Can I do this...........Legally???

What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state? Florida

I have a customer who is unsatisfied with the quality of a print job I did for her. She ordered brochures and catalogs. The job was perfectly fine, it just did not meet her "standards" I can explain further if needed. I did offer a proof 3 times prior to printing her materials, but she was in a hurry and did not accept the offer of a proof.

Now, she wants a full refund, has insulted my equipment and my overall customer service abilities, over and over. We are both members of a public forum (similar to this one) and she has threatened filing a PUBLIC complaint about my services on the board.

Normally, I do not give refunds or credits after a job has been printed, but after many emails, I finally decided to "try" and find a resolution to the delimma since I do a lot of business on the forum and I really did want to make her happy.

I offered her a credit for 1/2 of the $ 338.00 she paid for (200) 6 page catalogs, including folding, stapling and shipping. (that works out to about $ .33 cents per FULL COLOR page ).

I told her the credit would be for B&W printing only since she wasn't happy with the color quality or the equipment I was using (long story). She could use it for any printed material such as newsletters, envelopes etc. as long as it was in B&W. She sent me an email tonight refusing the offer. She also said her attorney told her it was a "bad faith" offer!!! (no, it was not!! )

Here's my question: Can I offer a free copy of the catalog/brochures to other members who read the thread, so they can judge for themselves??? I have consulted several professional opinions as to the quality and they all agree there is NOTHING wrong with the print quality and no reason to issue a refund or credit.

Will I break any laws by offering a copy of her brochure and catalog since she is the one bringing this transaction public? There were no confidentiality agreements signed.

Thanks in advance for any help or information!

~ Ginger ~

My advice...

In our business, we have found that there are some customers you just can't please. Often, their compliants have nothing to do with the quality of the work or service, but either they don't have the money to pay, or they're just the kind of person that takes great joy in "getting something for nothing".

At this point, you've got two choice...

1.) Take the high road and say PUBLICLY "gee, I'm sorry you weren't happy with my work. They'll be no charge and we'll destroy the brochures".

2.) Take the business road and say, "we've tried to settle, you're not being reasonable, we'll see you in court."

You'll get nowhere trying to argue this in public.

Though I agree with olgethorpe on this one......

I offer the following in answer to your question:

glaconte said:

Will I break any laws by offering a copy of her brochure and catalog since she is the one bringing this transaction public? There were no confidentiality agreements signed.

Click to expand...

As long as there is nothing in the catalog that would violate copyright laws (and you are not distributing for ANY gain), I don't see your handing out 'samples' of your work to be a violation. However, I would do so ONLY as that... samples of YOUR product. Something like.... "if anyone has read the concerns about our product as raised on this forum, please contact me for a sample of our product so that you can see for yourself.". Do NOT reference it to her in anyway.