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Subject: I just sent out a custom dress that I was sooooo happy to get rid of. We counted today and the client had sent me 146 emails over the course of 2+ months during the design/construction of the dress. I am a VERY patient person but I know this crossed the line. How do you all deal with emails/answering/limiting. I feel I was totally cooperative, even sending a life-size pic of the embroidery - then they wanted a life size pic. "colored",,,,Arghhhh Would love help so it does not happen again. Author: MJ [ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ] Date Posted: Monday, May 14, 07:27:37pm [ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

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Subject Author Date I don't have an answer for you but I hope you charged for ALL of your time including reading and responding to email requests. (you probably did not?) Some people think you should only charge for the time you spend cutting fabric and sewing... (see inside) Time is money Monday, May 14, 10:24:21pm Simple solution: I tell customers at the beginning that if they want to approve each step of the design and construction, I will need to charge for the time spent on communication and the dress will cost at least $250 more. I have never had any problems as everyone wants to keep the price as low as possible. (NT) And everyone is happy! Monday, May 14, 10:49:12pm I can appreciate all the wonderful things that DMs do and it sounds like you have gone above and beyond. From a client's perspective, though, it is scary handing over a ton of cash & not knowing the outcome. The reasons I used a local DM Tuesday, May 15, 07:20:49am I feel bad that you have had such negative experiences, but we are not all like that. I stand by my word and I don't make promises that I can't keep. I have horror stories with customers (both parents and tc's) that are equally as horrific as what you have gone through, and it is not right. There are a lot of dishonest people out there. I just try to remember ...treat people as you would like to be treated. Karma's only a b*tch if you are. (NT) -- Good luck, Tuesday, May 15, 10:53:29am LOL! That's a great saying! (NT) -- And true, Wednesday, May 16, 09:34:00pm wow -- to "the reasons I used a local dm", Tuesday, May 22, 03:38:47pm Custom Dresses Old time dressmaker Tuesday, May 15, 09:14:41am I'd say you always welcome feedback and can report that the dress is well underway. Each time you get an email, it slows down the process and holds up the completion of her costume. Since everything has been agreed upon at this point, unless you have specific questions for the client, the next step is to arrange for the remaining balance to be paid, after which you will be able to give shipping details. (NT) Good Luck Thursday, May 17, 06:32:58am Most of the time reminding people that I need time to sew and can't answer constant emails, as well as preemptive updates works quite well, but every once in awhile someone just sends a lot of emails. Honestly, I blame texting and twitter, people are so used to instant satisfaction that they don't realize how much time it actually takes. (NT) -- Thursday, May 17, 01:33:49pm custom dress client issues client view Monday, May 21, 07:16:39am a client -- client, Tuesday, May 22, 06:26:53am And yet there are so many dance parents who are willing to pay big $$ to order from a BNDM and have no input in the dress at all while waiting to receive it the day before a major competition only to find that it needs to be altered. That same parent will want to pay half the amount for a local DM and want lots of input every step of the way. (NT) -- Can't have it all for half price., Tuesday, May 22, 09:23:35am a client -- client, Tuesday, May 22, 10:03:25am But you never would have gotten that much input from a bndm whether you wanted it or not. (NT) -- -, Tuesday, May 22, 10:58:39am To be fair, that seems to depend on the school. Some dancers get lots of attention from the BNDM, and the occasional sketches I've seen (they are rare, but do happen) are very precise and easy to understand. Just throwing that out there. (NT) -- a dm, Tuesday, May 22, 11:38:02am a client -- client, Tuesday, May 22, 12:43:45pm A lot of times the reason a design changes is because what works on paper does not always work with the fabric. Sometimes changes are necessary for the finished dress to look its best. That's probably why you were told it might not be exactly like the sketch. Sounds to me like you were told in advance that there may be changes. (NT) -- dm, Tuesday, May 22, 11:02:53am so how did it end up? did the client like what she got after hounding you through the process? (NT) curious Wednesday, May 23, 07:00:37am ctually they are very happy so I guess all is well but I would just like to make it clear to the next client what they can reasonably expect (NT) -- MJ, Friday, May 25, 11:41:37pm