Communication Frustration

[ofafeather]

I seem to be striking out lately. I have 2 separate, well-respected vendors that I am trying to get In touch with. One is a pipe maker that I would like to commission a pipe from. They only list an email address on their website. I sent two very polite emails a week apart and haven’t received a response. It has now been several weeks.

The other is a tobacco blender/merchant that I have placed an order from in the past. They only have a contact form on their website. I submitted a communication using the form 5 days or so ago and have heard nothing back. I check my spam filters daily. Both a very reputable and established and I am surprised and frustrated. Any thoughts or suggestions? Am I expecting too much or missing something? Thanks ?

 

[BROBS]

I seem to be striking out lately. I have 2 separate, well-respected vendors that I am trying to get In touch with. One is a pipe maker that I would like to commission a pipe from. They only list an email address on their website. I sent two very polite emails a week apart and haven’t received a response. It has now been several weeks.

The other is a tobacco blender/merchant that I have placed an order from in the past. They only have a contact form on their website. I submitted a communication using the form 5 days or so ago and have heard nothing back. I check my spam filters daily. Both a very reputable and established and I am surprised and frustrated. Any thoughts or suggestions? Am I expecting too much or missing something? Thanks ?

If the second one is Synjeco message me I’ll give you his email address.

for the pipemaker.. I had the same experience trying to get a stem made. I contacted a couple people one who advertises as making a particular style stem I wanted. No one got back to me. I don’t know if they aren’t working due to the current situation or what?

I contacted George Dibos through the forum and am very happy with the result so in the end it worked out.

I’ve just had the same experience with after purchase communication on an Italian stiletto I purchased 8 days ago from a website. My account there says it hasn’t shipped. I emailed and asked if it had and they didn’t update tracking or what and no one has/will respond/ed.

But apparently it’s now the norm for sellers/artisans/businesspeople to not respond to potential business.

 

[bluegrassbrian]

I’ve always had the best luck contacting pipe makers through their social media, facebook messenger or instagram typically.

 

[BROBS]

I’ve always had the best luck contacting pipe makers through their social media, facebook messenger or instagram typically.

Weak

 

[lukasstrifeson]

Weak

Sheesh look who woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning? My trick is to load *two pipes and place them on *both nightstands; this way, there is NO wrong side of the bed.

Lol jokes aside - I get it, social media bad, it only festers vanity and echo chambers... And you're not wrong! But it's also the best way to get in touch with boutique pipe makers - see their work collected in one place, see the interactions with buyers/collectors and do a quick audit of their reliability.

Had I had the ability to vet some meerschaum makers via IG beforehand, I probably could've avoid a few missteps there.

I seem to be striking out lately. I have 2 separate, well-respected vendors that I am trying to get In touch with. One is a pipe maker that I would like to commission a pipe from. They only list an email address on their website. I sent two very polite emails a week apart and haven’t received a response. It has now been several weeks.

The other is a tobacco blender/merchant that I have placed an order from in the past. They only have a contact form on their website. I submitted a communication using the form 5 days or so ago and have heard nothing back. I check my spam filters daily. Both a very reputable and established and I am surprised and frustrated. Any thoughts or suggestions? Am I expecting too much or missing something? Thanks ?

To be fair, a lot of these merchants are stuck in the early 00s, at least in terms of their digital presence. The ones who are better at communications, or have a desire to be, all have social media channels set up. Facebook (which I no longer have) and Instagram honestly looks to be the best ways to go about it.

 

[ofafeather]

Weak

Plus I don’t use social media.

 

[verporchting]

To be fair, there is a global pandemic that is stressing every system including even snail mail. You just never know if someone is ill, has a friend or relative in the hospital or nursing home, is facing labor/capital/supply chain shortages or is just so stressed out they are hiding in the bathtub with a case of gin and a machete waiting for the zombie apocalypse.

Or, they might be in Tahiti with your money. ?

 

[BROBS]

Plus I don’t use social media.

same here.. that's why I mean weak. Social media is a terrible way to conduct business.
Not saying that it isn't a good weapon in the arsenal, but it shouldn't be the main or only one.

 

[BROBS]

Sheesh look who woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning? My trick is to load *two pipes and place them on *both nightstands; this way, there is NO wrong side of the bed.

Lol jokes aside - I get it, social media bad, it only festers vanity and echo chambers... And you're not wrong! But it's also the best way to get in touch with boutique pipe makers - see their work collected in one place, see the interactions with buyers/collectors and do a quick audit of their reliability.

but it's not a serious way to conduct business.
Contact Adidas, Nike, or Under Armour with a business proposal through Facebook and see how far that goes.

 

[ofafeather]

I resolved one today by sending an email to an address that was in an order confirmation. I received a prompt reply. I may send the pipe maker another email from a different address. I think sometimes the other gets lost in cyberspace.

 

[anotherbob]

I seem to be striking out lately. I have 2 separate, well-respected vendors that I am trying to get In touch with. One is a pipe maker that I would like to commission a pipe from. They only list an email address on their website. I sent two very polite emails a week apart and haven’t received a response. It has now been several weeks.

The other is a tobacco blender/merchant that I have placed an order from in the past. They only have a contact form on their website. I submitted a communication using the form 5 days or so ago and have heard nothing back. I check my spam filters daily. Both a very reputable and established and I am surprised and frustrated. Any thoughts or suggestions? Am I expecting too much or missing something? Thanks ?

yes you are expecting too much. These are small operations working under unusual situations. Also with a name like that they might think you're a real bird and not want to do business with you. I suggest changing your name to something like "swearsIamHumanandFeatherFree".

 

[lukasstrifeson]

but it's not a serious way to conduct business.
Contact Adidas, Nike, or Under Armour with a business proposal through Facebook and see how far that goes.

"Dude no one does serious business through E-Mail man"

"Oh you poor sap, no upstanding gentleman conduct real business on the telephone"

"You fool Demitrius, real war is declared by a Messenger, not by pen and paper, it must be flesh and blood!"

I understand what you're trying to say and I agree to a certain point. I actually made my Instagram just to contact a couple of pipemakers and started posting pictures of my pipe. Don't have to yuck other people's yum you know.

 

[bluegrassbrian]

Now where did I put my tin cans and string...

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

same here.. that's why I mean weak. Social media is a terrible way to conduct business.
Not saying that it isn't a good weapon in the arsenal, but it shouldn't be the main or only one.

A number of pipe makers rely solely on Facebook and do well. Martin Cermak and Jose Rubio come to mind. Maintaining a web site, especially e-commerce, is a fair amount of work and expense. Why do it when you can sell your 200 pipes on a free business Facebook page?

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

but it's not a serious way to conduct business.
Contact Adidas, Nike, or Under Armour with a business proposal through Facebook and see how far that goes.

Why would you try to compare a pipe maker, trying to do $60K to $100K of business per year, to Nike? That's like trying to make an analogy between an ant and an elephant.

 

[lawdawg]

It’s a common small business issue if that business is in demand. At my job, I try to at least give some sort of response to anyone who contacts us, but I know some fall through the cracks, especially requests that I know from the outset I won’t be able to help with. At any given time, we have as much work as we can handle, so providing service to our current clients of course is the priority.

 

[BROBS]

I understand what you're trying to say and I agree to a certain point. I actually made my Instagram just to contact a couple of pipemakers and started posting pictures of my pipe. Don't have to yuck other people's yum you know.

You’re right. And I don’t mean it that way to yuck anyone’s yum but to me if you are only conducting business through Facebook or Instagram you are missing out. It really costs not much to have a templated squarespace or other basic e-commerce site. It doesn’t even have to be regularly updated or even a web shop but more brochureware with contact info. This cost would be beyond minimal and if someone can set up a social media account they can create one of these. There are many people who regardless of their interest in a pipe or repair, will not get involved in the social media machine for whatever reasons.

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

You’re right. And I don’t mean it that way to yuck anyone’s yum but to me if you are only conducting business through Facebook or Instagram you are missing out. It really costs not much to have a templated squarespace or other basic e-commerce site. It doesn’t even have to be regularly updated or even a web shop but more brochureware with contact info. This cost would be beyond minimal and if someone can set up a social media account they can create one of these. There are many people who regardless of their interest in a pipe or repair, will not get involved in the social media machine for whatever reasons.

If you're selling all you can make on Facebook, why bother with a website? I can set up a Facebook business page easily in less than 15 minutes and I'm not a software or IT guy. Can you make an ecommerce website in 15 minutes? I think not. And then there's the matter of keeping your photo album up to date, posting new pipes for sale, updating your SSL cert yearly. Things you don't have to mess with on Facebook. Facebook makes all the sense in the world to a lot of these carvers.

What doesn't make sense to me is why someone who really wanted to buy a pipe from a certain carver would balk at creating a Facebook account in order to do so?