We are a small t-shirt pressing biz and work out of our house. We have done jobs as large as 500 shirts and have been doing biz for almost a year. In that time we have never had any complaints, until now. I really have no idea what to do and was wanting some suggestions. First on the order I knew there was a lack of 4 hoodies that they ordered, I explained that to them and they said that was fine and I would get them to them this week. When they got the order they said they loved them. Then I get an email saying that I gave them 2 3x instead of 2 med, I have gone over the packing list and cant find the mistake. Next this order had many 2x, 3x and even 4x shirts. I try to stay to a industry standerd chart that I found online but with shirts that large it gets difficult. The client complained that on the larger shirts the logo was way to low on the shirt and could not be seen when worn. Then after they had already said it was fine that I got them the hoodies this week they complained that they were also missing 4 hoodies. This order was a $450 order, I didnt over price to much because it was for college kids, I was due to only make $150 anyway. Most of the money was spent on the shirts and transfers. They got the order to me on a Friday afternoon and needed them by the next thursday night, I busted my *** to get these shirts to them. Ive never had any complaints before and have no idea what to do. We are really small as I said and cant afford to refund them the money. Any help would be great!
Jon, Who provided the shirts them or did you? If they did its not your job to 2 check the sizes that were shipped to you. I would tell them to bring the shirts that are bad back so you can look at them. I have a feeling they just want to rip you off. Don't talk about refund or replacement unless your looking them in the eye then at most offer some small discount. My 2 cents. John
first off don't offer a refund, at most tell them you will reprint the peices they felt were unacceptable. And definately ask to see the prints they are complaining about, its too bad, but you really can't take peoples word these days.
In the end, there is nothing you can do until you see the shirts in question. Be polite but firm that they must bring all the shirts back and you will inspect them. Then in the future make sure you inspect the shirts when you receive them to make sure you received what you ordered, quality check again after printing; that way you will know whether any sizes or prints are messed up. That is the only way to protect yourself against claims that they got the wrong sizes. If you have extra transfers then you can offer to reprint any mistakes; if you don't have the transfers then I would just refund any mistakes.
Don't think that customers are out to get you but customers make mistakes just as we printers sometimes make mistakes. I had a lady call me one day furious because her order was short. I calmly asked her if she had counted them (over a thousand pieces), and she hesitated, "...because I did count them and every one is there." was my reply. She hung up without another word. Only a tiny percentage of your customers are out to intentionally rip you off but there are some who will complain without cause.
Just look at the "mistakes" and see if there is any merit. There are placement rules/guidelines on garments, regardless of size. If you don't have those let me know and I will post links.
If you have made mistakes, then replace them. If you haven't, then don't.
one you get the shirt or anything check them and after you done do a quality check. make sure none are missing, trust me this has saved me alot of trouble over the years
not sure without seeing the shirts myself... In the future i would do my best to get signatures on various stages... after they accept the price and the design... then when they pick them up... have them sign a form that they accept the product... documentation is a good way to go in case there is a problem and even litigation... Hard to tell if these people are trying to scam you or they are short on funds... or the shirts are messed up... good luck...
We were just talking yesterday about how we use Virginia Ts and they have NEVER shorted us one piece. I check the minute they come through the door. I pull out whatever is needed for an order, put them together (I hang them) and wrap a zip tie around them with a label.
When we print, I match them up against the invoice as a second time.
I know the grief you are going through as we are small too. There is a knot in your stomach. I, too, would ask them to bring them all back. We'd go through them together. Sometimes you have to eat it, just to eliminate the bad word of mouth.
I've been self employed for 20+ years. When you make 1 mistake some customers smell blood and try to get many freebies.
Example: 2 years ago I did work for a cheerleading squad. When I delivered the goods, we (myself and customer) inspected all the garments. As I was bringing out the pants I noticed a small hole in the bottom of 1 pair. The hole was a manufacturer error. I called Alpha in front of the customer and they sent out another pair. I told her to take the pants with the hole and I would get her the new pants the next day. Now the customer went crazy with the inspection process, she checked everything 3-4 times. No problem, as no other mistakes were found. The next afternoon I drop off the new pants, all the girls are wearing the new warmups. We inspect the new pair and I tell the girl she can keep the old pants with the hole. 5 days later I get a call from the coach telling me 2 of the other girls also have holes in the pants.
Now I know something is up, I tell her to gather all the pants in question and when she finds the hole herself to call me and I will stop to pick them up. After 3 days I call the coach and ask what is happening with the pants. It was a miracle as the pants fixed themselves, the holes were gone.
The other girls just wanted a second set of pants for free.
I'm not saying this is your case but it does sound similar.
Good luck and hold your ground. Request all the shirts be brought in, just to make sure you made a mistake. Then in 3 days see if another miracle took place.
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We decided to do a partial refund and get on with life. This was our first complaint of this kind and we decided instead of going forward and replacing this shirt and that shirt that we would just refund the amount of the shirts they said were messed up. This was our idea not theirs and got the conflict over with and we just want to chalk it up as a learning exp. Thanks everyone for your advice we learned some good things that should help this from happening again.
I deal with TONS of college orders, and am a college student myself. I have noticed, you get more complaints and its harder to satisfy college students. So by doing these orders, I designed a better set of quality control systems. Its def. worth it!
Heres my story:
I did an order for a group of students who were originally happy with their order, but then I recieved complaints of pricing, quality, etc. which was BS. I then realized that someone told them they could get them cheaper, faster, and better made. Turns out to be all a lie after I found out the place this kid was talking about wanted 9.50 a shirt and was owned by his mom. I do screen printing along with heat pressing and offer prices WAY lower than the stores near campus.
Its common for college clients to want shirts for FREE done by YESTURDAY with DESIGNER expectations.
So heres what I did to overcome that, and it may help you.
1. Make sure they understand the TYPE of shirt they are ordering. 100% cotton, 50/50, etc.
2. Explain to them that their order can't be completed as fast anywhere else and make it known you are going to work your *** off for them.
3. Make sure the images are correct before you print/press. the shirts. I make them sign a form verifying the print, or email with a required response back in order to start.
4. When I recieve the shirts from my supplier, VERIFY sizes and colors! IMPORTANT!! and then verify it with their order.
5. When I start decorating them, I seperate by sizes and make sure ALL positioning is correct on the shirt. Make sure every placement of the image is the same on every shirt of the same size. (College students will be wearing these shirts together at functions.
The shirts will be worn side by side allowing for others to notice if one shirt image is possitioned differently)
6. I purchased a shirt folder on ebay, which allows me to double check every shirts placement, size, color, etc. So im achieving quality control, and impressing them with individually prefessional folded shirts.
7. Lastly, I put the shirts in the box according to size and color.
This is just an idea and isnt necessarily the best way to do it, but it works for me! So even if the shirts are being sold at a drunken event, you know what you provided. Shirts can get stolen at these places ultimately making them mad and then come up with a story about the order hoping you will provide "free" shirts!
When ever possible it is always good to try and get someone else to pack the final order, unfortunately our minds do like to play tricks and likes to tell your hand to tick the picking slip even though the eyes didn't agree!
It is easy to do, not saying that happened to you but there is a reason that a quality control line and usually packing areas need 2 people to complete, 1 picks, the other checks that what was picked(printed etc) is what is on the bench ready to be packed and sent. Customers are also less likely to try it on if there are 2 different markings on the picking slip.
This is a discussion about Help with an upset customer. (sorry its long) that was posted in the General T-Shirt Selling Discussion section of the forums.
Help with an upset customer. (sorry its long) 
