Printfection Review - My Experience
History
Basically, I paid for 1,000 WSO T shirts up front a few years ago with the expectation that it would cost me X to ship it domestically and Y to ship it internationally and Z for the fulfillment of those orders (for the record, we give these T shirts away to members as a way to say thank you, so it's already an expensive proposition). These prices are what I was told over e-mail repeatedly. I was given no time limit or restrictions or minimum shipments/month.
About 1 year ago the CEO notified me that pricing was changing...I was pretty pissed off an shocked to say the least because I had already made a big purchase / commitment and the reason I did so was because the pricing made sense back then. Not only are they saying that Z will increase by 250%, but they are also adding a monthly "subscription" of $79/month to have access to their service.
Current Situation
I have refused to pay the subscription or increased fulfillment cost to date, but now the CEO is threatening to give the WSO T shirts to charity (ie steal / throw them away) by February 1st if I have not given an address where I can send them or have subscribed to the $79/month service.
What would you do?
Obviously, this is sketchy as hell and I can't believe someone would run their business like this. What ever happened to honoring your current agreements and then changing the pricing for future customers??!?
I thought WSO has a lot smarter people than me so I'd like to ask what you would do? I was thinking that this review at the very least would rank well in Google and warn other potential customers of this extremely disappointing turn of events?
Should I just let the shirts go (about $5,000 in merchandise) and roll the dice? Should I try to get them shipped to another fulfillment shop where I'll have to renegotiate everything I had already negotiated?
I appreciate your opinions WSO.
Annoyed Monkey,
Patrick
Definition of Bait & Switch
...a sales tactic in which a customer is attracted by the advertisement of a low-priced item but is then encouraged to buy a higher-priced one
What would you call it if the CEO of a company had you buy a bulk order with set pricing on fulfillment and then changes that pricing half way through the fulfillment? "Bait & Blackmail"?
Of course legally I may have little recourse... from the terms of service I don't recall signing:
Fulfillment Services. We will store your Physical Merchandise and drop-ship it, at your cost, directly to the location of your choice. All shipments of Physical Merchandise will be shipped Ex Works (Incoterms 2010) at a facility of our choice. While we do not plan to dispose of Physical Merchandise, we cannot store it indefinitely. If we, in our sole discretion, decide to stop storing your Physical Merchandise, we will provide you with at least 60 days’ (10 days’ in the event these TOS are terminated) notice (the “Notice Period”). At any time during the Notice Period you may direct us to ship your Physical Merchandise, at your cost, to you or to the person or company of your choice. If the Notice Period expires and you have not directed us to ship your Physical Merchandise, your Physical Merchandise will be considered abandoned and we may dispose of your Physical Merchandise in our sole discretion.
So what would you guys suggest doing?
tough one. on the one hand, you'd be out the money if you do nothing and he doesn't change his mind.
on the other, if you give in, you're out more money and you've given him what he wants.
first, I'd look to see who owns the company. if it's self funded, too bad. if he has investors, I bet they'd be interested to know how their CEO is behaving and may even side with you on this issue. you should be able to get this information via public records.
next, I'd have one more conversation with him, attempting to negotiate (taking the high road, not being combative), asking him if he will honor the original terms. I'd restate the issue such that he has to admit to being a dick:
"so even though I have in writing that it will cost X, you are now charging me the higher price of Y, is that correct?" -yes "why?" -BS answer
after that, I'd just sever ties. the cost of legal recourse isn't worth it, but if you have an attorney friend who recommends something, there's no harm in writing a letter I guess.
unless this guy has investors who side with you on this, I see a pretty low likelihood that you get your money back or your shirts at the initial price, so your goal should be to minimize the time you spend on this issue and report it to the authorities (BBB, etc.). after that, spend your energy elsewhere.
you got fucked. it sucks, but since you have little control over the situation, once you've tried multiple approaches, let it die. this guy is an asshole that will probably end up getting murdered by a drug dealer for trying this bait & switch nonsense.
Is there anyway you can get the shirts back? No refund possible? I wish there were hoodies and sweaters too (for sale, not free) but oh well.
yeah, he's happy to send me the shirts to my home or any address I want... obviously I dont want to have to renegotiate with other t shirt vendors right now (plenty on my plate), but I'm headed down that road.
I really don't want 800 WSO t shirts in my home, as much as I like them.... :-)
Get a group of people on here and divide the shirts up. When you need them shipped and sent just alternate and it'll slowly disappear.
not a bad idea, just dont think people want 100+ WSO shirts laying around and to make trips to the post office every few weeks :-) I think I'm looking to transfer them to a new company.
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