Mismarked Mat Corner Sample - aaugh

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Rozmataz

Rozmataz

SGF, Supreme Grumble Framer
Joined
Jun 13, 2002
Posts
2,773
Loc
Fingerlakes Region of NYS
I just had a wierd one... I ordered in mat board for a large project (7 pieces) using the same mat board. I it looked a little odd, so I checked the #on the actual board. I double checked my work order.

Kept cutting mats.

Then I decide I need to check this out - getting a bit anal about it - and lo and behold the corner sample from my design counter which I used and ordered from has the name/# on it BUT the color is nowhere near the actual board that came in.

I called Supplier and the C/S person was not quite comprehending the problem.

Has anyone encountered this, and how to resolve? Since it seems the corner sample was mismarked from the Manufacturer (Bainbridge)....

Also, I have seen where some shops color the edges of their mat corner samples to keep colors together, etc... but how do you differentiate between regular artcare board and ragmat board - or is it necessary?
 
Roz, I have not encountered mislabeled mat samples. I have had sheets of matboard from Miller/Tru Vue that were numbered wrong. That is equally fun. I've also had chop samples mislabeled. These are the situations where you find out how good the customer service is from your vendor. They are either going to fix it with a minimum amount of fuss or they're going to make you jump through so many hoops that you start to think you'd be better off eating the loss and ordering new boards (maybe from someone else.)

From a C/P standpoint, I make no distinction between a purified alpha-cellulose board derived from wood pulp (e.g. Alphamat) and one derived from cotton linters (rag,) though I might get some disagreement there. I happen to like the look of the solid rag boards - esp the 8-ply - and I will gravitate toward them, but I don't believe they are safer than Alphamats.

Since I am not 100% certain of this after 25 years, I hope that FACTS will be around for a good long while to help me figure it out.
 
The only diffrentiation (sp?) I make between my mat samples are "regular" acid-free mats and "specialties" like suedes and linens. The specialties are on a completely separate rack. However, I am a bit of a "speciality mat whore", as my friend Scott used to call me, so my specialty mat sales don't suffer from this segregation.

As far as Alphamat vs. rag, I make so effort what-so-ever to make one stand out more than the other. On the other hand, I also know most if not all the Bainbridge 4-ply 8600 series color numbers, so when I have something in mind, I look for the number rather than the color.

I have never had a problem with mismarked mat samples, tho have had the wrong mat come in because someone pulled it wrong (ie. distributor sent me 10 sheets of B8467 when I actually ordered 10 sheets of B8647). The distributor was more than happy to rectify their error. Twice in recent months I have run across two samples on my wall that were mismarked though, and have order the wrong mouldings because of this. Both times, replacements were made immediately, tho I did have to push to get the shipping charge taken off the second one.
 
One of my suppliers suggested that I always note the matboard manufacturer as a few of the numbers between Bainbridge and Crescent are the same. So, when writing up an order, I code the mats by using the manufacturer's first initial.

When faxing or calling in an order, I group the mats by manufacturer.
 
Good point, Janet. Artique and Bainbridge have some of the same numbers so we code them A and B (duh!)

I don't want to see the look on a customer's face when she picks up her framing order and finds a bright fuschia mat instead of the blue denim she spent half an hour deciding on.

Kit
 
Roz,

We had a similar occurrance with a Blue Bainbridge Silk mat quite a while back. The corner sample and specifier were blue and the matboard that we received was between a dark navy and black.... and definitely not any color that was on the specifier or samples. After describing the problem, the distribution center checked the bin and found that some mats were the very dark navy color and some were blue. We told the distributor that as long as the replacements were blue, they could take their time researching the difference. Apparantly the dark mats were a manufacturing error that mistakenly found its way into the system. So the final answer was that the corner sample was correct. The product we received was a color that did not exist.

We do not differentiate between alphacellulose and rag.
 
I learned from the girl I hired that if you keep the mat sku numbers filed numerically, they are within the same color families. She came from a frame store in California - I don't think I would have figured that one out since I just always looked for color and not number. This may not apply to everything, since I have not taken the time to verify it.

For what its worth!

Elaine
 
Roz, would you plase tell us the number you had a problem with so we can check our samples?

We break ours mats into color groups, even some secondary and tertiary groups and some made up names such as gray-green. The fabrics, matboard and hand wrapped are mixed in with others. We sell more fabric that way. I am very curious about the sku numbering system. I'd love to work with that for awhile and see how I like it.
 
We just had a problem this week. Ordered in a Bainbridge vineyard suede and recieved a green instead. The lable on the bag matched the order so my mat cutter cut the mats. Luckly the designer caught the mistake before the client was was called. My supplier had to open the bags to make sure that we recieved the right board.
 
Originally posted by jframe:
[QB]Roz, would you plase tell us the number you had a problem with so we can check our samples?

QB]
Click to expand...
Jo - the corner sample I had that I was designing from was marked Bainbridge Chalk, 8438V - BUT - my sample corner looks more like Igloo 8465. So - when the "Chalk 8438" came in - I thought it looked a little brighter and double checked my number... alas... it is the corner sample that does not match the actual board or the color chart itself... Really strange - AND hard to explain to the c/s person at vendor!! Help! Thanks, Roz
 
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