-- This Review Only Pertains To Profs/Lecturers Who Are Considering Options When Making Their Readers --
The three things I'm looking for when making a reader are:
1) The cheapest price for my students.
2) A copy shop that will print a higher proportion of the readers requested (none of them print all of them, not all students buy a reader), and will reprint one or two when they run out.
3) A copy shop that will notice mistakes they've made in copying and correct them.
I din't end up using Grafikart for the reasons listed below, so I can't comment on their ability for #3. That said, for #1 and #2 AS on campus has proven to be a much better alternative.
That a better alternative exists doesn't warrant a one-star review however. If there was simply a better place using these factors I'd give Grafikart a three-star review.
The one star is for, in my experience, slightly deceptive practices in "up-selling" (just obnoxious) and using "bait-and-switch" tactics to get you to use their service for your readers (which is illegal). I never went back so I have no idea if these practices are habitual.
"up-selling" -- When taking my reader in to Grafikart most of the conversation was them asking me if I'd like to make upgrades to my reader. These weren't framed as cast increases, they never mentioned cost, they just wanted to know if I wanted a long list of things. When I asked what the additional cost for each copy was for each of these services, I was told "I think they're the same" or "they're basically the same." I had to ask them to check for me. They weren't ever the same.
"bait-and-switch" -- I called Grafikart in advance, told them the exact page count of my reader and what I wanted, and asked for a price quote. The price quote was better than the other two places I checked. When I took the reader in (when they tried to "up-sell" me) I confirmed this price and was disinterestedly told that it was accurate. I committed to the order. Still not feeling too comfortable with the interaction I called the next day to confirm the cost per student, per reader. The cost had more than doubled from about $30 to about $70 dollars after the order had been confirmed. I quickly cancelled and had my readers printed for $45 per reader at AS, the price they originally quoted to me.
For what it's worth AS also created a title page and gave me an extra library copy of the reader at no additional charge to me or the students. Toward the end of the quarter a student lost his reader and AS gave me another copy that had already been purchased but not picked up for four weeks (they had three, they said they'd print another one at no charge if all three of the students showed up, as they almost never do).
So, yeah, one star. One star with a bullet for Grafikart. read more