Need reliable trade printer (not 4over)

[jochwat]

Just a note on Sinalite - we've not had the necessity to run large format through them, but I really have to say their QA has been a bit uneven - labels are okay, but business cards? Registration issues, paper supply, and grain tracking have all caused us to request reprints multiple times. I have used them at multiple workplaces over the years; it never used to be this bad.

Hard to put them at fault for the paper supply, given the world situation -- and they do seem to give warnings when supplies are thin and may require substitutions. But now that you mention the card printing lately has been lacking in quality, it appears to not be an isolated incident for you or myself. Had a customer complain about her cards recently, and I thought she was being overly picky. Dark images, ink smearing... Damn.

 

[FlorenceC]

Hard to put them at fault for the paper supply, given the world situation -- and they do seem to give warnings when supplies are thin and may require substitutions. But now that you mention the card printing lately has been lacking in quality, it appears to not be an isolated incident for you or myself. Had a customer complain about her cards recently, and I thought she was being overly picky. Dark images, ink smearing... Damn.

I'm no stranger to paper shortages myself - To me it's a matter of not supplying what was advertised. If a 16pt card is advertised, a 16pt card is what we should get. If they can't offer that based on what is on hand, they shouldn't make it look like they can. It affects how I present what I can offer to my clients and a whole new layer of mess if/when there are complications with the final product.

They also don't seem to be keeping track of paper grain, so smaller items can sometimes seem a LOT thinner than they should be.

 

[gnubler]

I just recently signed up for an account with Sinalite and have placed a few printing orders. Shops don't get much smaller than mine. I think all they wanted was my reseller's permit.

 

[SaraG]

maybe this post is an ad for sinalite?

One of our team members reached out to them yesterday and asked why we were not approved to be a customer. No response. We even asked if they would like to see all our equipment. nothing. This could be a blessing in disguise.

 

[SaraG]

I just recently signed up for an account with Sinalite and have placed a few printing orders. Shops don't get much smaller than mine. I think all they wanted was my reseller's permit.

They can kiss my A$$.

 

[SaraG]

SaraG - I see you're in Ontario - Try getting in touch with XLPrints.ca

Thanks Florence, I just spoke with them now. Going to check out their prices.

 

[SaraG]

I was thinking the same thing. I'm confused on how the sales are being made at that volume without some kind of a website or ordering system.

We have over 80 SKU'S we designed on scrim banner and floor decals. Schools order from our website. We are the largest manufacturer of "sensory paths" in the world. Google it. We invented them. We have over 80K in equipment now. Owner going lean and live off-grid. Happy ending..

 

[Notarealsignguy]

One of our team members reached out to them yesterday and asked why we were not approved to be a customer. No response. We even asked if they would like to see all our equipment. nothing. This could be a blessing in disguise.

They asked for a website, why didn't you send them that? I'm small, not in the retail sign business and have never had an issue with any wholesaler. Plus, how many do you need? What exactly is your goal?

 

[SaraG]

They asked for a website, why didn't you send them that? I'm small, not in the retail sign business and have never had an issue with any wholesaler. Plus, how many do you need? What exactly is your goal?

We gave them our website, Facecrack, commercial address, etc. I'm done. Even if they do respond, I will tell them to KISS MY ASS!

 

[SaraG]

They did respond to Holly our receptionist.

 

[FlorenceC]

Honestly you're better off without them.

Just a few minutes ago, I got back an order of cards that should have been pretty straightforward - Spot UV on a soft touch finish. Well over 1/3 of the order is unacceptable - smeared, drizzling varnish in unwanted areas, crooked/drizzled lines up and down lines of text. This is the fifth order of cards in as many orders which we've had to send back. They very clearly have no QA person and whomever is running their cards is not paying any attention or simply doesn't care.

Edit to note: I had a look back at our records - it's not the fifth order in as many orders, but it's damned close. We've run spot uv, foil, even just basic printing on a specialty stock. As a result, we've been more disappointed than we've pleased recently. I wish I could say different.

 

[Notarealsignguy]

They did respond to Holly our receptionist.

View attachment 156962

Haha ok I get it now. That is pretty stupid. We had a vendor from another business do that to us but the difference was that there was no other option. After a few months of pestering them they flew a sales rep down just to check that we were in fact manufacturing in house rather than trying to bypass their dealers.

 

[ABA Visibility Products]

They did respond to Holly our receptionist.

View attachment 156962

Hey SaraG!

You're approved! We like what you do and are ready to work with you! Give Bryan a call at 801-305-1655 or email sales@abacatalog.com.

Looking forward to hearing from you!

Thanks

 

[Texas_Signmaker]

I just ordered 30 window perfs from 4over... took me almost 4 hours to purchase, set names, upload artwork and approve artwork... and I have about 60 separate e-mails from them for each file. They have the most convoluted ass way of accepting orders. The price was about half of others and shipping is free since it's printed in DFW... but I'm sure UPS will deliver 30 different boxes to my doorstep

 

[gnubler]

Glad I'm not the only one who hates the 4Over interface. Totally outdated, and after every order I end up with 18 open tabs on my browser and twice that number of Con4mation emails. Which is why I've been shopping around and signed up with Sinalite.

 

[Texas_Signmaker]

Oh yea, I forgot about that... had so many tabs open I couldn't find the little "X" to close any of them, just had to end up restarting my computer...

 

[Pauly]

I just ordered 30 window perfs from 4over... took me almost 4 hours to purchase, set names, upload artwork and approve artwork... and I have about 60 separate e-mails from them for each file. They have the most convoluted *** way of accepting orders. The price was about half of others and shipping is free since it's printed in DFW... but I'm sure UPS will deliver 30 different boxes to my doorstep

What's the interface like?
Their website already annoys me as 30% of the page is taken up by the sticky header & notice.

 

[Stacey K]

I just ordered 30 window perfs from 4over... took me almost 4 hours to purchase, set names, upload artwork and approve artwork... and I have about 60 separate e-mails from them for each file. They have the most convoluted *** way of accepting orders. The price was about half of others and shipping is free since it's printed in DFW... but I'm sure UPS will deliver 30 different boxes to my doorstep

I feel your pain...that's why we both prefer Signs365...ordering is super easy

 

[Stacey K]

What's the interface like?
Their website already annoys me as 30% of the page is taken up by the sticky header & notice.

It's terrible...just trust us LOL way more clicks and way too much information on each page. I hate it. You can't upload the art until after you pay for it. Compared to Signs365 on the last screen shot where most everything is done on one page and it's super clean.

 

[Pauly]

It's terrible...just trust us LOL way more clicks and way too much information on each page. I hate it. You can't upload the art until after you pay for it. Compared to Signs365 on the last screen shot where most everything is done on one page and it's super clean.

Ok that's shocking.

Signs365 is interesting - i.e their website is just a landing page with a login. They must be extremely huge to be able to do that / a lot of word of mouth it seems.
Their interface looks nice though, seems to be preset sizing though to use the artboard like that.

I can understand a lot of print sites use a MIS, but i cannot say i've seen anything as bad as 4over.
There's a lot of option available these days, we recently finished putting ours together. I was stressing about it all being user friendly, but i figured that no system is perfect and there's always going to be quirks of each particular MIS.