Quote Originally Posted by scottishstore View Post
And in the end....the most sad thing is to see that there are retailors paying for advertising space or offering discounts to those that buy after visiting this forum! Surely you can see how this looks to the kilt industry.
Cheers.

Yes, advertising. How sad! What a shame that Nick Fiddes has posted here, how diminished we all are that many of the this-side-of-the-pond kiltmakers (MacHummel, the Wizard of BC, Rocky and BarbT to mention only a few) post here, and interact with customers and potential customers.

OK, my tongue was a little bit in cheek with that paragraph. Just a thought, though---rather than ranting against X-Marks, maybe you could participate some? You wouldn't need to advertise, but you could post. Rather than being defensive, if you are confident in the quality of your shop, your kilts and your personnel, why not post some pics?

In my line of work, I've screwed up jobs, and I've had jobs screwed up by other vendors. I not only apologize profusely to the clients, but I try and keep them up to date about what's happening, and why. I've lost money (sometimes a good bit) on jobs gone wrong . . . but I always try to make sure the client is happy. My motto is and has been that "a happy customer is the best word of mouth."

This advice is seriously intended; I'm not being snarky. I like kilts, I like wearing them, and I like seeing them flourish. There are two ways to react to negative reviews: either blow them off as the griping of perfectionists who won't ever be happy, or to say, "This is an area we need to work on."

Best regards,