I had someone ask me, so here goes: What is your turn around time like?
I know that some makers have waiting lists years long, but I'm sure yours isn't quite that awesome yet.
and I think people have stopped paying attention to stickies.... time to consolidate/remove some perhaps?
Right now, my turn around time is about 3 months.
Gosh now I am confused then. What happens to the knife if the customer doesn't claim it? Isn't that the "next available" knife at that point?
That is indeed the case. What everyone has to understand is that most model's "dibs" lists have 10 to 20 people on them. Where the confusion was coming in is that a few people who are not on the dibs list yet were trying to call dibs on knives in the current batch, as in "if the customer doesn't want that one, I'll take it." If the customer doesn't take the knife, it does become available, but goes to the next person with dibs on the list. You get what I'm saying?
And I guess I can relate to what AWC is saying, if I don't have an idea how long it takes to get a knife, or where I am on the "dibs" list, or even possibly what it will be constructed from, then I guess I don't understand how "dibs" works yet.
At any point, people can ask me anything they want, including where they are on the list and how long the estimated time is. I make myself very accessable to my customers. I actually spend somewhere in the neighborhood of 2-3 hours a day talking to customers through email and phone calls.
I came into ownership of an unused Pocket Kilo and sent it to Dylan to make me a sheath for it . Since I own a Pocket Kilo and Dylan has done some work for me, am I a "returning customer"?
I guess I have to change the wording on that or further elaborate that someone who has purchased a knife from Fletcher Knives LLC is a returning customer.
I really like the knife and would really like to have a BO or a BOXL to go with it. I need a larger knife. How do I go about getting one? I registered for the email list months ago and the only thing I've gotten are the emails about serializing models.
I only send out emails to the email list when i have something to tell everyone that they need to know or if there is a special offer etc. I don't send out regular monthly newsletters or anything like that.
I sent an email requesting "dibs" on a BO or BOXL, and I understand Dylan is busy, but I have no idea if I'm on a list, how long the list is, whether I'll get offered a knife in 2 years or when, or whether I should just start shopping around to be sure I get a knife that I need in a reasonal timeframe.
It usually takes me a couple of days to answer emails. I get somewhere around 40 emails a day. I saw the email you sent yesterday about getting dibs on a Bush Operator. Just haven't gotten a chance to answer it yet. Everyone who asks to be on the email or calls dibs gets a confirmation email within a few days letting them know that I have them down and asking any questions.
I read the thread on dibs, registered for the email list but haven't seen any emails in the last few months since I did, and thought the next available BO would be one of those posted if the customer didn't respond or couldn't take it for some reason. You know, something along the lines of what Andy does by posting available knives.
Most of the knives you see come up for sale by Andy have a very specific handle combination that was specified in an order by the customer, not just "green canvas micarta, but like, "I want 19 pins in the top bolster, bakanakawaka wood on the left side, orange yellowish toenailskinwood on the right, bla bla bla." There typically isn't someone someone else waiting for that specific combo if that customer doesn't take it. Plus, since he no longer takes orders, any form of dibs or anything, that's why you see his knives come up for sale on the forums when the customer doesn't take it. He doesn't have a list anymore so everything is available.
Any time I have a customer refuse a knife, which VERY rarely ever happens, there is someone else waiting on that handle combo or doesn't have a preference at all and it goes to them. That's why you almost never see knives come up available from me. There's always someone waiting for that knife with that handle combo. When there isn't, as was the case not too long ago with a B&G, first there is an email sent out to everyone on the email list saying that's it's available. Then it goes up for sale on the forums.
Obviously there is an ordering system since these knives were posted as orders for customers who were notified by email about their completion and may or may not take them... so for you guys who are not new around here like me, what would you do if you wanted a BO, and how should I proceed from here? How do you actually order a knife?
Thanks. Just trying to understand...
The dibs list is the only form of orders I take. The reason it is the way it is is so I have the freedom to do what I want to do at my own pace and not get held down by timeframes and all kinds of specifics. I think that even though I take full advantage of that occupational freedom, I still get people what they want in a relatively timely fashion and do my best to keep everyone satisfied. A lot of makers have turnaround times of a year or more. I don't. My goal is to get people an awesome custom knife pretty quickly and for a very reasonable price.
I hope that this clears everything up.
