Customer Complaint

[RickS]

We had a multiple version job come to prepress. Instructions were common cmy with black plate change. This was a 4 color piece with photos and the customer supplied separate art for each version. We combined art to ensure base was common. All proofs were OK'd. We made a mistake on one version. Now the customer is upset. His words: 1. We did not use the complete files as supplied. 2. We altered the artwork incorrectly. 3. We did not tell them we altered art.

I assume some of your comments will be entertaining, but I am trying to help guide the salesperson.
Any comments?
Rick

 

[mazengh]

if they signed the proof, and you informed them that it will print the same, then they are liable...

 

[gordo]

If your printing matches the signed off proofs then they are liable.

That being said, if the customer is important to you then you may consider splitting the cost to reprint.

best, gordo

 

[Happyprinter]

You'd better listen to Gordo. This is a situation that we see once in awhile. In spite of all our efforts to get the customer to read the proof carefully, seems like occasionally something sneaks by. Work with them. Split the difference. Happy customer = long term customer + referals.$$$$

 

[HPC]

I agree with what's been said previously, first thing you need to do is figure out what you want to accomplish when all is said and done. I have fired customers, eaten perfectly good jobs, to negotiating. It all depends what you want to accomplish, you won't get any future printing from a disappointed customer. Who is right and who is wrong is a rather moot point.

 

[cseas]

"...We made a mistake on one version. Now the customer is upset. His words: 1. We did not use the complete files as supplied. 2. We altered the artwork incorrectly. 3. We did not tell them we altered art.

What was the mistake?

 

[RickS]

This job was already done and billed with us assuming some of the cost. The mistake was "compliments of" was on a generic version without a name to go with it. What I would like to do is let the customer know that prepress does work on files to ensure they go through production as cost effective as possible and they then have some responsibility to check our work. Also what can we and the customer learn from this so it reduces the chance of it happening again.

 

[cseas]

hi RickS,

i think it's more important what you guys can learn. in the end, that is all you can take care of. the customer, hopefully they learn from this. did your proofs match their supplied hardcopies?
i also think it's important not to get in a game of fingerpointing. as they say, "The customer is always right".
i know it's hard to swallow sometimes, but to run a business, you need customers. information and communication is important. heightened awareness. always require a hardcopy from the customer, or a PDF you can print to compare your output to theirs. if your proofs did not match their hardcopy, no matter what they signed, it usually comes back to bite you.

good luck,
cesar

 

[airyk]

As others have stated, if you want to keep the customer you need to work on a resolve which in the end will more then likely mean your company eats the $ or there is some sort of split for reprinting.

Seems most designers think their work is the end all be all, what they don't realize alot of times it that prepress fixes their mistakes to make them work in print.

 

[cseas]

Seems most designers think their work is the end all be all, what they don't realize alot of times it that prepress fixes their mistakes to make them work in print.

amen to that!

 

[gordo]

i think it's more important what you guys can learn. in the end, that is all you can take care of. the customer, hopefully they learn from this. [SNIP]
i know it's hard to swallow sometimes, but to run a business, you need customers. information and communication is important. heightened awareness. always require a hardcopy from the customer, or a PDF you can print to compare your output to theirs.

Good points. So I would go over what materials I use to inform customers about checking proofs. Generally proofs are signed off by the customer. The tag that they sign could have some guidance, e.g.
OK for color
OK for image content
OK for text content.
It should also state the significance, and responsibilities of signing off on the proof. It might suggest that the customer have someone in their group that is unfamiliar with the project also check it over.

Do you have CSRs that check proofs before they are sent to the customer? If so, perhaps some proofing training is needed for them.

Do you have a guide (tips and techniques) for customers on how to evaluate proofs? If not, maybe it's time to create one. Perhaps downloadable from your web site? Perhaps with a URL on the proof sticker that's on the hard proof directing the customer to download the guide.

If the proof is delivered by sales to the customer then there is another opportunity to explain to the customer what a proof is and how to check it.

best, gordo

 

[DCurry]

Also what can we and the customer learn from this so it reduces the chance of it happening again.

Ask them to change how they build the job - put the common elements on one layer, and each version on its own layer so all you have to do is turn layers on or off to get the different versions.

 

[esmith214]

What might need to change is how you process complex jobs and how you explain what you've done to the customer. Proof guidelines are important but, in the customer's view, it's still your fault when something goes wrong.

This works well if you still have a light table around. Output laserprints of each complete page in the job before you do anything, BW is fine. With a versioned job like this, also output a copy of the common elements and each version. How the files are built is irrelevant, you need a record of the pieces used to build the job. If you got prits from the customer, compare your's to their's.

Do whatever you need to prep the files, output your color proofs for each version--and one of the common elements. When your done, make another set of laserprints from your altered files. Compare them to the originals.

Finally, when you deliver the proofs, explain what you have done. Might even have the CSR write a note so the salesman doesn't forget. Files are always altered on the way to press, whether manually or via workflow processing. Only difference between jobs is how much. The more the customer knows about your process the better.

 

[omiyehan]

it is a lesson to both customers and operator, make sure all job screen output is properly check before printing, it is also your job to encourage your customers in such situation. also write it out as your term of services for customers to properly check their work before printing to avoid mistake that can lead to lost.

 

[ondemandbindery]

If your printing matches the signed off proofs then they are liable.

That being said, if the customer is important to you then you may consider splitting the cost to reprint.

best, gordo

This^^^^^ Look at the big picture and not just this particular situation. The customer base is rapidly SHRINKING for all of us and keep that in mind. Everyone has a different business model on how mistakes are worked out and when it comes to a mistake most people will not acknowledge that they are at fault and that goes for most anything in life. Evaluate your company procedure for getting the green light turned on to print work but at the end of the day there are many ways to get problems like this worked out. Welcome to Printing 101 and good luck.......


JW

 

[RickS]

I would say these ideas are all good things and for the most part these are things that we do already. However there still is the few mistakes that will get through. My thought get stuck on the idea that a customer thinks we don't have the right to edit there files in any way. Really! What do they think we do for a living? I have always assumed that prepress's job was to take the customers files and make them printable, which required editing. This belief from our customers only reinforces the idea of instead of giving us a one word type correction to make, they give us all new files for complicated job.

 

[gordo]

[SNIP] My thought get stuck on the idea that a customer thinks we don't have the right to edit there files in any way. Really! What do they think we do for a living? I have always assumed that prepress's job was to take the customers files and make them printable, which required editing.[SNIP]

You only have the right to edit customer files if they give that right to you. Find a problem? Let them know and offer them the option to fix it themselves or have you fix it for them. If they fix it themselves, then they should supply the whole job back to you - not just the bit they fixed - as if they had never given you the files in the first place.

best, gordo

 

[RickS]

I should explain my comment. I am not talking about editing content, I am referring to editing such things as traps, overprints/ko's, panel sizes, imposition, varnishes, pockets, color management and many other things that come up. Hardly a file comes to us that can print without any prep work.

 

[mattbeals]

The whole point of preflight is to identify issues before processing/manufacturing. There needs to be a "preflight/qc" done at every handoff of the job from one dept to another. That's how we reduced overall rework costs. Sure it took extra time but that small increase in time was substantially less than the cost of a reprint. But your preflight of the art should be a break point in the workflow to get the customers blessing to make corrections either by the printer or the customer. Always get a signed contract proof where they approve content and color.

 

[bean66]

We have given customers an option to edit the files themselves, have them pay for the extra plates or charge extra to make files common with black plate changes. Otherwise we would NOT take the responsibility of changing the file without the customers knowledge.