Nice quality (heavy weight paper) but the subtle background didn't print well, and odd packaging

Normally we just order from Vistaprint, but since we're SM loyalists, decided to give them a go. The lack of options (compared to VP) was refreshing, I don't want to have to choose the paper, the weight, the gloss, the recycled content etc etc; I'm just looking to print fliers! That said, the weight and gloss, and overall feel of the finished product is premium. However, I added a somewhat subtle background to the flier to make it more interesting, and that did not print well, nor as shown in the proof, so now it just looks like a fault with the printer. I'll know for the future, but I've used this background before with other printers and not had the issue. The packaging was also a bit feeble. It's a heavy box, but was sent in a single ply corrugate, and one of the corners was crushed. These are just fliers, so not the end of the world, but had they have been anything more fancy, about 10% would have been unusable.