Recently, I've had a few unhappy customers. It's not that they were unhappy with what I did... they were unhappy about what I wouldn't do.
Just in the past month, I had to cancel a few orders for very basic and obvious reasons. I had a couple of customers buy a thing from my shop, then contact me after their purchase, telling me they didn't want the thing that they bought because actually, they wanted a different thing that I wasn't offering or something that I was unable to make for them in the unrealistic time frame they were giving me. One customer absolutely blew my mind; he begged me to accept a return on a customized product that he'd bought and insisted he absolutely couldn't use, which, for hygienic reasons and as stated on my website, I can't accept returns on. I gave him a break, though and told him he could return the thing and I gave him his refund, even though I can't resell the item and just had to throw it away, which is obviously a total loss for me. Just days later, he bought the same item again. Also customized, but in a different way. (!) And, as professionally as I could muster, I had to explain to each of these customers why I was declining these sales and then had to go through the process of canceling and refunding them. And then all of these customers got really upset with me and wanted to debate why I was wrong for doing so. I had to keep myself from emailing them back in all caps "THAT'S NOT HOW THIS WORKS!"
Anyway, these interactions really frustrated me and took my focus away from what was really important: all of my amazing (& very reasonable!) customers like you folks, who encourage me and allow me to keep doing what I love!
And just to be clear, this is not about custom orders. I LOVE custom orders. I'm EXCITED when people find me and ask if I would like to create a special thing, just for them. But most people know to ASK FIRST and allow for me to decide the following: Is this something I can do? Is it something I want to do? How much do I need to charge for this? Will I have enough time to finish this and get it to you by your deadline? These things are all important considerations. As most of you know, I am Metal Cloth & Wood — I am literally one person doing everything. And I'm so thankful for all of you who always do their best to give me some grace and I promise to do the same in return. 🙏
Thank you all for letting me vent... now back to our regular programming!