My unhappy customer

[marlene]

I recently made and quilted 2 quilts for a women using the material she picked and supplied, with the pattern she asked for. After having the finished quilts for 3 months and paying me in full for them, she has decided they will not work in her room and insists the pattern is not the one she picked! She wants me to take the quilts and make her new ones. What should I do as they are what we agreed was what she wanted in the first place! I am extremely frustrated and also feel that this is now her problem and not mine. I need some feedback as to if anyone else has ever had this problem and how they handled it. There is also a long-distance involved in this as I live on the east coast and she lives on the west coast.

[Dragonflyquilts]

Marlene,

I hear you loud and clear. I have been waiting over a year for my longarm. I had lack of space in my previous home, so when we went house shopping, the sewing room had to be big enough for me and the machine (still debatable).

I did a quilt for a co-worker a few months ago, she liked the quilt top, but did not like my quilting. I offered everything under the sun to make it right and she never took me up on it. But it gave me time to think.

If this was me, my lesson and message from my higher power would be to put it in writing, sorta like a contract. Both you the customer sign it. Then it is enforcable in court (not to scare you). I am a paralegal by profession.

I am not planning on doing a contract with my clients just yet, I am gonna wait for the need to arise. But my short-term solution is to have them put 1/2 of your cost down. That way you have at least some of the funds.

Please email me if you have any more detailed questions.

[Giftedhands]

Make sure you document everything on company letterhead..I'm sure the paralegal can help. The size of the quilt, the colors, maybe a digital photo of the quilt. The design that was chosen, and a "signature line" by the customer and where you sign it and give them a copy. One of the important keys I want on my agreement is that should there be a problem (damage etc) that the person will receive compensation for the replacement cost of the material figured at x$ per yard. If there is a problem like yours you can take the quilts back for the price of the materials used in the top, but not for "buyer's remorse"....

Cynthia

[JudyL]

Hey, I am/was a paralegal too but haven't worked in 7 years.

Here's my .02 on the contract issue. It's always good to get everything in writing and be sure you know what the client expects and the client knows what you're planning to do. But, it is a rare occasion when a client cares or even suggests how I quilt their tops.

I do my intake and orders a bit differently from what some of you may do. Most of my business comes through the mail but when I take a quilt in locally, I just tell the client that I will get back with them. I can't think on the spot and I don't have people coming to my home anymore (insurance reasons). So, I measure the quilt, look for possible problems that may arise or any visible defects (spots or tears, etc.) and then I give the client a written "proposal". I include an overall meander which may include plain puzzle piece type meander, hearts, leaves, etc. I give them a price for a panto and recommend a couple of designs and I give them a price for custom and go into great detail with what I would do -- design, thread choices, etc. That's a starting point. They may not want to spend the full custom (.035/sq. in.) but they may want more than panto so we work from there. Then I send them the final quilting plan and ask that they send me full payment before I start quilting. I do not cash the check until I am ready to quilt the top and then I send it back to them as soon as I am finished quilting.

As far as the contract, you can't possibly include everything. And, so much of this is just whatever we think is right. Remember that you can't please all the people all the time and for every one unhappy clients you have, you will have hundred of thrilled clients.

Now that I've rambled on and on . . can you imagine paying someone else to do your quilts? I can't even stand the thought!

[Dragonflyquilts]

I would be happy to help you with any contract writing that you want. Just understand that I cannot give legal adivsed cause i dont have a bar number.

And to reply to the paying someone else to do your quilts, I knew over a year ago that I was getting my longarm. I have quilt tops that I have been making in the meantime that I saved for when I got my machine.

[White Rooster]

Give your customer an honest reply by telling her that the quilts were made in the agreed upon pattern and you regret that she is unhappy with them. If you know you are right, then maintain your position. If you have any thoughts that there might have been a misunderstanding then make a deal with her. Perhaps a discount for another quilt.

If it ever comes to the point where I need contracts with my customers I think I will retire. It's so sad that people have become so litigious. What ever happend to just doing what is right?

Best of luck with your client.

[Mary S]

I agree with Jean. If I had to use a contract, I probably wouldn't do this -- it would take too much time. I write down whatever a customer tells me, as much or as little information as that is, and, if I have a question when I start on her quilt, I call her. Usually I just use my own judgment. No problems so far.

I read a long discussion of how to handle unhappy customers posted by longarmers earlier this year on the quiltropolis site. One I liked was to return the customer's money if they were really unhappy but then never quilt for that person again -- life is too short for aggravations and, having been burned by someone once, don't invite it again. Others would return the money only if the customer took out all the quilting and showed the quilter that it had been done -- if the customer was keeping the quilting, the quilter kept what she was paid to do it. Some would negotiate and reduce the bill in order to keep the customer from ruining their reputation. I think customers who like your work will keep coming to you even if someone else doesn't like your work. You have to do what you think makes the most sense to you and what you can live with.

But I wouldn't do more work for someone with complaints that sound that far off the wall -- it took her 3 months to decide she didn't like them? It sounds as if she regretted her decisions and wanted a second chance at the whole project -- but that should be at her expense, not yours. If you decide not to charge her for the quilts she changed her mind on, at least don't waste your time making more quilts for her -- she could come back again a year or more later.

Mary

[Dragonflyquilts]

I know I was the one who first posted the reply about the contract thing and I have to agree that a contract is the last thing I want to do as well. I just dont know what kinda people are in your community. I know if I lived in NYC and did this, there would be no question about it, I would have a contract written up. But in my local area and after talking with the shop owners around here, I dont ever see where the need will arise or will it become an ongoing problem, maybe once in a while.

I think you gotta a sour puss, and her timeliness in getting back to you only makes it more sour. I wonder if she would wait 3 months to complain about a haircut? I have to say that I would not do anymore work for her as well. Why bother with the aggrivation. As business owners of an activity that we love, we want to keep it that way. If you deal with a sour puss person who is impossible to please for an elongated period of time, then you will start to not find the quilting that you love to be a job and not a fun money making adventure.