Clients letting people down

[sikamalc]

Thanks again chaps. Am out again from Friday morning with a Level 2 stalk and another novice who will be guided by someone else, plus the weeknd is booked with repeat custom from this site. I am gratefull for the advice and support thank you.

Hope the Fallow behave and show. I have spoken with many folk over the past weeks and everyone seems to be having issues with catching up with their cull, especially the Fallow. Hopefully the colder weather will change their present feeding patterns.

 

[stalkinginengland]

Had one last year. Booked the cottage a couple of stalks and he paid a good deposit. Have not heard from him and he never turned up. Could not get hold of him when I tried. Hes got more money than I have.


Mark

 

[bobt]

A few years back, I paid up front for a days roebuck stalking,
date to be arranged nearer the time, a month later I could not contact the guy, his phone and emails were dead.

you need trust both ways.

 

[IanF]

Well, here I am - on SD at 06:00am in the morning. Guess why?

Client & his friend booked a day's stalking - sent out all the details via Email and I called him a week before the shoot. Yes, he definitely was coming and would transfer a deposit on Monday. So, on this basis, I turn down another party of three hunters wanting not one but two days cull shooting.

05:45 this morning, I'm stood in the carpark, on the phone to him & listening to a bloke who is obviously not just down the road, but is actually still in bed having been woken up. No reply to my questions, so I called him back, only to be diverted straight to his messaging service. Left a message asking him to call me back - nothing.

I would not usually post this sort of thing, but amazingly, the guy started his call to me by explaining that he had been 'had' by a guide who had taken his money and not provided stalking. I do try and prevent this sort of thing by asking for a deposit & am easily contactable, my mobile receiving calls, messages, texts and emails - I know I have not missed his cancellation.

So, to Carl Rayner of Wales - don't bother re-booking please, I can't afford your kind of business!

Rgds

IanF

 

[6pointer]

Well i must admit i have just done it the other way .Had a chap out this morning for a stalk and when i awoke it was chucking it down. I decided it would be a no show for the deer so TXT the chap and tried to phone him. I prefer txt some wife's got nuts at being woke up at 6 on a sat morning unless its for something else lol. Well lets just say the text and the phone message went to some one else's phone not his and he turned up in the rain and wind.

May i say very sorry and very glad you did not travel miles i will sort it out next time for you mate.

So to Andy my sincere apologise

 

[jamross65]

Well i must admit i have just done it the other way .Had a chap out this morning for a stalk and when i awoke it was chucking it down. I decided it would be a no show for the deer so TXT the chap and tried to phone him. I prefer txt some wife's got nuts at being woke up at 6 on a sat morning unless its for something else lol. Well lets just say the text and the phone message went to some one else's phone not his and he turned up in the rain and wind.

May i say very sorry and very glad you did not travel miles i will sort it out next time for you mate.

So to Andy my sincere apologise

Fair weather west-coast safties!!!

 

[andyf]

Well i must admit i have just done it the other way .Had a chap out this morning for a stalk and when i awoke it was chucking it down. I decided it would be a no show for the deer so TXT the chap and tried to phone him. I prefer txt some wife's got nuts at being woke up at 6 on a sat morning unless its for something else lol. Well lets just say the text and the phone message went to some one else's phone not his and he turned up in the rain and wind.

May i say very sorry and very glad you did not travel miles i will sort it out next time for you mate.

So to Andy my sincere apologise

Wind and rain?! After sitting in the Fort carpark for 45 minutes it had faired up quite nicely!

To be fair to Davie, he sorted me out for the Sunday which was cold but a really nice morning. Bit crunchy under foot which gave the deer what proved to be too big an advantage, but when you see over 20 deer in a morning who would complain?! An action-packed 3 hours that could still have ended up with a deer on the ground right at the end (Davie - looking online now for a quieter jacket! ).

 

[6pointer]

Andy clothes are very important part of deer stalking and sadly it is not always the ones that are warm and dry that are the best for the job. Silence is the key when after Roe Deer and i have always believd skin is water proof.But we were never going to beat the frost on sunday.

 

[www.yorkshireroestalking.]

welcome to the fun malc.
this happens to us all.
i don't always take deposits so have to grin and bear cancellations for what ever reason.
some don't even ring to cancel at all and simply don't turn up.
those that are genuine usually forward a small amount for wasted time or simply make it right when they re-book.
another thing i have had which find it hard to understand is the amount of novices coming into the game who shoot their first deer on the first outing and can't even tip? not even get a pint??
tips are i know gratutties but come on a kill on the first outing.
we just have to grin and bear it malc.

 

[Morgy]

Tips, What are those? sign of the times, us poor taxi drivers dont get many these days either, customers reckon its "DEER" enough

 

[norma 308]

lets not start the TIPS thing again boys ,last time i mentoined it in a thread regarding amount of deer some lads shot and didnt tip i felt like i was about to get hung drawn and quartered

 

[photopro]

I have been a photographer in my own business 30 years and the thing which annoys me the most is a no show for an appointment. I ALWAYS phone when this happens and the stupid, half-baked and down right disgraceful excuses some have given are almost beyond belief, "we booked someone cheaper", "it was raining" but the worst and I kid you not "my 2yr old daughter has been taken into hospital with a brain tumour" .... and I know for definate this was a downright lie.
I take a payment every time with the balance paid by debitcard two weeks before the job, however the intial payment must be referred to as a "booking fee" since you could very well be forced to return a "deposit" as one of my colleagues found out, if the job is cancelled for whatever reason.

 

[newkid]

Hi Malc
I am self-employed in a different field. T&Cs help - big deposit and refund after reasonable expenses have been deducted.
Your in business - they are indulging in a hobby.

 

[www.yorkshireroestalking.]

I have NO hard feelings towards clients.
Just i have been around shooting men all my life and a tip for a good do is always been the correct thing.
Foreign clients always tip, domestic rarley, if I stalk anywhere I tip even if no shots been fired.
I run my own pheasant shoot and all the guns tip regardless of bag, its expected. Why should stalking be any different?
Especially when you get "firsts".

 

[RPA 6MM BR]

I can imagine the frustration you are facing, especially when its your living!

 

[bogtrotter]

I have NO hard feelings towards clients.
Just i have been around shooting men all my life and a tip for a good do is always been the correct thing.
Foreign clients always tip, domestic rarley, if I stalk anywhere I tip even if no shots been fired.
I run my own pheasant shoot and all the guns tip regardless of bag, its expected. Why should stalking be any different?
Especially when you get "firsts".

 

[Dalua]

I run my own pheasant shoot and all the guns tip regardless of bag, its expected.

There's your answer - it's expected, so however much it irks them, they cough up. The extent to which it irks them will vary from not in the slightest to a great deal, according to the difference between the price of the shooting and their disposable incomes. The lesson I learned as a Gun is to avoid srimping and saving to go on expensive shoots where the expectation of even larger tips leaves one feeling done-over.

Why should stalking be any different? Especially when you get "firsts".

All you need to do is make sure your punters know it's expected: put it on your terms and conditions. Easy.

 

[www.yorkshireroestalking.]

All you need to do is make sure your punters know it's expected: put it on your terms and conditions. Easy.

thats the point there are so many new stalkers/shooters now the very basic etiquette has been lost.
I don't have a great problem with this its just not the way i was taught.

 

[Dalua]

thats the point there are so many new stalkers/shooters now the very basic etiquette has been lost.
I don't have a great problem with this its just not the way i was taught.

Well, if you want the money, let them know beforehand, like you do with your other fees and carcase-damage penalties. Then you won't be disappointed, and you'll have taught them what you were taught.

I loathe tipping, although I do tip estate-employed stalkers when I'm a (paying) guest, as that particular relationship is still stuck in the rather feudal rustic past.

However, I don't think if I were engaging a self-employed professional stalking-guide it would occur to me to tip, any more than I would tip my accountant.

Maybe I'm just a tight-fisted miserable sod, and not as well-off as people who sell stalking and shooting imagine I am.

 

[norma 308]

i knew this would happen ive posted where i stand on tips i'm old school .