"But why can't you use my bottom mat...."

Create a Post
Rozmataz

Rozmataz

SGF, Supreme Grumble Framer
Joined
Jun 13, 2002
Posts
2,773
Loc
Fingerlakes Region of NYS
I have heard this before but today when I heard it and explained it had to do with the process involved of mat cutting... she still asked again and then again. Short of taking her in the workshop and demonstrating....

I was getting a little annoyed... since it is an old 12 x 14 piece and I probably spent 1/2 hour (more than the average design time on a real piece!! other thread referenced)... She did buy a new double mat but also wants it in a hurry... Friday seemed inconvenient but she accepted that timing.

Thanks for listening...
 
Grrrrr....I know how you feel. That would be like me going to my mechanic for an oil change & asking, "Can't you just wash out the old oil filter & reuse it so I don't have to pay for a new one?" This kind of stuff drives me bonkers. I have never had anyone argue about it, & they most always go for two new mats, but it is still annoying.

Keep Grumblin'....
 
And:
"Why do I have to pay just as much for the bottom mat, when I'm only getting a quarter inch?"

"Can we use this piece of glass I already have?" (Often, it's a piece of tempered glass shelving, and can't be cut to size. One time, it was a piece of bulletproof lexan.)
 
what bugs me is that when you explain to them why you can't use the bottom mat again, and they look at you like you are lying to them so that you can make a sale......
 
Sure you can use the bottom mat again.

"Let's see, I have to take it apart with out tearing it. spend extra time aligning it with the new top mat. That will be three times as much as buying a new bottom mat, but no problem if that is the way you want to go."

Maybe that will take care of it. Maybe not.
 
J paul

And who is responsible for the old bottom mat and the new top mat not being the same shape? A square cut on one mat cutter vs your mat cutter.
 
Originally posted by JFeig:
J paul

And who is responsible for the old bottom mat and the new top mat not being the same shape? A square cut on one mat cutter vs your mat cutter.
Click to expand...
Exactly, but what customer in their right mind is going to pay you more to reuse their existing mat than to replace it with a new one. OH yea! we are not dealing with rational people to begin with in this case.

The comment was really suppose to be sarcasmn.
shrug.gif
icon21.gif
I know it hard to hear the inflection in my voice over the net.

If you simply tell people that because of "this and that" it is going to cost "thus and so" I think it would end the problem in most cases. They probably are not sentimental over the bottom mat, just trying to save a buck or two, seeing they won't save anything they should be able to move on.

So instead of saying that it cost 3 times as much, as in my first reply, say it costs (insert # up to 999 times as much ((sarcasmn again)) and stick to it.)
icon45.gif
faintthud.gif
 
Here's one for ya. I sell alot of closed corner frames in my shop. Most framemakers require a 6ft minimum charge. When I tell the client that they are going to be charged for 6 ft on their 8x10 frame some inquire if they can get the remainder of the moulding then? They don't understand that they are paying for the labor and not the materials in this case.

And how about the ones that insist that they should get the fallouts from their mats.
 
Reminds me of the first picture I framed completely myself. I had to make it challenging. It was double matted with two openings – AND I used one of those dexter chromed things pushed along a straight edge. First try was a flop. The second try was good enough since the picture was for me.

A week later I had a real mat cutter!
John
 
How about fitting? I think that's an area that is way under priced and yet it's often questioned. Why so much to just clean the glass or put on a wire? I tried explaining the process once only to have the customer repeat, " I'm not paying that much just to have you clean the glass" I don't bother anymore. It's not worth it.
 
When I was little and asked my mom "why?" the answer was usually "because I said so, that's why".

There are some people I would just love to use that on.
 
Originally posted by HannaFate:
One time, it was a piece of bulletproof lexan.
Click to expand...
Actually, Lexan® and other polycarbonate resins cut easily with a table saw, band saw, jig saw, etc, much like wood.
 
Originally posted by briank:
And how about the ones that insist that they should get the fallouts from their mats.
Click to expand...
It saves me from carrying them to the dumpster.

I usually offer them all the fall outs from that days cutting.

After that, oddly enough they don't want any of them.
 
Originally posted by Mecianne:
Grrrrr....I know how you feel. That would be like me going to my mechanic for an oil change & asking, "Can't you just wash out the old oil filter & reuse it so I don't have to pay for a new one?"
Click to expand...
Sorry Mecianne, I personally don't see it the same way.... For the end of the 80s all of the 90s and untill 2003, my wife and I had Filter "1" oil filters in our cars. Which with our combined 379,000 miles that kept over 120 oil filters out of the landfill. (Now they recycle the filters and we don't have those vehicles anymore)

I would liken reusing that bottom mat, which has been sucking up all the funky off-gassing.....
more to re-using toilet paper, or facial tissues or

I could go on, but I'm getting the "stink eye" from my wife and just got smacked on the back of the head.... I think she's going to work and wants a kiss.
party.gif
:D
 
ok, ok, ok, Baer...point taken.

(Thank your wife for me. At least she can do what I only wish I could** ;) :D )


**smacking you on the head...not kissing you...(oh, dear lord...I almost set myself up for a real good comeback!)
 
even if its cut on a cmc (and, thus, theoretically perfectly square) sometimes its glued/mounted down so well it's next to impossible to get the top mat off.
it's just not worth it---shoptime being what it is.
 
Create a Post
Back
Top