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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
K8AC Rating: 2003-08-03
Still in business?? Time Owned: N.A.
My second order. Cards ordered in early March, here it is August 3 and no cards. I was told 8 weeks delivery and it's been 16 weeks. Company does not respond to emails. Last time I did business with them they responded always within 24 hours. Back to doing business in the good old USA.
WA4FOM Rating: 2003-04-19
Fast, flexible, fair price Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I had heard that Octavia did fantastic work. I
noticed on the web site a number of beautiful
example cards. I, however, had a very exacting
design in mind. I had a digital photograph
as the primary background and a specific text
layout prepared for my "dream card".

Valery was more responsive than any domestic
company I have dealt with to date, and worked
with me to create a gorgeous prototype for the
card. Although he promised an 8 to 9 week
delivery window, he did it in just over 5.
1000 drop dead gorgeous full-color cards for
about $100 delivered to my door in a skosh over
a month with absolutely no grief.

I call that a bargain. If I live long enough
to run out of cards, I'm calling Valery with my
next order.

By the way: if you want to see the card, you're
just going to have to QSO with me. I QSL 100%
and have the QSL card I always wanted. Enough
said.
N4ST Rating: 2003-03-01
Quality QSLs, but order early Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Reasonable prices for quality custom designed QSL cards. Val is very easy to work with, responds to your emails even when away from the office on travel. (We swapped emails while he was attending Dayton Hamfest!) Would be a definite 5 except for the delay in receiving cards. I ordered 1000 cards in May 2002, they were shipped in Dec 2002 and received in Feb 2002. They were having problems getting hi-gloss card stock and then ofcourse the two-month shipping transit. Still, I'll probably use Octavia again. - Jim, N4ST
W2WO Rating: 2002-12-31
Good but slow Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
As everyone else noted, the service is good but slow. I asked for a completely custom-designed B&W card, including a digital photo I sent by e-mail. No problem; proofs were quickly returned. (The photo was not great, but that was my problem.) They are willing to print almost anything you want without a hassle --- you are definitely not limited to "stock" formats.

The technical printing quality is excellent and the paper stock is quite good.

The credit card handling was not good --- the U.S. company that did it for Octavia was so obscure that I cancelled the credit card payment because I did not know what it was for. This took a while to resolve. (The process has changed since that time.)

My experience has been that e-mails are answered within a few days, and the answers are reasonable. As others have noted, the problem is with the delivery. Perhaps, as the Russian infrastructure improves, the mail and shipping services will also improve.

I will order again when my stock runs low --- but I will do it with a lead time of 6 months!
K7MQV Rating: 2002-12-31
Super quality & value; order EARLY Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I ordered back in June. Did full color custom card using my own digital photos. Was a breeze working with Valery to design the card. A few revisions via email and you're done.

BUT, you just gotta order early. Like a dope, I waited too long. I knew going in that the cycle time could be about 6 months. I think I actually would have received my cards in October, except they apparently got lost in the mail. Bummer. But Valery is a man of his word; he promptly reprinted my order and this time used registered mail. I got my cards on December 30. They are gorgeous; sharp image quality, good color, nice hvy card stock. Everything I was hoping for.

A good measure of a supplier is their response when something goes wrong. I gotta give Octavia A++ rating. My email queries were quickly answered. Once it was clear that the first shipment was lost, there was no hesitation; Valery reprinted and accelerated the process. Hard to ask for more than that.

I'm sold.

WB8DQT Rating: 2002-10-29
Great cards and service Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Ran across them on the Net and was impressed by the samples. My cards were completely custom and the service I received was excellent. They "tweaked" several aspects of the design - always for the better - and the cards were delivered on schedule. Ordering into eastern Europe with a credit card via the Internet was unnerving but absolutely no problems!
K4NR Rating: 2002-09-20
The Best! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I just completed my 4th order of cards with Octavia. Valery and Olga do a great job and are a pleasure to work with. The design process is completed via email and turnaround on the design is quick. Yes, printing and shipping takes time, but the result is always worth the wait.

I've worked with this company for 4 years and they have always delivered a quality product.

Several years ago the US company processing his credit cards orders went backrupt. Valery and Olga delivered every order and never received payment.

If you want a quality product at reasonable prices you can't go wrong with Octavia.

73 de Tom

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Earlier 5-star review posted by K4NR on 2001-01-15

Well I posted the first review of the Octavia Company in March of last year. Since then I've completed 2 orders with Valery--both were great experiences.

Ordering could not be easier (yes--the 800 number is another US clearing house) via email or the Octavia website. Valery will not print the cards until you've had the chance to review and approve the proofs via email. Changes can be emailed and a new proof will be sent for your approval.

Valery runs a small family-owned business. He lost a bunch of money when a US-based clearing house declared bankruptcy late last year. He delivered all the orders despite not earning a cent for his efforts.

I'm in the process of designing my third QSL with Octavia. Valery provides a first class product and great customer service at a great price.

73 de Tom, K4NR
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Earlier 5-star review posted by K4NR on 2000-03-15

Do You Want a First-Class Custom QSL Card? Are you tired of the "cookie-cutter" QSLs offered by the big QSL printing services? Have you always wanted a custom full-color QSL at a price you can afford?

I recently had the pleasure of doing business with Octavia. This Russian QSL printing company is different! While Valery offers some "cookie- cutter" designs, he specializes in custom QSLs. Samples can be ordered on-line and will arrive in a couple of weeks.

I uploaded my graphics and a layout idea to them and received front- and back-side "proofs" via email a few days later. Valery and his folks did four to six hours of retouch on my graphics at no cost! Once I made a few changes to the layouts, I emailed the "proofs" back to Valery.

The completed cards arrived at my home in Texas about 5 weeks after I placed the order. Orders can be placed online via a secure server in Virginia or using traditional mail.

I'm sure most of you are wondering about the cost. I paid about $90 for 1000 custom full-color QSLs. The price included both front and back printing as well as shipping.

Please feel free to email me if you have any other questions about Octavia!
NK7J Rating: 2002-09-10
There here, looks great! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
This is a follow up to my previous review. The cards finaly showed up today (Sept 9) and besides the package being a little wore they arrived safely. The quality is great, just what I was looking for. Very crisp, glossy, great cards. Valery did a fine job printing these he just needs to find a faster way of getting them here! HI HI. See my previous post about how I feel about the time delay. If it had taken only a 2 to 3 months I was prepared for that.

I may order again after seeing the quality, but make sure I have LOTS of cards on hand so I will be ready for the wait!
AB7R Rating: 2002-08-08
Excellent quality! Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I ordered 2,000 cards last year. I expected it to take awhile. After reviewing proofs and corrections I received the cards about 4 or 5 weeks later. Excellent quality, easy people to work with.... just don't expect them as though they were coming from around the corner.

As mentioned, this was last year. Hope they are not having any problems.

GL and 73
Greg
AB7R
NI6G Rating: 2002-06-17
Very Beautiful Cards Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Ordering from Octavia was a very smooth process. Their website offers a great quantity of choices on a variety of themes from animals, nature, and more. They will email proofs and even added a California map on the back of the card highlighting my county and grid square. In reading previous reviews, I anticipated a long delivery lead time. I was not in a hurry. It took about 9 weeks to receive my order. The 3000 cards are gorgeous. I am highly pleased with the service of Valery and his wife.