# Beyond Upset with F&M Expressions



## mgtGrafix (Feb 24, 2014)

I wanted to post something about my experience with F&M Expressions.

First off, this is my first time ordering from them. In fact this is the first time I have ever ordered a plastisol transfer. Our company currently produced garments with heat press vinyl, but was able to land a contract with a company who wanted their logo on a performance polo. Because of the detail in the logo, I knew that screen printing was the way to go, but I am not setup for that.

About a week ago I placed an order with F&M Expressions, ordering their athletic formula for the graphic. I use Corel, so I ganged the image onto a sheet size (12.75x19) that conformed to what they had to offer.

There were some problems with the artwork, so I corrected what I needed to and re-submitted the file. One of the issues, as I understood it, was the graphic was ganged onto the 12.75x19 page. I changed the file, only putting 1 graphic onto the page, but the page size was still the same. I ordered 4 sheets.

Well today, I received my order and I received five 4x6 graphics....That's it and they were not on sheets. Mind you, my order cost me $277 with next day air shipping!!! ($20 setup, $72.21 shipping and $184.80 for the graphic work). BTW, my order didn't get processed until 5 days later.

I attempted contacting them via telephone and a representative told me that I could not talk to a person, that I had to email them. I didn't understand that and questioned her, and she again told me to email them.

I did and this was my response:

"
We received your e-mail regarding this order# 55133. We reviewed the order including the e-mails with our Art Services Dpt and the order history. Please beware we noticed this art file was failed for several reason and you opted for submitting revised art file. Please review the attached e-mail chain. Please be aware the revised art file only had one image up. Please understand our system does not alert us if the art file is smaller than the sheet selected therefore we proceeded with the revised art file. I attached a screenshot of the art file submitted.

Please note we printed the art file as submitted. However we do understand this design could've fit in a small sheet (4x6") therefore we will issue a credit for the price difference. This price difference will be of $88.00"

So they are refunding me $88, and that makes each 4x6 image over $36 each?????

Am I off base here in thinking this is ridiculous? So now I cant meet my deadline for my customer and have to explain to them that it is delayed.

I appreciate any opinions here and possibly another option on having my graphic printed.


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## djque (Feb 5, 2013)

wow this place has been getting bad rep everytime I read or come on here. I will make sure I never order from them.


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## royster13 (Aug 14, 2007)

I do lots of orders with F&M and have no problems......If you send me your original file I will take a take a look maybe provide some feedback....

[email protected]


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## mgtGrafix (Feb 24, 2014)

Royce,
Thanks but there really wasn't anything wrong with the final graphic. In fact the ones they did send were great. The problem is with the lack of clarification and communication with them and the unreasonable cost imo

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## drdoct (Jul 26, 2011)

I'm not disparaging Joe here at all. But I'm noticing a LOT of VERY new commenters here hitting on F&M. I'm not saying they all disengenious, but it's odd to have so many people bringing up old posts, etc... with teens worth of posting. 

As far as Joe goes... Is $36/transfer ridiculous? Yes. But I'm thinking you ordered this completely wrong. Not sure why because if it's ganged and within the boundaries then it should be fine. But something was off with the first one. That wasn't reason to ungang it and expect them to gang it. But also I guess I don't understand what the charge was for artwork. Anytime I have a problem, whatshername gives me a call to let me know and then I go over it. Anywhere you send artwork to is going to print what you give them. Unless it's specifically ordered for them to gang the image which would result in an artwork fee. Something just isn't adding up on it. Royce had offered to help you in figuring it out. He's been in the game quite a while and can lead you in the right direction as far as how to get the artwork right.

Once you get the artwork right, you'll be good anywhere. I'm not saying F&M doesn't have some blame here. But you also can't do wrong in ordering and expect them to catch it all either. I think a lot of it has to do with their automatic ordering slots and system. If you use someone a little smaller (like Seay), you just email them the artwork and they print it out and send to you with no thought of the size. Every size is the same unless you specifically order jumbo prints. Good luck. I would really take Royce up on his offer to help you out though. It would help with the next order immediately wherever it is.


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## royster13 (Aug 14, 2007)

Was the "re-worked" art submitted as a single image versus ganged?....


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## ljfgeorgia (Nov 30, 2011)

Hi there,
Wanted to jump in and mention a couple of things from my experience with F&M- 
I order almost exclusively from them now but I had a learning curve bc I'd never ordered plastisol transfers prior to my first order with them. You have to follow their art submission guidelines specifically- they ask for a proof set up in PDF exactly as you want the final product to look. So if you make any corrections to artwork it's a good idea to resubmit the proof again just to be safe, and then make sure you ask for a proof back to triple check until you're comfortable. I had a hard time learning to submit but now it's all good and their transfers are the best.
Big thing though is that your post said you're putting in performance polo- I called them last week about putting their transfers on performance wear and was told they wouldn't guaranty it. Did you see somewhere on their website that they will work on performance wear? I haven't been back to look more closely. Sorry this happened- good luck!


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## mgtGrafix (Feb 24, 2014)

The reworked art was sent back as a single and not ganged. Now they are not responding to my emails. This is getting very frustrating. 

I read on the forum that their athletic formula would work on 100% polyester. 

Can someone please recommend somewhere else I can go to get this done. Obviously I'm looking for good results on poly

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## mgtGrafix (Feb 24, 2014)

drdoct said:


> I'm not disparaging Joe here at all. But I'm noticing a LOT of VERY new commenters here hitting on F&M. I'm not saying they all disengenious, but it's odd to have so many people bringing up old posts, etc... with teens worth of posting.
> 
> As far as Joe goes... Is $36/transfer ridiculous? Yes. But I'm thinking you ordered this completely wrong. Not sure why because if it's ganged and within the boundaries then it should be fine. But something was off with the first one. That wasn't reason to ungang it and expect them to gang it. But also I guess I don't understand what the charge was for artwork. Anytime I have a problem, whatshername gives me a call to let me know and then I go over it. Anywhere you send artwork to is going to print what you give them. Unless it's specifically ordered for them to gang the image which would result in an artwork fee. Something just isn't adding up on it. Royce had offered to help you in figuring it out. He's been in the game quite a while and can lead you in the right direction as far as how to get the artwork right.
> 
> Once you get the artwork right, you'll be good anywhere. I'm not saying F&M doesn't have some blame here. But you also can't do wrong in ordering and expect them to catch it all either. I think a lot of it has to do with their automatic ordering slots and system. If you use someone a little smaller (like Seay), you just email them the artwork and they print it out and send to you with no thought of the size. Every size is the same unless you specifically order jumbo prints. Good luck. I would really take Royce up on his offer to help you out though. It would help with the next order immediately wherever it is.



Lesson learned here I think. I have to agree that their automatic system didnt help things. I also agree that since this was my first time, I probably ordered it wrong. When I emailed them back I asked them what I needed to do to get the results I was looking for. 

I dont want to loose a customer. They have expectations of me as well and I want to make sure I'm giving them a good impression so I can retain their business. This fiasco isnt helping that at all..lol

If the graphic was ganged on the sheets, then the breakdown would have been a little over $3 per graphic. I can definitely live with that. 

I took your advise and sent an email to Royce. 

I'm not disputing that I am part of the blame, but the responses or lack there of I'm getting from F&M isnt how I do business and I would hope they wouldnt either.


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## drdoct (Jul 26, 2011)

I've used it on 100% poly with varied results. Most of the time it's ok. sometimes it pushes through it and loses opacity. Depending on the design... i would suggest vinyl. it looks the best on poly.


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## MauiCustomTshirt (Mar 26, 2011)

Try Versatranz. They have a product called EPT, we use it on 100% polyester, cotton and blends all the time, works great. You can also gang sheet anyway you'd like on a their standerd 13x19 inch sheet. Not much of a learning curve at all with Versatranz. Send them your artwork through their website, they send you a proof the same day, if you aprove its one day printing and shipping. And, if you ever have an issue (very rare), you call talk to someone right away.


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## mgtGrafix (Feb 24, 2014)

drdoct said:


> I've used it on 100% poly with varied results. Most of the time it's ok. sometimes it pushes through it and loses opacity. Depending on the design... i would suggest vinyl. it looks the best on poly.


Thanks DRDOCT...Unfortunately with the small lines and letters on the graphic, it would be a nightmare to weed. I did press what they gave me and did a wash test (5 times) and it did excellent. 

I have sent them 3 emails with absolutely no response. I explained that I just wanted the job to be what I expected. I now understand the process and have taken responsibility for not understanding how to properly order, but come on...no response??? That really isnt the way to do business.

Now I either call them or go somewhere else. 

This contract I have will ensure continuous business with whomever I go with. As long as I fulfill it. These delays are killing me


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## valleyboy_1 (Jan 23, 2010)

I order strictly fm expressions .20 transfers and never had issues. Other than forgetting to convert some files to curves, that's about it. If it's a two color or more design, I go with Transfer Express.


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## wormil (Jan 7, 2008)

F&M produces good transfers but their customer service is weak. I never had a problem with their transfers or getting an order on time but two way communication was difficult. Basically I would email artwork and my transfers would show up on time, correct, but it involved faith that they had received the file and there were no problems. That gets a little nerve wracking. Once I submitted some questions and they never responded so I gave up and moved on to Semo and sometimes Howard. I've read that F&M has an automated system now that sends notifications but they didn't have that when I used them.


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## mgtGrafix (Feb 24, 2014)

Well I decided to give it another go. I called them and spoke with Paul who was awesome. He wanted to make sure my experience was going to be a better one. We will see. Keeping my fingers crossed.

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