Ordering a Half Sandwhich But Paying For a Whole
Update: I’ve worked it out with pc/nametag. As I expected, it took calling American Express and initiating a chargeback to get their attention. When they realized they weren’t going to get paid anything, and that we might be going to court over it, they decided to give me a call. We came to an agreement about how much of a discount I would get for the lanyards. I was never looking for a total refund, but I did feel a partial refund was fair. I’m pleased that they did the right thing.
I’ve learned quite a bit about printing in the last few years. We trade show organizers love to print - from brochures and programs to lanyards and badges, we print a lot of paper. We just finished up the Podcast and New Media Expo, and for whatever reason we had a terrible experience with our printers this year.
First up: pc/nametag printed our lanyards this year and they were awful. The logo we needed to print on the lanyard this year was very detailed, so we had to go with a screen printed lanyard rather than a sewn lanyard. The proof looked great and I was impressed with their “Actual Size” proof layout. But I knew we were in trouble immediately when I opened the box three days before the Expo and pulled one out. It looked nothing like the proof (see photo below). The proof above the lanyard that approved said “Actual Size.” Does the final product look anything like actual size to you??
Obviously the lanyard did not print actual size. I gave pc/nametag every opportunity to make it right, even overnighting them one of the lanyards so they could take a look. All they could say is, “looking at the lanyard, it did in fact imprint according to specifications.” So I guess now I’ll be dealing with American Express for a chargeback. I hate to do business that way, but pc/nametag has given me no choice.
Lately I’ve noticed another disturbing trend with printers - being charged for overruns. Both pc/nametag and our directory printer charged us for additional units that were printed beyond what we ordered. We ordered 2,500 directories, but paid for 2,600. We ordered 2,000 lanyards, but were charged for 2,095. So let me get this straight. I order a specific amount, but you decide to print a few more and charge me for them. Can you imagine this in other industries?
“I know you ordered a half sandwhich, sir, but the chef decided to make you a whole sandwhich so we’re charging you for a whole.” Or how about this one: “I know you ordered a 10×10 booth, but we gave you a 10×20 so you’ll need to pay for the 10×20.”
Charging for overruns has got to be the most absurd thing I have seen this year. If your machine can’t accurately print the number of items I ordered and it prints more, THAT’S NOT MY PROBLEM - IT’S YOURS. Any printers out there who are reading this, feel free to somehow justify your overrun charges in the comments. I’d love to hear how you think this is fair and a necessary business practice.
October 3rd, 2007 at 5:08 pm |
Charging for overages is part of the printing industry’s standards, which means courts recognize it unless it is “disclaimed.”
When I had an advertising and PR firm my production people always added a specification to purchase orders that we wouldn’t pay for overages.
Printers still ran overages to make sure there were enough good copies to meet the minimum ordered, but our clients never had to pay for them.
October 3rd, 2007 at 5:12 pm |
I’ve seen where printing companies say the job might be 3% over or under, but not until the last few months did I see them charging for the overage. Has anyone ever gotten a refund for being under? Somehow I doubt it.
AND, if they know accurately how many were overruns, why can’t they just be accurate about the original job in the first place and just print that many?
October 5th, 2007 at 11:47 pm |
I thought the lanyards came out okay, but then again, who the heck spends more than 1 second looking at a lanyard?!
As far as overruns are concerned, how many times have you ordered a smaller pizza than was prepared due to a misunderstanding? Have you ever had to pay for the additional pizza? I thought not.
Consider my business card fiasco… and to think, here it is, nearly a week after the expo was over (not to mention 26 days ago when the order was placed) and I still have yet to receive my business cards!
Yep, printing companies are not high up on my “warm and fuzzy feeling” list right now.
October 8th, 2007 at 10:09 am |
[...] reader of Tim Bourquin over at Tradeshow Startup, and I read today with heightened interest. Tim talks today about printers and the trade show industry. Tim had ordered some badge lanyards to be worn at a convention, and when the [...]
October 26th, 2007 at 1:10 pm |
Tim, I feel for you on the lanyards, and will make a mental note not to use pc/nametag (I think they sent me some samples in the past). Some companies get the saying “It is better to underpromise and overdeliver” backwards. What happened with American Express?
As to the overage charge, box (manufacturing) companies do it too. Depending on the order size, they reserve the right to sell you 10% to 20% more or less. Funny thing is it ALWAYS ends up being more not less. Like Cliff, I also sometimes specify on purchase orders “Not to exceed”, though then the vendor often say that if you want the exact amount it is 10% more.
The good news is that there are printers out there that don’t do this (produce overage and then charge you for it). We use just such a printer for our brochures and catalogues. It pays to shop around.
Steve
Pinnacle Trade Show Displays
http://www.pinnacledisplays.com