Calling vs. Posting

Lately I've been getting a number of phone calls at my store by forum members asking me general furniture questions that really should be posted here. While I will be happy to answer questions via phone specific to the products I sell, I do not have the time to discuss various questions during business hours that do not relate directly to my business.

Examples are: Problems you may have with another dealer; My opinion of other brands, How to best ship a family heirloom to your great Aunt, How to strip and refinish your old desk, Your Craigslist find etc. Please reserve those types of questions for the forum and the general membership. If you do call and ask questions of this nature I will politely terminate the phone call and refer you to post on the forum.

Thanks for your cooperation.

UPDATE JAN 2010: As the forum grows in popularity I am getting more and more phone calls at the store because some of our members want the convenience of not having to type a question, or prefer to call rather than using the search function to find their answers in the forum.

The forum is free for all to use. There are no membership fees, just a few no ads to help pay the monthly costs. Many of the posts I answer after midnight because I don't have time during the day to reply. But, I try to get to them all if I have a reply.

If you call me at the store you are using my income-producing time. This is fine if you intend to order from me, of course, but there are some who say "I intend to buy at my local store but you are more knowledgeable than my local dealer, so I'd like to ask you all the questions before I go order from them." That is wrong, straight and simple. In the forum mode, you can ask away and buy from whomever you would like to. However, when you call me directly and intend to do business elsewhere you are stealing my time that I need to be able to use elsewhere. Please keep your inquires to the forum if you are not my customer, nor intend to be. If you absolutely feel you must call me to ask questions your local dealer cannot answer, then my consulting fee is $ 30 per 15 minute increments - have your Mastercard/Visa ready!

Customers of my store are ALWAYS welcome to call and discuss furniture, and I am grateful for your patronage! If you want to know what that recliner is worth you saw on Craigslist, or how to handle your local dealer who abandoned you on a warranty issue, PLEASE use the forum and post in the appropriate topic forum.

I totally agree. I own a marketing firm, and I'm amazed that clients will call, ask a series of detailed questions about how I would handle a certain marketing situation - then have someone else carry out my recommendations. Owning a company that bills by the hour to provide its expertise, it's frustrating to have people call and expect free advice.

I've learned a lot from this forum - and it hasn't cost me a dime. We all try to get our money's worth, and I for one appreciate that Mr. Collie volunteers so much of his knowledge here - free. He has earned my business.

I actually took my phone number off of my website, to keep people from calling all day long with minor questions, often premised "I know your website says you only represent people in Michigan, but..." or "This will only take a second...." It would have been more difficult had my business not moved away from direct client representation, but the extent of the calls - by people who already know they had no interest in hiring me or that I couldn't serve their needs - was overwhelming. I do offer an online forum for answering questions for free; that's not what my phone is for.

Duane, it looks like you have become the defacto furniture expert given the fact that you set up this wonderful forum, so I can see why people are calling you. Although, I agree that it would be best to only have conversations that pertain to the business of selling furniture. We often get a lot of people looking for 'advice' as well, however we like to help as much as we can in hopes that it will bring good will to us down the road.

Keep up the good work on this forum and Im happy to be here to help answer some questions so as to keep the calls to a minimum :)

The other day I was out unpacking sofas in front of the store. When I have 12 to 15 pieces to unpack and load in the truck, its a messy, sweaty procedure that takes up half the parking lot. I have to put down what I'm doing, come inside and catch my breath to answer the phone. I don't mind for customers, but some just come right out of left field. I had three calls in 90 minutes that afternoon that went like this (and prompted me to write up this thread update):

# 1) "Hi, I'm on your forum and have a question for you. If I have a Brazilian Cherry hardwood floor, plum-colored walls and some white accessories, what color should my upholstery be and what do you think will fit in my room?"

ANSWER: "I really have no idea. I cannot advise you how decorate over the phone with no room layout, no photographs, and no idea of your style. You have to give me more to work with and post photos, layouts, and designs you like via email or the forum."

# 2) "Its me again, calling for the third time. I almost have my local dealer to agree to match your prices, and I intend to buy locally from him, but I still have a few more questions for you that he doesn't seem to be able to answer."

ANSWER: "If you are buying locally, then your local dealer should be able to answer all your questions."

# 3): "I saw this Hancock and Moore piece on Craigslist and I live in Raleigh NC, and I want to know if you think its a good deal or not. Are you on a computer where you can look at it with me and tell me what you think?"

ANSWER: "Sorry, I'm unloading freight right now. Please ask in the forum and post a link."

That's what I'm talking about.....

Wow, I cant believe someone actually had the nerve to ask you to look at a Craigslist ad. Thats kinda like people calling us asking if we will match an eBay price (on a used item)!

I have asked my share of questions on here both in public and private but never have I thought of calling you for anything but the one time I did which was to order some Oz polish.

One would hope the only people calling are looking to do business with you, or have asked if it's OK to call you with their questions.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by drcollie

The other day I was out unpacking sofas in front of the store. When I have 12 to 15 pieces to unpack and load in the truck, its a messy, sweaty procedure that takes up half the parking lot. I have to put down what I'm doing, come inside and catch my breath to answer the phone. I don't mind for customers, but some just come right out of left field. I had three calls in 90 minutes that afternoon that went like this (and prompted me to write up this thread update):

# 1) "Hi, I'm on your forum and have a question for you. If I have a Brazilian Cherry hardwood floor, plum-colored walls and some white accessories, what color should my upholstery be and what do you think will fit in my room?"

ANSWER: "I really have no idea. I cannot advise you how decorate over the phone with no room layout, no photographs, and no idea of your style. You have to give me more to work with and post photos, layouts, and designs you like via email or the forum."

# 2) "Its me again, calling for the third time. I almost have my local dealer to agree to match your prices, and I intend to buy locally from him, but I still have a few more questions for you that he doesn't seem to be able to answer."

ANSWER: "If you are buying locally, then your local dealer should be able to answer all your questions."

# 3): "I saw this Hancock and Moore piece on Craigslist and I live in Raleigh NC, and I want to know if you think its a good deal or not. Are you on a computer where you can look at it with me and tell me what you think?"

ANSWER: "Sorry, I'm unloading freight right now. Please ask in the forum and post a link."

That's what I'm talking about.....

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Good morning to all,
I totally agree with Duane,
He has been wonderful in answering all of my questions on this forum. I really don't know how he does it. He is very knowledgeable, and with the correspondence that he and I have shared in the last several days, I feel that he has done a tremendous service to me, free of charge. And it is not really free for him. He has invested a lot of time, and time you can never get back. It is lost forever. And as such, I feel bad because I have asked a lot of questions here. And even though I feel that he is getting to know me better and my lifestyle, I would never presume that I could just pick up the phone and ask stupid questions like the ones I have just seen. The gawl of these people.
Just my four cents.
Later.

I'd always glad to help when I can, whether you make a purchase from me or not. You'll notice a lot of my posts are done in the evening hours, because I don't have spare time during the day. I run a 1-man operation, which means I do everything in the store from ordering to sales to cleaning to accounting to unpacking to customer service and regulatory compliance. Not a lotta extra hours in the day that way. I get about 100 phone calls per day, half of which are telemarketing, a couple of dozen from suppliers, and a couple dozen more from customers. You can hopefully see why I don't have the time to talk someone through a buying decision between a La=Z=Boy recliner or a Broyhill at some store in Florida....so when I get those calls I decline to speak to them, and folks get upset sometimes, but we gotta keep it real.

Oh, my! I read this forum for nearly three months before I joined up and really the reason is that I couldn't find any other site that had such good info, and the second reason was that I believe we're buying from Duane. I am not fond of the people who run the only high end store here. Yes, I believe in supporting local stores but, these people have been here for so long they no longer care about getting "new" customers and are only helpful if you are part of the "old guard" around here. That means if you are not a third generation Kingstonian, then well you are persona non grata. PLUS they do some triple mark ups that I don't feel are fair or necessary. Therefore, this time I'm going with someone else.

I agree though people really shouldn't call and bug the bananas out of someone if they do not intend to do business with you, Duane...wow!

I can't believe the gall of some people. I sent Duane a few emails several months ago, but then had to put things on hold. When I am closer to knowing what I want and am at the point of selecting leathers then I will probably call, but until then this forum and pm's work just fine for me.

I am amazed at the amount of time you have donated to this forum. I know I have learned a great deal from the resources provided here. The great thing about the forum is everyone can learn from a single reply.

Ahhhh! And therein lies the secret! On public Q & A's then it helps build the informational database (which is searchable) vs PM's which are strictly one to one. I will not answer PM's that ask me to 'explain all the leather differences and types' or similar questions as the answers are already here on the forum if folks would take the time to look for them.

And the calls keep coming in asking me for opinions on brands I do not carry - or folks buying local to them asking me to help them finalize their selections or determine how to negotiate a price with their local dealer. Or Craigslist buys.

While the forum is FREE - my phone time is not.

THEREFORE :: effective immediately I am beginning 'Duane's Phone Consulting Business', and when you call to ask me these questions I will ask you for a credit card at the beginning of the phone call. Rate is $ 30 per 15 minutes and I will first authorize your card, then start the clock. Time blocks will be sold in 15 minute increments only.

OK! Now that we have that settled once and for all, I'll be waiting for your calls ....

Please, oh please record some of the calls "for quality assurance" so we can hear them. If the response is anything like the ones people who "work with computers" get when asked if they can build, install, configure, and load with (pirated) software a computer for someone they barely if at all know, and they say "Sure! I'll give you the Friends and Family discount of 50% off my normal rate of $150/hr plus materials!" they will be mighty amusing.

Duane - suggestion....

By default in the forum the signatures do not show up. I had to go into settings and turn this on.

May help you a little if that showed up by default.

A little because by default - humans suck and their self importance leads them to believe the rules don't apply to them.

"Signatures" are disabled on purpose, too many issues with spammers and self-promoters using them. We will leave them turned off by default.