screen printed clothing warranty

[Kellan3737]

Hey,

I am wondering if any shops out there offer a warranty on screen printed tshirts.  I have a customer of mine wanting a warranty contract,  I'm a small shop working out of my garage and I'm not completely sure if this is something that is commonly done or if I want to put myself in a position where they may not following proper washing procedures with screen printed clothing and come back on me to replace pieces they have damaged.  I can understand replacing pieces that are damaged or incorrect upon arrival to them when they inspect the order, but after washing is what I'm thinking will be the issue.

thanks in advance!

Kellan

[Get Shirts]

No way.  Of course you stand behind your work, as you should, but I would NEVER sign that kind of contract.  The terms would be subjective at best.  I guess you could counter with a customer contract staring things like:  all artwork submitted will be vector, no less than 48 pieces per design, no rush orders, and so on.   

[mk162]

yup, mine are warrantied until the leave the building.

[blue moon]

yup, mine are warrantied until the leave the building.

my take is, we will cover issues caused by improper printing regardless of the time. If we screwed up, we fix it!
obviously, improper washing is not our fault so it is not covered. We also have the right to a certain amount of misprints so we don't have to print one or two shirts with seven screens . . .

pierre

[mk162]

pierre, I agree.  And you've hit on the problem, I can't know how people are laundering their shirts.  I had a customer asking why the buttons melted off their shirt and it turns out they used their industrial laundry machine to do them.  They process meat and their coats/garments get laundered several times a day using those machines.  Well, normal shirts don't come with high-temp buttons, the industrial shirts do.  So they just had to make sure nobody put those shirts in the washers/dryers at work.

I can't cover those type of mistakes.

[GraphicDisorder]

Any time ive made a mistake, I require ALL shirts back.  If we have a issue that is effecting shirts, it should be effecting all of them similarly.  I've found that most just want to replace the shirt they washed in transmission fluid and brake cleaner, and there is not often actually a issue with the printing. 

[Kellan3737]

I appreciate everyones posts,  This customer seems to want something on paper, they are a vinyl shop and they offer a warranty on fading signage and I didnt want to put myself into a situation where I was saying something that would be put in me in a bind where I'm replacing 100's of pieces that they washed incorrectly at my expense.

[Printficient]

I appreciate everyones posts,  This customer seems to want something on paper, they are a vinyl shop and they offer a warranty on fading signage and I didnt want to put myself into a situation where I was saying something that would be put in me in a bind where I'm replacing 100's of pieces that they washed incorrectly at my expense.

Sometimes the best thing you can do is say "no thanks"

[shellyky]

they are a vinyl shop and they offer a warranty on fading signage

thats because Oracal or 3m has a warranty that stands behind their vinyl not fading after 3, 5, 7 years....he's just passing that "peace of mind" along.  screenprinting has too many variables to offer that type of situation IMO....i'd steer clear....  someone that persistent is just looking for a problem.

[ScreenFoo]

Brad beat me to what I was going to say from the topic.  But I have an idea for you if you really want the customer--

Do it like the carbon fiber bike people do it.  Charge them double and stipulate a maximum of one warranty replacement per order.   

[ZooCity]

most just want to replace the shirt they washed in transmission fluid and brake cleaner, and there is not often actually a issue with the printing.

Yep.  The only way you can "warranty" a particular shirt+ print combo is if the shirt is washed correctly.  No idea how you could enforce that.

Talk with your client and explain that your shirts should look great after many washings, washed correctly.  Run one through 20 wash/dry cycles for them to use as an example.  Plastisol and wb/dc prints, printed and cured correctly and washed inside out with cold water, dried medium will look great for a long, long time. 

[TCT]

Warranty on a sign is a way different deal hopefully the customer will understand that.  The sign gets hung up and pretty much left alone side from the weather.
Shirts are subjected to stupid human elements. Which can and will be all over the place! People do some incredibly stupid things (starting a screen printing shop pops into my mind;D ).

I actually had a college kid years ago think his "dorm move in" shirts were defective because his black shirt was spotty and discolored after washing. Guess what he used to wash his clothes? Bleach. Yes bleach.  His first time doing laundry.

Just explain to your customer there are so many factors people can ruin the shirts with.

Offer the warranty if the end user can provide dry cleaner receipts for every wash!

[Zelko-4-EVA]

Offer the warranty if the end user can provide dry cleaner receipts for every wash!

wont the dry cleaner use a chemical that will destroy the plastisol print?

[Kellan3737]

if anyone is interested in knowing I made a little write up and fired it off to my customer, they were happy and I got the job.

thanks for all your help. 

BNW Screen printing will cover issues or defects caused by improper printing methods noted within one week of receiving your screen printed product, and replace or fix if possible.  BNW Screen printing cannot guarantee anything after the wash process since we cannot guarantee you followed the care instructions noted on the invoice.