Elizabeth S.

I usually don't have trouble with Blick. Choice of supplies is very good and while they lack in some areas, they are still better than most art supply chains. However, their customer service leaves something to be desired. Recently I purchased a VanDyke Brown from Utrecht. These are supposed to be artist-grade oil paints. Generally, I'm pretty happy with Utrecht, but this paint was sub-par. VanDyke Brown should be almost black and this was low on pigment. When I complained, I was told I would need to return the item at my own expense since it was "not defective." I've spent literally thousands of dollars at Blick over the years and responses like this make me feel like I am not valued as a customer. I would have appreciated having the value of the paint applied toward a better brand. I was also working towards a tight deadline, which I mentioned in my email and which CS ignored completely. Makes me wish Amazon carried more art supplies as they generally treat me with much more respect as a customer, even though I spend far less money there. I've started searching for alternate venues to purchase my art supplies. Happily I found that Masterpiece carries a much more extensive range of canvases on their own site than Blick does on theirs. Not with the discounts that Blick offers at times, but it might be worth it to get away from the headaches of dealing with Blick customer service.

This is not the first time I've had an issue like this. I purchased a varnish that damaged a painting. I felt as if CS treated me as if I was stupid and knew nothing about varnishing paintings. They then charged the wrong debit card and created and overdraft issue with my bank. (They didn't bother to ask me before charging or tell me they were going to charge me for a replacement varnish.)