WARNING!!! Recently ordered full-color flyers from Print Harmony of Clearwater Florida. The order was drop-shipped to the client for a time-sensitive insert into a publication. When the flyers arrived, they were glued together in one corner because they were packaged before they were dry. Contacted Customer Service and they said they would contact us the next day. We were contacted the next day and told that they were not going to reprint the job. The customer service Rep I spoke to "Chloe" basically told me "the job would NEVER dry"... and they "usually catch problems in pre-press but they missed this one." Basically, they blamed us for the problem because of the choice of the color black we used. We paid for full-color flyers. There is nothing in the terms and conditions or artwork specifications on their website that makes any reference to any issues or possibility of issues from using CMYK 100% Black, which is the default black in every graphic design program sold today. Photoshop, Corel, Illustrator ALL use this as the default black. Yet we are told that using this black is the reason our items were shipped wet. I have been in business 7 years (we have had approximately 10 bad printer jobs in that time) and we have never had a printer tell us to eat a job that arrived damaged or printed poorly. When I spoke to the Rep myself, after my employee was unable to get any satisfaction, I was basically told that it was an unwritten rule that you don't use this black over that black... If this is an issue, my response to the customer service Rep Chloe that you would think it would become a "written" rule to protect other designers in the future. This printer has an extensive Terms and Conditions page that basically protects them against any and all litigation no matter what the cause or who is at fault even if it is their fault entirely. I have also always been treated with absolute respect by every other printer I have done work with. And in the 10 or so instances in 10 years where the product arrived defective, the other printers I use have ALWAYS done the right thing, stood by their product and tried to find a fair solution.
We are not asking for a refund... They can have the problem items back. We simply wanted a reprint that wasn't stuck together. They did not so much as even offer to reprint them at their cost, which I would be willing to pay just to make my client happy. They were completely unwilling to do anything at all to keep us a happy client. I do over $600K a year in printing out of my office and they will never get another dime out of me. They basically want me to print the job again at their full retail mark up! As is is, typically printers make 2x their cost or more. So a $1000 print job nets $500 profit for the printer. So even if they do re-print the job, they don't "lose" money. I have never dealt with a company that has been so unreasonable and so unwilling to make things right when the problem is on their end. I'm sure they will respond to this and say it was our fault because of what they say is our using the wrong 'black'. But the point is that they do not make any reference on their website to any issues regarding the use of any colors or anything else that could defend their position on this job. If there had been such a warning, then I would have simply taken the loss. But, considering how comprehensive their Terms and Conditions and Specs are it seems odd that they have no reference to something that is such a "common issue". So, Buyer Beware and make sure you read Terms and Conditions on websites before you order anything. If their Conditions are 90% legal speak protecting them from providing you refunds for any reason if the work they provide is not satisfactory, then you should probably be careful. (READ BELOW) Workmanship Guarantee Because of the nature of offset printing, on rare occasions the following may occur: variation in color, offset (smudges), cutting variations, marking, picking, etc. Because of cutting it is possible that all printed materials may be trimmed by 1/16th of an inch undersized on all sides (please address all art appropriately). Customer acknowledges that they are receiving printing at a substantial price discount and expedited delivery times and thus said printing will not be held to the same standard as traditional offset lithography nor generally accepted printing standards. While every effort will be made to satisfy our customer's needs, requests for reprints or credits based on quality issues will not be recognized . So, basically, they are stating that if it arrives wrong, too bad... Must be nice to not have any quality standard to adhere to. I wish I could get away with this!
Photo shows the flyers stuck together and the damage after we separate...
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