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Hi everyone, I just received this response from SU demonstrator services regarding the stamp caddy, specifically the issues many of you have addressed with the caddy not spinning well. Here's what SU had to say, hope this helps. I'm going to go ahead and purchase one so I can know first hand what it's like and explain it to my customers............
Hello Michelle,
Thank you for contacting us with your comments and concern in regard to the Color Caddy. We greatly appreciate you making us aware of your situation and honest feelings.
The Color Caddy is not meant to 'spin' freely like a lazy susan would. The design is made so that it will 'turn'. We did not want it to spin freely as we were apprehensive that the stamp pads would not stay securely in place if the caddy spun too freely. We have tested the one we have here and you should be able to turn you caddy fairly easily.
Our Guarantee Policy states:
“We guarantee products to be free from manufacturing defects for a period of 90 days after the shipping date. Missing items, incorrect shipments, and defective or damaged merchandise must be reported to your demonstrator within 90 days of the shipping date. This guarantee does not cover merchandise damaged through accident or misuse. If you should require assistance, please contact your demonstrator.�?
Therefore, if your customer receives a defective Color Caddy, we will happily replace it with a new Color Caddy. However, if your customer simply does not like the item, but it is not defective, we will not process a correction or exchange, unless our Exchange & Refunds Policy is abided by.
We have not been advised of any plans to change the Color Caddy. However, we are more than happy to pass your comments along to the appropriate department, so they may be aware of your concerns.
Hi Ladies,
Well, I have been putting off getting the caddie after hearing everyones concerns. A fellow demo I know, got it and loves it. She says if you don't tighted the handle too tightly, it will turn easier. However, it makes it not as secure when you are trying to carry it. So, try loosening the handle and maybe it will spin a little better. I think I will get. Waiting until Sept. (I want that new Hostess Appreciation Set in the Winter Mini) I have a huge order waiting to put in.
Hi, I haven't talked very much on here. I'm not exactly sure that I'm doing this correctly. I just want to comment on the Color Caddy. I've received mine and I really like it. I've never seen any others to compare it to, but overall I'm quite happy. I do agree that it does not turn very well and when I set mine together, the post that you attach the handle too was shorter than the instructions illustrated. So by the time I put on the re-inker tray I had no choice but to turn my handle tight. I do really like that my ink pads are evenly inked. I was storing mine in their boxes from SU and all the ink was collecting on one end.
I ordered the color caddy the day you could order out of the new catalog. I have loved mine since the day I got it. I love how portable it is and that the ink pads stay in place. It doesn't spin like a spice rack, but that is just fine. You have to turn the whole thing by the handle. If you do it that way I have no problems turning it to the correct side. It is great and wonderful for the price. You should all get one to enjoy!!!
I agree, I'm ordering mine this week. I think other than the spinning issue, it's a great storage solution and the customers will love it. They've been wanting something like this for a long time, and me too, so I'm going to get one just so my customers will know what it's like. Then they can decide to order or not.
I'm getting the Elite from www.stampinthings.com because I wanted something that would hold the markers in addition to the reinkers. I looked at other holders that were very similar to the elite but were priced higher. Sue Nagle from stampinthings is on vacation until later this month but I think it's worth the wait. Also, since I'm pretty much my only customer, I don't really need to be concerned about showing customers the color caddy or having my ink pads portable - though I can't imagine taking all 48 to a workshop anyway!
After reading all the posts on here I was nervous waiting for mine to come, however, I am very happy with it. Since mine has a permanent spot on my desk I don't have to move it from spot to spot, and it doesn't really seem to be made for that anyway. I really am trying to 'switch over' from non SU stuff to ONLY SU stuff because I feel I can't recommend something if I don't use it myself. Hopefully, my clients will see that I have it, and like it, and will want it too.
I am still trying to decide on if I want this one or one of the wooden ones out there. I am not a demo, but hope to be one in the near future. Actually the wooden ones would take more of a "beating" if taking it with to shows, and with my kids the sturdier the better my DH always says ;) Will have to keep thinking about this.
I have this one and I LOVE IT!!! It's big...really big...but I have the perfect spot for it, a deep corner on my stampin' area. It holds everything! I have all 48 classic pads, 48 markers and 32 re-inkers (that's all I have so far) in it. I moved the regular ink cartridges over a slot (to the place where the cartridge refills are supposed to go) and put the jumbo cartridges in the spot where the regular ones are supposed to go. All my wheel handles are in the "well" at the top. My punches are also on the top. On the shelves at the bottom are my spectrum pads, Staz-On pads, VersaMark, pastels and watercolor pencils. My wheels are in one drawer and my Pearl Ex is in the other. This unit really does hold a lot of "stuff". It's more expesive then some other units that I've see, but well worth it.
Pam,
You are going to LOVE the Elite from Stampin Things! I got mine a few weeks ago and it is fantastic. I have all my pads and markers in one handy dandy spot. Now to get all the spectrum pads and reinkers.
I would love to know the dimensions of the tray for the reinkers. Does anyone have it that they could measure it? I need to find a box to store all my reinkers in and I would love to have some dimensions to go by. I'd appreciate any help you could provide. I'm not sure how much room 48 reinker bottles would take up. TIA!
mcouden,
I went to Walmart and bought a plastic container for Hotwheels, all my reinkers fit in it perfectly! It costs about $4 and has 24 slots for cars on each side, for a total of 48 slots! I even bought another one for all my craft reinkers, which I haven't even purchased yet! I am using the empty slots to put all my ink cartridges in, they fit two to a car slot. The plastic snaps shut and I have never had any reinkers fall out. It is made for a child to carry around, so has a nice handle, too. Walmart gets these in about now, last Februaury I bought one for $2 on clearance and gave it to my demo for her reinkers! Works beautifully! Other toy stores probably have them also. Note, it has one or two (?) big slots that you can either put in two reinkers or one of those larger sized reinkers that SU used to sell for wheels.
Laurie
A Hot Wheels carry case. Now who would have thought of that!!! Just the idea I was looking for. Wonder if 16 year old son has one in his stash. I may have to go rummaging. Thanks for the tip!!!
Location: In the great northwest! Is there anywhere better?
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Has anyone who thinks there caddie spins to slow thought about setting it on top of a lazy susan? I bought one ( a lazy susan) at the dollar store for a buck. Problem solved. Right?
I haven't been able to find those darned car garages for a while now, even though I've looked in many Walmarts. But now that we have those beautiful alphabet boxes, I've been able to clear out at least one of the car garages I have. I like those garages for alphabet stamps...you can put all of the upper, lower and numbers of one alphabet in one side of the garage and have them all together. But for alphabets that I only have one case of, or for double alphabets, the new boxes are much better. So now I have one car garage that will be used for ink cartridges!
I also keep sponge wedges in one, each marked with the color I use it with. There are 46 compartments in each car garage, and two of those compartments are double sized, so you can easily fit 48 of something in them if you put two things in the large compartment on each side. I'll have to recheck again to see if any of our local Wally Worlds have restocked.
Just a word to demonstrators....I would not recommend the Color Caddy to your customers, especially in light of SU!'s reply to complaints about it. You will have some very unhappy people to deal with! I decided not to try to send mine back, because, although I'm far from crazy about it, I just didn't want the trouble. It turns out that was a wise choice, considering that SU! will not honor complaints about it. Their attitude seems to be, according to their response, "Too bad, so sad. You're stuck with it."
Nothing I have done has solved the wobble or the difficulty in turning (not spinning!) it. :( It is just not a very well-designed product.
__________________ "Life is much too important to be taken seriously." Oscar Wilde Proud to be a member of Mo's Digital Pencil Challenge DT! My BlogMy Gallery
uhm......what to do, what to do. We are finishing our Family Room in which I will have a whole wall with a desk and built in's for my supplies. Maybe I should just put up with what I have until the kinks are worked out with SU's design.
Thank you busybunny, Monica for your input. That is the one I am leaning toward. Does it come unfinished? If so, did you finish yours?
Thanks,
Thank you busybunny, Monica for your input. That is the one I am leaning toward. Does it come unfinished? If so, did you finish yours?
Laurel,
It comes unfinished. I stained mine and then varnished the parts that I could get varnish on. You can also ask them to finish it for you (for a fee). I felt confident ordering from DEK because they've been in the woodworking business for a while.
Happy Heart I'm with you! A friend of mine did buy it and I saw it today for the first time. For the price SU offers it's not worth it! I have a w/s coming up this month that the hostess is excited about it when she saw it in the catty. She told me last week that she has 3 people that will be ordering at her w/s. I love SU products but this product I will talk her out of! Yes I will be losing out of $180 but I would rather have QUALITY products sold, satisfied customers, and still have SU keep their good standing with my customers. Money isn’t everything sometimes in this world, but a good reputations is!
Last year I was at a craft fair and bought one similar to the Elite. I love it and it only cost $57!
I have one like the elite for the old style pads and it holds the markers and the reinkers. I like it, however it is very heavy to move. I have a two story home and seem to stamp in my stamp room and the kitchen at times. What I like about Stampin'Up's is how light it is to carry, arround. It doesn't spin as fast as my wood one but it does work just fine. I am truely quite happy with mine.
__________________ The Joy of Stamping,
Beverlee Sagon
What true joy it has produced in my life and in the life of my fellow stampers! From Northern California!
The one I have like the Elite is one that I kept at my work area. When I go someplace I take the pads I need for the demos that I do at the w/s. I don't need all 48 colors with me. I do have the old ones and sometimes take them with me, but keep them in the car. I'm trying to cut down on what I take with me to w/s.
My downline has the INK-DEK 4/48. It's BIG!!!!!!! So big that it won't fit on her work table without using up quite a bit of her workspace. I have one that is similar to it and mine doesn't sit on my work table for the same reason. :( They are great storage for pads, markers and reinkers.
And they are far from portable. But then again I don't ever take all my stamp pads to a workshop, just the ones I'm demonstrating with. I am seriously thinking about getting the Color Caddy for the new SU pads that I am starting to accumulate. I am glad to get others opinion on it, but it's just like everything else You can please 1/2 the people some of the time and some of the people 1/2 the time, but you can't please all the people all the time.
Stampin'Hugs
Charlee
Charlee your right! Personal preference and what works best for each individual. The one like the Elite I hold my new pads in and I am lucky to have room on my table and I do like to turn it freely when working on my cards.
I personally think this is an embarrassing item for SU! to sell. I will tell you why...of which if you haven't had these problems with yours...you soon will!
The bottom ink pads are harder to get out due to the fact that the very poor design doesn't support that kind of weight. The covers of my ink pads are already showing signs of being scratched because of it!
The screw that holds the entire thing together IS NOT long enough...therefore a manufacturers defect as far as I am concerned. Which is why the thing doesn't turn easily.
Also since it is made of a cheap plastic (not durable), I see problems with the item breaking from trying to get the bottom ink pads in (if SU! is going to keep this thing around, I hope they will allow us to order parts when they break).
Also because of the cheap plastic, it cannot support the weight and therefore leans and wobbles. I don't understand the logic here...if you tighten the handle too much you cannot spin it, but if you loosen it the whole mechanism wobbles and leans. Does anyone else see the problem here? DESIGN FLAW!
I personally feel that the IDEA is a good one, but this color caddy IS NOT worth anywhere close to what they are asking for it (I also have the one from Sue Nagel and LOVE it for my office and the price wasn't much more for a far more superior product...with the exception that it is not a very mobile thing...I get the mobile ones from cdjdesigns.com and that is what SU! should have adopted. It is portable, you can add on markers at there is a huge area at the top for ALL of your reinkers and then some!).
I really think that for those of you that haven't bought it, just save your money and put it toward a better one. I didn't listen to the warnings and bought it due to the fact that it was SU! and my customers wanted something for their larger/new design ink pads...so I could sell it to them right?!!! I will not promote this product. If someone asks I will have to be honest with them.
The ONLY good things I can say about this color caddy is that it is small so it fits nicely in smaller spaces and it does hold the ink pads in well enough that they don't fall out...with the exception of the bottom ones getting squished.
I love this company and all the other products we sell, but this was a bad decision on the design team's part. I really think they could have looked a little better at the competition and designed something that was sturdier and worth the money. I do appreciate the fact that they acknowledged that we needed a color caddy, but do us all a favor and lower the price AND/OR design it better by giving us replacement parts and such for making it work properly.
I know that if those of you who LOVE this product were to see other things that are made for our pads, you would feel as I do. This item is too costly for what it is made out of and it doesn't in ANY way compare to other units readily available. Visit the two websites I mentioned and see the difference for yourselves.
If you like this product...sure tell SU!, but if you are unhappy with it...tell SU! what you are unhappy about...tell them the design flaws and what would make this product better for us all. I can complain about this product on my own until I am blue, but SU! will not take it back since they "say" it is not defective. It is only going to take a few people to break something one it or have all their bottom ink pads to get scratched up for them to realize that they have developed a defective product.
I am sorry for the long and negative response here, but I truly feel that this product could be changed for the better with a few simple modifications...if we all notice that, they will be more than happy to oblige at some point.
I have let my feelings known to SU!, but I feel so ripped off that I cannot even describe how "used" I feel. How about a lower price at least?
Other than that...I will leave on a positive note! I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THE NEW TOOL KIT! The template is the best invention! My customers are ga-ga over it! I LOVE the new stampin' & scrappin' kits to buy too! The new designer papers and vellums... the Holiday Mini catalog...etc etc etc!
ohhhhh Christi W, you are one lucky woman! I don't think I will even bring this up to my husband. He would make a really good effort and embarass us all! I think I will stick to ordering one made by a professional Depending on how much time your husband has, he might want to consider selling his caddys. Just the orders you would get here would give you a big start (and from your customers as well). Thanks for sharing.
Christi,
Would your husband consider selling plans for this unit, my father would love to make me something like this, but is not sure how to go about it.
__________________ Heidi My gallery There's no 'I' in 'team'. But then there's no 'I' in 'useless smug colleague', either. And there's four in 'platitude-quoting idiot'. Go figure.
Thank you for analyzing the problems with the Stamp Caddy and offering suggestions on how to remedy the design flaws. You shouldn't feel bad about your long email because you aren't just "complaining" that you simply don't like it; you have taken into consideration the problems the Caddy has and offered ways to fix it.
I do not own the Caddy and will not buy it after seeing it at my last group meeting. I was SHOCKED when I approached the Caddy and realized the flimsy plastic it was constructed of, the fact that it did not spin - and when the demo who owned it finally loosened the handle the whole thing leaned to one side and you still could not spin it with one hand, you had to support the bottom.
I will let SU! know how I feel about the product. In speaking with other demo's at the meeting we agreed that had it been priced at $29.99 then MAYBE it would be worth it just as a cheap desktop storage item, but because of the high price and low quality it is just not consistent with other SU! products. It really blew my mind when I saw it, and that's because I'm so used to everything being top quality with SU!
Thanks Christine. You cannot imagine how nervous I was to even post that message!
I think we all see design flaws in this thing. I even like the possibilities of the color caddy, but feel that we can all do ourselves a favor by analyzing this and offering suggestions to SU! on what could be improved on it.
I also would have liked to see SU! ask us demonstrators what features we would like on future storage items or other things. If they have something in mind, it would be nice to be asked since we are the ones who use this stuff the most and are likely the best customers as well.
Jill
Stamp caddy response from SU
Now I have a wall unit he built for me and I love it! He also built the sicssor rack you see in the background, he made it so it fits perfectly on top of the ink pad holder. I don't have any customers wanting the new SU Caddy; they all want my husband to build them one! 
