Refund from printer?

Mancat

New Member
Hey guys,

I'm a full-time freelance graphic/web designer and used to also offer print reselling services. I used to use a company who a lot of you are familiar with called 'Sense Creative'. I stopped using Sense Creative around 2009(ish) as they let me down badly a few times and I was stung on price, and the old owner (John) had a terrible reputation, and I've experienced first-hand his legendary 'customer service.' It was frustrating as occasionally they did a good job.

Anyway, around 2012 an old client asked if I still did print, so I gave Sense Creative a second chance and printed some booklets with them which turned out great. This client ordered similar booklets at the same time each year and from 2012-2016, and they all came out fine, so I thought maybe SC had cleaned up their act or had new management.

A few weeks ago the same client approached me for his annual booklet printing. I don't offer much print reselling now as I do more digital design, but my mark up is about £70, (not bad for forwarding some files to a printer), so do it as a one-off job each year. This year, however, when I went to the SC website, it no longer exists, and I got a landing page saying SC is now part of TP. I then followed the link which redirected me to tradeprint.co.uk and ordered my booklets.

The client called me late last Friday evening and said the cover pages were printed the wrong way round! All the other pages are in the correct order. Now, I supplied the files as single page pdfs (not as 'printers pairs') as I do each year. I also checked the 'artwork guide' on the booklet page, and it recommends sending the files '... as individual pages in reading order', which I did, so hopefully I should have a solid case for a reprint or refund. I'm concerned though as I know in the past SC used to claim the files had been sent incorrectly as an excuse to avoid a refund.

I need to call the printer this Monday, but if John from SC works there I know what the answer will be for a refund - phone down! So I'm now potentially out of pocket from both the printer refusing to refund me and for having to refund my client. If TP refuses to either refund me or offer a refund, then I'll be down over £400!

I then did a bit of digging online and found that SC seems to have gone into liquidation and John (old director) is not listed as a director for Trade Print which trades under the name 'Tradeprint Distribution Limited'.

So I'm confused as to whether SC is part of TP - the TP website has a similar feel design wise to the old SC website.

Sorry for the long post but if anyone can help answer the following before I phone them on Monday, I would be most grateful.

1. Have the owners (John) of Sense Creative simply set up shop under Trade Print or is TP a diff company and has anyones used them before?
2. If TP refuses to refund or reprint my booklets what options do I have?

Thanks in advance.

Kind regards,

Rob
 
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To be honest the best advice we can give is contact them and talk to them...
 
As @Levi says, the best option is to talk to them. You seem to have a solid case as you have followed the guidelines set by them. If they don't want to accept responsibility then they will lose a customer. Losing a customer is synonymous with losing money. But not only that. They also they risk that you leave reviews in different places where you describe what you have gone through with them. Hope you find a good solution in this matter.
 
@Mancat,

Nice to hear that things went well after all. I understand the frustration you had as you had previously been treated poorly. As @Paul Murray has suggested, you should consider using stationery direct in the future. I'm not going to write a lengthy essay about how good they are, but if you look at Trustpilot and read the reviews about stationery direct there you will know why they are used by so many people and businesses.
 
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Sounds like you were unlucky with TradePrint, as I've used them for years and never ever had a problem with them. They are always willing to help if they can. They certainly are not part of SC as TradePrint have been going for years, they were FairPrint before that.
 
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