I hesitate to make this post, but it's really bothering me.

So, I have a semi-custom ring that I want. I also have some pieces that I need some work on, and a jeweler had a ring I was interested in seeing more closely before I agreed to a purchase.

Several vendors *have* been very gracious in getting back to me with quotes. Another one, who I was honest with by telling them that I was seeking quotes from several jewelers, actually emailed me back to tell me that if I hang around the boards I must know they're not the cheapest ones around, thanks for the interest, lovely ring you're wanting ... and no quote! Really? I don't get it. I didn't think I needed to include that Leon Mege gave me a quote, so they aren't automatically going to be as pricey to me as they think - though I did say that on my reply. They do lovely work, and unless they simply don't want to make the ring, I can't understand the haughtiness. It's a very straightforward design that any bench could make, which is why I'm seeking quotes. It's essentially going to come down to who has the best price.

Another one, I keep having a hard time just getting answers. I like to try and include my questions in the same email so as to not have to bother them multiple times. I can't get a straight answer: either you will or will not do some work I've asked about. They advertise this, so I don't see what the problem is. The one with the ring finally got back to me after much back and forth of me continuing to ask about it, but I'd finally bought elsewhere.

I'm starting to feel as though I'm blacklisted! Yet I've only begun my jewelry habit, so that can't actually be the case. I think. Do they have their own board where they talk about who not to work with? I'm sure i'm being overly paranoid I do NOT want to name names, as they're not all vendors used here, and if any vendor recognizes themselves, I don't mean this to be a call out and don't want it to deteriorate into that. This is purely a post about my frustration. I see other people getting great service and it stings when I'm trying to actually bring business and can't seem to get anywhere! Maybe they just sense I'm a PITA from the get go I will say that I'm getting much better response from the vendors who are more expensive, maybe great CS is factored into cost. Though everyone has been friendly enough, that doesn't equate to *service*, kwim?.

Does anyone else have problems trying to get answers? Could I be doing something wrong?

I TOTALLY know how this goes. I have waited for way too long to get quotes and responses from a few vendors, and some of them just don't answer all my questions. It really gets on my nerves and I also start to wonder if I am labeled as a pain the A$$ from the get go and they already know they don't want to work with me (or reluctantly so).

That's okay though, the money in my pocket will go to vendors who are happy to have me and overly accomodating and understanding. I'm all about the best quality/bench, but I'm not going to throw my money at someone who makes me feel like a burden.

Have there own board where they can talk to each other!! LOL
That was funny!!

They certainly would not have time for that!! I really think that is what it comes down to for each of them.(time)
I think sometimes they get OVER there head,...and thats when it goes downhill.

believe me,...I have been there before also and it stinks!!

DK has been known to do this at times,..and he is just too busy sometimes and running back and forth to jewel shows, custom work,...and he does other stuff in the jewelry business too.

Go with who you trust,...are comfortable with,..etc.
But I have also learned that the lowest price is not always the quality that I want for my ring. So I am cautious about quality control too,..and what is the refund policy??..that is very important to me also. I have seen many girls here stuck with a ring,..that was just not what they wanted in quality once done.
That makes me sad!!

I want all your sparkle dreams to come true!!

I have had issues before and it can be quite frustrating. I think it helps to actually call sometimes because then they are forced to answer your questions and it is more direct.

Kanga, you'd be surprised! Years and years ago, I was involved in the cloth diaper world. The diaper sewing WAHMS (work at home moms) had their own forum and they most certainly did discuss business practices. It eventually came out that they sometimes discussed their PITA customers or customers who scammed. While I'm sure it was sometimes necessary for them to know who was the non-paying customer, or who was most likely to demand a refund no matter what, or who could never be pleased, once it came out, some of those WAHMS who participated were blacklisted by the consumers. So yeah, it has occurred to me once I wasn't get a couple of responses that maybe the same thing was happening ... but I think (certainly hope!) the jewelers are far too busy to engage in this type of behavior!

I'm just relieved to know it isn't just me that it's happened to, and think I will go ahead with one of the vendors who has been happy to respond quickly and with fair pricing. Thanks so much for responding and helping to ease my fears!

I understand your frustrations. I am having a hard time with my local jewlers. I need to find someone local to set my moissanite once I get my setting and stone. I've emailed, called, and I'm not sure what the hours are always I have not herd back from a single one. So, still on the search for someone to set my stone. I totally understand.

luckyb...sorry that you are experiencing this. I would not take it personally. I think it just boils down to customer service. I am having a similar experience with a vendor on this board. I am a repeat customer with a particular vendor and I sent 2 e-mails with absolutely no response. The 3rd e-mail was answered but not very polite or professional in my opinion especially when I ordered something almost 2 months ago and I just wanted an update. I felt like you did and took it personally. But realized that this customer service rep is either too busy or too lazy to be bothered with my questions. Seems like maybe this representative has another job and squeezes this one in when they have time and do a half-a** job. At any rate, it will be my last purchase with them unfortunately because customer service is important to me. I do not like being ignored or feel like it is pulling teeth to get answers. I am not a Pain in the A** at all and just expect politeness and simple questions answered in a timely manner.

Go with you feel comfortable with. Have you tried Poppyseed with Amcor Design? She is really sweet and answers questions very quickly. Love her! Good luck! Let us know how it all turns out.

Lucky -- have you contacted Poppyseed with Amcor Designs? The woman rocks, I tell ya.

Edited to add: Oh, Addict and I both typed Poppy's name at the same time!

I know someone in the UK but that's the UK....

You all are being sweet for not mentioning vendors by name, but if by chance my company is one of them, I apologize in advance. Please send us an email if this is the case. If not, best of luck, and I hope it works out .

Please share? I'm looking for bespoke jewellers in UK than can do good micropave

Sent you a pm

Mike, I seem to have gotten Chris (?) every time I've emailed y'all. S/he is *very* prompt and friendly and answers every single question, so please rest easy that for me, your company is not one I refer to. I appreciate your even taking the time to respond on my thread.

It is definitely not you. Love you guys

+1....
Poppyseed.....:-))... she is a DEAR and has been helping me...and will be my personal jeweler from now on!!.... WONDERFUL Customer service!! A++++++++

I meant to answer earlier that I've worked with Poppy already on a project and we've discussed a few more. I wouldn't hesitate to work with her again.

BUT, I think we have all seen that one person can have a great experience with a vendor while another finds that exact same vendor to be less responsive or service oriented. It gets frustrating to not know what causes the variability. With some vendors, it's a known quantity that they are just crabby or never consistent with their customer service, at least on another board I'm on, but I'd never noticed that to be the case here. Something to be said for these "cheap" BTD vendors huh? I say that tongue in cheek referencing the one vendor's implication to me that they are much pricier than other jewelers here at BTD.

As a follow up, when I pointed out that I didn't appreciate the assumption that was made, the CS rep *still* never actually came out and said "I should not have made assumptions like that and it reflects poorly on us that I did so, I hope you'll accept our apologies" or anything to that effect. I was just told (paraphrasing) that they hoped they hadn't offended me because they're actually really nice people, I had made it sound like finances were *the* important factor in the equation [simply because I was honest that I was seeking bids from several companies?], and in the end, getting my dream ring was the thing to be concerned about. Uh, no. Really, good customer service, great bench work, accountability, and *then* economy are what's important to ME. But hey, now I know where not to go!

luckyb, I'm sorry you haven't had much luck with a board jeweler. I just want you to know that you are not alone in this.

I have had good experiences, though...due to some keen observation.

I think things can be taken completely differently through email then they maybe were meant to be said, kwim? Someone might have said one thing that you take to be rude, and I take to be fine, but its because its through email where we can't hear how the person meant to say it. I try to remember that when I get upset about how someone wrote something. I tend to be very "talky" in emails and when I get a short response that seems like not very personable to me, it can rub me the wrong way too.

I am not making excuses for whatever was said that you did not appreciate, as the vendor should know that things can be taken the wrong way sometimes, but I just wanted to point out it might have been taken wrongly then what was intended.

Either way, I hope you find the right vendor for you! It can take some time and unfortunately, a bit of money, but you will find someone who meets all of your needs hopefully.

I can personally speak for Schubach's being the very best customer service I have ever had! They aren't board jewelers, although they really should be, but they are great to work with and talk to! I have made friends with jcent and Beth through my experience with working with them and that is one of the best parts of my experience so far. They never make me feel like a pain in the rear, even if I feel like I am being one. They are very very sweet and nice people who truly care that you get what you are wanting.

I am confused. You said you are choosing a vendor based on who is going to give you the best price (most people would read this as LOWEST price). What is the offense when a vendor said straight up that they will likely cost MORE than other board vendors? Why should they need to apologize for letting you know this before putting their time and effort into putting together a quote that is not going to the best/lowest? You interpret that as haughtiness, I think that is helpful information.
I would be happy to know that I wasn't wasting my time or theirs if their quote isn't going to be in the running anyway. Why bother asking LM for a quote if I'm looking for the best price on a simple design, KWIM? That's like looking for a $5,000 car at the Mercedes dealership, lol.

Anyway, I think Ginger is right. It's too easy to become 'offended' online. We can't read minds here and print is too easily misinterpreted even when one uses appropriate smilies and emoticons. The key is to not take things personally when they are not personal. Given that any bench could make your ring I am sure you will find someone to do so for the right price.

I agree with ya, ginger and morning! I just know for me, I would like to be the one to determine if the price works for me or not. Say they are one of the expensive, but not THE most expensive and the craftsmanship, etc is what I really want, then maybe the price would be worth it to me. However, I wouldn't be able to determine that without a quote. I assume luckyb surmised the jeweler made that decision for her and dismissed her when she was going to weigh other factors in as well. I got a quote once from a dear heart who immediately said that what I was asking about was very expensive. I needed the number to determine if it was doable or not. It was way not doable - for now. It's still very much in the back of mind and when Amora Gem comes out I may very shell out for it. But at least I know and have a working number. Now, if she had just told me it was way expensive and not given me a quote? I definitely would have been offended! BTW, this is not who I was referring in the above post, .

As someone who in my line of work does "quote's" for people who are "shopping around" I can relate to not wanting to do a quote for someone who will definately NOT buy from you.

They are not obligated to quote you just because you want a quote.

I would have told you the same thing.

Quotes take time, sometimes A LOT of time, and when you are tight on time and someone is straight up that they are wasting "several vendors" time getting quotes from everyone, I would not be interested in quoting them either.

I agree with luckyb. I find it poor form to just say sorry, we're more expensive. Just because someone tells the vendor that they have asked several vendors for a quote, does not mean that they will necessarily go the cheaper route. Maybe the vendor who is cheapest, doesn't provide the CS luckyb is looking for, or has a the lead time is too long for luckyb as she would like her item in the next 2/3 weeks, etc.

And you know what....if I have contacted more than one vendor for a quote for the same project, and was happy with the CS from all vendors...I will use one vendor one time and try out another for one of my next projects.

As we all (mostly) communicate purely online for jewelry projects, how are you supposed to know you want to work with a specific vendor without asking them any questions? You can't go in blind? That is a ridiculous thing to ask from any customer.

I guess what I learned from here is don't be honest with your vendors if you are "shopping around". Awesome.

1) You may not be obligated to quote, but if you don't, be advised that somebody like me will never work with you again. It is poor customer service not to provide a quote, for any reason IMO.

2) If a jeweler considers me shopping around for quotes a waste of their time, then quite frankly I wouldn't have any insterest in working with them. I would construe it as a pompus attitude, at best.

My dad is a golf course constructer and he works with some of the biggest names in the gold industry. Not to be snarky or boastful, but he is definitely the recognized "Leon" of his craft. He NEVER fails to give a quote. He has a number of things to consider when giving a quote, but that fact doesn't stop him from giving them. It's a matter of customer service.

Its not a matter of customer service when they are definately not going to go with you because they are straight up about looking for the cheapest price. And you know you are not the cheapest option (by far).

They are not a customer, and quoting would be a waste of valuable time.

If someone is looking for the cheapest quote they should expect "cheap service". You get what you pay for.

Also quoting every person who asks for a quote just because they asked for one doesnt really make good business sense. Good sales people qualify each lead. To persue every lead is a huge waste of human resources, just to make random strangers feel warm and fuzzy.

Firstly, couldn't disagree with most of this more, but I guess we'd just choose to run our businesses differently.

But I think it's important to realize that although she admitted to trying to find the best price, is doesn't necessarily mean that is all she was intersted in. I guess now they will never have her business because of their unwillingness to give a 'cheap customer' warm & fuzzys. I suppose on her next project, where she was willing to pay huge bucks for perfection, she'll just have to take her money on down the line..

I do have a question though: If BTD offered terrible customer service because they are are selling to 'cheap' people, would that be acceptable?

(ETA: by 'cheap' in reference it BTD, I only mean 'cheap' relative to buying a diamond of equivalent specs. I'm not actually calling ppl cheap; I'm all about sims!)

You are confusing nicely declining to supply a quote with terrible customer service.

I would not blame any business owner for declining to give a quote to anyone who they felt was potentially wasting time, even BTD.

Personal anecdote:

As the manufacturer, I work with very small businesses. We have lots of little dealers who provide free measure and quotes for our product, we have a number of dealers of our product around our town who provide free measure and quotes, often they will go to a home owners home and as they are arriving there will be another dealer there leaving and as they are leaving another dealer arriving to do a quote. Often these people are getting five or six quotes.

The home owner will then try and argue them down and pit them against each other over an amount as small as $50.

Because dealers try to win the job often they get talked into doing a job for as low as 20% margin, which, when you are trying to run a business, is freaking tiny.

I have had 4 of my best dealers go out of business because of hard times in the past year. Them giving away hours of their time that they could be chasing good work to quote time wasters who are collecting a pile of quotes and going for the cheapest does not help.

Catering to time wasters does not help any business succeed.

I think door to door sales are a bit different to jewelry sales. I don't think there is any confusion either, perhaps each person has their own view of what good customer service is and what they expect.

+1,000 (& dang, look at that avatar! Perfection!)

**ETA: I realize I have initially said that due to the fact that the ring I want is an easy design, I was planning to straight up go with whoever had the lowest price. But I have realized in this process that I may have thought that, but it is most definitely not what I would have done or will do. Perhaps that was my thinking because I had not yet been confronted with any vendor yet who didn't have comparable CS and it was essentially a matter of price then, but if I had come across someone who had the crappiest CS and the lowest price, I wouldn't have gone to them. Even though I asked Leon for a quote, I would only work with him for a known design of his that doesn't require any kind of input from me, because his CS has left some customers wanting when it comes to custom work. I don't care for that method. So, I was wrong to have stated that it came down to money when it really doesn't. Live and learn.

In case my wall o'text is too eye-glazing, I edited so that this next part at least would be read, since this is the part that I believe makes all the difference in how I perceived the rep's response and I didn't present it correctly at first here.
I do know how easy it can be to misinterpret tone and intent through someone's text. However, I did go back and double check my emails to be absolutely certain of what I said, and I apologize for making this a bit confusing. As it happens, I did not ever say to the vendor that I was taking bids/seeking the lowest price/wasn't willing or able to pay whatever price might be quoted. I never mentioned board participation of any kind or where any quotes I'd already received had come from. I also stated that if we couldn't work together on this design, perhaps we could work together on another. So yes, I was frustrated/"offended" to be rather blown off based on a rep's assumption of where I post and who I'd gotten quotes from already, not given a quote, and no interest expressed in gaining my business in either current or future work. I should probably have dropped it at that point, but I really was interested in working with them then. This was my first time in this situation, and I wish it had gone differently all around.

Even if I *had* said I was seeking bids for the lowest quote, it would still have been good CS to go ahead and give it for the types of reasons flashfrenzy stated. You never know, maybe I'd have decided based on their fabulous response that I just had to go with them and was willing to save/splurge. It happens all the time!

To whoever said something about trying to find a $5K car at a Mercedes dealership: The first reason I asked Leon Mege for a quote is because the original time I saw this ring, he had made it. It's not a unique enough design that I believe he's the only one who's ever done it, his was simply the first one I'd seen. I wanted to find out how much it would cost to have one with his personal craftsmanship. The second is because I've seen Leon Mege actually price some rings at far less than I'd believed he would. Deals are found everywhere, you never know if you don't ask. I think it's only smart to check out all the vendors you're willing to work with, in every price range. You may find yourself happily surprised.

Anyway, I realize we all have different hot button issues, or things we're sensitive to. Customer service excellence happens to be mine. I think it is all a business has to offer these days. Why not do your level best to try and make every potential customer feel as though you'd actually like to work with them? A dream ring can be had anywhere, but every dream ring begins with a quote and the person who speaks for the business becoming the face of it for the consumer. Never get a second chance to make a first impression and alla that And yes, I do have someone I believe is a good candidate all lined up now, so I hope it all goes to plan. Given everyone's experience here I think it will

I am pretty sure we are not the vendor you are talking about, but sometimes we do get busy and emails get missed or not responded to as quickly as I would like, but we certainly try to respond to one and all. I have spoken with Melissa and neither of us can remember anything like what you are describing, but if we are wrong, we apologize for our error as we would never do that intentionally.

With some pieces we can give you a ball park right away as we have made a similar piece recently, and with some designs we have to go to our CAD artist to make the ring to fit your finger and your desired stones in order to know our costs.

We have to pay them, so we do charge for going to CAD. I do know of a few people who were angry with us for wanting to go to CAD to give a quote, but we had a long list of CADs to pay for that never went to the making process before we changed to charging for the CAD and applying that payment to the cost of the ring if our clients went forward.

I am glad to see that you have decided to go with a combination of price and quality, as there are tons of examples of cheap work on the boards that did not come out as promised.

Wink

Beautifully said!!

+1 I couldn't disagree more! And I find it very judgemental to have one convo or receive one email from someone and determine that they aren't worth your time. When someone is coming to you for a quote, you give it to them, period. That is your one opportunity to get their business. If you come in a little higher than they wanted, but if they are comfortable with you and if you have provided great service, they will probably go with you.

I worked selling window treatments for many years. People would come in talking about they have 5K for their house and they wanted a product I knew would cost 10k. Never, in my wildest dreams would I tell them, I can see you dont have enough so Im not even going waste my time on a quote. I would still work up the quote, then either sell them up or work with them to find something they loved to fit their budget. When they would get other, less expensive quotes, I would explain the difference in products and services. Again, when a customer is in front of you, its your chance for you to make them your customer.

Sometimes people may not have the funds to complete the project right then and there but that doesn't mean they never will. How do you know how much you need if you have no idea how much its going to cost? Yes, endless quotes are annoying BUT they are part of the job!

It wasn't personal or judgmental (how could it be when they don't know you or anything about you?) so I just don't see the point in taking it so. The lack of an initial quote bothered you and you let them know and having neither a quote nor a satisfactory apology you will now never work with them. I don't see any winners here. You could have just as easily let it go or e-mailed back that you understand they may not be the cheapest but you are considering other factors and would appreciate a quote. Chances are they would have obliged. They could have tried harder from the start but they didn't, but that doesn't make it personal. You'll have no trouble getting someone else to make the ring so what's to be upset about? Some things aren't meant to be....so it is with you and this particular vendor.

Customer service is more art than science and there is no way to get it right 100% of the time. What pisses off one customer is no bother to another. I hate to think anyone would be so personally offended at my tone when it isn't meant as they are taking it. I'm not all touchy feely so I know that puts some people off even if I mean well. I can't do anything about that...if they want to spend their time being upset about it so be it. I guess it's good I don't work in customer service, lol.

And I didn't get the idea that NatalieStar was talking about door to door sales but a business where they have to go to the customer's home to give a quote. Be it siding, windows, gutters, flooring, paint or blinds/draperies...all of those sorts of things require the vendor to visit the customer and not just do quotes over the phone/internet. That's even more of an investment for the business upfront...and then have people try to play the vendors off each other...I can see why they wouldn't want to invest the time giving 'free quotes' (they are only free to the potential customer but it costs the business real money!!) just to play around!

When someone goes to someone's house to sell something isn't that door to door? ANyway, sorry if my terminology was wrong. I still had a point though

And I don't think she took it personally per say... just that the sheer lack of customer service that she expected from the vendor was not met, and that bothered her.

And frankly...branding all customers who ask for a quote as time wasters? No one, not even the best sales person has a crystal ball to see if someone if just asking for a quote and has no intentions of following up, or just asking for a quote and then giving you business.

It's amazing right? I want that ring so much!! Its a Bvlgari ring and probably wayyyyyyyy out of my price range, so I'm not gonna waste their time for a quote

No but seriously, it's on my project list now. Repro will be made!!!

Door to door is selling just that...knock on a door and pitch your product or service, unsolicited. Move on to the next house and the next and the next.
When I call 3 hard wood floor companies to come and see my floors to give me a quote on refinishing they may come to my house but they are not door to door.

In the end I guess I will be wasting the time of two of the vendors as I will only choose one. I may call 10 on the phone first and get as far as I can, then choose 3 to actually come and quote the work. Hopefully one of them will work out. I am not at all offended if someone does not want the business for some reason. I have been told for other sorts of jobs something similar to what OP heard from the jeweler...that the charge for X service will be much more than most other providers (for whatever reason). Not that they won't do the work, but just a heads up. I'm always glad for the information and don't feel judged or upset by it. I just move on to the next option. But again, that's me...I'm not that sensitive of a person to begin with.

Interesting to hear such varied opinions on what customer service means to people!

To me, it means putting the potential customer second to none (no exceptions), to others it seems to mean making the potential customer feel valued only if you've deemed them worthy.

Who said anything about being worthy? Not every customer/job is a good fit for every vendor...and the same is true the other way around. It isn't personal.

OP - I hope you don’t take any of what I am saying personally or as directed at you because it isn’t, now I am just debating on the internet :P and after your clarification I do understand your point of view.

Anyhow "Worthy" doesn’t come into it at all, that is taking a potential business transaction unnecessarily personally. Think about these things, don’t feel about them. If from initial conversations someone does not qualify as a potential lead, it makes no sense to waste your time quoting and pursuing them.

Everyone is worthy of a quote yes, if the business has unlimited funds to pay their sales and admin Staff so that they have an army of sales and admin staff at each member of the public’s beck and call. Unfortunately in most small businesses I have worked with at least that is not the case.

Also I am not branding all customers who ask for a quote "time wasters". That would be completely silly and I have not said anything at all like that.

I am talking about customers who don't give a damn about quality, service, speed of delivery, workmanship, warranty or materials only caring about price, and then contacting every vendor they can think of to get a quote so they can pick the cheapest one, or worse, take the cheapest one and put pressure on the vendors with the best quality, service, speed of delivery, workmanship, warranty and materials to lower their price to match someone with shitehouse quality, service, speed of delivery, workmanship, warranty and materials but the cheapest price.

They have the potential to waste lots of time and cost businesses money in an already difficult market.

I can see some people are getting offended at the words "Time Waster" but that’s what you are doing, wasting someone’s time because you want a quote from every vendor in the market to play them against each other. You don’t need a crystal ball, you just need to ask some qualifying questions and base your actions on what the person asking for the quote tells you.

I also do commercial quotes often at work at my PC, and they can sometimes take in excess of 2 hours, especially if you need to get other suppliers involved for bits and pieces. Would you like to pay someone for 2 hours (say $60 if you include superannuation and insurance) to quote something that you KNOW will never become a sale, to make the person asking for the quote feel warm and fuzzy?

If someone tells me that they have got several quotes and are looking for the cheapest option then I would say to them "Well we have the industries best warranty and our product is the strongest and best performing on the market, but we are not the cheapest, so good luck in your search".

Even if they told me that they have several quotes and not mention anything further I would ask more questions to establish the reasoning for collecting quotes before I went any further with offering them a quote.

We will not even hand out the contact details of more than one dealer at a time to homeowners when they call and ask, we don’t want our dealers to have to compete against each other.

Also, just to clear it up, our dealers are not door to door sales people, they are tradesmen who work for themselves, and supply and install custom fit products for people’s homes.

It’s not much different to a jeweller who is custom making a ring for your hand, and I am sure a similar amount of work goes into the quoting process.

The dealers who do the best are the ones who work on referral business only, because most referral customers do not find it necessary to contact every dealer in Brisbane for a quote and then pit dealers against each other.

I don't know. If someone was making assumptions about my ability to pay for their services or product and didn't want to give me a quote because they thought I was a waste of time based on those assumptions, well, not for sure, but I most likely would think that they aren't worthy of my business. Ever.

I have no clue who lucky b is talking about, but I would *guess* that person's only job is to give quotes. I could be wrong!

This has been a nice discussion!

NatalieStar and MG, I get your point of view, I just have never experienced that nor have I ever done that to any of my customers. Honestly that thought has never entered my head.

Yes, you can ask all the questions you want and yes I would be ticked off if someone said to me "Im getting a hundred quotes and shopping around." BUT I would still give them the same quote as a repeat customer that I know is going to buy.

And I just want to say, I am not angry with these type of customers, nor even impatient, thats their buying style and it works for them, but it does not benefit every kind of business to work with this kind of customer (some businesses sell directly to this kind of customer - walmart for example).

I am sure there are some Jewellers who cater directly to this kind of customer (Goldmark in Australia comes to mind) but not every jeweller can.

I have dealers who never think of it that way too, and the end up going out of business because they are catering to the wrong audience. And its heartbreaking so see someone financially ruined because they cater to the wrong type of customer and can't say no.

I respectfully agree to strongly disagree! I do this, all the time and am not going out of business nor are the companies that I know of that do business this way.

Its just like those establishments that charge to use your debit card, I refuse to shop at them. Debit/Credit card fees are the cost of operating a business, not the responsibility of the consumer, just like giving out quotes.

If someone blew me off or told me after them asking me a couple of questions that they didn't think they were the company for me, they would not get my business nor the business of a lot of other people. Negative reviews touch about 25 people! Those 25 people could have been customers.

Well that has been my experience unfortunately which has helped shape my view of catering to this particular type of customer.

I think savvy shoppers shop around.

ETA: exactly, elf!

+1. I agree, depending on the business.

In my line of work, I frequently have potential clients call me and ask for quotes on jobs they have for me. Sometimes I can do the job, and other times I know it's not going to work. Either they either are requiring a service I can't provide at the moment, or that we're going to have a personality clash on the project, or they want something for an outrageously cheap price that I can't afford to produce it for. (without lowering the quality of my work, and I refuse to do that, put my name on something and have it out there as an example of my work when it's really not good quality.)

So yeah, sometimes it's better customer service to be up front and tell a potential client you can't help them. It's better customer service for them (releasing them early to find a vendor elsewhere), as well as for your exisiting clients, because you have more time to put into the work you already agreed to do for them. But there are ways to do it, and ways to sound like a jack @$$ about having to turn something down.

I keep a list of colleagues on hand, and refer those clients I can't help to one of these colleagues. If I think I'd really like to help the client out, sometimes I'll even pitch their project to the colleague myself, so I can help the client get a fair price, etc. But that's again, depending on the complexity of the project, and how long it took the client to fully explain their ideas to me. Instead of starting over, I can get right to the point with the colleague and not take hours out of their day before they decide if they can take on the work or not.

I'm HAPPY to consult with my competition. It means I've rarely had someone turned away who was upset by it. To the contrary, some of those clients returned to me again, when there was another project I could handle. And at least they didn't go venting all over the Internet about me. (At least I hope not!)

That said, this thread is reminding me... way back when I was starting out in Customer Service, before the internet was big... in our training, our bosses explained that the average consumer will tell one other person about a good CS experience... but will tell NINE people about a bad CS experience. Now that the internet is here, is that same consumer telling the whole WORLD 9 times with a keyboard? That's a great reason to always be above board with CS skills and etiquette.

Also, the type of customer you cater to shapes your business.

Your customers define what you make, how you make it, where you sell it, what you charge, who you hire and even how you fund your business. If your customer base changes over time but you fail to make changes in the rest of your organization, stress and failure will follow.

Cater to self rightous cheapskates and your business will begin to grow to cater to that kind of customer. And thats who your repeat business will come from.

Work only with great customers and thats where your repeat business will come from.

elf, the company who did that to me WOULD have given me a quote. But I thought they were more than fair to tell me upfront that the quote they gave my 'small' job would be outrageous compared to a different sort of company they recommended instead. They didn't make any assumptions on my ability to pay (nor did anyone do that to OP) or suggest that my small job was unimportant. I sure didn't take it personally.

When we put in our hardwood floors I talked to a couple companies who were only doing larger square footages or would not put in the cabin grade flooring I wanted (I wanted the knots and character). I didn't take it personally or think it reflected badly on their customer service...it was just how they ran their business. My bet is that since the economy turned they have not been able to be as selective with the jobs they accept.

Nor does it bother me when a jeweler won't set moissy or CZ. It's up to them how to run their business and they only want diamonds. OK. Why should I be offended? I don't want to waste my time or theirs if for WHATEVER reason they don't want my business. But that's not what happened to OP. She got what I got in the first example...a friendly warning that the price for service may not line up with expectations. Fair enough.

And FWIW....I got a ridiculously high quote from a vendor here once. I mean crazy high. My thought was that they just didn't want the job but didn't want to say so. Either way, I hope they didn't put too much into doing the quote because we were no where close to the same ball park (we weren't even on the same planet!). I would have been happy to get an "we are pretty expensive for the type of item you are looking for" sort of warning before I wasted their time on working up a quote.

But it's so stupid to not shop around, unless what you want is brand or maker specific.

Very very true, NatalieStar! And if someone is adept at dealing with self righteous cheapskates... then by all means, enjoy! Some people love that challenge! But I could never be happy going to work every day if it was for clients like that. I'd fold the business and start over, seriously.

like I said, I respectfully agree to disagree. LOL

Nataliestar, it sounds like you've experienced some horrible customers, just remember they aren't all like that.

I agree, most of them are lovely

Working business to business you often get to know your clients and their businesses very well, and thats where most of my experience comes from.

Smart businesses have their target audience and if their business is failing maybe they need to reevaluate that. But since we're talking about luckyb and her experience from a board vendor, *we* are that vendors target audience, or a segment of it, and they must think so, too, or they wouldn't be here.

As part of that target audience, the reply she received would not have bothered me at all. I didn't see it as haughty or personally insulting. I would be more bothered by the vendor seeming to give a run around and not answer the questions asked. That just frustrates me but I understand some people are just like that, even IRL. Makes me want to talk real slow and repeat the question...but that comes off as snotty, lol.

Yes, +1

Well, technically, they didn't answer her question. Haha.

Yea but...most, if not all of us on this board don't come into this category...

I just think two VERY different businesses are being compared and it's apples and oranges.

Anyway it's been an interesting read this thread

+1