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 I am trying to figure out the modern ways. I have tried paid facebook ads - it brings  your page likes, but zero new customers. Yes google maps is definitely the most important. i just feel that some people having a huge advantage using this platforms right.

 I am hesitant because while this process would be happening he would not be able to work.  I am not sure how the restaurant could confirm employment if the guy was illegal - he could not legally work, I don't think an illegal would be able to apply for green card through work.  I am lining towards giving it a shot.

Here is a guy applied for an upholsterer position with our shop. He has more then 30 years experience and would be a good candidate, but here is the catch - he is in some weird status where he can stay in US but can not work and to hire him we would need to sponsor him for a green card. He showed some serious skills  and I would like to consider him, even if it takes some time to get it done, he has a lawyer and will be paying for it himself. Have you ever done anything like this? Should we try this?

Do you guys use social networking to be more visible? What do you use and how? We did not really do much except basic facebook and some twitter, but  I don't think it makes us more visible to people in the area.

Apparently the failed part of the order was done a bit more then 3 years ago, so we are going to try to say that it was to long to claim anything. The part of the order that was done about a year ago is still good. It sucks because it is a very good high end customer.
Supplier did not respond yet to the question of how they deal with this situations.

It was less then a year, I would say 11 months.

Customer brought back semi big order of dinning chairs (not a simple ones) done in leather looking vinyl. They were used indoors and now the vinyl peeling like crazy in the areas of use (seat, top of the back where they grab it to move it). Big question - anyone have experience getting money for fabric AND labor back from the fabric supplier, who sold the fabric for things like this? Surprisingly it is the first time I have to deal with this type of situation.  This vinyl is listed on supplier label and site as esceeds 100,000 double rubs heavy duty and stain resistant.
Let me know, like to hear what you think.

So, today the customer has called me on my number and requested my address for attorney to send certified mail directly to me. Yes, he is pissed for being mishandled and threatening to make us pay his court expenses as well as the cost of the piece. What if this crap will go forward and we "got lucky" and only paying for the scratch, it will mean we lost and we will have to pay his lawyer expenses, what if his lawyer expenses will cost $5K?

The total in question is under $1K. Yes, webbing. and I did not really mean "upgrade" as upgrade, there was an empty hole and guys made a call with plywood, when customer apparently wanted webbing.
I just don't think it is right to reimburse the customer who simply got pissed off for some reason, in this case for several reasons, some of which are may be made up by the customer, and the other ones can be easily fixed the same day.

Here is the deal. The item has came in for upholstery in used condition with fair amount of wear on it. Some parts of in made out of PVC plastic, we did not make any notes about existing scratches. We have done the job and at the time of pick up the customer claims that furniture got a scratch when was getting off of our shelf during pick up. My guys swear it did not touch anything. Also another problem is my guys made an "upgrade" without confirming with the customer and put plywood decking instead of belts, as they explained to me because the item is not strong enough to hold belts, but never the less this customer got pissed about this too. He also claims that old stuff was piled on top of  his chair, when there was nothing on it, it has been seating next to the item awaiting upholstery, which was unfortunate, but nothing was on top of the item. In phone conversation with the customer I understood that my desk guy who was handling the release of the item was busy at a time and told him that he needs to hurry up and that I guess pissed the customer off. So now the customer wants us to keep the item refund the deposit for upholstery and material and pay for the item. We can replace the plywood to belts as he wanted, but claim with the scratch is a problem. The scratch is on the unpainted plain PVC surface that can not be fixed.
I see how all thisunfortunate chain of events can piss somebody off. We can not prove that scratch was made in our store, and what if it was? Do other shops buy furniture back?
This guy threatens with law suit, he is retired big shot who is pissed (I think it is all because he got pissed when he was brushed off at the time of pick up), and he has time and money on his hands to handle this stuff. I don't know what will be more expensive to buy his stuff or to deal with the suit, but I want to do the right thing...
Any input is appreciated..

It is 100% polyester. In this case fabric is about 20% of the cost, so we just about the same on eating the whole thing. It is a big order.

We did few orders in waverly outdoor fabric Tommy Bahama. Customer came back in 3 months - fabric has faded and has peel fuzz balls in the area where it was seated on. No fading or peel in back parts of the cushions (it has not been washed). Customer complains, we promised to take the issue to the supplier and waverly. What should we ask for from supplier and from waverly (if they will even talk to us)? How to resolve this issue with the customer(s)? The fabric is advertised as fade and stain resistant. Even reimbursing the cost of fabric is not going to cover our labor to redo the whole order. To fix everything they would have to pay for fabric and the labor, I doubt they would do that, would they?

There are only 2 ways out for you - redo it again until you get it right or find something broken or rusted inside, that is "too expensive to fix" or "you don't do that kind of repair" or "it eventually will break and not worth fixing/upholstering" to steer the customer towards getting a new one. You don't want to spread the word that you are incapable of something.

That would be neat. The only trick is to get those contacts. I can only think of the trade show to get in touch with this people. Please let me know if you know easier way to find them. 

Thank you for great replies!  Carolina show info is highly uppreciated. I am thinking of getting a small line of 20+ choices of fabrics (that will fit my vision of the line of the fabrics I want to carry) and to become a supplier in my area.  100+ yards of each at average $4-5/yard will be a bit of a burden, but I have to try. I guess trade shows is the way to go.