Metamark banner problem?

[Robert Lambie]

Does sound allot… i would have thought it should be consistent too. if your feeling short changed, then so might your repeat customers being handed a thinner/poorer grade banner material. if your not happy with it ide ask for it to be replaced or picked up and buy from another source.

[Shaun Cleary]

They say all the material is like that on the 1600mm at the moment.

I would have thought they had some sort of quality check instead of blaming the fact that it comes from china.

I also thought Metamark were a good quality company to deal with . 🙄

[Simon Clayton]

I’ve had this on other products, (not any type of vinyl or banners) and they blamed it on the fact it came from china, I think its outrageous, if you buying any product, it should be as stated. Its down to the company to then take it up with the Chinese company to rectify and replace

[Robert Lambie]

certainly sounds a bit stupid. How can they expect you to accept this?

Metamark: "here is the 500grms banner you ordered Mr Cleary"

Cleary: "Thanks, but its not a 500grms banner?"

Metamark: "yes we know it isn’t, our suppliers products aren’t what they should be, never consistent… but that’s life eh!"

Cleary: yeh right! 👿

Imagine walking in for a new BMW and getting the same from the dealer.

"yeh, sorry mate… these new Beamers often paint flake, lights work most the time and i recon its a bit of a hit or a miss on it starting in the morning. I blame germany for it and the euro against the pound, £20k just doesnt whack it these days im afraid"

yeh right! theres my keys mate, gimmie my cheque back! :lol1: :lol1:

[Peter Normington]

so what do they sell there 400gsm at?
totally unacceptable
send it back, and if they cant, replace with the correct thickness go elswhere,
trading standards may also like to be informed,
that is if your facts are correct

Peter

[David Rowland]

we have just opened up an account with metamark! intriguing

[Harry Cleary]

Hi Meta Mark, we Cleary’s have first names you know! 🙁 🙄 😀

[Owen Lees]

Normally they are very good – I’ve been using their products for years and always had reliable results.

Having said that – they have recently changed their banner grades downwards (it caught me out) from 500 to 400 and only recently altered the name and description – perhaps that was it?

Oo

[Robert Lambie]

quote Harry Cleary:

Hi Meta Mark, we Cleary’s have first names you know! 🙁 🙄 😀

:lol1: forgot, sorry… :lol1: i couldnt remember shauns first name when i was typing so left it out to check and alter, but forgot and hit the post button. sorry shuan mate 😳 :lol1:

[Harry Cleary]

It’s alright, I’ll let you off Lambie. 😀

[Shaun Cleary]

I did order MDFL 500 and it must have only been 300.

He checked and said they are all like this and basically like it or lump it, as they are all the same.

This was the same name so no mistake or name change, he says this happens sometimes which I cannot believe.

I said how would you feel if you went into a supermarket and only got half a tin of your product, he said it wasn’t the same.

I also said well if it is half the thickness shouldn’t it be half the price, phone went quiet for a second.

I didn’t put a price because we are in an open forum, can anyone recommend a good supplier for banner material.

[Phill Fenton]

Vote with your feet Shaun. That’s what we all should be doing when we get treated shabbily.

I was watching the news earlier – apparently inflation in Britain is at a 5 year low of 1.1%..so how come materials prices are going through the roof 🙄

[Simon Clayton]

quote Shaun Cleary:

I did order MDFL 500 and it must have only been 300.

He checked and said they are all like this and basically like it or lump it, as they are all the same.

This was the same name so no mistake or name change, he says this happens sometimes which I cannot believe.

I said how would you feel if you went into a supermarket and only got half a tin of your product, he said it wasn’t the same.

I also said well if it is half the thickness shouldn’t it be half the price, phone went quiet for a second.

I didn’t put a price because we are in an open forum, can anyone recommend a good supplier for banner material.

Exactly right you wouldn’t get a pint of milk with only half in it..
I’ve found this thing go on all the time, you get quoted a price for an item and when you get the invoice the price is different..always dearer.
As I’m the only person that orders and sorts out the bill’s, i normally catch it before they get paid, but i bet with a lot of companies where the secretary orders or where a member of staff just prints what his given and don’t really check what’s what, it goes through un-noticed.
I believe this sort of thing is intentional, and the suppliers are hoping you just don’t notice…

[Kevin Waite]

I have been using Metamark banner for over 2 years now various types. I had a slight problem with a roll, it had when printed very small fish eye type contamination, you could not really notice it from more than about 3 feet away and after printing around 4 banners, I decided it was not right. I phoned Metamark and was instantly told that they would replace the whole roll, which they did the next day and collected the remains of the first roll. On 2 other occasions I have have had small problems with their MD5 vinyl. Again no question or hesitation they sent enough vinyl to compensate me. I have never had a problem with their customer service and only have praise for them. Maybe you should try talking to your area rep?

Kev

[Owen Lees]

quote Phill:

.so how come materials prices are going through the roof 🙄

Phil, I am seeing them coming down from where I am looking, consistently now I’m paying less than I was a year or two ago for the same media.

The market is the lower end of the price market seems to be opening up as well and whilst some suppliers resist the urge to supply lower end products there seem to be a few coming along that can supply a reasonable product which fits a price point.

To make the point a little fairer though – I hitherto have only used what I would describe as the upper end of the spectrum and only recently has the quality of the economy stuff started to get reliable – hence me doing some serious media research recently and turning over some gems!

I ‘may’ be in a marginally different position with the amount of display work I do but even so it does seem to be easier to haggle prices down now.

Oo

[Peter Normington]

Got to agree with Owen
supplies have never been cheaper,
the rpi doesnt apply to trade supplies though, its based on a retail
"shopping basket"

Peter

[Phill Fenton]

Maybe it’s time I shopped around a bit more. Every couple of months I get letters saying "despite our best efforts blah blah blah – we’re having to put our prices up 7% due to the weakness of the pound" 🙄

And I’m stupid enough to believe them 😕

[Shaun Cleary]

Hi like I said before I talked to a guy that I was passed onto when I phone Metamark, he was basically saying all there current batch of banner material (1600mm) is like that and even if they accepted it back, I would only get the same quality material back.

He then went on to say that it was from china and it was not there fault, I would have thought they had quality control.

It was a case of get the job out or receive a refund, not much use when I have jobs waiting and I am let down by a poor quality product.

What really gets me is the stock control do they not have any ???

[Gary Birch]

quote Shaun Cleary:

What really gets me is the stock control do they not have any ???

It wasn’t that long ago that they were promoting a deal that if they were out of stock then you got it for nothing! I recently needed some more MDPP which was out of stock and had to wait about 6 weeks for.

I have never had any quality issues with the Metamark and have just had 3 rolls of the FL500 in 1370 within the last week which was ok. If you can get away with the smaller size that may be an option. Alternatively have you tried the Ability Banner from Europoint which is a very similar product and a few quid cheaper.

I have used Metamark for the majority of my digital print media for tje last without couple of years and am more than happy with them. Having said that…. that kind of attitude would get right on my t!ts

Cheers

Gary

[John Childs]

Where to start?

If the product isn’t up to specification, then you should send it back for a refund.

Of course, your supplier should have done the same when it arrived from their source.

The excuse that it is all the same doesn’t wash. Send it all back and either get it replaced, or find another manufacturer who can produce the right quality. But, if that happens, then you will have to swallow the inevitable price hike without a complaint. You can’t have it both ways.

In fairness to Metamark, they have been trying to source the same product cheaper. That’s both selfish in trying to give themselves a competitive advantage over their rivals, but also benefits you as you can supply, in this instance, banners, at a lower cost to your customers and hopefully win more business for yourself. In this case Metamark have unfortunately come unstuck and need to rectify things.

The China thing is a red herring. Not everything that comes out of that country is bad news, and I’m sure that, as they deal more and more with the west, things will improve. Back in the fifties and sixties it was exactly the same with the Japanese, and a "Made in Japan" sticker was derided. But they improved and who now would turn their nose up at Toyota or Sony quality? My prediction is that in a very few years we will be looking at the Chinese in the same light.