Cornish
Well-Known Member
I have been with my farrier for around 16 years. I have always paid on the day of appointment without question, had horses in and clean in preparation, booked at 6 week intervals at the end of each appointment and tried not to mess him around changing dates etc unless absolutely necessary (usually down to work, I work full time and the business I'm in makes it very hard to get time off in Summer - if I do have to change, it would normally be with at least a week's notice so the farrier can 'fill the gap'). On the rare occasions my horse pulls a shoe off (being a loon in the field) I always find the shoe and pay the £25 cost to refit it. I am very happy with my farrier's work, he is very knowledgeable and I trust him to do a good job. He trains a lot of apprentices so usually I have a van with 2 or 3 farriers (a couple of them training) who come to me, very rarely the main farrier himself - not a problem as horse is easy with good feet, and people have to train on the job. There are usually two or three 'groups' who operate from the practice covering a wide area, so you're never really sure who you will be seeing. I have to text on the day before the appointment to get a time from the farrier - sometimes he doesn't text me back until the morning of the day. I can normally sort it at work by taking a last minute morning or afternoon off but am technically supposed to give notice of this. I prefer not to take the full day as a) I am very busy, and this time of year is a nuisance! and b) holiday is few and far between - if I can make one day's holiday cover two farrier appts, all the better.
Still with me?! Over the years, the timing has become more and more of a guideline, which of course is understandable if they have difficult horses at a previous job, or bad traffic etc. It became usual for them to be at least 45 mins or an hour late turning up, and several times I had a call at about 5pm after having waited around all afternoon taking the afternoon off to be told they wouldn't make it to me that day. I am at a very small DIY livery yard a 20 min drive from home and from work, so it's not like I can just dash out in a few moments when they arrive.
The farrier has always been dreadful at getting in touch - he doesn't have a voicemail on his mobile, so unless he's able to answer at the time, you can't get hold of him. I've found texting is easier, and it's presumably easier for him to respond, and less time consuming. I never text or call in the evenings or at the weekend, as it's not appropriate if he's not working. After several years, I started asking for the first appt of the day, technically 8am. They can even manage to be late for this by 20/30 mins. We did have a little fall out last year when I was trying to arrange for him to see my new mare who had two abscesses and he didn't turn up/call back. My farrier was very short with me and was prepared to let me go to another farrier without question until I actually managed to speak to him and explain my frustrations with the lack of contact and response. I appreciate that their working day is always changing, but all I ask is to be kept informed.
Fast forward to last week, my new mare has been unshod for 8 months, trimmed every other time, but now is feeling footy and needs shoes to continue work. I had discussed this at my last appt, and the farrier I had that time said just see how it goes and let them know. I text my farrier last week to say I didn't think she could last to the next appt, could he possibly put fronts on - happy to work with him on time and would make my work fit around it. No response that day so I called at the end of the day and managed to speak to him. He provisionally said Weds, but would get in touch with me on Monday to confirm for sure. I worked around the assumption that it would be Weds, or possibly Thurs (my usual 'day' for the area) and waited. No call on Monday so I text him just as a reminder. No call or text Tues or Weds, so I text Weds afternoon to say I guessed he wasn't coming, and that I had managed to take Thurs afternoon off if that worked for him. Still no contact.
Am I being unreasonably in feeling a) under valued as a client (I think I'm a good client!) and b) that the lack of contact is bordering on rude?! I can't ride my 4 yo much more until she has front shoes as she's uncomfortable which isn't really fair. I have been a longstanding client and just want to be kept in the loop - I pay happily pay over £80 for a set of shoes because the standard of work is good, but is the most expensive in the area. I feel that as I only have a couple of horses, maybe I'm not as lucrative as some of his other clients?!
Do I cut my losses and get the other farrier who comes to the yard to do the mare (and keep the same one for my gelding?), he's cheaper, friendly, answers his phone, but a one man band so a different set up and obviously works in a different way but what would happen if he decided to move away? I suppose I'm afraid of the unknown as have been with my farrier for so long.
I know farriers can be hard to get hold of but they are running a business and I am a client - I think I feel annoyed as I would never treat a client this way in my working environment, and suppose I expect other people to extend the same courtesy to me - I am being unreasonable?!
Cream teas and choc ices if you get this far...!!
Still with me?! Over the years, the timing has become more and more of a guideline, which of course is understandable if they have difficult horses at a previous job, or bad traffic etc. It became usual for them to be at least 45 mins or an hour late turning up, and several times I had a call at about 5pm after having waited around all afternoon taking the afternoon off to be told they wouldn't make it to me that day. I am at a very small DIY livery yard a 20 min drive from home and from work, so it's not like I can just dash out in a few moments when they arrive.
The farrier has always been dreadful at getting in touch - he doesn't have a voicemail on his mobile, so unless he's able to answer at the time, you can't get hold of him. I've found texting is easier, and it's presumably easier for him to respond, and less time consuming. I never text or call in the evenings or at the weekend, as it's not appropriate if he's not working. After several years, I started asking for the first appt of the day, technically 8am. They can even manage to be late for this by 20/30 mins. We did have a little fall out last year when I was trying to arrange for him to see my new mare who had two abscesses and he didn't turn up/call back. My farrier was very short with me and was prepared to let me go to another farrier without question until I actually managed to speak to him and explain my frustrations with the lack of contact and response. I appreciate that their working day is always changing, but all I ask is to be kept informed.
Fast forward to last week, my new mare has been unshod for 8 months, trimmed every other time, but now is feeling footy and needs shoes to continue work. I had discussed this at my last appt, and the farrier I had that time said just see how it goes and let them know. I text my farrier last week to say I didn't think she could last to the next appt, could he possibly put fronts on - happy to work with him on time and would make my work fit around it. No response that day so I called at the end of the day and managed to speak to him. He provisionally said Weds, but would get in touch with me on Monday to confirm for sure. I worked around the assumption that it would be Weds, or possibly Thurs (my usual 'day' for the area) and waited. No call on Monday so I text him just as a reminder. No call or text Tues or Weds, so I text Weds afternoon to say I guessed he wasn't coming, and that I had managed to take Thurs afternoon off if that worked for him. Still no contact.
Am I being unreasonably in feeling a) under valued as a client (I think I'm a good client!) and b) that the lack of contact is bordering on rude?! I can't ride my 4 yo much more until she has front shoes as she's uncomfortable which isn't really fair. I have been a longstanding client and just want to be kept in the loop - I pay happily pay over £80 for a set of shoes because the standard of work is good, but is the most expensive in the area. I feel that as I only have a couple of horses, maybe I'm not as lucrative as some of his other clients?!
Do I cut my losses and get the other farrier who comes to the yard to do the mare (and keep the same one for my gelding?), he's cheaper, friendly, answers his phone, but a one man band so a different set up and obviously works in a different way but what would happen if he decided to move away? I suppose I'm afraid of the unknown as have been with my farrier for so long.
I know farriers can be hard to get hold of but they are running a business and I am a client - I think I feel annoyed as I would never treat a client this way in my working environment, and suppose I expect other people to extend the same courtesy to me - I am being unreasonable?!
Cream teas and choc ices if you get this far...!!
He was also an amazing farrier.
