Wow! I can't believe that I have to give you a lesson in business.
There's an issue with your "answer box" getting full. My boss used to get on my @ss to keep my phone mail from filling up. It's not "professional". YOU, as a businessman have to keep up with it.
That whole b.s. on "if my box is full, just text me...." WTF? That is an easy way to have to dodge talking to people who you do not have a "good" answer for. Just leave them hanging.... It's very obvious that you are stringing people along, then popping up once in a while to try to save face...
Now about stringing people along:
Communication is key. You have to talk to your customers and let them know WTF is going on. Don't string people along and tell them that their stuff will be there soon, if it won't. You owe it to them to give them an honest, accurate time estimate when their parts will be done. Don't tell them, "It'll be done Friday", if it won't. You are just stalling and trying to avoid the issue because you don't have a good answer/reason to tell them.
There is a guy on here that rebuilds carburetors for others. He does a great job, and people are happy with his work. He just posted in the last week that he was hit hard with the snow storm, had a hole in his garage roof from a fallen tree, his power was out, and he was using a power generator to hang in there. He literally had to unplug his refrigerator for 5 minutes to log on here and make a post that anybody who has work with him will be delayed until he gets his situation under control. Everyone then appreciated the update and understands his problem. He then, keeps his good reputation.
Have you heard of reputation? It is what other people think about you and your business. It can make or break your business. By not communicating, you are creating a bad reputation and as you can see, people start to spread the word. This all goes back to communication. You have to communicate with people and let them know what's going on. Even if you don't have good news to tell them, you owe them the truth. YOU TOOK THEIR MONEY!
If you know that you can't finish a part when you tell your customers it will be done, then why tell them in the first place. Why don't you figure out when it will really be done, throw two weeks "padding" (pardon the pun) in there in case something happens and it gets delayed somehow. Then if you get it done sooner, send it out and pleasantly surprise them that it is done early. Not string them along with unobtainable dates that you will not meet. This just breaks any trust that anyone will have with you and ruins your reputation.
Trust, it is very important in business. I for one would not hand you a dash pad to restore, and cash up front after reading this thread and seeing how you conduct your business. I DON'T TRUST YOU NOW. YOU HAVE RUINED YOUR REPUTATION.
If you can't run your business, maybe you should think of stopping, and going to work for someone else that can. You will not last if you don't change the way that you are conducting your business.