I called them up with a question on one of their materials. I had used their Poly PT Flex 20 rubber for one of my reliefs. The mold process when well, in fact I was very happy at how easy it was to mix and use and how quickly I built up the mold. Peeling back an area once dry, I peeked at the mold and it looked great - really capturing the detail and had a nice give (important with my deep undercuts.) I was pleased and went to make the mother mold shell out of Forton to make it strong and light.
The problem came when I tried to remove the forton shell from the rubber - it had bonded completely - and I do mean COMPLETELY to the rubber.
The whole thing was ruined and a lot of money lost, not to mention the time and the damage done to the original sculpture. I had to repair the sculpture before making a new mold.
It was crunch time for a big show and I was under the gun - so waited until the dust had settled before calling up Polytek to ask them if the product was incompatible with Forton and what I could do to fix the problem, since I still have quite a bit of the product left and don't want to waste all the material not to mention the money.
Here's where the good customer service comes in:
1) A PERSON answered the phone! Not a robo voice and endless loop telling me to punch a number for something - love having live people on the phone!
2) This real live person handed the phone to another real live person who knew the products involved - immediately - no waiting - they walked over and handed the phone to Stan.
3) Stan LISTENED. That's not a small point - let me make this clear, he LISTENED. Then he actually asked questions. We chatted for a bit and he explained that the rubber I used is usually used for casting and not molding. True - it was an unusual choice to use it for casting but I was under a tight deadline and this set up much faster than my other choice. The store I purchased it from knew it was a different use, but that it could work and given my unique situation for time the only choice.
4) We discussed the mold realease the I used (2300....but to be fair I also had 2500 on hand....did I use the wrong one?) Stan said 2300 was preferred but both should have worked like a dream. I freely admit to being in a sleep deprived state working long hours - I could have really messed up the release prior to putting on the forton.
5) Stan didn't say it was my fault. He said it should have worked but that he felt I would like one of their other products better and would I like to try it out? Well, yeah I would! I didn't call to complain, beat anyone up or expect a free sample. I called to find out if I used the product incorrectly and if it would was something I could still use for my needs or was it was waste for what I was trying to do.
6) Stan took my information and offered to send me a sample of the product.
7) I received an email from Stan within hours of our conversation.
8) Four days later this package arrived on my doorstep.
9) The packaged was packed with environmentally friendly peanuts that are food-based and dissolve in water - Yeah!
10) I received a generous sample of their 74-20 molding rubber to try on my new relief that I'll be finishing next week.
Once the relief is finished, I'll photo the entire process of making a mold using this sample of 74-20 and will post it all on my blog.
And that folks, is how a company gives great service.
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