It''s poll time again! And I don''t feel bad for asking this time!

[Novel]

Date: 4/5/2010 12:32:51 PM
Author: stepcutgirl
This choice is getting easier quickly. And not because of the votes! I am becoming quite frustrated with one of the vendors. While you all know who I sent quotes to...the one I am struggling with is probably the PS favorite so I''m assuming this is strickly an issue I am having. I got a quote from one of my vendors that was a little higher than I would like but I understood that they don''t do any of the process in house it is all sent out so I understand they have more overhead. Cool, not an issue. But another one of the vendors continues to ignore my emails and when they do finally come back with a quote it is a ridiculous amount that reminds me of Leon when he just doesn''t want your business.


This is not a super intricate design in platinum! It''s a fairly straight forward design in palladium! Ugh.


Sorry for the rant.

Ugh, Stepcut, sorry to hear it! Would you consider asking others for Quotes (Quest? BGD?). There is another thread floating around on CS right now about getting multiple bids and the competition lowering the quotes. I hope, whichever way you go, you find vendors who make it a pleasant process for you...

 

[RaiKai]

Date: 4/5/2010 12:32:51 PM
Author: stepcutgirl
This choice is getting easier quickly. And not because of the votes! I am becoming quite frustrated with one of the vendors. While you all know who I sent quotes to...the one I am struggling with is probably the PS favorite so I''m assuming this is strickly an issue I am having. I got a quote from one of my vendors that was a little higher than I would like but I understood that they don''t do any of the process in house it is all sent out so I understand they have more overhead. Cool, not an issue. But another one of the vendors continues to ignore my emails and when they do finally come back with a quote it is a ridiculous amount that reminds me of Leon when he just doesn''t want your business.


This is not a super intricate design in platinum! It''s a fairly straight forward design in palladium! Ugh.


Sorry for the rant.

That is frustrating. I am not sure of all the vendors you have gone to quotes for, but I would definitely try even more and see what comes of it! It is odd the disparity that can come back! It also depends who you are most comfortable going with (I am willing to pay more for a vendor with whom *I* have a good rapport, even if other PS members have had better rapport with another vendor overall, etc)

I know some of the vendors have been a bit slower to respond due to the Easter weekend too....so it might take a few extra days to hear back.

 

[FrekeChild]

Guess which one I voted for?

 

[stepcutgirl]

Date: 4/5/2010 1:14:28 PM
Author: Novel

Date: 4/5/2010 12:32:51 PM

Author: stepcutgirl

This choice is getting easier quickly. And not because of the votes! I am becoming quite frustrated with one of the vendors. While you all know who I sent quotes to...the one I am struggling with is probably the PS favorite so I''m assuming this is strickly an issue I am having. I got a quote from one of my vendors that was a little higher than I would like but I understood that they don''t do any of the process in house it is all sent out so I understand they have more overhead. Cool, not an issue. But another one of the vendors continues to ignore my emails and when they do finally come back with a quote it is a ridiculous amount that reminds me of Leon when he just doesn''t want your business.



This is not a super intricate design in platinum! It''s a fairly straight forward design in palladium! Ugh.



Sorry for the rant.

Ugh, Stepcut, sorry to hear it! Would you consider asking others for Quotes (Quest? BGD?). There is another thread floating around on CS right now about getting multiple bids and the competition lowering the quotes. I hope, whichever way you go, you find vendors who make it a pleasant process for you...

One of those mentioned is the one I am currently fuming about. I would consider other vendors and have one more quote that will come back later today or tomorrow. I''m not sure what other vendors are of the quality of the ones I have already submitted to though.

 

[Novel]

Ah, gotcha. For some reason I thought you had submitted initially to WF only. I think people have found Quest''s quotes high but that they''ve also done some great work (see this thread) but if you haven''t gone to them, too, it might be worth a shot. People also seem to have had good experiences with Mark at ERD, Michael E, and Sally at HOW, of course (though I don''t know that I''ve ever seen a ring of hers on here with melee work). I''m sure there are others I''m not thinking of, too.

Sorry if you wanted to be more discreet about vendor names and I just ruined it for you!

 

[Gypsy]

scg, you need to work with a vendor you are comfortable with and have a good relationship with if you are going custom. That you say that mulitple vendors are being non-responsive or qouting you high is a flag for me. If a vendor is being non-responsive you need to ask them why... but also ask yourself what message you are giving them that they might be responding negatively to. I was turned down as a client by MWM because he thought I was going to be a pain. You've been going through a lot of decisions and if you are asking for new qoutes at every stage and tweak, then the vendor may not be interested because A) they think you don't know what you want yet and aren't going to spend their time qoute and re-qouting you or B) they think you are going to be high maintenence and don't want the job or will tag on an upcharge.

I have learned to usually contact a vendor at the outset of a project to get a ballpark qoute to set budget, or if I know budget to see what my budget will get me... then I will hold my peace until I am ready with the final decision and more forward from there.

For example for my pendant, I had a budget and contacted vendors with my budget to see what they could do for me, chose one vendor I felt would best be able to give me what I wanted and I got one final and full qougte, one CAD and just waited for the rest. I personally would avoid getting more than one or two qoutes from any vendor, and once I have them... I'd wait until I new exactly what I wanted before submitting my order and moving forward.

Communication is a good thing. But if your communication makes you sound demanding or really undecided, some vendors will stop responding to you. So just make sure you are sending the right message to your vendors. Can't wait to see your final project.

EDIT: FYI this is also a holiday time for many vendors so things are slower right now. And Mother's Day is a month away... so that is a concern too.

 

[stepcutgirl]

It''s ok Novel. No biggie.

Gypsy-I''m fairly sure i know why and I''m sure it is because I have asked for a ton of quotes. Like so many I sent an email about a month ago apologizing for how many but explained that yes, I have changed my mind many times and that I asked them for a quote each time because they are who I wanted to work with. I got back a very nice email telling me I was no problem at all and that it made them feel good that I wanted to work with them. Before sending this quote I included another thank you for all of their patience and let them know that I would be paying and starting custom this week if I could afford the quote.

Also, it is just this vendor that is being slow and then came back with a through the roof quote. My first vendor came back quickly and I got an email a few days ago letting me know my contact person at another vendor was on vacation until today and this morning I got an email telling me he would have it today or tomorrow.

 

[baby nurse]

It''s too bad it''s been so frustrating but it will be worth the effort in the end!
I love Facet fires'' ring. The idea of a custom setting like that is great.

 

[oddoneout]

Custom.

 

[stepcutgirl]

Just a little update that I got my final quote back and it is spot on what I was wanting and willing to spend for the custom setting. The Sholdt won''t be here till next week so I will decide then. But yay for choices agan!

 

[stepcutgirl]

After talking to the vendor...the custom route will not be dantier than the Sholdt. In fact to have the same look as facetfires it will taper to just as wide as the Sholdt. It will be a 2mm band tapering up to 4mm where it meets the stone. They suggest using 3pt stones. Any thoughts?

 

[decodelighted]

I think a lot of vendors don't like to work in Palladium ... your "sky high" quotes might be because of that. I voted for the Sholdt. No opinion on the pt. size for the other. Have no clue!


ETA: Saw that you ruled out the halo partially because you were worried about losing melees. Honestly, either of your two choices here seem to ME to be just as likely to lose stones as halos are. The Sholdt is bead-set and not sure how the custom will be set, but small stones are small stones. Will say that in about five years of wear on my Ering and four on my wedding band (both have bead-set pave) I have not lost a stone KNOCK WOOD. Of course I haven't been great at servicing them so maybe its gunk keeping in the bling!