The Cost of Service

[gordo]

 

[Keith]

Not me. I stopped fixing files for free awhile ago. Of course, there are exceptions to the rule sometimes.

 

[gordo]

Not me. I stopped fixing files for free awhile ago. Of course, there are exceptions to the rule sometimes.

Because it's a rule...I take exception.

 

[Raymond Ramirez]

You know...It was a hard habit to break. If we do things for free we just don't hurt us. We hurt the customer.

 

[gordo]

I think the "r" in "free" is in the wrong place. It should be "r fee"

It might take a moment LOL ;-)

 

[Possumgal]

It's called "The Cost of Getting Business" in my neck of the woods.

 

[JoeatData]

We had a client a few years ago that bounced a 300 page book because of color.
As they were asking us to re-run the job, they decided they wanted to resupply 40 pages because of content and typos.
Their explanation was...Well, your putting the job back on press anyway.

 

[jay12345]

i find myself fixing files just because its easier than explaining the issue.

 

[D Ink Man]

Service unfortunately is from a bygone era.

In every aspect of everyone's life.

Such a pity, missed opportunity.

Where'd we go wrong?
Start with this electrical demon box and keyboard I am typing on.

My take. Respect it and comment as necessary.

D?

 

[gordo]

i find myself fixing files just because its easier than explaining the issue.

Yikes, that brought back memories.

In the steam-powered days of camera-ready art and film to plate I would prepare my paste-up art with ruby-lith film overlays carefully x-acto blade cut that were to be used to create windows in the film that would be filled by the stripped in halftone images. One day I noticed out of the corner of my eye that a fellow in prepress was tearing off the ruby-lith and tossing it into the trash. "Why are you doing that?" I asked in a shocked tone. "Oh" says he. "We never use those because we can make a more accurate window with film." "Why hasn't anyone told me that I didn't need to do all that work" I questioned. "It gives us a good laugh to think about the work the designer has done" he chuckled.

 

[PricelineNegotiator]

My method is a bit different than jay12345's. We offer full service quick printing. We also offer self service copiers in the front of our building. Whenever someone comes in, and they look like they are going to use the self service machines, I always greet them and to let me know if they have any questions. If they do, I explain the basics of the machine to them real quick, even in the are only getting a single copy ($0.05). This will HOPEFULLY in the end catch up and we'll have a good number of people that know how to use a simple copier. Of course I am spending a little bit of time on those small customers, but it should work out better in the end.

In regards to artwork, we have decided to turn out art department into a money maker and it has worked out AMAZING. We are constantly 2-5 days out for proofs and our designers are turning out profits for the company along with good design and layout. If you send me a crap file and expect me to fix it, you will incur our $20 layout minimum. Only 1% of my customers have an issue with this and they are usually a pain in the ass to work with so we figure out a way to charge them extra over time. Don't let the customers and their lack of experience wear you down. Educate them or do the work (charge them) and they will appreciate you more!

 

[Possumgal]

Yikes, that brought back memories.

In the steam-powered days of camera-ready art and film to plate I would prepare my paste-up art with ruby-lith film overlays carefully x-acto blade cut that were to be used to create windows in the film that would be filled by the stripped in halftone images. One day I noticed out of the corner of my eye that a fellow in prepress was tearing off the ruby-lith and tossing it into the trash. "Why are you doing that?" I asked in a shocked tone. "Oh" says he. "We never use those because we can make a more accurate window with film." "Why hasn't anyone told me that I didn't need to do all that work" I questioned. "It gives us a good laugh to think about the work the designer has done" he chuckled.

I couldn't even use film windows because the suction on the platemaker didn't suck enough for two layers of film. I had to put the halftones on masking sheets and do an extra burn.

 

[prepressdork]

Of course we will. And as an added bonus, we'll even re-print the job for free when you complain that the low res images don't look good.