time isnt a big issue as long as its communicated roughly how long it will take.
prices attract customers, good service keeps them, and good service keeps angry customers from recomending others to stay away from a source.
as long as the source communicates and answers emails and is honest with whats going on, all is well. when someone doesnt answer emails, well........ thats just plain disrespectful and lazy. it only takes 1 min to write an email.