Vikram K.
Yelp
I went in with high hopes but left completely ripped off.
Since I got my first DSLR nearly 10 years ago, I've built a collection of almost 100,000 pictures but perpetually delayed printing larger than the 13"x19" that my home photo printer allows due to the time and expense needed to create big prints, and because I wanted to get mine right so I can be happy with them for a long time, possibly the rest of my life. In 2016 I finally decided to tackle this project, spending some time learning Photoshop and setting aside a budget to fill my home with large prints of my work. I understood that Duggal is priced higher than its competitors but I wanted to get the work done right so I went in and talked to them, planning to test the water with one print before sending in the rest.
The sales rep was initially helpful, giving me samples of the various paper types and letting me know that for the 30"x40" job I was ordering, I would be eligible for a test print/strip to make sure the colors, etc. look correct. I went home with the paper samples and after making a decision, went back with my image.
Things went downhill from here. I met with the same sales rep who now seemed significantly more interested in his cell phone than in working on my order. I'm very sympathetic to people having personal issues to deal with so I sat patiently; unfortunately this was a indication of bigger problems that were yet to come. Eventually he told me that the job should go straight to final print without any testing or reviewing. It seemed a little odd to me since my home computer isn't calibrated to their printers, but I've never done this kind of job before and they're the professionals, so who am I to argue? I asked a basic question about the matting process since I'm unfamiliar with it, but he gave me a vague non-answer and seemed completely uninterested in helping me understand. That or he himself didn't know the basics of the process.
After completion of the printing, I saw that the colors were a little off from what I expected. They were close enough that I could live with them so I didn't complaint or ask for a reprint - but it would have been nice to have the test before going to final print so that it could be exactly to my liking. The bigger problem though was that there was a very noticeable white streak in the middle of a dark section of the image that was not in my digital file. It looked like the printer may have failed to apply ink in this section, or some dust interfered with the application of ink, and it was sufficiently noticeable to be a problem that I could not live with.
I reached out to the sales rep and was ignored. He finally responded to a second email, acknowledging the problem and indicating that I should bring the print back for them to take a look. I sent a follow up to coordinate with his schedule; this was ignored, together with fourth and fifth attempts on my part to get an answer. I waited patiently over the holidays just in case he had been out of office, but we're now well into the new year and I never heard back so at this point there's just no excuse. Ignoring me when there was a problem is disrespectful and unprofessional, and I just wish I had seen the signs from the beginning instead of wasting my time with Duggal. I'm now having to work with another company to get the print done correctly, as well as with my credit card issuer to dispute the charge. Hopefully readers of this review can learn from my experience -- I certainly won't be giving any more business to Duggal.