Are all farriers so hard to get hold of :S

RubysGold

RubysGold

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This is driving me insane.

In the four years Ive had Roo Ive had two farriers. The first one I used I couldnt get hold of, you'd ring for a week before getting an answer, but then he would come out.

Got fed up of not getting an answer, and so I found current farrier about a year ago.
He answers his phone straight away, but he'll say "ring me wednesday" you ring him wednesday and he says "ring me later this afternoon" you ring him later that afternoon he says "cant do it today ring me tomorrow" and so on and so forth.
It is driving me bonkers, I have other things I need to be doing, And I cant make plans to do the other things becuase I dont know when the farrier will come out.
He also talks in such a rushed way that you cant explain when you need it doing before Friday such as this week, because I want her feet to be done Before the vet comes :mad:
Are ALL farriers like this :S
 
No. My farrier is awesome! However I rarely phone him. As he spends a lot of his time shoeing and driving then I text instead, as I'm sure it's easier for him. He always gets back to me very promptly. I appreciate that I am VERY lucky with how fab my farrier is though. I don't know what I'll do when he retires.
 
Unfortunately a lot are like this, i always make sure i rebook when mine comes! If he doesn't answer I'd be a pest and continually ring until he answered just to shut his phone up! :D
 
Have tried texting him before and got no answer :(

When they do eventually get out to me, their fab, but I cant continuously spend a week waiting for them to come out :/
 
My farrier is brilliant, they at our yard every Thursday anyway as alot of people use them, but last week they didn't have any & typical one of mine through a shoe, so the ym phoned him & when I got there that afternoon he was up at my field putting shoe back on. Once ours are shod they book us in the diary for when they next due.
 
Old farrier awful, new farrier is brill calls straight back or texts if can't ring, and text on the morning of appointment to confirm time and has never been more than 30 mins late, so glad I found him
 
We also book the next visit at the end of the current visit. If there is a problem between shoeing's (lost shoe or whatever) then usually ring and if he can't answer at the time he rings back when he can. The first farrier we had, back in the days before mobile phones, wouldn't pre-book and was only availalbe between about 6pm and 7.30pm :eek:, so you had to be pretty organised for getting in touch with him :D
 
Tatey said:
To be fair, they are very busy and the have about 20 of you calling and he/she will be juggling the diary to fit you all in its a very sressful job beacause you have to do it all yourself and getting a secretary would put the price of shoeing up and then you'd be moaning about that. :D
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^^^Exactly!
My BF is a farrier and we have toyed with the idea of me being secretary,but he takes his diary to work and most people book the next appointment while he is there and sometimes he even has time and signal to answer calls and texts,so me taking bookings on the landline is impossible.

Add to this those who phone on Sunday and need something doing urgently ,but can't do Monday,Tuesday,Thursday or Friday,but can do Wednesday provided its before 10am. How do you fit that into a full diary?:)

So,book in advance. Most farriers are happier to have appointments postponed/cancelled than to have to try and fit people in at the last minute.
 
I had to switch farrier as I needed to get Hippo's hooves done urgently and couldn't get in touch with the one I was with! That was at the end of January. I still can't reach my old farrier to tell him! He seems to have disappeared:eek:
 
I have had good and bad farriers for this. I will quite happily fit in with when and how a farrier wants to be contacted. Ask the good ones and they can always tell you what their rules are for being contacted. Ask a bad one and they are vague. New farriers coming into the job seem to be taught more about this and about ringing you when they are going to be late.
 
I use text and make sure i get in touch well in advance and he comes back to me at the end of his day. Always on time, always cheerful and never gets cross when horse waves his feet at him, young and chatty. All for a 20 quid trim!:D
 
Mine was, so I switched. The new one came yesterday, arrived 30mins early, did a great job AND even managed to trim the rescue pony's rear hooves! Excellent service and a brilliant farrier! I am well impressed :D
 
My previous Farrier really lived up to the saying "Farriers are like cats - they don't go out in the rain, and don't come when you call".

My horses were done when the lady up the road had hers done, and if she called him last minute to say they didn't need doing guess what......... I was always very accommodating, but it drove me bonkers. Final straw was after I had phoned several times, he left a message to say he was coming on a day when he knew I worked. He was very costly too.

So I changed Farriers, and my new one is absolutely fab - very pro-barefoot (which all mine are), and wouldn't dream of hitting a horse with a rasp to make it stand still (which my old Farrier did!) He does a fab job, and trims for £20 (so I get all 3 done for less than previous Farrier shoeing 1!) He has now even moved into the next village, so it's like having my own private Farrier!

I do understand that Farriers are very busy, and it's hard for them to organise their schedules, but we are paying for a service at the end of the day.;)
 
Our farrier is good, but doesn't answer phones, when I tried to pre book an appointment, the answer was ring a week or so before you want me.
For the sake of my sanity, I have devised a method that works, I phone and Leave a message saying, can you come on this date, if I get a call saying he can't make that day, I arrange a can do date then. It works for us.
I am always the first appointment as he lives in the next village, but he did come out on his day off to replace a shoe on a horse that was going out on trial and makes time when he's here to trim our landlords donkeys
 
Mine is just as bad - fortunately I book for next time when he is there so rarely need to call him. I had too last week though as had moved yards and was trying to check whether he needed to change appointment as she was at a different place, finally got hold of him the day before he was due I had only been trying all week! He said he had tried to ring me earlier but I have no missed call from him! I appreciate they are busy shoeing or driving but it still drives me mad!
 
We're having this problem at the moment. Texted farrier early this week to book, he said Friday, we replied saying that we couldn't do Friday, what's the next earliest date he could do.

Still no reply and he knows by now how awkward my mum's boys feet are. My boy just needs a trim up, but still, it is annoying that we just don't get a reply from them.
 
NU ABO said:
We're having this problem at the moment. Texted farrier early this week to book, he said Friday, we replied saying that we couldn't do Friday, what's the next earliest date he could do.
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Just a little tip - if you are texting or leaving an ansaphone message for a farrier requesting an appointment, it really helps if you can give some idea of what dates/times you can do. So for example, 'please can I have an appointment next week, I can do any day apart from Friday' or 'could you book my horse in - can do any afternoon after 2pm' etc.

As a farrier's wife/secretary, I will go through the list of messages and start slotting in the people with specific day/time requirements then arrange everyone else around them. If you don't say that you can, for example, only do Tuesdays, then I might give the last Tuesday slot to someone else before ringing you back. When you then say you can only do Tuesday, I then have nothing to offer you because I have already given that slot away!
 
Nope, ours is brilliant. 13 years since we first met him and he has never let us down.
He can even answer a phone call and text in a timely manner! He's a star.
 
I am struggling to GET a farrier after my move :(
I've rung so many and left voice mails and one got back to me to say he had no spaces.
Ponies aren't due until end of April but at this rate, they'll be overdue to be shod.
 
Mine is wonderful but as he lives far away I nearly always book his first slot of the day and have two apts ahead booked. His phone is always ringing when he is shoeing mine 3. In the time when the shoes are in the fire he is making and taking calls from other clients. I feel sorry for him as sometimes people are so rude when he explains he can't do now as he is the other end of the county. he always let's me know if he is running late and only once in last 7 years has he not made it. Due to a jack knifed truck with no way round.

The yards other farrier is always on the yard Fridays and will were possible try and fit in lost shoes. He always leaves clients there next apt on a slip on a paper.
 
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I have 3 farriers for 3 horses (separate yards) and i have never had a problem getting hold of any of them. Maybe i have just been lucky!
 
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