American Model Builders are a PITA to work with

[Boba Debt]

With a few exceptions such as thepoynt and Lynn Barlow, my experience with American model builders has always sucked..

I'm trying to commission 4-5 builds and dealing with American builders has been very frustrating

Taking 4-7 days to respond to a message or email, constantly making excuses for why they can't call or reply, etc

I thought Steve Neisen was an outlier but he seems to be the norm

I wanted a Hammerhead, contacted Alfred Wong in Canada and 2 weeks later I had one

I talked to a builder from Greece about a Viper build a he was very receptive and replied quickly despite the time difference.

But I contacted several American builders that advertise on Facebook, etc, and it's like pulling teeth to get them to even reply

 

[modelcitizen]

you're on to us....
it sure seems we like to just talk the talk, don't it? lol

 

[johnfields]

Generalize much?

 

[joberg]

Well, now with the speed of the Internet, people expect answer within minutes after sending an email. Patience is key dealing with people in general. An answer after a week is still faster in my book. I'm from the old gen...so I used to phone and leave voice mails or write (you know, letter, envelope, stamps) and wait 3 weeks for an answer

 

[Lunajammer]

Maybe a slow response is the answer to how jazzed they are about taking your project. If they need time to think about whether it's something they want to get involved in then it might not bode well with how soon or how well it would be returned.

 

[tsenecal]

this isn't unique to resin sci-fi model kit builders. i know of several US individuals that claim to run online websites in other hobbies i have that never answer email, and the only way to physically guarantee that they both got and understand your order is to call them on the phone and repeat until you actually reach a human being and talk to them (never leave a message, it won't be returned). even after that, you will never get any other response from them, and at some point in time a package (with no tracking info provided) will simply arrive at your door, or it won't, and then you get to involve paypal/creditcard/us post office. I also deal with several brits and germans in this other hobby, and they reply promptly, answer emails, and send whatever tracking info they can.

 

[Analyzer]

If they bother to gives themselves a business name and treat themselves like a business they should have better customer service

If they are not answering because they are overwhelmed or for whatever reasons I would think twice about doing business with them. Even a simple "I saw your message, but I will have to get back to you" should be a common courtesy

There are so many horror stories of people getting screwed over by commissioned individuals.

Not all may be malicious, but at the same time, good intentions don't amount to much if they have taken money and not delivered because they are overwhelmed.

I have done commissions and I consider good communication a must.

 

[Captain Dunsel]

Well, now with the speed of the Internet, people expect answer within minutes after sending an email. Patience is key dealing with people in general. An answer after a week is still faster in my book. I'm from the old gen...so I used to phone and leave voice mails or write (you know, letter, envelope, stamps) and wait 3 weeks for an answer

We have all become “A First World Populated By Varuca Salts”, haven’t we?

I, myself, fall into this group, at times.

 

[basementdweller]

I WANT IT NOW!

Given your avatar i was expecting something more along the lines of

and bring it to me YESTERDAY!

 

[Analyzer]

But think of it this way. If you walk into a store and go up to the counter wanting to buy something, but no one will acknowledge you and you keep ringing the bell for help but the employees just keep their backs turned ignoring you, would you want to buy from that store again?

Of course there is a difference between someone doing this as a hobby who might only do the occasional commissions vs someone advertising their "professional" services.

 

[akumazeto]

Yikes I’m a builder and have models in and out from kit to painted to shipped in under a month normally.

 

[Boba Debt]

Yikes I’m a builder and have models in and out from kit to printed to shipped in under a month normally.

Are you saying you take commissions?

 

[akumazeto]

meh. Best of luck

 

[Attirex]

Can I haz that mech? It's really nice.

 

[akumazeto]

Jkirkon um remind you of anyone.

 

[Jkirkon]

Jkirkon um remind you of anyone.

Lol

 

[Boba Debt]

I don't know the context of the conversation the 2 of you are having but if you are laughing my expense you are only proving my point

You're also burning a bridge to a big pile of money but I guess you have so much work that you don't need to create another long term customer


Every niche hobby has a big old pile of arrogant prima donnas and I'm guessing a few have decided to post in this thread

 

[akumazeto]

meh. Best of luck

 

[Jkirkon]

I don't know the context of the conversation the 2 of you are having but if you are laughing my expense you are only proving my point

You're also burning a bridge to a big pile of money but I guess you have so much work that you don't need to create another long term customer


Every niche hobby has a big old pile of arrogant prima donnas and I'm guessing a few have decided to post in this thread

Boba Debt,

Akumazeto and I were not talking about you. I assure you had I been talking about you, I would have addressed you directly.

Regarding your thread title and context of your thread, did you ever stop and think for a moment, that these builders are already booked?
Maybe, they don’t want to deal with an overseas client.
Maybe, they sense a negative attitude from you.

If everywhere you go, you run into a$$holes, maybe it’s YOU that is the a$$hole.

 

[Boba Debt]

I find it hard to believe that you don't seem to know anything about me even though I have been on this forum for 20 years and have helped countless people build beautiful metal blasters via countless Active Projects

I was one of Steve's earliest customers and had one of his Tie Fighters made with real louver material and he built and finished a Capt Cardboard X-Wing for me but the experience was diminished by his lack of communication and extremely long build times

Now about this thread

Recently i decided to dedicate my resources to our model collection

I posted a "help wanted" thread on this forum and got zero replies

I went to Facebook and contacted SEVERAL builders that specifically state that they accept commissions only to have to wait many days to weeks for responses and most of the time they seemed to only make excuses such as

I have X number if builds in work
I just moved and all my stuff is in storage
My email account has been down
etc, etc


However, when I contact foreign builders, they respond within 24 hours, they are responsive to what I want to do and they deliver product

The most recent exception to this is a member that goes by thepoynt, he was responsive and is currently working on 2 of my projects




When you posted, I actually messaged you to see if you wanted to help me with our collection, but then I returned to this thread and saw this exchange

"Jkirkon um remind you of anyone."

To which he replied

"LOL"


It looks like you're taking a passive aggressive swipe at me in my own thread because you misjudged me as a "privileged white spoiled man babies"