Full Version: Trophy cleaning

From: RICK (THUMBSUP) [#1]
 12 Mar 2007
To: ALL

A question to those of you who are trophy builders.If a customer comes in to your shop with some "traveling trophies" which need a new name engraved on them,or a customer comes in with some trophies he wants"recycled" and the trophies are covered with dust,cobwebs,etc.and look like they were just pulled out of someone's attic or basement what is your policy on cleaning them before returning them to the customer?Do you clean them up and charge an additional fee for cleaning,do you absorb the time it takes to clean them,do you tell them there is a "cleaning" charge,thus giving them the option to take them home to clean them(or possibly take them to your competitor).Any input would be appreciated.

EDITED: 12 Mar 2007 by DGL

From: Stunt Engraver (DGL) [#2]
 12 Mar 2007
To: RICK (THUMBSUP) [#1] 12 Mar 2007

Rick,

If it were just one trophy and just needed dusting off, I'd clean it up as part of the service, as long as there was new engraving being done.

If a person came in with a box of trophies and wanted them cleaned, I'd charge accordingly, even if new engraving was part of the job.

I learned the hard way, once, when a person brought a bunch of trophies for a dog show, which included tarnished silverplate bowls and trays.

The person asked if I could clean the silver. I said, "Yes, but I'll have to charge for that service."

Long story short, it was a much bigger job than I had imagined and even though I charged a pretty stiff fee, the customer and I had reached a conclusion:

I didn't want to clean the silver again and he didn't want to pay for the cleaning again. :S

EDITED: 12 Mar 2007 by DGL

From: JHayes55 [#3]
 12 Mar 2007
To: RICK (THUMBSUP) [#1] 12 Mar 2007

Time is money - charge your shop rate for the cleaning - you could be doing something else that is profitable. Be up front with your customer as to the charge and let them decide if they want the service or prefer to do it themselves. These types of people many times will want to take advantage of your good nature. I got in one of these types of orders last week and the plaques they wanted refurbished were just when they were brand new - I check the name on the back then did a search to see if they were still in business - not surprisingly - they were no longer in business.
Wonder why?

I do not mind helping someone out and saving money for them but I also refuse to put out something that is less than a quality product. Redo sometimes cost more than what a new quality one would. I let the customer make the call.

From: Joe (SMITTY61) [#4]
 12 Mar 2007
To: RICK (THUMBSUP) [#1] 12 Mar 2007

I agree with Dave. If its just one or two that need to be wiped off, make it part of the service. We had similar situations where silver needed to be polished and it became more of an issue than what it was worth. We do however polish wood bases and try to clean plaques with Old English as part of the service to keep them coming back. Charge a flat rate of $5.00 of $10.00 if there are a couple of pieces that need to be cleaned. I wouldn't get too much into the silver polishing, though. I am not a Silversmith and some people expect that kind of result.

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