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Am I wrong to be pissed off at this...

Back in early Sept I ordered a mask from one of the artists over on mm.net and was assured I'd have it by mid-October. Some of you will figure out who I'm talking about by the circumstances.

First there were the normal delays...not enough time to spend on them, etc. Then there were problems with the molds which caused further delays. He tells us that a few will go out around Xmas and the rest will be shipped in January. Not too thrilled about it but these things happen and I figure I'm not going anywhere and it'll get here when it gets here.

Now we skip ahead to mid-February (4 months after I was assured I'd have the mask in hand). He says he's starting to send them out (whatever happened to January?) but they're being shipped slowly because he doesn't have money to pay for shipping because his mortgage payment is high. Bear in mind he collected money for shipping when the masks were ordered.Now I'm as sympathetic and understanding as anyone but I've gotten to the point that I'm downright pissed off. Pretty soon it'll be 5 months nce I was assured I'd have the mask in hand and still no mask. What's more he's telling us he can't afford to ship them even though we already gave him money for shipping (as if it's our fault he took the money we gave him to ship our masks and spent it on other things). Am I being unreasonable in thinking this is irresponble and unprofesonal or am I justified in being pissed off about this?

Lee

That is the unfortunate problem with all the recent "pre selling" of masks. Put on top of that people that aren't familiar with how hectic 20 or 30 orders can be. I have no idea who you are speaking of but once someone has my money, delays I can live with but please don't tell me you do not have money for shipping as that is flat out imposble. Not only is that "career" suicide in the mask buness but it is just plain unacceptable.

I'm glad to hear you say that because that's the point where I went from being cool about it to my Italian temper kicking in. Before he came out with the 'no money for shipping' I would even defend him when there would be angry posts on mm.net about the delays.

I understand tight financial crunches and the need to do what you need to pay the bills but at the same time if I did that in my practice with a client's money I'd be disbarred. It's really just common buness sense...when you collect money from a customer to cover a disbursement (in this case shipping) you can't turn around and say they're not getting the product at this time because you can't pay that disbursement.

You did more than your part, it seems as if it is in this poor chaps hands. I will pray for him

Seriously Lee, I hope this works out but it really is a shame that some poor buness person like this will ruin it for a whole lot of others....

so a bunch of people got charged 20 bucks for shipping, he spent every persons 20 bucks on something for himself be it bills or materials or beer or whatever. thats just plain worng. when taking pre orders the shipping money should be locked up in a bank account and not touched. what this guy did was VERY unprofesonal and you have every right to be ticked off.

Once he recieved that money for shipping, regardless of what he did with it, it wasn't his to use. I find that unreal man. As soon as someone started screwing with my money like that, I'd demand either the product immediately or a full refund. Whoever you're dealing with doesn't sound like much of a proffesonal from what I've read so far.

Thats not cool. I have all the money I collect for projects in an account and I wont touch it till the item is shipped. I take my material cost and put that back into buying more material and the profit goes into another account and after I pay taxes we split it within the company between the owners. Pretty mple method. I see if the guy will send the mask then I wouldn't worry too much. People get down and out sometimes but bear with him on your mask. I hope he sends it out for you soon. After you receive the mask you can opt to not go through him anymore for future masks and that would be understandable.

I know who you are talking about, and I agree 100%. Anytime I am paid for something, I keep the money in my paypal until I finish the item and ship it out. That's BS. If you cannot afford to ship stuff, you should have made a project in the first place.

Yeah, its tough waiting for an order.

I rarely place orders anymore and just wait for masks to hit auctions tes etc.......But in regards to this matter, yeah, you can be pissed, your a customer and have every right to be.

However, I kind have an idea of who you are talking about and I have done buness with him before and im sure he will deliver.

Thanks guys. I've had a pretty stressful month at work that's really worn down my patience so I wasn't sure if I was being unreasonable or not.

I always expect delays when ordering from Justin, Terry, or Sean therefore I really didn't mind when the 6 weeks I was told turned into 4 months. I just condered it the downde of the pre-order process. It was only when he turned around and said there would be a further delay because he didn't have the shipping funds after he was given money for shipping that I really got ticked.

Thanks again; Lee

That is the unfortunate problem with all the recent "pre selling" of masks. Put on top of that people that aren't familiar with how hectic 20 or 30 orders can be. I have no idea who you are speaking of but once someone has my money, delays I can live with but please don't tell me you do not have money for shipping as that is flat out imposble. Not only is that "career" suicide in the mask buness but it is just plain unacceptable.

I know who he is talking about..that sucks....

Lee I'm not this guy and I don't know how he does buness...all I can tell you is this. If he can't follow thru with what he promised, then he shouldn't be taking money at all. ALL of my orders have been preorders and NO ONE has ever emailed me complaining about how long it takes. I do my best to get things out lightening fast. I also keep all of my customers in the loop with pics.

I also NEVER touch the shipping or materials money for any reason other than making and shipping your mask. That is just poor buness practice. His mortgage is not your problem. You have a right to be pissed. I would be.

Sam