[RESOLVED] Who is in charge

[Cindylou]

Matt Cohen has responded promptly and satisfactorily concerning my issue with Pro World. We discussed the issue at length and he was very professional and I am pleased with the outcome. Thanks for letting me vent.
Matt=new best friend

[baddjun1]

I too have bought transfers on many occasions from Proworld. I use them solely and have recommended them both here on this forum and to friends. I have always found them to be knowledgeable and willing to resolve issues. Have I gotten a few bad transfers in orders? sure. But the majority have been great and I don't think it is worth my time or theirs to quibble about a bad transfer because the cost can be absorbed in the profit of the rest.

[JPD]

Would it be possible to update the first post in this thread to reflect the resolution of this issue? If I hadn't read all the way through the thread to the second page, I would not have known that everything is now resolved.

Glad it worked out!

Eric

[thomhee]

I have a ProWorld story that probablly ranks up here with these bad stories also, but it has nothing to do with screwing up a transfer or shirt.

I posted some designs for sale on my site that were offered by ProWorld. At that time, I probablly purchased a couple hundred dollars worth of transfers a month from ProWorld. I purchased a transfer that said "Sometimes I feel like a slut, sometimes I don't" from them.

About a month later I got a knock on the door and I was being served papers. I was being sued by Hershey's chocolate for trademark infringement by using the ProWorld design.

To make a long story short, it ended up costing me about $4,000 in attorney fees.

[proworlded]

This was actually a design produced by X-it. We also had a couple of years of litigation and cost us several thousand in legal fees....and I guess we lost a good customer even though we were caught in the middle.

[Uncle John]

Cindylou and all Heat Press folks! Transfers will only adhere to fabrics that don't have a high moisture content. I suggest you always prepress them before you transfer. We make our own, and in the summer in Texas we made samples for Christmas Design on sweats, they were great even wash ability, but when we pressed them in November (cold, rainy) They peeled, That was the only variable. Good luck, John

[Vicki Flores]

I had an issue back in July when I was a brand newbie. I basically just wanted to make them aware of a particular rhinestone transfer that lost stones when washed - trying to give them a heads up on this particular transfer - figured it was cheap chinese stones and if it was my business I would want to know of a problem and pull the product before affecting my credibility. The person I first dealt with asked me so many questions that I felt like I was being accused. It was partly the way she asked the questions, I felt she was being condescending.

I even sent Ed Cohen a certified letter. Don't know if he ever got the letter but I worked with Diane Brocco and she did refund the transfers, shirt & postage. I had used several other rhinestone transfers of theirs without any problems, which is why I was taken aback when they made me feel like I had done something wrong. Being new, I couldn't afford to ruin my credibility with first timer customers on a defective product.

I do still order transfers from them - they have a great selection and competitive pricing. But having worked in customer service for 25 years myself, I have to admit that they tend to be lacking in the customer service respect - sort of hit or miss depending on who answers the phone. I am afraid to call with questions because I feel like a couple of their employees, I will not name names, talk down to me as though I don't know what I am doing, instead of encouraging me and trying to enable me. Which is a shame because I give positive feedback as well as negative. By that same token, they have a couple of employees that really try to help, but I don't have time to play roulette on the phone. This could be easily resolved with some customer service training for those individuals who maybe don't know how to deal with customers/issues. After training, if they still can't treat people with dignity and respect, perhaps they should be moved to another department, or just not be allowed to answer the phone.

By the way, I see they are still selling that same transfer, don't know if they got some with better stones, or if it is still the same one and no one has bothered to really raise a ruckus about it. But I won't touch it.....

[proworldmatt]

Thank you all for your valuable feedback. When we first discussed the idea of T-ShirtForums.com (TSF) hosting our community we were hoping we would get both negative and positive feedback to help guide us as a company and know where we were good and where we needed improvement. Customer service has always been the most important part of our business and we work extremely hard to keep improving on it. A few of you have mentioned frusration with some of our customer service representatives and not being treated as you would expect. There is no excuse for this and I have already begun actions to make sure that improvements are underway . I hear you loud and clear and will try my best to prevent this from happening again. That being said, if it does, let us know, as that is what this forum is all about. I only ask that you be fair to us and let us know when we're really good as well :-).

I have read all your posts and have already begun addressing these issues, especially when it involves transfer application issues that you may have experienced. First, we inventory over 12,000 different stock transfer designs from more than 10 manufacturers. Although, we'd like to believe that a "hot peel" is a "hot peel" we do experience application issues from time to time for the same type of transfers from one manufactuer vs. another, and sometimes from the same manufacturer. To help alleviate this issue we post application instructions next to each transfer as well as provide video instructions for applying the most common type of transfers. However, based upon some of the feedback here we are going to go a step further and do two more things:

(1) Within the next couple of weeks you will see a link next to each transfer that says "Report Issues with this transfer." When you click on this you will be able to explain application issues you're having. Doing this will notify us immediately of problems with particular transfers and pick up any trends we're seeing so that we may remove them from inventory or test them internally before continuing to sell more.

(2) Starting next week, if you call or email us with an application issue, we will recommend how to apply the particular transfer, as well as check to make sure you're applying it on the correct type of garment, with proper temperature, time, and pressure. Assuming that still does not work for you, we will issue you a credit for the transfer you printed plus the cost of the shirt, up to a maximum of $10.00. Assuming you have transfers remaining, we will arrange for you to have them either returned or destroyed so we can issue you a credit.

As for the legal issues mentioned by Thomas, we are extremely sorry. As Ed mentioned we ending up paying over $10K in legal fees as well. When we carry a manufacturer's design we carry it with the assumption that they (the manufacturer), have received all clearance to produce and distribute that product. Unfortunately in the case of the Hershey-like transfers, we found out after the fact, that this was not the case and we had to drag the manufacturer into the legal issues as well. We may have lost a customer here but this is an isolated case and fortunately it doesn't happen that often and we respond accordingly as quickly as possible.

Finally, to my new best friend Cindy, thank you for letting the community know we resolved the issue. As the saying goes "the squeaky wheel gets the oil." Thanks to Cindy's "venting" (we like to call it t-shirt therapy :-)), we were able to resolve the issue and hopefully keep her as a long time customer.

Gang, keep up the great feedback and have a great Thanksgiving and holiday season.

[MotoskinGraphix]

I like the ability to report iffy transfers, very good idea.

[Vicki Flores]

That is a great idea - helps restore my faith in your business even more. It is a win/win situation. It is hard to regain credibility once it is lost and being new, I can't afford that risk with a company that isn't interested in hearing about issues. I appreciate all that you are endeavoring to do!!!

[Cindylou]

Thanks Matt...have a great holiday!

[proworldmatt]

Gang:

You spoke and we listened! We went a step further and took action. I am happy to report that as of today and because of your feedback both these policies and features are now in place at Pro World:

(1) You will see a link below each transfer that says "Report problem with this transfer." When you click on this you will be able to explain application issues you're having. Doing this will notify us immediately of problems with particular transfers and pick up any trends we're seeing so that we may remove them from inventory or test them internally before continuing to sell more. Here's a couple of screen shots of this new feature:
screen1
screen2

(2) Currently in effect, if you call or email us with an application issue, we will recommend how to apply the particular transfer, as well as check to make sure you're applying it on the correct type of garment, with proper temperature, time, and pressure. Assuming that still does not work for you, we will issue you a credit for the transfer you printed plus the cost of the shirt, up to a maximum of $10.00. Assuming you have transfers remaining, we will arrange for you to have them either returned or destroyed so we can issue you a credit.

Thanks so much for speaking your mind. Because of your feedback we were able to come up with improvements that should make buying from Pro World even easier now.

Let us know what you think.

Happy Holidays!

[Cindylou]

Matt..you are awesome!

[mickipke]

I have done business with ProWorld for many years and will continue to do so. I have never had a problem that wasn't my own fault.

[SickPuppy]

Quote: Originally Posted by Cindylou I guess you need to make your own decision but I would not do business with someone willing to lose a customer over that amount of money.

In the garment decoration business you must expect some spoilage. You should factor this into both your pricing and inventory.