I wanted to update all of you – especially those who so gratiously offered to receive their Fogtainers early sans the green latches. You will not be receiving your latches early.
Earlier I had posted here about my receipt of the only remaining blue systainers in the US and what the game plan was.
The situation with this initial order has gone so far off that I feel you should see some correspondence. This was cut and pasted from my email. I have in the text made some alterations only to the point that the information had nothing to do with the situation at hand or could, because of the searchability of the internet, cloud this situation. That information had to do with pricing or names. Nothing of relevance has been eliminated.
If you see asterisks and notes, those were added by me for clarification. I am currently investigating other printers within 800 miles of my location as well as all the other aspects – legal and otherwise.
P.S. The shipment from Germany arrived in Baltimore on the 4th and is awaiting Customs inspection.
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Subject: Re: Custom Blue box
Date: October 29, 2010 9:44:37 AM EDT
To: xxxx
Bcc: plhalle@comcast.net ****(NOTE: I always BCC myself to prove that the email system worked)****
XXXX,
I have gone over this situation in my head ever since I left your facility yesterday afternoon and have had discussions with people on my end.
At the risk of being blunt, this situation in its entirety is unacceptable - not just with the small cases.
The project as discussed and priced by your firm was to print 4 different size abs plastic storage cases with the logo supplied at the same location referenced off the bottom of the case. I paid the fee of $XXXX to have the necessary work performed to have a prototype produced. I submitted that prototype to my people for approval and based on the quality of that work I received the go ahead for this project. They were quite impressed with the quality of the work and only suggested that there be additional prints to fill in the voids in the logo caused by the texture of the products. They placed an order with me for product to be shipped back to Europe to prove that they had a possible vendor to provide these services here in the US. **** NOTE: Several people from Festool ordered Fogtainers. I have no idea what they intend to do with them. Tanos would love to have a tried and true vendor for these services in North America. *****
I supplied to your firm the anticipated numbers as well as the suggestion that additional prints be made to improve the quality of the finished product. You provided pricing for the printing based on several different scenarios based on quantity and the request for additional prints, and then I provided to my "customers" images of the prototype and took orders.
Following delivery of the product to your facility and during a discussion to make sure that there weren't any misunderstandings, we went over two changes - one of which was suggested by your firm when I picked up and paid for the prototype. The suggestion made by your firm was to lower the logo about 1/16" to 1/8" so that it was centered between the bottom of the case and the small embossed oval at the top of the area where it was to be printed. The only other change was the color.
I made two trips to your facility to approve the color at your request. You brought out one of the smallest sized cases and applied a plastic adhesive overlay of the logo to illustrate that you understood the placing requirements.
On Wednesday afternoon I received a phone call informing me that the printing had been completed but the logo had been moved to be centered on the larger cases due to difficulty in the printing process. I agreed to come out on Thursday to inspect. At no time prior to the completion of the printing in this whole process was I made aware of any issues.
Upon inspecting the product on Thursday I noted the following:
1. The logos are not printed parallel to the top or the bottom of the cases.
2. The logos appear uncentered from left to right
3. The logos are not printed in the agreed to locations in reference to the bottom of the cases as we agreed prior.
Frankly I was shocked. Initially I was most concerned with the appearance on the smallest sized cases, but after thought and discussion this situation was, and is, totally opposite of what I anticipated from a firm with the type of clients that your firm has served over the past 100 years. Your firm, thru its actions, has produced a product that in its current form I can not offer to my customers and puts me into an adverse financial situation.
Please advise as to the steps that your firm is going to take to rectify the current situation and either bring the product back to its original condition or reprint as was originally agreed to.
I await your written response.
Peter Halle
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On Oct 28, 2010, at 4:16 PM, XXXX wrote:
Peter,
Here is the original printed case. (NOT CROOKED) ****NOTE: An image of the prototype was attached. That is Fogtainer 1 that Brice owns now.****
The issue with the smaller units being slightly crooked is that the lip above the logo interferes with the pad. Apparently, she was actually
Fighting to keep the cases as "in-place" as possible. Which failed.
But this case looks fine, so im attributing that to human error.
I should have taken my time with these and printed a sample of each and every case since 1/16" inch tolerance left to right is critical.
I didn’t want to have to charge you for four pre-production samples, but I should have made them anyways.
These are the issues associated with doing too much at once and not focusing.
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I had two cases wiped down as best as possible. Im going to see what they look like when the plastic coating has settled so we can decide whether the logo should be reprinted or left alone.
(they might look too rough after being wiped down)
Please do not think that we're incapable, it was my fault for not separating all four cases and doing pre-pro's from the start.
I’ll let you know how the small cases look in the morning after being wiped.
If they are acceptable, I could have the smaller cases reprinted by Wednesday.
Thanks
- XXXX
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I suspect that Monday will bring me the news that I dread. Just more complications opportunities.
Hang in there guys. I am working on this.
Please trust me on this one.
Peter
