Spell-Check Disclaimer

[Gary and Jessica Houghton]

Hello fellow Creekers,

I think everyone understands the term "it's Monday" and knows it can't be good. Well, when the term happens on Tuesday, you know it must be worse. I had a job that was completely finished. The customer came back and said, can you add something to these, we forgot to add it. Well, considering the pieces of wood are not all exactly the same and are not even the same depth, I said sure (why not, right?) Let the fun begin...

I was so proud of myself. I aligned the items up perfectly and then sent picture of the finished product to the customer.

UGH! - There's a typo. Look carefully at the picture. You might not catch the mistake at first glance.

I have to say that after this project I really need a disclaimer about spell-check not catching all errors and us not being perfect! I do think this will go in a frame with a bold print disclaimer underneath. I thought I would share our mistake and our day of laughter with everyone.

Jessica

[Cindy Rhoades]

Well, we are all Untied at times.

[Shane Sura]

That gave me a good laugh but I am sorry it happened!

[Craig Matheny]

We thought we solved this issue years ago the customer writes everything down how they want it upper lower case and spelling. With that said it is not fool proof as we still have to transcribe it to the software. We have given many items of clothing to charities with misspelling. I'm not alone in this huge world

[Bill Davis]

Best spell checker is "Pro-of-Read"

[George M. Perzel]

Gary/Jessica;
Quite frankly, with all that's happening today, I'm not sure its an error............!
Best Regards,
George
Laserarts

[Robert Walters]

Ode to a Spell Checker

I have a spelling checker
I disk covered four my PC.
It plane lee marks four my revue
Miss steaks aye can knot see. Eye ran this poem threw it.
Your sure real glad two no.
Its very polished in its weigh,
My checker tolled me sew.
A checker is a blessing.
It freeze yew lodes of thyme.
It helps me right awl stiles two reed,
And aides me when aye rime.
Each frays comes posed up on my screen
Eye trussed too bee a joule.
The checker pours o'er every word
To cheque sum spelling rule.
Bee fore wee rote with checkers
Hour spelling was inn deck line,
Butt now when wee dew have a laps,
Wee are not maid too wine.
And now bee cause my spelling
Is checked with such grate flare,
There are know faults in awl this peace,
Of nun eye am a wear.
To rite with care is quite a feet
Of witch won should be proud,
And wee mussed dew the best wee can,
Sew flaws are knot aloud.
That's why eye brake in two averse
Caws Eye dew want too please.
Sow glad eye yam that aye did bye
This soft wear four pea seas.
--Author Unknown

[Mike Null]

That's obviously a keyboard malfunction.

[Dan Hintz]

I'd say we were coming unglued, not just untied.

[Amy Shelton]

Sorry about the typo, but thanks for sharing!
Untied !

[Gary and Jessica Houghton]

Gary/Jessica;
Quite frankly, with all that's happening today, I'm not sure its an error............!
Best Regards,
George
Laserarts
So the rest of the story...
I shared this with my mother so she could have a laugh as well. She wanted to know where exactly the Untied States were. I simply replied it was formerly known as the United States. Of course since we live in Texas, she added I guess that's after Texas seceded.
I am glad everyone enjoyed the laugh. I know that it's frustrating and costs time and money when we misspell, but sometimes it really is humorous.
Jessica

[Gary and Jessica Houghton]

Robert,
I love this!!!!! I might take this poem and use it as my disclaimer! Thank you for sharing.

[Dee Gallo]

Robert, thanks for the poem, it's great! After years of proofing other people's work, I'm now finding myself second guessing my own spelling ... geezerhood I guess!

Jessica, sorry that happened, but now you are one of "us".

cheers, dee

[Gary Hair]

That's why I like velcro - never comes untied...

[Larry Bratton]

Looks like something I would do..Old Timer's disease is com'n up on me.

[Daniel Duane Owen]

Untied We Stand!
...but seriously, honest mistake!

[Bill Cunningham]

This is the main reason I 'always' have the customer email me the exact text they want on the product, flush left, single column. I just tell them not to worry about the font or alignment, I will look after that. I don't trust my eyes/fingers/brain anymore. This policy saves me so much time, I can now hunt for the stuff I put down two seconds ago, and can't find anymore!

[Robert Walters]

I'm glad you guys enjoyed the poem above.

Here's something I wrote up that you all can hang in your shop/website to HOPEFULLY get the point across to customers to proofreading their artwork BEFORE sending it to you =)






NOT ICE


Pleas e bee a ware tat ewe kneed to proof reed and spill cheque y or are t were k.
We R knot res pons able four typo graph ical err ors ore o miss ions.




NOTICE

Please be aware that you need to proof read and spell check your artwork.
We are not responsible for typographical errors or omissions.

[Mike Null]

I have a policy similar to Bill's. Text must be provided in an Excel or Word document so I can copy and paste. I have one customer where my agreement is to replace a part that costs $17.00 if I make an error. I only charge $8.50 for engraving it. They must provide orders in the form of Excel documents. So far I've made two mistakes in about 500 items. (I can still spell the name right----on the wrong item.:o)

[Gary and Jessica Houghton]

I have a policy similar to Bill's. Text must be provided in an Excel or Word document so I can copy and paste. I have one customer where my agreement is to replace a part that costs $17.00 if I make an error. I only charge $8.50 for engraving it. They must provide orders in the form of Excel documents. So far I've made two mistakes in about 500 items. (I can still spell the name right----on the wrong item.:o)

- Or make two of the same thing with the same name. - Oops, done that too.

[Adrian Hill]

I don't think that it is fair on the customer to have a spell check disclaimer. I think that any service provider should take responsibility for obviously avoidable errors. I have made my fair share of mistakes and I have always taken responsibility if it was my fault. Imagine if we all had disclaimers for everything we do. You take your car in to have the brakes done, you get it back and promptly crash into a tree. You find out that they forgot to fit the pads. They then say, well you see, there is a disclaimer just in case we forget how to fix brakes..etc.

I think that we need to remember that we are also customers and that we should seriously consider how we would feel and what we would do if the supplier does not take any responsibility what so ever.

But really, there are things that a customer simply doesn't have to write down for us to get it right. I am sure that when the customer says engrave "Happy Birthday" on this part we don't need him to write down "Happy Birthday" because we don't take responsibility for being able to spell "Happy Birthday". The same applies to the phrase "United we stand"

Sometimes we just have a blue Monday and make mistakes, its just a part of life.

[Mike Null]

Adrian

Your example isn't apples to apples. With that, you can do it your way, but I'm going to do it my way as I have to pay for mistakes otherwise. If you sit at a keyboard all day typing errors are a regular occurence. Why not minimize that problem?

[Dan Hintz]

I don't think that it is fair on the customer to have a spell check disclaimer. I think that any service provider should take responsibility for obviously avoidable errors.
And there's the rub... what's easily avoidable? How am I supposed to know the award for "Best Boyz Band" was correct and not "Best Boy's Band"? If I correct it "automatically", I'm the one who made the mistake, and the customer is going to look at me like I'm incompetent.

Obviously avoidable means making sure there's no scratch down the middle of the award, or the text is not off-center... spelling doesn't come into it.

[Adrian Hill]

Are you telling me that if you misspell the word "America" then spelling doesn't come in to it!

...come on, you can't be serious - even my 9 year old daughter takes responsibility for her spelling when the words are obvious.

[Dan Hintz]

Are you telling me that if you misspell the word "America" then spelling doesn't come in to it!

...come on, you can't be serious - even my 9 year old daughter takes responsibility for her spelling when the words are obvious.
What if the client specifically wanted "Amerika"? They may very well have a good reason for spelling it that way (inside joke, a play on words for their organization, etc.).

The point is, you don't know what is going on in the mind of the client. I try to point out possible mistakes, but in the end it's up to the client to make sure the info they give me is correct. If I miss pointing one out, however, I will not be held responsible for the client's mistake, only my own.

[Mike Null]

Adrian

It is not a matter of taking responsibility it's a matter of doing what the customer expects to be done. Having them provide electronic documents is standard practice in this country and a good one. One of the advantages we didn't mention is that it saves the customer set up time thus set up fees.

Keep in mind those of us who do this for a living are dealing with pretty fair volume heavy on details just begging for a typo.

For example, this weekend I will make nearly a thousand name tags (if I hit my target) and there's no way I could do that error free without electronic documents to work from.

[Adrian Hill]

Ok, then let me ask you this:

I come to your town on holiday. I buy a lovely wooden eagle in your shop. I say to you: "Mike, could you please engrave 'I love America' on the base of this item". You ask me how big it should be and I say, well, you decide.

Now, are you going to ask me to write out "I love America" just to be sure that you get the spelling right?
What if I am a Japanese customer and I can't spell Engrish?

Ok, you do the work and I come in the following day to pay $100 dollars for my masterpiece and I find you wrote "I levo Amerika" - are you going to say "Well you know, you have to take the item because we don't hold ourselves accountable for obvious spelling mistakes"

Look, of course we need customers to spell out anything that might be remotely odd but I am quite certain that you do not ask the customer to spell the word America, or do you?

[Mike Null]

At some point after trying to explain the concept so many times I just give up.:confused:

[Adrian Hill]

Please explain it again, I am a bit slow and I don't get it.

What will you do in the scenario that I sketcked?

[Mark Ross]

A couple of funny things to mention. I have seen pictures for cakes...somebody goes to walmart of whatever and places an order and they say (not write down, they tell the ladies in the bakery) "make they cake say happy 21st birthday lindsey with an e"...they go to pick up the cake and it litterally says, "Happy 21st Birthday Lindsey With an 'e'"...lulz...

Now we have smart phones right? Yeah, spell check is bad enough, now they push autocorrect on us. If you want some serious laughs, google damnyouautocorrect....too funny.

[Dan Hintz]

I come to your town on holiday. I buy a lovely wooden eagle in your shop. I say to you: "Mike, could you please engrave 'I love America' on the base of this item". You ask me how big it should be and I say, well, you decide.

Now, are you going to ask me to write out "I love America" just to be sure that you get the spelling right?
What if I am a Japanese customer and I can't spell Engrish?

Ok, you do the work and I come in the following day to pay $100 dollars for my masterpiece and I find you wrote "I levo Amerika" - are you going to say "Well you know, you have to take the item because we don't hold ourselves accountable for obvious spelling mistakes"

Look, of course we need customers to spell out anything that might be remotely odd but I am quite certain that you do not ask the customer to spell the word America, or do you?
I will do the same thing I do with all of my work... I will type it up on a quote, print it out, and have the customer sign the bottom showing acceptance of what was typed. If I make a mistake there, but the customer accepts it because they couldn't be bothered to actually check it, that's their problem.


At some point after trying to explain the concept so many times I just give up.:confused:
Agreed...

[Martin Boekers]

Typically, I do most work through emails, it does solve the issue of miss-hearing something over the phone or even
in person (I have them write it on the order phorm:D if they come into the shop) I then read it over and make sure
I understand their intent. I do get a fair amount of "play on words" so, yes I do check with the client about their
intent.

I do tons of awards that have dates in them and can't tell you how many have 2010 instead of 2011 so I do get
their confirmation. I used to just change things automatically, but I have been burned too many times for that.

Still an errant word will occur every once in a while, so I do my best to get it corrected ASAP! (my mistake or
theirs)

Shoot, look at the auto spell check on these forums, I have to check to make sure that the correct spellings are
used.

I face problems with auto-correct as many things I do have 2 consecutive capitals, so I have to be sure on the auto-correct
settings.

One more thing that does generate errors is copy and paste sometimes it leaves out formatting or hyphens.

So its best to get client's approval esp on EXPENSIVE items!

[Adrian Hill]

At some point after trying to explain the concept so many times I just give up.

This is not a particularly good cop-out. Why do you and Mike try to make as if I am stupid when I ask you a question?

Lets rather stop personal attacks and stick to the discussion at hand.

Ok, they checked it and you still get it wrong (we all make mistakes) - what then?

[Mike Null]

Stupid? No. Stubborn? Maybe.


I have one customer where my agreement is to replace a part that costs $17.00 if I make an error. I only charge $8.50 for engraving it.

[Dan Hintz]

Ok, they checked it and you still get it wrong (we all make mistakes) - what then?
If I get it wrong, it's redone and they get charged once.

If they get it wrong, it's redone and they get charged twice.

It's not a difficult concept, and I think you're being intentionally obtuse in an attempt to force everyone to believe your point of view.

[Martin Boekers]

If you ever sell Ad Specialty Products you will understand the value of getting final approval from the client.

Vendors will not produce the product with out someone signing responsablity to the layout.
Imagine a 1000 tee shirts with a typo that the client signed responsability for and one they didn't.

Who do you think would be the owner of those 1000 shirts?

[Ron Chapellaz]

In my shop, I always look out for my customers best interest. I will call, or email if I feel "Amerika" is spelt wrong. I try and get them to email the engraving to me which reduces errors. If possible, I send them a proof before things go into production. Just about everyone has email these days, and it gives the customer comfort in knowing that they get to see the artwork, text etc. before turning the laser on. Now, if I make a mistake, then it's re-done for free. If they make a mistake, I do not charge them full price for the re-do. I feel bad for the customer in their error, and I find they are appreciative of a discount and it brings them back to my shop for the next order they need. I have gained customers from my competitors because of my exceptional service and attention to the engraving. After all, that is the line of work that we do!!

[Robert Walters]

Adrian,

Do you realize the the word "color" and "colour" are BOTH spelled correctly?
It depends on if you are using an American English or British English dictionary.

So, if an English Pub came to you to have coasters made, and you had auto-spell check enabled.
you would be correcting the wrong spelling of the word that they wanted.

Maybe an obvious error would be be [sic] duplicate words,
or maybe it's Be be, the fashion clothing label.

I have clients approve/edit a proof before starting any job by email or fax.
There have been times where a proof wasn't submitted and it was wrong.
There is little to no margin sometime to re-do the job, and you might break even.

It's far better to have the client verify what they want done, you are not a mind reader.

Now, if a proof had been sent to the customer to approve, this would not of happened (I hope)...

http://i55.tinypic.com/2rqhw82.jpg

Or maybe that is EXACTLY what the customer wanted engraved as a joke.

You can never really tell for sure.

[Martin Boekers]

Robert, You better be careful there (their, they're):D

What if America is fine and they say, That isn't what
I wanted, (I love America) I know I said "I really love America"
or I meant "I (heart) America."?

The longer you have been in this business or the more business
you do, you will have remade things and missed deadline because of
these type of things that are second nature to us now. We have been
on the other side and experience has taught us lessons.

I just did some cast signs I outsourced to Gemini $600 easy text but you can
bet your bottom $ the client signed an approval!

What I try to get across to my co-workers is not to "assume" I don't
know everything about this business (never will) but, I have learned
the questions to ask.

Ron you absolutly right on remaking a customer error at a discount,
first it is already layed out, so just correct the typo and run. Most the
times it's just a small plate. I have gained so much business because
another shop's "policy" on rehits. I hope they stay with that policy as
I have gained long term client's from it! Last year I estimate about $5k
new work that basically they sent to me! You gotta love it!;)

[Gary and Jessica Houghton]

Wow, who would have thought I would have been the person to start such controversy?

Adrian, yes, this was my fault and I fixed it at no additional charge.

I commented on a disclaimer, but that's to throw some levity into a situation that can cause much anxiety. As a practice, I print out a paper with what the client wants on a particular item and make them look it over for their approval. This does not mean I am infallible on many levels of this process, nor does it mean that once the client approves their copy, I can't make any other mistakes. But, if a customer approves the paper that has mistakes in it, than I am less likely to be held accountable. - Note that I didn't say I was completely unaccountable! We all make mistakes. If we can help add a bit of levity to our lives on a daily basis, why not? In the end you'll have better, happier customers.

In the end, it's about making the customer happy. I have been in the customer service industry since 1994 and I know that is not always possible, but I also have learned that if you take everything so seriously, you will lose as many customers as you have gained. You have to have fun and show your customers that. Of course, you need to be serious when the time calls for it, but there is still a way to add that light-hearted mood into a serious situation.

Thank you all for your comments. Have a wonderful day!

Jessica

[matt heinzel]

We did awards for a company for over a year with there artwork, then one day one of their customers pointed out that exact same spelling error. 500 awards sent, one person caught the error, then again it was a small part of a large award.

[Mike Null]

A few years back a customer asked me to make a half dozen or so acrylic awards. I have always had a knack for spelling and usually can spot errors and check them out. This time I knew there was an error in spelling the word liaison. I "knew" there was no second "i" in liason and "corrected" every one of the awards. They all came out looking very professional and I delivered them.

The next day the customer called and told me I had made a spelling error. I asked which award---"all of them"--liaison is misspelled.

It was a good $150 lesson.:o

[Rodne Gold]

I do the same as Ron , confirm stuff I think is wrong with the customer , I am the professional and it's part of my duty to check stuff like that
I do it free without a murmer if I get it wrong , I do it at cost if my customer does- real cheap goodwill...in fact we often do it FREE if the material cost isnt high ...amazing what word of mouth goodwill THAT generates.
In general on large qty stuff , we do proofs and better still a physical sample , all to be signed off on. Also want electronic data sent to us , if not possible , fax it or come in and write it down, we check it ALWAYS and query what we feel are mistakes ALWAYS...i repeat , WE are the professionals.
I dont ask for signed off proofs for every job , too much time wasted ...

[Ian Franks]

We have a big proof disclaimer which we use for printing proofs. We always ask twice that customers check phone fax numbers and email addresses. This does upset some customers and the reply is we don't know everything at our customers and they know these details better than us. I get worried when they don't want to check.
Yes we do make mistakes and yes customers make mistakes, we will reprint no questions and no cost to the customer when it is our mistake. We will reprint at a big discount when it is a customer mistake. We will reprint at a small discount when it is a customer mistake which we pointed out before we printed and where told to go ahead.
For us it is professional to expect the customer to proof read and an essential step in quality control, if you explain it to the customer they generally understand. We haven't started with engraving for customers on our laser but when we do the proofing will be an essential step.
Why do engineers, accountants etc. produce a draft for a client to read before the final report, because they may not have all the facts and this gives their clients a chance to correct it before a final report is produced.
YMMV