A chum recently had a disappointing print-related experience, and naturally I heard all about it. The sorry tale flagged up a couple of potential perils for those selling, and buying, printed products online.
She purchased a digitally-printed mural at something of a bargain price. Unfortunately this turned into a classic case of 'you get what you pay for' as the mural used an image that was not an appropriately high resolution for the size required. The result being that unacceptably large pixels were clearly visible in the household environment it was due to be installed in. As my friend put it: "I was expecting the background to be blurred, but not the foreground which was quite sharp in the image on the internet but quite blurred on the mural. Also I was not expecting such large pixels."
Lesson one: if you are flogging print to the general public, make sure you are clear in your descriptions and explain how the physical print will differ from something viewed on a computer screen. In the case of something like a mural that is obviously for use in someone's home, make sure images are scaled up appropriately.
Some information on optimal viewing distances wouldn't go amiss, either. "It will look perfect if you live in a Tudor mansion with a long gallery, and are viewing it from the far end. If, however, you happen to live in the average Barratt Homes box, you might see what we in the print trade call pixellation. This is perfectly normal."
Upon trying to return this below par print purchase, another interesting thing happened to my friend. The seller said that would be OK, "subject to a 30% re-stocking and admin fee". Funnily enough this didn't quite marry with the no hassle return guarantee that appeared in the T&C on the website "simply return it immediately for a full refund or charge card credit". Ah, said Mr Mural Printer, "we've changed our terms recently and haven't put it up on our website yet." Oh dear, oh dear.
Lesson two: to avoid unseemly run-ins with Trading Standards or the small claims court, ensure your up-to-date terms and conditions are accurately reflected in all your trading environments.
