West Coast Imaging institutes a minimum order fee

[Greg Miller]

As I mentioned in my first paragraph of my first post, I have found WCI's services to be first class.

I don't blame them for having a minimum order policy (even though it was disappointing to me on a personal level). What I had a problem with was not making that policy very obvious. It was a waste of my time, and put me in a bad place with my own client. One of my main points in creating this thread was to prevent other people from having the same problem.

It was a nice gesture for Rich to call me to discuss the situation. Apparently in my case, there was a mix-up with names, and given my order history with them, had there not been that mix-up, they would have fulfilled my order.

The one comment that I made to Rich was that the policy needs to be in a prominent place on their web site - even after someone here posted a link to it, I still could not go to the WCI site and navigate to it. Before placing my order, I carefully re-read all pricing information and processing information prior to placing my order. There was nothing to be found about a minimum order policy. Had I seen one I would not have placed the order. It was only the next day that I was called to be told they would not fulfill my order. Now that I look yet again, I see it where it is. My suggestion is to put the policy on the pricing page and make it very prominent. That way other people do not go through the full ordering process before discover (or not) that their order will not be accepted.

My specific situation was I had an order for a large number of prints for a Wall. St. client, and they were very eager to get the prints framed and hung (the largest print of which was too large for me to handle in house). Wall St. firms aren't known for giving people breaks. Had WCI's policy been apparent, I could have dealt with it the day I placed the order, when I had time to deal with it. As it was, they called me the next day when I was on the road and did not have the resources to deal with it. These are tough times for me too, so putting a very large order of mine at risk was not appreciated. I imagine that most photographers here in my position would have been equally disappointed, whether or not their property was right across the river from the printer.

I'm sure WCI will remain a first class operation. They just need to do a little tweaking to prevent situations like mine.

[Edward (Halifax,NS)]

I wasn't aware of this issue. I ordered 2 reprints on 11X14 and there was no problem with my order. I can assure you it was well below $250. The prints were delivered to my parents' house today.

Edward

[Ed Kelsey]

There are LOTS of labs to chose from. WCI seems to have a stellar reputation but I really doubt they are worth the high prices they charge. As I understand they are a bunch of Jesus freaks anyway and I really do find religion disgusting.

[Sideshow Bob]

"As I understand they are a bunch of Jesus freaks anyway and I really do find religion disgusting."

What in the world does that have to do with anything? Ed, you are a very strange person.

Gale

[Drew Wiley]

Keep your bigotry to yourself, Ed. Guess you've never met these folks at West Coast,
but if you did you'd understand that they aren't your usual lab and why folks need
them.

[Vaughn]

Very fine people.

Vaughn

[jayabbas]

Can of worms -- opened. My best contract printer was into religion and that had absolutely nothing to do with his printing skills - nothing. Running a lab is a bit like keeping a high maintenance wife satisfied - extremely demanding and sometimes costly. Support your local lab if you can. Lots of them love what they do.

[Drew Wiley]

I can see it now ... before you open a box of film you'll have to check the expiration
date, emulsion speed, batch code, and now ... the "ideologically-approved" sticker.

[Darin Boville]

I had them print my 40x40 inkjets for a show in Pasadena. They were easy to work with--I advised them of certain issues I was sensitive to and they re-printed them several times until it was right--without me even knowing about it at first. I suspect they lost money on my order in their quest to satisfy their customer's needs.

I just wish they hadn't burned a cross into the center of each image (joke!).

--Darin

[Frank Petronio]

Huh, I don't understand why religion would matter as long as everyone is respectful and professional?

The problem with threads like these is that they linger in Google results for years and they are real disservice to the company unless they behave so horribly that you seek revenge - and even then, being vindictive usually makes the accuser look bad too.

I doubt that was Greg's intent but it's unfortunate. We get into chat mode and forget these conversations have staying power.