What's up with makers who don't respond to e-mails?

stabman

stabman

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Just that; what the hell?
There are two respected makers(who shall remain nameless) who have missed out on $900 of my business(at least that much) due to their refusal to answer e-mails and PM's.
Sure, my $900 must not matter to their bottom line but, as all my family and friends look to me for their knife advice, these makers have lost an additional $2500 of business, just because they didn't have the courtesy to communicate.
And that's just the business lost due to annoying ONE person; I wonder how much more cash they've lost out on overall.
If I were a business person, I'd want happy customers; at the least, I'd want to keep people feeling neutral to positive towards me.
Just a thought.
 
I suspect that business is so good that they don't need to answer your e-mails. Many have backlogs.

Don't worry, the economy is heading south and will fix this "problem".
 
bearcut said:
I suspect that business is so good that they don't need to answer your e-mails. Many have backlogs.
Click to expand...

I can see that being likely, but even a "Too busy to make you a knife" would have sufficed to keep me feeling neutral, and possibly still in the market for their knives in the future.
 
I agree.

Several times I have written very polite and professional e-mails requesting information on the availability of makers knives. Very often I get no response back. It makes you wonder if they even read them.

I did just get a response from one of the hottest knifemakers on the planet right now. I was very surprised and elated. He said he would indeed make me a knife.
I will hopefully report on this later on.
 
Remember too that email is about the worst form of communication. It's really easy for it to get lost in cyberspace one way or another. If a second email doesn't get a response, pick up the phone:thumbup:
 
Emails are bad? They arrive instantly? Some folks are just too important to answer them would be the answer. Nothing else. Knife makers are people as well, "famous people" everywhere use email every day. Back logs should not mean you are too busy to answer communications, IMHO.



LaBella's disclaimer: (IF you DO have the correct contact information, that is)

Ron LaBella
 
My experience with the makers, has been great, fast and helpful responses, but maybe some may read your email and get distracted, come back and by mistake go on to a new email that just arrived. I know ive done that before.
 
I've had good responses, however if I didn't receive answers to my emails that directly related to someone's business (lively hood), I would promptly look elsewhere in a hurry. Busy or not.

Bill
 
Sometimes spam filters work in mysterious ways. You never know if you email can end up in junk mail folder, unless you're on the safe sender list. Consider that possibility before writing someone off.
 
I've had the same experience as Stabman and I feel the same way. I emailed two very popular and respected custom knifemakers last year and this year about purchasing their knives along with some specific questions regarding materials and features and they never emailed me back. Thought perhaps it got lost in cyberspace after a few months so I emailed them again...nothing. Well they lost a customer. I'm sure since they are two of the hottest in the biz right now they don't care if $500 or $1,000 walks out the door, but that is not a cool way to do business. I've emailed several other very prominent and hot makers and they've always found the time to email me back. If you are so damn busy that you can't answer an email, hire some help!
 
When people don't respond to my emails, I assume they don't need my order, so I take it elsewhere. I wanted a Busse Custom Shop for a long time and gave up on it for this very reason.

Luckily there are a ton of makers out there who do take on new work with open arms, and I am more than happy to give them my business.
 
J_Curd said:
When people don't respond to my emails, I assume they don't need my order, so I take it elsewhere. I wanted a Busse Custom Shop for a long time and gave up on it for this very reason.
Click to expand...

Like knives, you should use the right tool for the right job. Not that you would know this, but I can tell you e-mails are NOT the right way to get a hold of the Busse crew. The telephone is, and it has proven itself to me on several occasions. Did you have a "Plan B"?

Although I have had e-mails to custom makers go unanswered, a simple telphone call has always been met with the friendly voice of someone who was more than happy to take some time out of their hectic day to talk with me about a knife I wanted to order from them. I have never been met with impatience or discourtesy, and therefore can only conclude that the makers I'm referring to are either too busy to read their e-mails or the e-mails may have been lost (eg. flagged as spam). To the OP, you might think it should be easy to keep up with the e-mail thing, but until you've walked in the maker's shoes, don't be so quick to judge. Many well-renowned makers have a very hard time even keeping up on their site. I do not equate that with "I don't want any more business."
 
The basics of communication are simple. Someone passes you on the street and says hello, you do the same. Someone leaves you a phone message, you call back. Someone emails you, you reply.

Obviously, there are circumstances in which the communicator forfeits the privilege of a reply (telemarketer, deep breather...) but beyond that someone who doesn't respond is being a [insert favorite epithet here: _______ ]. They are saying: "My time is more valuable than yours." Maybe it is, but I've known many successful people who don't behave like that.
 
These knifemakers often have their e-mails listed right on their website and are heavily prone to spam. Some are technology-illiterate and hardly ever check their e-mail. It's almost always better to call people.
 
Stabman , what kind of timeframe are you talking about here? 24 hours ? 3 days ? 5 days ?

Keep in mind many makers do this in addition to holding down a full time job. Not making excuses for anyone , just saying , sometimes life happens.
 
Larrin said:
These knifemakers often have their e-mails listed right on their website and are heavily prone to spam. Some are technology-illiterate and hardly ever check their e-mail. It's almost always better to call people.
Click to expand...
+1 That's exactly what I was trying to say.
 
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