The inventory issue has been resolved. Please see why things have been so unresponsive. I appreciate it. Thanks,
FireSnake Designs
Ok…I’ve taken a day or so to really let this post sink in. My first reaction was shock and then confusion because I have talked with Firesnake at length on “multiple” occasions and even given him my personal cell number to expedite answers to his questions. The first thing I would like to do is share the improvements the Mojo has made because of the truly crazy traffic we have recently experienced.
- We have taken steps to increase the automation in our shipping process.
- We have moved into a facility that is 3 times bigger than we had projected we would need 3 years earlier than we had planned.
- We have hired staff and implemented 3rd party software and training that will allow us to actually produce 10 times..(take a moment
) 10 TIMES the amount of orders that we could just a few months ago. The nice thing about this specific technology is that the capability grows as we need it to. If orders increase so does our capability to produce according to the demand.
- We have learned that the web can kick your butt if you aren’t truly ready for it.
And now I’m on to this specific post. I truly have no hard feelings and for the record, Firesnake’s complaints are “for the most part” valid. My first conversation with Firesnake was about what he was “requiring” us to code for “his” store specifically. I quickly explained that all 14000+ merchants have the same features for their store and that his specific needs could be met with a few workarounds already available to the merchants.
As for PrintMojo as a whole. We have spent more time on the phone and e-mail with Firesnake than ANY other merchant that we have ever had.
I’m not just “saying” that
When someone takes the time to post a detailed complaint on a forum (there have only been 3 in our history so far) I take it very seriously and start digging for an honest answer. I’ve spent time the last two days talking to the staff about our shortcomings with Firesnake specifically. Having said that I “really” want to point out that we went the extra mile with a merchant that may not realize the extent to which we really tried to meet the very high bar set for us. I also want to point out that we understand the passion that all of our merchants have for their ideas and designs. We “get” and ”embrace” that it’s not just another t-shirt, it’s an extension of you. We take that to heart and want to see it succeed as much as you do.
I feel like I should start from the beginning and explain every little detail. I’ve decided not to do that.
Well maybe just a couple…
There was a delay from us having to re-color one of designs Firesnake submitted on an incompatible shirt color, and another big delay on a design he decided to change from a multi-color design to a one-color version. Ok, Ok done with that. My job at PrintMojo is to make each and every merchant feel like they are our only customer and when I fail at that responsibility I blame no one but myself.
So again, Firesnake, I apologize for not meeting your expectations.
I have been in this industry for over 20 years and I’m just “one” of the Mojo “experts” with those credentials. Firesnake, buddy, you are correct. We failed to meet some time lines but I haven’t heard one complaint about the end product! In fact, we did some in-house tests with discharge and fashion soft inks just to decide on the best way to proceed. We wanted to make sure the final result would look the best on the garments selected. We actually take these extra (behind the scenes) steps for every merchant when we see it will benefit the end user. The simple fact is that the shirts look awesome and that’s because we hit the brakes a few times along the way in an effort to make sure that the art and printing process were correctly suited to the garments. We want the end product to be as cutting edge as our merchants ideas. It’s our merchants ideas coupled with our industry expertise that sell shirts. Let me just say that there were very complex issues to be tackled with the art submitted and that I personally will not sign off on art I “know” will not work or sell. I actually approved a $75 break on the time spent by our art staff fixing the art originally submitted . Not to mention having our senior graphic designer call and try to educate/train Firesnake on his software so he could make the changes to the artwork himself for his current and future orders. Truth be told, we could have made the changes in-house in half the amount of time it took to try and walk him through the process. Not complaining by any stretch we actually do this all the time. I just feel it needs pointing out in the specific situation.
I e-mailed and then followed up with a call to Firesnake with our situation. I explained that not just his orders but a few merchant orders had hit during an interesting time for us. We had recently had an
article in an industry magazine. We were of course appreciative but we didn’t really think twice about its possible impact. We have been reported on and even featured in the past. Each time there was a temporary spike in hits, merchant applications and sales. This time we were caught off guard and I have to tell you it had been tough keeping up since it went live online. When the same article hit print it was truly surreal around here.
I’m happy to say we are 98% caught up and back to our old self as far as our response time and satisfaction ratio. As I have mentioned, we have new personnel to answer phones, merchant as well as end user questions and ultimately picking and shipping the products. This allows people like myself to get back to what we do best.
I’m not sure if you can hear the big sigh of relief in those words but it’s in there
We were excited as well as shocked by some of the merchants successes during the same period of time. We had two particular merchants that were processing record breaking orders after they launched. Right in the middle of this avalanche Firesnake had placed his first order with us. I explained our situation on the phone with him during one of the many calls he made to our support staff. As I mentioned earlier I even gave him my personal cell number so he could get his answers sooner than later. It really seemed like he would e-mail us and then call 10 minutes after to make sure we were “on the ball”. My attitude was still “bring it on” I love a customer service challenge and truly believe PrintMojo went above and beyond the call of duty here.
I can go on and on but I’m hopeful I have made my personal point as well as validated Firesnake’s complaint about the Mojo. Firesnake, If you are ever in Chico I’d be happy to buy you a beer (or soda) and talk about the many t-shirt ideas and business opportunities in our future.