Quote from: "ozzyd"without being to negative, i feel as many do the quality has gone down over the last few years , over the last month i have been monitoring how many balloons i cant use as either popping, stuck together or have holes (i know the stuck together and hole balloons i cna use in other ways) and my results so far are about 20% are unusable. So my question is has the manafacturing proses changed, or is it down to the storage of the supplier? I will also add the problem is worse in the mixed bags as appose to individual colours.
 
Interestingly the pink balloons are the main ones which deflate mid twisting and the yellow are the most popping.

Ozzy, it could be a supplier maybe seeling old stock or something. I used to have identical problems as you and then changed suppliers and have been fine ever since. I won't name them on here as it's not fair in case I'm wrong.

I've PM'd you Ozzy.

Hi Debbie,

I have 2 bags of silver 260q. The first is dark, but the other is light and almost even transparent as a clear balloon.
How is this possible?
Is the light one an old bag or something??
[attachment=0:3t8ylfu2][/attachment]silver.jpg[/attachment:3t8ylfu2]

And why is the black 260 more transparent then al the other colours like rose, blue?
I've always used qualatex, but now I'm using sempertex black. Becourse that one is stronger and less transparent.

How come that the orange balloons seems to be so much thicker than all the other colours?

Thank you for answering all our questions,

Petra

Quote from: "Graham Lee"Debbie,

Are there any new colours working there way through the system?
Or is that top secret??? :lol:

We are starting work on the new 2009 catalogue in the next couple of months - watch this space!

Quote from: "Thelma Levett"Hi Debbie,
I wanted to say I am very pleased that the range of colours has improved so much.  When I started in 94 there was a very limited range of colours.  Now I am like a child in a sweet shop.  Recently I noticed a problem with the black balloons.  They were inflating much wider than they should have (a sure sign of weakness) and sure enough they would burst more often than not.  The black balloons seem to have changed recently.  Has there been a change in the manufacture of this colour?  If so, why?

We are  really pleased that you are enjoying our large range of products. Regarding the black balloons, we have not changed the manufacturing process, but we will need to investigate any products where people say there's a problem. Anytime you have a complaint we would appreciate if you could send back some samples to us for full investigation  We will always come back to you with our findings.....we need to hear back from you guys quickly if you find a problem please.

Quote from: "Billy Wiz"

Quote from: "ozzyd"without being to negative, i feel as many do the quality has gone down over the last few years , over the last month i have been monitoring how many balloons i cant use as either popping, stuck together or have holes (i know the stuck together and hole balloons i cna use in other ways) and my results so far are about 20% are unusable. So my question is has the manafacturing proses changed, or is it down to the storage of the supplier? I will also add the problem is worse in the mixed bags as appose to individual colours.
 
Interestingly the pink balloons are the main ones which deflate mid twisting and the yellow are the most popping.

Ozzy, it could be a supplier maybe seeling old stock or something. I used to have identical problems as you and then changed suppliers and have been fine ever since. I won't name them on here as it's not fair in case I'm wrong.

I've PM'd you Ozzy.

It would really help if you could send us back any samples, we will do a full investigation and come back to you. Thanks

Quote from: "Twistina"Hi Debbie, Great to see you here and thanks for answering all the Questions.

I really miss the mettalic colours that Qualatex used to do in the 260. In particular the dark pink (I think it was magenta?) and a lovely dark green. Any plans to reintroduce them?

I have often thought it would be useful to have a thinner balloon than the 160 particulary for fine detailing on sculptures where an air filled but un-inflated balloon may not give the desired effect.  A balloon of about half an inch diameter would be great for dog leads, bows, hair etc. I don't think it would need to be as long as 60 inches. Has this ever been tried or indeed would it be possible?

Hi Twistina - hope you are well.....With regards to the metallics, we have no plans to introduce them back at this stage . These were slow movers and metallic are slightly more difficult to manufacture and be consistent.

Not in our plans, not many people have asked for a spaghetti balloons so far.



I love the new un-dipped 321's and the solid colours of the dipped ones. I miss the orange and the pink though, are these gone for good?

I have seen the undipped orange & pink in the latest copy of images. I do not have a date of when Pioneer Europe will have them in stock.

PS - just so you know I have left a message for Sam - no return call as yet!!!

Quote from: "clownjoey"Can qualatex design and make an affordable strap-on waist 260q battery powered inflator? I mean one that has some serious blow-up power?

I can get no info on this, I know that Conwin were looking into this. I'll see what else I can find out for you,

Debs

Hi Debbie,
there has been a good bit of criticism about the standard of training given by pioneer in recent time's largely implying that the courses you run are more about selling products (especially those not necessarily needed by people starting out) than teaching and not reaching the standards that should be expected of a company like pioneer. Would you give us your feelings regarding these criticisms, and would you give a run down of what your beginner's courses cover, as I know there are some twisters hear that are very interested in getting in to decorating.

Regards
Roger

Hi debbie,  
maybe I'm wrong, but I think you forgot to answer my questions??
It's the one with the photo of the 2 silver balloons.

Petra

Hi debbie, great to see you in this Forum. I didn't know that we could send you stuff so you could investigate fully, not that I have come across any....because I haven't

Debbie, I have a question.....a bit political? I've heard it said by some distributors that you don't allow them to sell any other make other than yours, if they are to be come a Qualatex distributor. Is this actually true?

Hi Debbie

We both go back a long way in the industry and have both seen our work in balloons, the variety of balloons and what can be done with them change and grow so much, so too with the people who come into with great ghusto and then leave the industry on a regular basis.  I am a great believer in being honest and true to yourself and do not suffer fools gladly or otherwise as most peole who know me are aware. A true Northern woman that sometimes feels more like a Mum to some

The saying 'Never take as Malice anything that can also be taken as stupidity or niavity'  is a saying that over the years has helped see me through a lot of things in life when others ego's seem to take over and allows me to see it more as enthusiasm for whatever they are doing (I think sometimes I am just getting old!!! adn that may be true too)

Do you have a saying or a thought helps you cope/come to terms with what is happening in the industry or around you at times of higher levels of stress/Ego's etc?

Pam

Debbie,

Thanks for taking the time to answer the questions from the members of balloon chat, hope it wasn't too stressful  

Have emailed Debbie to see if she can log on to answer the last few questions.

Debbie, I was working with Crofty today & he asked me to post the pictures of the different size prints on the alien heads. He moved house a couple of weeks ago & won't have internet access for a few more weeks;

Quote from: "Petra"Hi Debbie,

I have 2 bags of silver 260q. The first is dark, but the other is light and almost even transparent as a clear balloon.
How is this possible?
Is the light one an old bag or something??
[attachment=0:1unblh2s][/attachment]silver.jpg[/attachment:1unblh2s]

And why is the black 260 more transparent then al the other colours like rose, blue?
I've always used qualatex, but now I'm using sempertex black. Becourse that one is stronger and less transparent.

How come that the orange balloons seems to be so much thicker than all the other colours?

Thank you for answering all our questions,

Petra

Hi Petra, thanks for bringing this to our attention. We are going to investigate this, someone else brought this to our attention and I know that it's be looked into. So far we have been told that the pigmentation has not been changed, but that doesn't help.  Please keep us informed if this keeps happening.

With regards to the orange balloons being thicker, I believe this is down to it having more pigments, I think you'll find this with the orange and purple balloons (both of this are more expensive to make) every colour has different pigments – sorry that this is not more scientific for you.

Quote from: "Roger"Hi Debbie,
there has been a good bit of criticism about the standard of training given by pioneer in recent time's largely implying that the courses you run are more about selling products (especially those not necessarily needed by people starting out) than teaching and not reaching the standards that should be expected of a company like pioneer. Would you give us your feelings regarding these criticisms, and would you give a run down of what your beginner's courses cover, as I know there are some twisters hear that are very interested in getting in to decorating.

Regards
Roger

Hi Roger, thanks for your questions. With regards to the training, our Qualatex Fundamentals course is a recognised Nabas approved course – this means that when someone has been on our course they can join Nabas. It covers everything that a Nabas course covers; there is a timed lesson plan that takes you through each stage.  Because we manufacture a much wider variety of latex/foil/bubbles we show these items in the course too – inflating a double bubble is not the same as foil, inflating donuts have a technique etc. The kind of thing that's covered is: health & safety, inflating latex to the correct size, tying techniques, foil inflation, balloon in a box, arches, spiral garland, PRICING (very important if you want to stay in business!). Our teachers are not paid commission on what's sold on the day – we do not ask them to poke the Qualatex name down everyone's neck throughout the day – plus people still have the choice of what they want to buy when they finish the course, we really don't employ the balloon police to check them out!  It is a little frustrating when I hear comments about our training, we do so much for the industry with regards to education, look on the http://www.thequalatexevent.com website and you can view all the training through the UK and Europe that we have heavily sponsored just this year. But we have been big into education for as long as I can remember being at Pioneer – I remember doing roadshows 15 years around the UK – at that stage no other manufacturer was doing any training and I think we have continued to help people over the years through roadshows, 1-day training, images magazine, balloon magic, QBN programme, QD Newslines, QJAMS, download recipes from the website.....to be name some.  Sorry for a long answer.

Take care

Debs