# Very frustrating experience with Conde customer service....



## Justin Walker (Dec 6, 2006)

I have been ordering all of my sublimation supplies from Coastal and I LOVE their customer service - the ease at which I can reach someone on the phone, the positive attitudes of the people who work there and the quality of the products is great. Recently I decided to try out Conde systems, since they have a west coast location and immediate availability is incredibly important to my business model.... The first order, although it was delayed for several days, was finally available for pickup and I was happy (there was some sort of misunderstanding about the order from the beginning, and it took me several days before I realized something was wrong and called in to see what's happening).

After my initial experience with Conde went modestly well (I still felt that Coastal was a smoother process, and I truly feel like the employees at Coastal care about what I am doing), I decided to expand my sublimation to replace some of the products I currently print with solvent inks - most notably, cell phone covers. After doing my research on the Conde website and narrowing down potential products, I decided I wanted to see how they look and feel in person before I commit to ordering hundreds of units (the cost for the sublimation blanks is much higher compared to the solvent blanks; 2-3 times the cost in most cases - since I have read mixed reviews on the Conde sublimation cases, I want to be SURE they are the quality I expect). I called the number on their website and some guy at the east coast location answered the phone - he told me that no, I cannot go and look at the product at the west coast location because they don't have a "show room" or demo area.... Ok, I don't really need a special viewing room to see the product, but whatever. Since their website states that the products I was looking at all "ship from the West Coast facility in multiples of 1", I told him I would just go ahead and buy a sample of each one I was interested in, then I could pick them up today from the West Coast location and place a larger bulk order for tomorrow....... The guy acted like I was crazy and said "we can only ship single units from our east coast location" - ok, then why the hell does it say the exact opposite right there on the website?? I explain to the guy what I am currently reading right on their website, and he seems to concede that it might be possible, but he tells me it must be some sort of promotion or something (that doesn't even make sense). He then tells me the east coast location has been closed due to weather so he doesn't think we can make my deadline (I have a printing event on Saturday so I NEED to have this figured out, and place a larger order before the weekend)..... That's weird, why would weather problems on the east coast prevent me from picking up a sample order on the WEST COAST? The guy tells me that the east coast center handles all of the order processing, and the west coast center is basically useless (I inferred that last part).

I was beginning to get irritated that this guy seemed so intent on making my life more difficult, so I asked why (if they claim to stock these items here on the west coast and they claim to ship in multiples of 1 unit from this location) it was so hard to get a small order processed, since the weather our here in California is awesome and obviously they are working on the east coast since he answered the phone...... His response was "well it doesn't sound like our business would be a good fit for you" - I was offended and shocked by his lack of interest in helping me, his rude attitude and the fact that he acted like I was bothering him by actually asking questions about a product I wanted to see before I committed to a volume order. I'm not saying I will never order from Conde again, but I will say they were on the verge of getting all of my sublimation business and even our solvent business (since we are looking into switching that to dye sub), but now they will only be considered as a last-resort supplier in favor of companies who actually give two sh*ts.

Good job, Conde - thanks for the hugely underwhelming introduction to your company.


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## Conde_David (May 29, 2008)

I am sorry for the issue and will take action ASAP.
This is not what Conde stands for.


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## Logomotive (Sep 8, 2012)

I have been very pleased with Conde's customer service. Have never had a problem with them.


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## binki (Jul 16, 2006)

The west coast location is a warehouse that you can will call from but it isn't Conde. It is Suddah van line and storage. 

You go in the side door and pick up the phone by the tv and press the button labeled for Conde. Then you go to the door they direct you to in the back for pickup.


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## AaronM (Mar 28, 2007)

Justin Walker said:


> I have been ordering all of my sublimation supplies from Coastal and I LOVE their customer service - the ease at which I can reach someone on the phone, the positive attitudes of the people who work there and the quality of the products is great...


Wow - I'm humbled by your kindness. Thanks for the kind words. We would love to be able to help you out, so if you don't mind I'm going to ask my sales manager to give you a call and see what we can do to win your business back. Our motto that we live by here is "To the extent we serve... we succeed!"


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## pisquee (Jan 8, 2012)

I've held off saying this before (as far as I can remember) but figured as Conde have posted in this thread it may be good to speak up.
We're in UK, and there were a few products that we needed and couldn't source locally, which Conde had. We jumped through hoops to order them from Conde, but in the end gave up and manufactured our own product here in the UK as it ended up cheaper and easier than trying to order from Conde. The customer service we saw wasn't up to what we were used to here in the UK, in terms of communication and helpful attitude.
Personally I think Conde are missing a trick here, for such a large company to not be set up for international ordering, when internet ordering (certainly from a UK sublimation perspective) is the norm.


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## Conde_David (May 29, 2008)

Maybe one day but I think there are some excellent distributors there now.

Regarding the original post, I did address the issue
and made the necessary change.


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## pisquee (Jan 8, 2012)

There are good suppliers here, but you stock a larger inventory, and certainly for what we were importing from you, there was a big enough margin to still be worthwhile importing from you. There's a world outside of your local market that could be your customers. At the moment it is easier for us to order from China or Thailand.


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## Mtnview (Nov 5, 2009)

I am not a sublimation printer so don't use Conde or Coastal but this thread is a perfect example of a business owner's fears whether you are a supplier or us as printers. You can have hundreds of jobs that result is satisfied customers that don't result in a testimonial. One bad experience by a customer though and it will cause that person to express their displeasure online and word of mouth.


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## paintersspouse (Jul 26, 2012)

One bad customer experience online sometimes lets the company bosses know what is really happening at the staff level. It is how the company responds in this digital world that tells me if I want to deal with the company or not.

Smart business people look at the whole story and not just a few bad reviews.


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## treefox2118 (Sep 23, 2010)

pisquee said:


> There are good suppliers here, but you stock a larger inventory, and certainly for what we were importing from you, there was a big enough margin to still be worthwhile importing from you. There's a world outside of your local market that could be your customers. At the moment it is easier for us to order from China or Thailand.


The problem with going international is that fulfillment is not just (product cost) + (shipping). I ship internationally, and I *have* to upcharge nearly 20% over my US price because of the sheer number of order issues I have that are outside of my control.

I once shipped a $3000 order to a customer in England who had ordered from me many times before. The order got stuck in customs for no reason. It arrived to him 5 days later than expected. He charged back the $3000 amount, and it took me months to get it resolved. Dozens of hours of my time lost. Multiple "investigation" fees from the merchant company AND my bank.

A few weeks ago, we shipped just 6 shirts to Portugal, DTG. Client had bought from us before, no problems. The shirts show delivered, but he didn't get them. I believe him. I contacted USPS to fill out an insurance form, but they said the shirts were delivered. I contacted the Portugal post and they said they were delivered.

Now I'm out $60 in cost + $25 in shipping and the customer is demanding his money back. I spent 2 hours calling and talking to the postal services. All for a job I probably made $35 on overall.

It's cheaper to buy from China because their margins are better and they can bundle the overhead of international losses into their margins. A US supplier is paying close to the same price, so they have to mark it up, AND tack on the headache costs.


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## MauiCustomTshirt (Mar 26, 2011)

Hey Justin,

We also had a frustrating experience with Conde customer service last week. We were having some sublimation issues with our black looking bluish-black soon after we changed our roll of sub paper. We called to ask tech support to help us go over the the settings on the Epson Stylus Pro 7700 (24-inch) we purchased from them. 


Tech support said we had to talk to our sales rep first. Then, our sales rep told us they couldn’t help us due to the fact that we hadn't purchased anything from them in over a year. At first, I thought she was kidding. No, she was serious! She then accused us of buying inks from China or somewhere else. Again, she expressed her reason for that accusation was we hadn't purchased anything from her in over a year. I couldn't believe it. 


The main reason I purchased the printer package from Conde was because I expected good customer service and tech support if I ever had an issue with the printer. I would have purchased this printer from Coastal, but they weren’t licensed to sell Liters of Sublime ink for the Stylus Pro 7700. (We purchase all our sublimation blanks from Coastal because they ship free to our freight forwarder. Plus, we save 5 percent using “tshirt-forum” promo code)


I explained the reason we hadn't made a purchase in over a year was because we still had ink. And, the reason we purchased the recommended printer package from them was because it came with refillable cartridges and 5 liters of Sublime ink that only they were licensed to sell for the Epson 7700. That much ink would last us a longer period of time, the inks were one third the cost of regular cartridges, and with shipping being so expensive to Hawaii, it was more cost effective buying in bulk. She still didn’t believe me! She treated me like I was scheming. 


After going back and forth with her for maybe half an hour, (talk about getting irritated) FINALLY! she let me talk to tech support. I think she just got tired of being on the phone with me. Remind you, I just wanted to ask tech support to help me go over the printer settings, hoping maybe I just accidently changed the settings when I replaced the roll of sub paper. 


After talking to tech support (Andy), who was great by the way. We determined all the settings were correct and the problem was that I hadn’t used the inks before they expired and the inks may have separated. He suggested I switch over to SublijetE, a closed cartridge that was made for my printer. 


That sounded fine to me. Since I still had half the ink left, we obviously weren’t busy enough in our sublimation part of the business to validate using a bulk ink system before the ink expired. Besides, at this point, like with all my printers, I just want to be up and running, fulfilling customers orders with the best possible prints. 


I thanked Andy for the tech support and decided I would call back and place an order next day because I had banners and t-shirts I had to get done. 


After doing a little research on SublijetE, I found out I could also save $150 by using a cleaning cartridge in place of the photo black. I checked Conde’s website for the cleaning cartridge and didn’t find it.

So, I called. They connected me with the same sales rep. Fine, maybe she was just having a bad day. Besides, because Andy was so professional I was willing to try again. The sales rep proceeded to tell me, “we often have to interrogate our customers” Whatever! 


Turns out Conde doesn’t offer the cleaning cartridge. I ended up buying the SublijetE ink set that came with a cleaning cartridge, straight from Coastal’s web-site. Easy-Peasy! 


I agree Justin, because of my Conde customer service experience, they will only be considered as a last-resort supplier for us also.


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## JYA (Jun 2, 2008)

Going on 2 weeks without an answer to my emails. Mind you, I'm the one wanting to GIVE THEM MY MONEY!

This is the second time I've not gotten an answer from them. The first time they missed out on bidding on an $18k heat press. 

Guess what? No third time for me...the cord has been cut.


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## royster13 (Aug 14, 2007)

JYA said:


> Going on 2 weeks without an answer to my emails. Mind you, I'm the one wanting to GIVE THEM MY MONEY!
> 
> This is the second time I've not gotten an answer from them. The first time they missed out on bidding on an $18k heat press.
> 
> Guess what? No third time for me...the cord has been cut.


Did you call?...Unfortunately sometimes emails do not get through......


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## JYA (Jun 2, 2008)

royster13 said:


> Did you call?...Unfortunately sometimes emails do not get through......


Yes sir. Left voicemails that went unanswered. 

Unfortunately, if you go through most of the Conde Customer Service threads, there seems to be a common theme.


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## scott8801 (Oct 27, 2011)

I'm a very small customer but I bought a printer and some blank products thru Conde in the last few months. I have to say I have had very good luck with everything from their customer service to their tech line. I have no complaints with them at all. My rep has even called to see how I made out getting my profiles set up. So far so good.


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## MauiCustomTshirt (Mar 26, 2011)

scott8801 said:


> I'm a very small customer but I bought a printer and some blank products thru Conde in the last few months. I have to say I have had very good luck with everything from their customer service to their tech line. I have no complaints with them at all. My rep has even called to see how I made out getting my profiles set up. So far so good.


I must say, Conde does have excellent tech support.


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## Geekazoid (Aug 26, 2011)

I'm just popping in to say that this is a vast difference from my own experience.

I purchased my printer a few weeks ago, and have had several very kind and helpful phone conversations with their reps. When I called to have my printer set up, David himself answered and talked with me for a bit, and asked if I had any ideas for videos. My sales rep is very helpful, we talked about my business model and he made great suggestions. Some of the items I had ordered were on back order, and I just assumed they'd ship whenever they got in, but he actually took the time to call me and verify my order and give me a delivery date once the items were in stock. After my first round of transfers, I called in to their tech support and talked with them about each item, which I had successes with, and where I was having some difficulty. They looked up and gave suggestions for every item, and my second round of transfers were perfect. 

There are going to be bad phone reps at any company, if you're stuck with someone who's not being particularly helpful, just ask to speak with someone else. Call and ask to talk to David himself - he gives out his personal contact info - and tell him about the rep you had problems with. I feel like we're talking about two completely different companies here.


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## DKgrafix (Aug 13, 2008)

No problems here.
Very helpful people. My rep, Sandy, is very good. I have talked to tech support few times, nothing but a good results.


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## djque (Feb 5, 2013)

No issues either my rep sandy is the best. Only thing isi still can't download from the client site


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## engraver99 (Jul 27, 2009)

no issues here either-I find they go above and beyond!


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## martinwoods (Jul 20, 2006)

I have used conde for years and never had any issues until recently. My rep kind of up and went away (she still works there but quit answering calls) not sure why but oh well got another and she seems really nice but I must say tech support does not know a whole lot (I think they read from a book) I will say over and over again thought that DAVID GROSS is the best, he knows most everything and is very helpful. I bought the font pack because I thought the 3 letter font would look the same as the 2 letter font (WRONG), caled tech support they said they did not have installed on the computer so he was reading from the website, not much help, then they said to email the issue, I emailed then they said that if I used the white one or the black, can't remember that it would look the same, again wrong. emailed them again with both the white and black and they said that is as close as we can get if I had known that from the beginning I would not have purchased, went and purchased the font somewhere else and they say it is the same font they have, clearly they cannot see because it is NOT the same 3 letter font. I still like conde and will buy from them, but I have been buying from Johnson a lot more lately since they are next day ship, I used to go with conde only even if it was a 2 day ship since my rep was great but for whatever reason she left me hanging at Christmas so went to Johnson.


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## CondeJeff (Feb 27, 2014)

martinwoods said:


> ...I bought the font pack because I thought the 3 letter font would look the same as the 2 letter font (WRONG), caled tech support they said they did not have installed on the computer so he was reading from the website, not much help, then they said to email the issue, I emailed then they said that if I used the white one or the black, can't remember that it would look the same, again wrong. emailed them again with both the white and black and they said that is as close as we can get if I had known that from the beginning I would not have purchased, went and purchased the font somewhere else and they say it is the same font they have, clearly they cannot see because it is NOT the same 3 letter font. ...


Hi Chris I'll try and help. Did you review the "Conde-Monogram-Fonts-Read-Me.pdf" that came with the font pack? Which option are you comparing? Oval or Diamond?


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## jim55912 (Jun 10, 2008)

Employee training is hard. It is easy to rely to much on "policy".

My favorite experience was with a hat supplier. I needed a photo of a hat in a color that was not in the catalog. The person I was speaking with had in his possession the exact hat that I wanted a photo of.

I asked if he couldn't just email me a photo of the at he had on his desk. He indicated that they really didn't have a way to do that...

This was within the last year.

I bet if he had an especially tasty lunch that day he could figure out a way to post a photo...

Sometimes you just sit back and wonder.


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## MauiCustomTshirt (Mar 26, 2011)

I just placed another order with Coastal for 10 cases of mugs and the experience was great. Customer Service was polite, cheerful and professional. It was enjoyable. Great prices and free shipping to my freight forwarder.

My second order for the day was with Imprintables Warehouse. Same great experience as always. 

When I need to place an order with Conde, I'll be sure to ask for Sandy.

Customer service is where it's at. It should be the most important part of any business. In our shop we treat every customer with respect and every order as a special order. In return, our customers keep coming back, and they become our best sales people.


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## AaronM (Mar 28, 2007)

MauiCustomTshirt said:


> I just placed another order with Coastal for 10 cases of mugs and the experience was great. Customer Service was polite, cheerful and professional. It was enjoyable. Great prices and free shipping to my freight forwarder...


Thank you so much for the high praise and the order. We appreciate it very much. Have a great weekend.


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## djque (Feb 5, 2013)

Just placed a order with conde yesterday and got great service. My rep sandy was out to lunch and I had another rep answer and place my order.


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## rini (Sep 16, 2013)

I echo the terrible customer service Conde has. I posted about it last fall here: http://www.t-shirtforums.com/dye-sublimation/t241281.html

Their website is terrible, and obviously, they don't pay any attention to orders placed on it. Our orders were shorted. They never responded to a single email or voice mail message. This is 2014, not 1994; I shouldn't have to call to place orders. We have a very busy business with high product turnover, and I don't have time to sit and talk with someone over the phone. When I place an order over the web, it ought to be treated like any other order placed in any other conventional manner. If something is out of stock, that ought to be reflected on the webpage. This is e-commerce 101. Conde ought to take a refresher course.

On the positive side, I'd also like to echo the compliments to Coastal. We always get notification of when orders get shipped. Webchat has been immensely helpful and useful, which I've used several times. Their site is easy to navigate. As an example of how great Coastal is in customer service and going the extra mile: we just had an issue recently where we put in a fairly large order to Coastal, but then several hours later, realized we ran out of black ink, so we had to place another order. This was well after their 7CST order deadline (was about 8:30 CST, in fact). Unfortunately, this was on a Wednesday, and we figured that we wouldn't receive the ink till the following Monday. But, that wasn't a problem, apparently, because the black ink came with the earlier placed order, which we received on Friday. Now, that's great customer service!


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## Conde_David (May 29, 2008)

I am sorry for the issue.
Would you please call or email me so I can
understand what went wrong.

[email protected]


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## DKgrafix (Aug 13, 2008)

Few weeks ago I posted a compliment about Conde and my rep Sandy. I still stand behind that, and I can tell you that Sandy is on a top of things, letting me know when stuff is back in stock and such.

While we are on the stock issue, I would like to understand how a company that big does not have some kind of a way to have a current stock numbers connected to the web ordering. It is not that hard you know 
I hate when I place an order and 30 minutes later Sandy calls me and tells me that they are out of stock, or what is the weirdest, they never got them in stock after they advertise the hell off it for the last 7-10 days.

A little lesson, DO NOT PUT IT ON THE WEBSITE IF YOU DO NOT HAVE IT YET!!! Or at least have it there and put a small OUT OF STOCK somewhere so people know when ordering.


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## pisquee (Jan 8, 2012)

It's even worse when you order something from them and they don't tell you it's out of stock, and you only find out when the item is delivered and not everything is there.
What makes it worse for us in this case was we are in UK, and paid a good amount of money for it to be shipped airmail as we wanted it quick. If we'd known they didn't have enough stock we would have waited until they did to get it shipped.
Even then we had to get in touch with Conde to find out why we weren't delivered what we ordered, they didn't get in touch with us about it.

I don't understand the whole sale rep thing, why they feel they need them, or what they are actually for. Why can't people just order from the website, and it's delivered soon afterwards. If it's out of stock, then don't let it be ordered. Fairly basic e-commerce really.


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## Conde_David (May 29, 2008)

Thank you for the feedback.

One of the challenges is forecasting stock
levels/ run rates for products. We often get hit hard and
run out. We have seen significant spikes
in orders.

We have and are raising our stocking levels

We have now opened our own coating facility to
Provide a higher quality product with a much shorter
production time.


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## pisquee (Jan 8, 2012)

It's not so much the problem of you running out of stock, it's that your website doesn't 'know' your stock, so sells what you do not have. Tie you website stock availability to your actual stock availability and your overselling problem will be gone.
I'd rather see "5 units in stock", or "out of stock" on a website than no indication of what i am buying actually exists or not.


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## rini (Sep 16, 2013)

DKgrafix said:


> While we are on the stock issue, I would like to understand how a company that big does not have some kind of a way to have a current stock numbers connected to the web ordering. It is not that hard you know
> I hate when I place an order and 30 minutes later Sandy calls me and tells me that they are out of stock, or what is the weirdest, they never got them in stock after they advertise the hell off it for the last 7-10 days.


That's just it, a company that size _ought_ to have an integrated point-of-sale and inventory online management system. Amazon, who's 10billion times bigger than Conde has one; we're a company that's 10billion times smaller than Amazon, and we have one! We've had an integrated point-of-sale/online inventory management system since 2004 that updates to our webstore real time! We use POSIM, if you're wondering.

It's really simple: when you get new stock in, assign it a sku. Input the amounts of each specific sku, and put that into an inventory database. Have a point-of-sale that keeps track of your inventory database. Each time you sell an item, you scan that sku, and it takes it out of the inventory database. This technology isn't new; it's been available to retail stores since the 1990s. I can't imagine operating any sort of retail/wholesale business without it, nor would I ever trust any business that doesn't have it. This is retail/wholesale 101.

Does Conde have a CIO? Does Conde even address the way commerce is done in the past 10 years? By the very fact that Conde's webstore isn't actually www.conde. com, but in fact redirects to dyetrans.com (for which, I might add, many corporate spam filters have identified as spam/malicious sites), speaks volumes as to how little they care about e-commerce.

Conde will not get our business until it updates its business model and practices. How can we trust a wholesaler that doesn't even practice basic, standard retail practices that have been in place for the past 10 years? Get a CIO; get a real-time inventory management system; get a better web-presence. Until then, you're going to lose business as younger people, like us, who do their business almost 100% over the internet, leave your business in droves.

As I said, this is 2014, not 1994. Your business model and practices are outdated, at best, pathetic and a money sink hole, at worst. Invest in some technology, send out a press release that you've updated your antiquated system, and we may start ordering from you again. As it currently stands, we tell everyone we meet our experiences with your company, and we tell everyone to go to Coastal.


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## DKgrafix (Aug 13, 2008)

Conde_David said:


> Thank you for the feedback.
> 
> One of the challenges is forecasting stock
> levels/ run rates for products. We often get hit hard and
> ...


There is nothing to forecast. You have 155 pieces in stock, customers can buy 1, 5, 10, 50 or all 155 pieces, but they CAN NOT buy 156 or 200 because you do not have that many.
It is that easy.

Your own coating facility with shorter production time??? I'm waiting for a few weeks for IronClad phone inserts. You had them on the web site almost 2 months ago.
Right now you have iP5C in Mobile, S4 in california and none of iP5/5S until end of the month.

Few weeks ago I tried to order some Vapor Socks to try out. After you had them on web site for a few weeks you did not have them in stock. Sandy just told me yesterday that you have them now.
Is there a point of me offering my customers something that I MIGHT have when I promise them. I do not think so.


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## paintersspouse (Jul 26, 2012)

I agree about the inventory problem. I am a small business that supplies our printed items to gift shops. I need to know that I can provided x amount to the customer when they order.

I will chose to buy from the website that has it it stock every time. The few times I have ordered from Conde (10-15 times so far) I almost always have a phone call or email that part of my order is not it stock. I also dislike having to take the time to exchange phone calls. I much prefer web ordering.


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## WalkingZombie (Mar 15, 2014)

pisquee said:


> It's not so much the problem of you running out of stock, it's that your website doesn't 'know' your stock, so sells what you do not have. Tie you website stock availability to your actual stock availability and your overselling problem will be gone.
> I'd rather see "5 units in stock", or "out of stock" on a website than no indication of what i am buying actually exists or not.


AMEN!

But that's just it. If you see a limited stock or item out of stock, you'll go elsewhere and they don't want that. Once they have your money, you'll just have to wait. :/ But that happens at a lot of places. At least have the system say Backordered on the product page; or Call for current stock level, if stock is under 10 or something.

And to speak my peace on Conde - I wish I could get another, more nicer Rep. Since day 1, they have been blunt and cold. I'm sure that is just their personality since I hear it in their voice every time I talk to them and not just randomly. I'm not going to blast this person but I just don't know how to tell anyone at Conde (or David) to switch me out. I want to LIKE calling Conde; not dread calling them.

Also, there have been a few times where I have ordered only to get a voicemail or email that they are out of stock on a certain item (one time it took 2 weeks to get an item back in stock and shipped). Had to order them elsewhere before my customer got disgruntled. Had my fair share of wrong items sent as well as fewer quantities received than ordered. Frustrating since it's not like 2 out of every 100 orders. It's been more like 1 out of every 3 orders. :/ I've even had items added to my order. A voicemail was left saying that a couple item numbers I chose were no longer used and that they added the alternative items to my order. I was like what?? So I checked the invoice PDF in my email and saw that items where added that I didn't even have in my cart. Not sure what that was about but I bypassed my Rep and talked to someone in customer service to figure that out.

I now use them on a last resort as well. I feel bad because I know Mr. Gross wants well for Conde but the customer service (at least MY Rep) and shipping department is at best, a C-and that's what matters most.

WZ


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## pisquee (Jan 8, 2012)

Is having a 'rep' a normal thing in the US? It seems a bizarre concept to me, and quite alien. That along with the website having no stock indication just seems bizarre.


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## Techprint (Dec 20, 2012)

I placed a order a week ago, they couldn't verify my phone number through my bank (WHY THE FU$& do they need to verify all this anyways), so I go to my bank and get a new card because I felt this company is a scam. I called conde back and still gave them the benefit of doubt and gave them my new card, only to get a call back they need a picture of my license next to the card... wtf?

I said cancel my order, and hung up.

I order thousands of stuff online every week, not once did I have to deal with this at all.

If anyone knows any other company where I can get vapor socks, and dye sub paper cut 13x19 please let me know.


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## Archaga (Nov 1, 2013)

Good thing I read this. Had already made an account and had some items in my cart. So much for that. Guess I'll look elsewhere.


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## rini (Sep 16, 2013)

Coastal: Sublimation Blanks

You can get both socks, and the 13x19 paper there.


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## WalkingZombie (Mar 15, 2014)

pisquee said:


> Is having a 'rep' a normal thing in the US? It seems a bizarre concept to me, and quite alien. That along with the website having no stock indication just seems bizarre.


Yes, it is normal. Over here, some businesses have "Salesperson of the month" or "Most sales of the month" among many others. That's where it gets shady. Reps just gain clients to show they can do better than their coworkers, internally. Maybe even get a bonus check. That's why sometimes, they are pushy trying to get you in. It can become a race among reps to finish 1st place than actually giving their clients their undivided attention. Most look forward to that front row parking lot for a FULL month, rather than giving 5-star service. I'm speaking in general of course and not just toward Conde.


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## tfalk (Apr 3, 2008)

pisquee said:


> It's even worse when you order something from them and they don't tell you it's out of stock, and you only find out when the item is delivered and not everything is there.


Exactly why I cancelled my account with them. It's even worse when you talk to them on the phone to place an order, they do not tell you the items are back-ordered and you only find out they are out of stock when your order shows up incomplete.


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## rini (Sep 16, 2013)

pisquee said:


> Is having a 'rep' a normal thing in the US? It seems a bizarre concept to me, and quite alien. That along with the website having no stock indication just seems bizarre.


It used to be, but not so much anymore. That sort of business model has been dying since e-commerce has taken over. It's a very outdated, cost-wasting model, IMNSHO.

I think a lot of older ppl, who started out in the 80s and 90s, still use that model since that's what they're accustomed to. But, anyone that grew up with the internet finds the whole thing rather useless and pointless.


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## petrockcity (Feb 22, 2009)

I just experienced a hard learning curve with a Ricoh 3110dn printer I bought from Conde. I used the printer twice. Went to use it again 6 months later and the ink was depleted. The ink had a 6-9 month shelf life! Who knew... 
If you do not print sublimation transfers often, spending $350 on ink is not worth it.


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## djque (Feb 5, 2013)

you cant blame conde for ricoh printer issues


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## mgparrish (Jul 9, 2005)

petrockcity said:


> I just experienced a hard learning curve with a Ricoh 3110dn printer I bought from Conde. I used the printer twice. Went to use it again 6 months later and the ink was depleted. The ink had a 6-9 month shelf life! Who knew...
> If you do not print sublimation transfers often, spending $350 on ink is not worth it.


 Actually there are 2 things going on.

1. Ricoh's have long ink lines that transport the inks to the print head. The cart may be empty but some decent amount of ink remains in those ink lines. When you initially setup the cart will show a decent amount of depletion after the initial "charge", I believe as much as 1/3 - 1/2 perhaps. 

But the inks are still useable and in your printer and would be available when you install your second set of carts. The second set of carts will not have to initially fill those inks lines since the ink is now already in there.

2. Ricoh's use a small amount of ink even when not printing as long as the printer is powered on and in "standby". This keeps fresh ink in the print head and minimizes clogs.

Your ink expiration is a separate issue from depletion. If the inks expire you risk having a doorstop instead of a printer.


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## Conde_David (May 29, 2008)

I think there must be an issue.
Please call me so we can figure out
why. 251.377.6728


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## petrockcity (Feb 22, 2009)

Hi David,

I already spoke to your technical support... the solution given was to purchase new ink cartridges. I was told that it does not matter if printer is left on or off... ink will deplete for different reasons and it is recommended to print frequently. I bought the printer in August 2013 and I just noticed that the ink cartridges have expiration dates of 4/30/14 and 05/31/14, shelf life of 8-9 months.I'm not blaming anyone, except for maybe myself for not doing more research prior to the purchase. I'm just a little disappointed that my very expensive ink is gone. I hope mgparrish is correct , and that maybe my ink is in the print head.. but to purchase a second set of carts just to get the printer to work is not what I really want to do.


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## mgparrish (Jul 9, 2005)

petrockcity said:


> Hi David,
> 
> I already spoke to your technical support... the solution given was to purchase new ink cartridges. I was told that it does not matter if printer is left on or off... ink will deplete for different reasons and it is recommended to print frequently. I bought the printer in August 2013 and I just noticed that the ink cartridges have expiration dates of 4/30/14 and 05/31/14, shelf life of 8-9 months.I'm not blaming anyone, except for maybe myself for not doing more research prior to the purchase. I'm just a little disappointed that my very expensive ink is gone. I hope mgparrish is correct , and that maybe my ink is in the print head.. but to purchase a second set of carts just to get the printer to work is not what I really want to do.


David's point is valid, I overlooked that possibility that your printer could be defective too (DUH).

All printers with long ink lines consume from the cart a decent amount on the initial fill, but it doesn't just 'vanish". But your inks aren't in your print head, they are in the long lines going to the print head.

It is also true that there is some ink used for maintenance beyond head cleaning as long as the printer is on, but this is a trickle amount. How much you lose over extended periods of time ????

So some ink "depletion" is to be expected, seems like it could also be that your printer has issues as David mentions.


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## Conde_David (May 29, 2008)

I would like to talk with you.
For the forum here are my questions:
1. Is firmware currect?
2. Any power failures?
3. Does cart fell empty?
4. Are you leaving the printer turned in?


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## petrockcity (Feb 22, 2009)

Mgparrish,
I got the printer in August, printed a few times, left on in stand by for 3 months, then turned it off up until yesterday. When i turned it on to print something, it said " ink depleted".It wont print anything so maybe I lost all of the ink? The last time I printed, the ink levels indicated more than half. Am i able to use the ink in the long lines without buying new carts?
I'm going to delete this post from this category and put it under sublimation printer issues.


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## mgparrish (Jul 9, 2005)

petrockcity said:


> Mgparrish,
> I got the printer in August, printed a few times, left on in stand by for 3 months, then turned it off up until yesterday. When i turned it on to print something, it said " ink depleted".It wont print anything so maybe I lost all of the ink? The last time I printed, the ink levels indicated more than half. Am i able to use the ink in the long lines without buying new carts?
> I'm going to delete this post from this category and put it under sublimation printer issues.


Give David a call as he has more expertise on that model.

Using the existing inks in the lines .. you have expired ink in the lines so you can use the inks, they are still there, but the question is ... should you?

In your case it shouldn't be "ink trickle loss" if the printer was off. David mentions "firmware" so it could be updating the firmware fixes a ink level indication bug, I suspect that is what David is talking about.

Or the carts themselves are showing low prematurely could be faulty chips. If you shake the carts (David item number 3) as he suggests and you have a decent amount of inks left in the carts, but showing _electronically_ low levels, then you have something other than low inks as to the fault.


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## petrockcity (Feb 22, 2009)

Conde_David said:


> I would like to talk with you.
> For the forum here are my questions:
> 1. Is firmware currect?
> 2. Any power failures?
> ...


David,
I will call you..... I appreciate these trouble shooting questions rather than just being told to purchase new ink.


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## deehoney (Dec 16, 2010)

I actually have had excellent customer service with Conde. My rep, if not available, will call me back within a day. They also helped troubleshoot and fix a problem with the brookley cases I received. There was some miscommunication problems between Mobile and the California warehouse, but they got that all fixed. 

I'm actually going to be calling tech support in the morning as I need the ICC profiles installed again as I had to do a complete reinstallation of windows on my computer. Last time they just hooked up to my computer and got it all set up for me. 

The only thing I would like to see from Conde is reduced shipping prices.


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## Starstuff (May 12, 2013)

This thread makes me nervous... I just placed my first order with Conde for ~$15,000 and covering a ridiculous number of different product types. When I called to inquire on shipping cost, the receptionist transferred me blind to a voicemail box without telling me where I was going. When I hit 0 to go back to the operator, she said "Yeah, I don't have any reps who aren't on the phone" like I'm stupid for not just leaving a message. It's bad customer service to just transfer people without telling them what you're doing, especially if it's straight to voicemail...

Now that I'm hearing all this stuff about hidden stocking issues, I'm extremely worried. I won't necessarily pass judgment myself yet until I hear from them, but I'm spending a lot of money here and I'm on a schedule (had a successful Kickstarter campaign for my clothing line, backers need their rewards fast to have a good experience). And my brief contact with their receptionist wasn't exactly pleasant.

Not trying to put the company on blast or anything, but reading this thread right after placing such a big order has my stomach feeling queasy.


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## Conde_David (May 29, 2008)

I am sorry for the situation with the receptionist.
Will address ASAP.


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## Starstuff (May 12, 2013)

Thank you for the quick response David.

Update -- I got a call back from Ashley (sales rep) within a couple hours of my initial call, and I called around lunch time, so that's a good turnaround IMO. I am impressed so far because she told me she can get my order out before end of day today. As I indicated earlier, it's a rather large order with tons of different products, so to get it all out same day that I placed the order would be awesome.


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## Starstuff (May 12, 2013)

Update #2: Just had an hour+ long conversation with Micky (their wide format specialist) at Conde about my printer selection & order. I actually ended up switching printers, it was a very helpful conversation to have... might save me some headaches later on after learning some warranty information behind the different printer brands. Very informative, very happy with Conde so far!


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## Prescott Press (Jun 17, 2014)

Starstuff said:


> Update #2: Just had an hour+ long conversation with Micky (their wide format specialist) at Conde about my printer selection & order. I actually ended up switching printers, it was a very helpful conversation to have... might save me some headaches later on after learning some warranty information behind the different printer brands. Very informative, very happy with Conde so far!


 Warranty and how they are handled is so critical in wide format printing and it can be different depending on location and vendor. My one suggestion, if this is new to you, is request they print and press a sample of one of your typical designs on the printer and ink you will be using. Once you take delivery it is yours and making sure the ink/printer combination provides the results on the type of files and type of substrate you will be using is a wise investment of a few days.


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## petrockcity (Feb 22, 2009)

petrockcity said:


> David,
> I will call you..... I appreciate these trouble shooting questions rather than just being told to purchase new ink.


Just a quick message to say that I spoke to David, who gave excellent customer service.


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## keepitspinning (Jan 13, 2014)

Several months ago I called to get information about making a purchase from Condie as well, and was treated rudely like the rep was not interested in my business, so I moved on and ordered elsewhere. As stated, sounds like a pet tern rather than an exception. Good help must be hard to find where their facilities are located.


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## bghed32 (Sep 17, 2014)

after reading through this post I had to post even though I'm kind of late. I just recently got into sublimation and have ordered from best blanks and conde so far, both have sent my orders promptly. Both companies have had a part of my order on back order. I have to say though that My rep at Conde called me the next day to speak to me about my order and inform me of the issue. Larry actually took his time to get to know me a little bit and make me feel he has my back. my item that was on bock order has taken longer to get in than expected but he has contacted me several times to check in and keep me up to date. Today I receive an unexpected call from him say it was in and see if I needed anything else. It seems there have been some bad experiences but from what I've seen so far I'm happy and will order from them when ever I need anything.


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## deehoney (Dec 16, 2010)

bghed32 said:


> after reading through this post I had to post even though I'm kind of late. I just recently got into sublimation and have ordered from best blanks and conde so far, both have sent my orders promptly. Both companies have had a part of my order on back order. I have to say though that My rep at Conde called me the next day to speak to me about my order and inform me of the issue. Larry actually took his time to get to know me a little bit and make me feel he has my back. my item that was on bock order has taken longer to get in than expected but he has contacted me several times to check in and keep me up to date. Today I receive an unexpected call from him say it was in and see if I needed anything else. It seems there have been some bad experiences but from what I've seen so far I'm happy and will order from them when ever I need anything.


Larry is my rep too and has always been very upfront about any order that I have. Always follows up, even when I forget to call him back. Which just reminds me that I need to give him a call tomorrow.


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## WiggleButtz (Jan 5, 2015)

I too have had terrible experiences with Conde. First and foremost their shipping costs are outrageous compared to other companies. When I talked to their customer service about this I was told it was because their products were superior. I was ordering 72 mugs and the shipping was over $80. I got free shipping from the other company that I ended up using. I did however order 10 sublimation photo slates from them. Of the 10 five are completely unusable. The coating is bubbled and damaged. Two of the other slates have "dings" in them which I am not happy to use but I have to get orders out. If my customers complain I will take the loss on those. I have bought slates at other places at slightly higher prices and have not had ANY issues. I bought from Conde because they were cheaper. I won't make that mistake again. Have not heard back from anyone yet as to whether I can get these replaced or not.
My other complaints with Conde is I tried to pay via PayPal which is listed as a method of payment on their site. I received a call the next morning saying that my order was on hold until I made a payment. When I said I used PayPal I was told that it would delay the order by several days while all the approvals went through, WTF. I paid by CC but lost a whole day on the order. I never received a shipping confirmation or tracking on my order. When I called my rep she never returned my call. They did arrive but a callback would have been nice. Now I find that half of the order is crap and I have to get good ones sent from another company to fulfill my orders. 
Conde is NOT worth the aggravation!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## Conde_David (May 29, 2008)

We absolutely will replace the defective slate.

We use your email address to send tracking info so either it was entered wrong or caught in spam.


Re PayPal, we process off line but except for the first order there is usually not a delay.

Re the shipping charges, I am happy to look at the actual charges to see if a mistake was made. Can you email me an invoice number to [email protected].


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## WalkingZombie (Mar 15, 2014)

WiggleButtz said:


> I too have had terrible experiences with Conde. First and foremost their shipping costs are outrageous compared to other companies. When I talked to their customer service about this I was told it was because their products were superior.


Superior? LOL. Every time I order can insulators, I get a hand full that are dirty. Like the people packaging them aren't wearing gloves.

And I can definitely agree with the overpriced shipping! I mean, c'mon... they have the weight on some of their cases set at 0.45lbs which is 7.2 ounces! If I was to order 50 of them, the shipping would be crazy high and my rep doesn't even adjust the price. SOMETIMES she may drop it $1 or so. When I ship a case to a customer, it weighs 4 oz. max. That's with the case, metal insert on it, bubble wrapped, invoice, biz card, manilla bubble lined envelope, label and tape... Go figure.

I only shop them when in dire need. I've been testing samples from overseas on several products. Found me a gem mfg. Might start selling my own sublimated products lol.


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## Sacman (Jan 20, 2014)

I had read some horror stories about Conde and was nervous about using them but I was on backorder for some coin purses through another supplier so I took the plunge and ordered through Conde. I got exactly what I ordered and it came very quickly (in time to make my order before I went on vacation for a week).

Having said that, I do agree that their shipping is high for what I ordered and I thought their PayPal process was certainly clunky. After I placed the order, I got an email several hours later to confirm my PayPal payment. Very strange. PayPal works with pretty much any store front website on the market. I can only assume that their's is a custom built site and their builder doesn't know how to properly link PayPal to their site. 

Over the last two years I have done a lot of shipping myself, I find it frustrating how much I am overcharged by many sites for shipping. I know what shipping costs. I ship exclusively through USPS. It is the cheapest option and I have never had a lost package and only one damaged in 2 years. I get that shops that sell to an end customer get away with outrageous shipping charges because your average consumer doesn't know any better but when you are selling wholesale to people that are going to be shipping your items themselves, you would think they would be a little more aware of gouging.


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