I rarely have problems with customers but I also screen them before committing to anything so that helps. If they seem like a problem I just tell them I don’t have time to take their custom order at this time.
I had a guy a while back order three knives. He was a friend of a friend. In the spirit of all the GBU threads that say never pay up front, I don’t take money in advance. He wanted two normal hunters and a stupid zombie killer looking tanto blade chopper thing. He constantly asked for progress updates and pictures, and would post the pictures to his Facebook and insta about how his knives were coming along. Once I finished the knives and told him they were ready, communication dried up. I made multiple attempts to contact him, and eventually he said that he couldn’t pay for them and didn’t think they would cost that much. The price I gave him was already below the price I had quoted him in writing. I offered to drop a bit more to get them gone, and he still said it was too much money. The two hunters were easy to sell, but the stupid tanto is still sitting in a case 2 years later. Needless to say I didn’t respond when he later asked if I could make him a chefs knife.
I also donate a knife every year to a fundraiser, and have had a few issues there. One year, the guy in charge called me every day for a month, and showed up at my house 3 times to see how the knife was going. This is a donation, that they aren’t paying for, that I agreed to make, and said I would deliver the morning of the auction. A couple years later, I agreed to donate a knife again, and was contacted asking when they could pick one. I explained that it’s a donation, they don’t get to pick, I am giving them something free and I will decide what that item is. He still wanted to have a say in it and wanted to stop by in a few minutes to pick from what I had on hand. I told him their knife was not ready, and everything I have on hand belongs to someone who hasn’t picked it up or had it shipped yet. I still donate to this group but both of those people are no longer part of it so it’s smooth now.
I also get a ton of pictures sent to me asking “can you make me something like this” or “how much would a knife like this cost me”. When I give them a price, I have had a few say, “that’s too much man, what could I get for $75” to whixh I respond that I don’t make $75 knives. One guy flipped out and said “well what could I get for $75 then if you want to be a dick?” I emailed him a picture of a handle block of ironwood and a 5 inch piece of Damascus bar stock, and said “either one of those, exactly how they sit right there, because that’s what $75 buys me for materials.
Honestly my biggest frustration is just the people who don’t read descriptions. When I post something for sale, it’s always the same format and includes pictures of the knife and sheath. Price, description, blade steel, handle material, dimensions, sheath information, in that order. I constantly get messages asking how much is this knife, how big is this knife, is this knife stainless steel, what kind of handle is that, does it come with the sheath? I regularly have people ask “is this still available” and never respond when I say it is. I think this is mainly due to not being well known, and not selling overly expensive knives, combined with it being mostly through Facebook. That combination seems to really bring in those tire kickers and dummies.
Insipid Moniker
... sadly just new generations not learning how to interact socially unless they sit in opposite rooms texting away on their phones.
