Sometimes, when I find a place with a negative review and ignore it, it turns out to be a great experience.
Other times, I realize I should have listened to my fellow Yelpers.
Michael's is definitely the latter.
I'm not a crafty gal. However, I had this GREAT idea for a Christmas gift for the in-laws, which required a custom frame for some photos of my daughter. I also found a coupon on Michael's website for 60% off custom framing - one day only. I knew from Naomi's review that it still wouldn't be cheap, but with the 60% off, I figured the price would be reasonable, and it was.
I paid for the frame and mat in mid December (14th or 15th, I think). I hadn't yet printed out the photos that I wanted framed, so the girl suggested a certain size, saying they would fit well and are a common size, so I wouldn't have any issues getting them printed. Fair enough. I went with that. They told me to drop off the photos any time, either before or after the frame was complete.
We went on a short vacation and I dropped off the photos on December 30, figuring they could just pop them into the frame and I would be okay to take them to our belated Christmas exchange on New Year's Eve. No such luck. I received a phone call about 2 hours later (thinking it was finished), only to find that the mat didn't fit the photos. They couldn't redo the mat on site, so they had to order it. Fine. I gave the okay for it, as they said it would be a "rush order" and probably would be finished next Wednesday.
Fast forward to the following Thursday. I called, and they claimed they were still waiting on me to approve the re-order of the mat. I got annoyed, re-told them to order it, and again, they said it would be a rush order and should be there in a few days.
The following Tuesday, I called again, only to be told "it isn't supposed to be done until Jan 23" rather rudely, and then they hung up on me.
I'm not confrontational, so I let it go. I actually pushed this whole thing so far back in my mind that I forgot to call and check on it again until Jan 27. At which point, the girl on the other end of the phone told me, "it's been finished for a couple of days." Well... you know... a phone call to let me know it's done would have been GREAT!
Argh.
The finished product does, in fact, look fabulous. I'm impressed with their work. What I'm absolutely disgusted with is the following:
1) Lack of customer service skills
2) Lack of communication skills
3) Timeframe for it to be finished... even with the mat mishap, I think that should have added maybe a week to the turnaround time. Not an extra 2-3 weeks.
4) No phone call upon its completion to let me know I could pick it up.
Never again. I'll go somewhere else. read more