Not going to mention any names. Two very well known popular overseas bowyers. Just gonna vent a little. One says 6 months or less. I'm headed into month 9 and they started it but missed my desired weight by 12 lbs. The other quote was 12 months and it's month 14 with no bow yet. I've gotten bows from both with no issues in the past. I would have little to no issue either way but, there is zero communication from them to me. If I don't contact them every so often I would be 100% in the dark. I feel this part is unacceptable. Anyone else have these kind of issues? From here on I will stay local with my choices. Thanks

Living outside the US, it is difficult to comment without knowing the bowyers in mention... But I feel with you, man...

Just frustrated, 2 longstanding bowyers, and zero communication to the customer. I have a real problem with that. I understand some delays, but let your customer know something. I worked in a business for 35 years and if we quoted a price and timeframe it was done no matter what, without question. Weekends or overtime it was done. Not gonna name them, just really frustrated!

I understand your frustraition for sure.  I made a damn good living off of customer service in our family buiz.  That's what set us apart.  So sorry your having to deal with this.

 
Missing weight is one thing ....... but by 12 lbs?  Seems substantial ........

Yes, I thought that was a bit weird myself.

Customer service is king.  12 lbs. does sound like a chunk, that's 5.4 kilos.  My bow buying days are over, last couple have been individual sales.

Incredibly hard for me to find my personal preferences in longbows being a lefty.
I have to custom order my stuff.

I'm lucky to by right handed.  All the bows I currently have are no longer in production.  Been lucky to find a couple bows from the men who made them.

I'm also right handed but shoot lefty because of dominant eye.
One of these places making a bow for me you have to pay in full upfront so I feel now there is no incentive for them to complete it in a timely fashion.

Customer service and communicstion are EVERYTHING. I hope you get resolution soon.

I hate to say it but if paid in full up front you would be doing us all a great community service by naming the company.   While you have had to suffer through said companies seeming incompetence you might be able to save someone else a lot of grief. 

I've had several custom bows take longer than quoted.   I also had fairly good communication from bowyers.  I was given small tokens of gratitude for my patience and understanding in the delays. 

I hope your situation is reconciled to your satisfaction.

  I've moved on some great equipment due to the bad taste left over from sour transactions--not bowyer related--more in the knife making world and  few elsewhere.

I feel for you buddy. Hopefully this gets sorted out.

Well, the one bowyer missed weight again and is on the 3rd try and the other bowyer said he would start on bow first week in April and so far nothing. 🤦🏻‍♂️

Quote from: Todd McDiffitt on May 08, 2025, 09:27:30 AM
Well, the one bowyer missed weight again and is on the 3rd try and the other bowyer said he would start on bow first week in April and so far nothing. 🤦🏻‍♂️

Don't kid yourself here ........  this is 100% unsat, missing weight 2 times and onto a 3rd. This is not typical of a highly skilled and reputable bowyer craftsman.   Demand refund,  lesson learned, never go back.  The best bowyers in the world are right on your own native soil I might add.

Yes, I've had dozens of custom bows from local US bowyers, some with issues and some not. I've also gotten bows from these 2 overseas bowyers too with no issues before. I'm just befuddled about what's going on. There is no complete refund from the one that's paid in full, they keep a chunk of it after a certain amount of time. Hands are kinda tied somewhat but mite just take the loss and move on.

Do unto others as you would have them do for you. Im sure if the shoe was oin the other foot they would be wondering whats going on w their bow.

I agree, it is part of the reason I started making my own, smooth, quiet and fast.  The plan is  to be in production with three models, sometime next year in a different state.

If I go into a transaction being OK with a 1 year delivery time, I'm obviously not in urgent need of the bow, so if it ends up being 14-15 months I'm not going to get too stressed about it. But that assumes the bowyer has been contacting me, letting me know what the situation is with an updated ETA. If I was getting radio silence from the bowyer - I would be just as upset as the OP.

Yeah, one bow I was quoted 6 months or less, ordered I thought in plenty of time for our current tournament season. It's been 10 months now and tournament season is well under way. No communication at all unless I contact them. Other bow I was quoted 12 months and it's now 15 months and also no communication unless I contact them. When I do contact them it's several days to several weeks before they get back to me. Maybe that's how they do it in Europe, but to me everybody has a mega computer in their back pocket that works all over the planet and there is no excuse if you run a long time reputable company that you can't reply to someone in 24 hrs or less. Just my two cents.