Printcarrier not answering my calls

Hi,

Does anyone on this site order their print through printcarrier? I've got a few orders outstanding which I'm waiting for and the number on the website is down as non existent when I phone it.

Sarah

 

Haven't used them but try 0800 9012952?

Are they any good? Maybe not by what you're saying?

 

Hello from Printcarrier!

Hi Sarah
Are you trying from a mobile phone? If so it won't work for the freephone number, it is to be used from a landline only
Our landline numbers are 01530 274152 and 01530 274370 and we are open 9am - 7pm for any queries. You can also email us with any questions: info.uk@printcarrier.com and we'll be happy to help you!
We are very proud to be the cheapest and most successful online printing company in Europe
Louise Firchau
Customer Service Manager UK

 

I have just registered on this forum to warn people away from using Printcarrier as i have had a terrible experience with them.

Back in July, I paid for the express service for my files to be printed within 4 working days and after a week, they still hadnt started printing my file yet. I phoned up to chase them and they promised they'll have it printed and delivered within 2 days (for some reason, they wouldnt dish out for 1 day courier service) but they failed to keep their promise - this happened about 2 or 3 times again. Eventually, they said they couldnt print because of some file upload error so I emailed the file to them instead. After a few more days, I phoned up to check on the status and they said they didnt receive any emails due to some internal server error. Because of all the delays, I had to call off the print job and go with someone else who managed to print my files within 2 hours - Printcarrier failed to meet deadlines set by themselves at least 3 or 4 times.

I spoke to the manager who promised a full refund the following day but a month and a half later, I checked my bank statement and I had still not received a refund. After making phonecalls for a week, I managed to get a refund but they charged me £13 for cancellling the print job.

The customer service they provide is absolutely terrible, you would be lucky if your phonecalls are answered and when they say they'll promise to phone you back, take it with a huge pinch of salt as they never will phone you back. Incidentally, I made a phonecall to them and I managed to connect to the voicemail inbox and there were over 60 messages, the bulk of them were complaints or phonecalls chasing up print jobs.

They are cheap for a reason - the print work is carried is done in Germany, as is the finance work so I've no idea what the people in the UK office do apart from deal (badly) with complaints. Don't be fooled when they apologize, if i got a pound for every apology they made, i'll be a very rich man.

I am absolutely livid at their service, to be absolutely screwed over which made me miss my own deadline and having to pay a cancellation fee? Printcarrier are the biggest joke of a company.

Avoid at all costs.

 

In reply...

This was a case of misunderstanding and I remember it well.

The files were uploaded for printing, but after you have reviewed the files you have to click on a button that says 'confirm upload'. Once you have clicked the 'confirm' button a message is sent to the print team in Germany and they commence printing.

Here in the UK we can see that files are there, but the customer can alter them at any time until the 'confirm' button has been pressed. This had not been completed by the customer, so the printing did not go ahead as planned.

As the customer said, if there was a problem with our service then of course we would have refunded in full, but as it was an oversight on his behalf we charged the £13.50 cancellation fee as the product was no longer required by the time it was realised the files had not been confirmed.

It is not a common problem as the instructions are in large 36 point type on the final upload screen.

With regards again to contacting us, our office hours are 9 - 5pm, and we often extend this until 7pm during busy periods. Customers do try and call during the evening, hence the answer machine. If during peak times you are unable to reach us then you can email us on info.uk@printcarrier.com and ask for a callback. Emails are always answered with 24 hours on weekdays.

Louise Firchau
Customer Services UK

 

For future reference try:

Full Colour Printing & Design from Stationery-Direct.co.uk

(HIGHLY RECOMMENDED)

 

Like I said in my post, I had emailed the files to printfile.uk@printcarrier.co.uk but the server on your end (hosted on bounce.argewebhosting.nl) must have had some technical problems because it bounced back a few emails, including the one with the file attachment, which i sent.

Interestingly enough, in the past week I have received a refund for the cancellation fee in the form of a credit note and i assume that this is an admission of liaibility on printcarrier's part but this is meaningless as I would never count on their service again.

I have since spoken to my bank, the office of fair trading and consumer direct to get advice on how to get my money back. £13.50 might not be much money but I find it terribly sad that there's a company out there who are supposed to provide a service but instead they turn you around and screw you over then have the cheek to charge you a cancellation fee after all the hassle that they have caused and to finally refund the charge via a credit note is just taking the piss.

 

I've used PC for loads of stuff in the past - Some of it great, some of it a bit naff... Delivery times are great (although I think they have a machine down at the moment which has caused huge delays) The most common fault is set-off, and variations in stock. And they don't three knife trim the booklets and magazines, which is very odd. Stick to leaflets and letterheads tho and it good, cheap printing.

 

Printcarrier - no customer service - stonewalled!

Totally stunned by the lack of service from this company. We ordered three types of folded leaflets (at the same time), used the same templates for all three types of artwork. Two out of three sets came back folded off center. we filled in the complaint form, sent back 50 copies of each leaflet as requested, confident that it was plain to see that they folded incorrectly.
No such luck. They said "it's your artwork", not our folding. we said "all the artwork is the same, your got one right, please look at it again". They wont.
On further investigation I discover that the UK customer services department is run by someone who's only been there a couple of weeks and is terrified of the German 'head office' who do the print work. The UK office people are not allowed to question the decisions made by the head office people, even if they think that the customer has a valid complaint.
Our samples were not sent to head office. The Uk office takes a PHOTOGRAPH of the sample and e mails it! We went to the expense of returning 100 leaflets only to find that they photographed one of them and e mailed it to someone who probably hasn't even looked at it.
I am so very disappointed that someone can run a business like this.
I was refused the MD's e mail or phone number. I finally got their German HO number with a bit of sleuthing, but their reception had absolutely NO intention of connecting my call to anyone and was very put out out that I had located their number at all.
Thankfully we paid by Visa, I have taken steps to have the funds refunded to my account.
This could all be so simple to sort out, but both the UK customer services department and Printcarrier clients are stonewalled by a company who is happy to take your cash but not be responsible for the quality of the goods they provide.
One word. Rubbish, Don't do it!
Message to Mr. Gunther Makowski - MD of Printcarrier - your PR stunts show you as a caring, responsible business person with a social consience. Your business practices leave a lot to be desired. Have the guts to come forward and answer your complaints!

 

Printcarrier customer services is a joke

I have been printing with printcarrier for some time now, and usually the results have been accepptable.

I have made a complaint before and it turned out to be my fault, so i thought fair enough.

but here we now have a problem. i have printed a lot of bus cards with them, and 2 lot of 500 runs came back cut awful as in full bleed images have a white edge and the printing was not opaque as the black had purple/magenta strips on it, but this colour was decided on by reading their printfiles section.

I have filed their complaints section, which is a complete waste of time. as i asked for a rectification but instead in their infinite wisdom offered a 10% discount. which is no good to anyone, as the print job is wrong, and can not be delivered. but they still want to charge me 90% for absolute rubbish.

on trying to talk to them, the number in this country just say they cant do anything, thats it. it is a total waste of time.

well i have phoned trading standards and they are also covered by Sales of goods act 1979, which they are compelled to provide goods and services without imperfections and to a satisfactory quality. which has not been adhered to.

 

this sounds really familiar. when i speak to them on the phone it does feel like they are trying their best to wind me up with a load of bullsh*t.
let us know how you get on with trading standards.

 

Hi All,

A few things about Print Carrier, the company are based in Germany and don't actually print a thing it's all outsourced to a number of local printers. They have a registered non operational address in Southampton for tax reasons, it also looks like they ship it to themselves and then get Parcel Farce to deliver it. Whereas in reality they operate from a small German village in shared office space and have the whole thing shipped from there.

The UK customer service is someone that is a UK based designer/artworker and gets paid commission for each UK based sale received as well as receiving all artwork enquiries from Print Carrier in return for taking their phone calls.

The print is typically average at the best of times and is generally rushed which has mixed results. All of their items you may notice has just 1mm bleed, this is to ensure they can fit as many different jobs on the same B1 sheet as possible. The reason most printers ask for 3mm is for a very good reason, it gives them a little bit room for (human) error. If you receive your print and it has a white edge this is because there wasn't enough bleed, however, if you complain about this you will be lucky if you manage to get 10% off your job.

Print Carrier keep their margins very tight, they rarely payout for their own mistakes and are very quick to pass the buck. I've experienced this first hand even though I'm an expert of the print process and a designer myself, something else Print Carrier don't seem very keen on because designers have a certain expectation of how things should look, whereas Joe public are just happy they've had something so called 'professionally' printed.

I've placed many orders with Print Carrier, at first the quality seemed OK, then as they got busier and started to reach capacity the quality dropped significantly and so too did the customer service with excuses about machines going down, or the couriers taking the box to the wrong country despite it being the fault of the guy who applies the labels in the post room, or even my fault for bad artwork which was also a laugh! I stopped placing orders with Print Carrier about a year ago.

I was once blamed for one side of a print job not being printed because both sides of the artwork were in the same PDF, despite the previous 27 orders all being done the same way and printed without that problem.

I'm a strong believer in you get what you pay for, however, if you're a plumber that wants some very cheap (in every sense of the word) leaflets and you're not too worried if theres an ink dot on every card, or it's been trimmed incorrectly or it's been delayed because it's ended up in France and then arrived a week late then give them a go, if however you value your artwork and your print go to a printer that cares about the finish of print. It's worth paying a bit more and getting a good job at a high standard and on time.

Also watch out for print resellers who use Print Carrier, the internet and ebay are rife with them, an easy way to spot them is by noticing the artwork dimensions have just 1mm of bleed and their terms and conditions will be almost identical, the website tend to look a bit ropey too. I've come across about 20-30 through Google, they also regularly use Adwords too.

There are plenty of really good printers out there, just get some samples first, call them and test to see if they know there stuff and do a search for their name in google and see if any complaints come up like they do for Print Carrier.

Oh and one other thing if you manage to speak to 'John' (with a German accent) at Print Carrier, that's actually the Director of the Print Carrier you're speak with.

Good luck!

 

I've had quite a few jobs done with printcarrier and can't say I've ever experienced anything quite like that described above.

I've placed orders for flyers and posters in the past, as it happens I was thinking about ordering 10,000 flyers this week. I've been happy with the stuff I've received and the price is unbeatable. The only thing I would be wary of is the delivery dates as one order I placed came a day later than expected. This time I might try an express service.

 

Print Carrier Ripped Me Off


I used print carrier and they ripped me off:

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