Things you need to do to ensure to get the best from Copy Express

We like to think that we give pretty great service here at Copy Express. Our focus of being a ‘business partner’ to you and not just treating you as another job means that we try and do that bit more to make your experience with us as good as it can be. That being said we are only human, things can go wrong and we can make mistakes. We do everything we can to avoid this but there are few things you can do too that help ensure that you will get the best from us.

If you need it by a date and/or time, tell us at the start

Normally we operate on a first in first out process, so the newest jobs get added to the bottom of the production list. However, we will move job to the top if it’s required sooner. This is why the while you wait/same day printing costs more than the two business day printing, because you want it now then other jobs have to be put off to do it. So let us know and we can confirm with you if there are any rush charges that will have to be applied. 

Need it rushed? Call us first

If you need job done as soon as possible then call us to confirm that we can do it for you. Sometimes we are already fully booked with work, or we may not be capable to meet your requirements due to practical reasons, such as it needing to be sent to a production partner. Talking to us on the phone gives us the chance to see what we can do to meet your needs, even if it’s something like spitting the work so you have enough to tide you over for now while the rest of the work is done at a normal production pace.

If you’ve not heard back from us, then give us a call

We’re human and mistakes can happen. Maybe an email got deleted in error, or ended up in the spam folder. Perhaps we did craft a response and not yet sent because we got interrupted or we are waiting on information from a production partner. Sometimes we just get so busy that we’ve not got to it yet as we deal with all the work that is coming in. We try our hardest to not do this but it can happen, so if you are wondering about your email/job please do phone us and we will update you there and then.

Never assume anything

This is the biggest issue we have dealing with clients work. You might know exactly what a document or flyer should look like, we don’t. Spell it out exactly in a email or to us in person when we take the order. If we aren’t sure, we will be contacting you to get those details which will delay the job till we get confirmation of what we need to know. What information is needed changes from job type to job type but for a flyer we will need to know: finished size, single or double sided print, colour or black only printing, type of paper to be used, and the quantity needed. This goes double if you ask us to quote a price by phone or in person, as we get several such requests a day so it’s impossible for us to remember such information

Where possible send us the files we have to print before placing the order so we catch issues beforehand

When you ask us for a estimate on a job, it’s always to your advantage to supply us the file we have to work with. This lets us check there are no issues with a file, even printing a test sheet to make sure that printer understands what it is given. If there are problems then we can let you know right away before we start printing giving you a chance to fix it and make it ‘print ready’. Alternatively we can also it fix it for you and you can verify it’s correct before production begins. Once you confirm the order that’s it, if there are any problems that’s your liability not ours.

What you see isn’t always what you get so we are happy to do samples for you

Once in a while there are going to be files that look fine on a screen but when printed break in various interesting ways. Colours might look slightly different on the paper, text that looks fine on a screen becomes unreadable in real life, artwork becomes grainy in the higher resolution of the print, etc. Unless we are outsourcing the printing with our high volume partner, we can generally print you a sample of the document for you to check. Even when we do outsource we can print a ‘content check’ version of the document that lets you make sure that’s correct even if the finish may be different.

Any proofs need to be approved by you before work begins

If we are converting/editing existing files or creating new material for you, then we always send electronic proofs for your approval. This is to make sure no conversion errors or mistakes have slipped in. The job is then put on hold until you approve it, so the sooner the you approve it the sooner it’s added to the production stack. The same rule applies to any physical samples too.

Allow yourself safety margins of time for your work

Copy Express is focused on being a small volume fast turn around print service. This is why we can do things like business cards next business day as standard, and do a thousand flyers in a couple of hours. That being said, printing is a very physical process and that means things can go wrong quite unexpectedly. Equipment can break down, supplies may not be delivered on time, work sent to a production partner may have delays. While we will do our best to minimise such problems, we can’t always prevent them. So whenever possible give yourself safety margins to allow for things going wrong. We will also work with you in such cases to come up with a quick fix if it does become a problem.

All times are quoted in business days so allow for that

We operate on a strictly Monday to Friday opening hours and will be closed public holidays. So when we say two business days on a job and you confirm it on a Friday, then the first business day for production might be the follow Monday. We also apply a 2pm cut off point for work coming in so if you place/confirm an order after that time, it’s officially not started to the following day. Shipping is also effected by the cut off as most orders leave our business at 4pm that day so the shipping time is counted from 9am the following business day.

Check you emails and voicemails

By default we will always contact you by email as this gives us a time and date stamp of when we communicated with you. We will always try to give you an eta of when the work will be finished when you place the order so if you’ve not heard from us by then, call us. We also use email to ensure you get important information without confusion, like the price or tracking number of a delivery. Often if there is a question about a job, or you want to be notified by phone instead, we will leave you a detailed voicemail message if you don’t pick up. So check that first before you phone us to ask us if we called you.

Remembering theses points will help make the process of printing with Copy Express as quick and painless as possible. If you have any question about a job, want to make a general enquiry, or just want to pick our brains on something please do email or phone us and we will be happy to help.