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While I'm sharing sucky customer stories, I thought I'd share this one. It's from a year or two ago, but I was just reminded of it. He's not quite a customer, since he never actually bought anything, but I don't know what else to call him.
It actually started roughly five years ago. In 2005, when I was newish to costuming, but had already made a few good costumes for folks. This guy was a friend of one of my very first customers, and I guess he liked her costume, because he came to me looking for one.
We spent a couple of hours hammering out the exact details of how it would look and how much it would cost via IM. When it was all set, he said he'd get me the money next week.
Next week came, no money. I sent him a quick reminder, but he never replied.
I thought nothing of it. This is really very common, I probably discuss four costumes for every one I make, though the flakes don't usually promise payment at a specific time, they just say they'll be back when they're ready to order and that's the last I hear of 'em.
Well, three or four months later this guy IMs me again. He's changed his mind, he wants a different costume. So once again we spend some time, quite a lot of time this time because it's a very bizarre and complicated design. When it's all set, he once again says he'll pay me shortly, and once again vanishes.
A couple of months after THAT he turns up again... you can see where this is going. Over the course of four years we have regular discussions and work out the details of probably a dozen different costumes, most of them very elaborate, but he never buys anything.
Once again not a big deal to me, as this kind of thing is part of the nature of my business. But honestly he's starting to annoy me at least a little bit at this point.
And then the final straw. He IMs me once more. But this time he's not looking to buy a costume, oh no. This time he wants to complain to me about another costume maker.
Turns out he met some guy. Some guy he's just seen around, doesn't know him well, but this guy makes costumes. And this guy promised that he could make the costume of his dreams for the cost of materials plus a carton of cigarettes!
So my "customer" gave him something like $200 to buy fur with. (Reasonable, the stuff is very expensive if you want decent quality.) And a carton of cigarettes. And now it's been months and the guy has dropped off the face of the planet, and he's worried that he'll never get his costume. Oh no!
I honestly was doing this:
This guy has lead me on, promised me money and never delivered, wasted my time, and generally been a total jerk to me for FOUR FREAKING YEARS, and now he expects me to be sorry for him because he wasted his money on some guy who wanted to be paid in cigarettes?!!!!
That was one of the few times I exercised my right as a self-employed person to tell off any customer I care to. I told him exactly what I thought of his stupidity. That $200 was enough for a down payment on a REAL costume from me, a costume he'd actually get. But no, he'd chosen to piss away his money instead. And he had wasted my time for FOUR FLIPPING YEARS, so why should I feel sorry for him? He said that he had "just wanted to dream" and that's why he kept pretending to buy costumes from me.
I told him he was a total moron, and a jerk, and that "wanting to dream" was no excuse to promise business to somebody and then yank it away, and that as far as I was concerned he'd gotten just what he deserved. He called me a few names, and said I was being mean, and that I'd lost his business. I told him "WHAT BUSINESS?" and blocked him from my IM.
It actually started roughly five years ago. In 2005, when I was newish to costuming, but had already made a few good costumes for folks. This guy was a friend of one of my very first customers, and I guess he liked her costume, because he came to me looking for one.
We spent a couple of hours hammering out the exact details of how it would look and how much it would cost via IM. When it was all set, he said he'd get me the money next week.
Next week came, no money. I sent him a quick reminder, but he never replied.
I thought nothing of it. This is really very common, I probably discuss four costumes for every one I make, though the flakes don't usually promise payment at a specific time, they just say they'll be back when they're ready to order and that's the last I hear of 'em.
Well, three or four months later this guy IMs me again. He's changed his mind, he wants a different costume. So once again we spend some time, quite a lot of time this time because it's a very bizarre and complicated design. When it's all set, he once again says he'll pay me shortly, and once again vanishes.
A couple of months after THAT he turns up again... you can see where this is going. Over the course of four years we have regular discussions and work out the details of probably a dozen different costumes, most of them very elaborate, but he never buys anything.
Once again not a big deal to me, as this kind of thing is part of the nature of my business. But honestly he's starting to annoy me at least a little bit at this point.
And then the final straw. He IMs me once more. But this time he's not looking to buy a costume, oh no. This time he wants to complain to me about another costume maker.
Turns out he met some guy. Some guy he's just seen around, doesn't know him well, but this guy makes costumes. And this guy promised that he could make the costume of his dreams for the cost of materials plus a carton of cigarettes!
So my "customer" gave him something like $200 to buy fur with. (Reasonable, the stuff is very expensive if you want decent quality.) And a carton of cigarettes. And now it's been months and the guy has dropped off the face of the planet, and he's worried that he'll never get his costume. Oh no!
I honestly was doing this:
This guy has lead me on, promised me money and never delivered, wasted my time, and generally been a total jerk to me for FOUR FREAKING YEARS, and now he expects me to be sorry for him because he wasted his money on some guy who wanted to be paid in cigarettes?!!!!
That was one of the few times I exercised my right as a self-employed person to tell off any customer I care to. I told him exactly what I thought of his stupidity. That $200 was enough for a down payment on a REAL costume from me, a costume he'd actually get. But no, he'd chosen to piss away his money instead. And he had wasted my time for FOUR FLIPPING YEARS, so why should I feel sorry for him? He said that he had "just wanted to dream" and that's why he kept pretending to buy costumes from me.
I told him he was a total moron, and a jerk, and that "wanting to dream" was no excuse to promise business to somebody and then yank it away, and that as far as I was concerned he'd gotten just what he deserved. He called me a few names, and said I was being mean, and that I'd lost his business. I told him "WHAT BUSINESS?" and blocked him from my IM.
What the hell kinda person DOES THAT?!
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