If a flute maker suggests a period of time that it will take to craft the instrument, it seems only polite to patiently wait until that period of time has passed before pestering them. But what is an appropriate length of time after the initial estimate has passed to wait before contacting the maker for an update, assuming they haven’t contacted you first? A week? A month? Can it be determined as a percentage of the original wait time? After enough time with no word from the maker a reasonable person will start to think that their order had gotten lost or that the maker was dishonest and had absconded with their down payment, so what’s an appropriate amount of time to wait before jumping to this conclusion?
I wouldn’t worry about calling up whoever is making your flute and just checking in with them. It’s certainly not impolite to call them up just to chat and see how things are going. Don’t worry about your order being lost or someone being dishonest. Flutes are rarely done in the initial time frame. Just give the maker a ring.
b
I thought by law one cannot take payment until the product is shipped.
On my part I just ordered an Olwell.
Mr. Olwell was very nice and easy to deal with. He said that I should check in with him a little over half way into the waiting period if I liked to see how things were coming.
I am considering ordering a 6 key from him now as well to skip some time lapse.
But most makers don’t seem to mind a bit of communication, it’s just if you pester the life out of them, then they spend time answering emails rather than making flutes. Which doesn’t help you or them.
Just my thoughts,
Beannacht leibh
Actually, it’s not a bad idea to check in once in a while, especially in the case of makers with long waiting lists, just to let them know you’re still interested. And if you write them a note (either e_ or snail), that way they’ll have something to put in the file or tack on the workshop wall or whatever their system is.
Sending food is probably not a bad idea, either. I always like when people send me food. 
I’m pretty sure you can. You just have to ship the product when you said you will.
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/buspubs/mailorder.shtm
If, after taking the customer’s order, you learn that you cannot ship within the time you stated or within 30 days, you must seek the customer’s consent to the delayed shipment. If you cannot obtain the customer’s consent to the delay – either because it is not a situation in which you are permitted to treat the customer’s silence as consent and the customer has not expressly consented to the delay, or because the customer has expressly refused to consent – you must, without being asked, promptly refund all the money the customer paid you for the unshipped merchandise.
Most flute makers don’t promise a hard date, but rather give a rough guideline..but the actual “shipment representation” is “when I’m finished making it”. That said, I’m in no way a lawyer 
Here you go, Cat! 
…now that I’ve got that off my chest…
When I ordered my McGee, Terry gave me an estimated time when he thought that he’d get started on it, and an estimate of how long it would take. As I recall, I contacted him about once a month, so as not to be too annoying. This gave me the peace of mind of knowing that he didn’t forget me, and also let me have some information about how the project was going.
Geez, I hope it was’t me… 
I’d assumed that I’d pestered you enough to keep you honest for all of us.
Where did you get that giant three-yolked egg?
As for nag-timing, “watched pots…” and all that?
Well, I’ve refrained from pestering the maker of my flute, I’m happy to say. And I have a general idea of when it will come. But the anticipation is making me crazy!!! 
At least I’m starting to get pretty good on the whistle, for a beginner. I have too many screaming parrots to put up another clip, but I will some day.
Pretty cool, huh? The only problem is that she only lays once in three days.
Interesting responses and not quite what I expected. The question isn’t whether or not one should wait patiently for the maker to finish his work, but how long before one assumes there is a problem. I’m familiar with the expression “a watched pot never boils”, but if the lid isn’t percolating after half an hour or so I’m going to look to see if I remembered the water.
I asked the question as a matter of curiosity, but based on some responses I’m beginning to get genuinely disgruntled.
As a maker I’ll respond to this. Other makers?
If possible, please please please email the maker rather than calling us on the phone. It gives us a chance to respond properly with all of our data in hand, on our own work schedule. This is important especially for makers with waiting lists that extend more than a few months, as it becomes impossible to keep track of who ordered what in one’s head. Being able to recall that data immediately out of memory is not always possible or practical.
If you find you must call, please remember that like everyone else we really like our dinnertimes, evenings and weekends off, so please Never call during those times. We are not available 24/7. Let me repeat. Do not call on Saturday, Sunday, early in the morning, or after 5PM (maker’s time).
And please check your time zones! I get calls from people on the East Coast of the USA who call at 9AM there, thinking that it is finally noon here on the West Coast - when it is actually 6AM. With aging parents we have no choice but to answer the phone when it rings. Asking me when your flute will be done at 6AM is usually not very helpful.
At best, all most of us can give is a very rough estimate of our delivery times, based on past experience. Some of us are doing this well into middle age and we aren’t as fast as we used to be, although our instruments are certainly better playing. Unexpected things can also happen to slow things down. Recently for me it was a series of family and personal health crises that took much attention away from flute making and slowed things way down. I am now getting caught up and may have a shorter wait time for everything come autumn, assuming everyone stays healthy, myself included.
Repeatedly contacting a maker is also usually counterproductive. For me personally it literally raises my blood pressure (which I am under doctor’s orders to keep down) and leaves me sometimes with a feelings of despair and ennui, wishing I could make everyones’ promises come true faster than is humanely possible. I can’t and neither can anyone else. On some of those days I get repeatedly pestered I start wishing I was doing something else and usually get less flute making accomplished.
Another issue that is slowing things down for all makers is the wood situation. We have been fortunate for some time that much of the wood we used was cut years ago, stored well, and is bone dry, allowing us to go safely from stick to flute in a relatively short time. This is no longer the case for Mopane and Blackwood and most other woods. For my own production I have to cut, turn and pilot bore everything, seal the ends, then let the wood sit for some months but preferably longer to ensure that the wood will not move once in service. Thus the future flute production ends up taking some hours away from the present flute production.
I heard a great story from a musician friend of mine. This apparently took place at a great accordion maker’s in the south - someone with a multiyear waiting list like some of us flute makers. It was Easter Sunday and dinner was just set and everyone (including several guests) was about to sit and eat when the phone rang. Calling was some client who had called a number of times before, who was apparently oblivious to how big Easter Sunday or Dinner for that matter is to some Cajuns. The maker put it on speakerphone for everyones’ amusement and then, playing with the callerlike a hooked fish, patiently explained to this person that his order for an instrument had just been canceled at that moment he called - due to the fact that the person calling didn’t have a clue and just didn’t deserve to own one of these instruments. When the caller began to realize what was happening he started begging and pleading, promising to be patient and never call again until the instrument was done and received. The maker played with the embarrassed caller for some time. Then mentioned that his Easter Dinner Guests were waiting and that the dinner he was in the middle of serving to everyone was getting cold, and hung up. I don’t know if the caller ever got his accordion.
Casey
Ok. Here’s a personal experience for you (although it has nothing to do with flutes). Two years ago, I ordered a custom holster from a builder and was quoted a time period. I left him alone until half-way through that time period. Then I checked again at the half-way point between when I checked and when the job was supposed to be done. Then I checked when it was supposed to be done. After that, I checked in with him about every two weeks and then every week until it was done. Normally I wouldn’t have done this, but he kind of aggravated me, and I had already paid for the item.
On the other hand, my experience with Terry on my flute order last year was much better. As I recall, he did run a bit long, but he notified me and we were both on the same page, so to speak, so it wasn’t a big deal.
If I may ask, are you now overdue for your flute? If so has the maker been in touch with you, or you with him? If not, then by all means, call or write him and check up on it. Be cordial, but find out where he is as far as your flute is concerned, and then go from there. Have you paid for it in full yet? If not, then don’t until he lets you know that it’s ready. That way, there’s some incentive there to get the job done.
Nobody enjoys getting “done” calls, but it’s certainly not out of line to call and politely check. Be kind, be courteous, be friendly. Don’t lose your temper. Don’t act like a spoiled five-year-old. Treat the maker the same as you’d like to be treated if the roles were switched, and I’d say that things should work out well. At least they seem to for me.
Is that better?
This is more in line with my expectation of how most makers feel, because it is most likely how I would feel if I was in the business. So, as a customer who wishes to be sensitive to such things, how often is “repeated contact”? How often could a customer contact you without raising your blood pressure? When does it cease to be following up and begin to be pestering?
There are a few who call monthly, sometimes long before the promised delivery times. For some reason they always call Saturday mornings, usually before I have had my morning stimulants. Never during business hours.
There are places one can go (such as Doc Jones’ flute site, eBay) if one just can’t wait.
My point is that most of us makers prefer to spend our time making flutes and not answering the phone, since doing so doesn’t help us make the flutes any faster and usually makes us feel bad. Best to just assume that it is in the queue somewhere behind several other waiting clients and that you will get yours eventually when its your turn.
This discussion reminds me of the book “Faster: the Acceleration of almost Everything.” Everyones’ expectations seem to be that since you can order something on-line, you should be able to get it quickly, especially if you put a little heat on the supplier or maker.
Unfortunately with carefully hand built instruments it has never worked that way, especially if you are getting one first hand from the maker. Some of us long time makers have waiting lists that go on for years.
And remember that we used to bury our flute boxwood in cow manure for 20 years before it was ready to use! We may have to revive that practice!
Casey
My personal experience is that it’s best to just let the maker contact you when the flute’s ready. I don’t think it’s out of line to email a polite “So, how’s the flute coming?” BRIEF message if about 2 months past the expected completion time. I wouldn’t call, EVER.
One of my well-hidden (pet) peeves is to hear people say things like " Go ahead and give ____ ____ a call, what a swell guy, he and I spent over an hour on the phone chatting about wood, etc etc etc…"
A-hem, but did you ever stop to think that you might be using up his flute-making time doing that?!?!?!?!??!?!?!!?
Then wondering why they have such a long list and why they don’t have flutes ready “on time”, possibly because others are busy calling to chat about flutes, too…
I say let the maker do his work, brief email if a couple months pass without hearing from them, and be understanding in knowing that the maker is probably doing his best to get you the nicest flute he can possibly make since you are not giving him a hard time…
And if you’re just in a special kind of hurry, please don’t discount all the nice new and used flutes Doc Jones has in his magical storehouse in Idaho… 
M
(it works for me)
Honestly, if a flute maker is several months past the due date he quoted and hasn’t even contacted the customer about it, that to me would be a cause for concern.