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screen printing => Show Your Stuff => Topic started by: alan802 on August 25, 2015, 11:38:51 AM

Title: Latest Rejects
Post by: alan802 on August 25, 2015, 11:38:51 AM
These 2 shirts were rejected due to the image distortion from pulling the shirts off the pallets.  It wasn't fresh tack either, we used fresh tack for the front print then turned it around and did the back on the same tack without refreshing.  I've been told I need to fix the problem :)  It's gonna be a great week.

(http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/rr211/alan802/Tshirt%20Pics/20150825_101500_zpstecr2txp.jpg) (http://s485.photobucket.com/user/alan802/media/Tshirt%20Pics/20150825_101500_zpstecr2txp.jpg.html)

(http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/rr211/alan802/Tshirt%20Pics/20150825_101726_zpselv2sfms.jpg) (http://s485.photobucket.com/user/alan802/media/Tshirt%20Pics/20150825_101726_zpselv2sfms.jpg.html)
Title: Re: Latest Rejects
Post by: Sbrem on August 25, 2015, 11:56:26 AM
had a similar thing happen with some sweatshirts last year. Of course, they didn't really notice until they realized their phone number was wrong (they had approved the proof) then they picked them apart. We fixed it, and told them we weren't interested in any more of their work...

Steve
Title: Re: Latest Rejects
Post by: Frog on August 25, 2015, 12:01:18 PM
Well, if you weren't known for your one-hit whites, I would mention that with the registration accuracy needed to hit whites twice, it is especially important to have good stick, and this comes with the territory.

Do you think you can fix this? If not, do you think that the next printer can? I know that some shirts are more proine to this stretch distortion thanm others.
Yesterday, I had to run a few hoodies with a perfect circle design that was far less perfect than the T's
Title: Re: Latest Rejects
Post by: Sbrem on August 25, 2015, 12:04:09 PM
We always bring this up with circles and squares (and rectangles). There is only so much one can do. With fresh tack, I like to pull the shirt up from the bottom instead of the shoulders until the tack loses some...

Steve
Title: Re: Latest Rejects
Post by: alan802 on August 25, 2015, 12:10:56 PM
I tried to explain the situation to everyone involved but I might as well have been teaching the chinese alphabet to them.  There were shirts within the run that we slightly out of reg due to the tack yet it was decided that we had used too much tack...go figure.  I tried to explain that it wasn't possible for me to have shirts out of registration due to low tack and distortion due to too much tack on the same shirt, which those two shirts were examples of both distortion (although well within industry standard) and double imaged towards the top and bottom.  It got heated between everyone and I offered to let them come over and join in on the fun in the heat so they could better understand what it was I was trying to tell them, got no takers.  So I told them I would fix the problem, but there isn't a problem so we'll continue to print thousands of shirts per week the exact same way those shirts were printed and probably go years without anyone else complaining about it.
Title: Re: Latest Rejects
Post by: lrsbranding on August 25, 2015, 12:17:50 PM
Alan you say the distortion is from pulling the shirts off the pallets. Could it be from uneven stretching when putting the shirts on the pallets and centering? My wife and I argue about this. I say its from stretching while loading. If its from the shirt stretching while unloading wont it correct itself when laundered?
Title: Re: Latest Rejects
Post by: ScreenFoo on August 25, 2015, 12:20:04 PM
I work with a guy who can manage  to overtack the middle and miss the edges. 
Don't put it past those guys, from what you've posted before, I believe in their abilities.  ;)
Title: Re: Latest Rejects
Post by: IntegrityShirts on August 25, 2015, 12:20:21 PM
We always bring this up with circles and squares (and rectangles). There is only so much one can do. With fresh tack, I like to pull the shirt up from the bottom instead of the shoulders until the tack loses some...

Steve

This is what I do too. But with fresh tack it still isn't enough to avoid distortion on the first prints off the press. One thing I do though to help is cut the wb tack 50% with water. That way it starts out less aggressive. I have had some shirts with rectangles that the customer brought back. I ran them through the dryer and restretched them hot to "even up" the corners which actually worked ok.
Title: Re: Latest Rejects
Post by: Frog on August 25, 2015, 12:21:20 PM
Alan you say the distortion is from pulling the shirts off the pallets. Could it be from uneven stretching when putting the shirts on the pallets and centering? My wife and I argue about this. I say its from stretching while loading. If its from the shirt stretching while unloading wont it correct itself when laundered?

The two are not mutually exclusive.
Title: Re: Latest Rejects
Post by: mimosatexas on August 25, 2015, 01:03:42 PM
What am I missing? The shirts look a little skewed at the bottom and bulge a little in the middle. So what?

The shirts will skew and look funky on the human body whether they are skewed on the shirt or not. On something like this I would tell them sorry but this is acceptable within industry standards. If it was a cicle but looked egg shaped I would understand but a text back that is already pretty much void of straight lines? Come on...
Title: Re: Latest Rejects
Post by: Sbrem on August 25, 2015, 01:16:24 PM
What am I missing? The shirts look a little skewed at the bottom and bulge a little in the middle. So what?

The shirts will skew and look funky on the human body whether they are skewed on the shirt or not. On something like this I would tell them sorry but this is acceptable within industry standards. If it was a cicle but looked egg shaped I would understand but a text back that is already pretty much void of straight lines? Come on...

You're not missing anything, except maybe that some customers are PITAs. We stand firm on certain things to point out that they won't be perfect, and that if that's expected, it ain't going to happen here. These folks are few and far between fortunately. We do pretty damn good work, but there are some forces of nature and physics that conspire against us. It's really rare that we can't placate someone.

Steve
Title: Re: Latest Rejects
Post by: bimmridder on August 25, 2015, 01:29:06 PM
Maybe I'm reading between the lines, but it sounds lie it wasn't just the customer complaining. Someone internally not understanding what can and can't be done perhaps?
Title: Re: Latest Rejects
Post by: ZooCity on August 25, 2015, 02:04:21 PM
We don't like doing it but in a situation where you need the tack but are having distortion issues you can stick a flash in the last head which will open up some other methods of pulling the shirt carefully without slowing you down as much as it might when worrying about wet ink.

Also, swapping to a tack that isn't heat activated and re-applying lightly as needed could help.  Otherwise the flash in the last head might just make the pull harder.

Nothing is going to help your picky clients and the sales reps who aren't managing them very well however. 

I imagine that shirt looks perfectly normal when worn.  Always a little confused by how perfectly square things need to be so they can be draped around the dynamic, 3 dimensional object that is the human body.  Have your reps put them on and see if it still looks warped to them when worn.
Title: Re: Latest Rejects
Post by: sportsshoppe on August 25, 2015, 02:30:33 PM
We once got some adhesive that was meant to mix 50/50 water and I figured it would hold better with a 75/25.... Well the fist set of shirts I had to CUT the things off the pallet! and then remove tape from pallet and replace it. Sticky Stuff! we still use it but now it is 30/70 and I can get about 100 shirts without having to worry about loosing tack. Live and learn I guess
Title: Re: Latest Rejects
Post by: alan802 on August 25, 2015, 02:31:24 PM
The customer was first to point them out, after opening the box and looking at one she noticed it, then decided to go through the entire order in the office while everyone started gathering around wondering what the problem was.  I was then "summoned" to the embroidery building and ambushed by the customer, sales person, owner, another sales person, receiving employee and an admin person.  I was asked why the print was so distorted, it looked like "a horseshoe shape" and why we didn't catch the problem because there were so many.  I had to take a huge breath and stay composed and I tried my best to explain what causes it, why it's really not avoidable in such a small degree that these shirts were and everyone was very surprised that these shirts were a very mild case.  It all went in one ear and out the other because the customer did not like them so case closed.  I was then confronted again a while later and told that I needed to fix the problem.  I told everyone that essentially several hundred thousand shirts have been printed this year that were just like that shirt or worse and that I wasn't just trying to cover my butt by saying it was well within industry standard.  I dug through a bunch of prints that were waiting for customer pickup showing there was no difference but due to the design itself, being straight lines that it looked far worse than it was. 
Title: Re: Latest Rejects
Post by: mk162 on August 25, 2015, 02:43:16 PM
there is such little ink coverage that those shirts would go right back to normal after a trip through a clothes dryer.

I'd be effing pissed if my boss called me out in front of a customer like that.  It's fine to talk about things, but don't throw your employees under the bus. I would never do that to an employee of mine, unless the offense occurred in front of a customer, like cursing or inappropriate language.

Title: Re: Latest Rejects
Post by: jvieira on August 25, 2015, 03:08:05 PM
there is such little ink coverage that those shirts would go right back to normal after a trip through a clothes dryer.

I'd be effing pissed if my boss called me out in front of a customer like that.  It's fine to talk about things, but don't throw your employees under the bus. I would never do that to an employee of mine, unless the offense occurred in front of a customer, like cursing or inappropriate language.


Don't know how you are reading this but I have called an employee multiple times to explain to a customer what happened to the order (we were unsure of a couple things/possible defects). Sometimes the rep or the owner just doesn't have enough information to explain what happened and WHY it cannot be fixed. It might take the person who printed it to make a proper explanation and say "hey, it is what it is".

But yeh, if he was called out and thrown under the bus, that sucks and should not have been done
Title: Re: Latest Rejects
Post by: prozyan on August 25, 2015, 03:15:42 PM
The print doesn't distort because of tack, the shirt stretches in places from pulling it off.  Hit it with a steam wand for wrinkles for a few seconds, problem solved.

Unless of course you are using so much tack you need a tow truck to remove the shirt from the pallet.
Title: Re: Latest Rejects
Post by: tonypep on August 25, 2015, 03:16:13 PM
Agreed. Poor handling by owner. Once a customer has an order under the microscope, you are usually doomed
Title: Re: Latest Rejects
Post by: Sbrem on August 25, 2015, 03:22:36 PM
Having been where Alan was before, it sure sounds like he was thrown under the proverbial bus by his boss, because his boss should have spoken to him privately and had his back before subjecting him to the heat. I'm the boss here, and would never do that to one of my staff. When I did work for someone else though, I frequently met with customers to explain what could and couldn't be done on a technical level and that we would work with them to produce the best product possible within their budget. I even nicely asked a customer once how he would make a straight line stay straight on a shirt after it's printed; he thought about it for a minute, and realized the truth. Communication is key, and it's tough sell; you need to get them to agree that it's unreasonable...

Steve
Title: Re: Latest Rejects
Post by: mk162 on August 25, 2015, 03:28:49 PM
the term "ambushed" leads me to believe it wasn't pleasant.

Title: Re: Latest Rejects
Post by: dirkdiggler on August 25, 2015, 03:56:44 PM
when ours get stretched, we just restretch in the opposite direction, all is usually good.
Title: Re: Latest Rejects
Post by: larryk on August 25, 2015, 04:07:54 PM
Problem Solved!...... all we have to do is get one of these artsey type guys to figure out how to compensate for the stretch that occurs and then build it into the artwork... So the artwork will look curvy but the shirts will be straight when removed from the shirt boards.... Problem Solved... Now why didn't we think of this years ago? I think we could or should get a patent on this before Custom Ink does..............
Title: Re: Latest Rejects
Post by: tancehughes on August 25, 2015, 05:19:14 PM
Alan, we have a VERY similar situation that happened here today. Customer has these super stretchy shirts that we printed the logo on and sent them all back because a couple of them were very slightly "crooked". I inspected them along with two other employees and then told her very nicely that these were not crooked and in fact very much within acceptable industry standard and there would be no refund or reprint.  In my opinion, our print crew did an excellent job with the shirts considering how stretchy they were!

In our case this is a "contract" customer that really sucks and we do a lot of hand holding with, so we are hoping that she does not come back to us again.
Title: Re: Latest Rejects
Post by: Itsa Little CrOoked on August 25, 2015, 06:23:45 PM
I'm insulated from our customers, the front runs interference. But I don't *think* distortion has come up in 8 years, even though with a brand new application of Waterbased tac especially on new paper, they can be danged sticky on the first few shirts. They are gonna distort during dismount.

I might tell them (if one of the gals up front summonsed me from the dungeon...unlikely... in a scenario like Alan was stuck in) to wash the shirt, put the shirt on a body, and call me in the morning. I'll bet a C-note you couldn't tell the difference from a shirt that DID pass muster.

But since I AM the boss, I'd only got myself to blame.

Like mentioned in a previous post, once the magnifying glass comes out, they are probably gonna get their pound of flesh.

Charlie Taublieb once taught in a workshop in KC, if you get closer than 3 (three) feet to inspect a shirt for flaws on a body, you are waaaaaaay too close. It it looks okay at 3 feet on a body, that is within the customary parameters of printing shirts. (paraprased)

We gotta educate the custy, and deal a little with their psychology, whether its fair or not. Your boss fumbled the football on this play.

(Wow I just re-read that and it sounded too know-it-all for my comfort. I don't have time to re-write it, so please forgive any UNINTENTIONAL, irritating tone.  I KNOW your place is a great shop, and I probably should have just shut up with my advice.)
Title: Re: Latest Rejects
Post by: Rockers on August 25, 2015, 08:22:13 PM
The customer was first to point them out, after opening the box and looking at one she noticed it, then decided to go through the entire order in the office while everyone started gathering around wondering what the problem was.  I was then "summoned" to the embroidery building and ambushed by the customer, sales person, owner, another sales person, receiving employee and an admin person.  I was asked why the print was so distorted, it looked like "a horseshoe shape" and why we didn't catch the problem because there were so many.  I had to take a huge breath and stay composed and I tried my best to explain what causes it, why it's really not avoidable in such a small degree that these shirts were and everyone was very surprised that these shirts were a very mild case.  It all went in one ear and out the other because the customer did not like them so case closed.  I was then confronted again a while later and told that I needed to fix the problem.  I told everyone that essentially several hundred thousand shirts have been printed this year that were just like that shirt or worse and that I wasn't just trying to cover my butt by saying it was well within industry standard.  I dug through a bunch of prints that were waiting for customer pickup showing there was no difference but due to the design itself, being straight lines that it looked far worse than it was.
Especially once someone wears those shirts you won`t notice the issue at all. I really don`t have time for these kind of customer complaints at all anylonger. I had clients measuring the length of each shirt and compare them to what it should be according to the manufacturers specs. Well there were a few shirts within the same size that were out by +-3 cm which of course is not OK but probably unavoidable but that`s not the point. Honestly who is so anal to dig out a tape measure and check each garment for the right length.
Title: Re: Latest Rejects
Post by: Maxie on August 26, 2015, 10:08:08 AM
What would happen if you flashed, a long flash 2 or 3 heads from the end.   This would almost cure the ink  and it would have time to cool.
It should maintain it's shape when you pull it off.
This won't solve your existing problem and I've never tried it but might be an idea for shapes, lines etc that distort when being pulled off the platen.

Title: Re: Latest Rejects
Post by: LuckyFlyinROUSH on August 26, 2015, 01:29:29 PM
Did you tell her to go wash the shirts and dry them like her husband would and everything would be fine?
Title: Re: Latest Rejects
Post by: Frog on August 26, 2015, 03:21:33 PM
What would happen if you flashed, a long flash 2 or 3 heads from the end.   This would almost cure the ink  and it would have time to cool.
It should maintain it's shape when you pull it off.
This won't solve your existing problem and I've never tried it but might be an idea for shapes, lines etc that distort when being pulled off the platen.

A slightly stretched distortion of the knit fabric is the same with cured or uncured ink. It's the shirt itself.
What the flash near the end does do is aid in unloading at speed.
Title: Re: Latest Rejects
Post by: alan802 on August 27, 2015, 11:48:05 AM
Did you tell her to go wash the shirts and dry them like her husband would and everything would be fine?

Of course, I even took the steamer from the embroidery dept and steamed it straight in front of everybody and it got rid of most of it but it was not good enough.  I could have had Jesus himself backing me up on this one and we would have still had to reprint the shirts.  I waited till I was in my building before I let some pressure out but I really wanted to in front of everybody. 
Title: Re: Latest Rejects
Post by: Dottonedan on August 27, 2015, 12:41:33 PM
Even a bad situation can be handled well. It's challenging but I kind of like the challenge of overpowering my personal emotions or to be too reactionary.

In my early days, I had a few similar situations and proved them wrong hands down. At that time, I might have said something like Yea! How do you like them apples!!  But I've improved with age. lol. Now I go out of my way not to embarrass the others involved and myself. The outcome is always better and easier to swallow the truth when you prove your correct with facts in a friendly "team like" manor. Emphasis on TEAM.   Not that Alen didn't do this. I'm just reflecting while having lunch.
Title: Re: Latest Rejects
Post by: Sbrem on August 27, 2015, 03:35:49 PM
Even a bad situation can be handled well. It's challenging but I kind of like the challenge of overpowering my personal emotions or to be too reactionary.

In my early days, I had a few similar situations and proved them wrong hands down. At that time, I might have said something like Yea! How do you like them apples!!  But I've improved with age. lol. Now I go out of my way not to embarrass the others involved and myself. The outcome is always better and easier to swallow the truth when you prove your correct with facts in a friendly "team like" manor. Emphasis on TEAM.   Not that Alen didn't do this. I'm just reflecting while having lunch.

This is it; you invite them into the process so they understand. I've offered money for a customer to show me an absolute perfect print, with the idea being that the point is it's only perfect until you remove it from the press. Once the threads move, the ink moves with them, it's only physics, right? It's not like they can prove otherwise. Funny how writing the check makes you more of an expert than the professional. I think in Alan's case, the boss should see this on press so they don't have to eat product for no good reason, and be well armed when making the sale...

Steve
Title: Re: Latest Rejects
Post by: JBLUE on August 27, 2015, 03:36:07 PM
Its the way they were loaded. 85% of what we do is printed on paper thin fashion crap. Most guys stretch it in both directions when they load and pull back on the shirt to center on the pallet. This causes it to pucker when pulled. Other guys over compensate the other way and try and shrink it in the middle causing it to bulge after its pulled. Every time someone new starts here they do the same thing. Takes them a little practice to get it down but its not to difficult to get them doing it the right way once they are shown. That shirt in the pic here would get someones ass chewed for letting them go like that.
Title: Re: Latest Rejects
Post by: alan802 on August 27, 2015, 04:21:34 PM
I don't like the way my guy loads shirts but he doesn't mess the shirt up the way he does it.  I've seen some press ops load the shirt in a way that could cause issues but it isn't happening here.  High tack pallets and fashion type shirts are a pain to load compared to these shirts.  There is virtually no stress on the threads when loading, at least not the way we do it.  The shirt is put on a few inches past where it will be once in place then grabbed by the seams and pulled UP and then back while slightly dropping the shirt as we go backward then the seam is over the edge of the pallet and the shirt is then ready.
Title: Re: Latest Rejects
Post by: Sbrem on August 27, 2015, 05:24:39 PM
I don't like the way my guy loads shirts but he doesn't mess the shirt up the way he does it.  I've seen some press ops load the shirt in a way that could cause issues but it isn't happening here.  High tack pallets and fashion type shirts are a pain to load compared to these shirts.  There is virtually no stress on the threads when loading, at least not the way we do it.  The shirt is put on a few inches past where it will be once in place then grabbed by the seams and pulled UP and then back while slightly dropping the shirt as we go backward then the seam is over the edge of the pallet and the shirt is then ready.

Pretty similar here, pull back, and the shirt is in the air, so it can fall onto the plate instead of being stretched over it, then a quick swipe to push it into the tack.

Steve
Title: Re: Latest Rejects
Post by: screenxpress on August 27, 2015, 08:56:37 PM
Did you tell her to go wash the shirts and dry them like her husband would and everything would be fine?

Hear, Hear! 

But Alan was already wearing tire tracks.
Title: Re: Latest Rejects
Post by: GKitson on August 28, 2015, 07:26:07 AM
Once or twice a year we run into a 'hypersensitive customer', and they are easy to recognize.

When we receive a photo with a ruler laid on the garment their is only one response from our staff.

"There are a lot of reasons beyond our control that may have contributed to your issue and I am sorry we have not meet your expectations, What would you like us to do to make it right?"

No finger pointing, no pissing contests and if the customer requests a refund/replacement we are happy to do it as the first financial loss is always the cheapest.  If you start chasing solutions you are throwing potentially a lot of good money after bad and it only gets more expensive and frustrating.

If you screwed up you should determine how and make it right.

If it was staff related re-train with clear expectations and review your Quality Control.

If you did not screw up and it was garment/ink/process related, learn from it and move on,

If it was customer expectation related review your communication policies, learn from it and move on.

If it was simply that the customer changed their mind and was looking for an out, accept it and move on, crap happens, nobody dies, learn from it and move on.

Changes are it was a combination of the above, phase of the moon, high humidity, Sputnik, and other things totally beyond your control, learn from it &....

Starting to see the pattern here folks.

My 2 cents,

~Kitson
Title: Re: Latest Rejects
Post by: mimosatexas on August 28, 2015, 09:06:39 AM
Instead of reprinting just "fix" the worst shirts manually with a counter stretch and steamer and give them the exact same shirts. I doubt they would even notice...
Title: Re: Latest Rejects
Post by: ZooCity on August 28, 2015, 12:39:21 PM
I share Greg's approach.  Might want to toss in that it "could always be worse"...

The last weeks have been spent working intermittently with a client who is very happy with our printing but rejecting shirts for garment reasons that are beyond all comprehension- they weigh differently on a gram scale, entire sizes on the order are "too shiny".  Whole box of a couple hundred 'rejects' here with post it notes affixed to most containing downright esoteric reasons for their return.  Ironically our prints look super tight on these runs, go figure. 

The right approach is "what can we do to meet your standards?"  Force them to define their needs, determine how to meet them, charge accordingly. 
Title: Re: Latest Rejects
Post by: ebscreen on August 28, 2015, 12:54:23 PM
they weigh differently on a gram scale, entire sizes on the order are "too shiny". 

I'm sorry we won't be able to meet your needs bye.
Title: Re: Latest Rejects
Post by: Frog on August 28, 2015, 01:43:23 PM

The right approach is "what can we do to meet your standards?"  Force them to define their needs, determine how to meet them, charge accordingly.

Whenever a new custy mentions that they weren't happy with their last printer, I try to nail down exactly what caused that unhappiness, just in case I feel that I can't match those expectations either.
Title: Re: Latest Rejects
Post by: T Shirt Farmer on August 28, 2015, 01:55:43 PM
Agreed. Poor handling by owner. Once a customer has an order under the microscope, you are usually doomed

Doomed... never if you are a professional
Title: Re: Latest Rejects
Post by: Dottonedan on August 28, 2015, 02:37:36 PM
Agreed. Poor handling by owner. Once a customer has an order under the microscope, you are usually doomed

Doomed... never if you are a professional

You can be "professional" about a situation and still lose money. If you choose to bite the bullet and take some un-due loss to appease the customer, make sure it doesn't repeat. Educate the customer each time. When you allow an incorrect, unknowing customer to "continue" to dictate the outcome, you become un-professional. With some people, it's unprofessional of a shop to continue to work with them. Choose carefully.
Title: Re: Latest Rejects
Post by: mimosatexas on August 28, 2015, 02:39:01 PM
they weigh differently on a gram scale, entire sizes on the order are "too shiny". 

I'm sorry we won't be able to meet your needs bye.
yea freak that...
Title: Re: Latest Rejects
Post by: JBLUE on August 28, 2015, 03:47:04 PM
I have found that the pickiest of customers are usually the ones we get the most referrals from. If we can satisfy them then then we are doing our job. We get so much business from the " its good enough they will never notice" printers its just not worth trying to a half ass repair and have them find it anyways. Reprint and move on. The key is getting the QC people to not let that crap happen in the first place.
Title: Re: Latest Rejects
Post by: Dottonedan on August 28, 2015, 04:36:17 PM
Apreasing a picky customer can be beneficial as mentioned. I think the hard part, (the more important part) is the ability to discern who's worth adding some stress to the orders and who's worth turning away.
As you all know, there are times.

One example is a customer came into my shop to purchase 3 shirts. One for the husband, the child and herself. She was dressed professionally and spoke professionally.  It was a birthday surprise and needed them within a few days. We rushed the art, overnighted the sublimated transfers, heat set them and they looked great, felt great.  We did this type of order,  often so no issue on quantity. At the beginning, she went on and on complaining about the "all other print shops" so of course my red flag rose. Hearing this about the other printers was nothing new and I was aware of their quality and lack of customer service skills, so, I stayed true to pleasing this customer and we did. 2 days later, she returns wanting a refund. It seems she left the shirts in the box in the trunk of her car (in Florida) in the summer time, and were wrinkled when she took them out. Yes, wrinkled. So she came back fuming demanding a refund. So me, I go through about 20 minutes of speaking softly (as if to a mentally ill person) and was able to get her to a satisfied point.  When she left, we decided to create a (do not take orders from) list.  I feel that while she possibly could come back with some good orders or referrals, I want no part of what else she may bring to my shop. There are others out there to work with/focus on pleasing with less risk, that will also provide good referrals.

Title: Re: Latest Rejects
Post by: mimosatexas on August 28, 2015, 04:40:03 PM
With a customer like Alan is dealing with, my concern would be going through the trouble and expense of reprinting only to have them unhappy for some other minor reason.  I mean, yes the shirt is a bit distorted (maybe 1/4 of an inch in the middle?), but it is not a rigid geometric design ruined by the fabric being super stretched and i doubt very much that it would affect how people are going to react to the shirt, especially when actually on a persons body.  I honestly think you could "fix" this by hand by stretching it a few directions, hand it to the client, and they would have no clue whether it was a reprint or not, which means it isn't a big deal and doesn't necessitate reprinting.

If a client weighed shirts and rejected them based on a few percentage variance I would fire them on the spot unless they wanted to pay me quite a bit to weigh them before printing as well...
Title: Re: Latest Rejects
Post by: Dottonedan on August 28, 2015, 04:55:45 PM
While at Disney's park printing, (the tee shirt printing) facility, we had a Disney employee that was the buyer, also known as a product developer. She was new to that dept. Came from some other glamorous named business where she was involved in buying from manufacturers.  She rejected an order for 1200 shirts, scheduled for reorders 2 times a month.

The order had a left chest print. The engineering dept. (Not the art dept). Had a map/dimensions of each shirt and measurements of where each print will land. She rejected th entire order because the left chest prints were not consistent in placement. Some were + \ - a 16th to a qtr inch off. Maybe some even a half inch.  So we had her come over, get on the press and load shirts to make sure she can show us exactly where they should land.  She did. She understood from that point on.
Title: Re: Latest Rejects
Post by: ZooCity on August 28, 2015, 05:17:31 PM
unless they wanted to pay me quite a bit to weigh them before printing as well...

I often say that you can pay us to do whatever you like.  I'll do the math on our cost to go walk around the block for an hour if that's what makes you happy.  Weighing shirts?  No problem, what's the target weight or variance?
Title: Re: Latest Rejects
Post by: ebscreen on August 28, 2015, 05:27:49 PM
Large contract client got a complaint from end user that their cheap Gildan whites had variance in size.
Contract client asked if we could compare sizes on 5000 piece orders. "Sure, should be about $1.00 each".
Suddenly not such an issue.
Title: Re: Latest Rejects
Post by: Screened Gear on August 28, 2015, 07:20:52 PM
These 2 shirts were rejected due to the image distortion from pulling the shirts off the pallets.  It wasn't fresh tack either, we used fresh tack for the front print then turned it around and did the back on the same tack without refreshing.  I've been told I need to fix the problem :)  It's gonna be a great week.

([url]http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/rr211/alan802/Tshirt%20Pics/20150825_101500_zpstecr2txp.jpg[/url]) ([url]http://s485.photobucket.com/user/alan802/media/Tshirt%20Pics/20150825_101500_zpstecr2txp.jpg.html[/url])

([url]http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/rr211/alan802/Tshirt%20Pics/20150825_101726_zpselv2sfms.jpg[/url]) ([url]http://s485.photobucket.com/user/alan802/media/Tshirt%20Pics/20150825_101726_zpselv2sfms.jpg.html[/url])


Tell them to wash all the shirts and then find those two shirts again. I'm glad I don't have your customers.
Title: Re: Latest Rejects
Post by: Maxie on August 04, 2016, 04:16:42 PM
We printed a order of Bordeaux shirts this week and were missing a few so used shirts from a different supplier.    Same quality, slightly different color.      I got a call for the person who ordered them, not happy, I said she can send them back.    Then the director of the organization phoned.
I think people sometimes loose perspective on what's important in life.
I've been to Alan's shop and can picture him going into the embroidery dept. where all the ladies work and getting told off by a customer who doesn't understand that we are not printing on paper and when people where the shirts nobody will ever see that slight distortion.     
Title: Re: Latest Rejects
Post by: Rockers on August 05, 2016, 12:45:38 AM
We printed a order of Bordeaux shirts this week and were missing a few so used shirts from a different supplier.    Same quality, slightly different color.      I got a call for the person who ordered them, not happy, I said she can send them back.    Then the director of the organization phoned.
I think people sometimes loose perspective on what's important in life.
I've been to Alan's shop and can picture him going into the embroidery dept. where all the ladies work and getting told off by a customer who doesn't understand that we are not printing on paper and when people where the shirts nobody will ever see that slight distortion.   
]
I`ll be honest this would never happen in our shop, replacing a few missing shirts with a different brand of shirt. At least we would inform the client first and ask if the would mind. If they do mind then  we would schedule the job for printing another day. In the end it`s not the clients mistake. Why are there shirts missing in the first place? And why has it been only spotted when the job went to press?
Title: Re: Latest Rejects
Post by: ericheartsu on August 05, 2016, 11:18:21 AM
We printed a order of Bordeaux shirts this week and were missing a few so used shirts from a different supplier.    Same quality, slightly different color.      I got a call for the person who ordered them, not happy, I said she can send them back.    Then the director of the organization phoned.
I think people sometimes loose perspective on what's important in life.
I've been to Alan's shop and can picture him going into the embroidery dept. where all the ladies work and getting told off by a customer who doesn't understand that we are not printing on paper and when people where the shirts nobody will ever see that slight distortion.   
]
I`ll be honest this would never happen in our shop, replacing a few missing shirts with a different brand of shirt. At least we would inform the client first and ask if the would mind. If they do mind then  we would schedule the job for printing another day. In the end it`s not the clients mistake. Why are there shirts missing in the first place? And why has it been only spotted when the job went to press?

Yep same thing here.
Title: Re: Latest Rejects
Post by: Frog on August 05, 2016, 11:26:33 AM
I used to even have problems with client complaints about dye-lot differences with Purple Ports.
Enough that when I mentioned it to the distributor, they flagged my account with a "Please check that purples match" note to the packers!

Same thing happened many years ago when Stahl's changed their Thermofilm material, with noticeable visual differences. To this day, the invoices from my Stahls distributor still have a note "NEW FILM ONLY!"
Title: Re: Latest Rejects
Post by: 3Deep on August 05, 2016, 12:29:47 PM
When people are that anal you wonder how do they function during the day ;D, I had one of our contract customer's call me anal about the there artwork, and I told them I only want to get it right because I don't want your customer jumping down your throat then you looking at me sideways ;).  I have friend that has a screen shop, this cat can get away with ton's of stuff and the main reason is this biz is just something to keep him busy and does not need the money.
Title: Re: Latest Rejects
Post by: Gilligan on August 05, 2016, 03:20:04 PM
Our new employee comes from another shop and he said that when they would finish a job, they would have to bring it to the sales person.  He said one of the sales people there would take EVERY shirt out and inspect it... HARD!

Sounded like having one of your worse customers doing QA for a large portion of the jobs you printed.  They wouldn't order any extras and were hard on them when they messed up.  Crazy!

He was in the groove yesterday and burnt up 4 sweatshirts due to a dryer backup... he felt terrible.  I had to assure him it was no big deal, it has happened to us all.  We used to have a camera to help catch that but the heat burnt it up (it was a uber cheap ebay job)... I put a good camera back there which watches the shirt stacking/counting process (after talking to them, they all loved the idea btw)... so this camera also can see the end of the dryer.  I'll be feeding that to a monitor on the top of the press so they can keep an eye on the belt now.

Title: Re: Latest Rejects
Post by: mk162 on August 05, 2016, 03:36:48 PM
I had a customer come in with a smudge on a shirt...an ash gray shirt with an light orange smudge.  i could BARELY see it.  She found another one while she was here on the same shirt and I had to have another person blow it out because I kept losing it when I moved the shirt it was so light.

I seriously wouldn't expect anybody to ever catch those they were so faint.
Title: Re: Latest Rejects
Post by: JBLUE on August 05, 2016, 05:26:43 PM
Our new employee comes from another shop and he said that when they would finish a job, they would have to bring it to the sales person.  He said one of the sales people there would take EVERY shirt out and inspect it... HARD!

Sounded like having one of your worse customers doing QA for a large portion of the jobs you printed.  They wouldn't order any extras and were hard on them when they messed up.  Crazy!

He was in the groove yesterday and burnt up 4 sweatshirts due to a dryer backup... he felt terrible.  I had to assure him it was no big deal, it has happened to us all.  We used to have a camera to help catch that but the heat burnt it up (it was a uber cheap ebay job)... I put a good camera back there which watches the shirt stacking/counting process (after talking to them, they all loved the idea btw)... so this camera also can see the end of the dryer.  I'll be feeding that to a monitor on the top of the press so they can keep an eye on the belt now.

Dont change his attitude. Be happy that he is bummed for messing up 4. He should be. The busier you get the more expensive that gets as it happens more often. It is hard enough to get someone that gives a sh!t about your money like you do.
Title: Re: Latest Rejects
Post by: ol man on August 05, 2016, 05:39:08 PM

Dont change his attitude. Be happy that he is bummed for messing up 4. He should be. The busier you get the more expensive that gets as it happens more often. It is hard enough to get someone that gives a sh!t about your money like you do.
[/quote]

this right here
Title: Re: Latest Rejects
Post by: Gilligan on August 05, 2016, 08:10:42 PM
Absolutely, I just don't want him shaking in his boots about a mistake.

In this case it's because we don't have a good space to let shirts fall in a big catch box... You probably can't get 10 fleece in before you are in trouble.
Title: Re: Latest Rejects
Post by: domineight on July 06, 2017, 09:27:15 AM
I love this thread title.

Just reprinted four shirts for a Woman today, who sent me the wrong artwork, twice,  before she found out she sent the wrong artwork.

Apparently it was my fault because I followed her supplied PDF visual, and not the text she had pasted below her stupid long email signature.

Her email title was "be happy print" and her twice attached Pdf visual complete with print sizes, locations, colours and vector artwork was titled "be happy tee"

Sure, I can understand how that'd be my fault, that happens..

But in letting me know this morning that she supplied the wrong artwork,  she again attached the same incorrect Pdf visual and "be happy" artwork.

What she actually wanted was "just smile" :o