You're not getting that deposit back from Rich Pavel. 
EVER!
EVER!
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Custom Order Deposits: Refund Seeking
- Thread starter taking one in
- Start date
Back in the day, I went past 6 months waiting on a custom milky Tomo to the point that I was so over over it that I sold my deposit to a happy frother from the errb. Back to the future, and now I'm 10 months balls-deep on a couple of Burches that were said to be 6 months in the pipeline. My brain tells me to expect them in December. I also have a MOTE that is projected to arrive springtime next year, but I'm not counting my chickens...
My friend ordered a board from beamish less than two months ago. It’s already done.
so much for my one man operation theory
so much for my one man operation theory
I want one of his twins, so your buddy had a good experience with him?My friend ordered a board from beamish less than two months ago. It’s already done.
so much for my one man operation theory
Yes 2 friends have ordered now, I am putting in a order too.
boards done super fast and they look beautifu. Great ride reports, they both got rifle rangers
He doesn’t post here , sure he won’t mind
me sharing this though
6’8 x 20 x 2 5/8
me sharing this though
6’8 x 20 x 2 5/8
My first custom Tomo was magic. Ordered a second: over 6 months wait, a lot of 'any day now', drove to Vista to pick it up(and see family). He said he would be at the house they were renting(in the avo sticks). No show no return calls. A party started to happen at the house and he shows up a 9pm, saying he had been surfing Treslse for 12 hrs straight. But oh yeah, I have your board. Pulls out an XTR that was nothing like I ordered.
Did not work for me sold it to an erbber.
There are a few guys out there that are notorious, but on the other side of the equation, It's usually the same people having problems with ordering a board successfully, over and over and over again. Right now, things are pretty crazy. It has finally backed off a little on my end, but all that sh!t is in glassing now. Shapers are being told not to bring anything else in, because they don't even have room in the racks to let the stuff sit. So if you are thinking about a board for Christmas and it isn't in glassing, good luck. Head to a retail outlet and get what you can get. You may be able to find and exploit a seam with a smaller guy, it's more than possible, but it's kind of a right time, right place thing.
I keep threatening to write a "how to order a custom board" thread. It's seems pretty common sense to me, but someone somewhere once said common sense isn't all that common. I do believe whoever he was, he had a point.
But whatever. Pet peeve of mine are people who go into a shop to order a custom through a shaper they carry, and put their order in with a model and a length, (the only dimension included) color chips, drawings and diagrams for his color scheme, choice of stringers, logo placement, fin system, color of fins, pin strip directions, etc... and then includes no width or thickness. The shaper is supposed put his hand on a bible, raise his eyes to the heavens and seek his higher power to determine your numbers. Yes, someone will have to call you. No, no one wants to call you. Because you want to talk surf story for a half hour or more and there's a stack of 20 order forms that have only length for dimensions. That's at best 10 hours of phone calls in an industry where it's piece work. Maybe that one is just me, but I find it irritating. Be that as it may, I have seen the dimensionless order forms sit for weeks/months while the guys that have numbers move to the head of the line.
Have some numbers. And if you want a phone call, be brief. Git er done.
I keep threatening to write a "how to order a custom board" thread. It's seems pretty common sense to me, but someone somewhere once said common sense isn't all that common. I do believe whoever he was, he had a point.
But whatever. Pet peeve of mine are people who go into a shop to order a custom through a shaper they carry, and put their order in with a model and a length, (the only dimension included) color chips, drawings and diagrams for his color scheme, choice of stringers, logo placement, fin system, color of fins, pin strip directions, etc... and then includes no width or thickness. The shaper is supposed put his hand on a bible, raise his eyes to the heavens and seek his higher power to determine your numbers. Yes, someone will have to call you. No, no one wants to call you. Because you want to talk surf story for a half hour or more and there's a stack of 20 order forms that have only length for dimensions. That's at best 10 hours of phone calls in an industry where it's piece work. Maybe that one is just me, but I find it irritating. Be that as it may, I have seen the dimensionless order forms sit for weeks/months while the guys that have numbers move to the head of the line.
Have some numbers. And if you want a phone call, be brief. Git er done.
Seems like that’s a fault on the business process end.
Don’t take an order without dims and you won’t have to lose manpower and hours calling to find out.
Let’s face it- most shapers are terrible at running a business
That's not the shaper.
That's the shop and the customer.
The shaper isn't sitting behind the counter waiting for a customer to walk in.
He's shaping.
And IMO, if as a surfer you don't have some kind of idea what your numbers are, ordering a custom is possibly too advanced for you.
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sometimes you have to fire the customer because they are just not worth It.
I had a job a long time ago in sales . We sold 2 products Both marketed to audiophiles and proprietary.
I can imagine audiophiles being similar to a lot of custom surfboard customers , complete pain in the ass.
I would hang up on people wasting my time, and almost all our calls were inbound
Sorry you are done next.
coworker would talk to these idiots for hours and hours. He got fired.
I had a job a long time ago in sales . We sold 2 products Both marketed to audiophiles and proprietary.
I can imagine audiophiles being similar to a lot of custom surfboard customers , complete pain in the ass.
I would hang up on people wasting my time, and almost all our calls were inbound
Sorry you are done next.
coworker would talk to these idiots for hours and hours. He got fired.
Again- that’s a business process fail.
Anyone who has spent any time in corporate America would know that’s a process failure that is costing hours and time.
Solutions- don’t allow ordering through the shop and make your own site where you respond to email and take orders yourself and cut out the third party.
Or
Complain about it and keep blowing it
I have a lifetime of unbelievable stories to share .
No good deed goes unpunished.
Sounds like this is all a little unfamiliar to you. I'm not losing anything. I'm not blowing anything nor am I leaving any money on the table. I won't be the one that makes the phone call. I don't do retail. Thank God. In most cases, the third party "cut-out" is already in place, only it's an option. For the shaper to do that exclusively, as you are suggesting, would mean more of the shaper's time, not less. Yes, he is able to sell the product at retail instead of wholesale. $o that can work out, of course. But it involves a greater time commitment. Thus many shapers (most actually) have both routes fully in play. That's up to them, not you or I.
Ideally the non-affiliated shop (the affiliated/shaper owned shop is a different animal) is taking a complete order from a surfer that has a clue and is forwarding said complete order to the shaper who can go about the business of completing the order in a hopefully timely manner. A tuned in person working in the shop helps greatly as you can imagine. For the shaper the shop process is streamlined (if done well) and thus he is willing to sell the board at wholesale. It pencils out for him because it's less hassle, there is a lower time commitment, and hopefully a greater volume of work.
And believe it or not, I was actually trying to help with my "pet peve." I cut blanks for a large number of different shapers. So I get to hear them complaining about you as you are complaining about them. Makes no matter to me, I just keep making the design files and cutting the blanks. The rest of it is downstream problems for somebody else. You or them. And I appreciate your concern but I actually have a business degree and unfortunately a few decades worth of work experience as a corporate wage slave.
But you did touch on a basic tip re the "how to order a custom board" thread I keep threatening to write. If you need/want to talk directly to the shaper, (which is perfectly valid) go directly TO the shaper. (common sense right?) Oh and NEVER give a shaper a larger deposit than he is asking for. Beyond that, bring beer and wear something sexy? Good luck.
So much for trying to help. I see the orders with incomplete numbers get left behind and I wonder if the surfer has any idea. Clearly some of you don't. I think I'm remembering why I never wrote that thread...
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Audiophiles gotta be way, way , way worse - people who spend five figures on speakers to listen to Dire Straits? I love Dire Straits, but that's complete overkill...sometimes you have to fire the customer because they are just not worth It.
I had a job a long time ago in sales . We sold 2 products Both marketed to audiophiles and proprietary.
I can imagine audiophiles being similar to a lot of custom surfboard customers , complete pain in the ass.
I would hang up on people wasting my time, and almost all our calls were inbound
Sorry you are done next.
coworker would talk to these idiots for hours and hours. He got fired.
Here's a great value proposition in the audio world.
Ah yes. The typical “gift from god” shaper nonsense.
No good deed goes unpunished.
Sounds like this is all a little unfamiliar to you. I'm not losing anything. I'm not blowing anything nor am I leaving any money on the table. I won't be the one that makes the phone call. I don't do retail. Thank God. In most cases, the third party "cut-out" is already in place, only it's an option. For the shaper to do that exclusively, as you are suggesting, would mean more of the shaper's time, not less. Yes, he is able to sell the product at retail instead of wholesale. $o that can work out, of course. But it involves a greater time commitment. Thus many shapers (most actually) have both routes fully in play. That's up to them, not you or I.
Ideally the non-affiliated shop (the affiliated/shaper owned shop is a different animal) is taking a complete order from a surfer that has a clue and is forwarding said complete order to the shaper who can go about the business of completing the order in a hopefully timely manner. A tuned in person working in the shop helps greatly as you can imagine. For the shaper the shop process is streamlined (if done well) and thus he is willing to sell the board at wholesale. It pencils out for him because it's less hassle, there is a lower time commitment, and hopefully a greater volume of work.
And believe it or not, I was actually trying to help with my "pet peve." I cut blanks for a large number of different shapers. So I get to hear them complaining about you as you are complaining about them. Makes no matter to me, I just keep making the design files and cutting the blanks. The rest of it is downstream problems for somebody else. You or them. And I appreciate your concern but I actually have a business degree and unfortunately a few decades worth of work experience as a corporate wage slave.
But you did touch on a basic tip re the "how to order a custom board" thread I keep threatening to write. If you need/want to talk directly to the shaper, (which is perfectly valid) go directly TO the shaper. (common sense right?) Oh and NEVER give a shaper a larger deposit than he is asking for. Beyond that, bring beer and wear something sexy? Good luck.
So much for trying to help. I see the orders with incomplete numbers get left behind and I wonder if the surfer has any idea. Clearly some of you don't. I think I'm remembering why I never wrote that thread...
As if you’re doing everyone a favor shaping a piece of foam.
And shapers wonder why FireWire took over?
There doesn’t need to be a thread on how to order a board. No one needs to know how.
It’s a business transaction. People are trying to purchase a good and service. Make it easy for them to purchase and set a process to do so efficiently. Pretty common sense.
No one wonders why people like Dick Brewer and Owl Chapman, Who are talented shapers, are old and broke with a string of failed businesses behind them.
It’s easy to see.
FireWire took over cause they found the gap and filled it.
That's not the way I read it.
These sorts of stories are typical of ANY profession where you're dealing with multiple members of the public and providing some sort of service based on this interaction on a daily basis.
It's the dumb sh!t people do without realizing it.
Everyone from waiters to doctors to lawyers to postal workers could write a similar essay.
When I hear these sorts of stories I listen.
A lot of what a customer gets out of the interaction depends on what they put into it.
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