Love those customers who try blaming me for their mistakes

[gabagoo]

Was requested to do a simple decal job and was instructed to set the job up on 2 small oval sizes we used for a previous job. Set them up with dimensions pdf'd it to the customer...who in turn was supposed to send that to his customer.

Get a po and it clearly states the smaller of the 2 ovals and then an email from the client that I got the go ahead to do them on the smaller oval.

Did the first lot and the cutter screwed up the cut...OK 225 pieces is nothing to reprint and cut and do it.

Deliver them and get the call.

There too big!! he says. I said, well I printed the smaller version that you requested and it was even written up on the po like that. he says they look to big. I said ...did you measure them? he said he doesn't have a ruler.... I then told him to hold on and checked the file in the computer, just in case I printed the larger version and no I printed the correct version. he says he will send them to his customer and hope they work.
I told him that the customer must have screwed up as the pdf file clearly showed the sizing...I bet he never sent it and made the decision on his own.

So, this is a large customer of mine and I deal with many different people there. This guy is the second time dealing with and virtually no money to be made.... Am I supposed to be the guy who reprints for free? again? This guy should clearly admit that he %^%$ up and ask if can reprint them smaller for a good price...but says nothing. I know he is going to try and blame me for it with the authority figures in the company. Puts me between a rock and a hard place.

 

[eahicks]

I'd say you did what you were told, if his customer has an issue with it then it is on him....they are HIS customer, not yours right? He should pay for a reprint if he wants one.

 

[gabagoo]

You have a PO authorizing you to produce what they approved - end of story.

If you feel like being nice because they are a good customer and giving them a slight discount....that's entirely up to you. I usually make that decision based on how I feel that day and whether or not they admit they made a mistake. If they are honest and nice about it (not like the person in this situation) then I'll offer to reprint at a discount. Usually somewhere between our material cost and the original full price.

Then again.... I deal with a few companies where mistakes and reprints happen on a weekly basis. It does get old after a while, regardless of who's fault it is or who'd footing the bill. I like jobs to go out the door and know that the customer is happy and we'll only hear back from them when they need something else - not for us to re-do the job.

If the guy had any brains and sent my pdf to his client and they approved them, then I don't see a problem at their end.... they are a good client but I would just love to call them clients and tell them my cutter ^%& up and I need to charge to reprint!!! lol

 

[phototec]

call them clients and tell them my cutter ^%& up and I need to charge to reprint!!! lol

You don't charge a customer for a reprint if your cutter messes up, that's on you!

 

[gabagoo]

You don't charge a customer for a reprint if your cutter messes up, that's on you!

you must be joking.... cause I was

 

[CanuckSigns]

I hear ya, but if the dimentions on the proof match the decals, I can't see how they could argue with you. Can you contact this guys boss and explain yourself before num nuts try's to blame you for his mistake?

 

[TimToad]

Has he actually blamed you for the issue? Has he thrown you under the bus to anyone else in the company that could negatively impact your business relationship? If so, circumvent him and go directly to the other folks you've always dealt with and assure them about the details involved.

We just had one this week where, this new wannabe "print broker" in our area got a price on a 2'x8' banner from us for one of her "clients". This "client" of hers used to be one of our customers who had always dealt directly with us for years. She sent us a .pdf of a layout that was 30" x 60", nowhere near a 2'x8' but close enough in square footage that the price was the same. I immediately told her about the size mismatch and she told me that it was fine as long as the price was the same. After accepting the banner and paying for it, she called yesterday irate over how we had "told her we could make a banner any size she wanted" but made the wrong size in this case and the client didn't like the size even though they provided the file for it and she ok'ed it.

She went on and on about how many decades of experience she has and that other vendors would just stretch artwork to fit the finished size she wanted. The logo for the client is circular and I brought that up to her when we opened the file and how distorted it wold be if a stretched the file to fit a 2'x8'.

I told her I'd work with her on a replacement in order to make things good with the "client". I don't expect much work from this source and care more about smoothing it over for the client, a long time customer who for some reason didn't just deal with us directly as in the past. That'll teach 'em.

 

[phototec]

you must be joking.... cause I was

Just add a ladder to the artwork, reprint them to correct size and send them a Thank You card on move on..........................:Big Laugh

 

[reQ]

Oh god... having this kind of customers from time to time. Couple years ago, had a guy, who needed 2 lexan sign faces made for his existing light box. Created the design, made adjustments the way he wanted. After all was set, he signed "go ahead" form. Faces were made & installed and guess what? I he stops by after a week and tells me he does not like layout. I told him that all changes to my design were made to his preferences and he liked what he saw on the proof before everything was made. Then he AGREES that yep, its how it was, but I HAD TO CONVINCE HIM THAT MY DESIGN WAS BETTER SO HE WOULD NOT CHANGE IT! Well i was kinda mad, but at he end of the day customer agreed to pay to redo these faces (with some discount to make him happy).

Also, had another amazing customer... he was only one so far, who pissed me right off to the point, where i tossed the design proof to the garbage bin and told him that i can not help him.

The guy came in, acting like a big shot.... pulls out a piece of paper with some kind of business card design printed on it. Tells me he needs 50 business cards printed.... told him we don't do less than 250, he agrees for 250. Asked him if he has a file for the design....guess what, he send me Word File.... oh well at that point i was just a bit over a year in business and was trying make everybody happy. Recreated everything from scratch in Corel, printed proof for him. He shows up, looks at it for like 30 seconds than starts telling me its not same.... and what he does next - i never seen before. He puts his printed paper under mine, puts it on the window and tells me to make 1 milimeter adjustments. tells me that i can't do what i was asked. That was it.

 

[gabagoo]

I hear ya, but if the dimentions on the proof match the decals, I can't see how they could argue with you. Can you contact this guys boss and explain yourself before num nuts try's to blame you for his mistake?

For what it's worth I sent him an email Friday night explaining that if his client found them to large we would reprint fast and get them out. I don't know if this guy has connections in the company and don't need the headache if he does.
This crap seems to be happening more and more lately. People over worked always in a rush...
It just seems that we eat the costs to fix mistakes that were ok'ed with layouts and dimensions...I spent the extra time and effort so that he could clearly send a file with everything needed to make a decision.

If he calls me Monday to reprint I will ask him if he sent the file to the client, if so why the problem.

 

[Christian @ 2CT Media]

These situations is why over the last year I have been forcing my clients to give me all correspondence in writing (signed paper, text, or email). I've lost a few clients because of it but I've also been able to collect on all of my jobs so far because of it.

One arguement and I just send to collections with all my documentation. I'm tired of chasing money and getting excuses, so now I protect my business.

If you have it in writing, no matter how good the client you should stand by there decision and not do a after the fact change for free.

 

[heyskull]

For what it's worth I sent him an email Friday night explaining that if his client found them to large we would reprint fast and get them out. I don't know if this guy has connections in the company and don't need the headache if he does.
This crap seems to be happening more and more lately. People over worked always in a rush...
It just seems that we eat the costs to fix mistakes that were ok'ed with layouts and dimensions...I spent the extra time and effort so that he could clearly send a file with everything needed to make a decision.

If he calls me Monday to reprint I will ask him if he sent the file to the client, if so why the problem.

Believe me the guy your dealing with, I bet has no connections in the company. It is his head on the line over the screw up that has occurred.

I get at least one customer a week who doesn't know that when confirming a proof, it means "yes it is good to go"
It most certainly doesn't mean "Oh I made a screw up and even though I won't admit to it YOU have to reprint it because really it's your fault!"

Personally I would get in touch with his superior (The real boss) and explain the issue.
Explain you will discount the order to reprint it the correct size.
Oh and also offer to contribute to buy his buyer a ruler!! OMG what a useless excuse!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I don't like getting anyone into trouble but I learnt a long time that if I screwed up something up, be a man and admit it you will be respected for it.

SC

 

[gabagoo]

Believe me the guy your dealing with, I bet has no connections in the company. It is his head on the line over the screw up that has occurred.

I get at least one customer a week who doesn't know that when confirming a proof, it means "yes it is good to go"
It most certainly doesn't mean "Oh I made a screw up and even though I won't admit to it YOU have to reprint it because really it's your fault!"

Personally I would get in touch with his superior (The real boss) and explain the issue.
Explain you will discount the order to reprint it the correct size.
Oh and also offer to contribute to buy his buyer a ruler!! OMG what a useless excuse!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I don't like getting anyone into trouble but I learnt a long time that if I screwed up something up, be a man and admit it you will be respected for it.

SC

On top of that , they are a very large promotional company, so one would thin...there must be thousands of rulers floating around from all the screw up jobs lol

 

[gabagoo]

So anyways, it is now Thursday ( happy thanksgiving), and I ended up last week sending this clown an email telling him that if indeed they were too large for his client that I would reprint and have them ready for Tuesday of this week, but I needed to know the size they wanted. I have heard nothing all week and suspect that if he sent my proof to his client and they chose and approved the decal they wanted (that had dimensions clearly marked) then, they did fit and this guy is a complete azz.

This morning I see an email from azz and he is asking if I had a chance to reprint the order and the client will need an additional 40 decals.

WTF!!! He still has not told me a size, so the hell with email and I call this clown and we sort of have it out and he gets all defensive on me. I know this type of person...they will never admit that they made any mistakes.

So I go through it step by step with him and I asked if he sent my pdf file to his client and he says yes. So what's the problem? They approved it, so they must fit... Now he tells me the client has not received the product, that the decals will be adhered to, so he still thinks they will be too big. Again not my problem, although I am willing to fix it for him, just give me the friggen size.

he starts telling me that the samples I did for a previous job for him were smaller, and I told him that I made this version using those dimensions so he is just trying to pin this on me unsuccessfully I may add.

I figure at this point the guy is either seriously dimented or just a God damned liar and will do anything to back out of a corner and I guess that will include attempting to throw me under the bus. What he does not know is that I know plenty of people in this company that I have done work for many years, with little or no problems. I'm sure this is not his first mistake and not his last.

I am generally known for being a nice guy and I really hate altercations like this, but guys like this probably have them every day.

I'm still waiting to get a size so I can reprint, but he thinks that I am just supposed to know it from thin air..... Fakk him!!! Ruined my Thursday morning

 

[Gino]

And people don't understand when I say I don't like or trust brokers....................

 

[getcustomized]

I made 100 signs for a guy last year he put them all out on street corners where he wasn't supposed to and the city came and took them all away within a few days. then he does a credit card chargeback. The credit card companies wouldn't even help me out.

 

[reQ]

I would go right to the small claims court. Did you supply the product that he paid money for? YES. Are you the one who took sign down? NO. End of conversations, any judge with half brain would say you are right.

 

[player]

I made 100 signs for a guy last year he put them all out on street corners where he wasn't supposed to and the city came and took them all away within a few days. then he does a credit card chargeback. The credit card companies wouldn't even help me out.

Escalate it with the credit card ombudsman.

 

[brycesteiner]

I know it's easier said than done....but don't let people like that get to you. He's the idiot....not you.

Send him an email saying "your banner won't be scheduled until the correct size is confirmed". If he doesn't get that...then he shouldn't have a job.

That's exactly right. I think we all have customers like this, probably in every field. I wonder how in the world they run a business successfully.
I put on my proofs a watermark or make them lowres instead of vector. I've had too many times where people have taken the artwork and went somewhere else.
I also love the guy who claims my prices are so much higher and they would use me if my prices were just as good. I tell them they should go there since there prices are better. I check it out only to see the other guy's prices aren't better. People will say anything to get you to go cheap, true or not.

 

[Craig Sjoquist]

, Reading stuff like this sure let it be easy not to have all this fancy equipment & just hand paint, because for me it is just repaint no real high costs or headaches.

Thank you

 

[Billct2]

Not sure I agree Craig, nothing was worse than having to remove some mispelled lettering and redo.

 

[lgroth]

Contracts are almost a must...

The days of doing jobs just on someone's word are gone... Most jobs we do we email a proof with all parameters of the job, image proof, quantities, size, material, pricing (both product and artwork), note any PMS or special colors, etc. along with an approval form that must be filled out and emailed back to us including the date we must receive the approval by to make delivery on time before a job starts. Documentation Leaves little to chance that something will come back to bite you, we have had a lot fewer problems since implementing this.