Re: RC: Re: Horseshoes???

["Maggie Mieske" <mmieske@netonecom.net>]

Your farrier does sound much like Nelson...he becomes very perturbed when
people notice a problem and don't let him know about it right away.  As
much as we appreciate the "we know you're coming soon and we'll take care
of it then" attitude, he feels as if people aren't being up front with him.
 They get chewed out, too.  But that is an exception, I think.  There are
folks that we like so much, we will always be loyal to them because they
have shown us the same loyalty and respect.  We won't ever be too busy for
them.  But there are some that I can't wait to drop...to be honest, finding
good clients is almost as hard as finding a good farrier.  Bad stuff
happens to farriers sometimes and they can have a bad day...they are human,
too.  But they have to maintain a business and customer relations is as
high on the list as skill at what they do (I think so anyway!).    


Maggie Mieske
Mieske's Silver Lining
10601 S. Richards Rd.
McBain, Michigan 49657
http://www.netonecom.net/~mmieske
mmieske@netonecom.net

----------
> From: diane knapper <knaptyme@uswest.net>
> To: Maggie Mieske <mmieske@netonecom.net>
> Cc: John Bass <jbass@beattynv.com>; ridecamp@endurance.net
> Subject: Re: RC:   Re: Horseshoes???
> Date: Monday, March 20, 2000 10:35 PM
> 
> Maggie;
> 
> I have a feeling that Brandon is a lot like Nelson.  More
> than willing to answer questions.  My fear comes from a
> farrier that I felt was good...but when my horse started to
> wing...told me he always did it.  He apparently did not like
> being told that he may have done something wrong.  OK, face
> reality, we are all human and make mistakes.  He was what I
> considered a competent farrier out in Las Vegas, but the
> minute I called him and told him what was going on....he
> refused to come out and correct the problem.  Said my horse
> had always done that and it was my imagination.  Did I get
> the guy out of the yellow pages????  Absolutely not, he was
> referred by several good friends.  One of them told me, that
> he was going thru a very bad divorce, and maybe he just had
> an off day..then also said, by the way, don't tell him he
> did anything wrong...he doesn't like that.  First mistake, I
> told him he did something wrong, because my horse had never
> winged in his life.  Thank god, it was common to ride the
> desert in bell boots and sport boots, otherwise, I wouldn't
> have had an ankle left on either front foot based on what
> the bell boots looked like after a casual ride.  Needless to
> say, I got a new farrier after that and was very happy with
> him.  But it sure set a poor taste in my mouth about
> questionning my farrier.  I had one when I moved to MN that
> I thought was great.  Guess what, I threw 4 shoes in 4 weeks
> and couldn't get him to call me back.  Well, I have to admit
> after the first 3 phones calls, my messages got nasty.  Did
> he deserve it -- you bet.  I paid a price for service well
> done with a guarantee.  All of a sudden that guarantee means
> nothing and the money I spent was gone.  I had to pay
> someone else to first pull one back shoe and then the other
> front shoe before I found a new farrier.   Are all farriers
> like this...god, I hope not.  Brandon has done Phoenix for 2
> years and I couldn't be happier.  Last fall, he was talking
> about cutting down his territory...I asked him what happened
> if I moved out of the specific area.  His reply was that he
> would always do Phoenix no matter where I lived...he enjoyed
> spending time with both of us.  I truly hope I can believe
> his statement.  Because I tell you what, I don't want to go
> thru finding another good farrier.  Like Branddon, who when
> my horse started clipping himself 4 weeks into a shoe job
> and I decided to wait the extra 1.5 weeks to tell him about
> it...I got chewed out.  His exact words where if that
> happens again, call me immediately.  Brandon has been very
> good and he is very concerned about the horse.  I guess I
> could say that he is "MN Nice"...but you know, I'm trying to
> stay away from becoming too Minnesotan<vbg>
> Diane
>