For a long time, I had a single place I purchased walnut (the darker finish) hangers from. The sturdiness was solid, color was rich and accurate, and they had the size specifications I was looking for. They also delivered in a timely manger, I never found myself wondering where the shipment was.
As each box arrives, I count and sort them. What started out as an acceptable attrition rate, crept up over time. I let my standards slip a little and shipped a few hangers that were questionable. At first, clients and customers made no mention of the quality of the bridal hanger they received. So logically, those I formerly deemed "questionable", now became "acceptable". And now I promoted a new batch of "unacceptable" to "questionable". Quality control can be the definition of a slippery slope.
Eventually feedback from customers popped up. Even though the name of phrase bent into wire is the focus of a wedding hanger, the hanger itself is still the frame of the whole piece. The frames were now distracting from the primary focus; a complete failure on my part. And if these customers were the ones proactive enough to contact me, how many more sat in displeased silence after receiving their custom wedding hanger?
I did two things immediately:
1) I apologized to each customer who contacted me with a concern regarding the quality of the hangers, and did whatever I could to rectify the issue.
2) Began using ONLY the best hangers, without twists, marring, or scratches.
Custom wedding hangers have quickly become a commodity. A new Etsy shop pops up almost weekly selling your standard plain personalized bridal hangers. I have control over my service, quality, and creativity. There will always be a cheaper hanger, always. Confounding cheap in some cases. I will choose to find another way to distinguish my brand other than price and hopefully customers will eventually see that.