Finally speaking out about Zap Creative's poor customer service and quality drop.
Head's up to anyone using design services such as laser cutting, enamel pins, or acrylic charms.
Today I'm writing about how my nearly 5-year relationship with ordering from Zap Creatives went so far south and sour. I feel that I was treated very well from the start and felt I was in good hands, especially after being burned by companies in the past including one whom took my money and never provided me with my products. Sadly, Zap started dwindling in terms of their service quality and it hurt both my livelihood and my customers.
I used both Zap's laser cutting service and in the very beginning of doing vector work, I used their design service to vector some of my first drawings to make engraved anime object charms. I often ordered the same sheets again and again including the same files that utilized their design service from years ago.
With Zap Creatives, I fully enjoyed the quality of their laser cutting services and personal touch as everything would always come nicely packaged and double checked. which is why I continually used them. I paid express fees so Fedex could handle things and my items came in a hard cardboard mailer. The only problems I'd have were very few and far between ( IE such as the occasional item broken in transit) Getting a replacement was simple ; just take a picture of the item (since some were packaged poorly, maybe just a little mistake on their part) and they'd prepare replacements. If I was not making an order soon or needed the items for an event, they were always understanding and said they were more than happy to send out replacements ASAP. Sounds like very reliable and friendly service, right?
In the past, the longest time to receive an order was 3 weeks. My longest wait time to receive an invoice would be no longer than a week during convention season.
The service I received changed about a year ago, alongside the time I noticed they began following me on social media.
I noticed an abrupt change in the way business was handled on their part when responding to emails from regarding inquiries for new or current orders. I started receiving more and more problems with orders for items I had placed many times over with their company, so it didn't make sense. Even the quality of the exact same acrylic I always used had gone down hill.
Here are some bullet points for the TL;DR (It's still pretty detailed!)
-Diminish in quality of engraving and cutting service
-Items started being sent in soft mailers with a little paper and maybe bubble wrap. Most of the time this resulted in broken on arrival goods. Owner swears items don't get sent like this.
-Poor quality acrylic (either arriving with chemical stains, scratched)
-No discount for files prepared on my own (This was before they removed this offer from their website. They did not send out emails regarding the change later, either)
-Missing items frequently from order. Whole sheets of cuts would be left out or cut on the wrong materials entirely. Again, never changed the way I sent them my order.
-As more and more problems happened on their end with my orders, they started to request I document up close all of the errors they made. When I did, they would argue with me saying things along the lines of I was just too picky, their material has always been like this, or their laser service was always like this. I would have to fight to get replacements, refunds, or credit for future orders. This was a continued problem and affected my customers, leaving me in a bad place so I would have to communicate why things took as long as they did.
-Told to re-format my designs for their new system...including the designs they did for me using their design service in the past.
-Refused to send tracking numbers for orders. I always paid for Fedex Express International, so I'd hope as large as my orders were that I could receive a tracking number. When I hadn't heard anything from them, I'd email them for info on the order. Their explanation was that they had too many orders and couldn't send tracking numbers to everyone. Fedex Express requires a signature, so this resulted in me going to the FedEx facility to pick up parcels as I had no idea when they were arriving.
Turnaround time for orders became longer and longer, although their website stated otherwise.
Here's where things get really wild.
After I received a really bad order from them and was argued with on whether I'd receive replacements or not, I told them it was unacceptable for them to pull this. They sent replacements with no notification some weeks later. They cut off communication and suggested that after nearly 5 years of doing business with them that I discontinue using their service and that I'd be better suited ordering from somewhere else.
I was shocked! After all of this time being their client, I had hoped I'd be treated better, but this came directly from their owner Dave. After they refused my order I attempted to place, I requested one final order as I had many customers waiting on pre-orders and they agreed to accept it. I sent my files and information by the usual channels, and never received an invoice, despite waiting weeks for one . I messaged them on every social media and email I could including the website's and the owner, Dave's email. Assuming from the “radio silence”, it seemed as though I had been blocked and ignored. This made me extremely nervous and my customers in turn were skeptical if they would receive their pre-orders. I was determined to fix things.
Months later, I got the idea to have my husband place an order with their company. Communication with them through him was a little spotty, but for the most part fast and courteous. He placed his order last Monday and we received it at our home just yesterday, so the order only took a week. Between the time waiting on the order, my husband called them just to get a confirmation that his payment went through and that everything was going well.
They must have realized the order consisted of my files so they emailed both of us saying they were working on finishing up the order and that this would be my absolute final order with them.
Husband received order in perfect condition. I checked it all and the materials that were supposedly always stained or suddenly had constant engraving problems...they were all perfect! Everything was perfect and I felt even more slighted by this company. It was all an excuse!
I'm glad to never order with Zap Creatives ever again. They're overpriced and have a terrible work ethic. Long-time customers can even get burned by them. I'm going to continue to warn anyone who wants to use their service. I may have left some things out, but this is all I have the energy to write about. If anyone has any questions, I might not be able to respond to them (I suffer from rheumatism so I don't write like this too often or at all)
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