When my mother died earlier this year I inherited a family heirloom - a 16" x 20" framed picture of "The Black Madonna." The picture is not rare and worth only about $100 or so as many of these posters were printed in the 1880s and many are still around. The picture has importance, though, to our family as it was one of the few possessions my great grandmother took with her as she escaped communist Russia in the early 1900s.
When I received it I able to easily take the poster out of the frame for a closer look. The poster was in very good condition other than a couple of original crease marks. I noticed that the backing consisted of the front section of the Milwaukee Journal from 1919. I was able to page through the newspaper and thought it would be interesting to save it. The frame, however, was damaged and I wanted to have the poster matted and reframed.
I took the picture to SB Framing Gallery in Milwaukee. I never heard of this gallery but noticed that is was a member of the Professional Picture Framers Association. While the quote was over $600, which seemed high, I handed over my picture assuming they would handle this project in a professional manner.
When I picked up the picture the owner said that It's beautiful, you're going to love it! When I looked at the picture I noticed a damaged area about the size of a one-inch circle in the middle of the picture. It seems that the owner's strategy was to pretend that the damage didn't occur and hope I didn't notice it. I asked her what that damage was from and she said the poster stuck to the original glass and was damaged removing the poster. Something may have happened at her store but I was easily able to remove the poster from the frame and glass when I originally inspected the poster.
I understand mistakes happen. An acceptable comment to the customer should have been, "I'm sorry we damaged your print there will be no charge," or "I'm sorry we damaged your print we will only charge you for the material." But to attempt to ignore the damage in hopes the customer walks away without noticing is unprofessional and way beyond the pale.
When I returned home I also notice that the old copy of the newspaper was missing. I called the store and the owner told me that the newspaper crumbled upon touching it. I told her that that was not the case as I was able to read the newspaper when I reviewed it. I told her I would like to pick up what ever was remaining of the newspaper. She stated "Sorry but we no longer have the newspaper."
If you are looking to have something framed, and its value is something greater than zero, please think twice before using these incompetent, unprofessional, lying hacks. read more
