Long Arm Quilting: Return to Sender

You know, I really debated whether to post this or not tonight, because I don't want to end up sounding like a witchy, spiteful harpy. In the end, I decided this particular incident was worth sharing because... well, quilting isn't all roses and sunshine.  Now, mind you... I do still hold some things back.  There's a difference between sharing the good/bad/ugly and just plain gossiping.  I hope that I have enough sense not to embarrass someone or make them feel ashamed when I post something, or air my dirty laundry just so I can say I'm being open and transparent.  You guys don't get EVERYTHING but you get enough; but in this case, I just think it's worth telling my side of this story (as far as I can see it) in case anyone ever has a question about the way I run my business.

Let me bring everybody up to speed: last fall, I decided to invest in a long arm machine, and after reading a lot of forums and information, the consensus was that you needed to get about 200-300 hours quilting on it before you could start taking in customer projects.  Well, with all the things I have going on, I knew that there's no way I could make quilt tops fast enough to get in that much practice.  I decided that to accelerate the learning process, I needed to practice on quilts that other people have made. So between October 15 and December 1, I decided to offer "free" quilting to anyone who sent their quilts in by the deadline, and agreed to follow my rules. I thought it would be fun (and for the most part it has been) and I'd learn a lot in a short period of time (which I have already.)

Now one of the very, very basic rules that I asked people to follow was to not send me anything in expectation of a delivery date. You get it when you get it, as I can fit them in with the other things I'm doing, and working around the clients who pay me to make quilts for them. Of course anyone has the option to ask me to return their quilt at any time (no harm, no foul) or could pay me to do the quilting (price list is here) and immediately jump to the front of the list.  I have NEVER missed a customer deadline; I've always tried to accommodate people, and when I make a mistake I own up to it and correct it to the best of my ability.

I feel like I've been making pretty good progress at a decent pace on my quilting. Since the deadline was December 1, NO ONE was getting quilted before then.  I did want to practice on a couple of mine first before digging into someone else's quilt, plus I needed to order thread (so much cheaper to order 30 spools at once than one spool every other week, trust me), Darcy needed surgery, I had Fall Market to attend and get out the Christmas orders.  I've been getting about two free quilts done a month, in addition to the 2-3 customer & studio projects.  That's a quilt every week, which isn't bad for someone holding down a full-time job and running another company too!

But something happened today that is just beyond the pale, and I'd like to explain what happened and how I handled it, because I'm pretty sure that someone else, somewhere, will have to deal with a difficult situation, like this, and wonder how someone else might handle it in the same position. So here's the story.

Back in November, I got a phone call from someone who found out about the free quilting offer, and asked if she could drop off her quilts and get on the list. At the time, I was at Fall Market, so I told her she could drop them off at my mailing office and I'd pick them up when I got back.  I also gave her a brief summary of the rules but told her I would email her the complete information so she would know what was up.

I did that, thought everything was fine, and continued bopping along.  Regular readers know that I post at least 1-2 times a week about what's going on in the studio, who's up next, who just got done, etc. Well, this person isn't on the computer very much, so she asked me to just email her when they got done.  No problem!

You all know that I have 30 free quilts to do.  Some are gonna be done early, some later, and some in the middle somewhere.  I do want everyone to get their quilts back by Christmas, so I expect to pick up the pace a little more in the summertime - but in the mean time, I'm just bopping along.

She emailed me again about a month later (gosh - how fast time flies!) and asked if her quilts were done.  So I said no... but offered the option to send them back if she was in a hurry, or said she could pay for the quilting & go right to the front of the list. She declined and just said, "I don't want you to forget about me."  Nope, I won't! I have 30 to do... they are all hanging in the closet nice & neat... not gonna get lost or forgotten... So I continued bopping along!

Now... fast forward to today.  I was out running errands and stopped by the local quilt shop to show off my magazine submission quilt.  One of the ladies in the shop told me that this woman had called them, asked if they'd heard of me, and then proceeded to complain to them about how long I'd had her quilts.

WHA?!?!?!

Can I just express how annoyed I was at that?  I mean, on one hand... YES I've had everybody's quilts for a long time and I do feel guilty about keeping people waiting... but on the other hand, I have been completely up front and open with everyone, I'm sharing what I'm learning, I'm showing progress, and I'm not holding anybody's quilt hostage. As long as everybody is cool and in agreement still, we can continue on; the minute someone is not cool and no longer wants to wait, all you have to do is ask me for your quilt and I am HAPPY to oblige. 

But calling local companies where I do business, to badmouth me, when I'm not doing anything wrong?  That's just so... so... NOT COOL.  And it makes me sad to have my reputation marred because someone decided to take a passive-aggressive approach and talk about me behind my back, meanwhile sending me sweet little emails with smiley faces and wishing me a good day in the sunshine.  How many other places has she called to sully my name, where I don't know the people well enough to be able to overcome her smear?

So... tonight, I wrote a very professional email to her, letting her know how saddened I was to hear from someone else how unhappy she was, and in order to prevent any further anxiety or unhappiness, I was packing up her quilts and sending them back unfinished at my own expense.  I sealed the box this evening, put it by the door for my errand running tomorrow, and can honestly say I haven't felt such relief at sealing a box containing unfinished work since I sent off the Queen Sized Monstrosity last year to someone else to quilt.  :)

I've taken away several things from this situation, which I'll summarize here:

1. ALWAYS remain professional.  Sometimes your first inclination isn't always the best.  I've probably slipped up more than once in this post.  Maybe I'm being a little passive-aggressive & hypocritical too by sending a professional email but blasting her on my blog.  So, do as I say, not as I do.  :)
2. Know when to cut your losses.  Difficult customers are rarely worth the trouble it takes to keep them. I'm not suggesting that lodging a complaint makes one a difficult customer, but the way people handle conflict and disagreements usually gives you a good idea of what to expect in the future. If someone behaves like this when your services are free, imagine what it would be like once they actually give you money and the expectations are different.
3. Don't start none, won't be none.  Because from time to time, I have to demonstrate that I am, indeed, turning into my mother as I get older. But for me what this really means in this situation is that - if you don't allow people to treat you like crap when they are paying you, don't put up with it when you're giving away your time, talent, and energy either. There's just too much negativity in the world already to willingly allow yourself to be a source, conduit, or recipient of it.

Now... some really awesome roses & sunshine DID happen today, but I'll save that for a separate post because I don't want to remember both events as tied together in any way.

And if you've made it this far... what do you think? How might you have handled the situation?

And if you're someone who has a quilt with me and now you're too scared to ask for it back - don't be.  I realize that Christmas is potentially a really long time to wait to see your quilt again, and it's ok if your sense of adventure and mystery is on a very short leash.  I promise not to blast you if you ask me, but if you call my local quilt shop instead of me... all bets are off.  :)

To endless possibilities,

Ebony