Every shop gets these. What separates the shops that handle them well is that they decided the policy before the phone rang, so the conversation is calm and consistent.
Two questions, kept separate
- Is the complaint valid? Is the garment actually wrong or faulty?
- Who pays? That depends on what was approved, not on how the complaint is delivered.
Conflating them is what produces either a defensive argument or a reflexive free reprint. Both are expensive.
The script
Acknowledge fast and without conceding.
"Thanks for letting me know. Send me a photo of the print and the inside label and I'll look at it today."
Get evidence. A photo of the fault, the garment label, and the quantity affected. If it is a wash issue, ask how it was washed.
Check against the approved proof. Position, size, colour, garment, spelling. This is the moment your recorded approval earns its keep. See cutting approval time for why the timestamp matters.
Then say which it is, plainly.
If it is yours:
"That's our error, the placement is 30mm low against the proof. I'll reprint the full run and have it with you Thursday, no charge, and I'll collect the originals."
If it is theirs:
"I've checked against the proof you approved on the 14th, and the spelling matches what was signed off. I can absolutely reprint them. Because the artwork was as approved it would be chargeable, but I'll do it at cost on the garments and drop the setup, so £X rather than £Y. Do you want me to get it running?"
No lecture, no "as you can see", no implication of blame. A fact, a solution, a number, a question.
What is yours and what is not
| Situation | Who pays |
|---|---|
| Print position or size differs from approved proof | You |
| Wrong garment, wrong colour, wrong quantity | You |
| Under-cured print cracking after washing | You |
| Registration or opacity below your own standard | You |
| Spelling error present in the approved proof | Customer |
| Customer supplied low-resolution artwork, warned in writing | Customer |
| Customer changed their mind about the design | Customer |
| Sizes ordered wrong by the customer | Customer |
| Garment mill fault | Supplier, handled by you |
Mill faults are worth calling out. They are not your fault, but the customer bought from you, so you handle it and you claim from the supplier. Never send a customer to your supplier.
Publish the policy
Reprint window, what counts as a fault, what a chargeable reprint costs, and how wash durability is treated. On the quote and the invoice. A published policy converts an argument into an administrative step.
Learn from the pattern
One reprint is noise. Three of the same kind is a process fault. Track the cause: blanks, setup, cure, artwork, or approval. Then fix the check that missed it, using the QC checklist.
Printer's Friend keeps the approved proof version, its timestamp and the full order history on the order, so answering "what was approved" takes seconds, and reprints can be raised against the original job so the cause is recorded rather than forgotten.