When things go wrong and how we can put it right for you

I’ll have to be honest here, while we try our best to produce the best printed material for your needs, sometimes things go wrong. We are human and mistakes get made. Sometimes we get more work in than we can handle and things slip through that shouldn’t get out to you the customer. Sometimes we think we are being told one thing and find out you mean another. So what happens when things go wrong and what happens to put it right.

First and foremost, if we have made a mistake then please let us put it right. Tell us so we can sort out a solution for you that will put everything right and gives you more beside. We would rather avoid you getting something you are not happy with so here is are few basic guidelines on how to do it and how to avoid problems in the first place.

Before we start the job

• Before starting any job where we have had to make modification to or create new work for you, we will always send you electronic proofs. Double check everything because sometimes when we change one thing it can have a knock on effect on other things we may not see.
• If we are rerunning an old job, we often will send an electronic proof of what we have on records just to confirm that we are printing the right document. Double check it to be sure that is the one to be printed. We are also happy to send you an e-proof on request so that you can be sure that everything is correct and you don’t need to update it.
• We are always happy to provide proofs before committing to any job. Even if it’s one that we are sending out to a offset print partner we can often do a one off ‘almost the same’ sample that you can used as baseline reference.
• Double check that what we quote for is what you expect. If you don’t understand it please call us as we happy to explain everything to you. We recently had to charge a customer for a reprint because what we quoted for and printed was on heavy paper, but what they expected and did not ask for was for it to be on card.

As it says in our Terms Of Service – when we get your approval to proceed on a job then you also confirm that the price and the proof are correct. If it turns out it is not, then you are liable for all costs of reprinting.

After the job has been completed

Always check the job as soon as you have received it. If there are issues, the sooner we are told about it the faster we can fix it. That being said if you have received the job and not contacted us within 5 working days we will assume that the job is correct. If you then say that there is a fault with the job after this time, we have the right to refuse any claim. If the job is outsourced to a specialist then we are limited to their Terms of Service too. Generally, that gives us 5 business days to raise any issues with them or they deem the work to be correct and they will not accept liability for any faults. But regardless – if it is in our power to correct it we always try!

Some things we have no control over

• While we will endeavor to maintain stock of all our standard papers and cards, sometimes supplies we order don’t’ get delivered on time. We will try to keep everyone affected up to date on the situation and offer alternatives solutions if needed.
• Outsource work is one area where we have no control of. If they have problems in their production process or delivery methods (freight does get stuck on the Desert Road occasionally) then they will let us know and we will let you know. If needed we will work with you to come up with stop gap solutions to the problem, but once a job has been approved with them it will be done no matter how long it takes.
• We can not control what happens to items when we ship them from the store. If we are couriering things to you or on your behalf then we will give full shipping details of who the carrier is, the tracking number, and etas of delivery. If things go astray, we will help in sorting out where your shipment is and to get to you but ultimately it is between you and them as we have completed our part of the transaction.
• Paper shift is a normal part of printing – especially digital printing. Our tolerance is about 2mm (hardly every happens this much). This is why we have requirements for bleed zones and safe margins and discourage page borders.
• Colour matching is very hard in the digital printing environment. All colours are blended and even things such as the temperature and humidity of the day can change the colour output ever-so-slightly. Anything offset printed will come out slightly different on a digital printer. We have seen some pretty wild colour variations in our time – so if you have something that needs to be precisely colour matched please give us a sample prior to production.

We will see you right

While this may all sound doom and gloom, it is not. We want to give you the best quality printing we can, so it isn’t right we want to fix it. We will work with you to find a the best solution to the problem. If you needed reprints we will work with you to make a fair deal. This goes with the companies we work with too as they want to make their customers (us) happy so we have had them go above and beyond what is expected of them to give the best outcome. The most important thing is communication. We want you to be happy with our work and if you are willing to give us the latitude to do so we will do everything we can to make you happy.