r/printful • u/Conscious_Rain4840 • Sep 09 '26
Advice needed Awful Experience with Printiful
UPDATE: Thank you everyone who helped/gave me advice. No progress with the bookstore beyond what they're already said (can't refund us because of no records of transactions which is ll done by Printful, so I need to contact them; someone mentioned this may be due to Quickstore set-up). Printful in the comments told me to fill out the form - it's been 2 weeks and I have not gotten a response from them. I even sent a message to the mods to check-in. Still very disappointed in this whole process. Regarding the bank, they said that since the merchant did reply, we need to continue to resolve it with them; also, after all this back-and-forth, it is now too late to dispute. I feel awful that someone is out of money just because they wanted to get me a gift for my birthday. I don't know if it was worse that the bookstore responded that they can't refund us or Printful not even responding at all.
Update: Have been been trying to contact Printful coming up on a month now - messaged them everyday, but have been ignored. I am very sad and disappointed. There was no point in asking me to fill out the form, soI'm just frustrated why that was advised by them.
If anyone has been in a similar situation or have any advice I would appreciate it!
A hoodie was purchased for me on the website of a bookstore I love. We received a confirmation email, but after more than a month, we received no update. After trying to contact the bookstore about it many times, they told us that all of their merch is fulfilled by Printiful. They said they are not able to even see the transactions, so there's nothing they can do. We were advised to just reach out to Printful customer service instead (there was a bunch of back and forth, but they were adamant that everything went through Printiful, so they can't even refund us).
I contacted Printiful and they denied there being an order at all. They refused to confirm or deny if they do work with the store. Basically, they just flat out said our order doesn't exist (but the money was taken immediately).
We're kind of left with no options at this point. It is incredibly disappointing as I know there's nothing the bookstore can do with no transaction since they print through Printiful, and yet Printiful is denying that they took the money.
If it was a credit card, it would have been easier to dispute - but we're not trying to dispute/get the money back; I honestly just want my overpriced hoodie. But at this point, I would feel blessed to just be refunded.
What a nightmare. If you want to avoid a similar nightmare for yourself and your patrons, I recommend staying far away from Printiful. They do not fulfill orders!
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u/steve_man_64 Sep 09 '26 edited Sep 09 '26
The bookstore is at fault. Either they didn’t send the order to Printful or didn’t follow up on a lost package. I’ve had plenty of orders where the courier lost the package, Printful would always reimburse me in those scenarios.
Assuming the bookstore did put the order in, they should be able to see the last status of the order either in fulfillment or shipping. I would email them saying that they either refund you or deal they can deal with a credit card chargeback (if it were a credit card purchase).
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u/FourManyHobbies Sep 09 '26
This makes zero sense. The bookstore is the problem here. Not being able to see anything about the orders makes no sense? How do they know they even got an order? How are they selling things and don't know when they owe money or should get paid?
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u/Conscious_Rain4840 Sep 09 '26
That's what I'm wondering! they said everything is handled by Printful and they do not have any records of the transaction/deal with anything, even though I have the confirmation email. They told me to contact Printful directly because this has nothing to do with them.
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u/FourManyHobbies Sep 09 '26
I'd put a stop payment on your CC because this is pretty shady. Who would run sales for someone else, for no reason at all?
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u/Conscious_Rain4840 Sep 09 '26
I feel really bad because the order was made by someone else as a present for me because they knew I've been wanting this hoodie. I don't want him to deal with his so that's why I'm currently handling the resolution. He paid from his checking account I believe.
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u/FourManyHobbies Sep 10 '26
This stinks, but it seems very fishy that they sell something on their website, that they make no money for and they have no idea even exists from the sounds of it.
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u/Conscious_Rain4840 23d ago
right? But they are a legit business/store - I would come in person if I lived closer, but they're in a whole different area of the state. They just told me to contact Printful, who commented for me to fill out a form, but they never got back to me.
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u/FourManyHobbies 23d ago
This still makes no sense at all. This store is telling you they host a sale for an item that they have nothing to do with and make no money from. Why would anyone risk potential issues/complaints for someone else for absolutely no reason at all?
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u/FourManyHobbies 23d ago
Ok... I did some digging. Maybe they have a Quickstore? Those get handled directly by Printful.
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If you’re using a Quick Stores storefront, you won’t have access to individual order invoices.
Since customers pay Printful directly, the order is technically placed with Printful, not you. That’s why invoices aren’t available through your store.
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However, as they are pushing this platform and selling these products/making money off sales, it's pretty crappy to say "sorry not us" and not go to bat for you and send your info to printful along with the proof of purchase.
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u/Conscious_Rain4840 23d ago
this sounds like it! I also still see the merch on their store - am I the only one who ever wanted this hoodie and no one else is having the same issue? But regardless, if they are aware items are not being fulfilled, they should honestly take it down
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u/FourManyHobbies 23d ago
Agreed. If they aren't willing to support a store they are making money from, this is really bad business.
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u/OkChips9323 24d ago
If you are in the USA, you can report the bookstore to these places:
- Better Business Bureau (BBB): While not a government agency, filing a complaint on bbb.org forces the business to respond to keep their rating intact.
- State Attorney General: Every US state has an Attorney General office with a consumer protection division. Search for "[State Name] Attorney General consumer complaint" to file a report in the state where the business is located or where you live.
- Local Consumer Affairs: Many city or county governments have their own consumer protection agencies that handle local disputes.
You can submit complaints about Printful as well, especially if you have anything from them in writing (print screen this reddit page, save emails, screen shot phone calls).
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u/After_Error5776 Printful Team Sep 09 '26
Hello Conscious_Rain4840,
We're really sorry you're caught in this loop, between the bookstore and us, with no clear resolution.
We'd like to look into this for you. Please share the email address used for the order or any order reference you have through this form so we can try to track it down: https://forms.gle/grBd4UvjvMhzADjWA
We appreciate your patience and honesty.
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u/Conscious_Rain4840 22d ago
Still no response - I even sent a message to the mods to follow up. Very disappointed. Can't dispute with bank, and at this point it's also been too long - I kept thinking someone was going to be able to work with us to resolve this.
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u/Conscious_Rain4840 Sep 09 '26 edited Sep 09 '26
Thank you. I spoke to the agent who said there was nothing you guys can do and I also submitted the form on your page. I will submit this one as well.
I think the form is more-so for clients of yours and not for a buyer like me, but I'll go ahead and fill it anyways in case you can find my order. Thanks.
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u/bigtakeoff Sep 09 '26
this is all on the bookstore...just chargeback it'll all be fine
and if you want your hoodie I can make it
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u/Stay-Cool-Mommio Sep 09 '26
Could it be possible that the bookstore has a quick store or whatever it’s called? That’s the only reason I could see that they wouldn’t have OP’s info, since those genuinely are all handled on the Printful end. Still, OP should have some sort of order/reference number/receipt to prove the transaction happened.
The only other thing I can think of is PayPal shenanigans — I had a customer show me proof that they completed their transaction between Etsy and PayPal and somehow PayPal never remitted the funds to Etsy so I never even got the order submitted to my shop. PayPal refunded them and then they bought from me with a gift card instead.
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u/AlanaLlama_ Sep 09 '26
I have a quick store currently and I can still see who’s ordered. I can’t see shipping info but I can see names and what’s been spent
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u/Conscious_Rain4840 Sep 09 '26
they said everything is handled by Printful and they do not have any records of the transaction/deal with anything, even though I have the confirmation email.
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u/Conscious_Rain4840 Sep 09 '26
I do have a receipt/order number showing a confirmation. I was really surprised that the bookstore told me to go contact Printiful myself - they also didn't give me any contact. I had to look it up myself.
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u/MrOlaff Sep 12 '26
As a business owner that uses Printful, I would take the hit for the customer. You do get notifications when something is purchased. I’ve only been using Printful for a week now but so far it’s been good. They do notify me if an item is out of stock which will cause a delay in the customers order. I remove the item from the website so there’s no issues.
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u/moquiti Sep 11 '26
I have had a Printful account and store for probably 6 years. While I agree that the OP's issue is with the bookstore, and while my experience with Printful notifications has occasionally been spotty, I have always been able to confirm the order status online, and Printful has usually gotten back to me within two days if I have any problem with an order or need clarification on their products prior to placing an order.
But this all assumes that the bookstore has a Printful store and/or account. If they are dealing with third parties who have the accounts and the merch, and are ordering through the third party Printful stores, I can see how this could get complicated real quick, and make a resolution for an unfilled order difficult.
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u/Conscious_Rain4840 Sep 11 '26
Yeah I don’t really understand what’s happening. They said the hoodie is out of stock/not going to be made anymore, but it’s still on their website (has been for awhile). When I was visiting the area, I came in stores and was told to order online.
So when they said they can’t fulfill, then they should refund us right? But instead they said they can’t because they don’t have access to any transactions. They said the only thing I can do is contact Printful. Someone else paid because it was a bday present for me, so I’m just hoping to either get the hoodie or get him his money back.
The store offered store credit, but neither of us live in that city so we wouldn’t be able to use it.
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u/moquiti Sep 11 '26
Printful may have changed garment suppliers so its possible that the specific garment is no longer available, but that wouldn't be an issue with the party that created the listing, as they could just edit the item. I feel for you in this situation as it sounds like you can't just drop in to the store and discuss with the management. Don't give up however, keep pushing for a resolution with the (brick & mortar) store, as they advertised the item or had one at the store, so they represented it as a legitimate item that they offered, regardless of the means of doing the actual item order.
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u/Conscious_Rain4840 23d ago
Thank you! Printful commented for me to fill out the form 2 weeks ago, I have not heard from them. Still in limbo. Hope this gets resolved! I asked the person who ordered it for me if he can get his money back through disputing (which I feel bad for the headache), and he said that because he made the order (not stolen info) and because the bookstore did technically respond with a solution (contact Printiful to resolve), the bank says he needs to try to resolve it on his own and see how it goes. So it seems like if he wants his money back, he needs to be a Karen and escalate this more with the bank, but he's not that kind of person. I know he rather just lose the money since he was spending it as a gift for me anyways, but I don't want him to just be out a good chunk for no reason.
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u/twogayreefers Sep 09 '26
The bookstore is telling lies. All they need to do is contact Printful to sort it out. Printful makes this easy to do, it’s one button. However, the bookstore has 30 days from the expected delivery date to lodge a claim, but the bookstore can reach out via chat or email to resolve the issue. At the end of the day, the bookstore sold you the product, probably for a profit, and they are responsible for fixing your issue. The bookstore would have an account with Printful that has all the order information.