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Things to Know Before Buying Labels of Any Type

What do you look for when you want to purchase address labels or rubber stamps on the Internet? Actually, whether you are looking for these items or others, you should follow the same guidelines.

Speed of Delivery

How fast will you get your address labels? Make sure the company you are considering ordering from tells you exactly when you can expect to receive your order. Make sure you know this information before you place your order. Some companies will take from four to six weeks to deliver!

Guarantees

What do they guarantee? Is it a limited guarantee? Guarantees vary widely, and some companies offer no guarantee at all. For labels and stamps, the most common guarantee is that your order will be reprinted only if the vendor makes a mistake. If they do make a mistake, you will often be required to send the item back (you pay the postage) as proof that they made a mistake. Once they have the item and have verified that they made a mistake, they will reprint your order, which can take another four to six weeks. You need to know the company policy before you buy. Here are two guarantee policies from label companies as examples.

The guarantee from one label company states: “All products and services are provided ‘AS-IS’ and without warranty except as described below:

“Orders are processed, printed, and manufactured exactly as submitted by the customer via forms contained within site and/or any pages thereof. Any misprints or errors due to customer information input will be charged full price for the reprinting or re-manufacturing. In addition, any requested reprints (i.e., repeat orders) will also be charged full price.

“Misprints or errors made on our behalf will be reprinted/re-manufactured at no extra charge once the entire order is returned to the (competitor’s name) returns department at the contact address provided at this site, within 45 Calendar Days from the original order date. If an order is not returned within 45 Calendar Days from the original order date, (competitor’s name) reserves the right to return the item back to sender. (competitor’s name) also reserves the right to deny a reprint/re-manufactured request if the order was not returned within 45 Calendar Days from the original order date and will not be held liable for refunding any monies paid for that order or shipping fees.

“No credits will be placed towards the customer's account balance, credit card or checking account for return shipment charges on any returned or reprinted orders.”

Here is a guarantee from another label company:

“If we print your labels incorrectly and the mistake is ours we will send replacements without question. You do not need to send the whole batch back - just one label to illustrate the mistake. If you do not notify us within 10 working days, you are deemed to have accepted the item(s) and we shall not have any liability towards you. If you have made a mistake in providing us with the details we cannot offer free replacements. Please check carefully the details you send to us, and the order acknowledgement we send you.”

Testimonials

Customer testimonials can be a good source of information about whether a company delivers what it promises and how personalized its service is. It's one thing for a company to tell you that they deliver great service and another when actual customers share their positive experiences in a testimonial. Most people will give a lot credibility to a company that a friend recommends. The same can hold true for testimonials. A customer writing the testimonial really wants people to know what a great experience they had with the company. Companies that get a lot of positive feedback from their customers will most likely post them.

Security

Are you ordering from a secure website? Internet security is important for all online consumers. The website you order from should use SSL technology. This is the industry standard, and it is used by all the giants on the Internet such as Amazon.com, Yahoo.com, Target.com, Walmart.com, and others. SSL technology encrypts personal and credit card information until it reaches the vendor you are ordering from.

Privacy

Is your information private or is it being sold? Some companies profit from their customer list, making thousands of dollars selling or renting it. Sometimes permission is disguised on an order form. It may ask you to uncheck a box (already checked) if you do not want to receive information about “related products.” Some companies will sell their products at a lower price just to collect more names that they can sell or rent to other companies. Be sure before you order that the company states that it does not sell, rent, or trade customer information. They should also have a customer privacy policy.

Customer Service

Is customer service good? This may be a little difficult to judge until after you have ordered from a company, but it is still an important concern. To evaluate this before you place an order, there are several things you can look at to give you a good indication of whether the company offers good customer service or not. First, look at the testimonials. The more they have, the better. Next, check their guarantee. The better the guarantee, the less disappointment you risk. A 100 percent money-back guarantee and no charge for redo orders if they make a mistake is always the best. Third, if you contact the company by phone, are the representatives of the company friendly, helpful, and courteous? Are they knowledgeable about the company’s products and policies? Or are they curt and put you on hold, passing you from one department to another?

Contact Information

Do they give you both a telephone number and e-mail address? Some people prefer to contact a company by phone, but e-mail is recommended so that you have a printed record of when you contacted the company and what you requested. Also, an e-mail avoids having to play telephone tag. When you e-mail a company, be specific so that they can send you a specific answer to your question or concern. In most cases, they should answer your e-mail within 24 hours.

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