[Closed] Slik Graphics, still trading?

Difficult to tell with Slik as communications are/were always massively hit n miss. Website's still up, so if you're looking for a variation of something they list then you could try just ordering and out what you need in the comments (has worked for me in the past)

I had a delivery this week so seems ok.

Nonsense, what was the lead time from ordering to delivery.
I'm sure they are ok, but it's a possibly custom colour I'm after so I'd rather be sure we are on the same wavelength before ordering.

I had this a little while ago. I emailed about a colour I wanted and waited a week for a reply. In the end I sent them an order with the closest RAL colour I could find and I received the decals.

I gave up after weeks of trying despite being told over phone twice(which took weeks to get call answered) they'd get onto it that day and email me back ... Still awaiting contact over year later 😕

Decided to give my custom to someone who wants business .. Gil 8)

If you note the colour in the comments they'll send a email sample for approval before sending anything out

Is there an alternative to use? I want some fox decals for my shock and fork in the same share as my bike, I have the pantone code and have emailed several times but never received a response, wanted to make sure as they don't list X2 decals but they never seem to get back to me.

Give Merge Decals a shout. I used them for my frame decals, great to deal with and very responsive.

I've emailed them 3 or 4 times over the last 6 months to try and get some stans decals but never had an answer.

I gave up trying after numerous emails. If they can't be bothered to reply I cant be bothered to spend my money with them.

Totally fast and painless for me. I asked for some BOS graphics that weren't on the website and had it in a few days. Half the price of standard replacements so I got two different versions. Better quality than standard as well.

I've had both versions of dealing with them unfortunately (or fortunately as I can see both sides?). First encounter I was completely ignored several times. Next time I tried I was getting replies within the day and really quick dispatch. Shame as the product they put out is really good

Crikey, it sounds very hit and miss.
I'm a bit reluctant to send £15 to not hear anything.....

Bought some decals a few weeks ago. Couldn't see the ones I wanted on the website, so mailed and received a reply within a few hours. The decals arrived a few days after ordering, and the quality is top notch. Excellent service all round.

I used their contact us section on their website on Thursday and got a reply within a couple of hours. I've also ordered custom stuff from them in the past where the colours I wanted weren't listed (fox forks stuff to match frame colours), they were spot on when they arrived.

Still nothing.
I've heard nothing but good reviews about their products so would prefer to use them but this response situation isn't great.

I've had great service from Laszlo at [url= http://nldesigns.eu ]NLD[/url] .

Takes about 2 weeks from first contact to getting the stickers in the post from the 2 times I have used him.

Responds really well to requests and sends images of designs for you to confirm. Couldn't rate him more highly.

I used NLD when Slik failed to respond. Really good quality and super helpful with my custom designs..

Merge decals are great and worth contacting.

I've had very slow response from them in the past. I know there website contact form doesn't seem to get replies either.

I persisted with slik, email, Twitter and Facebook.
Whatever means worked I'm not sure but I got an email saying they received my web query and on 9 March, I sent the payment.
Email on 18th to say they had been shipped.

I ordered a set of Pike decals last week and they came 3 days later.

I used graphic shack for some wheel decsls recently, pretty painless and happy with the results.

after multiple emails to slik with no response I used Merge decals. quick to reply, excellent service.

http://www.mergedecals.com/shop/

*update*
They arrived yesterday but the custom colour was quite a way off matching.
Now, I wasn't sure how to address this as there was no sample supplied and I didn't specify a RAL colour or something. All I gave was the model and year of bike to match to.
I emailed them back yesterday, with a photo of the differance, and they contacted me today to say they are going to do print them again for me.
So far, therefore, all ok, if not a little slow initially.
The stickers sent though, albeit slightly wrong colour, are lovely.

Seems a strange way to do business.I wonder how many are put off from using them as a result of their poor communication?

I emailed them last Friday about some Custom colour Stan's decals and had a reply in a few minutes

[url= http://www.indiprint.co.uk ]indieprint[/url] are good, run by mtbers as well.

Hi guys, my name's Owen and I own/run Slik Graphics. I want to answer your criticisms and explain what is actually going on at Slik HQ. Threads like this can be very damaging to a business so I think I should put an end to any crazy rumours. No we have NOT ceased trading, quite the opposite in fact. The issues with response times or lack of response are purely down to the volume of enquiries that we receive. On a typical weekend we receive hundreds of emails and it can take several days or more to clear the backlog. If we are sat at our computers working through emails and a simple enquiry comes in, we will answer it right away. If the same enquiry comes in on a Friday evening at 7pm, it probably won't get read until the following week. I hope this explains a little bit why response times can be hit and miss.

We always prioritise paid website orders before responding to new enquiries. I think this is the least you should expect as a paying customer. Whilst email response times can be inconsistent, please be reassured that if you place an order on the site, it will receive our full attention. The majority of our web orders are turned around in 48 hours. Most other others, with the exception of neon or custom designs are turned around in less than a week.

It really does keep me awake at night thinking about unread emails and missed enquiries. I apologise to everybody who has sent an enquiry that has gone unanswered. We are a very dedicated but small team (we also ride bikes if we get a chance) and we all have to multi task. As our sales have grown we have increased staff numbers but it's hard to stay ahead of the curve. At this point in time, even if we responded to every enquiry it wouldn't generate enough revenue to cover an additional staff member. It's the chicken and egg scenario that I'm sure most growing businesses go through.

I set up Slik in 2007 and almost 9 years later we are still going strong. Thank you to everybody who has purchased from us and helped us to where we are today. We have many repeat customers. I think this is proof that we turn out a very good product. Admittedly we just need to back it up with more consistent service and this is definitely something we are focusing on for the future.

A quick word on colour matching. We take pride in being as accurate as possible with colour matching. We have Pantone, RAL, and many other swatches and we speak to manufacturers for colour references. Occasionally we are asked to match colours from a photographs or website images which is extremely difficult to do. We can usually get close but if you aren't happy with the colour we will adjust and reprint the stickers free of charge. This is the service the original poster received. 2 sets of stickers, custom colours, shipped to the UK twice free of charge for a total of £15. Fortunately we get it right the majority of the time 😉

I'll try to keep an eye on this thread but if you need to contact us about an order or a specific enquiry please email us directly. I promise we will try our best to get back to you in a timely manner.

Advice for people wanting to purchase custom decals from Slik. Use the custom credits to make your purchase to the value or your order and put your specification in the fields provided. You'll get a far quicker response to your order as its a paid order at this point. Ther is a simple explanation as to the pricing structure of custom items so you will how many custom credits to purchase.

Although it's not ideal situation, alex is correct. When an order is placed on the site an order sheet is physically printed out and dealt with individually by an actual person. Every payment we receive generates and order number and an order form, so It's not possible for us to miss an order.

I fully understand that you might not want to send payment for something you haven't seen, and it's not really the way we like to do things, but with all custom orders you can request a design proof that will be sent to you before production. We have a huge catalogue of designs on file so the chances are we can help you out. If we don't have the artwork on file we will either source it, create it or immediately provide a full refund if we can't carry out the job.

Most fork decal kits are around £15 for something Pike sized. Rim graphics range from £15 to £25 depending on size. Hope rim decals are medium sized and cost £20 a set for example. If you pay too much we will refund the difference. We will work with you to achieve the best result for your bike and your wallet.

Thanks,
Owen

After reading this whole thread, Mergedecal or NLD are at least worth a try.
Thanks everyone !

After reading this thread I'd consider not using emails at all for your business - custom enquires since you obviously can't cope with the level of enquires. Or at the very least send a auto reply that states that customers should order through the website.

Alternatively do the maths and look at how much business you are missing out on and employ someone to answer the emails.

Contact us to discuss your custom requirements before placing an order.

You seem to be failing on that part

After failing to get a response from Slik Graphics several times over the years, I'll give Merge Decals a shout

I've always had great service and good communications. Think it's great they've come on here to explain the situation an TBH it must be really tough, all the LBS owners moan about time waster...I imagine these companies get their fair share of that too.

As they stated they ensure look after 'paying' customers first and foremost and given the circumstances I think that's the correct move!

To counteract some of the bad vibes - my custom order for purple fork decals was super quick and looked awesome!

After reading this thread I'd consider not using emails at all for your business - custom enquires since you obviously can't cope with the level of enquires. Or at the very least send a auto reply that states that customers should order through the website.

Alternatively do the maths and look at how much business you are missing out on and employ someone to answer the emails.

We will look at setting up an auto response as you have suggested, but I do feel like this would be a short term solution to the issue.

I have crunched the numbers and it's a difficult thing to judge. Not every email generates an order. It takes only a minute to ask a question but it can take 10 minutes to write a satisfactory response.

It's not that easy to just employ someone. Aside from all the managerial tasks and administration, the amount of knowledge one needs to respond to the email enquiries we receive is huge. You have to know the manufacturing process, how to match colours, our product range both online and offline, have a general idea bout bike parts and locations, and be familiar with mountain bike ‘lingo’ and product names (try asking a normal person on the street what a Pike is). It actually takes years to learn this stuff and become efficient at it.

After failing to get a response from Slik Graphics several times over the years, I'll give Merge Decals a shout

I apologise for the lack of response to your enquiries. Hopefully Merge will be able to help you out. If you don't have any luck, please do try us again.

It's not that easy to just employ someone. Aside from all the managerial tasks and administration, the amount of knowledge one needs to respond to the email enquiries we receive is huge. You have to know the manufacturing process, how to match colours, our product range both online and offline, have a general idea bout bike parts and locations, and be familiar with mountain bike ‘lingo’ and product names (try asking a normal person on the street what a Pike is). It actually takes years to learn this stuff and become efficient at it.

Actually it is fairly easy to employ someone (in run a SME) but I agree it's harder to manage someone. However I think that you are overthinking this. I'm fairly sure you could train someone in a fairly short time. You know should know your numbers - I take it you have made an analysis of the lost business / business reputation loss, before deciding not to employ someone?

Actually it is fairly easy to employ someone (in run a SME) but I agree it's harder to manage someone. However I think that you are overthinking this. I'm fairly sure you could train someone in a fairly short time. You know should know your numbers - I take it you have made an analysis of the lost business / business reputation loss, before deciding not to employ someone?

Thanks for your comment. You may be right, over thinking is something I tend to do. I do know my numbers and if we were in the UK I would have employed someone a long time ago. Here in Sweden it is a whole different ball game. Employment law, high wages and associated costs make it difficult, not to mention the language barrier and the fact that very few people even ride mountain bikes, let alone know enough about them to even make sense of the enquiries we get.

There are other factors in play too, that I would discuss over a pint, but not on a public forum 🙂

I do have a plan in place to improve things, and we will work harder to ride this out until it comes together.

Just as a closing point on this thread, persistence and patience (and putting my money where my mouth is and paying for a custom set) paid off and my daughter is very very chuffed with the fork decals they did.
The revised colour match is spot on and the quality feels great.
Beautifully cut.
So, very pleased with the outcome and slik did go above and beyond to get the product right for me.

Recommended.

Got to say the quality of Slik's work is great. My Tazer decals were great quality and so were the Mattoc decals that arrived last week.

The off the shelf stuff seems yo come through quickly but one off stuff is a bit hit and miss (based on my experiences).

I've had a set of custom neon green Stan's Arch rim decals to match my Scout made by Slik and they're absolutely perfect.
All discussed via email and they were here two days later.

I do know my numbers and if we were in the UK I would have employed someone a long time ago. Here in Sweden it is a whole different ball game. Employment law, high wages and associated costs make it difficult, not to mention the language barrier and the fact that very few people even ride mountain bikes, let alone know enough about them to even make sense of the enquiries we get.

Hi slik graphics , I'm in Sweden , am British and will soon be looking for some work. I am currently pappaledig / on paternity from my job as as highways engineer but am not planning on going back . I ride mountain bikes and am decent at illustrator etc. Perhaps I can help. I'm based in Åre

Hi slik graphics , I'm in Sweden , am British and will soon be looking for some work. I am currently pappaledig / on paternity from my job as as highways engineer but am not planning on going back . I ride mountain bikes and am decent at illustrator etc. Perhaps I can help. I'm based in Åre

Pappaledig in Åre! Could be worse 😉 Just need that snow to melt. I'll be in touch by email..thanks!

And thank you for the positive comments above. Good to hear the OP's daughter is happy with her stickers too 🙂

I have had 2 sets of custom boxxer decals from slik over the years and both were superb and very durable. The service was fast and efficient.

Clearly he is a one man band working from Sweden and having worked in Sweden it's utterly different to the UK. A burger and a pint is £20, how much do you think it would cost to employ someone?!

Slik seems to work best by ordering from the website. Give the guy a break, he comes accross as a decent bloke doing a quality product. If you don't like don't buy.

Slikgraphics person, I've emailed you 3 or 4 times over the last 10 months asking about a set of orange stans crest 29'er decals and never had a reply, any chance of one and a quote?

It was twice being told(after many attempts to speak to someone) to be told yes I'll get onto it today and email the proof across by end of day that boiled my piss..

I'd rather a "look mate we're very busy" best contact via website etc ??

Gil at Retrodecals is my first port of call now 8)

Pappaledig in Åre! Could be worse Just need that snow to melt. I'll be in touch by email..thanks!

Yes it's not bad 🙂 . Great I look forward to your mail.

Martin

TBH Slik always seem like a lot of other bike businesses (and other enthusiast businesses)- they have a thing they do really well, they've built a strong reputation and now they just can't keep up. Irritating as a punter but totally understandable.

In my experience, worth sticking with- the frame decals they did for my Hemlock were absolutely perfect, couldn't have been happier. I got the impression that sending over a really detailed spec with mockups, and giving them something slightly interesting to do, may have helped 😆

I've have rim decals, and three sets of fork decals from Slik in the past, always been spot on. Good comms too.

always been spot on for me, sometimes slow to respond, but 9 times out of 10 you can just buy the order and put a note on the notes section for your exact needs, if theres then any problems they just come back to you before finalising

the best decals by far ive tried

I placed an order with silk and I didn't even realise they weren't in the uk until my order turned up! Very fast service and a great quality product

Just ordered from silk after reading / despite reading this thread. Custom order with vague colour matching request. Super quick and thorough. Mailed back to check some things that weren't clear and now it's on it's way to me. Fantastic service.

As a small business owner who sometimes wakes up to 50 or more emails I understand how hard it can be. I've lost count of the times I've sat up really late after all day guiding to answer emails. it's a great problem to have 🙂