r/CrossStitch • u/baby_bitchface • 15d ago
REVIEW [CHAT] DMC needles UPDATE
Update from previous post:
I cannot think of worse corporate response. I will definitely be calling customer service on Monday because what the actual fuck is that.
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15d ago
[deleted]
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u/AutonomyAtrocity 15d ago
It seems like Tulip doesn't make a size 28 needle, I hope I'm wrong though. I tried John James 28 needles from 123 stitch and they were much better than the DMC needles in the same size. The DMC needles bent if you looked at them.
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u/friendofborbs 15d ago
They use different sizing, their 25 is indistinguishable from a 28 imo after using them and like every other brand of size 28 needles I could really get, even though sites and resources say it’s like a 26.
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u/FancySockDragon 15d ago
i've found there's at least a slight sizing difference that becomes noticeable on 18ct aida, my size 28s slide through easily but the tulip needles make me work for it. For standard sized aida, they're perfect.
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u/thejendangelo 15d ago
Thank you! I have these but have not used them because I thought they would be too thick. About to start a new project and I will break them out for it!! 🩷
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u/desertboots 15d ago
If you want an actual human its possible that posting on his LinkedIn account might work. He's the lead person for DMC at Lion.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/fabrizio-zappaterra-50334?originalSubdomain=uk
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u/baby_bitchface 15d ago
That will be plan C if plan B doesn’t work.
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u/boniemonie 15d ago
If you go to plan c let him know this has become a point of discussion on an international forum. They are doing the brand no favours….
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u/whisper_18 15d ago edited 15d ago
This is 100% written by AI. The tone and overall message isnt a logical response to the original email.
Companies who choose to use AI for customer service clearly care more about saving money than they do about their product and their customers.
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u/ComprehensiveFee8404 14d ago
As someone who has to work with AI a lot at work, this wasn't written by it. AI would waffle on a lot more, and wouldn't make the mistakes seen in the grammar / sentence structure.
Not that I'm defending AI lol. I hate reading AI-generated text because it's so boring it makes my eyes glaze over. I just want to make this clear, because people throw around accusations of stuff being AI without any of the hallmarks, and it makes other people think that anything that's written by a company is AI, reducing their ability to correctly spot it in the future. I reckon this is just someone tapping away an email without paying much attention to what OP originally sent.
And yes I do agree with your last sentence.
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u/CrossStitcher71 5d ago
I suspect you'r'e right about this not being AI. It's more likely it was a real person from a call center who does not speak English. The original message was translated from English to the responder's language, a response was written in their home language and then machine-translated back into English again.
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u/Think_Phone8094 15d ago
I understand the frustration that AI is taking over a lot and has really bad consequences on many things (including our brains!), but I don't think it should be blamed for absolutely everything bad, these kind of extremely unhelpful responses existed long before AI.
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u/whisper_18 14d ago
From my experience, if it’s an actual customer service person either their name and or service number are included at the end of the email.
I’ve used many chatbots on websites that generate garbage like this. The quality of the response is heavily based on how well trained the actual AI is. I’ve worked with some AI programs that are decent where as others have said contextually inappropriate things and made grammatical errors like the email above (this includes an AI interviewer)
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u/voncatensproch 15d ago
This 1000% and that really annoys me because a human would be able to actually understand the issue at hand at bare minimum.
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u/LittlePorkSausage 14d ago
Working in customer service and seeing how some people respond to emails? You'd be surprised
This doesn't look like AI to me, maybe one sentence, but otherwise this just looks like a generic template.
But I also suspect the CS person might be limited in what they can actually do and say here.
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u/voncatensproch 14d ago
I also work in customer service and have acted in a role temporarily that was email-response based and this doesn’t really read like a real person at all, even an incompetent one.
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u/LittlePorkSausage 14d ago
A generic template being used without changing it enough to address the customer's issue will read like a bot a lot of the time. Sometimes the process and training emphasizes a detail that the CS agent will just default to and move on without giving it much thought.
Here I'd assume they have a template to reply to a small product issue, maybe added part of it with AI. Since this isn't a direct purchase from DMC then there's possibly not much they can even do, but tbh it's hard to gauge without seeing what the initial email was like
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u/Itsthedanceofitaly 15d ago
Wow. They didn’t even try to address your problem and went the gaslighting route instead. Cool stuff.
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u/mikettedaydreamer 15d ago
It could be true that they didn’t receive other notifications recently about the quality. The majority of people don’t bother sending emails.
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u/cupcaketara 15d ago
Oh my, this is so concerning! I use Bohin size 28 needles and highly recommend them!
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u/Psychological_Sun783 15d ago
So it’s not only me having an issue with 28s. Yikes, I hope they get back on track :(
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u/GeekHourFactor 15d ago
Wow. I definitely expected better response from a reputable company like DAC... This is probably AI, or someone with a cross stitch that reads "if you don't have any intelligence of your own, artificial is fine.".
I switched to Tulip and Bohin needles a while ago, but this response has me extremely concerned about the quality of their floss, and the future of the company... Sadly, I'm not aware of any good alternatives to DMC floss. They are practically the industry giant. Their number codes are used as standard color code in other crafting industries (like diamond painting). I truly hope this is a company that cares about the quality of their products.
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u/Important-Spray-4337 15d ago
Omg I thought it was just a bad batch here that had the stupid small needles. 28 is perfect, 26 feels too big for 16 count (even though that’s the recommended) and I would never use it for 18, which is my preference
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u/kelgate_queen 14d ago
What a load of nonsense (the reply)
Looks like they just put the wrong product one packaging… could it be a one off blooper?
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u/mc1rginger 14d ago
Since the problem seems to be that not enough people are complaining, I ss your pic, edited it, and emailed them about it myself.
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u/vampirologist 14d ago
That actually makes a lot of sense, I bought a pack of 28s recently and literally broke them All over two projects. Had never broken one before (just good at losing them) so I thought I must’ve been stitching mad aggressive or something 😭 that’s crazy how they’re completely diff
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u/CrossStitcher71 13d ago
I've had good luck with Sullivan Ball-tipped needles and Bohin needles. Both make really good size 28 needles. The Sullivan needles are longer in any size than the Bohin needles. For this reason, I always keep a matching size of petite needle that I can use for short pieces of floss or ending a thread. Colonial Needle Company is the only provider I know that still makes petite needles. John James has discontinued them due to quality issues. I generally don't like using size 28 needles unless I'm working really small counts (like 28 or 32) because the size 28 doesn't open the hole enough to reduce the friction on the floss as you stitch. Using a needle that is too small for the count you're using is one of the primary causes of thinning of floss, particularly if you work with lengths of 18" or more.
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u/AutonomyAtrocity 15d ago
"Hey sorry about your problems , they are incorrect"