Ran into a situation last weekend...
Posted: Mon Sep 23, 2013 4:15 pm
Under the heading of "practical & political" issues, I had the following scenario...
I'm tending a vendor booth at a local weekend arts & crafts market, I was approached by a woman who was carrying a treasured family heirloom. It was a very old hand crafted hourglass mountain dulcimer that had been in her family for many generations, the instrument appeared to be about 100 years old, the frets were wore flat, and the wooden tuning pegs were very loose in the peg head. She asked if I did repair work and if I could make the instrument playable again. I confirmed that I could make it playable again, and she then wanted me to take in the instrument right there. I looked around at the crowd, and then at my vendor booth, and thought about my truck parked 4 blocks away. I then offered her my business card and asked her to give me a call later in the week and I would take the instrument at that time. She didn't seem very happy about that and walked away with her dulcimer. Was I in the wrong about not wanting to take responsibility for a customers valued instrument during an event where I could not reasonably secure it? Is it a common practice to receive in repair work while away from the workshop? I'm feeling like I just lost a potential customer.
I'm tending a vendor booth at a local weekend arts & crafts market, I was approached by a woman who was carrying a treasured family heirloom. It was a very old hand crafted hourglass mountain dulcimer that had been in her family for many generations, the instrument appeared to be about 100 years old, the frets were wore flat, and the wooden tuning pegs were very loose in the peg head. She asked if I did repair work and if I could make the instrument playable again. I confirmed that I could make it playable again, and she then wanted me to take in the instrument right there. I looked around at the crowd, and then at my vendor booth, and thought about my truck parked 4 blocks away. I then offered her my business card and asked her to give me a call later in the week and I would take the instrument at that time. She didn't seem very happy about that and walked away with her dulcimer. Was I in the wrong about not wanting to take responsibility for a customers valued instrument during an event where I could not reasonably secure it? Is it a common practice to receive in repair work while away from the workshop? I'm feeling like I just lost a potential customer.