When the customer contacted us regarding this complaint, we explained in detail that the images they uploaded to our site did not follow our templates (https://help.thegamecrafter.com/article/39-templates) or design recommendations (https://help.thegamecrafter.com/article/32-designer-tips). Because of this, any slight amount of drift (explained in even more detail at https://help.thegamecrafter.com/article/392-drift) is going to be much more noticeable.
Please note that we always recommend that customers/designers order one printed copy of their game and carefully review it for any errors, omissions, and any other adjustments that need to be made prior to placing a larger order. (This was the first time the customer ordered this game, and they placed an order for six copies.)
Our site clearly states that there can be up to 1/8" of variance on any printed product, due to printer drift and/or cutting/registration error. The photographs provided by the customer show approximately 1/32" to 1/16" of drift. However, this slight drift is emphasized by the fact that the customer used borders (which we specifically recommend against), and also did not follow the minimum border width recommendation that is noted on our templates.
We went over this information with the customer, who then replied with this (edited to remove profanity):
"I ordered 6 decks. ALL OF THEM ARE F***ED. Because someone there doesn't know how to use a g***mn cutter! I worked at a print shop for 20 years. I know about bleed, shift all of that. Where is your f***ing quality control. I have place so many orders from you and NEVER had an issue until now. But that's fine, if you won't let me send new art and get a reprint, I'll just take mu business elsewhere and I'll be sure to leave you a wonderful review with Google, Facebook and the BBB."
We once again reviewed the information, along with the specific updates that the customer will need to make to their images in order to minimize the appearance of any slight drift in future orders:
1. Make sure all important parts of your text and images are well within the blue dotted "Safe Zone" line so that they are not cut off in print.
2. We very strongly recommend removing the white border altogether and bleeding your background color all the way to the edges of the images. This is the number one thing you can do to help minimize the appearance of any small drift.
If you are going to use a border, please make sure you follow the minimum border size recommendation on the template. Note, however, that any border (even one that follows this recommendation) is going to emphasize drift.
We also reminded the customer that it's best to order one copy and review it before placing a larger order, for this reason.
In this case, the customer decided to not follow the specific recommendations offered in our templates and Help page, approved the images as they were displayed in the game editor on our site, and ordered multiple copies of a game that had never been ordered before. Because the issue reported by the customer was not anything outside the tolerances explained on our site, we did not offer a replacement. Moreover, until the customer's images are revised to follow the design recommendations on our site, future printings will continue to have the same issue.
This isn't an issue of blame, but rather, that it's very important to follow the design recommendations on our site. We specifically offer these design recommendations because, when they are not followed, items don't come out as well in print (as evidenced by this situation).