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Reviews For: Octavia Company

Category: QSL printers; callsign badge engravers; etc.

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Review Summary For : Octavia Company
Reviews: 122MSRP:
Description:
Russian printer with custom graphic art - 5 Stars. NOTE: Long delivery times to be expected for foreign shipments.
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.octavia.com
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
001223.5
NG1I Rating: 2004-12-07
Glad it happened! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
A friend of mine in MD waiteds for his order 6-7 months with no replies so he ordered from a stateside company and got them. Six months later he gets the Octavia order..he sent me a sample and it is beautiful work. Too bad......

I e-mailed them last April several times and never heard back from them. Glad I didn't. Russian economy is such that I wouldn't trust it due to supply vendors irregular operations and "business" practices..

Frank NG1I
WX2YOU Rating: 2004-12-02
Totally too long! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I also ordered QSL's this past summer and have not rcvd them yet. I wouldn't order from them ever again. Totally inexcusable!
N4IJ Rating: 2004-11-14
Very Slow Service Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I ordered QSL's the beginning of summer and have not rcvd them yet. All sorts of excuses. I would think twice before ordering from them.
K1RFD Rating: 2004-11-08
Slow, as expected Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
The quality of the cards is good, with distinctive design choices -- a bit off the beaten path. The online ordering process is useful.

I ordered cards on July 12, and they arrived November 1 -- about 20 weeks later. I wasn't surprised at this, given the earlier comments in this forum. Obviously not a good choice if you're in a hurry!
WB2NVR Rating: 2004-11-01
Not worth the hassle. Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
Since my last post on August 23, 2004, the situation hasn't changed much. We ordered 5,000 cards for our DXPedition, 6Y2RZ, in June, 2004. We received about 1,000 cards in August, and today (November 1, 2004) we received another 2,500. No response to emails. No explaination as to why there are multiple shipments. No information on when the rest of the order will be delivered. Yes, the quality is very good, but this hobby is supposed to be fun. QSLing is an inportant part of the experience for our club, and we QSL 100%. Having a supplier that is not responsive detracts from the experience. I know there are many other fine QSL printers that can produce similar quality cards for the same (or less) cost. They will get our business next time.

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Earlier 4-star review posted by WB2NVR on 2004-08-23

We started the QSL process with Val in May, 2004 for our 6Y2RZ DXPedition. We made a number of changes based on the proofs that were emailed to us, and exentually ordered 5,000 cards on June 19, 2004. Emails are eventually answered, but I would have felt better during the process if the replies were a little more prompt. We were advised that the cards would be mailed on July 24, 2004. Based on the post mark, it looks like the cards were mailed on August 16, 2004. We received the first partial shipment of QSL's August 23, 2004 by Registered Air Mail. I wasn't aware that there was going to be more than 1 shipment, but I expect to receive the balance within a few weeks. The cards, as expeceted, look great! Yes, it was worth the hassle of slow email replies, and I'd probably order from Octavia again.
VE8NSD Rating: 2004-10-16
Terrific cards! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I am entirely pleased with my cards and the service that I received. Mine took about 5 months to arrive. So what. These are only QSL's, I can go five months without them and so can you. The quality of the card stock and printing could not be improved upon in any way. I've received a ton of compliments on my card and you will to. Just be patient.
NZ6L Rating: 2004-10-14
No refund Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
It's been a month since I canceled my order and I have not heard from Val or Olga, not have they refunded the design fee, even though there was no design work involved.

I am very disappointed.

A fellow that I work with has had good experiences with Octavia, and says that their printing quality is excellent, but they seem to have fallen off the end of the world as far as I'm concerned.
KG6UAX Rating: 2004-09-25
Never left the gate Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I also experienced some of what the reviews have mentioned.

I sent JPEGs of completed artwork, and the proof came back different (it looked like the image was corrected using histogram equalization), and looked aweful. I was surprised that any printer would have sent this as a proof, when the original was print ready, and just needed colour matching and separation.

After responding to the first proof, I did not hear back for several days, although I mailed Olga and Val several times.

I have canceled my order with Octavia, and am working with a printing company in South Dakota that has been excellent.

I give Octavia a 2, because they need to improve in their responsiveness and also with their turnaround, regardless of the quality of their work. Typical turnaround for small job 4-color work should be less than a week, provided no design is being performed, and there is little excuse for a business being unresponsive to their customers.

W4GMY Rating: 2004-09-15
3DA0CG Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
The same old story, Val is a expert at excuses and delays, for this order not only did I get all the delays , and excuses, but the colors were not the same as the proof. I emailed Val about the problem, and he sent the 2nd, 1000 with the same problem. All 2000 cards ordered..wrong color.
I won't attempt to get them replaced as I have not received a response from Valery
KC4PX Rating: 2004-07-21
Great Communications - Card Quality Excellent Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have been dealing with Valery and Olga for the past 6 months with excellent communications via EMAIL. The DXpedition cards for K4T has required multiple changes with Val supporting all changes with proofs. My KC4PX cards were also printed by Octavia and came out excellent. The Quality in stock used and printing is by far the best I have seen. A lot of HAMs worldwide use Octavia, so be patient. Its worth it.

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Earlier 5-star review posted by KC4PX on 2003-06-20

I approved the Proofs on March 3rd... received the cards on June 19th.... not bad. However the cards arrived in Excellent Shape and very economical.

Excellent Print Qualify and will do business with them again