I try to respond the same day the message is sent, but sometimes it may take a day or two depending on workload.
Some messages are reasonable requests for information about a design. I am very grateful for the opportunity to respond to requests like those. Sometimes, a customer reports there is a problem with a design. I do my best to correct the design or otherwise correct the problem to the customer's satisfaction. Those efforts are usually, but not always, successful.
As a designer, I do sympathize with a customer not receiving a response from a designer. This is truly frustrating for the customer. But there is another side to that issue that customers may not be aware of.
Unfortunately, most messages I receive as a designer are not reasonable requests for information or requests for work. All too often, the message is simply an
unreasonable request for free design work or a request for a significant, modification to an existing design, the modification to be done for free, of course. Those messages are frequent, and taken together are very discouraging and distract from meaningful, revenue-producing work. Some designers with whom I correspond and coordinate privately, have told me that because they get swamped with so many unreasonable, time-consuming requests, that those designers have stopped responding to messages altogether. They do so in order to continue to perform the meaningful work that keeps them in business within the time available to them.
Sometimes, the number and vitriol of unreasonable requests simply overwhelms a designer and he or she walks away.
Some examples of typical, unreasonable requests I often receive:
1. Many messages are requests for me to research and design a new product with no promise to buy it. The customer wants the model completely researched and designed, to be able to review it and direct any changes, and if the price of the completed object is acceptable, only then to make a purchase. The reason this kind of request is not reasonable is because it ignores the cost of the research and design work assumed and paid for by the designer as well as the cost of the time involved (time = money), with no obligation for the requester to pay for anything, ever. On the occasions I asked for a down payment to get started on the design, the requester normally went silent. I never heard from them again. The time spent in corresponding with the requester and considering the project was lost.
2. Many people have asked me to create designs for them and promised to buy when complete. I completed the work based on that promise to buy. Too many times, the customer failed to follow through with the promised purchase. My family and I paid for that research and design time. I normally decline requests for new products that do not have sufficient market demand to pay for the research and design time necessary to create them. The times I did accept a request for a product with no sales potential, I usually got burned.
3. Some requests are simply bizarre. One person asked me to create a set of battleship turrets for him. During the course of our time-intensive correspondence, he revealed to me that he wanted me to create the models not because he wanted to buy them, but because he wanted to populate a personal database of aftermarket products for model ships he was creating. He wanted the research and design work to be done at my expense, naturally.
4. Some requests are not realistic with respect to cost. One person asked me to research and design a complete battleship superstructure in 1/128 scale (that would be a really, really big model), and to "be sure to keep the cost under $35 [USD]". The research and design work, of course, was to be done for free. This is just one example among many like it.
5. Some requests are not realistic with respect to time. I often receive demands for big projects to be completed immediately, the design work to be done for free, of course. I once received a request on a Friday stating that the modeler would have next week off work and wanted me to have sets of cannons of various sizes researched and accurately designed by Sunday night, and to make sure they got printed and delivered to the customer on Monday. He did say he was willing to pay for expedited shipping.
6. Some messages are complaints about issues designers can't fix. Many people send me a message to complain about the cost of products or the unavailability of a 3D-printed material. Those messages are usually rude, directly accusing me of "outrageous" price gouging or deliberately withholding materials. Some of those messages include manipulative, insulting statements like, "I could get a high school student to design and print the [object] for a lot less". My typical response to those kinds remarks goes something like, "If that is true, by all means, please do so". 3D printing is expensive. Custom design work is expensive. Some people are frustrated by that and take out their frustration on the designer.
7. Some messages are requests for work that is not legal. I have received messages asking me to copy other people's work and offer it for less, or create models of objects explicitly protected by copyright. Since doing so violates copyright laws, the message is effectively a request to commit a crime, and the tone or text of the message indicates that the requester knows this. I normally don't respond to those messages and I certainly don't create the design. If the request appears to be made in ignorance of copyright laws, I simply inform the requester of that and decline the request.
8. Some messages are complaints about the print quality of a product the customer received. As the designer, not the printer, I normally direct those customers to Shapeways' customer service for resolution.
I am deeply grateful for the efforts of Shapeways' customer service reps in resolving those issues.
I am certain other designers have all had their share of unreasonable requests very much like the examples cited above. It is a part of being a designer and seller. Sometimes, as stated above, the number and vitriol of those kinds of messages simply overwhelms a designer and he or she walks away.
On the other hand, not receiving a response from a designer is frustrating. I get that. It is no fun to be treated that way. The best I can do as a designer is courteously respond to reasonable, courteous requests. I may not respond to an unreasonable, discourteous one.