Deborah E Mixed Media review for Gelato: Print on Demand

Nov. 27, 2023

I don't normally write reviews, but in this case I think it is very important that I share my experience. People say you get what you pay for and that is true with Gelato. I placed an order of fifteen 11oz mugs for a boutique according to Gelato's schedule to arrive before Black Friday. No biggie for a company of this size. Their printing partner split the order of 15 mugs into 3 packages. AND DID NOT SHIP THEM ALL TOGETHER. They waited 6 & 7 days between shipments. I received 2 boxes of 3 mugs today, (6 total), on Black Friday. I have no idea when I am getting the other 9. When I opened the boxes, Wow! The print quality is terrible. The colors are off and way to light. I did double-check the print quality using Gelato's 3D and regular mockups with customer service before I placed my order to make sure there was enough saturation to get a good print. The customer service assured me there was, and my mugs would print with the regular mockup quality, not the 3D which was terrible.. They did not. Not only that, but this partial order of 6 mugs contains SOME that are 11oz and SOME that are 15oz. THEY SENT TWO DIFFERENT SIZES!!! This order of 15, 11oz mugs are not uniform in size or quality of color print. Also, the packaging is terrible and not uniform. Some of the mugs are in brown boxes with bubble wrapped. Two of the mugs came squeezed into boxes that are too small and held together with packing tape. I gave them 1 star because their customer service responds quickly. However, Gelato seems to have no communication, control or oversight of their printing partner. I installed this app and was also going to use this company for cell phone cases, but as an independent artist who works with bold colors, I cannot put my name onto anything from this company. They have no concern for the quality of the items they sell only the quantity. This company has embarrassed me with a client and put me into a bind, because I cannot possibly display/sell mismatched colors/sizes of mugs, and I have missed my deadline. They have cost me countless hours of aggravation, phone calls, follow-ups, sales and now time as I have to redo all of my cell phone templates. If you are a small business owner, independent artist like myself or startup, I would really think twice before relying on this company. We really get one chance to make a first impression and they have cost me dearly. I cannot recommend this app or this company. UPDATE 11/27/2023 I finally received the rest of my order from Gelato. Not only was it a mismatch of mug sizes, the order was missing three items. RECAP: I ordered fifteen (15) 11oz mugs. From that order I was actually sent eight (8) 15oz mugs & three (3) 11oz mugs. Total of 12 mugs . MISSING 3 ITEMS. I don't carry 15oz mugs so this is an issue as is the poor print quality on all of the items I have received. It is quite apparent that Gelato takes your money and washes its hands of the final outcome. It would appear as if their printing partner never read or checked my order before shipment and just threw whatever they had available in these shipment boxes. Gelato did refund my money with very little fuss, which leads me to believe this kind of disfunction is normal for them. On a final note, while customer service is available, on three different occasions they did say they would "investigate" and get back to me. They never did. I now need to reorder everything with less than 4 weeks before the holiday season. If you are an artisan, artist or small business owner who depends on your production partners to be reliable with quality merchandise, I CANNOT STRESS ENOUGH to go elsewhere. There are better companies out there. I usually use a different POD company and will be running back to them. Do your homework. Less expensive isn't always better. Sometimes it is just cheaper, but will cost you a bunch.