Apr
23

ILC Imaging aka inkdepot Part2

April 23, 2009 · Filed Under GPLZ Gold, Online Shops, Web · 5 Comments  · 497 views

Monday March 23, 2009, exactly ten days after my initial inquiry my items were shipped by ILC Imaging a.k.a. inkdepot. Miss Joan Chua texted me that the shipping was initiated and I have to wait until Friday for my package to get to me. So I figured, that would be about 5 days, I was figuring it would only take them a day or three days to the most. Anyway, this was because the shipping possibly uses an actual ship to ship out the items. Kidding aside, I am a patient person, so I was happy still that my order is progressing. I am doing this review for the benefit of the other customers who are still hesitant to the power of Online Merchants, read my side-story and intro to this here.

I texted Miss Joan for the tracking number and the Address of the Courier since the items are for pick-up. I called the courier by Friday and my item wasn’t there yet. It took four more days for my orders to finally arrive. I picked the order up on Tuesday, March 31, 2009. There were two boxes and shipping cost was quite reasonable, the other box was heavy and the other light. I was excited to open the box, and I noticed the box wrapping is wrapped all over by packing tape, you can’t see bare box skin on the package, the whole thing is zombified by the packing tape, now that is what you call Packing! ILC imaging does make sure your package is well-packed, another Plus on my list. What mad the package a little pretty was my name computer printed under the ILC Logo on the package, I like seeing my name on a package, lol!

Ok so I got home, I then slowly unwrapped the package like a kid on Christmas Day, I was practically drooling. After a few minutes of figuring out how to open the packing tape wrapped box, I was finally able to see the items. They are packed neatly inside the box, not even a mosquito can breathe inside the package, and no item was out of place, it was all really well wrapped and packed and neatly organized, until I notice the printer, looking inside it’s box, my first instinct was to reach for the manual. Oh no! The manual wasn’t there, so I executed my perennial items checking mode. Okay so the individual kits were there, inks check, PVC check, Laminating kit check, Printer Kit…. There was no Manual, CD-Installer, Power Cord and USB cord. So I again hurriedly texted Miss Joan about this, I informed her that I made sure to check for everything and those were the only items missing. So I had to wait three more days to sort this out, Miss Joan finally shipped the missing items on Friday April 3, 2009. I then received the rest of the items via Fed-Ex/Air21 Local four days later. Download the Instruction Manual at the end of this article for the check list I made for your convenience including instructions on the CISS.

So sick

Epson R230

All in all it took about twenty days for me to actually try out my order, when I had problems with testing the kits, all I needed to do was call or text Miss Joan and she replies promptly.

Now on to the fun part, I setup the printer and tried some prints, first print was not too perfect, so I figured I clean up the clogged printer heads and refill the inks. Tried again and still no luck, so I tried to re-prime the CISS as instructed on some online videos I found. Don’t worry I have made a Special Instruction Manual at the end of this article for the convenience of ILC imaging customers who encounters some issues, so that you don’t have to bug Miss Joan all the time, right Miss Joan?

So it took me several more times to figure out priming the inks until it printed ok. Then I tried printing on to the PVC, print outs were all smudged, so I called Miss Joan again, until I finally notice that the ink cartridge needs to be removed because there was an overflow at the bottom of the ink head, possibly caused by shipping the printer. I cleaned those up, re-primed again and all was going smoothly, until I decided to laminate the PVC I printed.

So sick

Six Inks Set

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Laminator

Now on to the Laminating machine. I was too excited that I forgot to check all the other things I usually check. I checked if Printer and Laminating machine was rated at 220Volts, and it was. Don’t forget to check yours too; you might burn your unit if the corresponding voltage rating is set differently. Then I checked the plugs, the printer plugs were ok, the laminator it is then that I noticed that it has a special plug. To my dismay, I contemplated cutting the cord and replace it with a regular plug, until I figured it is much easier to go to a local hardware store and look for a Universal Outlet Plug Adaptor (pictured below).

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Not Regular Plug

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Universal Plug Adaptor

Don’t forget to screw in the lever arm of the card cutter, if you can’t turn the lever the proper way; unscrew the hinge that locks it in. The two little metal stoppers where the lever is supposed to be in between of. Those little stoppers can be screwed out. Enough of the screwing around and let’s proceed to laminating.

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Puncher

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Cutter and Puncher

So I successfully laminated the PVC using the settings pictured below. If you watched the video on ILC Imaging about laminating, it took the operator a much longer time to get the system to heat up right? One tip, put it instead of the ¼ position to the ½ position of the dial, then after a minute, turn it back to the ¼ desired position. That will heat the laminator up way quicker.

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Laminator

So are you ready to order at ILC Imaging? I highly recommend them; tell Miss Joan you found the info on this site. Oh and the promised Instruction Manual for the CISS you can view or download here. Click to view, or Right-Click then Save as to save.

Congratulations to ILC Imaging for receiving the Gold Standard!

Our First Ever GP Gold Seal is awarded to you!

ILC Imaging, please copy your Gold Seal Above and proudly display it on your site!!!

Give your feedback to ILC imaging on the comment section below if you like thanks!

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Apr
20

ILC Imaging aka inkdepot Part1

April 20, 2009 · Filed Under GPLZ Gold, Online Shops, Uncategorized, Web · Comment  · 553 views

I saw a TV episode of ABS-CBN titled KSS (Kabuhayang Swak na Swak) last Sunday March 8, 2009. One of the mentioned companies is ILC Imaging which happens to have the items I was looking for. It was perfect timing, as I was previously sick and had to rest a lot, I had time to think about the things I needed done and this was one of them, purchase a CISS(Continuous Ink Supply System) and the Laminator kit which I needed for my friends special project. I thought, it’s a good way to start my recovery, getting busy helping a friend and making some profit in the process.

As I was accustomed to online e-commerce, having dealt with purchasing and selling stuff online, I figured I’ll checkout ILC Imaging’s provided Multiply site on the TV slot. So I researched about them and the items but sadly I found limited info. So after about 4 days of searching and making sure I needed what I’m going to purchase, I contacted one of the e-mails posted on their multiply site. That was Friday, March 13, 2009.

I inquired about the CISS and Laminator Kit and had to make sure of some things. I asked the following things I didn’t find in their website and listed are their corresponding answers:

Do you Ship to the Province?
Yes they do, buyer covers shipping costs.
Do you have Bundle Prices for multiple orders?
Yes they have and with special pricing too.
Do you sell the refill for the inks?
Yes they do, they supply inks.
Do you sell PVC Cards?
Yes they do, they supply box sets of PVC.
How do you give me free training since I am from the province?
They provide phone support and links to training videos if you have any concerns.

Visit their Multiply Website Below if you need more info:

So sick
ILC Imaging

However, when ordering inks from them, they cannot use regular couriers like LBC or Air21, so they used a different freight service which took 7 days to deliver cargo and have to pick them up at their drop-off point, so no door-to-door for this kind of special order. Add that to the slight delay in packaging my orders of about 3 days and it took all in all 10days for the package to arrive, and I have to call the freight service most of the time to confirm if package has arrived. Basically ILC imaging is quite prompt in shipping your orders, but the courier might encounter further delays.

Continuing… It took me a couple more days to set my orders, there have several options of the printer set, and several packages for inks and PVC’s so you need to make sure which to order. So I clarified some items, asked for advantages and disadvantages. Miss Joan Chua the owner is kind enough to answer all my queries and this was all through e-mail. It took me Five more days of asking and querying, since it is best to be an informed buyer and making sure you get what you want before placing an order. It is hard to return items you dont want later. I asked for payment options, and the most convenient was through bank-to-bank transfer. Payment can be made through bank transfer for (BPI, BDO, Chinabank, and Metrobank) and/or G-cash. Warranty was also covered by ILC Imaging for their items.

The process was quite hassle-free. You place and confirm the order, Miss Chua sends you an Invoice, you confirm the invoice and ask for ILC imaging’s bank account info, and you deposit the amount to pay for on ILC’s account, have the receipt enlarged and fax it to their number which they will provide. Miss Joan also gave me her mobile number so all I had to do was sms/text or call her to confirm that I have sent the money and I have faxed the bank receipt. She will then confirm if money was received on her end, and then she contacts you when the order will be shipped. Then you can ask her for the tracking number of the package so you can track the items your self. Don’t hesitate to call or text her if you need anything, she will answer all your queries promptly and that is an A Plus Plus for customer satisfaction in my book. You need to provide ILC first and foremost the following when placing an order:

1. Complete Name
2. Complete Address
3. Contact Number (Incl. Mobile)
4. Company Name (if applicable)

See Part 2 for this article to see what happened when I received the orders.

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Apr
08

Reviews: Online Merchants

April 8, 2009 · Filed Under Web · 1 Comment  · 505 views

With the advent of the web, long ago, other countries have been successful to take advantage of online merchandising.  The time, upkeep and start-up costs to make your own e-commerce powered website (now known as e-store) were at an all time high. You need to hire designers and developers for it to come into fruition. Although it still holds true if you want to automate your store and all the things connected to it like invoices, receipts and inventory, including your payment system of choice; With the offerings of some telecom companies of electronic cash, and services offered by freight services like money sending, systems like Western Union and the easier process of sending money bank-to-bank, the entry of local online merchants is eased.

Their process of making their online stores is helped by the advent of the social network websites like friendster, myspace, facebook and multiply. My observation is that, not only does it connect you to your friends and consumers and target-niche socially, it is also a good way to get testimonials, feedback and send out bulletins in lieu of newsletters. The traditional way of social marketing has now gone electronic via the web. The most popular social network website used for social marketing is multiply.com.

Although the process is still cumbersome, like you need to deposit money and fax the deposit slip or sending receipt, e-mail your address and details to the merchant, and monitor your shipment and all the nitty-gritty, it is successful in making a pseudo-online transaction possible. However, I have yet to see a fully-automated system of e-store in the Philippines.

I will try and review these online stores the coming month or week, (depending on the condition of my health) to let all consumers know that online merchandising and online shopping is safe and reliable. In the first set, I will review ILC Imaging and get some of their products for my experimentation and possible business use too in the future. I will use the traditional cumbersome method of bank deposit and the like, the first important thing to remember is to always open your line of communication with the e-stores staff and most of all their owner.

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ILC Imaging

Second set, I’ll try the easier route of doing a transaction with Filters-Exchange using an online payment system like PayPal (which I used for years of convenience on foreign merchants). The owner agreed to the process, although they do not normally accept paypal payments because of the 5-10% fee added on the total cost when paying via paypal. Well, I’d rather pay 10% any day than get my self sweating lining up in the bank or a western union outlet and pay and then doing all the nitty-gritty stuff. I expect to process my orders online, pay for it online, get my shipment details online, and hopefully wait for the package to arrive.

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Filters-Exchange

Oh after I discuss and review the process, I’ll do an accompanying step-by-step review of the items I bought and will be buying too. So also wait for those as well…

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