Stu's news
#11
Recently Stu announced that he was shutting his business down, without much explanation. A new page on his site (not his blog) appeared that says:  "Recently however things have evolved somewhat, some for the better and some not. There are a lot of new options for procuring the items we sell, which it appears many people are taking up. At the same time, while we’ve tried to maintain our original principals of offering a wide range with reasonable prices in exchange for expecting the time to make that happen. It has become increasingly obvious that the patience we ask for is often not satisfactory to many customers.(This last point especially is a significant reason for the decision behind this. A particularly impatient person decided to try and cause maximum strife without legitimate cause to do so. It was a time when I was at less than my best and caused me to make a decision I will regret for the rest of my life and irreparably harmed my ability to do ‘this’ in a way that it should be done.)More details as they’re available, but the store will cease to exist as it currently does within the 1st quarter of 2019.Thank you for your understanding.

The full page is at:

Stu's news

I bet this guy was not one of us....... a particularly valuable resource for us was lost, and a good friend as well.....
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#12
It sounds like it became more trouble than it was worth. Sometimes that happens.

I don't think you close a successful business over one customer, even under the circumstances. More likely it was the straw that broke the camel's back -- plenty of other straws to go with.
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#13
From what I've been able to piece together, the aforementioned impatient customer hounded Stu so badly he left Australia before his mother's funeral, having been emotionally brow-beaten into believing business dealings were more important than Stu's personal life - which they never are in my opinion. Having lost my mother just a few years ago I know how vulnerable one can be at that moment and have nothing but sympathy for Stu.
Jason

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#14
My guess is that the customer in question had been waiting for his order long before Stu's loss of his mother, and grew "impatient" about any further wait that Stu might have communicated to him (or her). The customer probably did not know Stu was handling the loss of a loved one at the time.

Simon
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#15
(02-04-2019, 09:10 AM)Jason28 Wrote: From what I've been able to piece together, the aforementioned impatient customer hounded Stu so badly he left Australia before his mother's funeral, having been emotionally brow-beaten into believing business dealings were more important than Stu's personal life - which they never are in my opinion. Having lost my mother just a few years ago I know how vulnerable one can be at that moment and have nothing but sympathy for Stu.

Thanks for the background Jason; that certainly explains his comment in his earlier post about missing her funeral. Still, he is giving everybody one more chance to place a final order before he pulls the plug, that is the mark of a true gentleman in the business. We are all quite fortunate to have the excellent suppliers that we do.
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#16
(02-04-2019, 09:53 AM)Handplanesandmore Wrote: My guess is that the customer in question had been waiting for his order long before Stu's loss of his mother, and grew "impatient" about any further wait that Stu might have communicated to him (or her). The customer probably did not know Stu was handling the loss of a loved one at the time.

Simon

Hello Simon;

Yes, that may have been the case. However, I've been self employed a long time, mostly with excellent customers; but there have been a few that were just too much to deal with.  Only one was so bad that we had to leave before we finished though.
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#17
All vendors deal with all kinds of customers and that is a fact of business life. Increasingly, customers expect and ask for better and more because they can. Vendors of course can choose to stay in the game or bow out as they see fit. But let's not forget there are two sides to a story, and we don't get to hear from the customer side in this case. I will hold my judgment until I have the full story. Both could be right...or wrong.

Simon
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#18
One of the problems is the internet.  People are rude because they know they will never come face to face with you.  Same thing with drivers.  I've often said if some of the drivers acted the same way at the grocery store, as they do when driving, they would get a quick lesson in manners!  Easy to be the tough guy when you're hiding behind an email message.

Lonnie
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#19
(02-04-2019, 02:25 PM)Mr Eddie Wrote: One of the problems is the internet.  People are rude because they know they will never come face to face with you.   Easy to be the tough guy when you're hiding behind an email message.

Lonnie

Quite true about that. Equally true (ask my wife) is that nasty and aggressive face-to-face behaviors happen on a weekly, if not daily, basis in the retail world. Some guy got upset about a different way things were done to his transactions, and he lost his cool, and kept pounding on the counter until he was told to do his business elsewhere. That is why we sometimes see signs posted at stores that say to the effect that "Abusive behaviors will not be tolerated."

Sometimes, the faults lie with the customers, but other times, the vendors have inconsistent policies or staff handling transactions inconsistently that upset or even anger customers. For example, I encountered a staff who told me no for a request, but the next day, a different guy entertained mine (the same request presented in the same polite manner) without questions. Now if we reversed the sequence of the events, would you be upset on your second visit?

Simon
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#20
(02-04-2019, 02:36 PM)Handplanesandmore Wrote: Sometimes, the faults lie with the customers, but other times, the vendors have inconsistent policies or staff handling transactions inconsistently that upset or even anger customers. For example, I encountered a staff who told me no for a request, but the next day, a different guy entertained mine (the same request presented in the same polite manner) without questions. Now if we reversed the sequence of the events, would you be upset on your second visit?

Simon

With retail, a lot of vendors don't really train their people, and don't pay them either, and service suffers.  It might have been that your request would require the staff to do something extra, and the first person just decided not to go the extra mile.  Treatment of employees (including paying a living wage) directly impacts the level of customer service.
Credo Elvem ipsum etiam vivere
Non impediti ratione cogitationis
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