I’m so mad I could spit!!
My favorite Domer and I took several of his dorm room posters to a local copy shop this morning for laminating. He said they last much longer with that plasticky stuff front and back.
We picked them up and paid for them (close to $30), then went home. When we gave them a closer inspection, we were appalled to realize the ink had bled through. The backs were almost as printed as the fronts. The lines and letters were fuzzy, the colors were blurry, and the edges had all kinds of icky ink bumps on them.
I called the shop manager, explained our “disappointment” (in a nice way, mind you), and was told we “must not have noticed” the ink was bad when we dropped them off.
Huh?
That doesn’t fly, because we had looked them over very carefully beforehand.
I tried to tell her this, but she got all huffy and told me she isn’t to blame for laminating that goes wrong.
Really?
As a small business person myself, I understand how difficult it is to have to re-do a job. It’s time-consuming and you can’t simply re-bill for that time.
But oh how much worse it would be NOT to “make it right”!
One bad customer with an axe to grind can truly ruin your entire basket of business!
Most business people know this.
Take Wal-Mart, for example. If you’re not satisfied with a purchase, simply return it — they’ll credit the card you used for the purchase, give you cash for your return, or let you exchange it for something else.
Simple. And effective.
That’s why folks love Wally-world!
Why should a copy shop be any different?
Sure, they have a monopoly — especially in a small town — but does that excuse them from Basic Business Ethics 101??
We went back to the shop to show the manager what we meant. MFD insisted I wait in the car — at 19, he’s certainly old enough to register his own complaints!
He was back within minutes, steaming. The manager, he said, refused to do anything. Since his posters are obviously ruined, he asked if she would reprint the posters from his flash drive, then try the lamination again. No deal.
She was sticking to her guns and that was that.
Now he’s out the initial money to print the posters AND the money for the ruined lamination job!
This, on a college kid’s “allowance.”
Of course I checked her business out online, hoping to register a complaint there. She’s not accredited by the Better Business Bureau, nor is she a member of our city’s Chamber of Commerce.
Short of writing a scathing Letter to the Editor of our newspaper, I’m at a loss.
It makes my hackles rise that one puny excuse of a business owner can set such a sorry example for our youth!
And you can bet we won’t step foot inside her shop again!
Musings by an ND Domer's Mom 
Wow, what an idiot. I guess you could picket in front of the biz. Or start a review on Yelp. Have you tried Yelp yet? Here’s an example, and I use it a lot in my town. I found a great place to get a massage, and a hair salon, and tomorrow I’m trying a nail salon. When I got great service I joined (free) and wrote great reviews. Maybe they could do your copy place:
http://www.yelp.com/search?find_desc=spa+temecula&ns=1&find_loc=Temecula,+CA,+USA#find_desc=Spa+Escape
Great idea, Lynne! Thanks for the link. That might be the best avenue for my ire — it’s waaay too hot to picket outdoors!
GRRR,Deb, my blood would boil too at such stupidity..surely you are not alone in your frustrations. I hope you do get to publicly review this through Lynne’s link! Funny how it’s not the big things in life ,it’s these little naggly annoyances that get us!
Kathy
You’re so right, Kathy! Funny, but my son still wants to major in Business. Let’s hope he and his generation can turn things back to the basics from all this selfishness, unconcern, and refusal to admit one’s faults!