# Customer Demands No Wrinkles



## shoedad (Mar 4, 2009)

I have a customer that is wanting his company logo on different types and styles of shirts without any "wrinkles" around the logo from the pushing and pulling of the stitches on the garment.

I've tried to tell him that we might be able to do it but it will require a very heavy backing to get it to hold.

Has anyone else had a customer with this type of request?


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## idonaldson (Sep 29, 2008)

You are approaching it right with the backing - all is dependent on garment material. I usually send those very customers to my competitor free of charge.


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## SunEmbroidery (Oct 18, 2007)

I agree about "firing" this customer. Is the logo very stitch intensive? Are they requesting garments made from light fabrics? Is the logo too large in general or too large for the fabric that's being embroidered? You can try having the logo redigitized so the stitch count is less and decreasing the size. Using underlay for coverage rather than top stitches should help. Some times customers request the impossible for their particular logo.


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## binki (Jul 16, 2006)

Fire him. Not worth the trouble.


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## A1WHITES (Nov 19, 2011)

I would agree run the other way. My wife says you are chasing business a way. But no I am not. Sometimes it's not worth it.
Just my two cents


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## SunEmbroidery (Oct 18, 2007)

Agreed. In the extra time it takes to deal with one customer that probably won't ever be happy you can market for good customers.


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## binki (Jul 16, 2006)

Another thought is to digitize it for each garment type and charge a separate digitizing fee for each one. They may change their mind.


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## selzler (Apr 4, 2007)

I tell customer like this that to make that happen we have to use a fusible stabilizer that will stay on the garment and also use two layers of cut a way which will make the area very stiff. And there is an extra 1.50 for the fusible stabilizer to be added to the garment. Light polyester shirts I point out that most of the branding done by nike, under armor and others is done with vinyl so they don't have the wrinkles normally the order becomes a vinyl order. This saves the headache.


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## iarnaut (Jun 24, 2015)

I had the same problem but I could not fire the costumer because it it our biggest and most important one. Instead, I have took the 55 needle, and two layers of soft stabilizer. I have also loosen threads a little bit and now it is perfect. The next step I am willing to make is to use a wash away stabilizer to make it aesthetically better because the shirts are white and I dont find it beatiful when stabilizer is visible when someone wears it.


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## ShirlandDesign (Nov 29, 2009)

It shouldn't be beyond your capacity to sew without distorting the garment. Work on underlay, hooping and backing. This is a pretty saturated industry, firing customers who want a quality product is a very poor last resort cop out.


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## marzatplay (May 25, 2014)

He will never be happy, he will find a problem and demand his money back or a huge discount. Don't do it! No one demands anything from me. No one should demand anything from you either. Send him away, give the headache to your competitor.


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## logoadvantage (Nov 16, 2009)

Honestly gang the customer is asking for something we all should be striving to do on all orders, Produce Quality Work !

Most of the time when puckering happens its because the wrong backing was used or the file needed editing, or the garment was hooped wrong or the machine tensions were too tight.

With embroidery to produce good quality work all factors have to be correct ! 
File has to be well digitized, proper backing has to be used, Operator has to hoop properly and the machine tensions need to be correctly set.
Any one factor being wrong can effect the quality of the job. 

Instead of running away from this customer why not consider this as a challenge to better yourself and the quality of your work ?

Take the time to get it right by doing a test sew on like fabric and figure out what is needed to produce what the customer is asking for.

You may find that what you learn from this job teaches you information you can use in the the future as well, over time these things get easier and easier to figure out.

We try to produce quality work on every order and that is why we have been in business for many years when others in my area have come and gone. 
We are not the cheapest shop in town as well but we do try to offer quality work at a reasonable price.
Quality work to me is the KEY to getting a good reputation.

We have done a ton of testing files pre production to make sure that the files look good before going onto garments and then when saving the file we keep notes to use for future production as well. 
Examples would be Heavy Backing, Special Needles, Topping, Smaller Thread etc etc etc.
We may even stipulate changing machine settings like speed for small text.

Getting the reputation of doing Good Quality Work is the best advertising your shop will ever have !
Instead of running away from a customer that is really just asking for good quality work take the challenge and figure it out.

Doing test sews is what makes you learn in the long run !!
Embroidery is not a one formula works for every project type of business.
Files are different, Fabrics are different and there are many options for backing, needles and thread that make a difference as well.

Sending your customers to your competition may not be a smart idea.
If your competition ends up doing a good job its just like you saying hey go here they do better work than us. 

Just my 2 cents worth !
I know that many of the previous posters will not agree with my comments here based on their opinions.
Thats ok, we all have opinions and every shop is different.

I will say that making a picky customer happy often is something that pays off. 
Those same customers are often the ones that pass your name around for doing a good job when others failed.

Good Luck


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## ShirlandDesign (Nov 29, 2009)

I worked contract for a few years. Quality products at a competitive price was the starting point. Stuff got deeper from there.


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## idonaldson (Sep 29, 2008)

John I agree with you to a point. I am willing to fire a customer and it is not for requesting or expecting quality. I think if you are offering a service, then quality is a main ingredient. I do feel that round pegs should be fitted into round holes. The folks I choose to move along, so lucky not to be in a position to be held hostage by customers, are those that demand so much however do not want to pay for what they are expecting. Whatever you pay for you should receive quality, however the higher the requirements should demand equal compensation. There are things I will not do for customers, because I cannot guarantee quality results. If they choose to accept the risk and I know them - I will attempt. Those I do not know, then no because they all except the risk going in and then the tables turns when they see a bad result. Just like the customers who do not know what they want, and leave it up to you because you are the expert - then you produce the result, and all of a sudden they have clarity - still do not know what they want, but know they do not want what you produced. I can't with them! I believe in protecting my blood pressure and sanity at all cost of lack of earning potential. Agreed embro needs to hold up when done to no wrinkles and I go as far as the same after washing. As for as pressing the wrinkles out of the shirt - huh!


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## ShirlandDesign (Nov 29, 2009)

> his company logo on different types and styles of shirts without any "wrinkles" around the logo from the pushing and pulling of the stitches on the garment


Sounds to me like he worked with a less than professional shop last time around. 

We love disgruntled customers, we can guarantee to gruntle them first time every time. 

Irv, I know what your saying, I just don't see it from the postings here.


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## cathyr (Feb 10, 2009)

I find that when you have a customer who complains about wrinkles, it is because (he or she) has improperly laundered that embroidered item. 
Some items need to be ironed or steamed after washing. Our shop puts a laundering instruction card into the boxes of goods that we sell directly to end customers. Contract customers we do not worry about.
If you are putting 12,000 stitches into a polo or woven that wrinkles during laundering, the logo will be wrinkled as well.
Bottom line is they look fantastic when they leave the shop, but the customer does not maintain them unless they are having them dry cleaned.
I think this customer is very rare, but if you educate them and they actually listen you can solve their problem.


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