Caution: Rabbit Valley

Nov. 18th, 2012

7:51 PM

amocin

Who: Rabbit Valley - Andrew Rabbit

Where: http://www.rabbitvalley.com/

What: We were working with Rabbit Valley to get a printed copy of our Adult Webcomic.

When: July 16 2012 - Nov 16 2012

Proof: Screen shots will be posted in the order of Explanation.




Explain: My husband has been handling all of the communication for this, even though some emails state my name, and some his, its all him, so there should have been no miscommunication between the two. I am posting on his behalf though, because he is really just assisting me in dealing with the print job while I work on the art and all the other stuff.

It starts off pretty normal, we contact Rabbit Valley and get contacted back by Andrew and there is back and forth on quotes for the print, as well as what kind of format he would need the comic in for their printers.

Here is the screen shot of our talks in the first round of emails. I have put red points next to the emails that I will explain here. If I should expand some, please let me know.




AUG 17: We have ironed out all details by  this point and Andrew asks us to send him an email on Monday (Aug 20th) to remind him to send out our sample comic.

SEP 1st: We contact him asking for an update on the printed sample and he told us we should have gotten it in the mail. In a previous email he stated it would be sent to him first, and then to us, we were never alerted that he got it. We were told it should have been sent out a week ago, and to keep a look out for it.

Sep 3rd: Are told he will call the printer in the morning for information. Two days later we ask him for news, and was told he left them a message. We wait another day before asking if he heard anything back yet. We are told that the printer may be avoiding him.

Sept 10th and 12th: We ask for another update and are told that Andrew will no longer use his current printing company and is moving to a different printer. There is no mention of what happened to this printed copy that was sent... maybe it got lost... maybe it never got sent.

Sept 17th: Andrew tells us he found another printer who is printing us up a copy that day and he will send us a tracking number within a few hours.

Sept 18th: We ask for another update and are told that the printer wants us to change our format for the comic so it will fit their printing needs. We get the edits their printer needed done and sent out on Sept 21.




I already felt there were warning signs at this point that maybe we should end our side of things with this guy, but our options for printers were very limited with the nature of our book. However, at this point I have a bad feeling with the sudden drop of a printer company that supposedly sent us out a sample comic, and then telling us that the new printer was already printing and ready to ship in a few hours, only for issues to come up the next day where a package never got shipped.

Between Sept 21st and Oct 2nd the emails are just discussing payment options, print options, and quotes of prices.


Now here is where the fun really begins.



OCT 5nd: The printed copy comes in the mail and there are many issues we have with it, mostly to do with the colors not coming out as they should, and the pages being cut off in areas that they shouldnt have been.

We inform Andrew of these issues and work with him to get them fixed. We send out new formats on the same day of Oct 5th.

Oct 10th: Ask for update on new sample. Are told he sent them out to the printer.

Oct 12th-15th: Please excuse the ancyness of constantly asking for updates. At this point we both feel that if we dont contact Andrew first, we are not going to get contacted, and this is already past the day we wanted to have this printed up, but that may be our bad for not understanding how long prints normally take. At this point we are three months into this without having a solid print.

OCT 17th: were told an updated printed copy will be sent out the following day.

Oct 24th & 26th: We ask for another update on if the copy was sent out. We are told that the printer was going to ship out this sample "This week" rather then last week.

OCT 30th: Were told about a printed copy being sent to Andrew, and then he would send it to us.





Nov 5th & 6th: We ask for another update as we have not heard if he got the sample, and nor have we. We're told Andrew would email the printer and find out what was going on.

Nov 12th: We ask for another update, and are told that Andrew is just getting back from a trip, and will call them that day.

Nov 16th: After we contact him, yet again for an update on the printed copy, he writes us back to tell us that he contacted his printer, and they said that they could not do the print job and that he was dropping us as a client. He also states that he told us he would be out of town that entire time, when his previous email said he was just getting back into town on the day that he said he left..

Shortly after this he contacts us again telling us that the printer could not get the colors out properly, and that he is ending our transaction. No money was ever exchanged but a good four months of our time was spend on this...



Now... Please keep in mind the times he told us a new printed copy would be sent to us, and how he contacted the printer asking for updates...

After his last email, my husband dug up the printers email from a time we had been CCed on an email. He took the liberty to contact the printer and ask them what we could do to resolve the issues with the print, and hopefully cut out the middle man and get us a printed copy of the comic.

What transpired here sent us both into a fit of rage that thankfully remained contained within our household.




Yes... From Oct 5th, those files, they were never sent to the printer. Those samples that should have been printed and sent to him, never really existed seeing as he never sent out the new files. So now we are working directly with the printer to hopefully get the comic printed up, and have cut out the middle man Andrew who seemed to jerk our chain for a good long time.



Update: From what it seems like now, the printer wrote us again after looking into the issue. So it would seem that RV did get the second sample, and just never informed us about it, and may have told the printer that he was working on an extra proof on his end to resolve the issues with the print, rather then having us try to fix it.

The worst part about this... is I dont even know why this happened. Was it that we pestered for too many updates? Was it because we wanted a very low quantity of books? I have really no idea..


Update 2 - Dec 3rd: We received the new sample from the printer, which was using the same file we sent to Andrew. The colors are perfect so I really have no idea why we were told the colors were still too dark. We have put in our full order for the books.