myself and a few others that i know have orders for calls from certain makers that take your order (money) and then you wait which is usually no problem with me. the thing that just burns me up is when they go to a convention and sell 3 dozen of the same call that you have on order AND paid for WEEKS before. to me this just does NOT sit well. am i expecting to much? i have no problem placing a custom order for big dollors and being told there is a year wait, no problem BUT don't sell 12 calls just like what i ordered at a show.
Sorry, but the call maker has to show up at a big show with stock to sell. He can't come short...it's about marketing and sales, and it's his biggest event of the year. Perfectly reasonable thing to do, and something a lot of the custom makers have to do.
thank you for the reply just does not seem like you should take the orders without the inventory...
Are you referring to halloran and the metal mouth 2
If a call maker would tell me it would be a while then I have no problem with it. If it irritated me that bad and I had to have a call then I would go to whatever show he was selling them at and buy one. The call makers has a bussiness to run. And yes I understand treating customers like they matter but there is a point to where they have to look out for the well being of their business.
yes i am the MM2 to be precise....i LOVE Daves call BUT a salesman he is not.
It's all in the communication. As long as I was told up front it's going to be X number of months, then no problem. I figure the reason it's going to take X number of months is because he has several calls to build to take to the show, even calls like what I ordered. A commitment he made before I placed my order. Now if thy told me 2 months, and 4 months later I still don't have my call then there's an issue that needs to be discussed.
I understand your frustration but I disagree. Chances are they have a specific inventory set aside for the shows. This is part of inventory management for any company. You generally have wholesale and retail inventories so a sale inventory and show inventory is the same thing. During shows people, myself included, will delay ordering to buy at the shows. So whether your waiting for the show or at your house for a call i don't see the difference. Your customers expect to see your products at the shows. Especially a show with thousands of customers.
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again thanks for the replies perhaps it will change the way i think if this is common place among call builders that attend shows and conventions, i will have to keep that in mind when placing an order and have some more patience.
This is done in musky fishing too there are hand made custom painted and weighed jerk and glide baits that you wait one to two years for,,the makers still bring baits to the muskie expos to sell.
What I would like is if you have a hot item call that you limit a person to "one" of that item at a show or you end up getting guys buying them up and selling them for twice on eBay,,there's a musky bait called a "fat bastard" that they do this with.
I doubt they would want to pay the bills of a high dollar booth at a major show without selling calls to recoup those expenditures.
But, i do know what you are saying. Same as what you see at Unicoi. Some huge name box call makers with long wait times are there selling calls.
That's how you get all these calls others wait 2-3 years on glad they bring some.
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Good topic. Some call makers put a buy it now through PayPal on their website as if the call was available. Than you hear nothing from the makers. You get an email from PayPal confirming your purchase and that's all you get. So are you supposed to assume the call was shipped and lost or assume the call hasn't been shipped and your on a list. These call makers that add the buy it now to their product should have stock on hand or at least give you a waiting time on the call right on the site under that specific calls advertisement. Also I believe you should at least get an email or phone call which ever is easier for them to at least let you know what to expect.
I ordered a call last year, waited 6 weeks and thought I better make a call. I did make the call, more than a couple times and finally gave up. On the 8th week the call showed up and I wasn't aware it was coming. Now had I been away on vacation that call may have got ruined sitting outside in the mailbox or worse yet if it didn't fit in the box it would have been sitting on the front porch and got ruined.
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Yelpy
That's why I rent a cheap P.0. Box,,your ordered items are safe,,,if you have access to one.
Quote from: BottomLand54 on February 18, 2018, 01:02:06 PM
That's how you get all these calls others wait 2-3 years on glad they bring some.
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Lol.....Most generally we have an idea of how a callmaker does business before we place an order and make the decision to order or not order. If a guy doesn't like the way they do business after the fact see If you can cancel the order and just don't order from them again..Most of us have other calls to use and just want another and wait patiently. Otherwise go to the convention,pick callmakers that have calls on hand,or Wal-Mart towards spring...
Callmakers aren't going to have a booth at the convention and not sell any calls...
Why I have some much respect for Albert Paul. He takes calls for people to try at the shows, but your name goes on the list after those already on the list. Not a fan of waiting on a call that I took my time to order for someone to just walk up and buy it off a table as I still wait. Just my opinion
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I am also not paying for a call until it is ready to ship. Have no problem paying before I get it but not paying to put my name on a list.
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Quote from: davisd9 on February 18, 2018, 02:11:13 PM
Why I have some much respect for Albert Paul. He takes calls for people to try at the shows, but your name goes on the list after those already on the list. Not a fan of waiting on a call that I took my time to order for someone to just walk up and buy it off a table as I still wait. Just my opinion
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Agree
The way it should probably be done.
You know a lot of call makers will still honor prices after the convention for couple weeks or still give a discount.
Communication - or lack there of...
If call maker "X" talked to you, and took an order from you, and simply said "I'll put you on the list... it's probably going to be 6 weeks or so, because I am making 3 dozen to sell at my booth in two weeks" then there would be a lot less upset customers. Maybe?
Quote from: Greg Massey on February 18, 2018, 02:49:24 PM
You know a lot of call makers will still honor prices after the convention for couple weeks or still give a discount.
I didn't know the were sold at a discount at the convention.
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Quote from: yelpy on February 18, 2018, 03:44:26 PM
Quote from: Greg Massey on February 18, 2018, 02:49:24 PM
You know a lot of call makers will still honor prices after the convention for couple weeks or still give a discount.
I didn't know the were sold at a discount at the convention.
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I would call no shipping cost a discount, if your at the convention and score a call you would of have been waiting on...just opinion....
Not all these call makers get a booth, they sell from there rooms and other places. But that's their choice I guess. That's why you see the crazy prices on certain pots calls here lately. Or the trumpet maker that sells only to the collectors with deep pockets.
I put in a order for THE JAKE box caller back around 1996 or so . Maryland call maker. I paid for this new box and it never came!! I forgot about the order and when I remembered almost 2 years later-- I thought -the heck with it.
Makes one rethink his decision to introduce so many to the sport. Of course the videos don't help the situation either.
OP, I get your point, but they have to get their name and product out there and the convention is the best place to do it. They kind of have to have inventory to sell there. I wouldn't be too upset over it, it's done to keep his business going.
Maybe he made the calls for the show and put them aside and the call you ordered is made after the ones for the show. Like if he made 100 calls to sell at the show those are ear marked for the show. Then he makes calls for orders. So while he is sell to people at the show those are what those calls were made for.
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I'm super glad I have been ordering calls from John Sinclair recently.great sound with excellent craftsmanship and the best shipping time in the industry.ordered a new green slate in walnut on Friday and was playing it on Tuesday .
Quote from: davisd9 on February 18, 2018, 02:11:13 PM
Why I have some much respect for Albert Paul. He takes calls for people to try at the shows, but your name goes on the list after those already on the list. Not a fan of waiting on a call that I took my time to order for someone to just walk up and buy it off a table as I still wait. Just my opinion
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Yea that seems like a fair way to do business if you have other buyers waiting on call already.
Unfortunately it's a necessary part of the business model for a lot of craftsmen. It's pretty common in the custom knife market as well. Conventions/shows are a chance to expand their customer base and they are able to make a lot of sales they couldn't through other means. Without calls there to sell, a lot of potential new customers would keep walking to the next booth that did. Someone like Albert Paul is in a different situation. He has a dedicated and established customer base and isn't going to run short on sales any time soon. For those of us sitting on the list it stinks, but if the calls (or whatever other goods) weren't worth the wait, we wouldn't be on the list to begin with.
Quote from: Happy hooker on February 18, 2018, 01:25:23 PM
Yelpy
That's why I rent a cheap P.0. Box,,your ordered items are safe,,,if you have access to one.
Thanks for the idea. I might look into it but is it worth the cost for the po box?
I have to agree with Haymarekt they have to show up at these conventions with product in order to sell so they can get word of mouth sales to people in area's they may not normally sell to.
It would be nice if they would tell you there is going to be a delay though. My advice would be not to order at convention times, order in say late Summer or fall for turkey stuff and Spring and Summer for say deer stuff.
Quote from: guesswho on February 18, 2018, 11:57:13 AM
It's all in the communication. As long as I was told up front it's going to be X number of months, then no problem. I figure the reason it's going to take X number of months is because he has several calls to build to take to the show, even calls like what I ordered. A commitment he made before I placed my order. Now if thy told me 2 months, and 4 months later I still don't have my call then there's an issue that needs to be discussed.
well said and way I am
Very good post. I guess it is possible that --THE JAKE Box went with others to a convention. I start hunting in the 3rd in April-- so perhaps I ordered that box in Early March of 96 or 97. I don't know much about convention dates.
As a small time call maker I'll chime in. Most of us work at least one full time job (I'm a self employed custom builder) so my full time job is more full time than some folks. Most of us have wives and kids, grand kids etc. Most of us have other functions we take part in such as church , lodge, or maybe sports. Most of us spend as much time hunting as we possibly can. Most of us spend as much time in the shop as we can which is never enough and is most times the last free time we spend after everything and everyone else has been addressed. When building calls becomes a burden rather than a joy we are not doing it for the right reasons and our customers are not getting our best work. Again I'm a very small time builder. I keep around 20 people on my list at all times most of which simply say they're in no hurry. I build around a dozen boxes for Unicoi and around two dozen for Nashville. That is in addition to 40/50 pots, 70 strikers and we have added trumpets recently that Clay and I build together. It is a task but a labor of love. Call builders enjoy these shows as much as any visitor could ever imagine. It's our time to be in the spot light. We are a very tight knit bunch and we enjoy these chances to be together and celebrate our craft as a whole. I welcome the chance to have my list customers stop by my table and run calls, picking out their own rather than me sending them what I like. That makes them happy and it clears them off the list. That happened three times at the convention this past weekend. It also gives us a chance to make personal contact and sometimes begin a lasting friendship. I feel that it is normal for a good call maker to have a wait list as well as sell at several shows each year. If someone had the attitude that hey I'm on his list and he's selling calls at the show and its BS then that's probably a guy I couldn't make happy regardless. I refuse to take money beforehand. I feel that some buyers insist on sending the money up front. Maybe they think that will speed up the process. That's not a good idea. If its a click and pay deal on a website Id skip it and deal personally with the builder. Ive always said Id rather have 12 good boxes on my table than a hundred in my shop for sell or a hundred on my table. It can be a slow process.. Hope everyone gets what they ordered from whoever they ordered from. Have a great spring .
Jeff
Shag Hill Custom Calls