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.
When I retired from the Air Force as a disabled vet, I decided to go into the DTG shirt business and decided to go with the HM-1 Kiosk from SWF Mesa. I bought a refurbished machine and had problems from the get go (wasnt properly refurbished). Mesa was willing to replace with a new machine, but I had to pay the difference. I got that machine 7 months ago and started having issues a month after I got it. After not being able to print for a month, Mesa sent a tech out, which I had to pay for, and they could not fix it. They took my machine to Mesa for almost 5 days, said it was fixed, brought it back and on the same day the tech is there, same problems. At first Mesa said they would replace with a new machine and I was happy with that. Now they say no, refurbished machine, which to me is unacceptable. I havent been able to work, cant pay my office rent, had to cancel two contracts, have to return shirts to customers, and have completly lost my business due to this. Im wondering if anyone else has had issues with this company becuase I intend to move forward via legal channels to resolve this issue. Please email me at . Thank you.
The GM is the one that proposed the offer...which to me wasnt unreasonable...our machine is less than 7 months old...but had problems after 1 month, we upgraded to a new machine from a refurb, that wasnt refurbished! (should have run right then), so I wasnt really buying taking a refurb machine and he even said the same thing! So he talks to his boss and his boss said no, refurb machine because they would be losing on taking and reselling my machine! I have lost money for an entire month, cancelled contracts, not to mention ink lost in trying to get the machine running, refunds on jobs I had to give because of the print quality, I have to return shirts to customers that sent them and have been waiting, and my website that I have to pay for maintenance and cancel orders! I had three calls yesterday I had to turn down because the machine wasnt working, right after they brought it back from Fort Worth (they tought it was working, but alas...nope). When they open up four print heads from the box and only one works...thats a problem. When they have to change a capping station after only 5 days...thats a problem. When they have to replace three mother boards in the same day...there is a problem. Filtering ink through a coffee filter and running it through a machine? Hey I gotta say they were trying...or reaching. Bottom line is Im out of business...and they think they are losing money? Classic.
Anyony else having trouble with these folks?
Are you talking about SWF in Cali? I have had great service with them and I have had my machine for over 2 years. What exactly are the problems with the machine you are having? I have not seen anyone here that has dealt with the California swf have any problems with fixing machines. This is a first time I have heard this about them. Like I said I have had a great relationship with them through my machine ownership and when I did need service it was very prompt.
Maybe if you tell us what the problems are you are having we can help
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Always do right; this will gratify some people and astonish the rest. ~~~Mark Twain BobbieLee www.brightlittlebeginnings.com
Thanks for the reply, the shop I was talking about is out of Fort Worth. Lets see if I can sum it all up:
I bought a refurb machine last year, it was in horrible shape and never printed correctly, we were constantly on the phone with them and they finally came out to look at it and agreed, it was in bad shape. I paid the difference to get a new machine to replace that one. I got that machine in Feb 09. Printed nice until Mar 09, thats when I had bad nozzle checks and red was just...well brown. They kept telling me to change the print head. After doing that about 4 times, another tech told us to change the capping station, which we did. Then it was dampers, which we changed. Nothing was working. Red started pooling (yellow patches and streks int he red). Another tech finally said change the mother board..which we did..printed great for one or two days...then right back to the same thing. Now this went on for about 6 months, back and forth...print ok for a week, a week of down time, change the head, change the dampers, change the capping station..all the time eating ink in head cleanings and ink charges and not printing shirts. Begining of august, it really goes bad..nozzle check is terrible, colors were printing out green, red was horrible, couldnt give away a job..all that right after I started a website! So we call them, again, print head, capping station...etc etc. Finally they charge me $240 to send out a tech, after 10 hours working on it in my office...nothing, no closer to fixing it. Now while he was there, he replaced three mother boards, two capping stations, four (4) print heads (out of the box and only one worked!), print lines and dampers. Came back two days later, and again...went through the same process and no closer to a solution. They told him to pack up the machine and take to Fort Worth. This whole time, I have jobs pending, and Im turning down jobs...which just added on to the fact that I couldnt do any jobs since the 1st of the month..so the debt is just piling on. They take the machine on friday, bring it back on Thursday of this week and say...its printing fine. If you want red, you have to crank up your white underbase, has to be really thick...which I disagree with because I never had to do it before. It makes the shirt feel like rubber...go to a silk screener if thats what you want, its not DTG. Anyway...we started printing test jobs and its not looking good. Then we do a nozzle check and its horrible. He changes the print head...which he just changed 5 days before...then he has to change the capping station! Flushes the lines, and changes another print head! Still bad, excet this time...red doesnt come out of the head at all on the nozzle check. They tell him to filter the ink though a coffee filter and run that back through the machine and I started laughing. That was their last best guess I think but it still didnt work!
So after all that the GM calls and says what can I do? I said put me back in business, I need a machine that will print and print correctly. He ask about a refurb, and I say, Ive been that route with you folks, and Im scared to do it again, he said he understood...he wouldnt acccept it either. He actually said that! I said new machine, and new ink. He said agree, he would talk to his boss. He did and his boss said...well Im losing on taking and reselling his old machine so that wont happen, give them a refurb. And I said..unacceptable! Not gonna happen. They cant even get parts from thier supply office to work correctly for their tech, and they want to pass off another refurb machine on to me! We are so anal about maintenance on our machine so I know its not our fault and our graphics are awesome! Mesa use to refer jobs to us! So now I have to close down, because I cant fulfill contracts, cant take new ones, have already turned down alot of short run items, and have to return items that were sent it for contracts. I have been able to pay rent this month and wont next month! I even had to give refunds for bad print...thats how bad it was printing. It was just horrible and still is. My machine is still in parts, just like thier tech left it in my office and will be till I roll it into court
Im glad your not having any of these issues. But I know Im not alone out there. I just dont see how they can run people like us out of business. I dont get it. Those machines arent cheap.
Im not even going to go into the Desk top engraver I bought and got no training on thats still setting idol under my table top!
Thanks for the reply, the shop I was talking about is out of Fort Worth.
Ok I dont deal with them, I am in California so different distributor and service, Since yours is in Texas. I guess I thought you meant california because they are usually called SWF mesa, and texas is usually referred to as Mesa distributors. That is why I got confused on that
What is your temp in your print area and your humidity.
__________________
Always do right; this will gratify some people and astonish the rest. ~~~Mark Twain BobbieLee www.brightlittlebeginnings.com
Do you have a hygrometer to keep track of humidity, and make sure it does not get to low? It should always be above 40% and better at 50% or above. Many times people will have ink flow problems if the humidity is too low.
__________________
Always do right; this will gratify some people and astonish the rest. ~~~Mark Twain BobbieLee www.brightlittlebeginnings.com
Just to clear some things up, the U.S. is split into two different areas for SWF. Basically, anything east of the Mississippi River (not exactly, but a good line to use) is SWF East territory. Anything west of the Mississippi River is territory of SWF Mesa - this includes the corporate office in Ft. Worth and the offices in CA. Although both of them are the DTG Digital distributors for the U.S., they are really two different companies. I don't think that there is anything that SWF East can do for the original poster. Maybe Don might be able to provide from tech support tips, but this guy should focus on working with SWF Mesa.
Obviously you don't see the frustration this guy has so I was giving him advice on calling SWF East since they make more posts on here and like you suggest maybe (ie DON) can help out. He is obviously at his wit ends with SWF Mesa he needs some help and thats what this forum is for. I feel his frustration since I am DTG owner and been his shoes too..
I would think that if you have a problem that you would try everything you can to solve it. So he is seeking advice on what to do.. doesn't matter what advice he is given its advice. He can take it or leave it but its advice to a problem that needs to be solved.
He is risking a lot by making these posts and trust me I have made post and lost at alot in return because this forum is to help people and granted I got up an running (without the help of SWF) and by my peers here on the forum.. so giving him advice to call SWF East since its another step is me trying to help.
He doesn't get anywhere with them.. which is possible then he hasn't lost anything but a phone call and we have all done that before.
So don't deter him from finding more information about this company.. he needs our help and telling him to stick to SWF Mesa when obviously they haven't done anything but "sell sell sell" more stuff to him which seems to be SWF tune. You said it yourself they are two different companies..so maybe ..just maybe SWF East can help..
Thanks again for the post, and your right, I have reached my wits end on this. And so has my business. I had a business that was growing very well, and our custom shirts got alot of local press, and the net was just starting to take off for us. But without a machine to process them...thats all a no go. I have invested alot of time, and money into this business and for them to just leave me a broken 7 month old machine, scratch their head and say we dont know whats wrong, cant fix it, how about we give you an old rebuilt one? Yeah not good. Heck they have changed everything they are going to change on a refurb on my current machine 4 times in the past week. Who would want to take a chance on reopening a business, gaining contracts and taking jobs, only to find your back in the same boat right now. All that would do is cost me more in loss of revenue, income and parts! Ive been down the road with them on a refurbished machine before. That was my first encounter with them, I forgave them that time, but I wont let them screw me on it again. And yes I am speaking of the Mesa from Fort Worth Texas.
First off, I'm sorry to hear what's happening with your machine. I think most DTG printers have run into issues with their machines, but yours sounds extreme. I would be as upset as you are.
I wish SWF Mesa would post their thoughts on why they are unable to take care of your issues. The fact that this thread is already #5 when you do a Google Search for SWF Mesa would make me think that taking care of issues like this should be paramount to keeping their good name.
I would try posting a service request to find a contract DTG printer in your area so you can at least keep your clients happy. You may not make as much, but you will be able to keep those clients and not have to turn away new ones.
Btw, there are other companies out there that would not back-up their customers with ongoing issues with their Epson-based machines. Some even went as far as to punish the machine users and those that stepped up to help. So you are not alone in feeling helpless right now. Hang in there, keep us all updated and we will all be here to help anyway we can.
Make sure that you don't let the machine sit turned off..make sure its doing its head cleans. You don't want to do further damage to the machine if its sitting there not being used you need to prep it for long term non use.
Let me get this right.. you bought a refurb machine and then paid the difference for a new one?? so you have a new machine right now?? when does your warranty (I say this loosely) expire?
We use the machine daily and clean it, even if it is just for a head cleaning. Ours has the WIMS system so the white runs all the time. Never had a problem with clogging. Warranty expires in Feb 10. Thats when we got the new one. Its just been a bad experience since we got it. It worked fine for a month, but then it started to decline. Im totally shut down right now. And they left my machine all torn apart too.
SWF Mesa running me out of business 
Re: SWF Mesa running me out of business 
