I took the deer back and spent 4 hours fluffing the hair to try to increase the "perceived girth". I did manage to accomplish what he wanted, or so I thought. He still looked at the pictures and said the deer looked smaller. I again explained every way I possibly could that a dead deer laying in the back of a truck is not necessarily what the deer will look like when mounted. I also tried to explain how when muscles elongate girth is lost and vice versa. In the photos however at 1 or 2 angles the deer looked as accurate a any taxidermist could hope to create, anatomically and size wise. He now says he will get it remounted and have ME pay for it. I told him I will not be paying for anything and he got exactly what he paid for and more. I tried,with no success, to explain that even if he did have it remounted it would not,could not be any bigger. I would not have taken this deer back if it was anyone elses and only did so because I truely felt I could make the deer LOOK bigger and satisfy his need for a bigger buck. When I told him I wouldn't be paying he said he will then pursue other means. I can't see how he could possibly think he has a leg to stand on in court. This is a first for me and I have a splitting headache. Needless to say this guy needs a new taxidermist. Again this is the first deer he has ever had mounted.
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problem in the future by noting this information on the customer Invoice, especially while he/she is present. I record the nose to eye, nose to burr, nose to main beam tip, skull length and both neck measurements. You can record these measurements before skinning....so that when the mount is completed you can prove that you have matched/exceed these measurements when received. I do this for all trophies...especially black/brown/grizzly bears.....length to tail and width at front claws when laid out....that way there is absolutely no question as to the size of the trophy when picked up.
Have them intitial or sign the invoice "after" recording this info in their presence. Think of it.....you record the length of fish by the inch...so you can determine a price.....why not measure everything else in the presence of the client. Walla...no more probs
...friend? What a J.O.!
I wouldn't worry about it. There's no sense in worrying over something you can't control. (I know, that's easy for me to say huh?) You've done your best to make him happy. Unfortunately you drew a customer that's NEVER going to be happy.
Once he realizes the hassle and expenses involved with taking you to court, he's most likely NOT going to bother anyways. A lot of people make empty threats when they're angry. And even if he does, the worst case scenario (you lose) isn't the end of the world in the whole realm of things anyways. It's simply not worth busting a blood vessel over...
Ya know, I keep trying to tell myself that but I still got that headache. I'm figuring if he does get it remounted, wouldn't his evidence now be destroyed. How could he possibly try to convince a judge my mount was too small if he doesn't have it to prove it. Can't help it, I'm a worry wart I guess.
I posted this a while back. I did a Pike Replica for a friend of a friend. He was very happy with the job I did. 4 months later I guess the novelty wore off. I caught wind that he was certain his fish was bigger (of course). I talked to him and told him how to measure it accurately and he simply doesn't believe it measures (and wouldn't even pull it down to measure it.)
I told him I spoke with the manufacturer and he assured me it was dead on. There was no convincing this kid. So, I decided to smother him with niceness. I told him if he doesn't believe it's a fair representation of his fish, that I'd take it back and finish him a bigger one with no additional charges.
Being a true friend of a true friend he felt guilty and wouldn't think of it! (it worked!) Besides, personally I think he enjoys bragging to his friends that "his was bigger".
In the future if I have any problems. I'll state my case. And if that doesn't work, I'll immediately go to the "whatever you want me to do to make you happy routine". Many will feel guilty and will probably NOT call your bluff.
In your case. It appears as though it dragged on to the point where you were both "tinkling into the wind". You weren't going to satisfy this guy. Maybe it would've worked early on. But now, he'll take you up on your offer if you make it - he's mad.
What's the worse case scenario at this point Jim? He takes you to court and wins. You're out ~$500 bucks. That's about 1/10,000th of the income you're going to make over the course of your career.
Crack a beer and forget about it!
I have had customers just like your friend. I've also been on the other end, most recently with a tannery. Prepare yourself for a small claims verdict with plenty of valid paperwork and maybe a professional witness. For future customers, include in your contract a clause that states ..."to the best of my ability"... Then no one can come back on you later if they accept the contract. Have a copy of the contract noterized to back you up. Good luck
Since taxidermy is considered an "art" form and open to the taxidermists version of what the deer looked like your friend can NOT win in court. This has been proven many times in court, and any lawyer will tell you this. It might be worth the friendship and bad mouthing he would do or is doing putting a bigger cape on the deer and remounting it but I doubt it; he will just tell others he "made you" remount a bad mount, which is not true. Besides, he only has subjective photos, not measurements except the ones you took. You have been nice and honest with him , time to cut him loose and go on and just try to forget about it. People know you and if you are known as a honest and good taxidermist with a clean shop this will have no effect on your business long term. If you give your friends discounts I hope this is your big time wake up call; to everyone else also!
pictures seem to make things larger than it actually is. tell him to take a picture of his wife and compare the picture to his wife. make sure he doesnt tell his wife that she looks big in the picture or else. if the person is behind the animal while taking a picture the animal is going to look big. you know how it is on tv when the fisherman hold the bass up to the camera.
He is a moron / idiot and tell him I said so..This type of person is a total nightmare,you should of known no matter what you do it's not going to be right and he will never make him happy..Waste no more time, Tell him "SEE-YA-N-COURT"
Your customer has no proof to show a judge anyway so this isn't worth worrying about.Even a lesser educated judge could figure out that there are occurances that can't be perfect.This is why I won't do household pets.You could imagine all of they suits you would probably have. Don't worry about it and let him find another person to deal with.Sooner or later he will not find anyone to do his mounts!
Jim E-mail me I can Help you.
We have all Been through the gambit. And probably will again. I have had customers come in to pick up fish, and see another larger specimen hanging on the wall. They swear the larger one is theirs. They even go so far as to identify spot pattern that they claim they remember. Now we all know the taxidermist paints the spot pattern on the fish, so it could not be one they remember. but they still swear to God that it was theirs. I had one fellow swear a larger bear mount was his. He knew because I used a Clinched mouth form from Buckeye. and it had a bump between the eyes. He swore his bear had that bump. He argued with me to the point he was threatening me. He even had pictures of the bears, His was taken with his 9 year old grandson from 10 feet away. The other was taken with an adult man of 6 feet tall and 240 pounds from 20 feet away. in the pictures his bear really looked to be the bigger bear. I told him to go home and get a bit of the meat, he said it was gone, but he had the claws. I sent a claw, and bits of hide from the back of each bear mount in individual packages with control numbers on each package to Sunrise laboratories for DNA testing. in his presents. I told him that if the DNA came back that I was wrong. I would give him the larger bear. However If I was not wrong. He would have to pay for the cost of testing before getting his bear. To make a long story short. I was right, he was wrong, he paid the $150.00 for the testing. and Has had me do 5 more mounts since. And referred clients to me. But I have learned from it. When a customer comes to pick up a mount. His is the only one on display.
When you get in business your going to have to except the fact that you are going to meet people like that.It happens to everybody.It will pass.Just be professional.I had a customer bring me a buck he said the processor said when about 230 ibs. and i knew it would only go 170 lbs. at best.I should have told him but i did not. well the guy got his mount back he lost it. the bucks size grew in his mind during the mounting time . he yelled at my wife and went around telling everybody i was the worst taxidermist in the world.I called him on the phone and toid him like it was.I found out from others that he is a well known hot head. The next time i saw him i could believe how nice he was to me.He has since been a model customer. If your guy stays mad at you tell yourself it is out of your control.ITs just the way some people are. All you can do is do quility work and treat people fair.
Tell him to Blow You!
Jim,
I had the same problem 3 years ago. Customer had a friend pick up his mount. A few days later he called me & told me that his deer weighed X # of lbs & this was not his cape, he also stated that there were some scars on the mount & his cape was perfect. He also said that his "buddies" were harassing him about shooting such a small bodied deer. I told him the cape was his & there was no way there could have been a mix up but to bring it back & I would look at it. The scars he mentioned were hair patterns. I also told him when he brought it back that just maybe the neck looked smaller because he had me widen the antlers 2"! Duh. Obviously he thought it was small to begin with. Anyways I went ahead & remounted it with a larger cape against my better judgement. You know what, he has never returned. Forget the guy.
beer idea best here. Call his bluff about the court thing and wish him luck as he will need it.