watchthatman
2532
Some thoughts on turnaround times
Oct 22, 2014,19:48 PM
Your experience with turnaround on service reminds me of an experience I had when I ordered a upgraded component for my stereo amplifier. The amp was manufactured by a small company in California, with a neurotic owner obsessed with quality. When I initially ordered the amp, he wouldn't take my money for it until he approved the speakers and rest of system I was playing it with.
After having the amp for a few years, I worked through an authorized dealer to order an upgraded component. A 50% deposit was requested up front, and I paid it. He expected that it would be a few months, because production of the component depended on available capacity, which was a bit unpredictable. A few months pass, I call the dealer, and he says any day now. I say okay. A few more months pass, I call and he says any day. I say okay.
I thankfully did not go insane in this process. I think the secret was that I went on with my life. Vacations, art projects, other adventures. In the end, the component took about 18 months to arrive. I had stopped calling the AD after 6 months to preserve my sanity. When the component arrived, it was just a very nice surprise. And my amplifier, with the new component, sounded awesome.
I'm telling this story because my manufacturer was like RM, in the sense that both offered a product that was available from nobody else, and neither product was mass produced. Both, I also assume, were obsessed with quality. Their small size, limited expertise, and obsession with quality unfortunately means their turnaround may follow a schedule that's outrageous to anyone except crazy people who obsess over things like watches and stereos. And the lack of a competitor may make them think they don't have to keep us informed, and they don't have to strive to move quickly. For some of us that's okay. But as someone else mentioned, it may leave them out of consideration for that next dream purpose that will dwarf the service they're being so delinquent in providing.
In my case, I was strangely comforted that in this age, where everyone only wants to talk about what will happen in the immediate future, there are still people out there who do excellent work, but they work according to a different, much slower schedule.