Frustrated with Michelle Nelson

[stevemiller]

Yes i do agree it is a mess,it smells,it needs to be done right of course but its no where near as intricate as the taxing itself.as a business man myself i think doing as much yourself as possible is and always will be best,I hated answering for customers work due to a contractors turn around or shabby work.None of my business of course and not trying to harp on you and your business by any meens but if you are as busy as it sounds and I'm sure you could even get more work if you hired your own tanner to do yours and yours only that's all. 

[Michelle_Nelson]

Yes i do agree it is a mess,it smells,it needs to be done right of course but its no where near as intricate as the taxing itself.as a business man myself i think doing as much yourself as possible is and always will be best,I hated answering for customers work due to a contractors turn around or shabby work.None of my business of course and not trying to harp on you and your business by any meens but if you are as busy as it sounds and I'm sure you could even get more work if you hired your own tanner to do yours and yours only that's all. 

I keep as much work as possible in shop.  It would be very easy for me to just mount the heads in bear hides and ship them to a Rugger and let them do all the stretching, trimming, rugging, etc.  That would help me get caught up much faster than tanning my own stuff.  I won't because people brought me there Bears because they wanted my work.  The stretching, trimming, and rugging portion is just as important to the over all look of a rug as mounting and finishing the head.  The tanning is also important, every step is.  That's why it is very important to do your research on any tannery you chose to use.

You run into some of the same problems hiring someone to work in shop.  You still have to answer for anything they screw up or ruin.  No different to me than hiring a Tannery to do the work.  Everything else is done in shop by me.

I do not see myself going back to tanning my own capes and hides.  I've been using this New tannery for 3 seasons so far and have been receiving nothing but quality work.

[stevemiller]

 

[madmack76]

seems to be a trend with the new folks all the original folks know michelle is great, back off or go some where else this is getting stupid.

[Skyvalhunter]

You tell them

[Viszla]

Here's my experience with Michelle.  The bear rug with the closed mouth she posted awhile back is mine.  In summary;

Does she do good work? Yes
Does she run a good business? No
Would I use her again?  Absolutely NOT!!!

I've had the same experience with her as many others have had.  She is impossible to get a hold of and comes up with every excuse in the book as to why she hasn't gotten back to you.  In her defense, she did eventually get it done but I spent 2 1/2 years wondering if I'd ever see my bear again.  Too bad her business/customer service skills are not as good as her taxidermy skills.  I would not trust her to do another animal for me.

[hrd2fnd]

I don't have a dog in this fight either, but since it seems that people aren't happy with the turn around time or the business practice then maybe they should learn to do the job themselves.  This way they have nobody to complain about except there self.

Personally I'd probably be upset myself, but knowing that a professional is doing something I don't have the skill set to do the quality of work that I have seen posted here from various artists and this is art.

When the day comes that I want a mount or rug done, I already have my artist chosen for the out standing works they've produced.  Now if a bribe gets me too the head of the line so be it.

seeing as I've only filled 1 tag over the years I've been hunting the animal I get done will mean more as a way to remember the years of hunting and the me time spent. I'm not a trophy hunter by any means and my family could careless either way.

[10thmountainarcher]

When I get a chance I will upload a picture of a bear rug I had done in 2006 by a taxidermist on the east side.. Anyone that is complaining about having to wait will shut up quickly. The rug was done in just under a year, and I cannot even display it. I would have gladly waited another year to have a quality rug done by Michelle.

[92xj]

When I get a chance I will upload a picture of a bear rug I had done in 2006 by a taxidermist on the east side.. Anyone that is complaining about having to wait will shut up quickly. The rug was done in just under a year, and I cannot even display it. I would have gladly waited another year to have a quality rug done by Michelle.

And there are numerous people who could post pictures of their rugs done by taxis on the east side that look amazing and the quality of work is as great as the best taxidermist out there and the time to get it back was under a year.  Your arguement is weak, very weak.

[Colville]

I don't have a dog in this fight either, but since it seems that people aren't happy with the turn around time or the business practice then maybe they should learn to do the job themselves.  This way they have nobody to complain about except there self.....

That's nuts.  I also have no dog in the fight. I am a business owner.  I don't care if you are fixing cars, taxi work, interior decorating, construction.... Makes no difference. To suggest I learn to fix my own transmission if the shop I hire takes 4 times as long as another, or far longer than they said, or regardless of the timing can't or won't communicate with me, is beyond silly.  Time is equal to and in many cases more important than cost.  No one can make any kind of claim that quality exists in an ultra finite number of locations.  It's not a trade off of quality for whatever the business crams down my throat, there are other quality businesses.  But I don't really think it's about either of those in this thread.

It's really about proper expectation setting, honestly.  If you are 2 years out on work, that should be the first words out of your mouth when you on board a client.  If you on board a client and you can see at some point you are going to fail on:  cost, time, quality or some other aspect agreed upon YOU CALL.  If you fail to set solid up font expectations your rep will be that you never do what you say. If you set good expectations and meet most of them but when you don't you let the customer swing out in the breeze, you're going down for that too.  Don't like that?  Don't run a service business or expect it to be trashed with some regularity by your customers.  Can't have your cake and eat it too.   Customers have choices and worst thing about that is that it is FAR harder to find a new customer than to serve the one you have well and get him/her to return.

Also, I was just on vacation for a week.  I had no fewer than 4 client conversations and many emails... Because it's my business and they're my customers and I want both of those things to continue.

[HntnFsh]

Colville, Looks like you know what its all about.

[Whitelightning]

I took Michelle my bear, it was a mess, I shot the bear it was a hot day and he had just came out if a Waller covered in mud and soaking wet. I froze the bear for a year in my freezer saving for the taxi, Michelle took the bear and made a beautiful rug out of it. during the process she told me the hide may not be useable to prepare me for a possible huge disappointment. All I can say is yes it took 2 years but I can tell you their is NO ONE that does a BEAR RUG as well as Michelle.

Thanks again Michelle I have a Speed Goat for a Euro coming to you soon!!

[huntnnw]

2 years is absurd!!!!! I've been around this bizz enough to know....YOU HAVE TAKEN IN WAY TO MUCH WORK IF ITS 2 YEARS!!!

[JimmyHoffa]

Wow.. I did not mean to start such a public debate..I was not trying to start a witch hunt on this but I see how it could be construed this way...

You started a thread on a forum with somewhere around 12,000 members right before hunting season, and you didn't want a big debate and witch hunt?   

[huntnnw]

I have found several over here that do phenominal rugs..2 in Libby, MT are very very good! and dont take 2 years