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question on how long to hold finished quilt


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what is the safest/longest time i can be held 'responsible' (legally) to hold a customer's quilt before i can get, well, pissy? 30 days, 60 days, 90 days? i have a quilt here that i quilted 10/18. the customer has made two 'tries' to pick it up- no appointment, but "i'll be in your area such-and-such and i'll come get it" both times, no phone calls, no nothing but excuses.

i left a rather straight forward message on both her answering machine and cell phone. if i still have it next thursday, i'll send the come-get-your-quilt-or-i'm selling-it email

i tried googling it, but i don't know the proper legal phrasing to make the search worth while.

thanks...i hate that all this seems to hit during the holidays...

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Hi Shannon,

Each state has different laws regarding this. You need to check this out. -- I know it does seem to happen this time of year. We have 3 quilts "sitting" here that should have been picked up weeks ago----2 from very good clients, so I can only assume they are busy due to the holidays.

I believe the term is "abandoned property".

Good Luck!!

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60 days from her receipt of a registered letter sent by you stating that she has 60 day yadda yadda. After that, it's yours to keep, sell, or give to sweet Barney!

Here's a nice way to state it--

Dear Favorite Customer,

With the end of my financial year looming, please be advised that your finished quilt (insert the description here) will become my property 60 days from the receipt of this letter unless all charges are paid. The charges for the quilting are $XXX.00. Please contact me soon to resolve this. I am sorry to bring this to your attention, but my accountant advises to have this resolved before December 31, if possible, so my books can be cleared for the year.

Here's my phone number or shoot me an email so we can get on track with this. If you would like to send a check, I will ship it to you with shipping charges added to the bill. Thanks for your attention and I hope to hear from you soon.

Love and kisses, y'all, Shannon the Doodlebug.

With that said, maybe an email first with a note stating to watch for a registered letter concerning the quilt will get her attention and you won't have to go through all the legalities. Sounds to me like she wants to stall so she doesn't run out of Christmas cash--but the least she can do is keep you advised!!

Love you, kiddo!

Linda

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My quilting contract says that quilts not picked up within 90 days become the property of my business. I ask clients for a 50% deposit when they drop the quilt off. That way, if they never come back for it, I have 1/2 my rate in the deposit, and I might be able to sell the quilt for the remainder.

I've never had anyone not pick up their quilt. I've also had people mail me a check if they couldn't come right away. If you approach this as a business, people will treat you with the respect you deserve as a professional.

Julia

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  • 4 weeks later...

My husband and I live close enough to APQS to take a class from Dawn about starting your business.

She suggested having a Client worksheet and filling it all out with the information on how the quilt is to be done. I did one with MS Word. At the bottom in a box is a place for the client to read and sign stating that if she enters the quilt in a contest she will give me credit for the quilting and that they acknowledge if the quilt is not picked up in X amt of time the quilt becomes the property of my business and also that no quilt will be picked up without payment in full.

Shoot an e-mail to Dawn and maybe she will give you the complete language. Don't know if I should give it word for word as we did have to pay for the class.

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Also check with your state. In Colorado, our lawyer told us you need to also send out a notice, return receipt, that gives them 14 days from the date of signature to pay. We do appliance repair and have occasion where we have sold appliances due to lack of payment. We have it posted in our shop that appliances not paid for and picked up 30 days after repair will be sold for cost of said repair. But, that is not enough, a written letter has to be sent out. Just FYI

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oh yes, give it to barney!!! he deserves it because i love him.

linda is a genius!

Originally posted by ffq-lar

60 days from her receipt of a registered letter sent by you stating that she has 60 day yadda yadda. After that, it's yours to keep, sell, or give to sweet Barney!

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Cute, Linda Rech! Yes, Barney deserves a very pretty quilt to lay on. :)

Haa! :P Maybe Shannon you can mention that in the "PS" section of the notification letter -- that if she does not claim the quilt, that your dog Barney will become the recipient and he will enjoy laying on it. :cool: Say it! Dare ya!! :P

Or, you can mention that if she doesn't pay up, George Bush will drop by and open up a can of Whoop-Ass.

post--1346190529644_thumb.jpg

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