I printed four records with this company in 2023. Here are some things to be aware of if you choose…read moreto work with this company.
THE GOOD
1. They are reasonably priced for the market, and have comparatively fast turnaround times I've seen compared to some very slow pressing companies. Amazing when you need vinyl printed on a tight timeline!
2. When all was said and done, they did deliver my product on time, it looks and sounds right, and ~close~ to the price they said they would.
3. One of their staff, Adam, was incredibly easy to work with a communicate with, and made order storage and pickup super easy.
THE BAD
Communicating with this company, in particular with the owner James, was SO hard and needlessly stressful.
Before I signed and sent them money, communication was prompt and I got the sense they cared about me as a customer. The moment money changed hands, the energy totally changed. They became unresponsive and sometimes downright rude in their communication with me.
I consider myself fairly reasonable. I was not nagging these people or micromanaging their work. I was checking in monthly, asking reasonable questions, and inquiring about progress. Normal behavior from a customer who is working with you over a nine-month period.
I would email, they wouldn't respond - sometimes it would take 5 or 6 follow up emails to get a response. If I would call them, they would passively aggressively refer me back to email -- the email that they refused to respond to. No one seems to be empowered to answer any questions except the owner, even if the question was in their area of expertise. Sometimes James would reprimand me if I sent them an email at 6pm, because "they close at 5pm."
When my product was finished, the company overprinted by about 10%, and expected me to pay the difference (a difference that amounted to thousands of dollars extra.) To be quite honest, I have no idea if that's standard or not, but I paid it -- I agreed that I was ultimately getting extra product and that I (hopefully) would be able to sell it. You can decide for yourself if you're comfortable working with a company where your costs might be 10% higher than quoted. For me, it was a shock, but it may be industry standard, I really don't know.
I was constantly reminded by the staff at this company, and by the owner James, that my project was low priority to them, as I wasn't a major label who needed a massive order. You know when someone is talking to you and you get the sense that they think you're stupid, or they resent having to talk to you? Working with Unified was basically that, for nine months.
THE UGLY
On the day of my order pickup, James took me aside to LECTURE me -- acting as if not answering emails, or rudely ignoring reasonable questions, was standard business, and somehow I was rude or crazy for seeking clarity via email on valid questions.
It is difficult to work with people that ignore you. But it is VERY frustrating for the owner of that company to condescendingly lecture you right after you hand them a check.
TAKEAWAY
I am totally fine with not being the highest priority customer for Unified. But I personally will not work with them again, because they made me feel like sh*t for nine months! It's such a shame because they did great work! But they also made me feel like I was a burden for giving them tens of thousands of dollars, a burden for asking questions about my printing times or seeking clarification on important questions. And that sucks!
So, if you're comfortable feeling like you're a burden, go get your vinyls made with Unified. If not, consider going somewhere else.
