Quilt pick up time limit

[BethDurand]

I have FINALLY gotten a quilt out of my house that was completed on Aug. 6, 2012.  Yes, over ONE YEAR ago.  Part of this is certainly my fault for not being more assertive in contacting her repeatedly about it, but really, a year?!  Then, she says she'll be here "between 12 and 1pm".  I leave a voice message saying "I'm available at 12:30."  She calls again, running late, will be here "closer to 1:15."  At 2pm, the next customer arrived, and I had to put a sticky note on the door saying to wait and I'd be here when I could.

 

Now, my check in sheets have a specific time line for when the quilt must be picked up and paid for in full, or it will be donated to charity.  Something you might want to think about for your own business, and I hope to have learned my lesson about this.  By the way, the total cost for quilting and batting was over $100, so not something I just wanted to give away. 

 

Thanks for letting me vent.

[Bonnie H]

Beth, seriously, a year? Wow, that's not very nice of that customer. I bet she makes it on "the list," you know, the one you will remember forever that you don't want to quilt for anymore! I was complaining the other day to my DH over our morning coffee about a quilting dilemma I once had, but yours has mine beat. No details that I want to post about but let's just say that I had about five different problems with the quilt that made it an unpleasant quilting experience, and was a rush job, and then when she came to pick it up she asked if she could pay for it later. 

[ffq-lar]

In few other industries is something like this acceptable. I guess it's the "friendliness" thing--you feel as if you're friends with your customers. They are welcomed into your home and you try to build a relationship, so those who feel like it can take advantage. That one would go on my "list" as well!

 

 I'm not sure about Oregon, but in Washington the rule is that ninety days after notification that the product is ready and it hasn't been picked up or other arrangements made, the business owns it and may dispose of it. This goes for storage facilities, dry cleaners, and repair shops. I believe a certified letter stating that you now legally own the item must be sent with return signature to keep it legit.

 

My longest time was five months, but with special circumstances that I knew fully about.

 

Then I delivered a quilt to an office, she unfurled it and gathered her co-workers around to admire it. Then told me she "left her checkbook at home" and would pay me at guild next week. Not wanting to embarrass her by bundling up the quilt and taking it back (big mistake) I smiled and agreed. That one took six months to nail down and only was collected upon after three phone calls, an SASE sent to her home with the invoice included and finally telling her my CPA ( which I don't have) had advised me to send it to collections so he could do my taxes for the year. THAT one worked.    

[Bliss Quilter]

Thanks for the insights. 

 

My policy is  - I charge consulting fee with a 1 hour min.  To hold the time slot a $50 non-refundable deposit with 1 reschedule allowed to the next open time slot (which could be months)  (This will take care of the consulting fee should the customer not return).  A 50% deposit upon delivery;  If anyone cannot put the deposit, then come back when they can afford it. I do not take expedited fees so someone can jump infront of someone else (bad business).  Now if I am not busy and someone wants to pay OT then I will take expedited fee's. 

 

I learned this 30 years ago when making wedding dresses and it worked perfect, I never had a missed apt. and because they had so much upfront investment they picked up the dresses on time. 

 

Attorneys, Doctors, Fabricators, Intelliquilter and many others require upfront payment.  After all we are running a business and until we set policies, then people will not take us serious.  

 

Thanks for letting me share. 

[RitaR]

Thanks for the great info.

 

Rita

[Heirloom Quilter]

Judith, that is certainly something to think about.  Taking a 50% deposit upon delivery would definitely give someone an incentive to come back to pay the balance upon pickup.  And Linda's 90 day time limit is really good info too!  Beth, Thanks for starting this thread.

[calicokat]

I haven't had this happen yet, but I do have a little blurb on my intake form (that the customer signs) stating if the quilt is left more than 90 days after they have been notified it's ready, then it becomes my property & may be sold to recoup my costs. 

 

That threat probably works better for regular quilts, than the t-shirt quilts I do, LOL!  Who would pay for someone else's memories?  LOL  Although, the threat of it being sold and them LOSING their t-shirts/memories might be a good motivator.

[Sharond]

A couple of years ago, I was commissioned to do a memory quilt.  This was from her father-in-laws old button down shirts.  Once the quilt was pieced, quilted and binding done I contacted her.  It took her 6 weeks to respond to me, not months or a year.  However, I had to purchase any additional fabrics for this project.  So I had additional costs besides the piecing and quilting costs.  This was a large quilt, with a 4 figure price tag.  Once she sent the check, and it cleared the bank, I sent her the quilt.  To this day I have not heard from her again.  The lesson I learned from that customer, is any commissioned work will now have a down payment of 50%.