How long is too long to hold an order

C

Craig Daniel

Joined
Feb 17, 2016
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I have a customer who has bought 43 knives from me to date, He ordered a knife on 12-24-2014 and I told him it would be ready within 6 months and I would contact him when finished. He wanted a sheath with his initials on front which I did, I contacted him with pictures and he said he would pick it up and pay when he got back my way which he said would be about 2-3 months. It is now 16 months later and I have not heard from him, I emailed, Called and left a message without a reply. I have several people wanting the knife but I want to treat the man right because I am a man of my word. What would you guys recommend?
 
i had something similar happen to me , I purchased a firearm off of a gentleman and paid for it. a few days went by and no tracking number , after 2 weeks i tried calling and e-mailing. after about 3 weeks to a month i got a hold of his wife ... he had passed away the night after the pirchase. Makes you wonder sometimes ...
 
You have done your due diligence and given a waiting time long past when he said he would pick it up.
 
16 months is more than enough time. And you did everything you could to contact him...personally I think you held your end, and if by some chance he reappears could you not make another?


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If someone had bought 43 knives from me, I would wait and keep trying to contact him before I sold the knife to someone else.
 
I think you've done your due diligence. You contacted him and so he knows it's done. The onus is on him to follow through with his end of the deal.
There are very few businesses that would hold onto a custom made piece that long.
Maybe reach out one last time stating that you will be needing to sell it elsewhere if there's no response in X amount of time.
 
A year and 4 months is quite a while to sit on inventory, for any small business. I understand your not wanting to risk losing a valued customer, but by the fact you started this thread, you may have already answered your own question. Just my 2 cents worth. Good luck.
 
If you only called once, I'd probably try again, considering the history. Email easily gets sidetracked to spam folders or missed, especially if the customer is an older fellow. I'd see if there's any other avenue of communication you can pursue, facebook, etc. It's one thing for him to string you along for a year, but if you haven't actually spoken with him in that time, it may just be a situation of him not knowing it's available because he's somehow missing your communication attempts.

If renewed effort for contact fails, then yeah, I'd pass it along.
 
grumpy_grinder said:
i had something similar happen to me , I purchased a firearm off of a gentleman and paid for it. a few days went by and no tracking number , after 2 weeks i tried calling and e-mailing. after about 3 weeks to a month i got a hold of his wife ... he had passed away the night after the pirchase. Makes you wonder sometimes ...
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I was kind of thinking the same might have happened in this situation. He sounds like a reliable and loyal customer. I hope he hasn't passed away.
 
He was selling some of my knives in a store his wife ran but this one was for personal use, I did speak with him on the phone a few months after the build was complete. He's owns a well service and a few other businesses so maybe he's out of state working because everything here has gone down the drain.
 
I'd try calling a few more times.

I've had a similar (thought not quite as lengthy) experience where I couldn't reach a customer for several weeks, ultimately turning into a few months of hanging onto a knife. I finally left two or three messages on his voicemail, facebook, youtube, and any other form of contact I could find and told him that he had another week before the knives went to other buyers. He called me shortly after the ultimatum and apologized for his absence and lack of response. Turns out he had been in the hospital for a while and had a few more pressing matters to attend to. Ultimately, he backed out of the deal due to recent financial developments, and I sold the knives to other buyers.

In your case, you of course always have the option of hanging on to it for a bit longer, or selling it and making him another if he eventually gets back to you after the fact. As long as you make repeated attempts to contact him, I'd say he will probably understand whatever decision you make.
In today's world, it seems that nearly everybody has at least 3 or 4 ways to be contacted (phone, email, facebook, linkedin, PMs on forums, etc....)
With smartphones, tablets, and personal computers, there's very few reasons that a person can't stay in touch or send a quick message. Try whatever avenues you can find, give it a few more days, and then do as you see fit.
 
The way I see it, this is a special case. For normal orders, I would say a month of no contact and they have lost theverything rights to the knife.

But a guy who has bought that many knives, I don't know. If it's not really an emergency and you don't immediately need the cash from the knife, I think anyone who has boutique over 40 knives deserves the benefit of the doubt.
 
I have had several similar situations both in the knife business, and at the Jewelry store. My advice would be to try and contact them again. Sending a letter is a good start. Tell him to give you a call about the order so you know what he wants yo to do with the knife. If you get no response after a month or two, sell the knife.

I have had two times when the customer had died and I had his item on hold for years before I found out. In one case, the family bought the item, anyway. In the other, it was a sword repair that was dropped off at my house. He was heading to his winter home in Florida, and would get it in the spring when he came back to town. The man never came back or contacted me. The phone number was not in service when I tried to contact him. After a few years, I drove to where he used to live ( didn't know the address, but knew the street) and asked around about him. A couple people knew him, but had not seen him since the year he gave me the sword. One lady lived two housed from where he lived, and said they were pretty sure he had died, since his house was sold several years earlier. It has been 15 years, and I still have the sword.
 
i4Marc said:
Maybe send a letter by registered mail so he has to sign for it?
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I would do this and in the letter give him a date he needs to respond by letting him know that you will be selling the knife to someone else if be does not contact you.

Look at it this way... Worse case he contacts you a month after you sell it. You apologize and explain what/why and let him know you would be happy to make him another one.
 
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