Hello
I`ve dealt with a few makers in the Czech Republic,in the last couple of years. i`ve found that they answer thier email
promptly and friendly. I like that. I`ve written, Baltimore Knife and sword, five times and gotten no reply. I contacted
Darkwood Armory,and got a reply within hours. So Darkwood gets my business. My question or beef is ,why (some...not all)American makers never answer thier email. Do they have so much on thier plate, that they dont need any more business? Makers like ,John Lundemo, are months behind ,yet still answer thier mail .I hate to be left hanging,waiting for a reply...impatience is one of my biggy flaws:-) Whats your take on the subject?

I had the same thing happen with Baltimore Knife and Sword. They and Museum Replicas are the only ones I have dealt with that didn't answer emails.

Well according to a recent article in the Washington Post, Baltimore Knife and Sword claims to produce around 1,000 swords a year so they probably don't have time to answer your email.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style...story.html

As long as it's an inquiry about new business, I'm fine with a vendor not responding to my inquiry. They are under no obligation to seek my business and if I want their product enough (albeit unlikely) I'll take whatever reasonable steps are available to chase them down. If it's about a prior agreement or product, that is another story. A vendor that doesn't respond when they are behind a deadline or being asked about a defect or problem is unethical IMO. Fortunately, BKS appears to have moved from the later to the former category of incommunicative which is good news as far as I'm concerned. Museum Replicas has always been responsive for me.

This has been a curse in the industry. There are many makers and vendors who just simply have poor customer service.

Why? Ignore all the ridiculous answers that may arise. It's simple: these makers and vendors aren't good at customer service and need to improve. Any successful business owner will agree with this statement.

I find that a company that doesn't answer my emails in a timely fashion is a company that doesn't get my money.

To me it is an indicator of how they do business. If they are unresponsive to my initial purchasing request, they will be unresponsive to any follow up requests and generally uncommunicative which usually leads to an unhappy shopping experience and adversely affects my enjoyment of the final product. In addition I have found that these people will usually miss any agreed upon ship date.

Its just not worth the headache.

Sadly I have run into one vendor who was always prompt answering my e-mails until I paid for the goods. Now, twelve weeks later, no responses and no goods. I fear Bractea has turned to the Dark Side.

No email replies = No business. period. In this day and age where email is available on most all phones, hell now even watches, there is no excuse for not answering inquiries. With the economy in the crapper if the vendor doesnt need my money there are plenty of makers who do....Larry

I have been pretty fortunate with vendors and custom makers in regards to communication. Have had some custom swords run well behind the anticipated completion schedule.

I have inquired about a sword from one custom maker who responded that he was too busy working on a project to consider discussing my project. Interesting response and I love his work but will pass on contacting him again.

Another maker I have a commission with told me up front he has no set time to start my project as he does not like to work a schedule and my project will start in the order it was received.

I am on Patrick Barta's list and received a fast response to my inquiry that said I was added to his list. That was a 1 1/2 years ago. I think it is about a 3-year wait.

I guess you run into all types who are a part of the sword industry. I personally will not deal with a company or smith who does not respond to e-mails. I think for me, 1-week with no response is about all I will tolerate. There might be an exception as folks can get sick or be off site for whatever reason.

I'm fortunate in that my place of business is about five miles from Baltimore Knife and Sword's shop. When I had them finish my Albion bare blade into a functional sword, I was in there all the time, consulting with them on what I wanted to have done. That was a couple of years ago now. Matt Stagmer of BKS was more reachable through Facebook than regular e-mail back then, and he has a profile here on myArmoury; have you tried reaching him through those methods?

Honestly there's no real (nontechnical, email does go down) excuse for not responding to an email, not if are really interested in growing your business. Even if not interested in a particular commission a polite response and a little tact may save you a customer for next time.

I suspect that one of the problems here is that some folks get into this profession in long, slow steps, starting with making for self as a hobby, then for others informally and locally, and finally as a deliberate interstate business venture. Casual personal communication habits might carry over, so that non-professional becomes unprofessional.

As a PR guy and consumer, I would suggest that anybody thinking about "going pro" in this field should give serious thought to the communication demands as well as the more obvious issues of supplies, tools, workspace, pricing, web presence, etc.

Contacted the ollin sword design team about a quote for a guard and pommel a few weeks ago.
No reply to this day. Another email followed to politely check on the status of my request that was equally unsuccessful.
Checked my spam folder, nothing.

This is really basic business practice to reply to anyone who shows an interest in your product, and common courtesy as well. I'm not knocking on that door again.

J

I think it is also important to realize that everyone is human, and occasionally we all suffer a personal crisis of one sort or another - a funeral, an illness, a computer crash, etc. It may a few days to respond to e-mail in these situations.

I tend to give someone a break if they don't respond right away. Once. Maybe twice.

But if the lack of prompt communication is habitual, then I take my money elsewhere.

Just too many other things to spend money on.

Too many other vendors to patronize.

Sooner or later everything comes up for sale second hand anyway.

This is just my experience, but I've emailed BKS multiple times over the last few years and I've never had to wait more than a couple of days for a response. They've been prompt and answered my questions. It's been everything from pricing on a few items, to talk about a custom job. So I'm not sure why its hit and miss apparently for some people.

Regarding BKS:

John Mitchell I honestly believe does try and does care about communication. He seems like a very stand up guy who if I ever met in person I'd probably buy a drink for (and John if you read this, feel free to take me up on that offer).

That said, sticking with just facts and leaving other commentary out, BKS has a significant deposit of mine and is over 2 years past due on a projected completion date (making it a 3+ year project so far) for a custom project and has been unable to provide me with a time table or new projected date of completion, nor have they decided to (as far as I know) consider any of the alternative solutions I've offered them.

In the meantime, I continue to follow my protocol of never having more than one project with a given maker at a time and continue to work with other excellent people for new projects that come up (for example John Lundemo's development of Lævateinn).