Hello All,

I ordered a ProDPI executive drop shipment, and two unfortunate things happened:

1) My "thank you" 5x7 was not anywhere in the shipping box.

2) The mailing label said "ProDPI" on it.

I'll call 'em Monday; just thought I'd share.

-TM

oh bummer! I started using the drop ship (executive a while back- part of letting go ) But I have never seen how a package arrived......so now I am hoping this is a once in a while kind of thing (and not happening too often

Let us know what they say

egh... big turn off. please let me know how this gets resolved, and if it's standard practice. thanks for letting us know!


for now, im sticking with WHCC and packaging my own prints. not only do i like to see and QC prints before they go out to clients, but i also like to add my own personal touch to the packaging.


oh, and WHCC has NEVER let me down....

I'm sure missing the thank-you card was a one-time mistake, but I would like to see their shipping labels not have their company name, like WHCC does.

-TM

Tzal, did this go to a client or did you send yourself a test shipment?

Hi Matt,

In ROES, I used the "ship to alternate location" option so it would be treated as a "direct to client" shipment, and entered my own address.

-TM

Hey guys,

As soon as we hear from Tzai we can look into the thank you card issue. I can tell you (obviously) that this is not a normal occurrence.

On the second item, SHIPPING address has been changed with UPS. This should go in to affect as early as Tuesday. Return addresses will now read:

Photograph Fulfillment
Shipping Dept
3988 Short Street Suite 100
San Luis Obispo, CA 93401

This is the first time that this issue has been brought to our attention, but it was an easy fix that was immediately handled. For future items, just drop us an email or a call and we can normally address them pretty fast!

We love you OSP guys, want to handle your needs, just give us a chance to do so!

No problem, I forget to put stuff in the box all the time.



Good news!

-TM

I think it's a good idea, especially when dealing with vendors who are so customer-service oriented as ProDPI, to try to resolve issues with them and see how it goes before posting about your negative experiences on OSP.

I am a newbie, less than two years in business. I use ProDPI because of their attitude, commitment to their customers and willingness to go far beyond the extra mile to make it right. I heard about them hear and on DWF, where Jeff has a ton of posts.

I have had a few service issues with ProDPI. All but one were MY doing even if I didn't realize it at the time and they spent tons of time and patience walking me through the challenges I was having with color and luminance management.
The one time I requested some prints mounted, and they weren't? A quick phone call, a real person answered the phone and I had the corrected item in my hands the next day.

There will always be someone cheaper, no matter who you are. There will always be someone with the next latest product. But only you have the power to ensure no one provides better service. In my mind, ProDPI, Jeff and Katelyn (sp?) have brought that spirit to life.

Just my .02
Jeff
J. Mitchel Photography

I *heart* ProDPI!

Thanks for calling this to their attention-
Without knowing of an error, it would be hard to make the fix-

I have had nothing but great experiences with Pro DPI and their customer service
has always been a couple notches above "on it"

keep up the great work-

Lisa

Hi Ryan,

I disagree. I post "they did great!" when they do, and otherwise when they don't.

There's nothing wrong with being honest about vendor experiences. I myself stated that the lack of "thank you" print was no doubt a one time thing. The address label is systemic, and Jeff has told us they've resolved the issue as of this week.

I think OSP is as it's best when it provides comprehensive information, both the good and the bad. Only giving eBay style "you're the best!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! A+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++" feedback doesn't do any of us any good.

-TM

Tzal,

I agree that only giving positive feedback doesn't do anyone any good. But my guess is that there are a lot of people who were scrolling down the list of new posts, saw one titled "ProDPI let me down" but didn't read it, and in the future may avoid using them just because of that.

I'm not at all saying don't post negative vendor reviews... everyone needs to be accountable for good quality control and customer service. But if it's something relatively minor, as this was, at least give people a chance to rectify the situation before blasting them in public. (I know, your post wasn't a blast... but the title was.) I would hope if I forgot something small with an order that went out, my brides would contact me and give me the chance to make it right before posting a negative review on the Knot.

While I understand both sides of the issue that have been brought up here…this line alone establishes the point you are making Ryan.

Now if this were happening on a regular basis, blast away.

How would you feel if a bride was posting this kind of thing about us on "The Knot". Photographer accidentally left a picture out of an order. That would discourage people from using you. When you post neg feedback about a company it hurts them. ProDPI did the right thing by stepping up and taking care of this quickly. In my book they are taking care of this.

What about the people that just reads the headline of this post.

I think we should certainly give people the opportunity to make something right before we blast them here.

My primary concern was not a missed print in the package, it was the shipping label. The latter was not a one-time error, it seems. This issue matters to some of us, and I for one would have liked to have seen this information as it would have informed my choice of drop-ship vendor.

I understand the above posts, however, if OSP readers are no more sophisticated then readers of "The Knot", and would turn away from ProDPI without reading the contents of the post, we have bigger problems.

-TM

It was the headline that intrigued me to read more. Just like a good newspaper headline.

I would have contacted the company before posting. In fact, I had quite a bit of QC problems with KISS last year but kept it private because I knew Kevin was just getting started and I believed he would make good on the errors. It took some time, but 95% of it was resolved. It would have required too much effort and time to fix the last 5%, so I let it go. They extended a courtesy to me in the end.

Posting before resolution would have likely hurt my relationship with them and made them less inclined to go the extra mile. I haven't ordered a book from them since, but it's not because of the errors that occurred. Rather, I just haven't had a client who wanted one (I don't include albums in my package so it's up to them).

Anyway, Tzal may have jumped the gun a little, but it wasn't a mean-spirited flaming... just more of heads-up kind of post. At least that's how I interpreted it.

I mentioned the miss print thing cause it could be an easy thing for us to do. I could have also mentioned printed the wrong picture as an example of a photographer getting raked over the coals for.

I am just stating that I disagree with your decision to mention the first problem you had with them without them having the chance to correct it first. If it was like the 3rd or 4th try, and they were unwilling or unresponsive to fix it, then yes, please let us know.

You have the right to say whatever you want to say on here. I'm just disagreeing. As I have the right to do so also

Customer complaints are an opportunity for a company to impress. ProDPI, not only rectified their error but made a change to make it better for everyone. That's impressive.

Yep!

-TM

I use Pro DPI exclusively for client delivered print orders via Drop Ship. While I have had the occasional problem, a phone call or email instantly resolved the issues.

I didn't realize that drop shipments may have been going out with ProDPI on the return address - I picked them for drop shipping because it was my understanding that they did blind dropshipping (at least with the name).

Glad that part is getting resolved.

Thanks ProDPI!

Andrew

I think that was available but you had to select the Executive Drop Ship option.

ProDPI is my favorite vendor. Really! Their product is great and their customer service is beyond reproach. They're also awfully friendly in real life.

I had an order I uploaded on Sunday that "disappeared" (it was due for delivery on Tuesday). UPS said it was delivered but I never saw it appear. Today I finally got around to figuring out which one of my orders was missing, made a call to ProDPI, explained the problem, and they told me that they are shipping me a replacement--no questions asked. I had expected nothing less in terms of customer service and as I had expected, I wasn't disappointed.

I've tried WHCC/Miller's right before I switched to ProDPI. On my first order, I had several hundred proofs made but they arrived completely out of sequential order (files named YYMMDD-hhmmss). Ii called WHCC/Miller's to complain but they were completely unsympathetic and stated that they could never guarantee the order of printed photographs. For someone like me that generally orders 200 - 1200 prints at one time, that was unacceptable and I moved to ProDPI. And I've never been happier.

[BTW - ProDPI prints are always in order. And they even number each individual envelope so it's very easy for me to box the images in sequential order for client delivery]

Rob Greer
http://www.robgreer.com