Originally Posted by
Onebyone
I would have turned the tables on her with her own words. I would have made a big deal about how little her sister charged I would have talked and praised the sister for all she was worth how she was able to do that and still make a profit. I would have said I'm certainly getting in touch with her and tell her you told me about her doing a queen size quilt for $50. I want to learn how she manages to do that. And I'll tell my customers that have a lot of quilts that need to be quilted she will do queen size for them for $50. The woman will probably stammer and backtrack about her sister. LOL When someone is rude or snotty I make a game of it and never let emotion take over.
I <3 you!!! This made me snort.
Unfortunately, there are a lot of people out there who game the system. I ran into it just the other day - a longarm quilter in my town referred a customer to me who wanted someone to hand-sew binding onto her quilt. I quoted my rates to the customer, and since the longarmer had given me the quilt's dimensions, I also quoted her the total cost. Well, she didn't say anything about my rates, but when she heard what the final bill would be, she flipped.
I think a lot of people don't bother to do the math, so you need to do it for them before you start the job. This particular customer at first laughed out loud at my quote, then tried a bit of wheedling and cajoling and whining, but I stayed firm and suggested she look elsewhere. My husband thinks she'll be back. It wouldn't be the first time!
There is professional quilting software out there that will help you set up quotes. When my longarmer takes in quilts, she stops what she's doing and measures everything front of the customer. If the backing isn't large enough, it's dealt with right then and there. She discusses batting choices. She discusses quilting pattern choices. She discusses thread, and how many bobbins she'll use, and the customer is charged for it. She puts everything into her software - size, quilt pattern, what kind of thread, how much thread, what kind of batting, EVERYTHING. She prints it out and gives it to the customer. It has the total cost, plus an estimated completion date. There is no way the customer can walk out of the store without knowing exactly what she's getting and how much she's paying, and any potential issues with the top are taken care of.
When I take on binding jobs, many times it's over the phone or through my longarmer. I always get a phone number AND email address. When I take possession of the quilt I am to bind, I measure it, write up a quote, and email it to the customer. They
must send me an email back with the reply that they understand and approve the quote. That way there is a paper trail (of sorts) and everyone is protected in case of a dispute.