Annoying Trend or Annoying Coincidence?

[highnoonhunter]

I had an experience with a bowyer once, when, after my continuos questioning about his product said: Well, I've got bows to build, and I don't have time to stay on the phone all day.

And that is completely understandable. Because we all now how we are, when we're talking about bows and hunting.

So them comes the email era. My thinking is, what a great way to inform potential customers! Just do the emails at your convenience.

But I've had the same trouble as others with emails. Several of them I've never got a reply, some have been months later, after I bought another bow, but very few have been prompt.

Chad Weaver, at recurves.com has been great with returning emails.

The other day I emailed Jim Neaves at Centaur about his bows. He returned my email within around 24 hours, which I feel is very acceptable.
Some may say bowyers are too busy to return emails, but Jim said the wait for one of his bows was about 10 months out, so, that's busy in my opinion, but he still had time to reply.

As for myself, if someone like Chad Weaver or Jim Neaves has time to answer my emails, and inform me before I buy a "pig-in-a-poke", I wouldn't hesitate to buy from them. And the opposite will apply to the others.

hnh

[DAS Kinetic]

Maybe this is a good opportunity to share some ideas about how to improve things for everyone.  One idea that I think could be done is to have an email utility that sends a confirmation back to the sender when an email hits the bowyers inbox.  That way people at least know their message arrived.  I'm not really computer savvy, but maybe some of you can help with tech ideas?

David

[mcgroundstalker]

Don't mean to throw a wrench at this topic but...This is not directed to anyone...Only a reflection of myself...IT'S A BOW!!! GEEEEZZ!!!

I gave alot more thought on the quality of the tires for my wifes car...Or the brand of stove for my kitchen...Or the fact I've got health issues!!!

Sorry...A bow to me is a toy! A tool to be used! Granted I'll want quality tools and pay for them...Don't guys make bows outa boards? Am I gonna call Home Depot and ask the manager about his 2X4s?...

Say Again...This is how I feel...Not pushing it on anyone else... ...

.... mike .... :p

[NDTerminator]

If a custom bow from top name bowyer was "just a bow", I'd buy a 30 year old  solid fiberglass Ben Pearson from a pawn shop instead.

Sure would save a lot of money...

[mcgroundstalker]

I said..."It's A Bow!"...NOT "just a bow"...

Again speaking for myself...Not being critical of you ND Terminator...Sorry...

I own a couple of high end Black Widows myself and use them for all I do in trad archery. Took me a long time not to worry about scratches and stuff like that. Gotta say I learned from the older guys around me to remember your bow "is a bow" and not the most important thing in your life...

Gee Wizz...I get out shot by guys with entry level bows all the time...I'm always in last place at the Muzzy Shoot!...But I had the most fun... ...

On the other hand...Some bow companies are just too big for the personal touch... :( ...PM "me" anytime and I'll always answer ASAP...

>>-----> mike <-----<<  

[Landshark160]

I just bought a Fox longbow used off of Ebay.  I sent them an email asking for the recommended brace height on this particular model.  They not only replied, but WITHIN 20 MINUTES!  Outstanding customer service!

[ChrisS]

Originally posted by DAS Kinetic:
Maybe this is a good opportunity to share some ideas about how to improve things for everyone.  One idea that I think could be done is to have an email utility that sends a confirmation back to the sender when an email hits the bowyers inbox.  That way people at least know their message arrived.  I'm not really computer savvy, but maybe some of you can help with tech ideas?

David

Provided one has a user account on their server and has permission to schedule cron jobs and such, autoresponses can be done trivially. There are many free solutions and perl even has a module for it. The trick would be doing it in a way that wasn't irritating. For example a back and forth correspondence can get annoying quickly with an autoresponse to every message.

Regarding email forms on websites... you guys are correct not to trust them. Most of them are very poorly written. I had to write one for a business once and I was so fed up with pre-existing solutions that I wrote one from scratch. It saved the email to a protected directory. Then a cron job attempted to send all emails in the directory every 10 minutes and did not remove them until they were successfully sent. If there was an error it'd sit there and be resent every 10 minutes until it went through. Most scripts will simply pipe the email into 'sendmail' and not even check for an error code if it fails.

[Lewis Brookshire III]

I have emailed 4 different bowyers before and only one ever replied. I think its just easier to call.

[Benha]

Scott Mitchell of Timberhawk bows is a guy who understood when I had to postpone my bow order for a year because of family circumstances. Then he graciously accepted my order the second time I place it spending hours on the phone helping me decide what wood choices I would be happy with. Then he promises the bow in three months calls a week before the three months is up to let me know he missed weight by about two pounds. He offers to make new limbs if I want him to. I tell him that the weight will be ok and then he apoligizes when he realizes that he will miss the ship date he quoted me by ONE day due to Memorial Day. After I received the bow I called to let him know it arrived at which time he tells me he will call in a week or so to make sure I am satisfied. The entire experience from start to finish was exceptional and I highly recommend Scott to anyone looking for a custom bow.

[NDTerminator]

No problem, Mike.  I just find the whole deal frustrating, hence this thread.

I see this got moved to the Prayer Forum.  Seems a strange place for this subject.  That can mean only one of two things:

A. I should try praying that I'll get an answer
                     or
B. I haven't got a prayer it will happen
                   

[bayoulongbowman]

someone messed this up....

[ROB TAYLOR]

I agree....there are concerns in this thread...but not of the religious type...well maybe, for some...  

Mods, take this one back to the main forum, please.

-Rob

[Traxx]

ND,
Now that was Funny!!!!

[NDTerminator]

Must have worked bringing it over to this forum.  One of the bowyers got back to me!

[dorris]

well I pray for you to get your answers . from KY