PTI stands for Papertrey Ink. This is a collective smack blog and Papertrey Ink review page. Papertrey Ink's continuously poor customer service has lead to a page dedicated to discussion of this stamp company and recommendations for alternative stamp companies. Minimal censorship here- I prefer to leave it up to posters' discretion.
The opinions posted on this blog belong to our visitors and we are not paid for our honest reviews ;)
I really think Maile is about to say bye bye to PTI. Seriously, her projects are :( and someone pointed out she praised using the mint green archival ink. I wondered about that when I read her blog too. Yes, I find it unusual for a PTI DT to praise another product during a PTI release.
Paper button dies? You mean this? There's a mini stamp set to coordinate with the button bits sets. http://nicholeheady.typepad.com/capture_the_moment/2012/09/introducing-snowflake-medley-happy-harlequin-and-bits-buttons-1.html
I wonder if/when any DT members decide to leave PTI do they actually say to Nichole, in private, 'sorry Nichole, too many negative comments out there about PTI and I need to move on'. I know we would never know the answer to this, but it always seems to be 'need to spend more time with family etc' and then they pop up on another stamp site. Just thinking out aloud here.
Hey smackers, I know some of you know where on the web to find clip art. I have been searching the web high and low for a digital source for this antique rose engraving image:
I've seen it used on paper and rubber stamps by multiple manufacturers, and on high-end letterpress wedding stationery.
paper by Studio Calico: http://www.studiocalico.com/shop/heyday/heyday-ethereal
stamp by Stamp Francisco: http://www.stampfrancisco.com/Product.asp?Sku=61-122&Desc=Roses+Engraving+Lg
stamp by Anna Griffin for All Night Media: http://www.ebay.com/itm/ALL-NIGHT-MEDIA-Rubber-Stamp-ANNA-GRIFFIN-ROSE-580D07-/370648814097?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item564c641211
I want to buy it from a source that doesn't have any ridiculous rules about what I can or cannot do with it (unlike the etsy shop in my first link), since it is an old copyright-free antique image to begin with.
What I'd REALLY like is to know if it's in one of Dover's clip art books and which one, because I haven't found it in any of the ones I have looked at so far.
So, can anyone help me? Purty please with cream and sugar on top?
21:16 I've wondered about that too. I hope some of them do/did tell to her straight why they want to leave. I hate it when I read their blogs and they say they want to take a break (or whatever) for health reasons, family or whatever bah blah blah and then one day they just join another team. Makes me feel duped. Why? Because I believed her/them when they posted blah blah blah. I know DT work must be crazy but I would love a little honesty thrown in. Their reason might be hurtful but at least it's honest. When I do find them in other team/s I feel so bad I boycott the new company. Not their fault but I just want to distance myself from the DT member.
Instead of feeling hooray for them for moving on, I feel bad for NH. Seriously.
1:39 - if the DT member is trying to stay in the business, it does them no good with potential stamp company employers to bash their previous employer, no matter how bitchy she was.
Instead, they make nice on their blogs and reveal their true feeling with other DT members. That we are sometimes able to see a glimpse of on Facebook.
Would you hire someone who bitched about their former employer? I don't.
And I don't hold leaving a DT against someone. If I like their work, I continue to follow them.
I think if someone feels that the design team they are on or the company they are working for is a toxic environment, they have every right to leave and seek work at a different company. Job hopping in the workplace in general used to so frowned-upon, but today people do it all the time. As far as being on a design team, even if I liked the company I don't think I'd want to stick to the same team forever! I'd want variety and the experience of working with many different companies. A few years is plenty of time to be with a good company.
But yeah, whether the parting of ways was amicable or not, you just don't see the design team members saying, "I'm totally sick of working for xyz company and I'm going to end my time with them to find something I like better." I'm not sure whether that kind of transparency would be a good thing or not. Because yes, it wouldn't help your prospects with future employers to be the kind of person who bashes your previous employees all over the internet. But on the other hand if companies are a toxic place to work, wouldn't it be a service to the industry to expose that toxicity in order to flush it out and give the business a motivation to fix their problems?
This blog exists to serve that purpose. Maybe design team members want their blogs to be more polite and positive than that, even if it would be more honest to post the ugly truth. And I think it's okay for there to exist that division between the polite public face of the design team employee and the ugly truth of the smack blog. Maybe some people will feel it makes the team members two-faced... but sometimes maintaining that polite, positive public persona means choosing to focus only on the positive aspects and omitting the negative. (Totally didn't try to get all that alliteration in there, heh!)
So... there's my rambling thoughts on the matter. Take care, y'all.
Very unprofessional to blast an employer on your blog. It can be done -- someone left Penny Black and said that the company misrepresented the style of stamps she would be using and therefore she was leaving. The world didn't come to an end.
The problem is when someone says that they are leaving to spend more time with family and then they sign up with another company immediately. Julie Ebersole did this when she left amuse and it was ridiculous.
Better to just say that I've decided to leave PTI or Amuse or whatever and stretch my creative muscles.
I've left DTs for a variety of reasons. No reason to make a big emotional splash. People switch jobs ALL THE TIME.
The problem is that people on line treat being on a DT like being a celebrity. It's a job, albeit below minimum wage job at that. DTs are ripped off in this industry but stay at home women are so desperate to earn anything they let themselves be taken advantage of.
I found it for sale on "Twisted Papers" here: http://www.twistedpapers.com/botanicals_g85-victorian_botanical_illustration_p3051.html
to get just that image, it's $1. A subscription for a month that allows you to download up to 500 images is $24.95.
Their angel policy is spelled out under the FAQ tab; basically you can't resell the image as an image, but you can use it on "artwork and creations and sell them freely."
Not connected with Twisted Papers in any way (although now that I've found it, I might need to do a little shopping there myself).
1:39 here. If I may try to explain my post. I do get what you 3 are saying... I meant I hope they would tell their employer honestly why they were leaving. Not the usual health and family reason and then turn around to join another company. Ouch! Talking PTI, I honestly had no idea who they (former dt members) were until they were in the PTI DT and I think they at least owe NH some gratitude. Bitch or not. Yes, People switch jobs all the time but um, we're talking about crafters DT members who *blog* their work, life or whatever they feel like. They have people reading, following and most of the time, believing what they say. No need to bash the employer on their blog. That's not what I was trying to post. At least say, you want to try something else other than the health and family line then join another company. That's all :)
I like 5:39's stretch their creative muscles line. :)
I have to order. Too much I cannot live without. I have been wanting little things here and there and with all those plus a lot from this release I am going to get close to $200 to stock up on everything including paper. Sorry, smackers, I just have to cave.
I fully know the HUGE risk I am taking. I am not an otherwise daring person. I have never been bungee jumping, sky diving, or even climbed a tree. This order will be my out of the box example of courage.
I am unnaturally bothered by the thread title "Have you been brave this week?". I have enough shit going on in my life right now that I certainly wouldn't consider cutting apart my stamps to be "brave".
I know, that's my problem. I did say that I was unnaturally bothered.
OR...you can order and still bitch about it, like EVERYONE ELSE who still orders does. If everyone who visited this site boycotted PTI, WHY would they care enough to post here? I know I sure wouldn't.
I understand the point about telling PTI why you are leaving. I jumped over the point you are making.
I guess it depends. I suspect that there are a lot of behind the scenes things -- I've heard of consistently late payments to DT and stamp designers, etc. After that, maybe there is no reason to explain leaving.
I agree though, that PTI gave a lot of these folks a huge boost to their careers. Sure, PTI made money off of them, but Nichole's taste in stamps and how to select them from all submitted and her designs carry this company.
I don't think any of these folks are going to be as popular post PTI.
And, no, there is no way I am going to buy right now. I want to see how the latest website works and see how the inevitable problems are handled. Would appreciate hearing positive and negative.
The reason I have decided to order is because I see some improvements (and of course, because I want the stuff). Julie has sent me 2 nice emails in response to issues. Rick has fixed things for me immediately after he found out I was having a problem. My account is fixed, my reward points are correct, people are reporting faster shipping. I think it is worth a try. Risky, yes, but I have always, always wanted them to get their act together. I really love PTI products, except for ink and impression plates, and WANT to order.
Depends on who they go with. If they go with increasingly popular companies who are going to, imo, help PTI go under,--I think they will maintain their celebrity.
So. Maybe the design team members that write "want to spend more time with family" on their blogs and then after a little break join another company, DO tell the company they are leaving more of the real reason. And the "time with family" is just the industry de-facto explanation that gets put on the blogs. I have only been on one design team, a few years ago for a local scrap store, and it lasted only six months, and I don't have a blog. So I don't really have experience with what we are talking about. I am a timid enough person that if I wanted to leave a team because I was unhappy I might chicken out and tell the boss that I wanted to leave "to spend more time with family" instead of have the guts to express my unhappiness to his/her face. Yeah, it's the coward's way out. I'm not proud of it.
Went back and watched Nichole's paper bead video for the first time. And so here is something else that bothers me:
Dear Nichole, and about half of the rest of the world as well: it is not "Modge Podge"... it is "Mod Podge". Say it with me... mod. Mod. Not modge... MOD.
Well, it was an ordeal, but I think I got my order in and correct. Many bugs in the ordering process but I was able to circumvent all of them, I think.
Mine processed but even though I redeemed my reward points, those were not taken off the final price that I was charged. Will just save them for future I guess.
Once again threads are rolling. People cannot put things in carts, things are dumping, reward points cannot be used and new reward points are not being added.
OMG. I thought the site was extensively tested? No way a site is this foo-kayed and was tested extensively. Or else Rick and I have different definitions for that.
Update website before a release but do not provide customers with the ability to (1) use one than more gift certificate and (2) use less than the full amount of rewards points available.
Brilliant move by the three brilliant business women.
Seriously, you have to give them a break. They are such a new company it will take awhile to get it all worked out. They are such a small company that they are overworked. Give them some time to grow and get some experience. Just be patient, in about 40 years things will get better.
Looks like the website is deducting rewards points but charging folks for the full amount on Paypal. Rick says it is not a widespread issue even though at least 4 people have mentioned it on the release night tech issues thread on the forum. PRICELESS.
what a mess. and the flaming bitch is all over the board trying to squash threads and assure folks there is no problem, you can give them your money now that they are ready for it.... what a joke.
The only time she comes on the baord is to collect money and tell folks to STFU.
My guess is they reset the order numbers with the "updated" website, similar to how you can select the new check sequence when you reorder checks for your bank account.
"After 1 hour and 11 min. I finally got my order to go through using a credit card!!! Must be PayPal that is causing the problem or at least for me. No wonder people are leaving PTI. So aggravating. You came close to loosing another customer tonight with all these problems."
I pressed the button to put in Think Big Favorites #20 but when I checked my order in my account order histore, my order reads Think Big Favorites #19 was ordered instead. I've placed an alert into zendesk. Anyone else have this problem?
Nichole wrote:
May I ask where in the store you added this to your cart so that I can double check the linking on the back end? Was it the homepage or the stamps page?
***************
Dear Nichole,
Instead of waiting on a reply from the customer, how about you try checking the links on both the homepage and the stamps page, you greedy, money-hungry, lazy B*!
And all threads showing PTI in a less than flattering light has been moved to the tech help board, no need to muck up their pretty forum with the truth
20:13 my order number is somewhere in the 302200+ Just checked out. Last month it was in the 223000+ am not sure if their order volumes are down compared to previous months or not.
Title of thread at the top of Stamping Forum right now is "Nice Features of the New Website". Are they kidding us. The website was chaos, a total disaster last night. All the threads of panic and mess ups are gone off the forum leading anyone checking in today to think that last night was roses and wine there.
Yeah - but on the Nice Features of the Website - there are only 2 comments. Bit different from the number of people who struggled through the ordering debacle the night before. How many months/years have PTI tried to get their act together on release night?????????
Don't understand why PTI would lose business if they shut down their website 1 hr or so before release. Surely no one would order an hour before - they would wait for the allotted time wouldn't they??? Sounds like another excuse from PTI - perhaps they don't have the manpower to shut down the site and make sure it is functioning before the actual release time. Other companies do this.
It is back2sch but WARNING, only use it if you actually earned it because they check to make sure you are one who is authorized based on previous purchases to use it. You really don't want to get yourself banned from her store.
I am a recent PTI customer. The stamps are just so well-designed -- clean, not too cutesy or vintage-y. I placed four orders successfully and love what I received. I went to try to order last night and said, forget it. Much as I like the stamps, it isn't worth aggravation or uncertainty to place an order. I may try again in a few weeks if they get the bugs worked out.
Haha, so the 'nice features of the new website' thread got moved to the release subforum. Funny in that 1) it was started on sun 9am (ie. not release night), and 2) it was started to be cheery but quickly devolved into people complaining.
Thanks 8:38. I believe I stated I deleted the email. I wouldn't use a code I didn't earn.
Thanks 8:54 I was unaware I could email them for the code. I'll know for next time. I'm sure we've all been in a situation where we want something right now.
Interesting to hear that some feel Simon Says Stamp has slow shipping. I am international and PTI orders used to take 4-6 weeks to reach me (don't order any more from them tho). SSS packages always arrive in 10-14 days.
21:29 I agree. They are an ABSOLUTE horror to deal with on ebay, but shopping from their website, I never had a problem.. The risk is definitely lower than buying from PTI :P arrives faster than PTI too!
one thing (of many) that PTI hasn't learned is you have to spend money to make money.
Example: the inks. should have handled the ink debacle x2, now 3, better by offering customers something for their trouble. Lots of money but much greater sales in return. Hire Claire at WMS as a consultant.
Example: for all that is holy, HIRE a REAL professional expensive top notch web developer. Dig up Steve Jobs if you have to.
Don't use the store until it works. That's right. Take it off line and suspend sales for 2 whole weeks or months. Gasp! Imagine the time you will save when the store works. Test it out with real customers and then listen to what they say and make the fixes.
Sorry, I checked it and it is still a mess. It cheapens your whole operation.
Example: you need to find a better way to make your forum a home for folks again. They come here instead of there. It will NEVER happen until you change. Moving complaints, not letting folks talk about other companies and having the DT paid to make lame and lamer threads just screams desperation and makes me sad. If you want to pay the DT to do something, pay them to make comments on your customers' lame creations. That would generate more sales as most stampers are desperate for comments from the stars (said somewhat snarkily....)
You need this forum. It was an incredibly important part of your sales. You are losing more and more, your DT is leaving, and yes you still refuse to right the ship. Until you are willing to spend money to make things better, the forum will remain a lifeless joke. It is sad. I want it back!!
nothing new in any of this but felt the need to vent. would lOVE to go back...but cannot give my money to a company that doesn't stand behind its products.
and yes, I would love to be pti obsessed again. Eh?
^^^ since when hasn't PTI stood behind their products. They've offered refunds for the ink and replacements for the IP. Tell me what other company offers free replacements for lost stamps.
3:44, they only "stand behind" their products as a last resort. First they deny, then they point fingers (e.g., "customer is a liar" or "customer used the product incorrectly"). Sorry, PTI. You don't get brownie points for kicking and screaming and finally doing what you were suppose to do in the first place.
Count me in as another who has had nothing but positive experiences with Simon Says Stamp. I order directly from their website, get responses from customer service on the same day I put in a inquiry, and get my items in about a week's time.
I haven't ordered any of their private label stamps and dies, but hope to soon!
PTI sold ink twice that was subpar. Many of us bought both sets. We were offered (I think) the option of returning the inks to PTI at our expense and if PTI agreed with our analysis of the ink, PTI would replace the ink or I guess refund us (cannot remember). A better, more honest, approach would have been to just issue a refund to anyone with the inks.
Or, at the very least, offer the new inks at a substantial discount to anyone who had the old inks.
Or maybe I am just wrong. Maybe it is typical of companies to sell inferior products and require the customer to prove it by mailing it back. I know that with SU, they send me a damaged item, I call my demo and poof, su agrees to send out a new product at no cost to me.
Ellen Hutson -- an item was missing. I CALLED a human and they sent out the missing item the next day. No questions asked.
Waltzingmouse contacted ME about a defective stamp and sent me an entire new SET without my having to do a thing.
PTI should be given credit for sending out missing stamps if someone loses one. I agree that is a nice touch.
that gets lost when PTI tries to hide the mistakes, customers find them, there is spotty response and then we lose trust in the company. PTI never comes out and says, guess what a palette was missing, guess what we misspelled a stamp, guess what our inks sort of suck.
They have NO IDEA how much a little honesty would go with some of us. I love a company that says, oops, we misspelled a word, hang with us.
Or, wow, we never mailed those prize packages on time. We are not waiting for a member of the forum to suggest GC instead. We'll think like a customer and get on it.
Or gee, you didn't get your anniversary sets? What the hell is wrong with us? A thousand apoligies and here is a GC to compsensate you for what you earned (PULEZZE don't call it a free gift.)
I could go on and on and on, but I'll let my smacking friends have a say.
8:36, the ink refund was only for four colors of the version 1 inks, and only for a very limited time. I had all of them, but the conditions of the refund made it more trouble than it was worth to me. I ended up just throwing out those inks.
I remember the first generation inks. I can't remember how many colours there were but I had them (full size pads and reinkers). I followed the instructions for return/refund and the refund I received, including shipping, was quite a bit. Too bad you threw out your faulty ink, 8:36.
I'm 8:36 - I never threw out my defective inks. I had issues with the inks and was never told there was a way to get them fixed. When I first emailed CS back then they told me there was no issue. I was never offered a refund for anything.
Was this something that was only shared on the forum? I wasn't on the forum back then.
They do not send out prize GC's in a timely manner either. Instead they send an email saying they will try to get it to you before the release but they make no promises.
Sorry 12:09. Julie did not turn Nichole into a joke. She had her fair hand in doing that on her own.
Have you ever read any of Nichole's earlier posts? The one about "thank you for taking the time to share your disappointment" or the one where she called Ted disrespectful?
Nichole seems to be trying to soften her language but she is no victim in this.
12:16, I wholeheartedly agree that Nichole has dirty hands. It's all about the money to her. I laugh whenever I think about that blog post where she apologized about the ordering troubles on the website. She wasn't sorry about the customer experience; she was sorry that PTI lost out on a large number of sales.
Has anyone watched 27 dresses, when her sister goes all bridezilla stomping around the room and screaming that godzilla is coming to town? Yeah, that is how I picture Nichole watching a release nightdebacle unfold. I don't know why I do, but that what I picture. Her calling the other owners and going off on them for losing her money.
Sorry 8:36 - I'm 10:15 - I misread. It was 9:07 who threw out the inks. The ink refund I was referring to was way back in 2007 or 2008 for the first generation of inks. I haven't bought ink since then so I can't give you any info about getting a refund. Sorry.
14:38 this handslap has got to be coming from an owner or employee! A uni or a smacker would not gone this far as to type this. I would bet a hundred ink pads on that!
Did anyone notice that on Michelle's video today, she says, "card isle" again?! The heading on the post on NH's blog uses aisle, but the video says isle. Do you think she did it on purpose as a big FU to the people who were talking about it earlier in the week?
No, I don't think Melissa did that on purpose. I would suppose that Melissa made her video, edited it and sent it off to Nichole. Nichole then created the post for her blog and You Tube, hence the differentiated spellings
16:48, I got my 2nd set today and think they are beautiful. I was impressed with speed. I ordered on Friday at noon my time and the inks arrived in today's mail.
Is PTI doing anything about the current crap inks? I sent an email a while ago but got a reply saying I needed to submit photos of my problem. I am not sure if I should take a video of all the tapping I need to do to ink a stamp.
Entitlement is so rampant today. Whenever I see evidence of PTI's poor CS, I picture NH pouting 'but we always did it this way' 'but it's not my fault that xyz happened' 'but we have to sell that many stamps, that's what we've always sold per release'. I'm sorry, but sales are never guaranteed. Just because you got used to a certain bottom line doesn't mean you should expect it every month. And if there are more expenses in a certain month because of an error on your end, you swallow those and hope you don't make the same mistakes next month. You don't cheap out on correcting them just because it cuts into your profits.
Speaking of inks, anyone see that MFT is coming out with their own ink pads in a few months? Someone posted on their forum that they were looking for ink matches for their cardstock and the owner said that a spreadsheet for that info would not be needed and she alluded to the fact they were creating their own ink line. Kudos to them if they can pull it off....just got the assorted paper pack from them, and will switch to their consumables as soon as they can come up with some colors to match stuff like Harvest Gold and Ocean Tides. Their buttons are almost a spot on match to PTIs and now that they have felt and ribbon too....well, PTI may become smaller and smaller in my rear view mirror.....
20:16, please put down whatever you are smoking. As of this morning, there are still 480 limeade ink pads available for sale. [For comparison, there are 272 plum pudding pads available.] Obviously not that many people are buying the crappy inks.
Makes me wonder what Nichole & Co. were thinking when they put in the orders. Oh, that's right. I forgot. They like to sit on a huge inventory. LMAO!
Curious... Why is a thread about delivery notifications moved to the sept release forum, but a thread about what extras ended up in your cart gets to stay? Aren't they both related to sept release? I hate inconsistency.
Either people are not coming here to "complain" about their order problems as someone requested or things are being handled by PTI appropriately. But not much news here lately.
Not many people care enough to complain on the forum anymore ( fear of being pruned maybe?) and those that do get shut down pretty quickly. I suspect there are a lot of people that are like me and don't order anymore. I just come here for the dirt but it seems that everything on the pti board is being sanitized.
When treated badly at first people are in disbelief or denial, then they get angry. Final step is that they just could care less anymore. Most of us are on final step. Not caring means you have moved on in your life.
Yes, well, except that the correct usage of that phrase is "could NOT care less". Sorry, this place brings out the grammar nazi in me. :-P
And I agree with you... I'm kind of in that apathy stage right now too. Except that every once in a while I get a twinge of desire for some of their yummy cardstock or ribbons or felt in all those pretty colors. *sigh*
I have a sneaky suspicion my order is on a hidden pallet.... No order in my history, but I have an email confirmation of my order with order number. People who ordered WELL after me are receiving emails about shipping. Awesome sauce.
glad your order is coming so quickly. i really believe that PTI is slowly and I mean slowly improving. It is never going to have the kind of CS attitude that I would like it to have, but its products are great so I am willing to settle for mediocre CS.
And I have been a very vocal critic of PTI. It isn't going down, it is just beginning to recover.
6:54 ...I would buy that excuse if I had received an email about shipping. My order was in within the first 10 minutes, yet people that ordered the next day are getting shipping emails. I get that there may be a glitch where it didn't connect the order with the user yet... But I should still have gotten a email about it shipping. Don't you think? :-)
Rick did say verizon.net has blocked the PTI site as spam. As a result if your email is verizon.net, you won't be receiving ANY email from PTI. I don't know if it has been corrected yet. But during the release he said they would not budge. :(
I'm not even going to use my stuff this weekend, but damn if it doesn't piss me off that people who ordered over 12 hours after me are getting their product tomorrow and I have "process" still... I know - horribly petty, I need to get a life, life isn't fair, yadda, yadda, yadda.... I'm not surprised either, happens all the time, but it always pisses me off - at least I'm laughing at myself about it
8:27, thanks for the information about October Afternoon. I preordered one of their collection kits (Woodland Park); I just double-checked the vendor's website and they describe it as including 24 double-sided sheets. We'll see what happens when I receive my package. I will ask for the other 12 sheets or return it at the vendor's expense.
OA and PTI must be drinking from the same water fountain.
will never understand why folks care so much about getting orders filled in the order in which they are placed. -------------------- For the same reason you'd probably be mad if you walked into a store and they served the people who came in after you before they served you?
Amen 21:00 I always get my order via UPS at the end of the month. I order on release night, maybe one or two hours after the site goes live (just to avoid the cart/product glitches) I'm happy for those who have received their orders pretty fast but for me there has been no change. I sometimes wonder if it has something to do with how you paid? i.e. paypal faster?
I give on line stores slack to pack and ship based on what makes most sense for the store, provided that I get my products in a timely fashion.
So I would be angry if I ordered from PTI and my products arrived 10 days later. However, if my products arrived 4 days later, I would not mind if you ordered after me and received your products in 3 days.
I am not in a competition to get my products before anyone else.
That said, I do see your point. I think I was failing to understand that this is an issue that could reasonably bother other people.
Sorry for the grammar lesson, but it has now become my life's goal to monitor this blog for grammar issues and correct as I see fit.
Did not care much for this month's release. I did order a few fresh inks from Impress. OMG!!!!!! They are SOOOO Good. Dries quicker than most pigment inks, but the color is so crisp and stamps so well. NICE!!!!!
There is trouble in paradise. Some people on the forum are frustrated because their orders still say "process" while others have already received their packages.
I dont see this release shipping any different than pastt releases.
A few orders go out quickly and the others follow several days later. Release day was on Saturday nothing was done til Monday. Its not even been a week
If people want faster shipping shop elsewhere. Otherwise deal with it
If they are not newbies, they should know better. Packing and shipping order, lack of real time order status, etc. have all been discussed before. Why should they expect any different with a new website?
With PTI, there is no entitlement to customer service.
When you pay for priority shipping, you have a right to think it might be sent in a timely manner. Shipping is not cheap and they need to know that when customers pay that much, they should get what they pay for.
Here's a coupon for impressrubberstamps.com! Enjoy 15% off everything today - Sunday. It's time to stock up on Halloween supplies. Coupon code is "halloween fun"
just emailed julie about a stamp set that i ordered that I already had and asked if she could take the set off my order and refund me. She said they don't have a way to do that an refunded my money and told me to order again. She was very nice about it but I find it odd that their system won't let them refund or remove items.
17:01, I didn't read that as Julie making a change to the order; I read it as Julie cancelling/refunding the order and having the customer start over, therefore going to the back of the line. If I were that customer, I would have taken the extra set and sold it, rather than bothering with PTI's customer disservice.
17:11 -- oh grow up already. Julie changed policy and did something nice for the customer. do you have ANY idea how many customers make mistakes on their orders?
I say give Julie kudos when warranted, instead of ALWAYS looking for the negative.
17:11 It doesn't matter what PTI does to improve things there's always going to be people like you who will say something ugly and not give them credit where credit is due.
212 comments:
1 – 200 of 212 Newer› Newest»First!! Happy release night
Weren't there to be some paper button dies released this time?
I really think Maile is about to say bye bye to PTI.
Seriously, her projects are :( and someone pointed out she praised using the mint green archival ink.
I wondered about that when I read her blog too.
Yes, I find it unusual for a PTI DT to praise another product during a PTI release.
Click on Mailie's ink color link in the text and it takes you to buy inks at Ellen Hutson!
See, told you. lol!
Paper button dies?
You mean this? There's a mini stamp set to coordinate with the button bits sets.
http://nicholeheady.typepad.com/capture_the_moment/2012/09/introducing-snowflake-medley-happy-harlequin-and-bits-buttons-1.html
I wonder if/when any DT members decide to leave PTI do they actually say to Nichole, in private, 'sorry Nichole, too many negative comments out there about PTI and I need to move on'.
I know we would never know the answer to this, but it always seems to be 'need to spend more time with family etc' and then they pop up on another stamp site.
Just thinking out aloud here.
Hey smackers,
I know some of you know where on the web to find clip art. I have been searching the web high and low for a digital source for this antique rose engraving image:
http://www.etsy.com/listing/88649051/blooming-roses-digital-download-for-iron
I've seen it used on paper and rubber stamps by multiple manufacturers, and on high-end letterpress wedding stationery.
paper by Studio Calico:
http://www.studiocalico.com/shop/heyday/heyday-ethereal
stamp by Stamp Francisco:
http://www.stampfrancisco.com/Product.asp?Sku=61-122&Desc=Roses+Engraving+Lg
stamp by Anna Griffin for All Night Media:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/ALL-NIGHT-MEDIA-Rubber-Stamp-ANNA-GRIFFIN-ROSE-580D07-/370648814097?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item564c641211
pretty wedding stationery:
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_xeZ0j_1F1fY/THKXZO1BF0I/AAAAAAAAAak/-YjMWqOvFcY/s1600/TheresaChristopherSet3.jpg
I want to buy it from a source that doesn't have any ridiculous rules about what I can or cannot do with it (unlike the etsy shop in my first link), since it is an old copyright-free antique image to begin with.
What I'd REALLY like is to know if it's in one of Dover's clip art books and which one, because I haven't found it in any of the ones I have looked at so far.
So, can anyone help me? Purty please with cream and sugar on top?
21:16
I've wondered about that too. I hope some of them do/did tell to her straight why they want to leave.
I hate it when I read their blogs and they say they want to take a break (or whatever) for health reasons, family or whatever bah blah blah and then one day they just join another team. Makes me feel duped. Why? Because I believed her/them when they posted blah blah blah.
I know DT work must be crazy but I would love a little honesty thrown in. Their reason might be hurtful but at least it's honest. When I do find them in other team/s I feel so bad I boycott the new company. Not their fault but I just want to distance myself from the DT member.
Instead of feeling hooray for them for moving on, I feel bad for NH. Seriously.
1:39 - if the DT member is trying to stay in the business, it does them no good with potential stamp company employers to bash their previous employer, no matter how bitchy she was.
Instead, they make nice on their blogs and reveal their true feeling with other DT members. That we are sometimes able to see a glimpse of on Facebook.
Would you hire someone who bitched about their former employer? I don't.
And I don't hold leaving a DT against someone. If I like their work, I continue to follow them.
I think if someone feels that the design team they are on or the company they are working for is a toxic environment, they have every right to leave and seek work at a different company. Job hopping in the workplace in general used to so frowned-upon, but today people do it all the time. As far as being on a design team, even if I liked the company I don't think I'd want to stick to the same team forever! I'd want variety and the experience of working with many different companies. A few years is plenty of time to be with a good company.
But yeah, whether the parting of ways was amicable or not, you just don't see the design team members saying, "I'm totally sick of working for xyz company and I'm going to end my time with them to find something I like better." I'm not sure whether that kind of transparency would be a good thing or not. Because yes, it wouldn't help your prospects with future employers to be the kind of person who bashes your previous employees all over the internet. But on the other hand if companies are a toxic place to work, wouldn't it be a service to the industry to expose that toxicity in order to flush it out and give the business a motivation to fix their problems?
This blog exists to serve that purpose. Maybe design team members want their blogs to be more polite and positive than that, even if it would be more honest to post the ugly truth. And I think it's okay for there to exist that division between the polite public face of the design team employee and the ugly truth of the smack blog. Maybe some people will feel it makes the team members two-faced... but sometimes maintaining that polite, positive public persona means choosing to focus only on the positive aspects and omitting the negative. (Totally didn't try to get all that alliteration in there, heh!)
So... there's my rambling thoughts on the matter. Take care, y'all.
Very unprofessional to blast an employer on your blog. It can be done -- someone left Penny Black and said that the company misrepresented the style of stamps she would be using and therefore she was leaving. The world didn't come to an end.
The problem is when someone says that they are leaving to spend more time with family and then they sign up with another company immediately. Julie Ebersole did this when she left amuse and it was ridiculous.
Better to just say that I've decided to leave PTI or Amuse or whatever and stretch my creative muscles.
I've left DTs for a variety of reasons. No reason to make a big emotional splash. People switch jobs ALL THE TIME.
The problem is that people on line treat being on a DT like being a celebrity. It's a job, albeit below minimum wage job at that. DTs are ripped off in this industry but stay at home women are so desperate to earn anything they let themselves be taken advantage of.
Or egos so big that DT's are the way to fill it.
to 22:22 who's looking for the rose image:
I found it for sale on "Twisted Papers" here: http://www.twistedpapers.com/botanicals_g85-victorian_botanical_illustration_p3051.html
to get just that image, it's $1. A subscription for a month that allows you to download up to 500 images is $24.95.
Their angel policy is spelled out under the FAQ tab; basically you can't resell the image as an image, but you can use it on "artwork and creations and sell them freely."
Not connected with Twisted Papers in any way (although now that I've found it, I might need to do a little shopping there myself).
1:39 here. If I may try to explain my post.
I do get what you 3 are saying...
I meant I hope they would tell their employer honestly why they were leaving. Not the usual health and family reason and then turn around to join another company. Ouch! Talking PTI, I honestly had no idea who they (former dt members) were until they were in the PTI DT and I think they at least owe NH some gratitude. Bitch or not.
Yes, People switch jobs all the time but um, we're talking about crafters DT members who *blog* their work, life or whatever they feel like. They have people reading, following and most of the time, believing what they say.
No need to bash the employer on their blog. That's not what I was trying to post. At least say, you want to try something else other than the health and family line then join another company. That's all :)
I like 5:39's stretch their creative muscles line. :)
Hell, for all we know NH terminated or chose not to renew their contracts. You want them to post that?
I'm sure most to the top DT members are professional and weigh their words carefully upon departure. Not burning bridges, ya know.
I have to order. Too much I cannot live without. I have been wanting little things here and there and with all those plus a lot from this release I am going to get close to $200 to stock up on everything including paper. Sorry, smackers, I just have to cave.
You don't have to apologize for ordering. You just have to take a pledge:
'If at any time, I have to open a zendesk ticket, I will not complain on the smack blog.'
Seriously. It's not like you weren't warned.
Happy shopping!
I fully know the HUGE risk I am taking. I am not an otherwise daring person. I have never been bungee jumping, sky diving, or even climbed a tree. This order will be my out of the box example of courage.
I am unnaturally bothered by the thread title "Have you been brave this week?". I have enough shit going on in my life right now that I certainly wouldn't consider cutting apart my stamps to be "brave".
I know, that's my problem. I did say that I was unnaturally bothered.
OR...you can order and still bitch about it, like EVERYONE ELSE who still orders does. If everyone who visited this site boycotted PTI, WHY would they care enough to post here? I know I sure wouldn't.
I'm 5:39.
I understand the point about telling PTI why you are leaving. I jumped over the point you are making.
I guess it depends. I suspect that there are a lot of behind the scenes things -- I've heard of consistently late payments to DT and stamp designers, etc. After that, maybe there is no reason to explain leaving.
I agree though, that PTI gave a lot of these folks a huge boost to their careers. Sure, PTI made money off of them, but Nichole's taste in stamps and how to select them from all submitted and her designs carry this company.
I don't think any of these folks are going to be as popular post PTI.
And, no, there is no way I am going to buy right now. I want to see how the latest website works and see how the inevitable problems are handled. Would appreciate hearing positive and negative.
The reason I have decided to order is because I see some improvements (and of course, because I want the stuff). Julie has sent me 2 nice emails in response to issues. Rick has fixed things for me immediately after he found out I was having a problem. My account is fixed, my reward points are correct, people are reporting faster shipping. I think it is worth a try. Risky, yes, but I have always, always wanted them to get their act together. I really love PTI products, except for ink and impression plates, and WANT to order.
To 07:21 who told me about Twisted Papers - THANK YOU!!!!! I knew this place would not disappoint. :) :) :)
I agree that any of the dt that made their name through PTI will not be as popular after leaving.
Some of them however (like Jessica and Danielle) were already names when they joined and would continue to be such post PTI.
Just my opinion.
Depends on who they go with. If they go with increasingly popular companies who are going to, imo, help PTI go under,--I think they will maintain their celebrity.
Maybe. I guess Lisa Johnson would be a good example of that.
I wish that Michelle Wooderson designed stamps without Nichole. I would love to see her go to a popular stamp company.
I scratch my head at anyone going to SC or October Afternoon though. Both of those companies have reputations that are as bad as PTI's.
What time is the release? (LOL, reminds me of "The Giver")
So. Maybe the design team members that write "want to spend more time with family" on their blogs and then after a little break join another company, DO tell the company they are leaving more of the real reason. And the "time with family" is just the industry de-facto explanation that gets put on the blogs. I have only been on one design team, a few years ago for a local scrap store, and it lasted only six months, and I don't have a blog. So I don't really have experience with what we are talking about. I am a timid enough person that if I wanted to leave a team because I was unhappy I might chicken out and tell the boss that I wanted to leave "to spend more time with family" instead of have the guts to express my unhappiness to his/her face. Yeah, it's the coward's way out. I'm not proud of it.
Maybe if they are on 2 teams they won't have enough time with family. Knowing they are adding one, they dump PTI.
I really like the snowflake set but it drives me crazy that the some of the snowflakes are 8 sided.
OMG me too! I can't stand eight-sided snowflakes. I'm so OCD about that.
Went back and watched Nichole's paper bead video for the first time. And so here is something else that bothers me:
Dear Nichole, and about half of the rest of the world as well: it is not "Modge Podge"... it is "Mod Podge". Say it with me... mod. Mod. Not modge... MOD.
Thank you.
^^^yes!! And it's MEMento ink not Momento. Drives me insane!!
Well, it was an ordeal, but I think I got my order in and correct. Many bugs in the ordering process but I was able to circumvent all of them, I think.
Mine processed but even though I redeemed my reward points, those were not taken off the final price that I was charged. Will just save them for future I guess.
Once again threads are rolling. People cannot put things in carts, things are dumping, reward points cannot be used and new reward points are not being added.
OMG. I thought the site was extensively tested? No way a site is this foo-kayed and was tested extensively. Or else Rick and I have different definitions for that.
Monthly distress, emotional frustration, near tears, angry, want to scream. No, I don't mean PMS.
PMS = Papertrey Monthly Stress
Why you all put yourselves through this month after month is BEYOND me!!!!
It lasts 5 days and then is better again for another month.
For the same reason we have babies. The pregnancy is hard, the labor is hell, the long nights are distressing, but one smile makes it all worth it.
seriously ladies -- its a stamp, not a baby! but to each her own i guess
Update website before a release but do not provide customers with the ability to (1) use one than more gift certificate and (2) use less than the full amount of rewards points available.
Brilliant move by the three brilliant business women.
Seriously, you have to give them a break. They are such a new company it will take awhile to get it all worked out. They are such a small company that they are overworked. Give them some time to grow and get some experience. Just be patient, in about 40 years things will get better.
20:06, ROFLMAO!
Looks like the website is deducting rewards points but charging folks for the full amount on Paypal. Rick says it is not a widespread issue even though at least 4 people have mentioned it on the release night tech issues thread on the forum. PRICELESS.
So I placed a small order tonight and noticed that my order number was 301000+. The last order I placed was in the low 200000s 6-8 weeks ago.
Surely there have not been 100000 orders in just a few weeks time?????
I also am skeptical of the idea that there are 1000s of people ordering on release night as being the reason that the website doesn't work.
what a mess. and the flaming bitch is all over the board trying to squash threads and assure folks there is no problem, you can give them your money now that they are ready for it.... what a joke.
The only time she comes on the baord is to collect money and tell folks to STFU.
My guess is they reset the order numbers with the "updated" website, similar to how you can select the new check sequence when you reorder checks for your bank account.
Yep, took my reward points but charged me full amount anyway. To make it right they should give you EXTRA points when they fix it. How annoying.
No one should have to work that hard to give their money away. LOL.
Post left on the tech help thread:
"After 1 hour and 11 min. I finally got my order to go through using a credit card!!! Must be PayPal that is causing the problem or at least for me. No wonder people are leaving PTI. So aggravating. You came close to loosing another customer tonight with all these problems."
***************
When are they all going to learn?
picklethings1 wrote:
I pressed the button to put in Think Big Favorites #20 but when I checked my order in
my account order histore, my order reads Think Big Favorites #19 was ordered instead. I've placed an
alert into zendesk. Anyone else have this problem?
Nichole wrote:
May I ask where in the store you added this to your cart so that I can double check the linking on the back end? Was it the homepage or the stamps page?
***************
Dear Nichole,
Instead of waiting on a reply from the customer, how about you try checking the links on both the homepage and the stamps page, you greedy, money-hungry, lazy B*!
hahahahahah! 20:24 you are SO right!
yet another release night debacle!
And all threads showing PTI in a less than flattering light has been moved to the tech help board, no need to muck up their pretty forum with the truth
I noticed they moved all the threads too....that's such bs!
I really love the Santa Stationery set, with the exception of that creepy santa image.
Rick, would love an explanation of why PTI's website is more difficult to design than any other stamp company's website.
Not being snarky (ok, perhaps a little....) but I just do not get why day after day, month after month, year after year the store doesn't work right.
Wow. Release party thread = 10 posts (2 of which were reporting problems) Tech help thread = 187 posts.
See a pattern?
I also don't understand why they won't shut the store down for an hour or two before release to get things right.
20:13 my order number is somewhere in the 302200+
Just checked out.
Last month it was in the 223000+
am not sure if their order volumes are down compared to previous months or not.
Nichole explained once that if PTI shut the store down for an hour or two before release, it would lose business.
That post stopped me in my PTI love fest tracks and I never looked back.
it says it all.
Title of thread at the top of Stamping Forum right now is "Nice Features of the New Website". Are they kidding us. The website was chaos, a total disaster last night. All the threads of panic and mess ups are gone off the forum leading anyone checking in today to think that last night was roses and wine there.
Yeah - but on the Nice Features of the Website - there are only 2 comments.
Bit different from the number of people who struggled through the ordering debacle the night before.
How many months/years have PTI tried to get their act together on release night?????????
Don't understand why PTI would lose business if they shut down their website 1 hr or so before release.
Surely no one would order an hour before - they would wait for the allotted time wouldn't they???
Sounds like another excuse from PTI - perhaps they don't have the manpower to shut down the site and make sure it is functioning before the actual release time. Other companies do this.
Or they get so few orders these days that the 2 they would lose during that hour are their bread and butter?
Does anyone have the september code for ellen hurson? I have apparently deleted the email. Thanks.
It is back2sch but WARNING, only use it if you actually earned it because they check to make sure you are one who is authorized based on previous purchases to use it. You really don't want to get yourself banned from her store.
you know, you could have just emailed ellen's store and they would have resent it to you, if you were on their list!
I am a recent PTI customer. The stamps are just so well-designed -- clean, not too cutesy or vintage-y. I placed four orders successfully and love what I received. I went to try to order last night and said, forget it. Much as I like the stamps, it isn't worth aggravation or uncertainty to place an order. I may try again in a few weeks if they get the bugs worked out.
They have been trying to get the bugs out for 6 or 7 years, so don't hold your breath!
So PTI finally has a "wish list" and I don't have anything to add. I think I really am cured of this addiction!
Haha, so the 'nice features of the new website' thread got moved to the release subforum. Funny in that 1) it was started on sun 9am (ie. not release night), and 2) it was started to be cheery but quickly devolved into people complaining.
Thanks 8:38. I believe I stated I deleted the email. I wouldn't use a code I didn't earn.
Thanks 8:54 I was unaware I could email them for the code. I'll know for next time. I'm sure we've all been in a situation where we want something right now.
Does Simon Says offer discount codes. Does anyone have one?
Simon Says has slow shipping and don't always tell you they are out of an item until your order arrives without it.
Read the "Just a Shout Out" thread. Guess my problems last night were minor.
Interesting to hear that some feel Simon Says Stamp has slow shipping.
I am international and PTI orders used to take 4-6 weeks to reach me (don't order any more from them tho).
SSS packages always arrive in 10-14 days.
21:29 I agree. They are an ABSOLUTE horror to deal with on ebay, but shopping from their website, I never had a problem.. The risk is definitely lower than buying from PTI :P arrives faster than PTI too!
one thing (of many) that PTI hasn't learned is you have to spend money to make money.
Example: the inks. should have handled the ink debacle x2, now 3, better by offering customers something for their trouble. Lots of money but much greater sales in return. Hire Claire at WMS as a consultant.
Example: for all that is holy, HIRE a REAL professional expensive top notch web developer. Dig up Steve Jobs if you have to.
Don't use the store until it works. That's right. Take it off line and suspend sales for 2 whole weeks or months. Gasp! Imagine the time you will save when the store works. Test it out with real customers and then listen to what they say and make the fixes.
Sorry, I checked it and it is still a mess. It cheapens your whole operation.
Example: you need to find a better way to make your forum a home for folks again. They come here instead of there. It will NEVER happen until you change. Moving complaints, not letting folks talk about other companies and having the DT paid to make lame and lamer threads just screams desperation and makes me sad. If you want to pay the DT to do something, pay them to make comments on your customers' lame creations. That would generate more sales as most stampers are desperate for comments from the stars (said somewhat snarkily....)
You need this forum. It was an incredibly important part of your sales. You are losing more and more, your DT is leaving, and yes you still refuse to right the ship. Until you are willing to spend money to make things better, the forum will remain a lifeless joke. It is sad. I want it back!!
nothing new in any of this but felt the need to vent. would lOVE to go back...but cannot give my money to a company that doesn't stand behind its products.
and yes, I would love to be pti obsessed again. Eh?
^^^ since when hasn't PTI stood behind their products. They've offered refunds for the ink and replacements for the IP. Tell me what other company offers free replacements for lost stamps.
3:44, they only "stand behind" their products as a last resort. First they deny, then they point fingers (e.g., "customer is a liar" or "customer used the product incorrectly"). Sorry, PTI. You don't get brownie points for kicking and screaming and finally doing what you were suppose to do in the first place.
Count me in as another who has had nothing but positive experiences with Simon Says Stamp. I order directly from their website, get responses from customer service on the same day I put in a inquiry, and get my items in about a week's time.
I haven't ordered any of their private label stamps and dies, but hope to soon!
PTI sold ink twice that was subpar. Many of us bought both sets. We were offered (I think) the option of returning the inks to PTI at our expense and if PTI agreed with our analysis of the ink, PTI would replace the ink or I guess refund us (cannot remember). A better, more honest, approach would have been to just issue a refund to anyone with the inks.
Or, at the very least, offer the new inks at a substantial discount to anyone who had the old inks.
Or maybe I am just wrong. Maybe it is typical of companies to sell inferior products and require the customer to prove it by mailing it back. I know that with SU, they send me a damaged item, I call my demo and poof, su agrees to send out a new product at no cost to me.
Ellen Hutson -- an item was missing. I CALLED a human and they sent out the missing item the next day. No questions asked.
Waltzingmouse contacted ME about a defective stamp and sent me an entire new SET without my having to do a thing.
PTI should be given credit for sending out missing stamps if someone loses one. I agree that is a nice touch.
that gets lost when PTI tries to hide the mistakes, customers find them, there is spotty response and then we lose trust in the company. PTI never comes out and says, guess what a palette was missing, guess what we misspelled a stamp, guess what our inks sort of suck.
They have NO IDEA how much a little honesty would go with some of us. I love a company that says, oops, we misspelled a word, hang with us.
Or, wow, we never mailed those prize packages on time. We are not waiting for a member of the forum to suggest GC instead. We'll think like a customer and get on it.
Or gee, you didn't get your anniversary sets? What the hell is wrong with us? A thousand apoligies and here is a GC to compsensate you for what you earned (PULEZZE don't call it a free gift.)
I could go on and on and on, but I'll let my smacking friends have a say.
Just watched the video posted by Dawn (of WPlus9) on how the company was started. I really enjoyed her story. She came across as sincere and humble.
My Wplus9 shopping experiences have been nothing short of stellar. Can't wait to see the next release!
4:51 you ROCK!!
I have purchased a bunch of all versions of inks... was never offered refunds for any of them.when and where did they offer refunds?
8:36, the ink refund was only for four colors of the version 1 inks, and only for a very limited time. I had all of them, but the conditions of the refund made it more trouble than it was worth to me. I ended up just throwing out those inks.
I remember the first generation inks. I can't remember how many colours there were but I had them (full size pads and reinkers). I followed the instructions for return/refund and the refund I received, including shipping, was quite a bit. Too bad you threw out your faulty ink, 8:36.
I'm glad to hear SSS ships quickly internationally. They are slower than molasses on a cold day to Canada though.
I had my defective sunrise ip replaced with another sunrise ip that is also showing the design through to the other side.
I was told quite cheerily by Julie that this was normal and that it would have to be really defective to effect the cardstock.
Will I send it back? Again? LOL. Nope. I really cannot be bothered.
Will I order again? LOL! Nope.
11:03, thanks, I could use I good laugh.
"Really defective" vs. defective. Wow, PTI. You've outdone yourselves.
@10:15
I'm 8:36 - I never threw out my defective inks. I had issues with the inks and was never told there was a way to get them fixed. When I first emailed CS back then they told me there was no issue. I was never offered a refund for anything.
Was this something that was only shared on the forum? I wasn't on the forum back then.
They do not send out prize GC's in a timely manner either. Instead they send an email saying they will try to get it to you before the release but they make no promises.
Do you think Nichole is at all bothered by the number of times she had to post "I apologize for the inconvenience" last night?
Does she even get that her reputation as a business owner is so tarnished that it will NEVER recover?
I'd be pissed that Julie has turned me into a joke.
^^Saturday night
Sorry 12:09. Julie did not turn Nichole into a joke. She had her fair hand in doing that on her own.
Have you ever read any of Nichole's earlier posts? The one about "thank you for taking the time to share your disappointment" or the one where she called Ted disrespectful?
Nichole seems to be trying to soften her language but she is no victim in this.
12:16, I wholeheartedly agree that Nichole has dirty hands. It's all about the money to her. I laugh whenever I think about that blog post where she apologized about the ordering troubles on the website. She wasn't sorry about the customer experience; she was sorry that PTI lost out on a large number of sales.
Orders shipping faster b/c there are less orders to fulfill? Wouldn't surprise me with this debacle of a release.
Regarding the shout out thread, notice that most of the posters are newbies.
Has anyone watched 27 dresses, when her sister goes all bridezilla stomping around the room and screaming that godzilla is coming to town? Yeah, that is how I picture Nichole watching a release nightdebacle unfold. I don't know why I do, but that what I picture. Her calling the other owners and going off on them for losing her money.
Regardless of whether it's newbies posting or not, IMO Rick is the only one in the company that actually has some common sense.
14:01, I agree.
13:13 You don't know that for a fact so don't speculate.
honey, did you really come to a smack blog and tell someone not to speculate?
HAHAHAHAHA
Sorry 8:36 - I'm 10:15 - I misread. It was 9:07 who threw out the inks. The ink refund I was referring to was way back in 2007 or 2008 for the first generation of inks. I haven't bought ink since then so I can't give you any info about getting a refund. Sorry.
14:38 this handslap has got to be coming from an owner or employee! A uni or a smacker would not gone this far as to type this. I would bet a hundred ink pads on that!
If you are betting Papertrey inkpads, I hate to tell you but they are worthless.
Did anyone notice that on Michelle's video today, she says, "card isle" again?! The heading on the post on NH's blog uses aisle, but the video says isle. Do you think she did it on purpose as a big FU to the people who were talking about it earlier in the week?
No, I don't think Melissa did that on purpose. I would suppose that Melissa made her video, edited it and sent it off to Nichole. Nichole then created the post for her blog and You Tube, hence the differentiated spellings
Just got my first set of fresh ink ink pads and they are amazing! Love them!
16:48, I got my 2nd set today and think they are beautiful. I was impressed with speed. I ordered on Friday at noon my time and the inks arrived in today's mail.
Is PTI doing anything about the current crap inks? I sent an email a while ago but got a reply saying I needed to submit photos of my problem. I am not sure if I should take a video of all the tapping I need to do to ink a stamp.
Entitlement is so rampant today. Whenever I see evidence of PTI's poor CS, I picture NH pouting 'but we always did it this way' 'but it's not my fault that xyz happened' 'but we have to sell that many stamps, that's what we've always sold per release'. I'm sorry, but sales are never guaranteed. Just because you got used to a certain bottom line doesn't mean you should expect it every month. And if there are more expenses in a certain month because of an error on your end, you swallow those and hope you don't make the same mistakes next month. You don't cheap out on correcting them just because it cuts into your profits.
15:16 LOL Wrong!!
Speaking of inks, anyone see that MFT is coming out with their own ink pads in a few months? Someone posted on their forum that they were looking for ink matches for their cardstock and the owner said that a spreadsheet for that info would not be needed and she alluded to the fact they were creating their own ink line. Kudos to them if they can pull it off....just got the assorted paper pack from them, and will switch to their consumables as soon as they can come up with some colors to match stuff like Harvest Gold and Ocean Tides. Their buttons are almost a spot on match to PTIs and now that they have felt and ribbon too....well, PTI may become smaller and smaller in my rear view mirror.....
19:06, How does the weight of the MFT paper compare to PTI's? Are you liking the colors?
15:16 umm no you are wrong my dear. How many of those crappy ink pads do think are going into those orders! So I get the last laugh!!! HA HA
Dear 19:06,
Thank you for knowing how to spell the word "alluded" correctly. People like you give me hope for humanity.
20:16, please put down whatever you are smoking. As of this morning, there are still 480 limeade ink pads available for sale. [For comparison, there are 272 plum pudding pads available.] Obviously not that many people are buying the crappy inks.
Makes me wonder what Nichole & Co. were thinking when they put in the orders. Oh, that's right. I forgot. They like to sit on a huge inventory. LMAO!
Just bought a few Hero Arts Shadow Inks has anyone tried them? I love that teal color that Maile used on the pillow box
Saw a pic on Twitter a while back where Dawn from Wplus9 was testing ink formulations for their own line as well. I'm excited about that.
Curious... Why is a thread about delivery notifications moved to the sept release forum, but a thread about what extras ended up in your cart gets to stay? Aren't they both related to sept release? I hate inconsistency.
^^^ me too!
5:08 you should SO totally leave a comment on her blog and let her know that you bought that HERO ARTS ink because she used it!
7:52 Why?? Do you think Maile really cares? I know you see it as a jab against PTI.
Saw a pic on Twitter a while back where Dawn from Wplus9 was testing ink formulations for their own line as well. I'm excited about that.
Either people are not coming here to "complain" about their order problems as someone requested or things are being handled by PTI appropriately. But not much news here lately.
THere were scores of problems with ordering and threads to prove it, but they were hidden in the forum or locked.
Not many people care enough to complain on the forum anymore ( fear of being pruned maybe?) and those that do get shut down pretty quickly. I suspect there are a lot of people that are like me and don't order anymore. I just come here for the dirt but it seems that everything on the pti board is being sanitized.
There is not much complaining here either. So maybe there is not much ordering
When treated badly at first people are in disbelief or denial, then they get angry. Final step is that they just could care less anymore. Most of us are on final step. Not caring means you have moved on in your life.
^^^my mom told me exactly that when I got divorced
Yes, well, except that the correct usage of that phrase is "could NOT care less". Sorry, this place brings out the grammar nazi in me. :-P
And I agree with you... I'm kind of in that apathy stage right now too. Except that every once in a while I get a twinge of desire for some of their yummy cardstock or ribbons or felt in all those pretty colors. *sigh*
I always decide it's not worth the risk.
^^
Not "their". PTI is not plural.
Try its crummy cardstock.
Meh, I always say "they" when referring to a company. Maybe we have different definitions of what is correct.
Yes, we do. If you are going to put yourself out there on the internet, you will subject yourself to criticism.
That is the smackers' credo, right?
1:59, LOL. You corrected someone else's grammar. But when your own usage is criticized/corrected, you simply say "meh . . ."
20:49 If you've truly moved on, you would not be here smacking PTI.
Lol 6:10 maybe she's here for the entertainment ;)
I have a sneaky suspicion my order is on a hidden pallet....
No order in my history, but I have an email confirmation of my order with order number. People who ordered WELL after me are receiving emails about shipping. Awesome sauce.
6:51... you aren't alone.
according to Rick there is a system glitch and the orders are moving through the system, but they aren't updated on the site.... yeah right.
My order is due to be here in about 4 hours.
glad your order is coming so quickly. i really believe that PTI is slowly and I mean slowly improving. It is never going to have the kind of CS attitude that I would like it to have, but its products are great so I am willing to settle for mediocre CS.
And I have been a very vocal critic of PTI. It isn't going down, it is just beginning to recover.
Sorry Rick, if you worked for our small internet company (yes it is partime too) you would be FIRED!
6:54 ...I would buy that excuse if I had received an email about shipping. My order was in within the first 10 minutes, yet people that ordered the next day are getting shipping emails. I get that there may be a glitch where it didn't connect the order with the user yet... But I should still have gotten a email about it shipping. Don't you think? :-)
Rick did say verizon.net has blocked the PTI site as spam. As a result if your email is verizon.net, you won't be receiving ANY email from PTI. I don't know if it has been corrected yet. But during the release he said they would not budge. :(
I saw that but I don't use Verizon, and I got my order confirmation email immediately.
http://www.twopeasinabucket.com/mb.asp?cmd=display&forum_id=10&thread_id=3193173
This confirms that October Afternoon and Papertrey went to the same business school.
Michelle W., why on Earth would you go from one bad company to another?
Maille appears to be broadening her horizons.
I have moved on but I am here to read about Papertrey because I believe that someday the light might go on for them.
I also believe in unicorns.
I'm not even going to use my stuff this weekend, but damn if it doesn't piss me off that people who ordered over 12 hours after me are getting their product tomorrow and I have "process" still... I know - horribly petty, I need to get a life, life isn't fair, yadda, yadda, yadda.... I'm not surprised either, happens all the time, but it always pisses me off - at least I'm laughing at myself about it
will never understand why folks care so much about getting orders filled in the order in which they are placed.
I'm mean really, I ordered within one second and have heard nothing.
So my order goes out a few days later. Not a biggie to me.
Just want beautiful stuff!
Why is neon popular again? Yuck.
6:12 You're probably right. I'm here for the entertainment too.
8:27, thanks for the information about October Afternoon. I preordered one of their collection kits (Woodland Park); I just double-checked the vendor's website and they describe it as including 24 double-sided sheets. We'll see what happens when I receive my package. I will ask for the other 12 sheets or return it at the vendor's expense.
OA and PTI must be drinking from the same water fountain.
12:19 I get all my 6x6 & 8x8patterned paper pads off Ebay. I end up paying less for postage that way and I usually get my package in 2-3 days.
My order came this morning. I am on the West coast. Everything was there and in great shape. Not a unicorn, but pleased with my stuff.
Way to go on the cardstock Gina! Thank you for listening to customer suggestions and making it easier to order!
will never understand why folks care so much about getting orders filled in the order in which they are placed.
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For the same reason you'd probably be mad if you walked into a store and they served the people who came in after you before they served you?
^^^^ yes
The Santa Stationery set is even more fun than I thought it would be! Going to put family names in the blank. i.e. "The Jones Family"
Amen 21:00
I always get my order via UPS at the end of the month. I order on release night, maybe one or two hours after the site goes live (just to avoid the cart/product glitches)
I'm happy for those who have received their orders pretty fast but for me there has been no change. I sometimes wonder if it has something to do with how you paid? i.e. paypal faster?
21:00 I wouldn't be mad, but I would be angry.
I give on line stores slack to pack and ship based on what makes most sense for the store, provided that I get my products in a timely fashion.
So I would be angry if I ordered from PTI and my products arrived 10 days later. However, if my products arrived 4 days later, I would not mind if you ordered after me and received your products in 3 days.
I am not in a competition to get my products before anyone else.
That said, I do see your point. I think I was failing to understand that this is an issue that could reasonably bother other people.
Sorry for the grammar lesson, but it has now become my life's goal to monitor this blog for grammar issues and correct as I see fit.
I see what you mean 8:27
"when will she leave PTI" is the question and what excuse will she use lol!
21:28 I always pay via paypal and I use the free shipping via usps. Maybe they frequent USPS more so that's why we get our packages quicker?
Did not care much for this month's release. I did order a few fresh inks from Impress. OMG!!!!!! They are SOOOO Good. Dries quicker than most pigment inks, but the color is so crisp and stamps so well. NICE!!!!!
Looks like WPlus9 is going to have ink released in October, and GinaK in January.
I wonder if release orders are assigned to workers and somer workers are more diligent and get their orders packed and ready to ship quicker
And Wplus9 is doing pigment! Yeah!
Looks like WPlus9 is going to have ink released in October, and GinaK in January.
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Wait? What? GinaK is doing her own ink? Where was that said??
And cudos to Gina for the store cardstock redesign!
Can't wait to try out Wplus9 ink!!!! PTI ink sucks so much! I hate it!
12:49 yes-Facebook. Announced with the new changes in card stock images and store set up.
Nothing begins to come close to how much I love Fresh Inks!
Are Marcy Penner and Leigh Penner related or is Penner just a rural equivalent to Smith?
I have been purposely not paying attention to the Fresh and Amuse ink threads because I don't care about color matching and I don't need any more ink.
However, if I were to want to buy some, where can I get them and will there be a sale coming up?
Thanks.
There is trouble in paradise. Some people on the forum are frustrated because their orders still say "process" while others have already received their packages.
19:14. The newbies are getting a taste of what PTI is all about.
they are not newbies.
I dont see this release shipping any different than pastt releases.
A few orders go out quickly and the others follow several days later. Release day was on Saturday nothing was done til Monday. Its not even been a week
If people want faster shipping shop elsewhere. Otherwise deal with it
If they are not newbies, they should know better. Packing and shipping order, lack of real time order status, etc. have all been discussed before. Why should they expect any different with a new website?
With PTI, there is no entitlement to customer service.
totally agree with 3:54 and I'm usually the first in line to smack.
this obsession with getting materials instantly is out of control. PTI has a shipping policy. If you don't like it, don't buy the stuff.
Folks who go online to bash a company for essentially silly reasons undercut the real issues!
When you pay for priority shipping, you have a right to think it might be sent in a timely manner. Shipping is not cheap and they need to know that when customers pay that much, they should get what they pay for.
Priorty Shipping means USPS makes your package a priority. Doesnt mean the vendor does
I think the arrival of the product isn't as big a concern as the lack of a way to track it... at least from the posts I was reading.
Has anyone done any color matching of the Hero Arts inks to Papertrey cardstock? Those inks rock!
Was the shipping thread moved or deleted?
deleted as far as I can tell.
Was the shipping thread moved or deleted?
==============
It's still there under stampin talk.
The title is "How is shipping tracked on the new website?"
http://forum.papertreyink.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=38319
Here's a coupon for impressrubberstamps.com! Enjoy 15% off everything today - Sunday. It's time to stock up on Halloween supplies. Coupon code is "halloween fun"
Get your Fresh Ink!!
Ellen Hutson has loads and loads of new dies, embossing folders, etc. Going on a shopping spree!
just emailed julie about a stamp set that i ordered that I already had and asked if she could take the set off my order and refund me. She said they don't have a way to do that an refunded my money and told me to order again. She was very nice about it but I find it odd that their system won't let them refund or remove items.
^^^I'm shocked she did that for you! Their policy has always been no changes on orders for any reason. Lucky you!
17:01, I didn't read that as Julie making a change to the order; I read it as Julie cancelling/refunding the order and having the customer start over, therefore going to the back of the line. If I were that customer, I would have taken the extra set and sold it, rather than bothering with PTI's customer disservice.
17:11 -- oh grow up already. Julie changed policy and did something nice for the customer. do you have ANY idea how many customers make mistakes on their orders?
I say give Julie kudos when warranted, instead of ALWAYS looking for the negative.
17:11 It doesn't matter what PTI does to improve things there's always going to be people like you who will say something ugly and not give them credit where credit is due.
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