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Just horsing around......not!

7/31/2013

7 Comments

 
PictureEnglish Rider called "Lucky"
Well I guess I'll pull another tale from the shop experience archives.  Like  encountering a  first love, you never forget the first time someone pulls the wool over your eyes.  Regrettably it taught me to be weary from the get-go, but being in retail, it would have happened sooner or later, its just this happened before the paint was even dry on the shop walls.  The story behind this  harbinger of grief was attached to my very first design commission. 

I'd just moved the store from the one room in my home to Pleasant Street and word spread quickly there were new hooking digs to check out.  Soon after opening, three ladies converged on my doorstep after their Thursday hook-in. They were all delightful, showing me their projects and chatting me up.  They said they liked my patterns and I mentioned  I planned to make custom designing part of my services.  One of the women commented that her daughter loved horses and she would like to hook a rug to commemorate that.  I asked if she wanted a western or an English rider and she said the latter would be fine.  I was pretty excited to have my very first drawing commission and my love of these magnificent creatures added to the zeal.  I went home that night with nothing but horses on the brain and stayed up until 2:00 a.m. drawing.


Back when I started the business I was fairly new to drawing and it took hours to get the thoughts in my head down on paper.  Today,  I can whip up a drawing quickly, maybe even several in a day.  So it took upwards of seven hours to get to the point where  it was transferred it to the backing.  I stayed up until it was completed because  I wanted to deliver the goods quickly to impress that I was the kind of gal who gets things done.  I thought the pattern was lovely although I’m not the best judge of my own work and the following day, the woman seemed very happy with the results so I was pleased with my first custom design.

She told me her daughter would be overjoyed, paid for the pattern and left.  Well, the phone rang later that day and it was the woman saying she showed the design to her equestrian daughter and although it was lovely, she would prefer a western rider.   So I said, hey, no problem, I’ll design another pattern, you can bring back the first one and we’ll do a swap.  I figured this was perfect, I would have two new designs for the shop making it a win win affair!

So it was another late night and I crawled into bed exhausted at 3:00 a.m., satisfied that I’d created another design she would like.  Sure enough, she dropped by the next day with the first pattern in a bag and traded it for the new one and was very happy, said she liked it even better. The shop was busy that day and I didn’t get around to hanging the first pattern on the rack until just before closing.   

PictureRide em Cowgirl!
When I took it out of the bag I immediately noticed it looked messy, not sporting the crisp lines I had laid down.  They were beyond smudged and at first I thought, crap, the woman got it wet for lack of a better reason, but on closer scrutiny I realized the smudging was green and then it hit like a bolt of lightening. It was painfully obvious that someone had traced over the pattern several times using red dot and a green marker.  What a slop job!  The pattern was a virtual  mess of lines all over the place, not even following my neat drawn ones.   It looked like the person or persons that copied it had a serious  palsy or was a child  lacking coordination.   I could have been neater copying it with my eyes closed!   Ironically, I'd named the pattern "Lucky" but there was nothing lucky about it now. 

I stood rooted to the spot, mouth agape and heart sinking.  I’m telling you I was speechless, and my brain kept going in circles as I couldn’t get past those ugly green lines.  I could have won the lottery and it wouldn't have brightened my mood.  I was pin pricked, deflated and small.  My shoulders sank and my head drooped.  I was hurt beyond words, wounded as if someone had stabbed me I the heart.  

I think what made it so hurtful was the fact that I had custom designed  the piece and went out of my way to please her.   I thought I'd gone above and beyond, losing sleep and pushing the envelope to fill the order, only to be taken advantage of.  

Whenever I’m crushed I phone hubby, cry out my woes and he makes it all better but even he couldn’t pull me out of the funk I was in.   Then I phoned Mary, my wise friend who always knows the best course of action.  What should I do?  How should I do it?  Should I keep quiet and pretend it never happened or go on the principle that I was robbed and should be compensated.   I didn’t know what to do.  My faith had jumped the fence and ridden off into the sunset at a gallop pace.  I just didn't understand.  This was someone’s grandmother; an older woman with support stockings and Avon talc. If you can't trust granny who can you trust?  If this was an example of how I was going to be treated in this business I felt I might as well lock the door now because my skin wasn’t tough enough to weather this kind of storm.   

I even phoned Doris Eaton, our rug hooking mentor in these parts.  Not only is she paramount in setting up our guild but she also helped get our rug school off the ground and more importantly is a gifted rug hooking artist.  She told me of an experience she had with a woman who had taken one of her designs without asking and passed it around to her students.  She looked the other way because she hated to have to deal with it and I was actually leaning to that side as well.  Who wants controversy, who wants to deal with dirty business, where tears and false promises, hurtful words and maybe fisticuffs could result.

So I went home and slept on it, although there wasn’t much sleep.  I tossed and turned and by morning I’d wrestled out my course of action.  I had to deal with it and confront her or I wouldn't have any respect for myself personally or as a business woman.  That morning I went to work planning on making the call first thing but anxiety took over so it was never the right time.  That evening, with my supportive hubby standing by my side I dialed the number and swallowed a lump the size of Texas.  This was not going to be easy. Even though I had done nothing wrong I was apprehensive to confront her; compounded by nausea and diarrhea ravaging my lower extremities. 

After the usual pleasantries, I told the woman what I discovered when opening the bag and that I could tell the design was copied.  I told her it was ruined and couldn't be sold in the shop.  She said she didn’t copy it but I countered with the fact that someone did and it was in her possession so she was responsible.  I told her if she came in the next day and paid for the pattern I would forget that it ever happened and she could continue to come into my shop and nothing further would be said.   She went very quiet, then agreed and we hung up. The deed done, I made a quick dash to the bathroom!

Five minutes later she called me back.  Her voice was stressed and full of apologies.  I learned later she called her friends and the one told her to phone back ASAP and do whatever was necessary so I wouldn't be angry with them or possibly bar them from the shop.   She  said she was sorry, that she didn’t know that copying a pattern was wrong.  I let that slide, ignorance is no defense in this case.  Even if this was true she had to realize  she’d ruined the pattern.  If she couldn’t see the mess it was in, her spectacles weren’t doing their job.


We hung up.  Another few minutes passed and she called again.  This time more apologies and saying she would never do that again.   She sounded as if she had run uphill, was out of breath and kind of panicked, I thought maybe she'd been crying so now I'm feeling bad.   I promised her again if she paid me for the pattern it would be forgotten.   We hung up.

Then she called back the third time even more upset.  Said she had never done  that before.  Now I’m worried she’ll whip herself into a heart attack so I tried to calm her down, telling her everything would be okay.  She seemed to relax a bit and we hung up for the last time that evening.   The very next day, right at opening, her husband dropped by the shop to collect and pay for the pattern.  I can’t say I felt better being compensated, it would take time for the experience to fade, but I was happy I’d done the right thing and that maybe one more person would think twice about copying patterns.   

I don’t believe she ever hooked "Lucky" or any anyone else who had a copy of it.   I’m sure it left a bad taste in her mouth because it still does for me.   Maybe once I see it hooked it will erase the bad connotation associated with it.  Cover those messy marker lines burned into my brain with beautiful coloured wool, to soften the hardness I feel for that design.  The woman did a lovely job on the western rider called "Ride'm Cowgirl!" but unfortunately I don’t have a great picture.

Picture
This is all I have left of a paper photocopy of the hooked rug.
To view these patterns for sizes and pricing click the link: 
http://www.encompassingdesigns.com/new-designs.html
7 Comments
Dorothyanne Brown link
7/31/2013 12:51:53 am

Wow. Horrible. It's amazing to me how many people think copying creations is okay. Doesn't matter - movies, music, written things, artwork, rug patterns. I'm glad to hear the woman twisted a bit before paying you back - gives me hope for humankind.

Reply
Anne Lewis
7/31/2013 01:17:42 am

I once had a shop lady at a workshop email a pattern artist, saying I wanted to auction off (it was a free will auction offering for a scholarship) red dot material copies of two of her rugs. It wasn't true, I had made one copy, my own and emailed the artist a picture for her display, with her permission. I had the original linen drawing that was sent to me with the lady's cards, etc. The artist "panicked" , forgot she ever gave permission but did wonder about having my picture of her drawing plus the original. My heart was beating as I am super scrupulous and supportive of artists....so...I couldn't Let It Go...until, another wooly shop owner in another town at a workshop relieved me by saying the accusing email writer was know in her town as "that crazy lady". God forgive me, I was so relieved. I prayed for the lady, and heart now longer beats. I have never returned to this shop. When I first went there and started rug hooking, I spent thousands on supplies, patterns, wool, and two expensive workshops. She never handed over a bag of goods with a thank you, altho I repeated how much I enjoyed supporting women in the arts. Some sort of up and down mood plus I must have seemed a suspicious character. The crazy lady used artist patterns regularly for her students' workshops 'till caught and corrected. So I guess she may be out to build a reputation as Whistle Blower - what a Toot! Give me the plain and simple and persons with impulse control. The executive function of the frontal lobe that sorts things out and asks questions. And the greatest of all: love. I give stuff away and so much comes back manyfold. But I'm not in business.

Reply
Anne Lewis
7/31/2013 01:25:46 am

PS - By 'give stuff away' I mean my own drawings, hooked rugs, etc. not others' things.

Reply
Christine
8/1/2013 01:16:08 am

You're definitely one of the good people! Thanks for being my rug hooking friend!

Reply
Debra Michael
7/31/2013 11:59:27 am

Hey, Christine! I understand your feelings on that one! I'm losing sleep over a conflict right now myself. I wonder if you would know the right thing to do since you are so business savvy these days! Somebody wants a Facebook page that I created for a business in which I am no longer associated. I feel that I have built relationships with those friends and most of them are my personal friends since the page is connected to my personal page and my location. The page is unpublished right now and I want to delete it and let her create the same page under the same business name tied to her own FB and new location. She insists that she is made an administrator and then takes it over and deletes my association. She wants the friends and the likes because it is her business and I'm no longer a partner. What if my friends are thinking that they are talking with me and it's really her. Can I delete the FB and she pick the name up again under her own personal FB. I looked into making her an administrator and I couldn't because she wasn't listed as a friend! Can you believe it? So I decided that I want to delete it. Does she have a right to it when it is tied into my personal relationships and location. Her new location is in another town. Any ideas my business mentor! xo

Reply
Christine
7/31/2013 12:20:11 pm

I know the situation so I think it would be best for her to start from scratch. Now that you both have totally separate business there shouldn't be any overlap. I'd delete it and let her set it back up with the same name etc. The people who came to the business through her could then relike her page.

You had a good point about people thinking they are talking to you because back when I first left comments I wasn't sure if it was you or her that replied. I think a clean break might be best for the both of you.

It's just a Facebook page attached to a website that could be set back up without any attachment to you. You shouldn't be associated with her at all in case something happens and there is a liability. Any kind of connection showing between the two of you could fall back on you? Hope this helps! Good luck!

Someone came into the shop today for sponsors for a program in Blockhouse that is working with horses and Autistic children. I gave them some gift certificates for their auction. Good cause!

Reply
Debra Michael
7/31/2013 02:49:28 pm

The Facebook was totally my doings. I was the only one who could access it. She saw it occasionally from a friend's computer. Thanks for your advice. She should build up her relationships with her new community and FB is a great way to do it. I don't think it would be fair to all the FB friends that were supporting our farm location. BTW great blog! Patty In block House. She's how I got into therapeutic riding.




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