I talked with Kathy of CIM on the phone at length about 8 or 9 months ago and here's what she told me. The "problems" like limited colors and shocky rods are a result of not being able to get the manpower to make the glass correctly. When the economy went bust all her regular employees were let go in hopes they would still be around and employable once the economy started to recover. Unfortunately, they had all moved on to other jobs and she was faced with hiring new employees that were not as good as the regular crew. This in turn created problems both in trying to match colors and bad pulls that have air in them and are shockier than hell. She replaced all my shocky glass and apologized profusely ... she is very nice but I think her problems are somewhat out of her control ... cuz (if you've ever run a business with employees) good help is hard to find.
I personally don't buy the limited colors any more ... of Effetre, Vetrofond or CIM. What's the point of falling in love ... only to find the color is irreplaceable. I've just expanded to 90 and 94....gorgeous colors from Gaffer!!
So, that's all I know personally ... it doesn't help with the glass prices but hopefully makes the limited situation a little more understandable.
|