Client upset because we followed instructions!??

Robert same thing i faced with a client and that also when i did two FREE designs for them....

Get the client to either provide the width or height only and give an option to choose cms or inches.

Many americans customers of mine cant convert cms to inches.

Have an order form which copies to the customer so they also have a copy of the order. That way no fingers are pointed to you.

This problem will always stay because clients are too lazy to provide detailed instructions when placing their orders for digitizing. I get rectangular designs and the customer will ask for it to be done at 3 inch by 3 inch.....and then you wonder if this guy went to school.

With very stubborn customers who expect us to make changes for free because of their negligence, we sometimes stretch the design out of proprtion to match their instructions and then to get it right again we will charge them a small fee because we followed their instructions. We hope this will eventually make them be more careful when placing orders.

We send a visual with dimensions, thread colours etc - they have to respond to say approved.

Doesn't solve everything but works 99% of the time

To avoid any of these problems, we use order form on our website and confirm the specifications from client.

A lot of times I think customers are bad at math or just at knowing what they need. We get errors on dimensions and sizes too. It's frustrating because, as you said, all we have to go on is what we're told. I feel you pain on this one.

Just because people really don't understand radius maybe there should be a form to specify either the height or width. I usually specify height as that is the critical factor in the stuff we do.

I agree.........some time they say 4 tall and in proportionality it goes 7 wide.....and they ask its too wide....So sometime they look design to fit as per machine

We have had similar problems, especially with customers who are just starting out in the embroidery business. We have re-digitized files too many times to count b/c the customer supplied artwork did not represent what they wanted to sew, their instructions were unclear or their client wanted changes made when they saw the sewn sample. We try and handle all of these situations with no added cost to the client, but I can feel your pain and we may have to change that policy at some point.

Our biggest challenge is when we run into problems due to the subjective nature of embroidery. In these situations, we find that having the client provide an image of their sew out and an image of a sewout with the look they are after are very productive. This normally reduces the number of edits required to suit a particular customers tastes and preferences.

You are in the right since your client specified incorrectly. I don't know what the application was but sometimes we catch similar problems by double-checking if the requested item/dimension/color doesn't seem right. How you deal with it often depends on what you stand to loose. In this case I would probably do the edit at a reduced fee while making it clear to my customer that this is a one-time favor.

I had a client approve a sewout only to call me back & tell me the whole order was embroidered in the wrong color. I explained he approved it before we sewed it. The clients response was that he is color blind.