Sorry for the filler. I’ve been so incredibly angry the last few days that I haven’t been able to get anything done at all. I finally calmed down tonight, partially by channeling my rage into this comic.
The short story? After getting ripped off by my long time book printer ICGEEKS I took the Modest Medusa Coloring Book job to a company called Moxicopy, a print company boasting a 3 day turn around time and free shipping. They were recommended by a friend of a friend. It turns out they’re the worst printer I’ve dealt with in my 10 years of small press publishing. As of last Thursday afternoon (a full week after my initial order and a day after the project should have shipped) they still hadn’t started the job.When I asked them to rush the order and offered to pay for 2 day FedEx shipping (as opposed to their free shipping). I was told that they wouldn’t be able to start the job until next week, and that it would probably take at least 5 days. And that if I wanted a rush (to get the job completed 3-5 days after it was supposed to ship) I’d have to pay an additional fee, and even than I shouldn’t expect to see the books till after Christmas… or possibly after New Years. I was than told this was my fault because I had apparently filled out part ofΒ theΒ submission form incorrectly. They later told me that they had figured out the problem immediately, but since they assumed I was too stupid to understand the process andΒ terminologyΒ they decided not to make me aware of the problem and instead put the whole project on hold until the day the books were supposed to ship. After hearing all this I requested a refund, but I have yet to hear back from anyone at the company. EDIT: It looks like I missed a bit of the last email they sent where they state they will refund my money. They haven’t yet, and I haven’t heard back from them since Thursday, but I’ll wait till Monday to see if they follow up.
Yes, that’s the short version. The long version is soooooooooo much worse.
The horrible part of this is that I promised that the Modest Medusa Coloring Book would ship in time for Christmas. That won’t happen now, and it is totally my fault. When my first printer took my money and vanished… well, that kind of stuff happens. We raised some extra money with the Kickstarter, so I could still afford to find a new printer to do the book. But I didn’t do my research like I should have, and I didn’t go to another printer that I trusted. Instead I took theΒ recommendationΒ of a friend of a friend and ended up doing business with a super unprofessional printer with an amazingly bad reputation. How bad? Here’s some quotes from Yelp:
“Dear Goodness, This company is SO bad! Β Do yourself a favor and click on the filtered reviews because there are over 10 horror stories filtered out! Β They should have only 1 star! Β Trust me AVOID. Β The service was non existent and it seems the quality is horrible! ”
“Moxicopy is both cheap and shady. Β I will never print with them again, and I suggest you explore other options as well.”
“DO NOT USE MOXIE! If you want no customer service, an order that may or may not show up in 3-4 weeks when it should only take a week at the most, and no hardcopy proof… then go for it. My experience was horrible.”
And that’s just a few. There are a lot more. So this is my fault. I feel sick over it. I’ll be sending a message to Kickstarter contributors later today but the short of it is that I won’t be able to print and deliver this Coloring Book in time for Christmas. I’m still looking into my options to get the project printed and inΒ theΒ mail as soon as possible, but Christmas just won’t happen unless I can find a local printer that can do the job (I am looking).
Rage.
Wow, I’m so sorry you’ve had to go through that. =
While I know I can be patient, I feel bad for both you, and everyone with an expectant child for Christmas.
Hopefully, an after Christmas surprise will be welcome?
I am fairly certain many of your readers would be willing to email Moxie printers and ask for… well something! Either to do a good rush job or refund the money promptly.
In short, hang in there Jake. We appreciate you doing your best to get this job done.
Thanks. I’ve learned first hand the Moxicopy ignores emails. but I plan to spread my story around Yeld, facebook and some other places. I want to warn others not to use this service.
While I myself did not ask nor order a book from you, I can’t fathom any of your fans who DID order a book to get pissy at you, unlike some other webcomics I read, your fans seem to be rather mallow. I don’t see them ranting and screaming and swearing over getting their books, especially after you have explained the situation. Don’t fret, just try to keep a level head, think clearly, do some research, but feel free to become a Jakezilla and rampage across the city, as I do so enjoy the chaos.
Keep up the good work, but keep up a calm demeanor as well. ‘.^~*
*blinks*
Pardon “mellow” not “mallow”….
…. I think I need to take a break from Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars…. starting to get to me. @.@’
“Mallow” is a good word. You guys are sooooo mallow. Anyway, I know that no one will complain, but that’s beside the point. I really wanted this to happen, and a whole bunch of Modest Medusa fans came together to help me make it happen. They deserve to get what they were promised.
I’m still trying to figure something out. Hopefully I’ll have an idea soon.
Mallow makes me think of Mallo-Mars, which, if I remember correctly, are sort of like chocodiles, except completely different. Actually, the only relation is that they’re both pastry snack goods. Anyway, do you know if Moxicopy has a phone number? I bet publishing that and having a ton of angry fans calling in each day might get them to wake up and face the music. And the Medusa. However modest she may be.
Their number is listed on the site, but it just goes to voice mail. Whatever. Moxicopy says they’ll refund my money, so I don’t want to antagonize them. I’ve moved on now. I’m working with a local printer to get the books done. Hopefully I’ll have news on Monday.
eh, “mellow”, “mallow”, they convey the same feeling of laid-back floofiness. =3=
Floofiness and lightning.
So Jake is this just affecting the coloring book or the Season two book as well?
The Season 2 book is doing just fine, thank god. Slow, but fine. The printer, Global PSD, has been great.
would this printer be able to help out? I think it would be worth looking into. You are using them for a current job, they may give you a break for additional work. Also, I would make sure you get your money back first, then blast the crap out of them for poor service. Clearly state all of the issues they caused so they cant come back at you.
I’d offer to help, but all I’ve got is a Canon inkjet printer.
Yelp is just Yeld with the d flipped over. Coincidence?
The biggest lesson is to never trust a Friend of a Friend because you don’t know your Friend’s Friend even if you know your friend.
Why not give out the area around your house within a 10 mile radius? Perhaps the fans themselves can help you research! π
I live in SE Portland (no big secret). Any local recommendations are welcome. I’m talking to a local printer right now who I’ve used for other projects in the past. Hopefully I’ll know by Monday if I’ll be able to use them.
I have had very very good experiences with Keness. A big part of that excellent experience is that they are very up-front and professional about whether they’ll be able to get a job done in time, and let you know as soon as there’s a problem. (On the downside, doing a Christmas rush job is just not in the cards with them. Or any other printer, really.)
Plus, their rates are amazing.
Thanks. I’ll keep them in mind for the future. I like to have a few printers to fall back on exactly for situations like this.
Today’s top story: Jake Richmond got a new hair cut! and in other news, down town was destroyed, later well discuss the ever shrinking supply of Hostess products, “How will if affect you?” Stay tuned for the weather. This is Action-Packed News!
I wonder if Modest even knows what she’s getting mad about, or if she’s just going along with you.
Jake did he hair differently, that is awesome. π
sucks about the books. sounds like they dropped the ball entirely, then kicked the ball into the neighbors yard with “That Dog.” You know the one.
I am kind of curious which local printer you use. I do a lot of writing and would like to get some things published, but a lot of Portland publishing houses are sketchy as hell.
If things work out I’ll post a full review.
Good grief. You poor cartoonist, you! I’d been wondering why the update was late, and hoping you weren’t ill …. SO SORRY about this! I hope you get your money back and books printed soon!
That really blows. >:-(
I hope everything works out for you in the end. Having your money taken by one printer then being screwed around by another and potentially having your reputation damaged as a result is no way to spend the holiday season.
Maybe you should have a permanent link to a “Why You Should Never Use Moxicopy” blogpost on the site.
Please take this as a learning experience. ONLY do business with people that have an excellent BUSINESS reputation. I have seen too many artistic people that go belly up because they do business with “friends”.
Actually I kinda like this story arc. I mean, not only do you get the satisfaction of stomping their building into a mudhole but Modest gets to turn ’em to stone. You could donate their petrified bodies to the city as statues and write the whole thing off as a tax deduction. I’m pretty sure it qualifies. Does that beat a negative customer satisfaction survey or what?
GRRRRRRR.
YAh!!!
LETS DESTORY THE TOWN!!!
WOHO!!!! π
*acting crazy, running around the room, setting things of fire, and yelling “MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!”*
_*?*!ck you evil, lame, b**ches that run that company!!!!
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I’m terriblely sorry for my rudeness Jake… I lost control for a second.
It’s fine.
I just figured you were taking a break for the rest of the year. Instead we find out you were going through printing company hell.
yeah, I’m trying to catch up now and also work on a special Christmas thing.
Urge to kill rising…
Did you get a haircut?
I did.
I just realized… there are no more chocodiles… not ever. It’s sort of sad.
I hope the printer thing is sorted out soon, they suck.
Double good news. The printer thing is mostly resolved and Canadian Chocodiles still exsist!
I asked around with the Secret Masters of Fandom, and got one recommendation. According to Phoenix (not sure if that’s a first name, last name, handle or some combo of the above), “…OryCon has used Pacific Media in inner SE Portland (SE 11 11th & Division) for the past several years, with good results.” YMMV, of course, and I see now you’ve found a place, but it’s worth having options the next time around.
Thanks. I’ve heard of Pacific Media and I trust Phoenix (we’ve met several times). I may end up trying them in the future.
MAWHAHAHA WE have Canadians have stolen all the Chocodiles!!!
Amazingly I have yet to have one. *blinks*
First the town then the world muwahahaha