I want Templar. I know from being in the "business" that it is a quilt shop product. You can't just run over to Target or WalMart and grab it. I also know that my truck being a 1997, gas guzzling 3/4 ton, I call before I head out. I also know from being in the "business" not everyone knows what Templar is, so I called. I called six different shops within about an hour of my house that I felt I could get to without getting lost too badly.
Shop #1 Cotton Patch in Bradenton - my go to shop. This is my favorite.
Them: Hello
Me: Do you carry Templar? The heat resistant plastic for templates?
Them: We have a heat resistant mylar.
Me: Is is Templar?
Them: No
Me: Thank you
I know they do not have what I want and move to the next shop on my list.
Shop #2 Quilter's Haven in Ellenton, I don't go here much... no reason, just don't.
Me: Do you have Templar?
Them: Yes we do.
Me: You have Templar, the brand not heat resistant mylar?
Them: yes
Woo Hoo I jump in my truck and head on over. What do I find? Mylar, not Templar. UGH!
I head home to get back on the phone.
Shop #3 Heritage Quilters in Temple Terrace. I never go there as they are over an hour away and I am afraid of getting lost.
Me: Do you have Templar?
Them: Yes
Me: Templar? Not Mylar?
Them: Yes, Templar, heat resistant template sheets.
Me: Can you check before I drive an hour as I have been disappointed once already today.
Them: Yes we have 3 packages and one is in my hands.
Woo Hoo!
Then I get nervous and think I will call another shop closer to me.
Shop #4 didn't have it and told me.
Shop #5 didn't have it and told me.
Shop #6 Alma Sue's in Sarasota - I have been here before and I like the shop but I have never driven there myself, as Ray takes me.
Them: yes we have it.
Me: Are you sure it is Templar, not just heat resistant mylar?
Them: yes
YIPPEE, I get in my truck and load my GPS with the address and head out. I get lost because I loaded the wrong address. 3667 not 8667...
Get back on the road and finally get there just to find...you guessed it...MYLAR. I asked the sweet lady behing the counter if they had Templar somewhere else maybe and I was just not seeing it. She said she didn't think so. Then this voice that I remember from the phone call says, "that's Templar". I replied, No mam, it is mylar. She tells me it is no melt mylar and it is just like Templar. UGH!
So as I am fuming on the inside I kindly say, I called and asked specifically for Templar, and you said you had it.
She says, that is Templar.
Again, I take a deep breath and smile and say, No mam, it is mylar.
She looks at me in the eye and says, It's the same thing.
Ok, beside the fact that she is now arguing with me in the store, I politely pay for a sheet of the inferior mylar because I really want to get started on this project and need something that will not melt.
Please tell me if I am crazy or over sensitive or what, but if I specifically ask for a product and you don't have it shouldn't you say you don't have it? The fact that I explained I was not wanting the no-melt mylar but wanted Templar should have been a clue that I didn't want a substitute.
I know I fell for the ploy...it is as old as business plans. If you don't have what the customer wants tell them you do anyway, they will buy something before they leave and any sale is better than no sale.
In the morning I am getting up and driving to shop #3!
6 comments:
Sounds like you did not have a very good day. I agree with you, if you ask for a certain product, then the shop should know that is what you want. I've called these very same shops and asked for certain lines of fabric, and it can be sooooo frustrating. I am finding that shopping the internet is the only way to find exactly what I am looking for. And that is with 10 quilt shops within one hours drive!
I have a problem finding exactly what I want with our few LQSs here and living on an island (Oahu) - it isn't like I can just go somewhere further. I tend to just look on ebay/online and order what I want and be done with it. I hate driving around looking for something specific and being disappointed so I just start with the order and go from there.
I hate when that happens.
As an uneducated quilter, what is the difference between Mylar and Templar?
I know where you are coming from though. I live at least an hour from most quilt stores and calling ahead to ask is almost a waste of time.
I feel bad ordering online when there are quilting stores within an hour's drive as I believe in supporting small businesses. However; they never have what I need.
You were perfectly within your rights to ask for a specific product, and a straight answer from the retailer. Your experience is the perfect example of why quilters are abandoning brick and mortar stores in favour of shopping online. You get just what you are looking for (sans lectures), you don't have to invest time and gas in driving around to the shops (assuming you have local shops at all, many of us do not), and often shipping is low or waived on large orders.
I just took an applique class with Karen Kay Buckley and in the class she referred to the heat resistant plastic as Mylar, and said she sells it. I just went to her web site to see about the product, and there she has it marked as Templar, an 8 1/2 x 11 sheet for $2.25.
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