Random Thoughts - Part Deux [NO POLITICS]

[Spuds]

Originally Posted by spike021

I was _this_ close to having paypal/my CC doing a chargeback. The guy got increasingly rude about it. Basically he'd say "I'll have it done in a couple days", then a week would go by and nothing, so I'd send an email just asking for an ETA of when he expects to have the time to do it, not even saying "I need you to finish it today!", and he'd get annoyed and say "it'll be two more days". This happened 2 or 3 times, and that's why it wound up being about 3 weeks turnaround for him just to fix it; meanwhile he was posting a bunch of items to his Instagram and tagging people with thousands of followers, so clearly he's doing it for the popularity now.

One time he told me this:



So I guess he was saying he ignores the "7-14 day ETA" posted on his website and re-prioritizes based on his choosing of whoever is ordering from him (in total it took 3.5 months to get what I ordered).

Yeah, what pilot said.

[NoHaveMSG]

Originally Posted by spike021

This fairly well-known guy I ordered a nice, expensive custom titanium shift knob from (won't name names) messed up my custom order of it (gear shifter print was for a WRX/STI so reverse was on the right side), made me pay for the knob to be shipped back to him, and then even though he said it'd take two days to fix, it took him 3 weeks of forgetting and me needing to email to remind him about it :|.

Today I finally got it and he had left a bunch of smudges/fingerprints from his grimey fingers from working, and some of the work has more blemishes than I'd expect (because he said he would have to re-sand the whole piece, re-work it, and then re-laser the top design).

Based on his attitude in emails he got super frustrated, and what I got today shows he rushed it, again *.

Reason I say he rushed it again is because even for the first knob he sent me there were _three_ things in the box that he straight-up ignored and didn't check to confirm he made me the right pieces: the outside of the box had the design drawn on it, there was a sticky note on the soft packaging wrap he used to protect it that had the correct design and other info, AND the packing slip "certificate of authenticity" had it correct.

What's with small businesses these days getting too big and losing what made them awesome?

I used to see this a lot in the paintball world. There where a lot of small shops doing custom work and building custom parts. They would get popular, their workload would increase beyond what they were capable of doing, and they would start messing up and pissing people off. The ones that survived where the ones that would find ways of managing the workload by either hiring staff, or limiting the amount of orders/accepted work. I typically give them no more then 3 chances before canceling the order.

[wolffbite]

Originally Posted by spike021

I was _this_ close to having paypal/my CC doing a chargeback. The guy got increasingly rude about it. Basically he'd say "I'll have it done in a couple days", then a week would go by and nothing, so I'd send an email just asking for an ETA of when he expects to have the time to do it, not even saying "I need you to finish it today!", and he'd get annoyed and say "it'll be two more days". This happened 2 or 3 times, and that's why it wound up being about 3 weeks turnaround for him just to fix it; meanwhile he was posting a bunch of items to his Instagram and tagging people with thousands of followers, so clearly he's doing it for the popularity now.

One time he told me this:



So I guess he was saying he ignores the "7-14 day ETA" posted on his website and re-prioritizes based on his choosing of whoever is ordering from him (in total it took 3.5 months to get what I ordered).

Why do I feel like I know exactly who you are talking about?

In my situation, my order arrived exactly as specified but a 3 week ETA at time of order turned into almost 3 months... every couple of weeks I had to follow up and was always told "just another week or so". When I finally got it I had to polish out the whole thing because it was swirled all over. It also didn't even come close to being centered properly when fully tightened down. Ended up not liking a weighted shift knob so it has become an expensive paperweight on my desk at work.

[spike021]

Originally Posted by wolffbite

Why do I feel like I know exactly who you are talking about?

In my situation, my order arrived exactly as specified but a 3 week ETA at time of order turned into almost 3 months... every couple of weeks I had to follow up and was always told "just another week or so". When I finally got it I had to polish out the whole thing because it was swirled all over. It also didn't even come close to being centered properly when fully tightened down. Ended up not liking a weighted shift knob so it has become an expensive paperweight on my desk at work.

Sent a PM.

For this one I'm not installing yet for maybe a few days. But it came with an allen wrench so that the middle bolt (?) can be slightly adjusted if the knob doesn't center correctly with the first go at it.

His "authenticity" note says it can be cleaned with acetone or isopropyl alcohol, so I just put some water and rubbing alcohol on a cotton ball and wiped the bad spots, then polished it off with a very soft microfiber towel. But there are some blemishes in the work that likely can't come off.

[ichitaka05]

Will be testing cf skinning & wet cf this wkend. If goes will, mind as well make cf diffuser... no, not really. lol

Just make simple stuff first THEN can think bout those big things

[soundman98]

Originally Posted by ichitaka05

...Some of you guys know that I work at the library...

it all makes sense now!

i've got a working theory that a large concentration of non-fiction in any location creates crazy people that tend to unintentionally create their own flair of drama in every situation for no other reason than to make themselves feel more important than they really are.

i also had an ex-girlfriend that worked in a library for 2 years. i don't remember any of the stories that she vented about, but remember offering to let the air out of specific car tires more than once...

Originally Posted by spike021

This fairly well-known guy I ordered a nice, expensive custom titanium shift knob from (won't name names) messed up my custom order of it (gear shifter print was for a WRX/STI so reverse was on the right side), made me pay for the knob to be shipped back to him, and then even though he said it'd take two days to fix, it took him 3 weeks of forgetting and me needing to email to remind him about it :|.

Today I finally got it and he had left a bunch of smudges/fingerprints from his grimey fingers from working, and some of the work has more blemishes than I'd expect (because he said he would have to re-sand the whole piece, re-work it, and then re-laser the top design).

Based on his attitude in emails he got super frustrated, and what I got today shows he rushed it, again *.

Reason I say he rushed it again is because even for the first knob he sent me there were _three_ things in the box that he straight-up ignored and didn't check to confirm he made me the right pieces: the outside of the box had the design drawn on it, there was a sticky note on the soft packaging wrap he used to protect it that had the correct design and other info, AND the packing slip "certificate of authenticity" had it correct.

What's with small businesses these days getting too big and losing what made them awesome?

it's part of growing.

business sounds simple on the surface:
offer product few others do for money in a public place.
people place order for product.
create/assemble product.
ship product.
people happy.

what really happens:
offer product few others do for money in public place.
people place order for product.
--some of the people expect it next-day-aired and in stock, AND_SEND_ALL_CAPS_EMAILS_THE_SECOND_THEY_PLACE_THE _ORDER_LOOKING_FOR_A_SHIPPING_CONFIRMATION
--others have no comprehension of the skill and time it takes.
--others beg for a discount all the time because of #reasons.

create/assemble the product, while fielding these otherwise really annoying people that have no compression of the process, all but demanding that everything be done for them immediately because 'you're a small shop, and can't have that many other orders to fill'...

ship product, breathe.

people get product, half don't say anything, and bash the finished product in every single blog, forum, and web article they can. the other half is so annoyed, they send emails demanding free products, and then get angry that 3+ figure products can't be had for free, and proceed to bash said products in every forum, blog, and web article...

rule #1 of business: people suck.
rule #2 of business: you're only as good as your planning. (most people don't plan very well)

[ichitaka05]

So... instead of doing cf skinning, put FXT water/oil cooler & intake pipe. I’ll work on cf skinning tomorrow

[ichitaka05]

Oh & DIY rubber seal thingy between rear window & trunk. Instead of $200 TRD ver, mine cost $17 lol

[soundman98]

i'm debating playing with my louvers...

[soundman98]

Originally Posted by ichitaka05

Oh & DIY rubber seal thingy between rear window & trunk. Instead of $200 TRD ver, mine cost $17 lol

the trd one IS a very nice piece though!

[ichitaka05]

Originally Posted by soundman98

the trd one IS a very nice piece though!

Not denying that... for me, I couldn’t justify spending $200 for it.

[NoHaveMSG]

Originally Posted by ichitaka05

Oh & DIY rubber seal thingy between rear window & trunk. Instead of $200 TRD ver, mine cost $17 lol

I did something similar but not nearly as nice as your solution. I was worried about the wing distorting the trunk and creating a gap so I added some trim.

[ichitaka05]

Originally Posted by NoHaveMSG

I did something similar but not nearly as nice as your solution. I was worried about the wing distorting the trunk and creating a gap so I added some trim.

Yeah I did buy circle style rubber seal too... but SuperTom had this style ver & looked better, so went w that instead.

[humfrz]

Originally Posted by ichitaka05

Oh & DIY rubber seal thingy between rear window & trunk. Instead of $200 TRD ver, mine cost $17 lol

Looks nice.

But, why did you do that?