CustomCat: Print on Demand

I decided to start with Customcat being that I felt they had the product availability that fit my vision best. Like the last 2 reviews it hasn't been the best experience. I've got 2 orders I processed as a test that have been waiting to be fulfilled for 5 days now. To be fair I processed these the day after Thanksgiving so I'm really hoping the delay is due to holiday processing and not a regular thing.

What is disappointing however is the service. I've been trying to reach these guys via the contact phone number which constantly rings then goes silent/hang up. No answer No voicemail. I went the email route for help and did get a response within 48 hours which was nice to see however the response did not address my specific question regarding the order sitting in pending status. The fulfillment instructions have been followed so I'm still unclear as to whether my order is in limbo and requires a fix on my end or if there is an issue on theirs.

This really shakes my confidence in these guys if I have an issue that arises with a customer. I'm not ready to trash the app just yet because I've yet to find a POD app that rivals their products for what I want to do, but thought I'd add my experience thus far as a new user that I wish I had set up a test with just one product before taking the time to build out the majority of my store using their SKUs. Lesson learned.

I really wanted to like this app. I found it after a search for t-shirt drop-shippers with Shopify integration. I designed 4 shirts with identical layouts and the process is not at all intuitive. You can't just duplicate a design on another style of shirt. After several days of trial and error, I finally got the products exported and I ordered a sample. It arrived within a reasonable time and was OK-ish. The sizing seems very odd (short torso and short arms but wide chest) and the shirt was super stiff when I first pulled it out of the packaging. After washing, it was fine. The print quality is OK but not great. My main issue is that the products once exported into Shopify no longer live on their website and if you want to make changes to your current products, you need to start from scratch and re-export. If you want to see your current costs for a product you have to search through a spreadsheet to find it. I contacted customer support several times and did get timely responses but overall, the experience leaves me wanting. I am definitely searching for an alternative.

I hate writing reviews. but I must. I just ordered 3 hoodies as test samples for my children. I didn't like the way the designs were printed. It looks fuzzy. Too bad because I was excited to use a company from my home town. I'm waiting on another shirt ordered to see how it would turn out. I will be uninstalling the app if this shirt doesn't work out.

Update: I was happy to work with Brett who has agreed to replace on of my sweatshirts and suggested specific products that could better suit my store and printing. I am thrilled with the great customer service and look forward to working with the company to create the best products.

Choosing to use a new app during the busiest season of the year almost promises to be a disaster, but my POD was out of ornaments, and CustomCat had them, so I thought I'd give it a try. First two bulk orders were completed and shipped in super fast time, instilling a false sense of security. Then the problems started and haven't stopped. I'll break down all of the issues with this app to make this review as comprehensive and helpful as possible.
1) there are no status updates of your orders. If you place a manual order, just sit back and pray it gets shipped. You'll never know if it's in review, in production, etc. The only thing you'll know is that it's shipped.
2) They do not fill manual orders in the order in which they were received. If you have 20 manual orders, even if they're all for the same design, you never know which one will be filled first.
3) User friendly? Not in the least. My other POD app lets me select the product I need to order. I had to recreate the product for every order I needed. Is there another way? Maybe, but I never found it.
4) Consistency. I ordered 30 of the same design. They are in no way the same product. The hole for the ornament string is askew in a many of them, to the point of them being crooked. The design isn't centered on all of them. I spent $150 on an order that wasn't even close to being correct.
5) Response time. Took me 4 tries over 7 days to get support to answer ONE question. They still haven't responded to the above referenced issue.
6) Inability to view your orders. If you make a manual order, all that is there is the order number, and name. There are no links to click and see WHAT the order is, or confirm the order that arrived looks anything like the order you placed. Case in point today, I received an order and the hole for the ornament is in the person's head of the photo. I'm super certain that I didn't do a memorial ornament by hanging it from the deceased person's head.
7) There is no inventory tracking. The closest they come is letting you know a size is out of stock. You have no idea if they'll be able to fulfill any bulk orders of a certain product on Shopify, because there's no inventory listed. All in all, it's probably one of the worst apps out there for POD. When you receive an order that's wrong and you spent $150, you don't want to stew in anger for days on end waiting for any response. When you order 30 of the same design, you want 30 matching products. I will say the quality is very good when they're right and their shipping is very reasonable, especially for 2 day ground for bulk orders. I couldn't in good conscience recommend anyone use this app, though.

Loaded app, attempted to follow instructions to configure shipping, but the instructions were outdated. Email support several time and never got a response so had to delete. Was super exited for the speed and the prices, but can't rely on a firm that zero support capabilities.

Their pricing structure is insane and does not compare to any other print on demand service. Their pricing is no different from other POD companies (maybe on one or two items) who don't force their customers to pay $35/month. I also don't like that you can't place a manual order and must add every product to your store. They need to have that option and lower their monthly subscription cost, or at least an introductory rate until you get your site up and going. Their app is also very glitchy and not user friendly.

Customization is extremely limited. Prices are okay for Canadians but I would prefer more customization and better mockups.

good product selection but I wasted lots of hours attempting to resize the logo for the embroidered products and watching their tutorials but to no avail! Also, the logo is not simulated as embroidery and looks crappy on on the website.