I am extremely disappointed with my experience at Minuteman Press in Harrisburg. Unfortunately,…read morethis was not just a case of a printing mistake, but also a disappointing experience in how the owner handled the situation.
I ordered 500 trifold flyers and paid for 500, as confirmed by my receipt. I paid extra to have them folded and expected crisp, neat, professional looking folds. When I received my order, I discovered that the folds were sloppy. This was immediately evident when I looked in the box because they did not lay flat and were not uniform in size. The edges overlapped, and the inside flap did not fit properly because of the incorrect fold, leaving an additional fold along the edge. Many of the flyers looked like they had been folded once and then refolded, leaving a faint imprint in the paper. The finished product looked sloppy and unprofessional, and I was embarrassed to send these flyers to my clients. Unfortunately these were time sensitive and had to get sent out immediately.
On top of all this, the order was 150 pieces short. I had received only 350 of the 500 flyers I had paid for.
I sent the owner, Charlotte, a polite email explaining the shortage and telling her I would like to pick up the remaining 150 pieces after the Columbus day holiday. I also respectfully asked that extra attention be paid to the folding, as the quality of the original batch was unacceptable for something I was distributing to my clients.
The following morning, I received a brief email stating only that the rest of my order was ready. There was no apology or acknowledgment of either problem.
When I arrived to pick up the remaining flyers, an employee was waiting with the order. I thanked him and handed him three examples of the incorrectly folded flyers, asking him to show them to Charlotte. She remained out of sight behind a wall and called out that she already knew about the problem, blaming it on her folding machine that needed to be repaired and the repair technician's delay in taking care of it. Again there was no apology - only pointing fingers and not taking responsibility. If she had told me upfront that the folding machine was not function properly, I would have opted to fold these by hand myself.
As a business owner myself, I understand that equipment breaks and mistakes happen. I don't expect perfection. I do expect a business to stand behind its work, communicate honestly, and treat a customer's concerns with respect. A sincere apology and a proactive effort to resolve the problem would have gone a long way.
Instead, I was left with an inferior product, a significant shortage in my order, and a customer service experience that was every bit as disappointing as the printing itself.
Based on this experience, I will not return to this business and I cannot recommend Minuteman Press to anyone who needs professional-quality materials for their business.
