Latest Rejects

[mk162]

there is such little ink coverage that those shirts would go right back to normal after a trip through a clothes dryer.

I'd be effing pissed if my boss called me out in front of a customer like that.  It's fine to talk about things, but don't throw your employees under the bus. I would never do that to an employee of mine, unless the offense occurred in front of a customer, like cursing or inappropriate language.

[jvieira]

there is such little ink coverage that those shirts would go right back to normal after a trip through a clothes dryer.

I'd be effing pissed if my boss called me out in front of a customer like that.  It's fine to talk about things, but don't throw your employees under the bus. I would never do that to an employee of mine, unless the offense occurred in front of a customer, like cursing or inappropriate language.

Don't know how you are reading this but I have called an employee multiple times to explain to a customer what happened to the order (we were unsure of a couple things/possible defects). Sometimes the rep or the owner just doesn't have enough information to explain what happened and WHY it cannot be fixed. It might take the person who printed it to make a proper explanation and say "hey, it is what it is".

But yeh, if he was called out and thrown under the bus, that sucks and should not have been done

[prozyan]

The print doesn't distort because of tack, the shirt stretches in places from pulling it off.  Hit it with a steam wand for wrinkles for a few seconds, problem solved.

Unless of course you are using so much tack you need a tow truck to remove the shirt from the pallet.

[tonypep]

Agreed. Poor handling by owner. Once a customer has an order under the microscope, you are usually doomed

[Sbrem]

Having been where Alan was before, it sure sounds like he was thrown under the proverbial bus by his boss, because his boss should have spoken to him privately and had his back before subjecting him to the heat. I'm the boss here, and would never do that to one of my staff. When I did work for someone else though, I frequently met with customers to explain what could and couldn't be done on a technical level and that we would work with them to produce the best product possible within their budget. I even nicely asked a customer once how he would make a straight line stay straight on a shirt after it's printed; he thought about it for a minute, and realized the truth. Communication is key, and it's tough sell; you need to get them to agree that it's unreasonable...

Steve

[mk162]

the term "ambushed" leads me to believe it wasn't pleasant.

[dirkdiggler]

when ours get stretched, we just restretch in the opposite direction, all is usually good.

[larryk]

Problem Solved!...... all we have to do is get one of these artsey type guys to figure out how to compensate for the stretch that occurs and then build it into the artwork... So the artwork will look curvy but the shirts will be straight when removed from the shirt boards.... Problem Solved... Now why didn't we think of this years ago? I think we could or should get a patent on this before Custom Ink does..............

[tancehughes]

Alan, we have a VERY similar situation that happened here today. Customer has these super stretchy shirts that we printed the logo on and sent them all back because a couple of them were very slightly "crooked". I inspected them along with two other employees and then told her very nicely that these were not crooked and in fact very much within acceptable industry standard and there would be no refund or reprint.  In my opinion, our print crew did an excellent job with the shirts considering how stretchy they were!

In our case this is a "contract" customer that really sucks and we do a lot of hand holding with, so we are hoping that she does not come back to us again.

[Itsa Little CrOoked]

I'm insulated from our customers, the front runs interference. But I don't *think* distortion has come up in 8 years, even though with a brand new application of Waterbased tac especially on new paper, they can be danged sticky on the first few shirts. They are gonna distort during dismount.

I might tell them (if one of the gals up front summonsed me from the dungeon...unlikely... in a scenario like Alan was stuck in) to wash the shirt, put the shirt on a body, and call me in the morning. I'll bet a C-note you couldn't tell the difference from a shirt that DID pass muster.

But since I AM the boss, I'd only got myself to blame.

Like mentioned in a previous post, once the magnifying glass comes out, they are probably gonna get their pound of flesh.

Charlie Taublieb once taught in a workshop in KC, if you get closer than 3 (three) feet to inspect a shirt for flaws on a body, you are waaaaaaay too close. It it looks okay at 3 feet on a body, that is within the customary parameters of printing shirts. (paraprased)

We gotta educate the custy, and deal a little with their psychology, whether its fair or not. Your boss fumbled the football on this play.

(Wow I just re-read that and it sounded too know-it-all for my comfort. I don't have time to re-write it, so please forgive any UNINTENTIONAL, irritating tone.  I KNOW your place is a great shop, and I probably should have just shut up with my advice.)

[Rockers]

The customer was first to point them out, after opening the box and looking at one she noticed it, then decided to go through the entire order in the office while everyone started gathering around wondering what the problem was.  I was then "summoned" to the embroidery building and ambushed by the customer, sales person, owner, another sales person, receiving employee and an admin person.  I was asked why the print was so distorted, it looked like "a horseshoe shape" and why we didn't catch the problem because there were so many.  I had to take a huge breath and stay composed and I tried my best to explain what causes it, why it's really not avoidable in such a small degree that these shirts were and everyone was very surprised that these shirts were a very mild case.  It all went in one ear and out the other because the customer did not like them so case closed.  I was then confronted again a while later and told that I needed to fix the problem.  I told everyone that essentially several hundred thousand shirts have been printed this year that were just like that shirt or worse and that I wasn't just trying to cover my butt by saying it was well within industry standard.  I dug through a bunch of prints that were waiting for customer pickup showing there was no difference but due to the design itself, being straight lines that it looked far worse than it was.

Especially once someone wears those shirts you won`t notice the issue at all. I really don`t have time for these kind of customer complaints at all anylonger. I had clients measuring the length of each shirt and compare them to what it should be according to the manufacturers specs. Well there were a few shirts within the same size that were out by +-3 cm which of course is not OK but probably unavoidable but that`s not the point. Honestly who is so anal to dig out a tape measure and check each garment for the right length.

[Maxie]

What would happen if you flashed, a long flash 2 or 3 heads from the end.   This would almost cure the ink  and it would have time to cool.
It should maintain it's shape when you pull it off.
This won't solve your existing problem and I've never tried it but might be an idea for shapes, lines etc that distort when being pulled off the platen.

[LuckyFlyinROUSH]

Did you tell her to go wash the shirts and dry them like her husband would and everything would be fine?

[Frog]

What would happen if you flashed, a long flash 2 or 3 heads from the end.   This would almost cure the ink  and it would have time to cool.
It should maintain it's shape when you pull it off.
This won't solve your existing problem and I've never tried it but might be an idea for shapes, lines etc that distort when being pulled off the platen.

A slightly stretched distortion of the knit fabric is the same with cured or uncured ink. It's the shirt itself.
What the flash near the end does do is aid in unloading at speed.

[alan802]

Did you tell her to go wash the shirts and dry them like her husband would and everything would be fine?

Of course, I even took the steamer from the embroidery dept and steamed it straight in front of everybody and it got rid of most of it but it was not good enough.  I could have had Jesus himself backing me up on this one and we would have still had to reprint the shirts.  I waited till I was in my building before I let some pressure out but I really wanted to in front of everybody.