Are we in the wrong ?

I know its not anything to do with priniting, but I design radio frequency comms equipment. In my job I also have to design the housings which is milled from aluminium blocks.

We send them the inventor drawings (CAD drawings which gets converted to CNC codes) and they machine the cases. When it gets sent back to us all machined, it goes into our goods in inspection and it either gets accepted or rejected if its not correct. Sometimes incorrect metal work comes in and accidently gets overlooked and passed but the supplier always accepts the metal work which is deemed non compliant and takes the hit in the pocket even after acceptance because they never gave us what we asked for.

Yes we may have accepted the metal work but it isnt for us to be their quality control, its their job and its what they are getting paid for. We are just a another level of control to make sure we dont pass on non compliant equipment to our customer.

If the printing business is different as it seems that it is, then I think it is a disgraceful way of running a business. Imagine you bought a brand new car and you chose all your shiny options and when you picked it up, you overlooked that they didnt supply you with some of the options you chose and when you took it back, they just shrugged their shoulders and wouldnt put it right free of charge.
 
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Paulus should pay. You really should be proof reading and cross referencing key details before sending a proof to the client.
 
TriedandTested said:
Oh dear. It's to check what's going to be printed, before it's printed. It's quite a simple system. I don't think proofing something means you can look at some elements of it and ignore others by 'presuming' they are correct.
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^ Total agreement with this comment, we implement the same system in my job. Client should have proof read the entire document and if they missed a mistake it is their fault.
If it's going to be a repeat customer let them know as a good will gesture that you will replace the leaflets, if it's not a repeat customer make em pay!
 
The client sent you the right number; the client can therefore expect that you will be competent enough to type this in AND check it yourself. The client can reasonably expect that the proof contains the contact details they sent you without having to double-check them.

You pay for your mistake.

EDIT: An no, don't get your lawyer involved. Take responsibility for your mistake; a proof of something like a brochure or leaflet (with minimal text) would be accepted to be a proof of the colours/layout, rather than the name/address/phone number.
 
from a business standpoint... If you are not worried about repeat business from them then make them pay for it, at your cost price. They had the proof to check, did he sign it and send it back? If so it's their problem.
 
TheDean said:
No it's not. If they accept the proof, tough. You can charge them, and take it to court if they fail to pay
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The client could claim that the proof was merely for colour scheme / layout, and that they could reasonably expect the other party to get the name/address/number correct. Pay up.
 
At the design place I work this has happened a few times. Basically it says in the contract all typography is to be provided by the client, and is to be proven before printing by the client. Any mistakes therein are the responsibility of the client.

If the error is our fault we'll normally foot the bill or go 50/50 for the reprint. If it's their fault they pay the whole thing.

However it all does depend on how big the job was, what our relationship is like with the client and what the monthly budget targets are looking like :)
 
Bear said:
If the printing business is different as it seems that it is, then I think it is a disgraceful way of running a business. Imagine you bought a brand new car and you chose all your shiny options and when you picked it up, you overlooked that they didnt supply you with some of the options you chose and when you took it back, they just shrugged their shoulders and wouldnt put it right free of charge.
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I agree with

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and

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Spunkey said:
They signed a piece of paper with a £ sign and some number after it.
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If they did, said paper should have some kind of agreement on it, which should detail what happens in this situation. If there was this agreement, there would be no issue. I presume the whole issue has arisen because the agreement was not in place.
 
Look at it this way:

Original type made - mistake 1 - business
Proof not quality checked / to an appropriate standard - mistake 2 - business.
Client did not pick up the mistake - mistake 1 - client

Seems to be more 66:33 to me.

Secondly you are looking at a number of risk factors:

Reputational risk - this client will bitch and moan about this
Loss of business - if £1600 is a hard amount to swallow you are already running lean in terms or profit - can you afford to lose his business and other companies?
Legal risk - how likely is the client to go to trading standards/small claims to get his money back? Regardless of whether you win or not chances are it will cost more than £1600.

You know your business and your clients. £1600 is not that much at the end of the day and you could end up losing a lot more. Take it on the chin as a lesson learned. Ensure your QA is much higher and make your proof terms explicit.
 
I'm in the document composition business, and whilst we don't do the printing ourselves our software formats the layout of what is to be printed. If we made a mistake like that we'd take the hit.

But like I said we don't do the printing so our costs are minimal. I would guess the printing company would still fully bill their client even though the print was wasted, as after all it still uses paper/ink.
 
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