 months of trying to reach him.
 
LPCUSTOMCUES said:
I need some advice................

I built a cue for a customer and I have emailed him over the last month and had no response.
He paid half down for the cue.

How long should I wait before selling the cue?

I would, of course, refund his deposit if he contacted me after the sale.

I have no "non paying customer" disclaimer on my website.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks
Lee
LP Custom Cues
Click to expand...


Lee,

if it has been 30 days, it's time to move on, you have done your part, as I have said to some very good friends, and customers who have ordered from me and asked me to hold on to the cue for 3-4 months, I am not a financial institution, I have bills to pay, and have to eat. I usualy let my customers know 1 month ahead of time that there cue is going to be ready. So from there if it is done in a mouth, and I give them another month to pay, that's 2 months they had to pay/find the funds.

Believe it or not, I've had some canceled orders lately and have gotten more than I quoted a year ago. I had 3 guys on one team cancel a month ago, they all lost there jobs the same day. All 3 cues are $800+ cue's exellent wood's and ringwork. I'm kind of happy about it because I don't have alot of cue's laying around so having a few nice cue's to show off, or sell to someone who come's through on a visit, is ok with me.

Sell it, return his deposit, or as I did with one guy who did this to me twice, the second time, I told him he now has $600 credit with us, on his next cue order, ahhh, it's funny how he found the money so quickly.

Good luck,

Shafts are coming along nicely by the way:grin-square:
 
RFisher said:
Lee,

if it has been 30 days, it's time to move on, you have done your part, as I have said to some very good friends, and customers who have ordered from me and asked me to hold on to the cue for 3-4 months, I am not a financial institution, I have bills to pay, and have to eat. I usualy let my customers know 1 month ahead of time that there cue is going to be ready. So from there if it is done in a mouth, and I give them another month to pay, that's 2 months they had to pay/find the funds.

Believe it or not, I've had some canceled orders lately and have gotten more than I quoted a year ago. I had 3 guys on one team cancel a month ago, they all lost there jobs the same day. All 3 cues are $800+ cue's exellent wood's and ringwork. I'm kind of happy about it because I don't have alot of cue's laying around so having a few nice cue's to show off, or sell to someone who come's through on a visit, is ok with me.

Sell it, return his deposit, or as I did with one guy who did this to me twice, the second time, I told him he now has $600 credit with us, on his next cue order, ahhh, it's funny how he found the money so quickly.

Good luck,

Shafts are coming along nicely by the way:grin-square:
Click to expand...

for all that bash deposits. this is why. trust me i understand things happen but other people have lives to lead.
 
dave sutton said:
for all that bash deposits. this is why. trust me i understand things happen but other people have lives to lead.
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Usualy I don't take deposits, once I have someone's money, they not only think they are my Boss, but get to talk to me any way they want to and tell me not only how to run my buisness, but how to build cue's. The only 3 times I take down payments:

#1 if the cue gets something exotic, Ivory, Westinghouse Micarta (the yellow stuff we use in cue making), An extreamly rare/expensive wood. Custom ringwork, laminated shafts ext....

#2 if the request is for something I am not confident I can sell, or has custom features not standard to my cue's or other cue's for that matter. Like the 64 in cue a guy wanted me to make with a 34in butt, and 30in shaft, I made him pay in full before starting the cue, when I called him for delivery He said he didn't think it would take as long as it did, 9 months, and I don't give completion dates, and never gave him one either, infact he asked if it would be about a year and I said probly, Less if he is lucky. So he asked for a refund, HA I think not.

#3 If I am building a cue without an owner, and someone is very animate about securing it, and understands it's done when it's done.

other wise, I usualy don't call them orders anymore, but REQUESTS. You wouldn't believe how many "requests" we have for pointed vennered cue's with simple inlays. We aren't even making that cue yet, some of those orders are 4-5 years old, one of these days. I should have charged them all a deposit, that way by the time we got them done they could have said that the wait was 5-7 years, and that would have really made us look "HIGH END":winknudge:
 
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Just do what you feel is right.

Think about this ...
You are in the hospital recovering from a heart attack, or a near fatal accident.
Contacting a cuemaker about a cue you ordered 60 days ago is the farthest thing from you or your loved ones minds.

Just say'n that anything is possable.
 
LPCUSTOMCUES said:
I need some advice................

I built a cue for a customer and I have emailed him over the last month and had no response.
He paid half down for the cue.

How long should I wait before selling the cue?

I would, of course, refund his deposit if he contacted me after the sale.

I have no "non paying customer" disclaimer on my website.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks
Lee
LP Custom Cues
Click to expand...

You need to call him and not depend on email. email may be the least reliable form of communication. I am sure you have his phone number and know where he lives, right?

There is also a funny little paradox here in reading the answers. Cue makers think nothing of saying it will be ready next week and that turns into 6 months. But when it is the other way around, 30 days all of a sudden becomes an eternity. I just found it funny when the shoe was on the other foot the reaction.
 
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macguy said:
You need to call him and not depend on email. email may be the least reliable form of commutation. I am sure you have his phone number and know where he lives, right?

There is also a funny little paradox here in reading the answers. Cue makers think nothing of saying it will be ready next week and that turns into 6 months. But when it is the other way around, 30 days all of a sudden becomes an eternity. I just found it funny when the shoe was on the other foot the reaction.
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Probably not what this audience wants to hear, but that's a very good point. If the customer put down a reasonable deposit, I would put it in the case and forget about it for at least 3 months before considering alternatives. That's just me. Keep doing your best to reach him outside of e-mail as well. Your messages may be getting cought up in a spam filter or something...
Mr H
 
It seems to me you left out some very relevant information prior to asking for advice. Like, how long ago ago did the customer order the cue and give you a deposit? And, what was the projected completion date you gave the customer? And, when was the last time you and the customer communicated?

I think that unless this cue was a real quick deal you and the customer planned out, (like building and delivery in 90 days), I'd be hanging onto his cue for more than 30 days - he did pay, up front, 50% of its cost. JMHO Good Luck, I hope you can contact him soon.
 
dave sutton said:
I Think You Did Your Part. Sell And Refund Him. Hopefully He Never Calls Back
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I don't know how he is going to refund him if he cannot contact him.

Why should he not ever call back - he paid half the money up front. Sometimes $hit happens to customers just like bad things happen to cuemakers - you know stuff that is beyond your control.

I think it is only fair that you keep trying to contact the customer for at least 3 months. You should also have gotten a lot more contact information other than email address. I always get the email address, home phone, cell phone, work phone, mailing address, billing address.

Good Cuemaking,
 
I agree with Arnot, I also ask for info on a contact person.
Sometimes you may get a customer that can no longer afford the cue they have ordered, but that is rare I would think.
Have you tried asking around the area where he lives or hangs out. Someone must know who has ordered a cue and not recieved it. The grapevine is quick sometimes. I have heard from the grapevine of a cue being made for someone, even the cuemaker was not yet aware of the order. The guy was so excited about getting a new cue, forgot to ask the maker himself to confirm the order. Very funny, but I digress,
Do try to contact the individual involved.
Neil
 
I don't know how he is going to refund him if he cannot contact him.

Why should he not ever call back - he paid half the money up front. Sometimes $hit happens to customers just like bad things happen to cuemakers - you know stuff that is beyond your control.

I think it is only fair that you keep trying to contact the customer for at least 3 months. You should also have gotten a lot more contact information other than email address. I always get the email address, home phone, cell phone, work phone, mailing address, billing address.
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i'll edit this so people don't read it wrong.i am not agreeing or disagreeing with anyone.just trying to give my take on what Dave was saying.


i think Dave was trying to say go ahead and sell the cue and when he gets in touch with the first customer return the deposit and then to avoid him later in life.
 
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macguy said:
There is also a funny little paradox here in reading the answers. Cue makers think nothing of saying it will be ready next week and that turns into 6 months. But when it is the other way around, 30 days all of a sudden becomes an eternity. I just found it funny when the shoe was on the other foot the reaction.
Click to expand...
how true........
 
I didn't used to take deposits and I had a couple of non paying customers. I just sold the cues. If they were to call today and order a cue, I would still take the order, but I do charge a 20% deposit now. I figure that's not a big enough deposit and if they don't want to pay it, then they probably arne't going to be prepared to pay for the cue when it's completed.

I have yet to run into a situation where the Buyer has paid a deposit and not had the money to pay for the cue. I think if I did, I would give them time. I can understand if somebody doesn't have the money to pay and needs a month or so to come up with the money. I am also not going to be willing to wait forever. I've had a couple of cues that were on schedule to be finished earlier than the quoted completion date. I contacted the Buyers and asked if they wanted the cue early or if I should put the cue aside and finish it up as scheduled. Both have said they will take the cue when it's finished.

If you haven't had any luck in hearing from the Buyer by phone or email, I would suggest letting him know that you understand if he doesn't have the money to pay currently, but you need to hear from him. Give him another week or two to get back to you and if you don't hear from him by then, I would go ahead and sell the cue.

As for refunding the deposit, I am not sure I would do that. You did your job, providing the cue was not late. If you want to credit him the deposit on a future cue, that is up to you.
 
i have question for the cue maker's..
let's say u give that person about 1 year to have that cue done.but it took more then that.so the customer doesn't want the cue no more..so how that will goes from there ? and normally how long till take you to refund the money to the customer ?
 
masonh said:
obviously he was saying to sell the cue and when he gets in touch with the first customer return the deposit and then to avoid him later in life.
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I am at a little bit of a loss here. What is the buyers horrible offense that he is to be avoided in the future? He trusted the cue maker to make him a cue, gave him half the money in advance and waited. Now all of a sudden he is some kind piece of dirt because the cue maker cant get in touch with him for like 30 days. The cue maker has, according to him, only emailed the guy. I doubt the buyer was notified that the cue was going to be finished on a particular date and was to have the money waiting.

The buyer has probably just been waiting not knowing when the cue would be delivered and was nice enough to not be bugging the cue maker every other week. Now he is all of a sudden some kind of jerk. With cue makers practically a dime a dozen now-a-days what incredible arrogance many of them have. That customer has done nothing wrong. Even the title of the thread "Non paying customers" is misleading. The guy is not a non paying customer, he gave a 50% deposit and I am sure wants his cue. People who don't want the cues don't pay 50% up front.
 
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