Holds... again

I know, I know, you're all probably getting really sick of me talking about holds... but I tell you, some of these people are really trying my patience, and by the end of the year, we very well may have no holds without deposit, if this sort of thing continues.

Case in point.  Before the show last weekend (which I'll talk about in another post), I get an email from someone who's been talking with me about shipping them a chin, specifying which chin they'd like.  Naturally, it's the one chin that I was going to show, that I already had listed for sale.  Not a big deal, he was going to be for sale anyway, but kind of too bad, because I wanted to show him again.

Well anyway, we start talking about flights, and the person tells me, ok, this one flight is good.  So I mention to them, hey, I don't book flights until I at least have a deposit (but preferably have entire payment, so I don't have to chase anyone down for it, right before shipping, later), so I need them to pay for the chin and shipping.  No problem, she says the mom will call later that day.  This is Wednesday.

Thursday, I get a call from that geographic area, and I literally miss picking it up by a ring.  I call right back, no answer, so I leave a message.  I shoot a quick email to the girl and let her know that I did call the mom back and left a message.  She says the mom called back again but didn't get me, but will try again tomorrow.  My phone never rang or showed any missed calls.

Friday passes.

Saturday passes.  Well, hold up, late Saturday night I get an email about how the grandma went to the hospital so they've been busy.  Fine, I'm not a cold-hearted bitch, so while part of me wants to say, "and they couldn't take 5 minutes to call?" I understand.

Moving along.  Sunday night, I get a call from the mom, telling me about grandma, and how she needs to move money from the kid's account around, so the kid can pay for the chin with her own money.  Saying she will, for sure, have this done by Monday sometime, so if this has to delay shipping, that's fine.  As we already had flights figured out and all (which isn't just googling, mind you, I have to call up PetSafe and have a real-life-chat with one of their representatives, which usually is not quick), I asked her if she could put down a deposit, that way I could still book the flight (which was supposed to be for Wednesday mid-day).  Oh sure, she says, and she asks how much it'd be.  I told her $75, which actually is less than what I'd normally charge as a deposit, but I figured, you know, she'd get me that, I'd book the flight, and she'd pay the rest before Wednesday, when the daughter's money was moved over.  Right?  Well, she said she didn't have her wallet with her, so she would call me back in 10 minutes with her card info.

Needless to say, that didn't happen, so Monday afternoon, I called her and left a message, reminding her that I did need to at least get down a deposit for this chin, and I let her know that I did have other people asking about it (which I really do).  And really, from the day the girl specified that she wanted the chin, until that day, would have already been about 7 days, so it was time for a deposit, anyway, if she wanted the chin held any longer.  And I mean, don't get me wrong, I was perfectly nice in the message just asking her to please call me back so we could get this all settled and flight scheduled and whatnot.

It is now Tuesday evening, more than 30 hours after that phone call, and I have not heard back.  No email from the girl either.  Typical.

So, not only did I not show the chin (in case not clear -- so as to not stress him out before a flight), now these people are being flaky about wanting to get it... all while wasting over a week making me think they want the chin.  Could something be going wrong with Grandma and they be busy and/or at the hospital?  Sure!  But could they also have common courtesy and let me know?  Well of course not!  And without any explanation, even a simple, "hey, sorry, busy with Grandma, get back to you soon!" (which honestly, took me all of 5 seconds to type out), I won't hold the chin any longer.