They DO NOT tell customers plainly on the front page that you have to assemble your canvas photo frame yourself.
You are sent a cheap wooden frame that just slots together.
You are expected to have a proper staple gun.
They issue cheap plastic wedges to help stretch the canvas.

Waste of money.

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T N. there's a discussion going on here about that very thing: http://www.sitejabber.com/reviews/www.my-picture.co.uk#conversation-tab

9/1/11  •  Votes (0)

S B. How and where do we start a Sitejabber discussion dedicated to "Reading the FAQs"? It seems that many complaints are due to the lack of just that.

9/1/11  •  Votes (1)

Jackie W. I'll second this ^. If yu don't research you product throughly online, you're likely yo get stung. There is a reason why it's cheaper than their competiors, noting in leif is free!

9/1/11  •  Votes (1)

Jackie W. life*

9/1/11  •  Votes (0)

Gavin A. Buyer beware, but if a product is at risk of being mis-sold, it's the website that's at fault.

12/24/11  •  Votes (0)

john r. I have't yet even received a picture. I ordered it in november

1/10/12  •  Votes (0)

Gavin A. Don't worry, the colours will be faded when it does arrive. Sorry!

1/10/12  •  Votes (0)

Victoria g. They are an awf

1/31/12  •  Votes (0)

Found this great looking website, quoting fast delivery, ordered my canvas of my puppy 2 weeks ago, still waiting. I have been lucky enough to be given tracking numbers , which are 'like this company' Bogus, and now have filed a dispute with paypal, DO NOT USE.

PS. I do have a staple gun and picture hooks I can loan if you have been lucky enough to receive your canvas

Ordered over a week ago, still havent heard anything, I have emailed them, they did not reply and I have called the number on my email receipt , it's not a real number, don't use.

I am so appalled at the deception of these dreadful people. This morning i received my canvas in a long tall box complete with crappy loose bits of wood that arnt even the size i ordered. No-where on website does it state that you have to stretch the canvas over the cheap crappy fame yourself. These people are con artists and i hope their business goes to pot. absolutely distgusting

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sam b. nb* wrote 2 emails and have not had a reply

8/15/11  •  Votes (0)

sam b. sucess at last!! i promised my picture.co.uk that i would mention that i have received a full refund. I also received a full apology. done

8/18/11  •  Votes (0)

Anna O. You are lucky. I have sent loads of emails only to be told I won't get a refund, They have not replaced the frames that don't fit either. My credit card is now dealing.

8/23/11  •  Votes (0)

sam b. I was so angry Anna, I went berserk! Have to say that the 2 emails I sent were very direct ( in capitols!) and I mentioned that i would make it my life long mission to inform as many people as I could about their service. I was amazed when they emailed to apologise and offered me a refund, i have to say i waited 24 hrs for it and then emailed again to give them a nudge. I think they were just happy to get rid of me. Even if you don't get any joy at least this website and the whole experience has taught us a lesson, I am very careful now and always read EVERYTHING before i order. Hate being ripped off!!

8/23/11  •  Votes (0)

Anna O. Yes, I hate being ripped off. I will always read reviews before I buy from the internet again., I have sent 2 more emails, still no reply. ~Not holding out much hope of a replacement or refund :-(

8/25/11  •  Votes (0)

K M. How long did it take for your canvasses to arrive Sam and Anna?

8/27/11  •  Votes (0)

Anna O. Not long, I think only 1 week. Good luck!

8/31/11  •  Votes (0)

sam b. mine only took a few days, i have found another company called canvas4life, within 2 mins of looking i realised that it is a proper photo to canvas company and the whole process takes 2 mins. its very thorough and you get to see your canvas through each stage until the end result. have ordered one small one to see how it turns out, if im pleased i will order more for xmas and post on here to let you know that there are decent companys out there x

9/6/11  •  Votes (0)

sam b. sadly i jumped the enthusiastic gun with the above company, its been 12 days and im still waiting for my canvas! i keep being promised it will come tomorrow. Phone answered by an american lady ( its a free phone number thankfully) and she didnt even ask me my name, just took the ref number and said tomorrow ! still waiting! grr

9/15/11  •  Votes (0)

tina b. What is the telephone number as I am having the same problems

11/25/11  •  Votes (0)

Adele C. Yes please share the telephone number, I would be very grateful :-(

11/25/11  •  Votes (0)

sam b. phone number is on the website, you will prob not get much joy tho judging from the amount of disgruntled customers. can highly recomment canvas4life, they are fantastic and ive ordered 3 canvases from them for xmas.

11/25/11  •  Votes (0)

I received my canvas and when it arrived i thought that's a funny size box for a canvas frame. When i opened the long box, there was a rolled canvas and 4 pieces of wood and lots of pieces to put the canvas together myself. Well, talk about being disappointed! I have spoken and sent various email to this company and as you can see there are other people who are as happy with it as me!!!
Don't use them, they haven't got it sorted and the canvas isn't exactly good, so thoroughly disappointed !! There are no details on their front home page about DIY canvases!!

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K M. How long

8/26/11  •  Votes (0)

K M. How long did it take for your canvas to arrive? I ordered mine on 17th Aug, have not received my shipping number yet and have sent 2 emails but have had no reply.

8/26/11  •  Votes (0)

S B. They actually say in the FAQs that you will have ot put it together yourself.

"How is the canvas affixed on the frame?
The Canvas has to be fastened on the supplied stretcher frame hence; no picture frame is required. We also provide you with detailed instructions to help you assemble the canvas, as well as wedges, which are canvas tightening keys. Please note, that a staple gun is not included in your order. If you do not hold a staple gun, we recommend to use drawing pins."

8/31/11  •  Votes (0)

This site is an absolute disgrace. They mislead you into thinking you are buying a stretched canvas print and yet all you receiev is the print and 4 loos pieces of wood which you are expected to somehow put together yourself! Framing a canvas print is a skilled trade - not something anyone can do.

Their hole website is geared towards leading you to believe that you will be recieiving a fully sretched canvas print. All the images suggest this.

This website should not be allowed to exist like it does currently.

Votes (2)  •  Comments (1)  •  Link to this review

Emma W. I don't know if their website has changed since but it does say on their homepage that the canvas prints aren't stretched. Its a shame because they have a perfect canvas size for my photo, the only problem is I don't know how to stretch canvases - I would rather pay more for this service instead of do it myself and probably end up ruining my print... I was going to contact them just to ask if they could do it for an extra charge but nowhere on their web site lists their contact details?!?!?!???

3/18/11  •  Votes (0)

Hi - i used this company and read a lot of bad reviews written by people that didnt really research the product.
I orderd three fairly large prints, one that was taken on my iphone and they were delivered in 5 days - good quality prints and very happy with them, the frames were of good quality.
And seeing as all this came to £140 - and i saved around £100 on other companies with the same service, i invested in a staple gun and canvas pliers (£15).
I took the pictures myself, made the canvas myself and it makes the product more personal.
I would recommend this company absolutely, only slight glitch was delivery was 5 days and not 2, but lets be honest this isnt a problem at all.

The bas reviews on here are clearly down to people not researching what they were buying.
Please don't be put off with assembling the product itself, its reasonably easy, and you don't really need the canvas pliers, however a staple is very handy.

Dont be put off by the reviews of this company, but bear in mind they arent built but the product is very good for the money.

Ordered picter fine. One star for ease of ordering. No stars for trying to contact the company, Paid extra for stronger frame It arrived broken was made up of two thin pieces of frame badly stapled together. No idea that I had to put it together, The "linen canvas is made out of platic type material)
They did manage to take the money and get the delivery address right so maybe another halh a star

I ordered a canvas of my new grandaughter from this site. I knew that I had to put it together. I received it within 8-10 days. My daughter was so delighted with the canvas that she ordered one straight away for her in-laws christmas and once again it was delivered about 8 - 10 days later and was also very acceptable. For the money that we paid we really didn't accept such a good quality print and also remember it is free p + p. I suggest if your looking for really great quality then maybe you should be willing to pay for it!!

Contrary to many of the other negative comments I have read on here about this site, I was aware that I would have to assemble the frame myself, and my order arrived incredibly quickly (3 days after ordering).

However, there were problems with 2 of the 5 prints I ordered. One was a very small problem that, for the price I paid, I am prepared to live with - there was a tiny black mark on the print, maybe 2mm long, in an area where you wouldn't really notice it unless you knew it was there,

The other issue was more serious - a large dirty black smear across the face of the person in the photo. I emailed and called, and initially got no reply. They did eventually respond, asking for me to send them photos of the problem. Having read the FAQs I was aware of what was required and I had actually attached the necessary photos to my original email (the one they replied to!). I responded again and have, so far, heard nothing.

The customer service leaves a lot to be desired.

I also think it is very misleading that you place an order through a .CO.UK website, in English, only to find you're actually ordering from a German company (in Cologne). I didn't find out until my order was dispatched and I used the tracking information they supplied. Had I known this in advance, I wouldn't have ordered from my-picture.co.uk. Concerns over international delivery times and my inability to speak German (to resolve any potential problems) would have stopped me using this site.

In practise, the delivery times were not a problem. However my concerns around contacting the customer support team are proving justified... I am not sure if it's a language thing, or if they are just ignoring my emails. Either way - it's not great.

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Jon W. Thought I should finish the story... I did eventually get my replacement canvas, but it took in excess of a month from the date I originally placed the order. The customer services people are polite and appear to be helpful, but they just aren't very effective. My replacement canvas was apparently printed and dispatched but the tracking number I received showed it was never received by the delivery company. So they printed and dispatched it again. Same story, delivery company didn't receive it... Eventually I threatened to to dispute my PayPal payment and (surprise, surprise) I received the replacement 3 days later.

Avoid this company! The few pounds you may save isn't worth the hassle!

11/15/11  •  Votes (0)

Adele C. Hi Jon,

Please could you forward the telephone number or advise on how I can get it? Unfortunately I never paid through paypal so may not get a refund. Really wish I had read you review first. :-(

11/25/11  •  Votes (0)

Jon W. This is the contact information listed at the bottom of the customer services emails I received. I never got a response to any of my phone calls. They did eventually respond to emails sent to the address below, but it took them a while. Good luck!

support@my-picture.co.uk
United Arts Ltd.
Vogelsanger Straße 68a
50823 Cologne
Germany
Tel: +49.1805.226827* (Monday - Friday, 11.00 - 15.00 GMT)
Fax: +49.1805.226828

11/25/11  •  Votes (0)

Adele C. Thank you so much! :-)

11/25/11  •  Votes (0)

Only gave 1 star because no stars not available.

WORST company I have ever used - doesn't tell you it is not assembled. It is the most badly made frame I have ever seen - does not even fit together and the printed picture is of terrible quality. It si suitbale only as landfill

Asked for a refund and got told - no we're a German company and we don't have to refund.

What a load of thieving conmen AVOID AVOID AVOID at all costs.

What a con everything about this product and company absolutely stink!!!!!

E-mailed them half a dozen times and phoned,needless to say fraudulent

The photograph i had blown onto canvas was a lovely picture of my daughters 18th and 21st birthday party I was so disapointed with the quality of the canvas crap quality creased in the middle,frayed, white streaks,and "red eye" that i actually threw it straight in the bin total waste of time and money i wish i'd given the money to charity.

Avoid at all costs

Okay so I made an order about 4 days ago and after reading the reviews i'm only really scared of my order not being delivered for weeks. As for having to assemble them yourself i have 2 comments on that.
1) I can understand that would be really inconvenient for customers who have printed photo's of family and friends to put on their wall. I, however, think it'll be pretty neat having to make my own canvas of my photography work. It'll make it seem a bit more personal to me.
2) For the price they're offering how can you really complain anyway?

I'm definitely not rating this site very highly and as i said i'm very concerned with the delivery time and hope this isn't a problem for me as it was for others.

Awful company!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have been waiting for 1 month for a canvas, when I first queried it I was told 'technical problems' then I was advised I would receive it within 2 weeks, and surprise surprise I'm still waiting!!! Dispute opened with paypal, so I'll hopefully get my money back! Worst company ever!!!!!!!

Read the reviews here after ordering and was a bit worried, but had a pretty good experience so thought I'd share, for a bit of balance. Ordering online was easy, and I *did* notice that the company was based in Europe, and that part of the reason the prices are so much cheaper, and delivery is free, is that the frames are self-assembly - it's not advertised but it's not hidden, if you read the information on the site you'll see it.
Order was dispatched within a day or so, I was given a tracking number for a German courier, which allowed me to follow the package all the way to being delivered a couple of working days after that, the UK bit of the journey was completed by ParcelForce. I was impressed with the delivery, especially considering it's free/ covered in the (cheap) cost of the canvas.
The frame is what you'd expect - 4 pieces of measured and machines wood, lightweight but reasonable quality, certainly strong enough to hold the canvas tight and dense enough to take a pin or a staple. I needed a pair of hands, some drawing pins and about 10 minutes to assemble the frame and wrap the canvas, no specialist equipment - the frame slots together by hand and drawing pins or tacks do an admirable job around the back.
Is it is professional, tidy and tight as if I'd paid a pro to do it? Maybe not, probably an 8 out of 10, but once it's up on the wall frankly I don't think I'd know the difference. With a steady hand, and a bit more time, you could probably get that up to a 9 without any specialist skills or tools, and if you've done it before and/or have a suitable stapler and stretching pliers you probably know what you're doing already, and could turn out a mount every bit as good as what you'd buy - but you're saving probably 30- 40% or more.
The printing is acceptable to good, rather than outstanding, but I'm comparing that to photo prints which is perhaps unfair. Again, once it's up on the wall it looks good. Some excess ink wasn't fixed properly so I got slightly inky hands mounting it, and I imagine if you have a high contrast image you might be worried about getting ink on the lighter parts of the canvas, but it didn't happen to me, and I couldn't see any issues/artifacts with the image.
I can't comment on support, as I didn't need it.
The only comment I would make is you probably don't need to bother with the £5 wall fixings set they offer on checkout - this is a standard picture mounting kit you could pick up for a quid - two small metal loops which can be screwed onto the back of the frame, and a length of string to run between them, together with a strip of serrated metal and two wall screws to hang the string on. Many people will, like me, just want to know they have everything they need, but I wouldn't bother next time.
Overall, a very good way of getting a super-cheap large image up on your wall, if you want something cheap and good, rather than expensive and excellent - as with all things you get what you pay for and for me this was the best value.

1) "48h delivery" I waited over 3 weeks. The site implies it's british (.co.uk), but is based in Germany. They didn't volunteer pictures would be late, I had to chase them and then I got generic emails citing "technical problems" without any firm specific info. Birthday present was 2 weeks late
2) You get bits of canvas and a self assembly frame. No pins/staples and you have to sort it out yourself. This is only apparent low down in the FAQs and no info about this when you buy (site implies you get finished product). I think a case of mis-selling. It is quite fiddly to mount your own canvas and many people wouldn't be up to it
3) Canvases had poor colour and resolution.
4) The instructions were terrible

I was extremely pleased with the delivery & print UNTIL...I noticed a blatant mark on my canvas right on the face of the picture! I was so upset as this was a present for my husband for his birthday and I clearly couldn't use it! I contacted them as soon as I opened the box. Still had no response and am still waiting for a response!! I would not recommend this company to anyone! I feel extremely let down as I was fully aware that I had to assemble the canvas myself but was very upset with the quality of print.

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Catherine A. I would like to say that I was contacted by the company today and they are sending me a replacement canvas.

10/4/11  •  Votes (0)

Jonno M. How hard was it to stretch the canvas yourself?

10/11/11  •  Votes (0)

Catherine A. I would love to be able to tell you but I'm still waiting for my replacement canvas to arrive!!!

10/16/11  •  Votes (0)

I can honestly say that I had no problem with this company, the product was of good quality and it was delivered well packaged and in a reasonable time.
I am a practical person and yes I can see that it could be a little bit of a difficult task to put the first one together, but I found it pretty easy (using the supplied instructions) I had it hanging on the wall within half an hour.
John C

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Elizabeth R. Thanks John, that's encouraging! I ordered 2 prints a week ago (I hadn't googled any reviews then!) and I haven't yet received them and now I'm worrying!! I too am practical and putting together is not a problem. How long did your delivery take and what's the image quality like?? Regards, Elizabeth

10/1/11  •  Votes (1)

Jonno M. I agree. I see all these bad reviews which are worrying but i think it's because they didn't know there order had to be assembled. The thing i am worried about is waiting a month for my order.

10/11/11  •  Votes (0)

Give this bunch of cowboys (no offence to cowboys!) a wide berth. 2-4 days delivery?? Try 2-4 weeks and still waiting :-( A disgrace.

always read the small print... im a web designer and companies love hiding important information... this site clearly states that this is self assembly ( and at the price you are paying does it matter?) I have ordered my Canvas and im sure will take less than 5 minutes to assemble

Ill let you know how I get on !!

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Jon W. I agree - the info is on the site... However, it will definitely take you more than 5 minutes to put it together. It took me that long to find the tools I needed! (A hammer and a staple gun are both essential.) Once I had the tools, the first one took me 15 - 20 minutes. The subsequent ones took about 10 minutes each. It's not particularly difficult, but it requires some patience and attention to details in order to make sure you get a good finish - folding the corners of the canvas can be particularly tricky to get right.

10/20/11  •  Votes (0)

Billy S. Canvas came - took longer than expected but excellent quality - took me about 10 minutes to assemble after borrowing a staple gun. Very cheap for what you get, I sell these myself and for the size i ordered i would be looking for at least £80, only paid £28 so a bargain in my eyes.

10/20/11  •  Votes (0)