My volunteer organization needed some tickets, posters, and drink stubs printed for our fundraising event. I was recommended this place by a friend, and boy...was it a mistake.
To go into a bit of background. I have been a graphic designer for over 15 years. It is how I make my living, and so I am no stranger to dealing with print shops and the nutty ways they often do things. When I first called them about the job, everything sounded fine. They were knowledgable about the questions I was asking, and was able to give me a ballpark quote.
However, the first red flag was when they said, "The girl that does perforations is only in until 2pm, so you have to come before then." Odd...but okay.
The next day I called back to let them know I had altered the design a bit, and had emailed it along to confirm they could print it. The person I talked to on the phone was not as pleasant, but assured me he would call me back shortly to confirm. Three hours passed.
Running out of time, I decided to drive into Langford to talk to them in person. When I arrived at the shop, the person I talked to on the phone said, "Oh, ya...we haven't opened our email today." Odd...but okay.
He printed out a proof of my tickets and brought it to the front counter. This is when he started giving me the gears about everything. "These are really close, I don't think we can cut these." he said. I responded with, "Yes, there isn't much bleed because I wasn't sure what your requirements were, but it is fine, if you print them I can cut them without issue." I said.
He huffed and puffed, then said,
"Where do you want your perforations?" to which I responded, "Here."
He then said, "What is this line for?" I said, that is part of my design. He looked up and said, "I don't like it, it looks weird, can you go home and remove it?"
Really? Look, sir, I'm not here for an art critique, I'm here to get something printed. After some back and fourth, I asked them to simply print them for me and I would cut them at home. Three hours passed and I got the call to come pick them up. Low and behold, they were cut...and quite terribly I might add. Despite having clear crop lines, they missed most of them.
About a week later I went back to get the rest of the materials printed. I walked in and said, "I have a few quick print jobs, if you guys have time."
"We charge a $5.00 "output" fee, just so you know." I asked what that meant, and the lady said, "Every time we have to transfer something digitally off a USB, we charge $5.00." I asked if I could email the work, and she said that the $5.00 was to send any digital file to the printer. What?
Opposed to what? Analog? Clearly a cash grab, I said fine and asked for a quote for the project. For some reason since being in business since 1988, they weren't able to give me a quote for two colour prints, and 110 tickets printed and cut.
The lady went into the back room where she was discussing it with a co-worker. She came back a few moments later and said, "Wow, super cheap, only $10!" I said that sounded great. She then said, "Are you sure you don't want them cut?"
Again, I had asked to just allow me to cut them at home. I like the control, and I don't mind putting on a movie and cutting to pass the time. However, I was in a bit of a rush and so I said, "How much with cutting?"
She left into the back room and came back, "$16.00". That sounded great and so I told her to go for it. A few hours later I came back to find a $33.00 bill. I inquired about the cost and the lady said, "$5.00 output fee, $4.00 printing, $16.00 cutting, and taxes." (rounding off).
I said, "Oh...I think there may have been a miscommunication, I was under the impression the $16.00 was for the entire quote, not just cutting." The lady said I could wait until the person I was dealing with had returned from lunch.
When she returned I said that I was very sorry, but I think we had a breakdown in communication and that the quote she gave me was misinterpreted. She said, "You asked me how much cutting was, I told you $16."
I explained that I understood how the communication breakdown happened, but I explained that I was used to getting a full quote in writing, not verbal quotes spread out for me to do the math. She said that is how they always do it and it works fine. I explained that is fine, but my suggestion was to provide the customer a written quote that they can both see and agree to, so that these things could be avoided.
She stood there waiting for me to pay or something, when I said, "I'm sorry, but this is for a volunteer organization and we don't have a $33 budget to spend on this, had I known the cutting was $16, I would have requested that they not be cut as I had originally."
She stared at me blankly. I then said, "Okay, well, could you please reprint these for me without cutting?"
Her eyes widened, "You want me to just bin these?" Yup...So three hours later, I got them unprinted. Never again, waste of time. read more
