The quickest, most efficient way to reach us is by email. Holly and Jim both check their email many times per business day.
If you have questions about product content, how one product differs from another, how to order products, product pricing, shipping options, etc., please email Jim Willis at
Generally, it is a good idea to direct all inquiries to Jim initially. If Jim is unable to answer your question or address your concern, he will forward your email to Holly.
If you are sure that Holly Mikkelson is the person you need to get in touch with, you can email her at
You can contact Jim Willis or Holly Mikkelson by FAX. Our FAX number is
(831) 455-1541
You can send us mail at the following address:
ACEBO
P.O. Box 7485
Spreckels, CA 93962
I've saved the discussion of telephone contact for last because it seems to create the most frustration, both for me, and for some of our customers.
I don't answer the business telephone line, except very, very rarely, by prior arrangement. Instead, I let all calls go to voice mail. I listen and respond to my voice mail once and only once per business day, generally well before noon. So, if you call and leave a message late in the morning, or some time in the afternoon, I won't listen to that message and call you back until the following morning. If you call and leave 12 messages in the afternoon, I still won't listen to those messages and call you back until the following morning.
I do all the order processing, packaging, and shipping myself. I deal with email, fax, and mail inquiries. If I allowed myself to be interrupted every time the phone rings, I'd never get anything done. That, at least, is my story, and I'm sticking to it.
I completely understand if you would prefer that I do things differently. You have every right to prefer that I do things differently. But I don't. And getting mad about it isn't going to do either one of us any good.
So, what to do?
First, consider whether or not you really need to talk to me. Personally, I generally find it easier to compose a coherent question in writing than on the phone, anyway. Send me your question in an email, and I will probably answer it right away. You can send your question whenever you want, even in the middle of the night, and I can respond to it, thoughtfully and, if necessary, at length, when I have the time to do so. It works out better for both of us.
But, OK, maybe for some reason, you really do need "to talk to a human." Bearing in mind that I'm not going to answer the phone, and bearing in mind that, depending on when you leave your message, I may very well not get it until the next day, consider sending me an email asking me to call you at a specific time. There's a very good chance I will read that email within an hour of your having sent it. And I will do my best to honor your request for a call-back at the specified time.
Our business phone number is (831) 455-1507.
Do leave your name. I'd like to be able to ask for you by name when I call you back. "Some one at this number who called me yesterday" gets awkward in a hurry.
Do leave the number you want to be called at.
Do tell me what time of day you'd like me to call, if that matters to you.
Do tell me, briefly, what you are calling about. This one isn't a deal breaker, but it's nice to know. If your inquiry requires some research, I can do the research before I return your call, and we can perhaps get the matter resolved in one call instead of two.
Don't call repeatedly and hang up every time without leaving a message. You get frustrated. I get frustrated. Nothing gets resolved.
Don't call repeatedly, hang up every time without leaving a message, and then leave a very angry message telling me how long you've been trying unsuccesfully to get in touch with me. If you'd left a message the first time, I would have called you back before you got so mad.
Don't call repeatedly, period. If you leave a coherent message, with your name and phone number, I'll call you back when I get the message, which will probably be tomorrow. Leaving several more messages in the meantime not only won't get you a quicker call-back, it will actually slow the whole process down because I will have to listen to all your messages before I can call you back.
Don't--or at least, try not to--get snarky. I understand your frustration. I really do. I understand that you'd rather I drop whatever I'm doing (including processing another customer's order) to take your phone call. But I'm not going to. And I'm not going to hire somebody else to do it, either. Maybe I should. Maybe you're entirely right, and I'm an idiot. That could well be. But... who do you suppose is going to end up higher on my call-back list, someone who leaves a polite succinct coherent message, or someone who wants to tell me what an idiot I am? Think about it.
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