A Thought

I'm on the hunt to get cushions made for my new furniture that is coming in the next week. Here is how things have gone:

1) Talked to a boat company that my mother used to get foam for a cushion she had. They are open on Saturdays only by appointment. I called to see if I could make an appointment. "Why don't you call back on Friday afternoon to see if I'll be here? If I have a boat or something in, then I would be around."

I'm so glad I'm not sufficiently important to merit being worthy of an appointment. I looked up some other options.

2) An alterations company. The woman who answered didn't speak much english, but said they couldn't do what I wanted.

3) A home-based business. I guess. Answering machine left no identifying infomration. Click.

4) A upholstery company that had quite a nice web site and appeared to do what I needed. I called the phone number on the site. "Hi, this is Michael. Uh. I'm sorry I missed your call, please leave your name and number and I'll return it as soon as possible."

To be fair, the name of the company is Michael's Custom Upholstery. But nowhere does he mention that in his answering machine message. Again: is this a real business? So I filled out a contact form online. Had a call back later. He used caller ID to do it: hadn't looked at his web site yet.

Gah.

Had a reasonable conversation with him, but I cannot BELIEVE the going rate for labor to make a cushion. These particular cushions aren't all that difficult - they're basically a squared-off bag. The first place I talked to: $95 /hour for labor. Michael's: $82/hour for labor. Holy cow!

5) I called the original boat shop to see if I could buy the foam and fabric from them, as I figured I can find the labor less expensive elsewhere. "Hello?" (Again: Please tell me who you are. You are a business. Identify yourself as such!) After I asked him about the possibility of buying just the foam and fabric: "Ummm.... I guess so." I explained that the labor was really quite expensive. "Do you know Joann's fabric?" Well.... yes. But I was trying to avoid the labor cost, not the material cost.

Folks, if you have a product you want to sell, please provide information about your business such that others may understand who you are. Provide contact information about your business. Ensure your answering message, if you are not available, clearly identifies who you are. When asked a question, answer what the person is asking.

I am frustrated because my need for clarity is not being met. I would like for people who do business to clearly communicate with their customers. Are you willing to give that to me?