Sawgrass - Exciting Announcement!

[JSR]

Well, anyway you look at it it does seem strange to me that they have decided not to use the forum afterall. It would have given them a great PR opportunity and perhaps by having a presence here changed the opinions of many about the company itself. Well what is done is done.

I guess I don't see what Sawgrass would get out of being more involved with their customer base. The questions would invariably be along the lines of "why is your ink so expensive?", "why don't you support more printers?", "why can't I use chinese ink?", "why aren't your printer-support/replacement options more transparent?", and "when does your patent expire?"

None of the questions that we may ask can be answered in a way that would look good on Sawgrass, because the answers would only show how unfair and expensive the current situation is. That is far from being a "great PR opportunity". Exposing themselves to a nest of vipers would be a very bad PR opportunity for them.

We're in a "tail wagging the dog" situation, and the tail isn't going to answer questions of the dog because the tail is already in control.

[Ian M]

Well put Jonathan.

The main thing the vast majority of us aren't really Sawgrass customers are we, it's their suppliers who sell to customers who are really the Sawgrass customers.

I worked for a major bank & we had senior managers who always had an open door policy to everyone. You could just go & ask if they were free to talk too & the answer was always yes & you always got a direct answer to any questions you asked them. We then got new senior managers who were the opposite & if you wanted to ask them anything you had a process to go through. You had to submit your question to a team manager who would then pass it on to a middle manager who would then put in a request to the senior manager to see if they would see you. This could take a couple of weeks to get your audience with the senior manager if your request was accepted & in most cases it wasn't. In the end people just didn't bother anymore & what was a happy open work place quickly became a very unhappy work place with lots of unconfirmed rumours flying around. It really became a real them & us situation which is what we have with Sawgrass.

Sawgrass had a golden opportunity to interact with us all here but, I feel they have just stuck two fingers up at us all again. I do wonder what they are going to be like in two years from now when the patent has gone.

[GoldRapt]

Well done Justin on trying to get this off the ground.

[tanx]

The forum (and myself) have always made it clear that we will not discuss third party inks or support the use of them here, this is not something that has changed over the years.

Interesting quote Justin that surely defeats the whole point of an open forum !. Surely it is NOT illegal to discuss 3rd party inks? Or post reviews about the use of other inks ? It doesn't mean ANYONE has to go ahead and use any 3rd party inks, but it's nice to have an insight to peoples alternative setups etc to proove that Sawgrass are not the be all and end all of ink manufacturers. Do Sawgrass hold the patent for freedom of speech also lol ?. FFS That company have really put the fear of god into some people

[pisquee]

Surely it is NOT illegal to discuss 3rd party inks?

Technically/Literally, it's not "illegal" to use non-Sawgrass inks either. There is no ink police that are gonna come and kick your door in at 6am and raid your print room.

(I use the "non-Sawgrass" term, as Sawgrass themselves are a third party ink manufacturer.)

[tanx]

Technically/Literally, it's not "illegal" to use non-Sawgrass inks either. There is no ink police that are gonna come and kick your door in at 6am and raid your print room.

(I use the "non-Sawgrass" term, as Sawgrass themselves are a third party ink manufacturer.)

Thank god for that Pisquee - I haven't got a print room for starters !!! lol. Very true about Sawgrass also
Still doesn't answer the question of WHY 3rd party inks can't be discussed and are not supported on the forum as Justin stated.
Anyone heard of group purchase !!! thats the simple way round of getting cheaper Sawgrass ink :rolleyes:.
I am part of a group purchase on an aquarium site where we purchase phosphate remover in bulk for a much much cheaper price than buying from local stores.

[pisquee]

Sawgrass sell exclusively through their dealers, and they are price fixed, so it's quite a closed market, that I doubt you'd find a way of a group buy.

[tanx]

Sawgrass sell exclusively through their dealers, and they are price fixed, so it's quite a closed market, that I doubt you'd find a way of a group buy.

Definately locked down then , ah well i shouldn't really be surprised should i :rolleyes:

[Joe Balanda]

Sawgrass are a good company as far as I am concerned. They will go out of their way to help. I have just bought an 800 off them and had questions. No problems at all. Having a collective voice with them will be good for the members and I don't think you'll need to worry about what's said in a polite manner.
good news Justin, I look forward to seeing how it goes
Joe

[UK Printed Mugs]

Nothing like re-opening a four year old thread