Getting customers to check proofs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

[heyskull]

Once again a customer has not properly checked a proof I have sent out this really boils my ****!!!!
Even though it states on it that once this is confirmed it is their responsibility.
What is annoying is the text that was needed on this sign was supplied from a picture, so mistakes are
My spell checker has not picked it up as the word "price" and pride" are spelled correctly!!!
All over my proof sheet is telling them that any mistakes after proofing are the customers issue and will need to paid for by them.
In the days of cut vinyl graphics it was easy to rectify a mistake, but in these days of digital print a mistake 2 metres into a 4 metre long print is an expensive mistake that I am not willing to take the blame.
I only wish that customers (who know they are in wrong) just take 2 minutes and check the proof and that any mistakes after saying "Yes" is their fault and has to be paid for by them.

SC

 

[skyhigh]

customers are not proof readers. They merely look at the overall appearance of their proof.
We only hope they catch our typo's while looking at how "pretty" their sign looks on paper.

you typed it wrong. Bite the bullet

 

[ams]

Proofs are useless to customers because they don't pay attention. They always get angry at me when it's there fault. Usually I'll make it up to them, but when they put something in another language, there is no proof reading that.

 

[mark galoob]

inhandle these by offering to reprint at half price


M

 

[Marlene]

we make them read and sign off on the proof using the form attached. it covers spelling and copy errors. ownership of the artwork is also addressed. we also added that the colors in the proof represent the actual colors only. it makes life easier when you lay it all out for customer. on our quote, this is repeated along with a bunch of other things they need to know. there's a line item on the quote that states they need to read and sign off on the proof as well as the quote for this to become a job.

 

[ExecuPrintGS]

We have something similar to what marlene has on all of our proofs and posted on the wall in the shop and people still check proofs on their phones and miss things. It is a delicate balance of telling them to kick rocks and pay for the reprint vs. pissing them off and having them trash us online. Each situation is different and we make a judgement call, but no matter what we do not reprint for free.

 

[Gino]

Did I read in your OP that YOU supplied the typo ?? In other words, you received the correct spelling, but you spelled some things wrong and YOUR proofreader missed YOUR error(s). Your spellcheck missed YOUR error(s). and now you want to blame YOUR customer who supplied you with the correct spelling for it all ??

Don't think so, regardless of verbiage you have on a release statement. Your goof, your fix.

Like mentioned, other than foreign words or names, common words are your responsibility.... especially if you are re-setting the type.​

 

[Marlene]

Did I read in your OP that YOU supplied the typo ?? In other words, you received the correct spelling, but but you spelled some things wrong and YOUR proofreader missed YOUR error(s). Your spellcheck missed YOUR error(s). and now you want to blame YOUR customer who supplied you with the correct spelling for it all ??

Don't think so, regardless of verbiage you have on a release statement. Your goof, your fix.

Like mentioned, other than foreign words or names, common words are your responsibility.... especially if you are re-setting the type.​

it sounds like the OP copied a supplied picture of what the customer wanted and the picture had errors in copy, not spelling. seems there was a price vs pride mix up in the customers copy and the OP just did what was supplied, exactly as it was written. my question is, did the copy make sense with the word mix up? if so, then it is all on the customer, if not, then the OP should have questioned it before production.

 

[Johnny Best]

The customer is not the professional in proof reading, you are. Own up to it and reprint.

 

[Marlene]

The customer is not the professional in proof reading, you are. Own up to it and reprint.

nope that is not true. the customer is the one that dictates the copy if it says "price" when it should say "pride", then it is up to the customer to check that what he wants to say is correct. how many of us have had to make signs with words like "xtreme" "korner" "quik" "cap'n" and so on. none of those is spelled correctly. what then? spelling is one thing but when it comes down to words that are spelled correctly like the OP ran into, who is to blame? only the customer.

 

[Johnny Best]

I do not think putting the blame on the customer is going to work. Does not make it any better who is at fault.
It has to be done over. Don't care how much paper you print on covering yourself is going to help either.
If you are the type of person who wants to feel they were wrong and you right falls into another problem area that overflows into another problem you need to address.

 

[ikarasu]

We used to get typos all the time. We always fixed it - Whether we thought the blame was more on the customer, or on us depended on how we fixed it.

If the customer spelled their name wrong, or website wrong... Theres nothing we could do to know its wrong. They signed off on the proof, so we could technically say too bad. But we'll offer to print some cover up decals with the information fixed for free, since it usually gets printed from our excess material, or re-print the whole sign at a reduced cost.

We have our sales person who's writing the order take a look at the proof before she sends it off - Our art guy is the one who makes the proof and takes a look. Our print guy also takes a look - Then our shipping guy gives it a once over also.

USUALLY we catch 99% of typos before theyre printed... The other 1% is usually picked up by our shipper, while the other 3 miss it (Me included!) It's not a huge cost fixing typos, but it does take time - But it does happen, and while you can put all the Terms in your proofs as you want, If you treat a customer bad they wont come back. If you point out the proof says its this way, and technically it's on them but you'll work with them to fix it, They'll be more likely to be a repeat customer.

So.. it's up to you whether you value their business or not.

 

[skyhigh]

I don't think any customer who gave you a print that said "pride" is going to argue that you didn't put "price".

Evidently they were okay with it the first time, they can be okay with it the second time.......

if that is indeed the situation.

 

[d fleming]

I just reprinted a set of digital mags that I did not notice the error on until I was trimming the corners. It was an action where signlab drop shadow tool occasionally goes haywire, I should have caught it while designing. My wife and the customer both saw the proof and no one said a thing. Easy to miss. The customer will never know I have an incorrect set of mags. Occasionally I spell a common word wrong or get a phone number a digit off. I fix it. Immediately. It may cost some time and effort but it pays back big over time. Screen printed items can hurt ya with a wrong # though. And no one wants his crew wearing gear with wrong info. It will probably be a while before you do it again, I'm usually pretty sharp for a while after a goof, lol.

 

[Marlene]

I do not think putting the blame on the customer is going to work. Does not make it any better who is at fault.
It has to be done over. Don't care how much paper you print on covering yourself is going to help either.
If you are the type of person who wants to feel they were wrong and you right falls into another problem area that overflows into another problem you need to address.

sounds like you are totally missing the point. it isn't about who is right or wrong. a customer provides the copy they want. it says "price" when it should have said "pride". that is on the customer and no way should a sign person have to do a job over at their own cost. the customer provided the wrong words they wanted to say. how would the sign guy know? the sign guy provided a proof so the customer could check to make sure it was what they wanted and the customer was too lazy to bother to look at it. not the sign guy's problem. we are sign professionals, not some kids pounding out memes in our mom's basement so we should act like pros, provide proofs which the sign guy did. when we provide a proof, it is on the customer to check that proof to make sure the size and copy are correct. if you hired an architect to build you a house and told them you wanted a peaked roof, they show you a proof of the house with a peaked roof and you say "looks good". would you expect them to rebuild you a house because you said peaked but really wanted to say a flat roof? no one would expect the house to be rebuilt at the builders own expense so why when someone messes up the words they want to say, the burden would be the sign guy's?

 

[Gino]

Many years ago, these terms being thrown around in this thread had altogether different meanings. We used to do a lotta pasteup and newspaper articles, inserts and advertisements each and every day. One facet of the first shop I worked at was an advertising agency. We had to be able to work in all the departments, back then. We had people whose job was to proofread and check for any and all mistakes from grammar, to punctuation to spelling. It was someone's job to make sure it went out on time and correctly. You could be speaking of thousands to many tens of thousands of dollars for these things. Not ever was something ever left up to the customer. They were a customer...... not in our industry. Had we used some of the excuses or waivers you people are using, you'd be outta job by the end of the day.

Sure, times have changed and methods and technology has along with it, but the principles are still the same. Just because you don't have the staff or knowledge to do this stuff on your own, does not give you the audacity to blame the end user.

Being lazy and not knowing how to spell or have lousy communications skills..... you shouldn't be in a business if all ya think is push a button and make some money and those mistakes made are funded by your customer. There are other needs in this business and perhaps, some of you aren't quite equipped.

Go on, telling people off and it's their mistake or partial mistake and don't improve on your own skills..... ya just make it look better for those who do know how and treat customers with respect.

 

[Gino]

Marlene, let up on it, til the OP comes back and clears up your views vs. the rest of everyone else's views.

Stop for a minute and look how close the 'd' and 'c' are on the keyboard. It appears when the OP said
My spell checker has not picked it up as the word "price" and pride" are spelled correctly!!!

He input the wrong word and the customer didn't notice it for whatever reason. However, your view is quite possible, so we need to chill, until the OP can clear the muddied waters.

 

[heyskull]

Yes I typed "price" instead of "pride".

It was a simple typo error on my part.
The issue being if the customer had supplied the wording as a file I wouldn't have a leg to stand on.
But they supplied a low res. picture and I have just made an honest typo (yes "c" and "d" are very close on the keyboard).
The problem is I give customers proofs for everything with all the disclaimers attached telling them to check spellings "as mistakes are possible due to human input" layout etc.etc.
But always, always it is my problem when they find an issue with it after they haven't even given the proof a second glance!

Gino
I have been in the sign business for 33 years so have plenty experience in this sort of thing!
I have had previous customers come in 7+ years later, making out I made a mistake on their vehicle signwriting for me to pull the original job sheet that they had written (with the said mistake) and I had copied and it's still my fault!!!!!??
My issue is if I gave a customer a proof and they have OK'd it then it is NOT my fault I will meet half way but in the end if the proof is OK'd, "It's not my problem"

SC

 

[Gino]

That's fine, heyskull. It's just a difference in yours and my values or beliefs.

If you don't mind, though....... this one was one typo on your part. What if you had made two or three typos ?? How many mistakes are you allowed to make before the customer is gonna view you as incompetent....... and/or goes elsewhere ??

There's one storyline here. You made a mistake and perhaps because you have had this happen in the past or maybe not, but you have disclaimers and waivers protecting your a$$, but nothing for the person(s) buying from you. Sounds a might one-sided. Whether you split the cost or they assume responsibility, why not reward them everytime they proof it correctly...... and give them a 10% discount for ALL of your customers. Put that in the fine print and I'm sure they'll start proofing better to cover up your mistakes.

I'm not finding fault with you, but this is how the whole sign industry seems to think these days. It's never their mistake..... when the fact still remains, it is/was..... and you hammer them for YOUR mistake.

Just doesn't sound fair.

 

[shoresigns]

If the client gave you text that was correct, and you added a typo that wasn't there, that's your fault, not the client's. It doesn't matter if it was because they gave you the text in an image. It was your job to OCR it or type it out and check for errors, and you screwed it up.