Your Mount is Ready but where are you ?????

[woodman]

I think like any business deal, these things should be worked out at the beginning of the deal. Most times in business trying to work the details out after the job is done makes one side pretty upset and most leverage is gone for one side. If something changes, but is communicated along the way, things can go smoothly. If ignored and only discussed after the fact, that is bad business and the makings for anger.

I owned a business for many years and that was my experience.

[ICEMAN]

So lets look at it in another way. Lets say that you go to work for a week and your boss/company tells you that you will get paid 30 days from today Maybe! and see how you run your house hold not knowing when your going to get paid. actually when you get a call that it is done it was actually mounted two to three weeks prior and then another day for cleaning and finish work then you get a call. so if the customer waits thirty days to pick up, taxi will be getting paid almost two months after he/she did the work. what ever lead time they have give that amount of time to say the other half of the money and if life happens and it does you should contact the taxi to let them know not to start on your project yet it will help both of you in the end.

If taxi's would operate like a normal business...There would be no issue.

When I was a contractor, if i ran late getting a job done on time I would experience liquidated damages clause and be required to pay a fee for every DAY I was late. Taxi's don't generally do this, maybe they should.

[Bean Counter]

So lets look at it in another way. Lets say that you go to work for a week and your boss/company tells you that you will get paid 30 days from today Maybe! and see how you run your house hold not knowing when your going to get paid. actually when you get a call that it is done it was actually mounted two to three weeks prior and then another day for cleaning and finish work then you get a call. so if the customer waits thirty days to pick up, taxi will be getting paid almost two months after he/she did the work. what ever lead time they have give that amount of time to say the other half of the money and if life happens and it does you should contact the taxi to let them know not to start on your project yet it will help both of you in the end.

NW, I don't think the central thrust of this conversation is about whether a taxi should get paid, its about whether the customer should have only X days to pick up his mount, and then the taxi sells off the mount if he is 1 day late.

For the sake of discussion: Lets say you gave me a 12 month quote but wound up taking 15-18 months to get the mount completed. Then I was then away from town for work or vacation, I could paid you via telephone/internet and was away from town, would you still sell the mount off after 31 days even though your completion was delayed due to whatever circumstance? What I and I think a few other members are saying, is that if a taxi wants some flexibility in the completion date, maybe there should likewise be flexibility when the customer picks up his or her mount. 

[Bango skank]

My mount is ready?  I don't believe you.  Have one out right now that's more than a year past the time frame I was given.  I'll never pay in full up front again.

[woodman]

My mount is ready?  I don't believe you.  Have one out right now that's more than a year past the time frame I was given.  I'll never pay in full up front again.

Huge mistake paying in full up front. You showed good faith doing that but the taxi has no more incentive to work on your project. The taxi can work on others that will put more money in his pocket when he gets the job done. This applies to any kind of business.

[Bango skank]

Yeah I've realized this.  He has my deer and bear and isn't doing them.  In fact he called me around new years and said my stuff would be done in a day or two.  So I showed up to pay the balance on my bear rug.  When I got there the bear was almost done and I payed it off. My deer from the year before that I payed in advance, the skull plate was on a form.  Anyway I went back in April and the guy ran off and left me with his apprentice.  Seems he had my antlers on a form knowing I was coming then took them back off and put them back on the rack after I left.  Not only that but the right g 2 is chipped off at the tip.  Was whole when I gave it to him.  I'm about a week away from dropping a play by play thread of my dealings with this guy on the forum here.  I'm pretty upset.  I'll be stopping by again and leaving with my stuff one way or another very soon.

[Becky]

So lets look at it in another way. Lets say that you go to work for a week and your boss/company tells you that you will get paid 30 days from today Maybe! and see how you run your house hold not knowing when your going to get paid. actually when you get a call that it is done it was actually mounted two to three weeks prior and then another day for cleaning and finish work then you get a call. so if the customer waits thirty days to pick up, taxi will be getting paid almost two months after he/she did the work. what ever lead time they have give that amount of time to say the other half of the money and if life happens and it does you should contact the taxi to let them know not to start on your project yet it will help both of you in the end.

NW, I don't think the central thrust of this conversation is about whether a taxi should get paid, its about whether the customer should have only X days to pick up his mount, and then the taxi sells off the mount if he is 1 day late.

For the sake of discussion: Lets say you gave me a 12 month quote but wound up taking 15-18 months to get the mount completed. Then I was then away from town for work or vacation, I could paid you via telephone/internet and was away from town, would you still sell the mount off after 31 days even though your completion was delayed due to whatever circumstance? What I and I think a few other members are saying, is that if a taxi wants some flexibility in the completion date, maybe there should likewise be flexibility when the customer picks up his or her mount. 

I voted 90 days because that's what ran through my head is the explanation you just gave. I just think of worst case circumstances.. I've never had anything taxidermied, however, I've never read a single account where someone got their mount back exactly on the date specified. In fact, I think most quotes taxis give out now are "starting at __ years" or "about __ years", so why would it be fair to dispose of or sell off someone's trophy after 30 days has past when they rarely get to pick it up on the original date or even within the original specified month?

I think about all the accounts of people on here going through cancer treatment, getting sick, emergency surgeries, deaths in the family. Sometimes, calling their taxidermist is the last thing on their mind for that moment.. and I couldn't imagine the extra heartbreak of returning calls a day or so late only to find out their mount was sold off. 90 days is how a lot of bills are scheduled before going off to collections, seems like 3 months is enough time that the taxidermist could ethically feel good about it being "abandoned" and them selling it off to recoup losses or what have you.

[Holg3107]

20% the time it took to finish. If it took 10 months at the taxi 2 months to pick up. If is took 60 months like some have posted lately 12 months to pick up. That said there should be liquidated damages spelled out when dealing with a taxi. 1% each day over the mutually decided upon completion date should provide substantial motivation for the taxi to maintain schedule. NEVER give a taxi full payment until day of pickup, I don't care how well you know him. Once money isn't a factor time is no longer a factor. 

[Natures Way]

  communication is key. everything doesn't always go as planned.  What I trying to say was that a taxi has to give you thirty days after completion to pick up mount before they can sell it. with that being said they can and do charge storage fees. if not picked up within a certain amount of days, some are within a week some are within two weeks. Then charge storage out to a month then they can sell it.  I can deal with just about anything with good communication between both parties. BC what I do if someone wants to pay over phone but cant come get it, that's fine with me I have things here that I have done years ago that people paid for them but thought they would have a spot for them and then they don't and I don't charge them any fees. I also know of taxi's that have there customers pay in full before they will complete a job.

[Odell]

I'd say 90 days to pay in full or you forfeit the animal and the taxi can sell. There needs to be a reasonable effort to contact the client as well, not just 1 email or something.

But if you have paid in full, you should have 90 days to pick up and then be charged a reasonable storage fee until 6 months or so. If you have paid in full, they should have to hang on to it for a while. "storage" really means display and if they have done quality work it's not really a huge deal for it to hang in the shop imo. Helps the taxi in some ways.

Usually the issue is getting paid, not really hanging on to something thats been paid for.

[stevemiller]

I say 30 days is plenty if the customer has been notified.The other side of this is how much discount should a customer be given per month that services are later than given?No matter the excuse. 

[stevemiller]

Maybe we should call Adam Carolla to start a CATCH A TAXIDERMIST reallity show. 

[xxlx7]

I feel if there is a date agreed for completion, there will always be some fudge room, sometimes things happen, I would say allowable pick up time depends on how much longer after that date the mount was completed. If I was expecting to pick up an animal in march, and the taxi said it would be done in march, I expect it in march.. if its going to be later, he has now decided that payment is going to be adjusted not only for his convenience, but mine too. Its like any job, in my auto shop, if I take on too much work, it won't get done and I will have pissed off angry customers and lets be honest, a mad customer will talk to 4 times as many people about their bad experience than the 200 good ones they have had with you. If a taxi takes on too much work load, that is their fault, not the consumer, and the consumer should not be "punished" by having a deadline unless it was discussed. So I would say you can never put a deadline on something if the business didn't follow through with their initial agreement, if they do follow through with their initial agreement, the consumer should be ready to pay the day they get the phone call. Agreed dates are agreed dates, thati s why businesses set pick up and ready dates.

[pianoman9701]

I say 30 days is plenty if the customer has been notified.The other side of this is how much discount should a customer be given per month that services are later than given?No matter the excuse. 

A simple contract would protect both the hunter and the taxi. Not having one for something this valuable is stupid. The contract could stipulate the length of time for the job and penalties for late delivery. It would also state the hunter's payment and pick-up responsibilities. Keep in mind that any contract has to be legal to be binding. If the laws surrounding taxidermy allow great leeway in the completion of the project, having a contract which is more stringent would probably do no good unless there is extra consideration given.