Hi,
Sorry guys, only just seen this thread, I'd been following my own threads but hadn't noticed what a controversy I seemed to have stirred up elsewhere on the site. Ok, this will be a bit long, but if it helps to instil confidence then I'd rather tell you too much about me than too little! So here's the skinny on me:
Firstly a bit about the business itself: I'm not an actual printer, I'm a print broker with many years experience in the Graphic Design and Printing industries through my other business, DiscoverySquare.
Being a print broker means that I purchase print at discounted trade prices and resell it to my customers, but I don't physically do any printing myself. The benefit for my customers is that they receive (very) low-cost print with a high level of customer service. I "hold their hand" through the process of preparing their artwork, explaining technical terms to them and ensuring that everything is ready for the printer so that they get the best possible final results.
Most trade printers offering such low prices expect their clients to be in the trade as well, they expect you to already know all the technical terms and they don't have the time to offer you the kind of step-by-step support I do. At the other end of the market you have retail printers who do offer high levels of customer service, but they either charge much higher prices, or they restrict you to a few very limited templates with no flexibility.
I try to offer the best of both worlds as my USP and my prices compare favourably with almost every other online printer.
My AddressThe biggest controversy here seems to be that I don't display my address. I'm a sole trader, not a limited company, I work from home, with no commercial premises for customers to visit in person, and only conduct business over the internet. My only reason for not displaying the address was to avoid unannounced visitors appearing at the doorstep of my home (where I live alone) without an appointment, although I have always been happy to receive correspondence at my address, and have always tried to meet all relevant legislation while protecting my own personal privacy.
The regulations pertaining to Limited Companies or Corporations require that a personal name and a physical address be displayed along with the company name on all websites, but don't apply to me as I am neither Limited nor Incorporated.
The Business Names Act requires that a personal name be displayed along with the trading name but only require the physical address to be displayed on certain documents not including websites, which I have always done. All invoices and letters issued by me include my physical address.
The Distance Selling Regulations don't apply to business to business contracts and so, in practice, would also be irrelevant to the majority of orders I am likely to receive. Where the DSR relate to contracts between businesses and private individuals, they only require that an address is made available before the completion of a contract when payment is being taken up-front. Although my address was not available on the website, I did believe that it would be displayed in the PayPal checkout and would meet this requirement (Making a trial purchase today I realise that this is no longer the case, although I am sure it used to be as PayPal required you to enter an address for that very reason!).
However, having read all of these
UK regulations, I overlooked an
EU directive, the Electronic Commerce Directive that requires that a physical address be displayed on all websites of companies that make a profit from operating an electronic service even if such profit is only from advertising and not from direct sales (in other words, all those YouTube channels should have physical addresses on them as well!)
So to put the debate to rest, here's my address and I will also place it in the footer on the website:
Philip Osborne
DiscoverySquare
Central Buildings
Hall Street
Rhosllanerchrugog (try pronouncing that one!)
Wrexham
LL14 2LD (hence the extra 5% discount offered to businesses in my local LL, CH and SY postcode regions)
Phone NumberAs I work alone, and all business is conducted over the internet, I find I am better able to respond to a stream of customer queries and orders in a fair and timely fashion by using email only. I can work through them in the order that they arrive and no-one gets any preferential treatment or has to wait any longer than anyone else. It's for this reason that I don't offer a telephone number which would, naturally, result in phone calls taking priority over emails (because you can't leave them ringing while you type out an email).
However, I may add a free "CallBack" feature to the website where you can leave a phone number and I can call you back when your turn comes up. This would allow people to speak to me in person if they are more comfortable with that, but wouldn't allow them to "jump the queue" ahead of those who are using other contact methods.
I hope that has answered some of your concerns and I'm happy to answer any more you have at
phil@weloveflyers.co.uk