David D.
1/5
They lost my chandelier's connecting rod and swivel after 5 months of virtually no real update despite my monthly check-ins. After 5 months they told me I never dropped off the connecting rod or swivel.
I had expected better from them. I expected honesty in their business dealings and to admit when they made a mistake. It's not the $900 chandelier sitting in a box with a missing connecting rod that is the worst part, it's the wasted time, energy, and degradation of my trust in this business.
It wasn't all bad though.
The first and only time I met Chris during my first visit to his shop when I dropped off the parts went really well. He listened carefully to what I needed, and then quickly created a visual sketch and plan for my small project. He said it was a small job, maybe 1 hour and it will cost $125. Sounds great! Easy, right?
I spoke to two receptionists/admins during the 5 months of trying to get an update on my small project. The first receptionist was present in November 2023 when I dropped the parts off and Chris made the plans. She was also the receptionist that bluntly said, "He'll call you when it's ready." the first time I called after about 1 month.
Apparently, the first receptionist/admin left toward the end of 2023. The next time I called in January 2024 I was greeted by a new receptionist. She seemed communicative and willing to assist me in determining the status of my small project that had been "in progress" for two months. This was a breath of fresh air. However, after our first call she did not call me back. I called back in February 2024. She again, for the third time now in total, got my name and phone number and said they would call be back with the status of my project. I either called again, or at some point I actually did receive a call from her, but the status update was that Chris has been really busy and that Chris is going to do the work this week. Great!
Another few weeks went by so I called again, and I was told Chris was really busy and she didnt know the status of my project, but that she had me in mind and had a sticky note to make sure she follows up with Chris when she speaks to him.
A couple weeks later I get a Voice Mail message from the receptionist/admin telling me that I never dropped off the parts with them so they could not complete the project for me. Translation: they lost my parts.
I can't tell you how cool it was when I learned that I had a really skilled machinist just a couple miles from my house, because their work and skills are very valuable. Unfortunately, I don't know if I can trust them enough for another project. I want to tell myself that I just got unlucky perhaps, and it probably wont happen again, but will it? Have they improved their organizational capabilities and labelling so that small projects don't get lost in the chaos of running a busy machine shop? Is the receptionist supported enough to continue to care about their customers and provide timely updates with real information from the machinists? Have they moved away from claiming no responsibility for their mistakes and simply telling their customers the truth? I hope so.
