I am saddened that yet again we seem to have a problem between us and that you feel the need to copy in the entire account team at IPG.
Firstly let me apologise unreservedly for the fact that we did indeed supply the digital proof to you late.
This was due to the fact that I was admitted to Bangkok Hospital to have a spinal operation directly after closing the issue on the 9th July and I was only discharged in the middle of last week and this put our small team under stress. Alana Cartmill the marketing director at Boots Retail was aware that I was having surgery and of its serious nature.
However you and I had a telephone call I think on the 8th/9th July as you had told my staff that you would supply copy on Tuesday 14th and I told you that was too late as we went to print on the 15th July.
You mention within ‘a production timeline' our copy date was the 1st of July yet you did not supply copy to us until 6.33pm on the 9th July - the day that I was admitted to hospital. You were the only outstanding piece of copy/artwork and the only one that demanded a digital proof. Most of our other clients supply their artwork direct from client. Indeed your copy is constantly sent to us late often stretching our deadlines to the very limits yet we are always as accommodating as we possibly can be for you.
I have been a publisher for over 25 years and my understanding of supplying a client (or an agency) with a digital proof, and I have checked this with our printers, one of the largest in Thailand, is not so that you or the client, can change copy, colours or copy lines but so that you can see that we have reproduced the copy exactly as you have supplied to us. Having checked the computer files that you supplied and asked the printers to do the same we are both convinced that we have compiled with that.
K Koy lets be sensible here you supplied copy very late not allowing us time to supply you with a digital proof to do anything with but check if it met with what we were supplied with.
With regards to your finance department it is very convenient for them to blame us for:
1. always supplying them with late invoices, which I am sorry but I find hard to believe. We are a small company and have to pay a proportion of our paper and print costs upfront and as we are always struggling with cashflow we ask our clients to settle in 14 days. Where you say 'exceed our due dates' do you mean by 6 months as the Feb/Mar insertions for Boots Retail and Big C would have been invoiced to you in January, at worst in February and so are 5 months late.
2. I find it rather coincidental that as you take us to task on this occasion that:
'Actually, your cheque of the Feb-Mar and Apr-May insertions has been released now at the payment office. Is there anyone to pick up the cheque? Please check with your team'.
K Koy we have been chasing all of the outstanding accounts with your accounts payable department on a constant basis and not getting anywhere, I even mentioned it to you two weeks ago.
We will send a courier to collect the cheques today perhaps your accounts payable department could advise us when the June/July invoice for Big C issued in May will be available for collection?
We will endeavour to send digital proofs out to you earlier in future if you assist us in meeting our copy dates.
I am sorry that we have failed to meet your expectations of us and we will endeavour to try harder in future.