We are small sign and t-shirt producer in Northern California. We Purchased the Epson R1800, Fast Rip, and Fast Films package from US Screen Print in February ($2168). The printer had problems printing solid black from the beginning, causing us to have to send our film through twice to get the proper result.in addition, the front door would intermittently pop open causing the printer to stop working mid stream.
We made calls to US Screen Print's customer service department from February through October trying to get help. We would end up on hold for 10 to 15 minutes then be transferred to a voice mail and would rarely receive a return call. On the unusual occasion we got a live person answering the phone, we explained our situation and begged to be transferred to someone who could talk with us right then... ONLY TO BE DUMPED INTO VOICE MAIL AGAIN.
In more than 20 phone calls, I think we only received three return calls. One call they told us to "tape the printer door shut so it wouldn't pop open", and that they would research our ink problem and get back to us... Which never happened. The second call we didn't let them off that easy and insisted on troubleshooting over the phone, but none of their instructions corrected the ink problem. Again, they told is to "keep that tape on the printer door" so it didn't pop open and stop the print cycle! And then, the clincher! We were told we needed their "exclusive bulk ink" system in order to correct the problem.
The bulk system was approximately $800, but we had already invested $2100, we needed the equipment to run that portion of our business, and this seemed like our only option. So in October we purchased and installed their bulk ink system.
NOT ONLY WAS OUR INITIAL INK PROBLEM NOT FIXED, but the installation of the bulk system they told us we had to have RENDERED OUR PRINTER COMPLETELY INOPERABLE! At this point, our system doesn't work at all, and we have to sub-contract with other screen printers just to get our film out!
We're now all snarl and mumble every time we walk past the printer, and are placing phone calls daily to try and get a resolution. When we finally get through, we're told the problem is with the Epson printer itself, and not their product (even though they sold us the Epson). And that we would have to take it in to a local, authorized Epson repair shop. We pleaded to be able to return the printer to them so they could fix it, as the closest Epson repair shop is an hour away in another town. They told us it was Epson's problem, not theirs, and this was our only option.
So we drove an hour to the closest Epson repair shop, only for them to tell us that because of the installation of US Screen Print's bulk system, our printer was no longer under warranty and we would have to pay out of pocket for them to diagnose and/or repair the problem! A couple hundred bucks and four hours worth of driving later, the Epson repair shop told us the black ink line was clogged, and despite their efforts to unclog the line, it seemed to them to be a defect in the printer from it's beginning. Their only suggestion was to return the printer to US Screen Print, as it most likely never worked properly.
So, now it's month's later, we have left MANY MORE MESSAGES, with no return call. (Are you tired of reading that same line yet?) We finally send an email to US Screen Print outlining what we have gone through, and stating we would be taking what ever action we could if we did not receive a response. WooHoo! We got ONE phone message from a man named Jim, who has still not returned our calls despite our leaving four or five messages since on his direct line.
Criminy US Screen Print... WE ARE PISSED, TIRED, DESPERATE, AND BROKE FROM OUTSOURCING OUR FILM! Not to mention how much time we have dumped into this when we should be running our business! How the crap do we get a resolution! After we post this report, we'll give Epson a try to see if perhaps there is something they can do.: (
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