Dave--I am blessed, and thank god for that everyday. As problems go, this one is trivial.
I did a poor job of explaining the complete situation. Let me try again before losing total faith in my fellow man.
Been working on a minimum-diameter project called "Blackout" for several months. Working through the simulations, and several alternative designs. The rocket will reach mach + speeds, and travel way beyond our normal club field's waiver. For me, that means that my best chance to fly the bird is at Bama Blastoff in early October. They have a 30,000 foot waiver.
Once that was worked out, I began assembling parts from several manufacturers. The majority of the parts were going to come from two kits that are going to be kit-bashed into a single rocket.
I travel about 200 days a year on business. Often gone for weeks at a time. When I returned from each trip, I would open any boxes that arrived, inspect them, and return them to their original shipping boxes. These are labeled with a black marker and placed on a shelf until I have time to build.
Also ordered other kits to build in the future. Either because they were on-sale, or I feared that they would be pulled from inventory, the firm would go out of business, etc. HPR kits are often available only for a short time. These too were opened when I was home, inspected, and returned to their box. Box was labeled with a sharpie, and put on the shelf.
One of my two key kits arrived months after it was ordered. It was also shipped in a single box with another kit that I had ordered from that maker (weeks after the original kit order.) The parts for each rocket were placed in the box together with no attempt to separate their components. Given that they were similar in size, and appearance, sorting them out is a chore.
No packing slip. No packaging. Zilch. Return address label only. Also no apology or explanation for why the kit took months to receive. (Also no indication that it was out-of-stock when ordered either)
Fast forward to last weekend. Only my second full weekend off since last Thanksgiving. With the launch date rapidly approaching, I had time to assemble my project, ground test, and be ready to fly at Bama Blastoff. But just barely.
Sat down at the bench, and begin opening boxes--starting with the "two rockets in the same box". An hour or so later, I had finally sorted out which kit was which--separated them, and placed them in new boxes.
Started opening the remaining kits, looking for the 2nd rocket that I needed to start work. Five boxes-from three different makers. None of them contained labels, packing slips, instructions--etc. My preference for minimum diameter rockets made identification of the correct kit even more difficult. Brought in the laptop and started searching past orders. That works great for some makers, whose shopping carts allow you to view past orders.
But others don't have this feature. Hmmm...let's pull up PayPal and see if I can sort it out from there. No joy. OK, let's search all the rockets that are close from their web site and see if I can remember what was ordered....
Hours later, my build evening was gone, and I hadn't applied the first drop of epoxy or even washed the fiberglass.
The next day, I end up working late. Spent another hour or so before finally getting everything identified and labeled. Washed the parts, and laid everything out on the bench to build.
Next morning, office manager has a problem with her aging mother. Client has a problem, and we spend an entire day working on that. Near the end of the day, another client calls with their own crisis. 5PM turns into 10PM.
My point is that some people have very little time for their hobbies. That time can be spent building a project, flying, and enjoying the hobby or it can be spent doing detective work.
Can I do things differently? Sure--and I will. My wife had already suggested printing out pictures of any kits and the order form, and putting them into a file. When the kit comes in, transfer that into the box, and put it on the shelf.
Also, I won't be ordering more kits for months--because my build pile is already too large.
And the black sharpie will be hard at work whenever something new comes in. As someone suggested, pencil marking individual parts isn't even a bad idea.
But I think the manufacturers could also help. A packing slip, a label, maybe even instructions for those of us still new to the hobby. Something. Recognize that while your time is precious, so is that of your customers.
With any luck, I'll be able to attend one day of this weekend's launch. (Gotta work of course) and I'll fly some low-power stuff, and try to enjoy a nice day at a launch. It will be a welcome change from the past year. But I won't be flying that sleek new bird that I've been waiting months to complete. And there won't be an opportunity to fly it until 2020. Maybe I shouldn't be disappointed about that--but I am.
My instructions have always been online since it is easier to update and view them in full color large size without the cost of printing.
