Are you good at waiting... patiently?

[fiona00004]

So I sent my ring to Quest to get haloed. It has been...2 weeks...I will probably need to wait another 10 days or so... but wow, the waiting is killing me! I am trying hard not to always write to Pete and ask for an update... I wanna be on his good side ya know?

How do you deal with the waiting? If you are having something made... how often do or did you email or call? Every 2 days? Once a week? Or do / did you only wait until they contact you first?

 

[GemFever]

I suck at waiting patiently. No tips. Just restraint. Sometimes I tell DH if I'm about to do something impulsive that I know I shouldn't (like write a vendor to bug them too soon), and he talks me out of it. Sometimes I browse ebay mindlessly for hours, just to keep myself busy. This second strategy is risky though, because it may result in needless spending. Ahem.

Sometimes... I do write and bug. But I really try to make my email sound cool and nonchalant (haha! Or so I delude myself!). Just kinda "checking in."

Good luck, I hope you hear from Quest soon!

 

[marymm]

How do you deal with the waiting? If you are having something made... how often do or did you email or call? Every 2 days? Once a week? Or do / did you only wait until they contact you first?

Every vendor I've worked with has had a backlog of projects so I know my project is in a queue. At the outset, I ask about their usual process/timeline - and once my project is locked in, I use their usual timeline as my guide and don't check in with them until a couple days past the estimated completion date.

I always want to receive photos first, before they mail out the item, so I make sure to let them know that at the very beginning, and then again in my first follow-up email (should one be necessary) - the reminder about the photos in the follow-up email in my own mind gives me cover to also ask about the status of my project.

For me, the waiting is kind of like the anticipation of Christmas back when I was a kid - so exciting because of the certainty you are getting to get presents! but not knowing exactly what they are until you unwrap them - my jewelry projects, even when I picked out the stone and the setting , have that same knowing/unknowing anticipation. For me, it is fun to wait - and sometimes when the finished piece is in my hand, I get a sense of anticlimax because all the anticipation/mystery is over.

 

[fiona00004]

I officialy "bugged" him only once last Friday... no movement since he told me what he was doing beginning of last week. I guess I gotta keep in mind that I am not his only customer!LOL

Gemfever, the earrings you have in your avatar are really gorgeous! I am always scouring eBay and antique online shops for something exactly like those! Lucky girl! Great find!

 

[fiona00004]

How do you deal with the waiting? If you are having something made... how often do or did you email or call? Every 2 days? Once a week? Or do / did you only wait until they contact you first?

I always want to receive photos first, before they mail out the item, so I make sure to let them know that at the very beginning, and then again in my first follow-up email (should one be necessary) - the reminder about the photos in the follow-up email in my own mind gives me cover to also ask about the status of my project.

Yes, I definitely made it clear I wanted photos prior to shipping in case there was something to alter. He said he will do photos once completed.

You are good with the waiting! I gotta keep myself busy in the meantime!

 

[GemFever]

Gemfever, the earrings you have in your avatar are really gorgeous! I am always scouring eBay and antique online shops for something exactly like those! Lucky girl! Great find!

Thanks Fiona! Mine were from an antique & estate jewelry booth (Efim Gilin) at Intergem. I saw a similar pair on ebay once too, though not for a super steal (otherwise I would have gotten them and hung them on top of my first pair Or just given them to my mom ).

 

[madelise]

I'm never okay with waiting. NOW NOW NOW! *temper tantrum*.

 

[yssie]

I want an update at least once a week. So I won't work with vendors who aren't able/willing to provide me with an update at least once a week

Re. waiting - I find it's much, much easier to wait when I'm being kept in the loop (vs. waiting on a surprise). I don't *like* surprises - I spend the time in the dark worrying about what could go wrong, and the worry fuels the impatience!

 

[yennyfire]

Waiting is SOOOO hard! I am not a patient person in general (thankfully, I manage to use most of it with my kids), and jewelry in particular is hard for me to be patient about. However, I remind myself that I want my project perfect and pestering someone so much that they just want to get my job done to shut me up isn't a solution that will make me happy in the end.

Now, if I'm over a deadline, then I'll call more often, unless I've been given a revised deadline, which I try to respect.

Yeah, just typing this response made my gut clench...it reminded me very vividly how awful it was to wait on both of my rings....I'm so glad that they're complete and on my fingers!!

Just cross the days off one at a time lady!! Where's the cyber hug emotie???

 

[pandabee]

If you come to the LIW side, you will find that we are NOT very good at waiting patiently.

 

[madelise]

Where's the cyber hug emotie???

 

[GemFever]

Where's the cyber hug emotie???

oooh I love this! How do you make it happen?

Re: waiting patiently... I already commented, but I'll add that I just nearly went crazy waiting for my ring just last week. And I knew exactly when i would have it, too. There's just something about THE WAIT. Now that I'm not waiting for anything, i think I'm going through "Wait Withdrawal."

 

[SB621]

My first few custom projects I was pretty antsy all the time. This time around I'm actually very non-chalant about the entire thing.

Regardless I check in to make sure my stone/ring whatever has arrived and ask for a rough completion date. Then contacting them typically depends on the piece I'm 'having made. If it is something that has been done before then I don't need to be contacted till the end with pictures. An example would be when VC made my Emilya setting. He has done it many times before my diamond so I don't feel the need to bug him about it. He has other clients in front of me etc.

When SK was doing my 3 stone we emailed back and forth a few times as he asked questions about my preferences, but this was a new take on his lucinda setting.

 

[fiona00004]

Where's the cyber hug emotie???

OOoooooooo! AWESOME!

 

[fiona00004]

I'm glad we are all on the same boat. Yssie, I hear ya. I am SO FEARFUL that somehow, he forgot what my preferences were or something and I normally love surprises, but not when it comes to THIS! I've read that Quest is usually good at making sure the client is pleased so I hope that all my preferences are considered here. I also don't get any CADs or anything since it is done by hand so... *sigh*...I am honestly just worried, anxious, excited... everything!

 

[fiona00004]

I'm never okay with waiting. NOW NOW NOW! *temper tantrum*.

Ya...I want it YESTERDAY! I feel like I've been waiting forever because I've wanted this several months ago and it took time for DH to be ok with the idea of this change. So... technically been waiting since November! heehee

 

[momhappy]

I'm horrible at waiting. Right now, I've waited almost two months for a pre-order handbag and my halo ring project won't be complete for another week and a half. I also have a long-overdue trip coming up to see my sisters/nieces/nephews and that wait is by far, the worst. I'm anxious just thinking about it....

 

[madelise]

I'm never okay with waiting. NOW NOW NOW! *temper tantrum*.

Ya...I want it YESTERDAY! I feel like I've been waiting forever because I've wanted this several months ago and it took time for DH to be ok with the idea of this change. So... technically been waiting since November! heehee

I beat you. I have been waiting since June

Where's the cyber hug emotie???

oooh I love this! How do you make it happen?

Re: waiting patiently... I already commented, but I'll add that I just nearly went crazy waiting for my ring just last week. And I knew exactly when i would have it, too. There's just something about THE WAIT. Now that I'm not waiting for anything, i think I'm going through "Wait Withdrawal."

I love it, don't you? There's an emoticon thread that Skippy made at the very top, stickied on the Hangout thread. You can go there, view image source, and just insert it in the [ img ] [ /img ] tags. But, you know, delete those spaces.

 

[GemFever]

I'm never okay with waiting. NOW NOW NOW! *temper tantrum*.

Ya...I want it YESTERDAY! I feel like I've been waiting forever because I've wanted this several months ago and it took time for DH to be ok with the idea of this change. So... technically been waiting since November! heehee

I beat you. I have been waiting since June

Where's the cyber hug emotie???

oooh I love this! How do you make it happen?

Re: waiting patiently... I already commented, but I'll add that I just nearly went crazy waiting for my ring just last week. And I knew exactly when i would have it, too. There's just something about THE WAIT. Now that I'm not waiting for anything, i think I'm going through "Wait Withdrawal."

I love it, don't you? There's an emoticon thread that Skippy made at the very top, stickied on the Hangout thread. You can go there, view image source, and just insert it in the [ img ] [ /img ] tags. But, you know, delete those spaces.

..... OMG there are SO MANY TO CHOOSE FROM!

fiona, sorry for the threadjack!

 

[fiona00004]

well I might just fill up my time with learning these emoticons!

 

[NOYFB]

I have gotten VERY good at waiting in the past few years....I'm still very (patiently) waiting for my kitty memorial pendant and it has been over 3 months!!! My amethyst/diamond eternity band from IDJ took a lot longer than I had anticipated last year, but the recent repair (replacing a stone) from time I sent the ring in to the time I got it back was 10 days, so I was like YAY!!!!
I've always been a very impatient person so I tend to be a pest when things take too long

 

[marcy]

Patience and I are usually not associated with each other. DH is not patient either which is why our Christmas tree never has icicles on it. There would be about 10 icicles at my height, about 10 about 10" higher and two big blobs on the tree of whatever we had left in our hand. Even my employees can't handle it when I tell them to be patient; I hear a lot of "like you set an example for that".

 

[fiona00004]

*phew*. I am glad to hear I am probably within the norm by PS standards then! Even my DH, who was not supportive of the halo idea at first, asks me everyday " Have you hear from your jeweler yet? Any news? Updates?"... I am glad he is also anxious about it!

Being on maternity leave and at home maybe makes it a bit harder... cuz I check m email like at least 20 times a day!