Some People Are Proof Of Unreasonableness

(Customer has come in to order very expensive, custom business cards. She has a file, in PDF format, that a designer has clearly set up for her. The cards are quoted and a proof is printed and signed off on. This is the exchange after her cards are completed.)

Me: “Here you go, [Customer]. The cards turned out great.”

Customer: “Oooh, there is a mistake.”

Me: “I’m sorry to hear that, but the mistake is there on the proof, which you signed off on.”

Customer: “Well, I won’t accept these.”

Me: “[Customer], the file you brought and signed off on is exactly what is on the card.”

Customer: “I don’t care. The font is all wrong. I don’t like the way it looks on the card. I won’t pay for them.”

(The customer has already paid for them, using her credit card and accepted our policy by approving the proof, but this happens from time to time, so we have a policy for this exact situation.)

Me: “The only thing I would be able to do is rerun them at a very minor discount, but you would still need to pay for these cards.”

Customer: “This is ridiculous. Why should I pay for your mistake?”

Owner: “Can I help you?”

Me: *explains situation, including the discount part, with the customer arguing and being rude the entire time*

Owner: “Well, that is all we can do. You ordered a gold embossed card on a very expensive stock with a custom die-cut. Even at cost, these are expensive business cards.”

Customer: “I DO NOT ACCEPT THIS!”

Owner: “Doesn’t matter. You either take them or you don’t. Either way, you still have to pay for them. Any error is your error. You had a designer provide you the file, which you provided to us. We could not have changed it.”

Customer: *throws cards on the floor* “This isn’t over.”

(She was right, it wasn’t over. She called the police and reported us for credit card fraud. We explained the situation to them. They laughed at her. She disputed the transaction with her credit card company and won. Apparently our signed proof with our policy wasn’t enough. She went out of business a few months later.)