# HELP! Printed wrong phone number on t-shirts (customer approved). Any way to fix?



## twenty502 (Mar 25, 2011)

I HAVE A HUGE PROBLEM: not sure if this can be fixed or not. i have a 6 color 4 station manual press. i recently printed a job for a construction company, simple design, 3 colors. 

i sent the customer the proof, they okay'd it, and all i had to do was await their end's vector for me to get ready to do the screens

long story short, the customer's graphic person (the owner's sister) sent me the design with teh wrong phone number. so even tho i sent the customer the proof, and he approved, they overlooked that one digit in the number was off. so i have a stack of t shirts already printed with the wrong phone number on them.

the phone number is at the bottom, so i'm not sure if there's anyway to salvage this or if i have to burn all new screens and dump a chunk of change out of my own pocket for his t shirts.

suggestion?


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## Rodney (Nov 3, 2004)

:: edited thread TITLE to be more descriptive  ::​


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## redlinecol (Jul 13, 2011)

Surely it's your customer's problem, as they approved the proof. But....I'd say the best way to salvage the shirts would be to press a transfer over the top of the number with a block & the correct number.


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## Gilligan (Dec 11, 2009)

How big is it?

Maybe a spot gun remover? But you'd still need to use vinyl or something to replace or spend WAY too much time lining things up.


BUT this is on the customer. You might cut him some slack... say it's a 100 piece job... well give him the price for a 200 piece job and charge him for 200 of them.

If THEY supplied artwork and it was wrong that is CERTAINLY their fault. If "told" you want to do and you did it wrong and then they approved it then that would get sketchy because they could easily say "we said...". If it was in writing then that would be tough too... I would assume someone would translate what I gave them properly and not mix up a number and if they did even if I approved it I'd probably be upset because I might not have been looking for typos since that is something you should have done. But in this case it sounds like there was NO WAY for you to know until after they came look at the job. That's on them.

I recently had a small order of Cajun Wine Glass drinking containers that the customer sent me an email that said "Erica and Luck". We did the order and brought them to them. They called us up and said "it was supposed to be "Erica and Luke"... I quickly got in my email and checked... because if it was MY mistake obviously I would redo. But if is on them they THEY have to just order some more as I fulfilled their order PROPERLY!

Documentation is key!


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## Celtic (Feb 19, 2008)

I agree. 
If the customer signs off on the final art/text/etc (and they always should) it is THEIR fault and by no means should come out of your pocket.

I would be nice, and yes, offer them a little better price break on printing the job again, 
but this was something that THEY messed up on, not you.
You can only go by their information.


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## StampedTees (Jun 15, 2011)

My first question is .. Did you get a deposit for at least the cost of the supplies??

At the most I would offer this customer 1/2 price on the reprints. They pay full price on the new shirts though. Only the printing charge is discounted.

And I really feel like that is being kind. That's a lot of time I'm sure you put into those shirts.


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## Sport T (Nov 10, 2010)

It's simple. You printed in good faith what they sent you and approved so they owe you for the shirts. Hopefully you got a deposit. I would offer them a discount on the incorrect job and reprint the order with the correct number and charge them the originally agreed upon price for the reprints.


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## coolrosie (Sep 14, 2008)

i agree use a cover and put the correct number of that. Easiest and best way to salvage the job.


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## WikiThreads (Apr 2, 2011)

We've had that exact situation happen before. We printed out a block to black it out and reprinted the correct number. It was not a good situation, as the customer never thinks they are wrong and you end up looking like the bad guy. If you want more business from them, you'll have to eat the costs. Not fair, I know.


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## twenty502 (Mar 25, 2011)

it is their fault. 

when i do orders, i always get full payment up front i will NEVER do a job just on deposit. i've gotten stuck with t shirt orders that are even completely paid for so i'm not going to have a stack that's not paid in full taking up space. that's just the way i'm doing business from now on. i airbrush too, so i take deposits on paint jobs but any estimates on labor over a certain price, payment in full only up front before i even start.

i would like to keep his business, but it's not my mistake it's his. so i'm trying to think of a reasonable way to offer this to him and try to keep him as a customer. only thing else i could think of was to reprint the shirts but christ i dont want to


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## selanac (Jan 8, 2007)

I would have him pay for Tshirts and reprint for free.


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## jhprint (Oct 3, 2011)

You are not responsible , customer is and must pay you again for new shirts , you can offer a discount to try and make them happy and keep them for the future,


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## Gilligan (Dec 11, 2009)

Obviously we don't know how the conversations have gone thus far... but what I would do is basically say (depending on how casual you can be):

"Wow, this sucks... I tell you what... I'll take care of you though... what I'll do is reprint the order for X% off. I really hate to see this happen to anyone and I want to help where I can."

This makes you look like you are trying REALLY hard to help them and you are also essentially setting up a subconscious limit on how much responsibility and cost you are willing to give.

If they in turn go "What?! Why do we have to pay for this misprint?!" Then you have to kind of break out the kid gloves and work the body a little. LOL Tell them, "Well, you guys supplied the art and approved it... I only printed the shirts. I know this isn't a good situation but it is what it is."

I'd basically keep subtly drawing your line and then putting the ball back in your court... the more you talk the more you will say too much and either give more than you want or p!ss them off.

Lots of "I understand, this is a frustrating situation" types of responses will possibly help you to sound sympathetic without giving up any of your ground.

If it seems to be continuing down the wrong way and you still feel like helping... offer X%(10?) off on their NEXT order... because "you like them and want to do what you can to help out".


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## aw0821 (Aug 3, 2011)

Transfer over the top seems to be the only way. Hope that will work with the design.


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## PositiveDave (Dec 1, 2008)

Probably cheaper to change their phone no.


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## tshrtman2000 (Aug 25, 2011)

we have had the same problem but to make the customer happy what we did was to burn 2 screens. one which was a a rectangle box and made that one color and then another screen for the phone number that printed right on top of the box. you will have to make some type of gig so you will make sure you print on the same spot on the shirts. the number and rectangle box looked like part of the design and the customer got an extra color added to his shirt and they were very happy. we have received quit bit of business from them. if we would have told the customer tough luck. they would have never came back even though it was there fault. it was well worth it. hope this helps.
jazz


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## Gilligan (Dec 11, 2009)

Yeah, depending on the design I could see how that would work.

You charged them for the printing though right?


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## torodesigns (Jun 24, 2007)

Depending on the number of shirts burn the two screens and gang them up . . . and create screen printed transfers press them on and send them out the door. Of charge for the materials and time put in . . .afterall you are fixing his mistake.


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## skdave (Apr 11, 2008)

Cover the # with printed vinyl and press on


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## tpitman (Jul 30, 2007)

If you have a heat press, create a block to cover the old number and add the new one. A transfer is easier to align with the existing art than placing the shirt on a platen and trying to keep it square to the art already printed.
Since the customer supplied the art, and approved the proof, it's on him. I'd give him a break on a reprint, and a minimal charge to do the transfers if you can go that way, but if he's all PO'd about the mistake, he needs to slap his sister around, not you. If he's blaming you, and expects you to reprint the shirts with the correct number at no cost, hopefully you got a deposit that'll cover the cost of the blanks so you can tell him what he can do with his shirts, sideways. If he refuses to admit the mistake was entirely on his end and accept any generous solution on your part to salvage the order, he's not someone you're going to want as a customer in the future. He's also the kind of customer who'll likely show up to pick up the fixed shirts, "forget his checkbook", and tell you he'll mail you the check. I did a favor for an associate of my wife who subsequently claimed I printed 3 wrong shirts on a softball order. To avoid issues for my wife at her work, I printed, name and number on the back, the shirts she "claimed" were wrong, and never billed her for the one new print she ordered. After doing the job at my cost, I didn't even get so much as a thank you. There are people out there who simply refuse to own up to a mistake.


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## ScreenFoo (Aug 9, 2011)

I've said it before.... Light platen. Works wonders.


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