Customer Approved Misprints
Posted: Mon Dec 03, 2012 10:52 am
What do you do when you have a job that was approved by the customer but has a misprint? Many screen print shops today have a proofing system that attempts to eliminate errors in printing. We have procedures and policies with signs and sign offs on all orders. But what happens when you have a piece of artwork that was approved by the customer with an error?
The bottom line is no matter how many signs or sign offs you may have in your shop it’s always wise to fix the error even when the customer approved the error. You don’t want to tell the customer, “Well you approved it so there’s nothing I can do.” You would most certainly loose that customer even though the mistake was really theirs in that they did not look at the proof closely enough.
Now we can blame both he artist and the customer for this error but in the end it is always wise to fix the error at no extra charge.
Here is a situation that was just that. I did this artwork and I made a Freudian slip in that I typed “Drinking” instead of “Kicking” because when we think of drunks we always think of “drinking problem,” right? Well that’s what I did. I knew very well it should have been “Kicking” but because I was working on many different things at the same time my mind typed “Drinking” instead. The print was supposed to read, “Drunks with a kicking problem” but it was set up as, “ Drunks with a drinking problem”..... LOL.
Now I sent off the proof to the customer with the error and it was approved. Then when I delivered the order we discovered the error. So what to do....
Well in this case the customer was very easy to work with and I believe she knew that she did not look at the proof close enough and at this point I offered to reprint the shirts, no charge. She was very kind and offered a fix instead. She asked me if I could print over the print in black ink with some new text. In this particular case it was doable and saved me the extra cost of reordering the shirts which would have hurt the profit margin greatly.
On smaller orders like this one having to do a reprint can be a disaster for profits and labor. But in this case all it cost me was a new screen and a little time. You can see the pictures below as they illustrate what I am talking about here. I think you can see I used the “Helen Keller” method to do this fix. I used some cardboard to place in the exact spot where the fix would print and then I lined each shirt up to the cardboard for printing. It’s the same set up you can use to print pockets without a pocket pallet.
The bottom line is that you need to do everything to make the customer happy even when it is their fault in missing a proof error. In fact it was my error as well and It did make me laugh quite a bit as it was a subconscious error.
Remember word of mouth is the single best form of advertisement for a small screen printing shop so ultimately you want the customer to be happy under any circumstances. In the end you want to make sure your customer goes away happy and speaking good things about your work and customer service.
The bottom line is no matter how many signs or sign offs you may have in your shop it’s always wise to fix the error even when the customer approved the error. You don’t want to tell the customer, “Well you approved it so there’s nothing I can do.” You would most certainly loose that customer even though the mistake was really theirs in that they did not look at the proof closely enough.
Now we can blame both he artist and the customer for this error but in the end it is always wise to fix the error at no extra charge.
Here is a situation that was just that. I did this artwork and I made a Freudian slip in that I typed “Drinking” instead of “Kicking” because when we think of drunks we always think of “drinking problem,” right? Well that’s what I did. I knew very well it should have been “Kicking” but because I was working on many different things at the same time my mind typed “Drinking” instead. The print was supposed to read, “Drunks with a kicking problem” but it was set up as, “ Drunks with a drinking problem”..... LOL.
Now I sent off the proof to the customer with the error and it was approved. Then when I delivered the order we discovered the error. So what to do....
Well in this case the customer was very easy to work with and I believe she knew that she did not look at the proof close enough and at this point I offered to reprint the shirts, no charge. She was very kind and offered a fix instead. She asked me if I could print over the print in black ink with some new text. In this particular case it was doable and saved me the extra cost of reordering the shirts which would have hurt the profit margin greatly.
On smaller orders like this one having to do a reprint can be a disaster for profits and labor. But in this case all it cost me was a new screen and a little time. You can see the pictures below as they illustrate what I am talking about here. I think you can see I used the “Helen Keller” method to do this fix. I used some cardboard to place in the exact spot where the fix would print and then I lined each shirt up to the cardboard for printing. It’s the same set up you can use to print pockets without a pocket pallet.
The bottom line is that you need to do everything to make the customer happy even when it is their fault in missing a proof error. In fact it was my error as well and It did make me laugh quite a bit as it was a subconscious error.
Remember word of mouth is the single best form of advertisement for a small screen printing shop so ultimately you want the customer to be happy under any circumstances. In the end you want to make sure your customer goes away happy and speaking good things about your work and customer service.