[Darren]

Hey jmanor,

Welcome to KatRiders

The cowl will take a little while to get to you. He makes them on
a first come first serve basis. And this is his busy time of the year.

My cowl took 8 weeks to receive. Don't worry you'll be glad you
waited

Remember, Jim is a one man show, and makes a great product.
So please don't flood his inbox with "where's my cowl? " "Where's
my cowl?" "Where's my cowl?" when he has completed the cowl he
will ship it right out to you.

You know Jim is the cowl nazi

[WildKat]

If you do try to contact him with a "where's my cowl" message..you better hope he's had some coffee in him before he reads it the next morning!

[FloridaKat]

Lost Confidence

Well, I had been thinking of getting a solo cowl, but it sounds like this may not be the right vendor. The worse way to lose business is to accept payment and then cite "I'm too busy right now, but when you get it, you'll be happy".

The correct way to handle this is to build a small rotating inventory that allows you pacify the squeeky wheels while findng time for new builds. If you're still short, then don't accept payment until product ships (both parties would then be satisfied).

[SweetLou]

Just hope that Braada guy doesn't have the nerve enough to show up on our site!

Yeah!

He may go and start doing crazy things like calling my bike "The Tangerine"... Oh wait, that was you!

[SweetLou]

Re: Lost Confidence

Well, I had been thinking of getting a solo cowl, but it sounds like this may not be the right vendor. The worse way to lose business is to accept payment and then cite "I'm too busy right now, but when you get it, you'll be happy".

Not to be a arse, but what other vendors were you thinking of ordering yours through? Braada is the only way to get them. And why not accept payment before product is made? It is not like he is busy doing other things, he is busy making the cowls. Its like anything else you buy, first you pay, then you receive. Sometimes it takes longer than other times. Its not like he has a factory to work out of, these are hand made by him, not a huge staff of Indonisian 12 year olds.

Actually, that is not a bad idea, Jim, have you thought of outsourcing? You could even get a call center somewhere in India...

[Range]

Re: Lost Confidence

The correct way to handle this is to build a small rotating inventory that allows you pacify the squeeky wheels while findng time for new builds. If you're still short, then don't accept payment until product ships (both parties would then be satisfied).

he would LIKE to do that...but they are in such demand, he can not keep up.

People...he has been doing it this way for three years.....and that is the way it will be. 8)

There have been post like this add-nauseum.....but want to know what you never see?....a post where someone says...

"Hey...I got my cowl...and it is a piece of crap"

100% satisfaction....if you take the wait out of the equation.

[DreKat]

I just wanted to say that the more we talk about waiting for our cawl and the more we PM Jim about our cawl the more time he will spend defending himself. He is busy making our cawls and the more time he is defending himself the less time he will be spending making our cawls. His record speaks for himself. Think about it, if his product wasn't all that great then would there be a waiting list. I am one of the many people who ordered one of his cawls in Feb and I am waiting patiently for it but once it gets here I will be screaming like a school girl.

[Junior]

Re: Lost Confidence

Actually, that is not a bad idea, Jim, have you thought of outsourcing? You could even get a call center somewhere in India...

I don't see why not...everybody else is doing it!

Atleast they'd be able to answer the phone and tell people that their order is being processed and to be patient since there are 50 OTHER PEOPLE that have also ordered cowls and they all wanted theirs on their doorstep yesterday because they can't wait since they just bought a new Katana and NEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEED a cowl to make it look better before they take it out and show all their friends. Plus, the cowl makes it go faster too eh.

Like others have said. Jim is a ONE MAN MANUFACTURING PLANT. So get in line and wait your turn like everyone else.

Once you receive the cowl, let us know if it was worth the wait.

[Range]

wow...I detect a hint of anger in Juniors tone.....hmmmm....Toronto is changing him...and I do not like it one bit!

[Junior]

wow...I detect a hint of anger in Juniors tone.....hmmmm....Toronto is changing him...and I do not like it one bit!

I think it's the smog.


There, I added a cute little smiley face to my other post. Is that better?

[Range]

wow...I detect a hint of anger in Juniors tone.....hmmmm....Toronto is changing him...and I do not like it one bit!

I think it's the smog.


There, I added a cute little smiley face to my other post. Is that better?

too late...I have seen the face of evil...and it is YOU!

[BraadaJim]

Re: Lost Confidence

Well, I had been thinking of getting a solo cowl, but it sounds like this may not be the right vendor. The worse way to lose business is to accept payment and then cite "I'm too busy right now, but when you get it, you'll be happy".

The correct way to handle this is to build a small rotating inventory that allows you pacify the squeeky wheels while findng time for new builds. If you're still short, then don't accept payment until product ships (both parties would then be satisfied).

Gee thanks for outstanding wisdom on how it could be done.... I never thought of that.

What, do you think I take peoples money and then sit around all day looking at porn and laugh at them while they wait?
Well let me tell you something pal, It's not that "I'm too busy right now". It's "I'm working on a HIGH DEMAND HAND MADE CUSTOM PIECE for the people who ordered before you and it's gonna take a while".
For the past 3 years I've been a stay at home Dad working every chance I get day and night to bring something to Katana owners that NO major manufacturer in the world had ANY interest in even after 100's of letters from Katana owners begging for them.
I never started this with the intent to become any type of major player or product manufacturer. I started this because the Katana doesn't hold any real profit to the aftermarket community and therefore no interest. A group of people on another site begged, looked and tried to make them for a long time and I had the knowledge to make it happen. At the time I was out of work and bikeless and saw an opportunity to help some people and maybe get riding again. Believe me buddy if I had $25K just sitting around collecting dust I'd be at a forming company in a minute having them stamped out at a cost of half my profit just so I could ship them next day and never have to listen to people bitch and moan. If I didn't get orders at a rate faster than I can make them for the first 4 months of the year I'd have that rotating inventory, but that's just not been feasable.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Now, for everyone else.......

Standard Q&A responses:

Q: Did my order go through? I haven't heard from you.
A: Did you get a receipt from PayPal? If your transaction completed you should have received a "Receipt for your purchase to [email protected]". That's the receipt that lets you know your order was placed and it's also in your transaction log at Paypal.

Q: Why don't you respond to emails, I've sent 3,5,20,whatever?
A: Are you using Yahoo mail? Yahoo mail returns every email I send as "Undeliverable". Did you somehow include the words "Solo Cowl" as the title of your message? Emails with no subject or simply the words "my order" or anything else that is possibly misleading to the content gets deleted unopened. I get spam 10 to 1 over genuine emails so anything misleading gets deleted unopened. Too much at risk to take chances on fisher programs, sorry.

Q: Can you tell me when my cowl will ship?
A: No, usually I cannot. Orders are handled in the order they are received. I can tell you how many people are in front of you but I cannot give you a ship date. Typically there are 20-30 orders pending at any time and there are just as many things that can go wrong and cause delays. I've had days where I can get 5 cowls out the door before dinner and I've had days where I can't get a single one to form and finish right. Everything from the batch of plastic to the weather outside (literally) can affect what I am able to produce.

Q: My account was charged, when will my cowl ship.
A: Your card was charged the minute you made the reservation to have a cowl made. This is not an off the shelf item from WalMart, your payment reserves your spot in line to have me custom make a piece for you. You've placed an order for my time and materials to make a part for you. If you do not wish to continue waiting until I get to you in line I will gladly refund your money and you may contract someone else to fabricate a part for you.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And finally.......

I was trying to keep this quiet while I caught up but I guess that's not going to happen so I'll let the cat out of the bag.

For anyone who cares about the person behind the product...... After years of being a stay home dad, juggling family, life and working ANY time I could I've finally got all the kids out of the house and in school. I am finally in a position to work Braada as a full time job (and although I never would have thought of it before this post ) I will finally be caught up and have an inventory to ship from immediately. There are still a couple more weeks before I hit that point but it is coming in short order. There were 10 cowls shipped at the end of last week and I've already got the next 8 ready for the mail Monday... Including 3 that go to KR members. VERY soon, not only will cowls ship the next business day like eBay parts do but I have already contracts out and molds being made for new products.

All orders will be completed and shipped very soon but anyone who does not want to wait is more than welcome to send me a PM, Email or file a case with PayPal and I'll gladly refund your money. I don't touch it until I ship and have earned it so if you want it back all you gotta do is say so.


......Now just for kicks..... can I not get the typical 12 PMs of "just wanted to check" that I always get once I respond to a post like this? If you placed an order it's in line and I am working to get to you, not much else I can really tell you other than please be patient or your welcome to your money back.

[brooder]

Special Order Item. Anyone heard of that? FloridaKat? I know I've ordered such SOIs before and waited a few months to get them. And, even after Jim's announcement, I'd wait months to get the solo cowl. Of course, that takes money...but I'd still wait for a quality piece of work that a LOT of people want.

That said, keep up the great work Jim. I appreciate you, even if no one else does.

[Sky]

wonderering if I am one of the 3 KR members if not well no prob ... I will be on the next or the next after ..... Keep them coming !!!!

[spiral]

Well I hate to rain on the parade and not to complain but I was Not 100% satisfied when I received my cowl.I did order before Christmas so it was a busy time of the year.I was one of the ones that e-mailed to ask about my order before I knew it was a one man operation.I had sent one or two e-mails about my order and might have been somewhat of a smartass in the e-mail .I also at the time thought I was dealing with a company when I sent the e-mail.
During that time I found out that it was a one man show and Once Jim replied and offered to refund my money or I could wait,I told him I was glad to wait and sorry for the e-mail but I didnt know it was just one person doing it. Anyway when I did receive my cowl the plastic was wavey and it was cut untrue on one side.You could sit it flat on a table and one side of the cowl would be against the table all along the bottom edge but the other side was about an inch off the table.Like one side was cut more than the other.I didnt contact Jim on it because I was able to sand one side(alot of sanding) to center/level everything up and after I have put the paint on it does Look Sweet.Changes the look of the bike alot.The waves are still there though.All in all I was 85% satisfied but I think with the price and the wait combined it should have looked a little better than it did when I received mine.