the problem as i see it again this relates to not in person transactions, and that's the down fall of mail order business.. . plus some heads don't work and some re-rings if any, are shot, all in all if I'm not happy with the sound and looks the customer wont be either... good luck

I do want to make the situation right. I don't wanna be " that " guy. But you did present a very good point. You custom ordered something through the mail without having heard it first, so the risk is there of not being satisfied. Now if this were a general sale, I would gladly do a return and call it a day. The issue with it being custom is just that. Personally I was very pleased with the results, and if I wasn't I would send it out. I stand by my work, and have no desire to tarnish my name with sub par workmanship.

You can offer to tweak it at customers expense to send back to u !

You could tell the guy that there is no returns on custom order pieces.

Or...

You could take it back and give a full refund and never deal with him again.

Or...

You could talk it over with the customer and see if you can at least get him to agree to pay enough to cover the materials so you don't end up in the hole.

Either way I feel like it is probably the customer not using the end product properly but, as you know, when you are in a customer driven service position sometimes you have to assume the position and take one for the team.

Pressroll gave you three solid solutions you can consider. As a business person, in the end, it's your call which way you will choose to proceed. Pressroll pretty much nailed your best options. I give him a +1 for the response. Good advice.

John

Feel for you. Custom work has this downfall. I'd try calling and see what the issue is. Offer full refund and you pay shipping. Only custom work I do now is for myself. Too much trouble otherwise.

A pre start of any work contract is a must. Write it for what you are comfortable with. My bud's that restore coin-ops require a deposit that covers parts and materials. That weeds out the not serious crowd.

PressRoll speaks much wisdom. Hope all works out.

Creighton

Sounds to me like the guy doesn't know how to tune his drums or has chosen the wrong head combo for it. Did he change the heads from what you installed after he got it? What's his real issue? What exactly is making him think its a bad drum? These are the questions I would ask him to find out what his real beef is......

BTW, DW can turn out some real clunkers too! I'm not saying that your custom job is a clunker, just that the big guys aren't perfect either.

Personally I can't stand the sound of DW drums. Ludwig and Gretsch always had a nice sound to my ears. Dw's just sound like those street drummers that play on the bottoms of those 5 gallon buckets to my ears. :2Cents:

The sound of the Drum is subjective. To you it sounded fine, to him it sounds like crap. Compared to what? His DW's? Trying to get them to match is almost an impossible task if you ask me, but what's done is done. If you made him aware of the specs before he paid you, it's on him. He may have completely changed the tuning to try to get it to match his kit.

Tough call, I'd try giving him some tuning advice first, who knows what his knowledge level is.

One more advice. Watch out for your feelings getting in the way of business. So his dissatisfaction makes you feel angry and maybe makes you feel insecure or small underneath the anger. Thats normal especially when you work with heart and soul. But ventilate that feeling here and with people in your surrounding. Don't let it drive you to do things that are unsound businesswise. Like doing a refund regardless.

I'd first have a talk with the guy, as already suggested. Make your mind set that of an investigator setting out to understand exactly what is the guys problem with the drum. (So your feelings have to be at save distance). Pay attention to what drum he hoped to get.

If you understand the problem, then try to solve.

If it seems to be unsolvable try to get to an agreement that least hurtful for you financially.

It may be you are going to have to refund because there are no official beforehand agreements.

I did a (pretty) expensive custom job on a drumset once. It was pretty experimental to. Beforehand I agreed with the client (though not on paper) that the end result, especially soundwise, have to be taken for granted by him. Dissatisfaction with sound was going to be his resposibility not mine. In terms of looks we agreed on the technical processes I would go though (like sanding to bare wood, staining walnut color, oiling, what type of tubelug, etc.). Also he would be responsible for possible dissatisfaction with the eventual looks. This was a deal also via (e)mail, so I made it all as specific as I could.

In short: get it on paper, in detail every step of the proces and who's resposible for what risk. If I would have stained cherry color instead of walnut, he would have been in his right not to take the drums, but if I would have stained walnut as agreed and he finds out that for this specific kit walnut doesnt seem to be the best color to him, that's his problem then.

In your case you could beforehand have been as clear as possible about the risks in this project, and use you knowledge and craftsmanship for that, for example about the possibility of 6 lugs choking the drum.

Good luck!