Proceed with caution when dealing with the custom framing department.
My initial customer service interaction was great. I brought in a screen print to get framed, and the framing dept. manager was super knowledgeable and helpful in helping me to choose the proper frame and color matte for my art print. When I returned, I didn't do a thorough job looking over the work done and took it home. Upon inspection prior to hanging the piece on my wall, I noticed that the print was not properly matted, as it appeared wavy with many gaps between the print and the matte.
I took it back to the framing dept. two days later, and was first serviced by an employee who seemed uncomfortable and almost unsettled that I had come back to have the frame fixed. She was hesitant and didn't really acknowledge that the work done was poor. Luckily, the same framing manager who first helped me was freed up after helping another customer. She came over and quickly noticed that their work needed to be redone. She said that it would be taken care of quickly.
A few days later, I returned to the store and was helped by another employee. She found the frame in storage and as she picked it up she said something to the affect of "omg... this is so heavy." That kind of caught me off guard because the frame itself may weigh 6-7 lbs. max. I wouldn't classify it as being heavy, so I'm only assuming that it was her way of expressing her displeasure that I choose the heavier museum glass vs. the lighter museum acrylic (which was approx. $40 more expensive).....
It was quite a passive aggressive remark that was a precursor to my "customer service" interaction that left me upset and baffled. As I was being shown the work, the employee noticed something off and began brushing away what she thought was dirt or lint on the glass, or perhaps loose dust or dirt within the frame. I too was concerned, but upon her further inspection, it was the fibers and textured speckles/layers of the print paper that looked like dirt... False alarm.
Upon further inspection, I noticed that some areas of the frame mounting and matting was improved, but there were still some minor yet noticeable gaps and waves. To my unfortunate surprise, there were ripples and wrinkles towards the bottom of the print that were not there from my first service. It looked like the print was mishandled and wrinkled. When I pointed this out, the employee helping me said to not worry about it and that it was barely noticeable. I began to share my displeasure and continued disappointment with the frame job. She became more defensive, saying that this is normal and that all prints can never be perfectly flat. I said that I have over 10 prints of varying value and thickness and quality of print material, and that I have never seen or heard this before from a professional framer. She replied that all prints are not the same and that this was different and may be prone to wrinkles when being handled. Her tone became more aggressive as she began to speak quite loudly and unabashedly, quick to defend that the quality of this frame work is "normal" and met her standards.
After expressing more displeasure, she just became more impatient with me and somewhat gave in by asking me if I would like to speak with the store GM. I was already disappointed and really didn't want to have to extend the discussion at that point. I had to get out of there, so I wrapped up the frame and left, knowing that I would call the store GM the next day.
After calling and leaving a message, the store GM got back to me within 10 minutes. After explaining the situation and my experience, she quickly responded by saying to come visit the store when she was in next and that she would take care of the matter. I agreed in hopes that I would get the frame fixed and done properly.
When we spoke at the store, I shared photos of the frame and more info about the interaction with the employee from the previous day. The GM was very apologetic and clearly called out that employees approach and inappropriate response and behavior. Since it was my 3rd service for the frame, the GM offered to fix the situation on the spot. I was offered a complete refund for the frame. The GM's approach was so professional and straight to the point that I was completely surprised and overwhelmed. I was offered to have the frame repaired again by the framing department, but after my experience to this point, I graciously declined. I was given the frame essentially for free, but at the cost of having the print slightly damaged.
I took the frame to a specialty frame store I've used in the past, and they noticed quite quickly, the poor craftsmanship pointing out several reasons as to why the mounting was off and done poorly. read more