LoGiC said:
I can't believe this kind of situation comes up. We all know KV has had recent health issues, and he stands by his work. His generosity here on AZ is unmatched. Not to mention his cues are always sold so quickly here on AZ. Even with a slumped cue market, his cues usually don't last very long.
You know when you get a cue from him, its gonna meet a high standard. He's not the only cue maker like that either. Others, if not satisfied, will scrap the cue and start over. So you expect him to call every one and talk to them about it? He'll end up with a 30+ minute conversation with everyone, and thats time he could be working on those cues. People must think he works out of his house he should work 18 hours a day or something. Cue making is a job (and an art!) and he shouldn't have to put in any more time than the rest of the 9-5 workers. But lets spend half of that time on the phone talking to people?
Then theres the material. Wood is unpredictable, shit goes wrong. I'm sure you want a half-assed custom to get delivered to your door, full of flawed wood. I'd be thrilled!
Seems like some of you would like to see him work himself into a coma- so long as you get your damn cue.
This post I think misses the entire point.
We aren't expecting him to work around the clock. We aren't expecting him to perform magic or spend hours on the phone.
We expect him to fulfill
his own promises. And provide some respectful communication when he is unable to. If he has a bunch of unhappy customers it is not because we're ungrateful louts who want the guy to work himself to death, it's because we've all been promised certain things and not had those promises fulfilled.
He promised--not estimated, promised--a date for me. He had three additional estimates. He met none of them, and his communication has been spotty and annoyed. And it sounds like he's done this for a lot of people. And now he's fallen off the face of the earth for two weeks.
For me he requested the full price of the cue upfront, which I paid immediately, figuring he was the type of guy you just described. Since then, I've seen absolutely nothing to show he is any of those things you describe him as.
When the promised date passed I PMed him, politely asking him for an update on the status. He didn't reply. I PMed him again. He replied all annoyed and started accusing me of this and that and acting very defensively. He claimed there was no promised date until I copied for him the PM three months previous where he did promise. Then he ignored that and gave me an updated estimate, which has since passed. He never gave any reason for the delay, never told me where the cue was in the pipeline or anything. I'm in complete limbo--for all I know the cue hasn't been started yet.
Now let's contrast that to all the things he could have done to make me, the paying customer, feel better.
He could have replied to my intial, polite PM. He could have apologized for not meeting his promised date. He could, at any point in the process, explained to me that he's swamped with work, or the wood for my cue had an issue, or something. He could have given been somewhat respectful and apologetic or tried to be understanding, or not accusatory. He could have offered some sort of amends for not meeting a promised date.
At the very least he could have given me an answer that read like an honest reply and an honest attempt to communicate with his customer rather than what it seemed like (and apparently was) a quick reply he hoped would just get me off his back for the time being, and that had no bearing on reality.
If he's facing issues with being swamped with too many orders, or having too many family commitments or whatever, then that's completely understandable. Heck, if his business is thriving then good for him! But then he should recognize this and amend his promised and estimated delivery dates. Or if this stuff as come up unexpectantly, be more apologetic towards his customers and try to provide them with updated and accurate information. After all, he has given people his word. Under-promise and over-deliver is a common phrase, yet his current MO seems to be over-promise and under-deliver. That's why people are annoyed.
