From reprint to 2nd reprint ?
Need I say more? This is the reprint delivered today. There also are 3 pages having a stain. I am not amused. Not amused at all. So far no reply from BLURB…..
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ouch, Blurb really needs to get his act together on these European printers. Everybody I personally know that ordered a book with Blurb and got a european print ended up with books falling apart. This is NOT GOOD Why not – in the mean time- print the books in the US where the quality seems to be so much better and punish that European printer for his bad bad quality
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Ouch is right, especially since this is the second time around for your book. We’ll make good on that book. Not that this helps you any, but less than 3% of our books experience manufacturing defects. We’d like that number to be zero, but there are too many factors involved in any manufacturing process, including print on demand, that are out of our control. Based on feedback from customers like you, we’ll work with our printers to keep these defects as low as possible. Thanks for your patience. – Kathy
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Dear Kathy, Thanks for your kind words but: What about the European printer? I am from the Netherlands and therefor stuck with the European printer… Can I have the book printed in US? Only minutes ago I got news from a friend; she also is going for a 2nd reprint as well. Same problem: the European printer! This printer should be shut down! No reply from customer services so far…. Thank you. Best Regards, Gerlach Baas.
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![]() my reprint arrived and again loose pages and nasty white seams between pages. Also European printer.
Please work this out. I was so happy having found a company like Blurb and now I am so disappointed Blurb: PLEASE give me an American reprint this time???![]()
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these are pics from my reprint :((  
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Hi, For the folks experiencing binding problems, we encourage you to complete an Order Support form if you haven’t already and to work with our customer support representatives. They will take care of you.
Feedback here and in the Forums has shown that there is a higher than normal binding defect rate with certain books – those generally over 280 pages. While the defect rate isn’t a huge number, it’s too high a number for us and we’re working with the printers experiencing the problem to solve this issue. Overall, binding defects make up less than 1 percent of total orders, so please note that this is not a widespread problem, although I can image to some it certainly feels that way. Everyone, thanks for your feedback and patience on this.
– Kathy
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Dear Kathy, Thanks for taking care of this problem. I am embarking on a book project on family history, it will be about 250 pages hard cover (and about 15 copies). They document 150 years of family history for the next generations, so they should last a couple of decades. Can you guarantee that my book will be stitched, rather then glued (on the website it says that you offer libraby binding, which means stitched, right?). I am very enthused about BLURB, but also quite scared about the problems I read here. I would need this information before I start this big project. Thanks and good luck with your great company, Nora
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Dear Kathy, Thanks again for your reply. This is much appreciated. The reprint that fell apart only has 152 pages. That’s about half of your 280 pages ! And what about this 1 % rate of problems? Two day ago you mentioned 3 %. Thanks again for you kind help. Best Regards, Gerlach G. Baas.
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oh, and I forgot to mention tha I live in Europe… Nora
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Hi Gerlach, When I mentioned 3 percent I was referring to defect rates overall, which include binding, printing, etc. defects. The 1 percent I mentioned earlier today refers to binding only. Clearer? – Kathy
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Hi Nora, The majority of these binding issues occur in books of 280 pages or more, so you should be fine. Also, in this case, because of your book size, your book will be glued. Hope that helps. – Kathy
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Dear Kathy, Thanks for clearing things up. Your’r too kind! Gerlach G. Baas.
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Dear Nora, Two books (one reprint) fell apart. Both being glued (see picture on top of this page). The book having 152 pages. I also live in Europe. Just be very careful ! Lots of succes with your project. Gerlach G. Baas
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Dear Nora, the pics I posted on this thread are from my book that has 230 pages I would wait untill they have solved their binding problems with the European printer if I were you. This all does not mean that the quality of all books is poor, the American printed books seem to be terrific if I read the feedback from the US customers. It is us living in Europe that better wait a bit. On another discussion I read from one of the Blurb staff that books over 120 pages cannot be stitched. Though there are larger books for sale that have a stitched binding, these are obviously not Blurb-books and I took that comment as meaning that Blurb does not offer stitched bindings for larger books. So be advised and suces with your project Kathy, thanks for your feedback. I did fill out a feedback form and today I got the reply that my money will be refunded as Blurb does not as yet have a solution for books as large as the one I made (landscape portfolio 230 pages). I regret that there isn’t a solution in which I get a nice book (I really liked the prints in the book and the way it overall looked- apart from the binding ofcourse) but I appreciate the honesty of customer support and the refund. I will be waiting for things to get fixed to try again. Frances
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Dear Kathy, Nora and Frances, Only minutes ago customer services gave me two refunds and two (free) final reprints. This service is the very best I ever experienced. What more can one say. I do hope that problems will be solved by now so I can start my second project. Blurb prints of my photographs are absolutely fantastic. Have a nice weekend you all! Gerlach G. Baas
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Dear Kathy, Frances and Gerlach, Thanky ou for your answers and contributing yur experience. I will be waiting with my project then, until the options I need will become available. I will be following BLURB however and hope that they will introduce them. I have photobooks with 300 pages which are stitched, so it is not impossible. I also understand that printing on demand is a new field and my demands are high… and since I want to do something which will last a long time, I can wait some more months (maybe some options could be introduced for different prices). All the best and good luck with your projects, Nora
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I went through this circus last year: two attempts with a European printer which resulted in two copies with pages flying out within hours of arrival. Then on the third run the printing was done in the USA and the result was stunning. Perfect binding, perfect printing – a delight. Blurb were great in facilitating the reprints too, but I haven’t been back since. Why? The trouble is trust. Why should I spend weeks putting together a book only to have a lacsidaisical printer in Europe stuff it up? And it’s more galling when I know now there’s a printer in the States that will do it right first time, but simply because of where I live I can’t access that until the European printer has has a couple of runs at it. It also means I can’t order directly for friends and family . I would never order a book without it coming to me first and then after checking forwarding on. So I check back here now and again looking for news on binding and hoping that something changes. Such as closing the European printer.
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So now I have also a personal experience to share… and it is not good :( I have ordered two hardcover books and one softcover from the BLURB shop, to see the quality (and get some design inspiration as well!). They were (obviously) printed in Europe, in the Netherlands. The softcover seems ok, but the hardcover books are already falling appart (and I have got them 10 miniture ago) one looks like it is actually broken in two! I will be posting photos later. What a pitty! I will contact BLURB to get replacements, but I am so sad that this problem is not solved! Please BLURB, please introduce for your books the option of stich-binding, and I will be your most enthusiatsic customer. The printing is really nice! Nora
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Oh, and one of the books is just under 200 pages and the other one (with even worse problems) has 160 pages. So, I certainly don’t feel safe starting my book. :(
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I was just about to order a couple of books after spending quite some time designing them but I’m not so sure I want to get them printed now! They are required as part of an exhibition stand as a portfolio of my work so I can’t really afford for them to fall apart and don’t think there will be enough time to get reprints done either. Is the problem mainly on the larger hardback books? Is anyone having problems with the small square softback books? I’ve got 150-200 pages in the books I’ve designed.
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I love BLURB, but I have the same problem with the binding (european printer)... 2 books are loosing pages :-(
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I have just received my book – two copies of a 420 page 10×8 portrait – the main problems I have are borders missing from my photos on white pages and white gaps with the binding clearly showing. I’ve contacted support an wait their response – but am currently disapointed.
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OMG same thing happened to me for the second time!!!! Ridiculous!! is there any QA done on these at all????
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I ordered a 8×10 hardcover book of 160 pages. The book (I think) was printed in eastern US. However, the book still suffered the same binding problem as shown in the photo by Gerlach. I have written to Order Support and am waiting for their resolution. From my one and only one experience, it does not seem to be an European printer problem only nor the number of pages in the book.
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My reprint arrived on March 6 and it has the same binding problem. I have written to Order Support and sent them photos depicting the binding problem. I am waiting for them to respond to this issue.
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Order Support placed an order to another printer and I received my 160-page hardcover book today and the book is perfect. I think this second reprint was done in Seattle, Washington rather than in eastern US.
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