You Have To Be Kidding?

Less

SGF, Supreme Grumble Framer
Joined
Jun 23, 2002
Posts
2,706
Loc
ZZ
I just got off the phone with a woman with the most outrageous request to date. LOL

She says she lives in Manhattan (80 mile away). She found me on the Internet. She wants to know if I can build an octagon frame for a mirror. It's not something that I have done, but I told her I could handle it. I asked her if she had a home in the area. She replied, no, but you can ship it to me. Here is the kicker. She says that she wants to supply the molding. I hesitatingly asked her where she was getting the molding. She asked me if I ever heard of Michael's? LMAO. I could not believe me ears. Michael's could not make the octagon frame but agreed to sell her length. LOL. She wanted to know how much it would cost. I kindly declined my first job.

Where's my Unseal

Maybe this was an Emibub joke.
 
I got the call from her about 4 hours ago........
she didn't mention about using her moulding.
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Less, I'm not sure where "ZZ" is, but if it's 80 miles from Manhattan it can't be too near Michigan. Is she going to call California next?
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Rick
 
Sooner or later, if you're in business long enough, ya hear it all...

Without going into details, we've had this sort of request a number of times over the years. In this instance, our polite reply would be that ...

Yes, we could do the job no problem. And that the price would be the same whether she or we supplied the moulding.

Oh, and yes ... the addendums are:
1) We never lost a single one of these "special" orders,
2) We never lost money on any of them and
3) We never got additional business from these oh so special people. (Perhaps because of #2 ;) )

"Business", as they say, "is business".
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I can't beleive Micheal's or any of us would 1: sell moulding to a customer because they(or us) couldn't do the job or 2: admit we couldn't do the job!

I believe the only rule I was told when taking this business is to never turn down a job. If you can't do the job, learn how!

I think the premise is if one customer asks for the job she'll have 5 freinds who will want the same thing!
 
When I was working at a Fast Frame, the local Michael's didn't know how to wrap fabric.... so of course they sold the couple a funky frame and liner without fabric.... just primed... and sent them to me to sell them the fabric and wrap it...

We talked a bit, and realized that the 1" liner was wrong for a 48"x60" Bearstat painting... original..

So they just leaned the new frame and liner up against the wall and said, "you'll find some way to recycle these". I about dropped my teeth.

With in the hour we had picked a nice fabric for the 2-1/2" low scoop and 5" wide Louie XVI, CC frame. I sent flowers the next day to the girls at Michael's as a thank you.

One of the gals ended up buying that Fast Frame.
 
Michael's does not carry in their shops (no way to chop them) or sell moulding in length. Won't even sell one side of a frame, you have to order all 4 pieces. Rather, you have to pay for all 4 pieces. Maybe she ordered a really big frame, unjoined, and calling it length moulding? Curious!
 
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