Sawgrass staff perception

[Justin]

So much fear instilled by Sawgrass' practice - at the very least you mention that you're using non-Sawgrass ink (in a small printer) and your post either gets edited, or the post/thread deleted. Or you're told you will be taken to court by Sawgrass.

Then there's people saying they have wide format printers just so can discuss the type of inks they are using without being told off.

It really is a ridiculous situation that even this forum is made to toe the line and obey whatever Sawgrass says.

Just to be clear, the forum does indeed toe the line but only in an effort to protect members. Every time a member posts about using 'other' ink 'a' Supplier contact Sawgrass and reports it them them before I can even get near it.

I'd welcome a list of questions that I can the new Manager face to face early next week during my visit but please PM to me to keep the thread clean

[Justin]

Playing devils advocate, let's say the patent has indeed ended and has no further protection. Is this necessarily a good thing? A flood of cheap inks into the market? Admittedly some are indeed very good, better than the SG we're forced to use but what about all of the crap? No regulations whatsoever, the forum with regular posts of "I've paid £15 for a set of inks and they've clogged my printer" Surely we'd be better off with some sort of endorsements for tried and tested inks. I'm happy to keep buying SG inks...as long as the price becomes realistic and the support becomes...well, supportive! Will suppliers warranty printers that have had any old ink put in them??

[Justin]

Ouch, just thoroughly read the reviews by SG staff, that must have hurt. Note that this is in the US but I fear much the same in the UK.

[pisquee]

I believe this is why the status quo has always been kept, that although the other companies know that Sawgrass patent was effectively meaningless, the lesser of two evils from a business point of view was to have the myth continued - if the patent enforcement continued then the market is kept closed and prices artifically kept high, the companies that want to sell inkn pay a fee to Sawgrass to play this game, they get to sell ink cheaper than Sawgrass, whilst keeping the companies who aren't big enough to pay the fee to Sawgrass out of the market. If the whole patent thing disappeared then the bottom would fall out of the market.
The current system is not good, as it's based on a lie, and keeps prices way higher then they need to be, whilst the alternative for a time won't be good, but long term I do see the only decent route forward is for companies to compete on the quality of their products and customer service, not some protection racket scare mongering.

[ASO Embroidery]

Surely at the end of the day if you get other manufacturers of the inks. Its a bit like the cheap chinese presses etc. you find out who the good ones are and don't buy the bad ones . Admittedly some one has to test them to find out but once your in the know you don't get them again.
Sammy

Playing devils advocate, let's say the patent has indeed ended and has no further protection. Is this necessarily a good thing? A flood of cheap inks into the market? Admittedly some are indeed very good, better than the SG we're forced to use but what about all of the crap? No regulations whatsoever, the forum with regular posts of "I've paid £15 for a set of inks and they've clogged my printer" Surely we'd be better off with some sort of endorsements for tried and tested inks. I'm happy to keep buying SG inks...as long as the price becomes realistic and the support becomes...well, supportive! Will suppliers warranty printers that have had any old ink put in them??

[pisquee]

Surely at the end of the day if you get other manufacturers of the inks. Its a bit like the cheap chinese presses etc. you find out who the good ones are and don't buy the bad ones . Admittedly some one has to test them to find out but once your in the know you don't get them again.
Sammy

Exactly, in a free market the companies that have a good product and good customer service will win - We've happily used InkTec's sublimation ink on large format printers since mid 2011 and couldn't fault their product or service. The moving away from small printers and Sawgrass ink was the best move we did as a company.

[GoonerGary]

If our suppliers are quick to jump on the report button to protect their financial interests; how legal is a cartel? We too have the ability to report and investigate anyone involved in a price fixing cartel at any level of the supply chain.