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neato · October 2nd, 2008

A couple weeks ago I had a customer contact me about printing on 70/30 bamboo/cotton tees. I told her that was no problem. She asked if I had them available. I told her I could get them from Continental Clothing and that they are a reputable company. She also asked about getting some totes at the same time. I told her no problem.

Here's my actual e-mail with the final quotes on the items:

Thanks for the image Jan. (name changed)

Now, I hope you're sitting down for this. lol. These bamboo shirts are quite pricey.

These are continental clothing 70/30 bamboo basic white tees (S-XL), 2 color front, 2 color back:

24-35 - $XX.XXeach
36-71 - $XX.XX each

There will be 2 screen fees of $XX each as well.

If you wanted to save money and go with an Anvil brand 100% organic cotton tee, they'd be:

24-35 - $XX.XX each
36-71 - $XX.XX each

Plus 2 screens.

For the totes, I'm quoting this on promo quality cotton totes, 15"x 16" (see attached photo), 2 color, 2 side

24-35 - $XX.XX each
36-71 - $XX.XX each

2 screens.

Let me know if you have any other questions."

Tonight, I get a message from her saying that she got the shirts and she's not happy at all. The bamboo shirts are so thin that she can't sell them.

And the totes were supposed to be used as grocery bags (she never mentioned this) and these totes don't have a bottom panel!

Shes very pushy and told me I have to call her so 'we can figure this out'.

How would you handle this?

And have you ever seen a bamboo shirt that ISN'T thin?

Uncle John · October 2nd, 2008

From the sound of it you gave her what she ask for plus she could look up on the internet what she was getting. Call her and explain this, ask her where you went wrong? If people order things they don't know about, its not your fault. Explain you did what she ask and don't give a refund because she can't sell them.
John

neato · October 2nd, 2008

That's my thought. I told her what she was getting. I mean, it's not like I went cheap just so I could make a few extra bucks. Continental is not cheap stuff. And I told her these were promo totes. They were also priced accordingly.

Every bamboo shirt I've ever seen has a thin feel to it.

I'm just sick over this whole thing.

Uncle John · October 2nd, 2008

Phillip my friend, you did what you were ask to do. There are people that will try and get discounts, refunds for any number of reasons. There product sucked etc, its not you fault. Just don't do work for them again.
Good luck, John

Uncle John · October 2nd, 2008

I meant the design sucked...lol

sunnydayz · October 2nd, 2008

Ok just in my experience I can say that the continental bamboo shirt is very thin. I ordered samples before and decided not to use them because they were see thru, from being thin. I actually went with spunbamboo.com because they had a bamboo shirt that was more like the regular thickness which is 6.1 oz. I think continentals are 4. something oz. , there is a big difference then what a person buying a shirt might expect. I just wrote this for future reference, in case you need to use bamboo again, to know there are different weights.

As far as her order you provided what you stated. so I don't think you have anything to worry about. In the future though you may want to compare the difference in the weights of the shirts as they can vary drastically. Hope this helps.

AustinJeff · October 2nd, 2008

I'm kinda torn on this one. It's certainly a good practice to let the customer know if the material, cut, or sizing is something other than would be expected with a "traditional" T-shirt. Actually, it's a good idea to specify this regardless of the type of shirt, but when it's something unusual, it's becomes much more important. Whether it's your ethical obligation -- I'm not sure.

As far as the tote bags go, I think she got the "tradtional" tote bag. It's not your obligation to tell her they didn't have a bottom as I don't believe this is a generally expected feature of a "tote bag."

deChez · October 2nd, 2008

I would tell the customer "Although I delivered exactly what you ordered, I understand why you're unhappy with your choice. Now that you've given me a better understanding of what your specific needs are, and you have a better understanding of the characteristics of these specific items and fabrics, we both have the knowldege we need to move forward. While I do not accept returns on custom goods, in the spirit of good will, I can offer you a discount of $X or X% on your next order."

wormil · October 2nd, 2008

It is her job to choose the products and your job to print them. Sounds like you did your job.

This is exactly why my quotes are very specific so there is no excuse for confusion on the customer's part. And I would have asked the customer if they wanted light, medium or heavy weight shirts. But I learned that by dealing with customers just like this one. She probably isn't a bad person just inexperienced but that doesn't excuse her responsibility. I would be very nice and understanding but make it clear that it is her responsibility to make her expectations clear. I wouldn't offer a refund but if there is good potential for future business I would probably offer a credit toward a reorder with the shirts and totes she wants.

Solmu · October 3rd, 2008

Don't give in, try and stay polite. That's about it I think.

Unless you especially need the business, I wouldn't be offering a discount on a second order - would you actually want her as a customer any more? Any kind of giving in is likely to make her worse in future.

As you said, the vast majority of bamboo is thin. Some shirts are unusually thin (e.g. a lot of Alternative's new shirts are semi-sheer), but 1) That doesn't make them unsellable, 2) It's her responsibility to order samples. Since bamboo is so much more expensive, all the more reason to order a sample blank.

The totes were listed as "promo quality", which implies crap - so again, no cause for complaint if the crap tote turns out to be crap

It sounds like she wanted bamboo because she'd read about it, not because she knew what she was talking about. Her ignorance is her problem.

In an ideal world she would have known what she was doing, and right now everybody would be happy. Unfortunately she didn't know what she was doing, and someone is going to end up unhappy. That's sad, but don't let it be the person who did everything right (i.e. you).

And somehow be nice about it. Firm and nice. It's difficult, because nice easily leads to giving in, and firm easily leads to snapping. I guess just keep reminding yourself that there's no reason you should pay for her mistake, and for the other side that there's no reason that she needs you to make her experience any worse. She's angry because she made a mistake and it's going to cost her money, but first she'll blame everybody else to try and get out of it - don't take it personally.

neato · October 3rd, 2008

Thanks guys. I appreciate the input. Usually I'm very easy to deal with when customers have a problem. I like to bend over backwards to make people happy. But I just didn't feel like I did anything wrong with this one.

I think I'll take the advice and politely offer a discount on the next order.

Thanks again for all the input.

Aximili · October 3rd, 2008

(Pre-script: My first real post Yipee)

Hello, All my customer complaint experience comes from the delivery pizza business, so take with a grain of salt.
It costs upwards of 10 times as much to gain a new customer as to retain an old one. If this is your first dealing with the woman, Id say keep her around if you don't have to give away your shop in the process. I would not give her anything like a refund, but I would offer a future discount, and I would try and help her sell her shirts.

Make her YOUR CUSTOMER and not just A customer.

If she takes your help and your discount and orders again (which you will do everything in your power to make the best transaction of your life) and she comes back saying "You didnt tell me the box was going to be brown! I want more stuff!" be done with her. If she apprectiates your effort and gets what she wants and you retain a good customer it will be worth it in the long run.

Thats my 2 scents worth, Good luck with that one. I can guarentee I've dealt with worse. --Derrick

Ujudgnme2 · October 3rd, 2008

For a moment, I was thinking this was a client I dealt with. My client gave me a yr of hell before printing her fam reunion tshirts. She wanted it all but didnt want to pay for it. Bottom line, I told her look if you want these tees to look good then you have to pay an extra $1 each. Now she was getting a steal on what I was providing to her. We went around and around, me providing silkscreen samples to her, etc. It boiled down that I provided XL-4x silkscreened and photo heat press print. The smaller tshirts, I heat pressed the wording and the photo. After everything was said and done, she tipped ME $100.00. She went on the Price is Right with her family all wearing the tees and won a car....car should be mine...lol

I do think your customer is going overboard. You did give her what she wanted. The totes well she can sew some material in the bottom. The bamboo tshirts, maybe you could have put more into it with an explanation. I try to guide hands of those that do not know.

fdsales · October 4th, 2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by deChez


	I would tell the customer "Although I delivered exactly what you ordered, I understand why you're unhappy with your choice. Now that you've given me a better understanding of what your specific needs are, and you have a better understanding of the characteristics of these specific items and fabrics, we both have the knowldege we need to move forward. While I do not accept returns on custom goods, in the spirit of good will, I can offer you a discount of $X or X% on your next order."

Well stated. Sometimes customers just don't know/understand what they really want.

rrc62 · October 4th, 2008

I would apologize and offer to supply the shirt of her choice at your cost and print it free. You'll have a small investment in time, but no out of pocket expenses. Of course she would have to return the original shirts. If she doesn't go for that, she is probably just pushing for a partial refund and has every intention of selling the shirts she already has.

You printed the shirts she requested, so unless there are errors in the actual printing, she got exactly what she asked for. Offering cost on replacement shirts and free printing is probably over and above what most people would do, but if you can keep a customer happy and only have to give up a few hours of printing time, it's probably worth it. Sounds like she is a reseller, so she may order more if you can keep her happy.

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