They're moving right now so everyone will have to be a little understanding, give Paul a break and a little more time to get settled, He's one of the Good Guys. Now that Dave guy, I'd ride him like a lil *****...
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Amen! & Thanks!
I know some of you have already given us a "little" understanding, and are now working on a "LOT" of it, and it is GREATLY appreciated. Unfortunately, I am basically a one-man show here. This started out to ba a part-time business for me to give me extra money to go racing with. Well, a few years back, it became so time consuming that I had to quit my regular job & go full-time with it. Since then, I have haven't had any time or money to devote to my own car, and sold it to further finance the business, broke my neck & basically lost 6 months totally, and another year partially, and still a few hours here & there, developed too many great new products that take an enormous amount of time & costs to get going, and just recently moved the assy/packaging/office/R&D/etc to a new location, along with our home stuff. Well, we are still in the moving process for several reasons, trying to get the new place ready & keep some stuff shipping. Getting phones hooked up here took almost 2 full weeks of hours each day trying to get the simplist of things done. Just today, they thought they had it, and I find out I just lost long distance on the main line, and who knows what else. Sooo, simply returning a call has become a chore. Not to mention with 4 lines going now, it gets quite musical at times. It is impossible to keep up with it all. Another unfortunate occurance is that most of the calls are tech questions or people checking on old orders. There are not enough orders to go and hire one or 2 people to help out, yet way more things to do for one person. I have had my brother helping in his spare time, trying to keep the flow of stuff welding & machining. My wfe has been helping with moving, getting the new place ready to setup the biz, finally got the office (kinda) working, sending catalogs out, and keeping up with the bills in her spare time. As for that Dave fella... Well.... Good help is so hard to find these days!
Dave has been helping answering the main customer line for a few weeks now, and is a TREMENDOUS help! He has been doing this out of the kindness of his heart, with NO pay (yet, sure I will owe him a bunch!) in his spare time. I would be quoting stuff shipping next summer if it weren't for him! I also put him in a bad position because he takes the flack from customers wanting to know where their stuff is at (currently still have orders from June), and I can't give him accurate dates of when things will ship out. Every time I think I am getting close or have a handle on things, something pops up that needs immediate attention, putting the rest behind more. Anyone that ever started a business & grew their product line & biz rapidly should have a clue of what I am going thru. For those that never started a biz, well, it ought to be manditory for everyone to do in life IMO. Then people that call & assume parts are on the shelf ready to ship out aren't always possible for the little guys with all their parts. I tried to keep the motor mounts going because those are more of a "have to have" than the swaybars. When you can't do it all, you have to pick your battles. Anyone with a bunch of money or free time that wants to make my life easier is more than welcome to stop by. Until then, the best we can do will just have to do. We sincerely appreciate EVERYONES order, and don't want to lose one sale or one customer for any reason. It FOR SURE isn't that we don't care or have so much business that it doesn't matter to let one or 2 go. I take it personally when someone calls to cancel an order for whatever reason, especially for delayed shipping. Not exactly sure why, but I have been in the groove of returning ALL e-mails I receive, but not the calls. I get about 30-40 e-mails a day that I answer, but can't keep up with the 30+ calls a day. It must be because I can totally control the time spent and timing during the day on an e-mail reply, but not phone conversations.
I just spent 30+ minutes today helping a current & future customer. Felt good on one hand cause I LOVE to help people, but when I thought of the people waiting for stuff that I should have been working towards, I probably hurt more than I helped today. Really makes it worthwhile when I can't even feel good helping others
(sarchasm) If everyone called to make a purchase (of more than on O-2 bung) and just gave info & said goodbye, things would run a lot smoother here. But, in real life with real people, it just doesn't happen. These cars are so complicated, it takes a lot of info, details, and time to fix problems correctly.
Anyway, thanks to a friend sending me this link (no time anymore to surf the boards like I used to do & like to do), I found this topic. Now that I may have eased your (and a few others) pain, I fell further behind. PLEASE keep in mind that when the public actually talks to or gets a response from an owner of a company, he is taking $40-$100+ an hour away from his company. When it's invested into the future of his company, it's usually a wise investment. When it's used up dealing with the past & adds no new revenue, it kills the biz. And when the owner is the only one producing, well, production stops! You think it's frustrating on the consumers end, try it on the owners end. That's where the stress & frustration gets multiplied by numbers like 1000
I have to go get warm now. The office is in a 3 season "sun room" that was advertised as a 4 season room, and the wife should be here with our fast-food dinner at 8:30 after her 12 hour shift, and then I can bug her to help more because I am behind more
Sorry to dump on everyone.
Maybe be a little more "thankful" for what you have this extended Thanksgiving weekend, while me & the wife work all of it except a few hours to spend with our family & eat some Turkey & feel guilty taking time away from the business.
PS- The new garage has no heat, and no time or money to get it done & weatherproof it, so my car will have to wait another year.
PPS- The squeaky wheel gets no more grease than previously scheduled
PPPS- PLEASE everyone, add your real NAME to your signature and/or posts. It really helps knowing who it is that we need to contact and/or ship their order
I know the negative feedback & attitudes seem like only a small percentage of what we see & hear at HR, but it stands out like a sore thumb to the public. If 9 people say something nice, and one says something bad, guess what people remember. And of course it's also that small percentage that makes us wonder why we go out of our way to support & attend events, groups, and clubs, that even after great sales, you barely break even if you are lucky.
, but I try to respond in a mature informative way & I get a negative response with creative swearing in it & exaggerations. Hmmm.
