So I learned a very important lesson last week. It's a lesson I've learned numerous times but never seem to remember when I sense a good deal. The lesson I learned is that "you get what you pay for." Let me elaborate...
I've recently redesigned and updated my website (more on that in a future blog) and changed my branding a little. Because of this, I thought "I should order new business cards." Being that I don't make a huge salary, I found a place on the Web where I could get some pretty decent business cards for pretty cheap -- PrintPlace.com. Couple their low prices with the 31% off coupon I had (it was a Halloween weekend deal, set to expire Sunday night at midnight), and I was going to get a really good deal. So on the evening of the 28th I uploaded some designs, approved the proofs, and was pretty happy about my purchase. Then I got an email the next day.
The email was another online coupon from PrintPlace. This time it was a Halloween week coupon worth 50% off. Upon reading that, I was pretty annoyed. I had just ordered business cards 12 hours before under the impression that, once my 31% off coupon expired, I'd be paying normal prices. Then, the following day, I find out I could have saved another 20%? Of course I'm a little annoyed. It's just like when Apple lowered the price of the iPhone, but instead of waiting weeks (which I would have been fine with), PrintPlace waited hours to alienate their customers. Being that I wasn't really happy about the situation, I decided to give PrintPlace a call.
I gave them a call to see if they would apply the 50% off coupon to my order since I had placed my order less than 12 hours previous to the start of the new promotion. I assumed they'd say no, but thought they might give me an extra 5%-10% off because they could understand how this situation would make a customer a little angry. I was connected to a customer service representative and things went downhill quickly.
I calmly and politely explained the situation and my point of view. The customer service representative met my comments with complete hostility. When I asked her if she could understand how this situation might upset some customers, she said in a very condescending and disrespectful tone, "No. You don't have the right to be upset. You should be thrilled that you received 31% off and even happier that you can get 50% off any order you place over the next 3 days." That uncalled-for response made me even more angry, but I decided to salvage the conversation by calmly asking if they were going to do anything to show me that they appreciated me as a customer. Again in a hostile tone, the representative said "No." At that point I told her that the PrintPlace had lost all my future business, but before I could get the entire statement out of my mouth, she hung up on me.
So again, you get what you pay for. Next time I need something printed, I'm going to the print shop down the street and paying a little extra so I'll at least be treated like a human being.
41 comments:
How did the cards look? Even without the 50% discount, and only the 31% discount did you feel you got a good value?
As one of the owners of PrintPlace.com, I do apologize if you felt the CSR was rude or condescending... that's certainly not something we accept here, and I would invite you to contact me directly to help me ensure this particular person is spoken to.
As to your other issue, the CSR was correct in that we just cannot change discounts once ordered; there are several logistical, accounting and operational nightmares that make it just not something PrintPlace (or any other online printer for that matter) does.
Insider secret: In circumstances like this, they will usually bump up the quantity or turn time if you ask them to.
Best,
~Jon
I had a similar undesirable situation with PrintPlace.com. When I talked to a CSR I found the same thing. Rude and condescending with no effort to come to any sort of resolution. Their turnaround dates are misleading, and I would not get the cards when I needed them.
And as to the owners comments, when I asked them if there was anything I could do to change the turn time, they said no, that it was all automated and there was nothing else they could do to the order.
I had referred several classmates to Printplace already but I have quickly apologized to them, since they seem to have the same problem with turnaround dates that I encountered. (1 person did manage to have someone fix her order, I wish I were that lucky). I have informed the rest of my classmates in my program to avoid Printplace, and am glad to throw more weight to your blog stance.
I'm glad I found this blog because within 5 more minutes I would have placed my Express Turnaround order through Printplace.com. I was surfing the web for Printplace.com coupon when I came across your blog.
Now do you have any idea where I can go online for quality envelopes and letterhead printing? Thank you.
I've had a positive transaction with Printplace.
My only gripe was not being to save myself the shipping $$ for doing a "will call" and picking up my own stuff there in Arlington. I paid for shipping that I did not use.
The product itself was OK though. I will purchase from them at least once more.
I forgot to mention - Matt was very helpful with my order. Talk to him if you call them.
We ordered magnets from PrintPlace.com. The samples held four pieces of paper so we ordered some. The actual magnets that came would not even hold one piece of paper and slid to the floor.
They refused to replace, credit or refund our order and suggested we "Buy more" of their bad products and they would give us 20% off on the second order. Horrible business ethics.
We have posted the actual emails that were sent back and forth in our own Blog and we welcome EVERYONE to come, view and leave their own comments about their experience with PrintPlace.com
http://seo-blog.newsunseo.com/index.php/2008/03/18/printplacecom-passionate-about-taking-money-not-passionate-about-their-products-or-customer-service/
WE WILL NEVER BE SENDING THEM BUSINESS AGAIN.
I also had a very disappointing unprofessional experience with PrintPlace.com. I don't have any patience for unprofessional "business people".
Christine
I've used PrintPlace now for over two years. I've spent a LOT of money with that company. The main reason was because they offered 16 point stock for business cards. They have no removed that stock plus one other bringing their stock count from 7 to 4. They have also removed their diecutting.
They are slowly putting themselves out of the game. Removing options without adding new ones...perfect recipe for lost business.
I went into the customer services to tell them I would now be using one of the MANY other companies that offer what I need and what PrintPlace USED to offer...she couldnt care less. Thanks to her attitude and PrintPlace's slow decline in obscurity I'm off to their competitors, www.4over.com, www.4colorprint.com, both of which offer 20 times more options on all more stocks.
I can tell you flat out that I'll never do business with PrintPlace.com again.
Here's an overview of the problems we've encountered. I placed this order for envelopes two weeks ago..and still have not received it.
- Advertised discounts not applied correctly during the order process.
- 3 separate emails to customer service without a single response. Not a single response! Even though we explained nicely that we were under deadline.
- Problem with graphic. Our fault, but the position of the area that needed fixing was miscommunicated. It was fixed right away and send to the graphic designer. Problem is...the process stalled until we emailed again wondering where our order was.
- Another email addressing the problems. Again - no response.
I am just blown away by companies like this. I guess they survive off of the people who don't know much about their service level.
Do not buy plastic business cards from them.
Update. We FINALLY received our order. About two weeks late.
I'd give the printing quality a C, and the envelopes about a D. They are very flimsy.
Even to this day, not a single email responding to my messages to customer service. Notta.
You live and you learn. I will never do business with this company again.
We've been printing assorted items for over 8 years. We thought VistaPrint had some real bad quality a few years ago and stopped using them. PrintPlace actually took the title of worst quality though. The magnets we received seemed more like a joke than something a real company would send customers. They don't even hold themselves flat against a metal surface, don't even think of trying to use them to hold paper, which is why you get magnets in the first place right? So people who get them will use them and stick them on a metal surface.... These things are cheaper than cheap and it shows. We will never use PrintPlace again. I would take your business somewhere else!!!
Not to put commerialism onto this thread but if you want a person you can talk to and a person who will give you a great deal on printing give me a shout...I will beat all pricing that is showed to me. We print the following products and remember the prices you see on this website are retail prices so if you can beat it show me and I will try to get you a better deal.
www.cybergrooveprod.com/printing.html
I saw this site but decided to use printplace anyways for some custom hang tags. Big mistake. I had problems immediately after paying. I tried to upload my ART work but could not. Chris @ print place asked me to email it to him. I did. He "fixed" the file after I emailed and there was a hole going through my logo! so I sent another file. They decided they'd have to charge me extra. Long story short they canceled my order AFTER i told them not to, I said i'd upload the files my self if given access to thier FTP. They didn't listen. gave me credit less a cancelation fee. They canceled the order and still wanted to keep part of my money! then they asked me to reorder again!
If anyone would like to leave additional comments about PrintPlace, feel free to add them to our Blog:
http://seo-blog.newsunseo.com/index.php/category/reviews
I've not had any problems with PrintPlace.com -- I've sent them over $5000 worth of printing in the last six months. Not sure how one can complain about missing a 19% discount on something that probably only cost you $50 to begin with. I regularly use PrintPlace, PrintPelican, 48HourPrint, PrintingForLess, and PSPrint... all of them have their good and bad points.
Printers may have good & products in their offerings, that is subjective to us all. Their stance on the magnets we received was terrible. That is what really separates companies from each other. PrintPlace fell on its face with our company. STAY AWAY if you appreciate customer service. The magnets we received were garbage. They barely hold themselves to a magnetic surface and fall with only one piece of paper behind them.
PrintPlace has the worst magnets we have ever seen in our 10+ years in business. The purpose of magnets is to STICK to magnetic surfaces and their magnets can't even hold a single sheet of paper. NO WONDER THEY HAVE A NO REFUND POLICY >>> STAY AWAY!!!
To kerry, it's not so much that I was upset about the discount. I was upset about how I was treated by the customer service rep. In my mind, her actions were inexcusable.
And FYI... the quality of the product I received wasn't very good. I could have matched the quality myself with an ink jet printer and a laminator.
I can't speak for their magnets, but we buy about $2000 worth of booklets from PrintPlace each year. The quality is exceptional, especially for the prices they charge, and I have never had a problem with their customer service people.
I would suggest giving GotPrint.com a try. We've sent them a lot of business. There was one issue, I don't recall all the details, but they refunded us the entire cost of the job & the shipping back to us. They have our business for good now. PrintPlace is terrible. DOn't go there!!!
oh,so bad,I always print in china,because it's cheaper and faster.the service is ok.
www.printedinchinaonline.com
We have probably printed 40 jobs with printplace in the last year. Have only had one problem and they reprinted the job because it was their error. I have always found the customer service people to be helpful. Their prices/options are the best of any printer on the web. I definitely recommend them. If you're thinking about trying them out, don't let the comments here scare you! (And no I don't work there!)
Please check out EzPrintSolutions
http://www.ezprintsolutions.com
We offer 100% Risk Free Guarantee on ALL print projects. Reading horror stories about printing companies that treat their customers like dirt is very frustrating. At EzPrintSolutions we go ALL the extra miles to make sure our customers are happy and confident with their purchases. So when hearing of stories like this I can't believe how insane it is to do that to customers. Nick, if you need 250 business cards email us at EzPrintSolutions and we'll send them to you free just to rid you of this experience so you are not turned away from ordering your printing online. If your company is out there bending over backwards to try to be a customer friendly service and then you see these stories of blatant customer abuse, you can only imagine the frustration it is.
I have had similar issues with them. I also realized after 2 $1500 orders with them that they were charging me tax on shipping! I've never been charged tax on shipping before and was outraged. The CSR continued to argue with me that it is normal.
Their supervisors don't help, in fact they hinder matters further, so don't bother asking for a supervisor. I've talked to the same 2 supervisors and gotten rude attitudes and no resolution over matters ranging from pricing problems to website issues.
Lastly, they will never admit they were wrong or that you are a valued customer because MOST of the GOOD companies would offer a credit or something monetary in exchange for their mishap. Not Printplace - they will talk to you in a condescending manner and try to make you feel like YOU were wrong.
AVOID this company.
Oh and if anyone at printplace decides to sharpen their image by actually READING the internet to find what their customers are saying, I hope you hear my complaint FINALLY (after it's too late for me to ever return to your shoddy services) because no one ever bothered to take anything I said seriously prior to my ranting about it now. Your printing services so far have been good, but your lack of professionalism and SUB-PAR customer service has driven me elsewhere.
Get with the program Print Place.
Alize,
I'm sorry you are unhappy with your experience here at PrintPlace. We do indeed charge sales tax on shipping as do all other businesses in Texas. Here is a quote from the Texas State Comptroller on the question of taxing shipping: (found at http://www.window.state.tx.us/taxinfo/sales/faq_collect.html#collect8)
Q: Are delivery or shipping charges taxable?
A: Shipping and handling charges are taxable if the charges are associated with the sale of taxable goods or service.
I am one of the founders of PrintPlace.com, and I can assure you we -- and I personally -- pay very close attention to the experiences our customers are having.
I invite you or anyone else who is unhappy with the resolution of your problems to contact me personally at jbarron@printplace.com.
Regards,
Jon Barron
Vice President of Development
PrintPlace.com
I have to say I've been using PrintPlace.com for my clients' printing and our own business printing. Except for some information on their website that needs clarification or updating, I have received superior service!
I ordered 20,000 brochures on a 1-day turnaround and their mailing services for my non-profit client. My artwork did not have a non-profit indicia on it - the mailing rep I'd spoken with never mentioned me putting their indicia on it; I assumed it was going to be done during the addressing of the pieces. Anyway, I'd gotten the indicia-free artwork uploaded just under their noon deadline for the turnaround we'd paid for.
I didn't hear back from the art department until 6 pm that I was supposed to have been putting Printplace's indicia right in my artwork, effectively wasting the money my client had spent in the rushed turnaround time. In a panic, I called and spoke with the customer service department. They assured me the manager would be calling me back shortly.
I was skeptical since I've gotten this runaround from other companies before, but he DID call me back. He babysat the new artwork through the art department review, and changed the turnaround time so I could still have these printed out on time. He was very kind and cooperative and really went over and above what I expect these days from a company.
As far as print quality, well, I've never used their magnets, but their business cards, letterhead and brochures I've ordered have been exceptionally well done and my clients are thrilled (as are we).
Not only that, but they beat my clients' local printer's price by a thousand dollars for the same brochure print job.
I LOVE printplace.com and will continue to send all my clients' business to them.
Janet
Your crazy if you use PrintPlace. They do do one thing well though. They are fully prepared to drag things out with credit card companies when there is a complaint. This was the first time I ever had to get a CC company to refund charges from bad printing. PrintPlace was actually VERY GOOD at having all sorts of paperwork to support that they sent us magnets, shipping and everything else to such a point that I had to get a professional opinion from another printer of the inferiority of their magnets, a letter, samples of the magnets and about 10 other things on a list to get our money back. Use them at your own risk, but they are completely unprofessional in our opinion, their magnets are terrible and the thing they do best is make it a total headache to get your money back from them.
Your crazy if you use PrintPlace. They do do one thing well though. They are fully prepared to drag things out with credit card companies when there is a complaint. This was the first time I ever had to get a CC company to refund charges from bad printing. PrintPlace was actually VERY GOOD at having all sorts of paperwork to support that they sent us magnets, shipping and everything else to such a point that I had to get a professional opinion from another printer of the inferiority of their magnets, a letter, samples of the magnets and about 10 other things on a list to get our money back. Use them at your own risk, but they are completely unprofessional in our opinion, their magnets are terrible and the thing they do best is make it a total headache to get your money back from them.
Dude, this was almost two years ago when this happened. You think that maybe they might've cleaned up their act? I know you said you'd forever haunt them and make them miserable, but get a life.
They don't even sell magnets anymore. They are the fastest growing company in this space in the country. They must be doing something right.
It doesn't matter if they cleaned up their act. We ended having to pay for the magnets anyway, so I'm happy to take 1 minute and add a post to this blog. We then went to http://www.3-mag.net/ and received EXCELLENT service and totally quality magnets. I'd suggest anyone look at them instead of PrintPlace.
It doesn't matter? So once someone screwed up with you, that's it? You don't get over it? Ever, ever? I'd hate to be one of your kids.
Whatever. That's your thing. Just don't pretend this is anything other than you extracting your pound of flesh for your bad experience.
I'll tell you what. I'm no longer a PrintPlace employee, but I will pay for a print job for you out of my own pocket just so you can get some closure on this whole experience. You'll see they do great work. You'll see their same-day turnarounds (SAME-DAY TURNS! That was an unheard-of concept 2 years ago) are cheaper than most printers 1 week turns. They are are great people who work passionately at what they do. They live and breathe printing. Your contining attempts to demonize them are completely unfair.
Whattya say Nick? Is this just about revenge for you, or can you be the bigger man?
~Jon
#1 PrintPlace isn't my kid, its business.
If I have to pay for something twice because of someones shoddy work, I'm happy to post a blog comment to give others a heads up. That is part of what web 2.0 is all about.
Your going to pay for this out of pocket, but you don't work there anymore? That makes perfect sense to me. If they refunded me the magnets that were sent back to them I wouldn't be bothering taking some time to make a blog post. I think it was unfair to send shoddy magnets, have them sent back cuz they wouldn't even hold a single piece of paper and then have to pay for them again with http://www.3-mag.net. 3 Mag was totally helpful, professional, fast with very high quality. I appreciate when other people take some time to talk about their experiences for the benefit of others and that is what I am doing.
@Azzix Hey, man. This incident happened forever ago. I'm over it. I have no ill will toward PrintPlace. I hope they're doing fine and are profitable. I've since found a local printer that can do anything I need. And being local, I have a lot more control over the quality, production, color matching, etc. Everything worked out in the end. It's cool.
I wrote the vast majority of the PrintPlace website; I was a founder and I worked with everyone there for three years. They are a great crew, and it sucks to see you keep this up after 2 years. Would you stick up for your friends if someone were maligning them?
Nick, sorry I confused you with NewSun. I'm glad you're happy with your source.
Best Wishes
~Jon
So we have different experiences with PrintPlace. In my experience they burned me on several hundred dollars worth of magnets.
Bottom line 3 Mag is much better to do business with, in my experience
http://www.3-mag.net
Just wanted to add a positive comment for another site, StockPromoters.com. Worked with them on several deals now and could not be happier with the results. At least there are some good business people to work with still in this world.
Just wanted to add a positive comment for another site, StockPromoters.com. Worked with them on several deals now and could not be happier with the results. At least there are some good business people to work with still in this world.
PrintPlace SUCKS!!! Worst experience ever with them.
Took 2 weeks for their horrible art department to fix problems THEY made on our proof. Then tried to charge me $500 for a 2-day turnaround when it was their fault the order was delayed 2 WEEKS.
NEVER use them. Ever.
I have (through my company) given over $5,000 to PrintPlace in the past 18 months. Everything from posters, to business cards, to mailers, to quarter sheets... they've always been a GREAT company to me. Their products have always exhibited great quality as well. I think a lot of these people might not have paid attention when they ordered. I think Jon the owner did the right thing by offering a great insider tip to you and your bloggers.
I think leaving the company bc of one ignorant rep is not good business (especially when the owner contacts you). Don't get me wrong, I'm all for saving 19% more, but you could've made that up in quantity (according to Jon's comment). Did you ever follow up with that?
Either way, good to know both sides of the company... I hope everyone who had a hard time found a solution
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