Well we are coming upon a new hunting season and I am looking forward to again possibly doubling my shoulder mounts for deer. This being my fourth year in business, i plan on writing up a new customer policy on deer capes. I have been getting some in that once i thaw them out and upon closer exam, have slipping....short capes....knife cuts...etc..that are customer faults. As I said i am now in the process of writing a new policy for customers that states when capes are thawed and problems are found, the customer is immediately contacted and notified of extra charges for sewing, trying to prevent slipping, ANY extra time and work put into the cape. If they do not want to pay extra, I will return the cape minus their 50% deposit. Just wondering if some of yall good folk out there had similar policies to this?
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I had the same problem. Now I tell them to plan to thaw the cape a day before bringing it in. "Yall good folk" might indicate that you are from the South. In this case, you might have to make the thaw time shorter. I usually get 1 or 2 southern capes and they seem to hold up pretty good.
Curious as to how many deer you take in? Im in my second year and hope to double also.
My contract states that I have full authority to repair any damages and to repair such damages at standard rates. I, of course, notify the customer of any extra work that needs done. Jeff F.
Mike, 50% deposit lost if they don't want to pay extra for hidden damage? I don't think so. This kind of charge is not fair and the first time someone takes you to small claims court over it you will lose for sure. Think about it. Just how much work is it to thaw out a cape, look at it and see that it is cut up too bad and call the customer about it? That's what you claim is worth 50%. Now, if you are charging $350 for a deer you are claiming $175 for doing almost nothing. If you want to be decent about it simply give the customer a price assuming "no hidden problems" and on your contract write "received frozen". Also on the contract you can have a line saying something like "hidden damages are repaired at an hourly rate of $35 and customer will be notified prior to repairs". When you are up front with your customers there will be very few problems and when they don't feel ripped off they send their buddies. Enjoy, Aaron H.