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Bob's Tackle Shack

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Guys...

 

Anyone know what is going on with Bob's Tackle Shop?  I have two orders pending for over a month, a few others do as well.  I know they take time to make as well.

 

Cannot get a return call, email, instant message, nothing. 

 

If there's a family issue or something I get it, just let us know. 

 

Would like an update, paid for it, but don't have it ... I read good things on this board and thread, but not seeing it in real life. 

 

Thanks

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I had a similar issue, but I eventually got my molds but it did take about a month. It is frustrating because he used to be very easy to get a hold of but now it seems like he isn't even trying to return customer calls/messages. I fully understand these guys are busy but it is just poor customer service, no two ways about it. It takes very little time to send a short email. I mean as terrible as Del-mart is they at least have somebody to answer the phone/return emails even if all they do is BS you.

It stinks because I have a lot of BTS molds and they are great molds but it worries me that at some point it's gonna be a multi month process just to get a mold. And without being able to get in touch with someone that can become frustrating for the customer. I'm not trying to bash anyone, because Bob certainly went above and beyond when I had an actual issue, I just hate seeing people spending hundreds of dollars with a company and not be able to talk to someone at said business about their order.

Edited by FATFLATTIE
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I did finally get a reply today. I used the "contact us".  All the email said is it would ship today. 

 

Not sure what's going on.  I'm easy to get along with, I just want to be updated on stuff, that's al.  I don't even care if it takes a month, as long as I know. 

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My un-sugar coated view.

 

I hear you on lack of communication and its is a very frustrating thing to deal with. When it comes to Bob and Del.....expect it! To be honest, I have had the same issues several times over the past 20+ years...its all part of the process and you just have to deal with it. Bob and Del are the very first to make VERY, VERY AFFORDABLE CNC'd extremely high quality aluminum molds available to the G.P. (Not enough thanks is given to these guys) These two fellas don't make a living on cutting aluminum molds for us fisherman, they have much larger, higher PRIORITY things to tend to first. Time on the phone and responding to emails pulls them away from getting their work done.......if you want a fast response and turnaround there are many other suppliers/manufactures out there aimed directly towards this hobby. But for me.....I'll GLADLY take the lack of communication/and wait in exchange for the product I'm getting. Bob and Del...kinda like the Seinfeld episode with the "Soup Nazi" The abuse people have to go through to get the very best ;)

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Well to be clear a promise made should be promise kept too many times the business model that is being followed is wrong in many ways but I agree to the extent that they make a good product but that can be said of all mold makers out there so not sure if that is the most important aspect of the issue.

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communication goes along way, just makes for good business.  

 

Maybe; a mass email to customers gathered from a database, based off of previous sales.   One could post on website & facebook page; simply stating; thanks for the strong support through sales, but production is currently 3-4 weeks behind.  

 

stay strong boys

Edited by elrat69
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I do not know Bob or how he runs his shop, but I can tell you that it destroys your work flow to stop constantly to answer calls and emails.  Its why I ask everybody to use the contact form on the website, and thereafter to use email. I can atleast respond to emails between creative stretches or when I am taking a breather between tasks.   

 

Anyway, a call while I am working doing CAD or CAM can cost me a lot more than the few minutes to answer the call.  That's if I am lucky enough for it to be a short call I can answer quickly.  A lot of people want to call and chat endlessly.  Many of them never even buy anything.  It takes a different mind set be chatty and talk with people than it does to do the work flow to create a part.  If I answer the phone and have a five minute call it might take me several times that long to get back in my work flow.  If I can't drop right back in I may miss something that doesn't show up until I am taking a part off the machine.  That costs even more and puts everybody's work behind.  Just handful of short interrupting calls in a day while I am working will cost me hours and creates multiple chances to make a mistake.

 

Maybe you are different and can instantly switch from doing chatty social sales gab to doing intense focused detail work, but I can't.  I suspect a lot of others who do this kind of work take a minute or ten to adjust and get back in the flow as well. 

 

My solution is to not publish my phone number and ask everybody to use the contact form on the website for initial contact.  If they want to chat I'll gladly call them back when it won't interrupt my work flow.  I can give them my full attention then.  However, most people who want to talk don't answer their phone.  I have to leave a number and we are right back where we started. 

 

Its a tight rope act.  I prefer email for everything except maybe an early chat for people who want to get a feel for me before sending me money.  Email is also easy to back check and see what was said if a mistake was made.  Even then if somebody sends me generally the same email two or three times in a week "is it done yet, is it done yet, is it done yet," I'll relegate them to the once a week response group.  It still takes time, and time is precious. 

 

I've been a licensed contractor for 22 years with employees, subcontractors, all different kinds of customers, constant interruptions, and all of those headaches.  In my machining business I want to be one guy with my hand full of machines making parts.  I like making parts.  I like doing creative CAD/CAM work.  I'm not going to hire a receptionist, and I'm not going to answer the phone while my head is immersed in a project.  I do answer emails and contact form requests fairly quickly, but I don't get a lot of hounding, so its not an unreasonable task. 

 

As to the "is it done yet," and "when will it be done," requests.  Sometimes I don't know.  Since I do about 95-99% custom work I often only have a guess about how long a project will take when I start on it.  Some that I thought I could do in a couple hours wind up taking a couple days.  Others I think will take days wind up being easy.  Most aren't that far off, but since I typically have several weeks work at any given time there are always a few surprises in the current jobs list.  All jobs are done in the order that they are paid, unless something prevents the current job from being done like waiting on customer provided hardware. 

 

Anyway, Bob might be able to do something like posting on a website or a Facebook page to alleviate fears and anxiety, but he might not see that as just information the way you do.  He might fear that it will be perceived as a public sign of weakness that will cost him business or be exploited by competitors.  The reason he might see it that way is because its true.  Its not a sign of weakness.  People will be swayed by it and people will exploit it.  I've been in business literally my entire life, and I've seen how people can be sometimes. 

 

Its tough, and if I had him doing work for me I would want regular updates, but I can see why he might not.  Its not just bait making business either.  I have two new small high speed CNC machines and a bigger lathe coming... someday.  I ordered them back in early January.  The CNC machines just hit port on the 19th, and it will be another month before I see them because I have a check list I want done before they are delivered.  I haven't even heard any news on the lathe in a month.  Trust me.  My anxiety level is high about it.  Just like yours. 

 

I am also into airguns.  No, not little Daisy spring guns, but serious airguns that can get into the couple thousand dollar range.  Guns that can take big game, or multiple small game, or make shots at a couple hundred yards.  This is a post recently seen on one custom builder/modifiers FaceBook page.  I understand how he feels sometimes. 

 

 

Mac 1 Airgun Distributors

I'm behind in my work for sure. Please avoid the temptation to call, email, text or whatever me and ask me how things are going. I'm being assasinated by the phone. It should not stress me out but it does just the same. Lately people have decided the high fire game works and it has tormented me drastically. Did I mention I'm behind? Please understand it will take some time to get out of the mess I'm in and I need everyone to take a deep breath and realize you are taking me OFF the bench when you send me emails, texts, voicemail or any Facebook post etc. ANYTIME someone demands my time I get further behind. When it gets to the point where I'm losing sleep and getting stressed out I beg people to let me work. It is my JOY to do thje mechanicals. It is my nightmare that people don't realize they are helping to shut me down by thinking it is OK to have many communications for a Repair. I keep track of the time I spend on the phone each day. If it exceeds 50% I'm in big trouble. Recenbtly it has gone into the 60%tile. That means I'm toast and can't get this bus off my chest. PLEASE LET ME WORK! My sanity depends largely on your kindness and consideration. I'm a hard worker but I'm one guy! Please give me a chance to get caught up. I PROMISE I WILL CALL YOU WHEN I'M DONE. Thank YOU!
TimmyMac1

 

One custom airgun builder (Quackenbush) has stopped taking orders while he finishes his list of guns to build.  I understand. 

 

Anyway, before you get to judgemental with those of us who build things for you please try to understand that we have many of the same stresses and emotions as you do.  Sometimes your anxiety causes us anxiety. Anxiety does not help the work flow. 

Edited by Bob La Londe
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Bob makes a really good point.

I used to run construction work for a very anal guy, my father, back in the days before cellphones.

He would call several times an hour, with some detail question that popped into his head.

I could never get anything done.

So, one day, I stopped answering the phone, and he got in his car and drove to the jobsite to see why I wasn't answering.

We had a very intense "discussion".  The gist of it was me telling him I couldn't work and talk on the phone at the same time, and that he needed to call much less frequently if he wanted me to get anything done.  We wound up having morning and afternoon calls, and it forced him to make a list of stuff as he thought of it, instead of jumping on the phone immediately.

Cellphones, which I started using after I had my own business, are a double edged sword.  I had a dozen for my employees at one time.

They do make communication easier.  I limited minutes to 15 a day, so the employees paid for anything over that, to discourage chitchat on my dime.

The problem is, as the golfer Freddy Couples once said, when the phone rings there's probably someone on the other end who wants to talk.

And I needed work, not talk.

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P.S.  My wife is having shoulder surgery tomorrow morning.  I will lose all work time tomorrow.  In addition for the next few weeks I'll have to be her left arm.  That means work will get done, and new jobs will be quoted and added to the job list when paid, but the normal 6-8 week lead time will be stretched out to as much as 12-14 weeks.  If things go well it might not be that bad, but she will come first.  Work will still get done in the order that it was paid.  For anybody who already has work on my jobs list, I have to adjust the work lead time I told you.  I am sorry, but she just told me on Wednesday morning that her surgery had been moved up.  

Edited by Bob La Londe
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I'm strictly "old School" philosophy when it comes to business/customers. Return correspondence within 24-48 hrs  bydeveloping a standard e-mail response to ordering customers that  expedite response time .Don't take customers for granted or you may loose them .Don't  tell folks 2 weeks when it may take 3-4 months- depending upon the custom CNC molds you order.

 

There are only a few,really competent,custom CNC mold manufacturers and this is their busy time of the year

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I don't want to chat for hours about stuff, but if I contact a person/company through their website to ask if the measurements on a particular bait are in the mold or hanging I should GET A RESPONSE. An email is a very simple and quick thing to do. I'm not asking for an immediate response either, just an actual response within a week's time is more than reasonable. To simply not respond to customer emails is poor customer service, I don't care how anyone tries to spin it. Like I said earlier, I fully understand how hard these mold makers work but don't tell me that at some point in a week's time you can't take the time to respond to emails. I am also one that just appreciates honesty and if the molds will take two or three months to get to me so be it, just tell me and don't B.S. me (here's looking at you Del). Simply not responding tells the customer they aren't important enough to bother with and that is a very poor impression to leave with someone (whether that's the intention or not). I know to a lot of people a couple hundred dollars is nothing but to me it's a lot of money and if I'm gonna spend what little spare money I have I'd like to have some way to get in touch with the person/company I spent that money with. I don't feel like that's asking too much.

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If I did not answer my phone, Id be out of business quick. You will be surprised How much business your loosing by not displaying your phone number, Real people want to talk to real people, Plain as that. But hey, to each there own. But you don't crap, in the same bowl you eat from...

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If I answered the phone all day long I would not get any work done.  If I don't get any work done I would be out of business.  

 

I like email.  I can (and do) respond quickly and thoroughly and nothing is lost or mis-remembered.  Its all there in black and white.  

 

Look at it this way.  If I am working on a project and you call you expect me to drop everything I am doing this instant and answer your call paying you 100% of my attention this instant.  By emailing I do not have my work flow destroyed, and when I respond you do get 100% of my attention.  

 

Comments about spin and crapping in your bowl are just insulting and do nothing to get work done.  We are all more productive if we try to understand both our customers and our vendors.  If the way they do business doesn't suit you that's ok.  There are other vendors, but there is no reason to get nasty about it.  

 

I would note that a lot of people seem to have trouble writing down their own email address correctly and I have to spend time hunting them down to respond to them, a lot of folks don't answer the phone after they have requested a call back, and a lot of people seem to have a problem with writing down what they want.  Almost like its telegraph and they are getting charged by the letter.  

 

Now as I said before I do not know Bob, and I don't know how he does business or what problems he may have.  All I can do is try to explain a little bit about how things are from my own perspective.  You can choose to understand or not.  It is your choice.  Nobody is twisting your arm.  Makers are not retailers.  Makers are makers.  They are most productive when making things.  

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The analogy is meant as you dont treat the guys feeding you like crap. Like I said to each there own. Any productive business has someone to answer the phone. Way I look at it, if you cant afford to do that your just a hobby. This is not directed towards you specifically Bob. Just in General.

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If anyone thinks they are feeding Bob then you will be disappointed to know you probably are not. He was one of the first guys that made large molds for bigger company's. Other than Zorn. I know he is and has a very large on going relationship and awhile back they wanted him to work for them exclusively. If that is now the case then we all lost.

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I live down the road from BTS and Basstackle, I am in and out of both of their shops all the time. Yes I have told Bob about this thread. I was in Bobs shop today and he said he is getting caught up. These guys both do big production molds that range $5-$15k a piece so they may have a machine tied up for a long time. Be patient and u will get a very good product!

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