CustomInk Rocks My World
I just ordered custom t-shirts for our intramural soccer team, and I had an awesome experience with a company called CustomInk.com. It was so smooth, in fact, that I’m writing this article to tell you all about it – whether you’re in the market for cheerleading uniforms, volleyball jerseys, baseball uniforms, or even non-sports stuff like custom t-shirts for your dorm floor or pledge class, you can save yourself some headaches and know where to go right off the bat.
So I was that guy who ends up with the annoying job of getting the jerseys together for my soccer team because no one else would do it – we were just a few weeks away from our first game with no uniforms in sight. I knew our scrawny bare chests wouldn’t do much to intimidate the competition, so I finally bit the bullet and volunteered to figure out the whole uniform thing.
And that’s where the hassle began – I looked in the phone book, called a few local screen-printing places, and got the run-around. Fuzzy price quotes, practically non-existent customer service. No vibe whatsoever. So I turned to the web, figuring there had to be a place that would let me design and order everything online from my dorm room.
I did a quick Google search and this company called CustomInk.com came up. I went to their website, and the first thing I saw was uncensored customer feedback, right on their home page. Turns out they stream all customer comments live – totally uncensored and unedited. That impressed me.
I decided to check out their gear – they have a million t-shirt options, and everything you could want if you’re looking for soccer uniforms like I was. There’s lots of other stuff too - raglans, softball uniforms, sweats, warm-ups, baseball caps, and even random accessory stuff like bags and water bottles. I picked a cool-looking black and white raglan shirt and brought it to their online design lab to customize.
Now here’s where it really got fun. I thought I wasn’t a creative guy (business major!). I thought I’d just throw a name on the front and be done with it. But once I started tooling around in the lab, I was hooked - I typed in “soccer” and it brought up a ton of awesome graphics I could use. And so I picked one, changed its color, added some text, outlined it, and on and on until I was sitting there looking at the coolest soccer jersey ever known to man (or woman, I hope!)
Now I know the other guys on my team – they wanted nothing to do with actually doing the research and ordering our soccer jerseys, but they’d be sure to rag on whatever design I came up with. So I found this cool feature that lets you send your design to friends. Pretty basic, email stuff, but it was a lifesaver because I was able to get everyone’s feedback before I ordered. And I’ll admit the guys had some good suggestions that ended up making our uniforms even better.
For instance, our goalie suggested personalizing our shirts with names and numbers. I wasn’t sure if you could do that at CustomInk, but then I saw the “Add Names” button right there in the lab. You just put in your list of names and numbers and you’re done!
So we’re all set - our team uniforms are designed, names and numbers in place, and we still have over two weeks until our first game. I took five minutes to place the order online and then the waiting game began. CustomInk guarantees a two-week turnaround with FREE SHIPPING (!) so I felt pretty good about getting the shirts in time for our first game.
I’ll admit, though, that a part of me was still nervous – I’m not a real designer, after all. One day I’m just screwing around on the web, and the next day I’m putting real money on the line. How did I know everything would turn out right? Maybe I didn’t center the design, or maybe I spelled something wrong, you know?
A super-friendly customer service rep named Jill called me the same day I placed my order and put me at ease. She asked me some questions about my design (there was a typo after all!) – turns out CustomInk has lots of artists personally review every design to make sure it turns out exactly the way you want it to.
They even sent an electronic proof after the artists touched up my design and made it look pro – they wanted me to approve it before they started printing. At this point, I was convinced that CustomInk would come through for us – they’re a real class-act.
If you need custom anything for any group or event you’re a part of, use CustomInk. Don’t even bother looking anywhere else, because you won’t find a company that cares even half as much as they do about getting your order just right and making you happy. Take my word for it, and be sure to check me out on the soccer field in my fly new uniform.