This section of the forum is for discussing the business and finance issues of the t-shirt industry. Which business structure to use (sole proprietor, LLC, S Corp, etc), how to handle billing, where to register your business and get the proper licensing, etc.
I am posting this on this forum to see if there are any printers out here who have had monetary damages due to the T-Jet printer and its use in your business.
Sick and tired of an expensive product costing our business.
What specifically do you mean? What kind of monetary damages have you incurred?
I know someone personally who purchased the Pro-HV and ended up sending it back, and they gave her two blazers instead...not sure if it's working for her or not...I'm sure she's lost thousands with the downtime.
The issue that I have now is that this is the third time (at least!) I have had to re-do a $700 order because the inks of the T-Jet do not survive normal washes, specifically- when using the white underbase.
In addition, I cannot get any answers to my questions from US SCREEN.
I have lost thousands of dollars and "stoppage" time, which has caused a great deal of stress and $$.
So- with this last order, I have had it with these guys. You would think that if you spent 15 grand on a machine that it would make money not suck money down the drain.
All is not bad with this machine- except I can NEVER depend on consistancy with it.
I have had some of the same problems, and I've found some ways to work around them. There are several bugs in the FastArtist software, there are several bugs in the FastRip software and communication errors constantly. When I do small orders, I get great results, I've learned that I cannot depend on the machine to give me consistant results with larger orders (up to 72). I consider anything over 36, large. This is not a production machine, it's meant for onsey-twosey print on demand type things.
My machine tends to run 3-4 copies of a design fine, and then stop 3/4 on the way through on the underbase of the last copy. I just turn it off, start over, re-output to fastrip, and let it print over the exact spot again, however, you can faintly see the unfinished part underneath the print...
Also, the figures that US Screen provides for print times, cure times, etc are VERY padded. I doubled them initially in my head, as a worst case scenario, but it's more like triple or quadruple.
I am not SO unhappy that I'm ready to go to court, but I can definitely see something BAD happening in the near future. I'm wondering how I can protect myself from these things.
I definitely think US SCREEN is understaffed, they have quite a few customers with the same complaints (about not getting answers). I found these forums and users that own the same machines that we have to be the BEST resource for support, NOT the manufacturers. Hope this helps. Don't go to court just yet, utilize every other resource you have first, because let me tell you...in the long run, unless something really horrible happens, you're going to lose more money in court fees, and attorneys than it's worth.
I am now able to print up to 50 + shirts with the underbase. I purchased a inking system from the Equiment Zone ( I think I spent 350?). After that the machine perfomed like it could actually make money. However, what I have found is that some designs work well, but "pure" colors on an underbase sets up a senario where the design will 1.) fade or 2.) fall off the shirt- almost everytime.
You would NOT beleive- maybe you would - the pain I went through with this machine and its inks. I was RIPPED off. NO ONE should have to drop 15 grand (at least) and not have it work.
BTW- the guys who sold me the system got out of the business because of the horrible service they got from US Screen.
I give price quotes based upon square inches- and have formulated based upon actual time and ink used (this is a best guess from empirical data). This has really made it easy fo us once we have used it. BUT it doesn't help a lick when the design falls off the shirt.
How long have each of you had your machines? I am sure both of you are past your 30 day moneyback guarantee. You can always threaten legal action. It worked for a friend of mine. He got all of his money back and bought a Brother. He never attempted white ink on the T-jet, mostly because he could never get the light colored shirts to print consistently.
He bought the original T-jet when it was still very new, before the Brother was even released. The salesmen blew smoke up his skirt and just couldn't stop raving over what a great machine it was and how fast and easy to operate.
What you need to do is cite specific instances in marketing literature where you feel you have been mislead. Like printing from any program, my friend couldn't print from Corel without the printer crashing. The more you have for an argument, the better your case with USSPIT.
Another thing....get a lawyer. People post questions on here all of the time, questions that are not related to what we are experts on...garment decoration. It's good that you found another person with the same complaints, but I doubt there are many screen printers with law degrees. Just an opinion. The best you will get here is some advice on how other people would handle your situation, a lot of times, it might not be the best way to approach the situation.
I am now able to print up to 50 + shirts with the underbase. I purchased a inking system from the Equiment Zone ( I think I spent 350?). After that the machine perfomed like it could actually make money. However, what I have found is that some designs work well, but "pure" colors on an underbase sets up a senario where the design will 1.) fade or 2.) fall off the shirt- almost everytime.
You would NOT beleive- maybe you would - the pain I went through with this machine and its inks. I was RIPPED off. NO ONE should have to drop 15 grand (at least) and not have it work.
BTW- the guys who sold me the system got out of the business because of the horrible service they got from US Screen.
I give price quotes based upon square inches- and have formulated based upon actual time and ink used (this is a best guess from empirical data). This has really made it easy fo us once we have used it. BUT it doesn't help a lick when the design falls off the shirt.
Taking Manufacturers To Court 
