PLEASE read this if you are considering using PrintPlace.com, it might save you a huge headache!!

I just had an absolutely horrible experience with this company. We paid more than $300 for promotional products from PrintPlace.com that we needed on a very tight deadline. We got overnight shipping and priority printing. Not exactly cheap.

When we received the product I COULDN'T BELIEVE what I pulled out of the box. The colors were completely faded and smeared, the ink had rubbed off onto the boxes and off onto other products in the box, and the scouring had completely missed the fold. Saying that they were an absolute mess is somewhat of an understatement. I couldn't believe that they would actually ship something of this quality to a paying customer. Plus, this is supposedly no cheap print shop, and assurances of their printing quality are spattered all over their website.

To be fair, I would like to note that we have used PrintPlace.com in the past, once, with no issue. But please read on.

I called PrintPlace's customer service to explain that the quality was absolutely horrendous, expecting, perhaps, an acknowledgment, considering that the products they shipped were totally awful and completely unusable. When I ordered the products from their website, I was confident that since a 'Quality control team inspects each job' (which is what it says in bold on the first page of their site) they would at least surprised that they had let a product so horrible get shipped. Well. What I actually received on the phone was a flat 'I'm sorry we don't offer refunds, but we would be happy to offer you a credit to reprint your job.' The lady on the phone actually told me that she pulled samples and that she could see how bad the quality was, but they simply do not offer refunds. Period. No matter what you receive in the box they send you.

I explained that this print job was for a conference that was in a few days, and even on the fastest print turnaround, we would not be able to get the reprint from them in time for the conference, and that at this point we would have to go with a local printer to get it done in time. We didn't have any other projects that we needed to print from them, and couldn't use the credit. I asked her to understand that we COULD NOT USE a credit. And although she acknowledged that the products were 'severely damaged', she said that there was no way that she could refund our money. Sorry. It just isn't their policy.

Moral of the story? Please, if you are thinking of using PrintPlace.com, be aware that they may send you crap in a box, and then stick you with a store credit as your only apology. I am doing this with the hope that people who use their website will be aware of what they are walking into.

Miranda
Sarasota, Florida
U.S.A.