Its been a busy day again for plastic card enquiries.

An amusing incident happened earlier today. We had a customer phone us earlier chasing delivery of their plastic cards, they did not seem to be able to locate their order number (we provide order numbers to all customer so that we can easily monitor their card order). I then asked for the invoice number however this did not seem to be one of our invoice numbers.

I then asked the company name on the invoice and it turned out they had ordered the plastic cards from elsewhere – much to this persons embarrassment!

This customer had received a quote from us however our price was a little more than another company, so they went with this other company. Speaking to this person a little longer on the phone revealed that they will be ordering the plastic cards from us next time due to failed promises from this other company, there were expecting delivery of their order today however it unfortunatley does not look like this will happen and they will not have their plastic cards for an important event tomorrow.

Please remember that, as with most things in life,  you get what you pay for & if something seems too good to be true it probably is!

Colour Plastic Cards offer a honest yet quality service and product.

Here we go, a little list of some disadvantages for using barcodes:

Scratched barcodes can cause problems scanning (our barcodes are positioned under plastic so them becoming scratched off is not possible)

Although the cost and time of setting up a barcode system is relatively low, some money & time output is still required. One option would be to charge customer a little for a membership card or build the cost into the membership fee. It may also be an option to charge customer for replacement cards should they be lost. I would try to steer away for charging a small fortune for replacement card as this may annoy members and cause tension.

A little time and accuracy needs to be taken when inputting a new member into the system to enable accurate recording and reporting. What is that saying? ……rubbish in = rubbish out!

The software system will need to be maintained and managed to get the optimum results – not necessarily a disadvantage but be prepared to utilize your system as much as you can, you should be getting more out of it than you put in.

The Durability of the actual barcode scanners can be an issue – just make sure you research your options carefully and select a scanner which is fit for purpose.

A general point which applies to all computer systems (not just barcodes)…MAKE SURE YOU BACK UP YOUR DATA! Please don’t waste your time installing an all singing all dancing system and forget to back up. Imagine how you would feel should all your valuable data go up in smoke – not very amused!

Please remember that the above disadvantages should be out weighed by the advantages, provided the system is maintained properly and any investment should be repaid within a matter of months.

Any comments are welcomes, if you would like to add any other disadvantages to this list please let us know.

Bye for now.

Please support Thomas Buckley who is walking from the west coast of the UK to the east cost to raise money for Christies Hospital.

He is a brave young guy who unfortunately is dying of bone cancer and has less than a year to live.

Please donate as much as you can and spread the word.

Link can be found here to read all about it and make a donation.

We are currently receiving a huge volume of plastic card orders from our customer for delivery before Christmas – fantastic

With Christmas fast approaching, couriers companies and the royal mail receive a huge volume of packages to be deliver which often results in packages being lost or delayed.

We recommend that our customers place their plastic card orders ASAP to avoid the Christmas rush and disappointment.

Also, ensure that you order enough cards to see you over Christmas, especially if they are for a pre-Christmas promotion.

Over the last few weeks we have been receiving more requests for small quantities of cards (around 100 or so). This is because lots of smaller companies are looking to implement loyalty card schemes to assist them in these difficult financial times to win customers.

Some of the loyalty cards are very simple, and say nothing more than 10% discount when shown at time of purchase. It just goes to show that you don’t necessarily need a barcode or magnetic strip card type system for it to be successful.