Warning!!!!!
 

OK, I've done my best and had enough! :mad:

Mike Swantak has gone from FLAKE to RIP-OFF! :eek:

Be WARNED!

DO NOT order decals or worse yet, send MONEY to this guy!

No need for details, just consider this FAIR WARNING!

If you have money to "give away", send it to ME instead!!! :D
(I have kids to feed!) ;)

NOTE to beeceecleatta; You were right, I was wrong! I should have listened to you!!
I'm sorry if I was offensive previously. (head hung low, tail between legs, foot in mouth) :o

+1 on the above. E-mails and phone calls are not responded to. None of any kind. No messages as to status on the phone machine or the website. So far, I am out $60. Deal at your own risk.:mad:

Is he an ebay seller?

GAD, I don't know! I met him here on BF's. :eek:

His handle here is mswantak, and his "business" name is VeloGrahic.
Website is velographicdecals DOT com.

Are you sure he's just not on vacation or something?

It is most unfortunte that it has to come to this, but from what I have heard and been told it is nothing short of the truth. I'll have to count myself lucky that my Gazelle decals did arrive from Mike, though they were some 6 months after art and payment was sent.

Uh oh.....I have a pending order.

He's still posting, including earlier today. I wanted to believe it was something like him being on vacation too. Guess not.

For the record, two months ago I worked with Mike to develop the decals for the Voyageur 11.8s and exchanged several emails with him in a timely manner. Then the decals were delivered in less time than promised, under five weeks. I don't know what has happened since then, but it's a crying shame as he provided a great service for us. Hope you can get it straightened out soon Mike.

PS I want to apologize to beeseecleta too. I wanted to believe his was an isolated case. Apparently I was wrong.

This is distressing, because I am planning on powdercoating a frame soon, and I need to preserve the artwork for decals first. But now where do I go for repro decals? :(

Well McDave, if your project was 2 months ago and you got delivered already, that means your project was moved ahead of mine and confirms a suspicion I've been harboring that some guys got quicker service than others; certainly not everyone in their turn. I still await my paid-for $60 decals.
alf

At the time he told me he was about to place an order for 11.8 decals and sent me the artwork that he had already done. It was off on a few decals so we had to correct them, but the point is, there was somebody ahead of me needing them and I have no idea how long he had been waiting. I just lucked into the timing of the order.

http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homep...YDS/decals.htm
www.beldecal.com
http://www.vintagetransfers.it/listbici.htm
http://stores.ebay.com/Cyclomondo

Yes. I fixed my link too.

Thanks!

Still a bummer, though-- these other sources don't seem to be custom.

THAT'S the rub!
"Custom" involves creating the "art" in the proper file format, in order to be printed as decals.

Custom = $$$!

And having them printed by "the BIG boys" involves the requisite "set-up" fee. More colors=more fee.

So you can GET decals any day of the week, but would YOU pay $800* for them?!?!??

I wouldn't either! NOT for one bike!!!! :eek:

BUT I WERE willing to spend THAT much, I'd actually end up with 5-10 sets. In about 2-4 weeks. No drips, runs or errors! Beautiful, perfect, just-like-TREK-uses,

DECALS!

and I guess I could always eBay the leftovers!

NOTE: If anyone wants to create decal "art", use Adobe Illustrator or any program that can create "vector" files, ie: .ai OR .eps
~Save text as curves.
~Use Pantone or CMYK color pallettes
~You may have to "export as" in order to create an .eps file
~Save file "at size". The exact size you want the decal to be.

Then when a reputable PRINTER comes up, you'll have some art ready to go! :):):)

And I think I've found a graphic artist locally to help on this end. More after the interview!

OUCH!

I ordered a couple sets of decals from pre-existing art from Velographic a year or so ago and have no complaints. In his defense, I will say recreating the art and getting them producing is a tedious, time-consuming, money losing and frustrating endeavor! A graphic artist can spend days drawing up a set, then weeks or months trying to get a printer to output them correctly. Though I've made many in the past, it just doesn't pay, I've pretty much given it up.

I believe Greg Softly in Australia made his own investment in the printing equipment, so is able to not only create the art, but fine tune it to fit the process and vice versa. He does a fine job, and I've bought many pieces from him, and worth every penny. Unfortunately, when someone like me, or Mike, takes art to the sign printer, we're not dealing with people that care about producing a quality job. Like many industries today, we're dealing with button pushers; they push the button and whatever comes out is what comes out, they're not knowledgeable or experienced enough to affect the outcome. I wouldn't want to be in Velographic's shoes.

Dr. Deltron: can't you order decal sets from Screen Specialties as an established painter? They've already created a lot of stuff; I've bought sets from sources that can buy from them, and they only run 40-50 bucks a set.

If you're willing to pay 50 bucks an hour and can supply the reference material, I can create any art you need. You find the printer and get it produced!

Is Greg Softly gts753 on eBay? That's the Cylomondo eBay store. The stuff I've bought from him has been excellent. Dr. Deltron has some 531 stickers of his in a zip-lock that I hope he'll be applying to my PX10 soon.

Wow, that's surprising.
Someone on another forum faked leaving their husband, taking their little girl, and actually got some money through paypal from people who wanted to help out, all because she thought about it and said she was going to online, but ended up not doing to and feeling ashamed.
But this is kind of a different thing.

I feel really bad about all this, I've been championing Mike for a long time
(since he did the decals for my pogliaghi).

All I ask is that we not rake Mike over the coals over this. I have no
doubt that Mike didn't concoct this as a means of ripping people off. I think he
was doing us (and remember we really did provide a good portion of the impetus to start velographics)
a favor, and after starting the business got in way over his head.
I'm not saying don't post here, all I'm saying is lets not trash him and make this a
flame fest.

thanks,
Marty

Guess I should feel lucky I got the extra 11.8 decals from McDave. I feel bad seeing this finally hit the boards this way. I can't say I saw it coming but not overly surprised unfortunately. A shame.,,,,BD

+1
I've traded stuff with Mike and he was always fair and timely. I don't believe for a minute that he's running a scam. More likely, he's in the midst of a personal crisis that is beyond his control.

Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! That's a good one!

I would just like to say that Mike did my '71 Super Sport decals and Dr D painted it.

Everything turned out perfect and in a timely manner from everybody involved.

I felt like there was a very good professional dynamic and a real sense of team effort. I'm not sure what all of this is about.....?

I thought there was a real working dynamic here....??

Maybe Mike will chime in and share his side of the story

:mad: :cry: ...and it's hard to rattle me!

Not one person in this thread nor the recently-prior two threads has even hinted that Swantak has willfully perpetrated a scam.

That said, "personal crises beyond . . . control" must never take priority when a person has accepted pre-payment of customer's monies. And, I'd add that the person continues to solicit new business (his still-operating - last time I looked - website).

If guys don't like seeing his business mentioned negatively on the internet (his chosen place of conducting his decal business) then those same guys might consider grouping together and supporting a Save Mike's Reputation Defense Fund for returning all customer's monies for which decals haven't been delivered as promised.

Noah, will you take the lead for my $60? Who will step up for Rabid Koala's? Deltron's?
alf

I am very sad about this. I have zero information on Mike's situation. I made my comments completely from a personal perspective... my 10 year-old daughter was diagnosed with Leukemia this past spring. She is doing well, but it has changed a lot in our lives, including my capacity to produce work. I meant no disrespect to anyone, nor did I intend to minimize your individual situations.

I can add that I had Zero problems this May when I bought a decal set from Mike. Turnaround time was less than a month from start to finish & I have no complaints. Don

I echo Noah's comments. I've been a member of other forums on other topics where some of the members were also doing business a business related to forum. This has its pluses and minuses. They have great insights to bring to the community by virtue of doing the work, and they are often motivated by great passion for the topic, instead of, primarily, by money. (Perhaps this is a genesis of some of the problems you see as well.)

My heart goes out to the people who lost money. I would be especially angry and frustrated in this situation. It hurts to think that a kindred spirit would not deal fairly with you.

This causes a conflict for everybody, since both Mike and Dr. Deltron have been wonderful citizens of this forum. And I don't want Mike to disappear. At the same time, I wouldn't want him to continue to hang around without resolving the issues he has created. Then, every time he posts, there will be someone, who feels burned and angry every time he sees a new post, and is tempted to bring up what has happened.

The whole thing makes me feel sad. I always tell people that I am a member of an "online community" here (both here and at bentrideronline.com). The exemplary way that people treat each other here is something special. We share parts, knowledge, experiences, our lives. (If you don't believe me, just check out the macho d!ckhead pissing contests over a SS/FG or Alt Bike.)

It hurts to have to say, and it's easy for me to say since I'm not in Mike's shoes, but I feel that Mike is responsible to us all over this. The onus is on him first and foremost to communicate with his customers and to set right his dealings. And I really hope he does.

Eric

Just a thought, but Mike ought to offer an option to only produce the artwork and let the customer get it printed a what ever local printing or sign shop that might be available.