So I screwed up...again. The first time I take no responsibility for. The business is well known and liked. Unfortunately I got screwed. I took it and moved on. This time, I take some blame but I still want to recover the parts.

I sent out some parts for repair to a guy that is well known and supposedly does good work but is not certified. We talked and he told me he had a two week turn around which I thought was kinda long but since I wasn’t in a hurry I figured it would be fine. I shipped out the parts, received a delivery notification from the shipper and two weeks past with no contact from the guy. I’ve called a couple times and sent a couple texts with no response. I’ve been nice in all the messages and only asked for a return call so I know what to expect. This time I can’t just accept the loss. We are talking a few thousand dollars to replace the parts.

How would you guys proceed? Buy a plane ticket and camp out on his front steps? Call the outfits in his region and see if I can find someone that will help me run down the parts? IDK, hire an attorney to send him a letter?

Publish the general whereabouts, and see if a forum member lives near there and can go lean on the guy or get the parts back.

Whee,
Just an idea, but maybe the guy had a medical issue or a family emergency that has taken him away from his work. I know things can sometimes happen that is beyond our control. Just a thought.....

Pinecone wrote:Publish the general whereabouts, and see if a forum member lives near there and can go lean on the guy or get the parts back.

I thought about that but I'm not quite ready to go that far and I'm not sure I want to ask someone to step into what might turnout to be a lousy situation.

WWhunter wrote:Just an idea, but maybe the guy had a medical issue or a family emergency that has taken him away from his work. I know things can sometimes happen that is beyond our control. Just a thought.....

This is the perspective I'm trying to maintain currently. But I've been trying to contact him for almost a week and that's what makes me nervous.

Pass his contact info to someone in a different area code and have them "inquire" about having similar work done and see if he reply's to them. That may at least give you an idea if he is answering his phone for other people.

I don't want this to sound like I am beating up on whee because that is not my intent, but here goes. Sounds like he is a one man show, is that correct? If so then he has to balance his time between accomplishing tasks and telling people the stage he is at with their work. A two week turn around might be realistic if you are his only customer, but then if he doesn't have a back log of work he won't be in business long. Sometimes service providers are optimistic in the turn around, especially if they have the feeling that the customer is looking for a short turn around time. He may not want to tell you he hasn't started on your parts yet so just doesn't say anything. When you first talked to the guy how long did it take for him to get back to you? If it took a while he is probably not good at communications but that does not mean he has or is intending to run off with your parts. One problem of the electronic age is that people expect to have an instant response to every text or email. My brother has the same problem as an outside sales guy for a large chain of building supply stores, customers expect an answer in ten minutes day or night, weekday or weekend, usually they don't get it. I know it is frustrating but just keep trying. One option if you do truly believe that the guy is in the wind is mail him a registered letter with a requirement that he has to sign for the letter. That is how I prove that the FAA has received my IA renewal paper work if it ever were to become lost.

Tim

bat443, I don't feel beaten up on. What your saying is what I'm hoping is the case but at what point do I elevate things? I completely understand having to balance time but it is unacceptable to blow the schedule and not contact the customer even if your communication skills are poor. In both messages to him I said I was just checking in and would appreciate a response just to know that I wasn't forgotten about. The messages were days apart because I don't expect replies right away.

My sister has the same area code as him so maybe I'll have her give him a call in a few days.

Whee, I think if you've tried to reach this person without success you are in no way overstepping your bounds to ask the group.

If you are in business, no matter how small, your success will largely depend on your customer's experience. Unless this person is a one-person show and some calamitous event has occurred, the behaviour is not up to snuff.

Obviously, I'm not in the camp that says you can't say anything to your friends about a questionable experience until you've exhausted every means of proving the vendor wasn't at fault. As a businessman, I feel the customer's experience is my burden. If I screw it up, I expect to lose that customer's business and maybe a bunch of other business if that person shares his/her story.

This whole thing reminds me of the guy that says "Sorry, I didn't get your email. It went into my junk folder." Yeah, that is a plausible excuse ONCE. If a bunch of people are having the same response either the guy needs a better spam filter or he is a deadbeat. Chatter amongst friends sorts this out pretty quickly.

Good luck with your part. I'd be happy to call from a Canadian area code if it helps.

I appreciate you guys encouraging me to maintain patience. The guy had a family emergency. He has finished the repairs, sent me the parts and I have installed them.

Fantastic!

Awesome! Glad it worked out. I've had my share of issues and it's amazing how fast one forgets other commitments when you're in the hospital, pain, or otherwise less than 100%. It can put one's work way behind schedule.