Are we trusting Rollabind again??
Submitted by zippytex on Fri, 2009-09-04 18:20.
Does anyone know if we are trusting rollabind again? For a long while they were not sending their orders and not responding to emails. I can't afford to lose money. I also noticed that Franklin Covey has no rollabinds for sale in the faux leather (I didn't check the others). thanks.
A little Rollabind Confusion
Since we are on the subject, I have a question. Just bought some Rollabind stuff (desktop punch). Did a search, and ended up at an office that was in Maine.
Found another site the other day that is in Florida.
Which is the actual Rollabind site??????
My order from Maine shipped VERY promptly!
Do you have Maine's web site...
or contact information?
Sites
Here is where I ordered - shipped from Maine:
http://www.rollabindsystems.com/simplemerce/store.jsp?cid=39...
Here is the other site - looks like FL:
http://rollabind.com/categories.php?cat=44
GR
I think I can help 'splain this
Look at the "General Info" tab at rollabindsystems.com and check out the e-mail addresses
geiger.com and sungraphix.com
OK, Google sungraphix and geiger and you get
Now, Google sungraphix and rollabind and one of the links is a PDF called "Levenger Company v. Feldman et al"
Read that and you will see that SunGraphix is the company doing the manufacturing of Circa stuff for Levenger
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"I think the surest sign that there is intelligent life out there in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us." (Calvin and Hobbes/Bill Waterson)
I found the site....
Now I just wanted to ask a question. Do you find the punch works well and cuts clean?
I got the heavy one, I think
I got the heavy desk one, I think it is PBS 1000. It works well, cuts clean, but sometimes I run into small accuracy issues when measuring the smurf location in 3x5 cards (sometimes also in classic size, but not nearly as much, not sure why the difference). It is a little annoying, because I feel there should be no error in something I punch regularly.
I can get 100% accuracy, or more correctly, consistency, in the punching, if I try really hard, but I produce that with a 20-30% loss in cards that did not get punched just right. I am speaking millimeters, just enough to be annoying.
When I first got the punch I did not worry about such small details, because I had a cheap and highly inaccurate paper cutter that was giving me tons of grief, but after I splurged into a more serious (and expensive) cutter that was much more accurate, the issue of the punch's accuracy became more noticeable.
This is most likely an user error matter, but that would mean the punch does not make things as easy as it could (compared with traditional punches, in my experience), one reason why I have an eye on the more expensive PBS 2000.
Details about the inaccuracy, please
Are we talking about the spacing between the punches or the placement of the row of punches on the page ?
The punches should be 25 mm apart, measured center to center. If they are not, you have a defective punch.
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"I think the surest sign that there is intelligent life out there in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us." (Calvin and Hobbes/Bill Waterson)
Placement of the row of punches
I did not see this old response, so I guess I am late in replying.
I am referring to the placement of the row of punches on the page. I probably should improvise a way to remember the exact setting I used every time, since I use 3 different pager sizes (occasionally 4), so resetting the slider makes me forget where I had it last. Apparently it makes a slight difference whether the slider is farther out or in, not sure if that means the slider is defective, but when I measure using the slider, sometimes it is inaccurate, so I use a previously punched card to double check. All the extra measuring is annoying for small jobs.
Marks
Hi.
Get ye a piece of tape and apply it to the punch near the slider. Then, get your different paper sizes, align the slider the way you like it, and mark on the tape.
This is what I have done, because it matters to me to get the same punches every time.
shris
Rollabind web site
The actual Rollabind site is in Boca Raton, FL and the web address is www.rollabind.com
There are 2 coupons available for discounts
1 M2 to receive $10 off the PBS 1000 desktop punch and free shipping
2 M3 to receive 10% off any Rollabind item
Well, I have my punches...
...hand, desk, and Smurf-Zilla, so all I order from them is discs and the occasional cover. I have never had a problem with that stuff. If my observations are accurate, most of the delays and grouching are over the punches. Is that correct ?
BTW, Rollabind HQ is in Florida.
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"I think the surest sign that there is intelligent life out there in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us." (Calvin and Hobbes/Bill Waterson)
Rollabind trust
I just started looking at their (vice Levenger)stuff for my new Circa D*I*Y Planner I am setting up.
Is there an issue with orders from them??
Thanks,
SF
search
Look over to the right and enter rollabind in the search field and you can see what talking has been done about this problem.
Rollabind trust
They have some real problems. Thanks.
Here's my "spin" on the trust...
If you want discs and maybe covers, Rollabind is OK.
If you want a desktop punch, go Levenger or cruise eBay.
This is my opinion.
Intelligent discussion is welcome.
Flames will be deleted.
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"I think the surest sign that there is intelligent life out there in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us." (Calvin and Hobbes/Bill Waterson)
Your "Spin"
Thank-you ygor. I was looking for a punch. Y'all got me hooked on Circa about 4 weeks ago, and now I'm figuring out what I need to go DIY with my notebook.
I have started cruising eBay, I may cave, and order the desk punch from Levenger. People get so excited with bidding, they are escalating the price of a punch past the price (plus shipping) for a new one from the Levenger site. Go figure.
Thanks for the help.
SF
Be patient
I was and got one of the big Crafter's Kits for like $75 - normally retails for $100
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"I think the surest sign that there is intelligent life out there in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us." (Calvin and Hobbes/Bill Waterson)
A local southern Dayton
A local southern Dayton (Ohio) store, Marco paper, sells that Crafter's Kits, I do believe it is $75. Check marcopaper dot com for contact information (add / rollabind dot htm to find both contact information, and a picture of the product).
Ygor's spin
Ygor, I think you're "right on": Rollabind has historically had lower prices on disks and covers than Levengers, while Levenger's has had the best paper and was, for quite a while, the only source for leather covers (now Rollabind has them as well).
As to the lawsuit, I find it interesting that Rollabind's patent was declared invalid due to the fact that an Israeli company called Flic already had a patent on a disk system dating back to 1991 and all Rollabind did was improve on the Flic disk. I'd be curious to know how Flic's patent compares to Atoma's disk notebook system, which appears to date back to 1948. (Atoma supplies disks and some covers for Myndology). While Atoma is still in business (http://www.atoma.be/en/atoma-binding-system.php), I was unable to find Flic on the internet. Does anybody know if they still exist?
I wonder if the patent issuance process is being impacted by sites such as this one, where it's easy to prove that pages, once only creatable by designers with access to high-end design software, thus unique and protectable, can now easily be re-created by the general public with limited skills on just about any computer.
Rollabind
Rollabind is now selling direct from their web site - www.rollabind.com
I have found their quality to be excellent and the price about half of what you would pay from Levenger for their Circa planners.
Are we trusting Rollabind again??
NOOO!!! I placed an order with them recently, got no product or updates for 3 weeks, got zero responses to either my email communication or my MULTIPLE voicemails and every time I call it goes straight to voicemail with no option to talk to a real person. Their website does not have a cancel order option that I could find. I finally had to contact my bank to file a claim to get my money back.
The worst part is that when I first tried to place the order, their website ordering was not working and was being worked on. Once it was fixed, they called me multiple times DAILY trying to get me to place the order. I finally had to ask them to stop calling me! Horrible company!
FYI This is in reference to Rollabind.com, not Rollabindsystems.com. I have not dealt with Rollabind Systems.
Are we trusting Rollabind again??
Update to my saga...
Now that my bank filed a claim to get refunded, all of Rollabind's issues have miraculously been fixed and they were finally able to call me back. I told them to cancel my order and refund the money. They tried to offer me a brown notebook instead of the green one I ordered along with a "special gift" and didn't even know whether they had shipped me the 2 items I had ordered in addition to the notebook (they haven't). I will either continue to buy from Staples or will go elsewhere but will not deal directly with this company again.
Thanks for the info,..
Did you deal with rollabind dot com out of Florida or rollabindsystems dot com out of Maine? It seems the Maine store is much better from the reports listed here.
Sure Maine is better, 'cause
Jack Feldman is in Florida. This is Sun Graphix
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"I think the surest sign that there is intelligent life out there in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us." (Calvin and Hobbes/Bill Waterson)
another rollabind story
I have had a rollabind system for several years. I recently had a proposal to put together for some potential clients and placed an order for frosted report covers and 250 red medium disks. That was on July 22. After sending emails and leaving messages I received an email on Aug 1 informing me that items were on backorder and that they considered their communications unacceptable. Later I found out that they had moved and everything took longer than anticipated, computer systems didn't work, etc.
I received my order yesterday afternoon. I opened it today and found that they had shipped 52 red disks. There wasn't any sort of picking ticket or paperwork included. I have been very vocal with them via email and have notified them of this issue and asked how it will be resolved.
Only time will tell, use at your own risk. I like their products but very few customers would tolerate any part of the situation let alone the entire.
Peter
PS: I had to buy another binding system to put together my proposals.
another rollabind story
Hi Peter,
It stinks that you had to put together another binding system. HOW FRUSTRATING!
I ordered discs from Rollabind a month ago and just got them yesterday. I had to call several times to check on the order. The first time I called I found out that the hand punch I ordered was on back order, which I was not told when I placed the order. I have since asked for a refund. I found that I had better luck reaching a real person when I called the direct # 561-208-1421, rather than the 877 #. At my request a rep e-mailed me at work with the UPS tracking # for my order. I would be glad to forward her name to you tomorrow when I can access my work e-mail.
I am desparate need of a desk punch. I have made plans to purchase one from another member on this site. If that does not work I guess I will be forced to order one from Levenger.
My Best,
Jacquie
Look to the right and click on....
A new and Improved Punch is coming from Levenger's.
OR enter ....
it in the search field if the title has slipped off the active forum topics lists. Ygor knows all about it.
I do ?
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"I think the surest sign that there is intelligent life out there in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us." (Calvin and Hobbes/Bill Waterson)
Just a follow up
I can agree with everyone and their comments and theories about why. And even the suggestions. But on the other side they have a limited number of skus to supply. And their cost can't be great for 99% + of them. Staples sells some products but come on disks? The essential part of the system. Reminds me when I used to work in a grocery store. The manager told us to make sure we never ran out of milk, ice, and bread. Order too much and we'll worry about that later. Never run out.
Another tactic that other retailers probably would have tried would have been -Peter, I'm sorry your report covers are on backorder. We have a different style in stock. Would you like to switch to those? No. Just want to let you know that it might be 6 weeks before we get them in. Still no? The red disks are also unavailable - how about black - our most popular color?
The real issue and the ultimate downfall for a consumer dependent company is the failure to recognize their issues, admit their issues honestly and openly, and work to resolve the issues that come from the previous two steps.
2 Working days after getting my latest notification of an issue - they still have three strikes by my reckoning.
I haven't posted here before but I am not into flaming companies. I am just posting my experiences.
Peter
Hobby only
From the outside it appears that, like many small companies before them, Rollabind may be struggling to make the jump from selling only to hobbyists to a supplier for a larger market. They might be a victim of the popularity of their product.
It appears that they're OK to order from, so long as you're willing to wait (possibly months) for the goods and possibly receive them as partial deliveries.
From everyone's comments, my guess is Rollabind might be ordering some of the goods from the overseas manufacturers when buyers place their orders. Which would explain the large delays
Larger Market ? Lousy job.
Rollabind, in my opinion, has never established a reliable supply source.
The reason the orders take forever is because something "is being held up in customs" or something equally lame.
They cannot supply the stuff fast enough. Something is very wrong with their operation.
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"I think the surest sign that there is intelligent life out there in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us." (Calvin and Hobbes/Bill Waterson)
I agree
Yes, they don't appear to have a reliable supply source.
My guess is that for all of it's pretty website and everything else, Rollabind started as one of those "cool I'll run this out of my garage and order stuff when someone wants it" dinky businesses. And their internal operations have never grown past that.
We have a lot of micro businesses like that in Australia - some are great, some are good, and others take 6 months or more to get stock and expect their customers to wait for that long for the goods.
If they were to ask me for advice, I'd say - change your website and massively reduce the number of items you offer (eg only 1 or 2 colours of discs and types of covers), put supply times in for specialist items that aren't in stock (eg punches have a 1-2 month delivery time, etc) and supply the basic stuff on time.
Rollabind - which site? is there a difference?
I've been wondering - what's the difference between www.rollabind.com and www.rollabindsystems.com? Are they the same company or completely different? Obviously both sell Rollabind products, but I'm not sure what other differences, if any, there are.
-Kenny
Look up ^
This was discussed earlier in this thread
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"I think the surest sign that there is intelligent life out there in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us." (Calvin and Hobbes/Bill Waterson)
Still confused
Yes, you can lookup, but it isn't clear to me if all the back-order/customer service problems are related to the Florida or Maine seller, or both. I believe the previous poster had the same problem.
Can either seller be trusted, or are they both having reliability issues?
ROLLABIND PROMISES TO SEND CREDIT BUT DOES NOT
DO NOT TRUST THIS COMPANY!!! They send items late, they send the WRONG items, they promise to issue credits (since November 2009) and HAVE NOT. Then they call and PROMISE and still do not. PATHETIC COMPANY.
Tell us something we do not know
Old news.
Been there.
Done that.
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"I think the surest sign that there is intelligent life out there in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us." (Calvin and Hobbes/Bill Waterson)
Should have Google'd first!
I'm afraid I found this too late. I placed an order, they said it was back-ordered and would take 4-6 weeks. I said I specifically ordered only items that were in stock, and 4-6 weeks was too long and I'd like a refund. Then they said they found the items and would ship the next day. I said that was fine as long as it was the complete order. I received the order. They even sent it express mail. However I was missing part of my order. They knew it wasn't complete when they sent it!
I'm ordering from Levenger now. I will say that their support person is quick to answer my emails and she does return my phone calls.
Is anyone selling their
Is anyone selling their rolla/circa system?
I want to try it, but don't want to pay full price for the desk punch, and the hand punch and portable punches look flimsy, and have bad reviews on this site. Plus, $28 for the hand punch that does 32 holes at a time is... not good. I'm a college student, who wants to take notes with them.
Anyone has a old punch and some discs they can sell me cheap?
Like the old leverage punch, that apparently had smaller heads?
If so, please email me at [removed by admin]
Thanks!
Admin intervention
Openly posting one's e-mail is frowned upon. It attracts SPAM and other nasty things.
If you want to communicate with forum participants, you should join up and then you can contact members and be contacted by members.
As far as getting started, I would suggest trying one of the pre-build notebooks like this one -- letter sized, 60 pages of "substantial annotation-ruled text stock, compatible with the Cornell method of note-taking" for $20.
Or, if you join and identify your location, there might be folks in your area that would let you use their punch until you get hooked or not.
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"I think the surest sign that there is intelligent life out there in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us." (Calvin and Hobbes/Bill Waterson)
Hi everyone! Thanks for
Hi everyone!
Thanks for telling me. Yeah, I got an account...
So, does anyone know who's selling their punch?
Heck, I'd buy loose leaf rings if anyone's selling, for hole-punched index (flash)cards to study Chinese (urg). I'm planning to go to staples or office depot next week to get some (btw, anyone know why staples charges twice/three times as much?)
Thanks!
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anyone selling rollabind/circa punch, etc? I'm looking to start.
i don't want to buy a
i don't want to buy a notebook, because I've got the feel for a couple at staples before, and the cheaper punch is not much more than a notebook or two.
Rollabind
My experience with Rollabind was different. There was one item that was back ordered and when I called to find out when it would be shipped they apologized and provided me with a free notebook. They mentioned they had shipment delays from their production site in China.
I love their products.
Hmmm, trolling for attention ?
3 posts in one thread in the first hour of site membership.
Do you work for Rollabind or something ?
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"I think the surest sign that there is intelligent life out there in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us." (Calvin and Hobbes/Bill Waterson)