Blick Art MaterialsReviews 94

Saturday I awoke to Bank Alerts, Insufficient Funds, and Declined Payments. Without notice, Dick Blick put a hold on my account for $1,172.04. Why? …
The day before Blick charged me $596.74. Blick miscalculated by charging for a $21.44 brush that they did not actually have in stock. No problem, give me a $21 credit. Its not an issue for me! Right?! One brush, a $21 value, no biggie!
No! Amongst themselves, the next day, Blick decided to charge my account an additional $575.30 together with the $596.74 hold totaling $1,172.04., on a Saturday. An account hold for five business days plus two weekend days with absolutely no notice!
Was I able to straighten things out over the phone? No! They told me, "that's our policy." and "we don't have to ask or tell you how often we bill or for how much we bill."
I explained that I was a 25-year loyal customer, never having any disputed charge. They responded, "well, we have no control over your bank. You must be confused about billings and holds. Call your financial institution on Monday."

I've been using Blick Art Materials for decades as a professional artist. I always use the tracking app with both Blick and the shipping company they use, FedEx. I see when my shipments leave Blick, where they go from there and where they are shuffled by FedEx. I also always send Blick a check instead of using a credit card. So, that should take longer because they have to okay my check in a different city and state before shipping my goods. I admit, I have had problems in the past with my shipments but each time I've discovered that it is FedEx that has failed me. I live in Kentucky and worked as a shipper in a nationally know printing company at one time. I know that Blick packages goods well on seeing the packages. The problem is almost always one of two things. The first is the FedEx takes a good deal of time in shuffling your packages from state to state before it gets to you or me. In my case, Illinois to Wisconsin to Indiana then to Kentucky. It's inconvenient but it is what it is. Blick does not cause that. We do when we select a shipping choice. The other problem is that we, the consumer, often don't read reviews of the products and service offered by Blick. The descriptions online are fairly precise and if they aren't enough for the consumer then a phone call before ordering is needed. I've had to deal with FedEx a few times because of shipping damage and if you think Blick's shipping and packing is bad you should try working with FedEx. They are like working with AT&T. You are truly only a number with them. They do nothing to rectify your problem. I've talked to several nice folks when calling Blick and I always have my numbers and full information ready when doing so. Things go smoothly ordinarily. Be sure of what you are ordering before ordering and if any questions arise call them before ordering. Hope all your orders from all companies turn out well.

I've been shopping at Blick, both in-store and online, for about 4 years now. Their service is fantastic, their product lines are great, they maintain their stock, and they have just about anything that any level artist might need. What more could you ask for?!

Bought a 3 64-1/2" W x 1 yd Medium-Weight Primed Cotton Canvas. When I got them it was one roll that I had to try and cut it which I didn't not want to do. I paid extra for 3 of the smaller canvas's so they would be uniform in size. When I called they said it was in the fine print somewhere that if you buy more than one it will come in one roll that you need to cut. I showed them the item and it's says nothing about that. They refused to acknowledge this and refused to make it right or make it clear on the product page so this does not happen to others. Very bad customer service and I will not be buying supplies from them anymore. 4

So I purchased a printing press for my school. I have always received damaged merchandise from this company and received a return but this time it was a printing press the Carton was damaged and on the label stated.do not sign for this if carton is damaged. I called and was told to send email and pictures and would likely be taken care of by a return or a reduction in price. None of this happened in fact they said since I had not experimented with the press I would need to present the damage. They said I could send it back but would have to pay return shipping, Well sending it back was a large sum in which the school could not afford or my activity account. So I decided to use it and never buy anything again from this company. I have only tested it once seems ok but the fact is they have me over a barrel having to pay return shipping in order to replace this item. So beware of this and don't make the same mistake I did.
Thanks Brittany from Blick or dick Blick art materials

Sandy warr

I've purchased artist materials from various sources for many years. I just read where Blick rated low in customer service and timely deliveries. My experience is very favorable and I have eliminated some other sources because they are not as efficient as Blick. I always receive the ordered materials in good condition and quicker than promised. This past summer I ordered items from Blick and Cheap Joe's on the same day. Blick was better than promised and Joe's was received more than a week later. Also, their colored pencils are some of the best available (I have six different brands). Hope this is helpful.

Love this company. Have ordered from them for years. Service is quick... can't help slow postage service!

I am VERY upset and disappointed in this company! Currently, I am teaching K-8 art in a public school. I have 20 years of University teaching experience, a BFA and an MFA in Ceramics, a professional exhibition record in ceramic sculpture, and have taught ceramics to all ages from K-Graduate level in several states. I have mixed my own clay and ordered clay. I have used clay from this company for 30 + years and I have NEVER seem such a mess! I say this because when I received an order of 14 boxes of #25 at my school and opened it to find unusable soupy sticky clay and when I called Dick Blick, sent pictures and asked for usable clay, I was told that the clay looked fine to them. I was told to call back in 5 days to talk to a supervisor. I am right in the middle of clay units RIGHT NOW! The staff who was working today decided not to believe me, my expertise or my pictures. Yet the ONLY way to prove that this clay is unusable is for them to touch it themselves and try to use it with elementary kids themselves. I invited them to drive down here to see for themselves since they do not believe me. Of course that would be out of the question! So, how do I prove that this slop is unusable? How do I make them touch it thorough time and space? How do I get them to care about their customers? I will continue to research clay forums of social media about the down fall of this once great art company. PS the clay in the bin in the photo is not in boxes because the boxes were totally blown out from the soupy clay.

I placed an order for 300 pounds of clay on 8/15/2021, and am yet to receive it 9/13/2021. I paid $125 in shipping and handling. It sat in the warehouse for 10 days with each day a notification that it was going to be delivered the next day. Then, I called Blick customer service and was told I needed to call the shipping company to appointment to schedule a delivery, which I subsequently did. The appointment was for 9/8/2021, and the order did not arrive despite my husband waiting at our home for the 4 hour window. Next, I called the shipping company again on 9/9/2021, and was told by their representative that the freight was lost. Feeling that was unacceptable, I called back to Dick Blick and was told that the freight was not lost, the shipping company did not have a driver available, and that it would be delivered at the latest 9/13/2021 (today). Of course, it did not arrive. After calling customer service a third time today, they "checked" with the shipping company and were told that the delivery hadn't happened because the delivery company did not have my correct address! I am bewildered that the Blick representative considers that an appropriate response from a shipping company 28 DAYS AFTER THE ORDER WAS PLACED. I will never order from them again. I post this as a warning to future customers. I never complain about backorders or delayed shipping, but this has blown my mind.

I've bought a lot of stuff here for the past 25 years but even with changes in the postal service over the years it still annoys me that it takes almost 2 weeks to get my order.

I have been using Dick Blick for all my art supplies for 30 years. I have always been completely satisfied with everything I have ever purchased. Customer service has always been professional and helpful when needed. I had one incident with a shipment where something leaked in a boxed and ruined other items. Customer service quickly handled the situation and sent new replacement items right away. They are very dependable! I highly recommend them.

Initially I had a great experience with ordering the products I needed. However I received a damaged bottle that wasn't packaged properly, open paint leaked everywhere all over the package and dried. It was a mess when I received the package. When I contacted the company they made it sound like it would be a free replacement and then I would be refunded. Well fast forward (I had a couple backordered items as well) I get an email this week that says my PayPal is denying payment, well they were attempting to charge me additional charge for the bottle that they replaced so it's more than the original hold that they had so of course PayPal‘s going to deny it. The man I dealt with was extremely rude & would not attempt to work with me or even understand that it's not the customers fault that someone in your company didn't package and ship an item correctly, the customer shouldn't have to pay for it twice. I was charged, refunded, charged (for their mistake). It should just be refunded & a new replacement sent (that is how other companies work). Therefore I told him to cancel the remainder of my order and I would ship the current package that's been sent to me back when I received it since apparently I didn't pay for it because they tried to bill me incorrectly & for more. This will be the first and last time I ever order from this company and I will be sure to inform anyone else who needs art supplies not to order from them. As you can see in the attached picture if this is how you ship paint products then the company should eat the cost of replacements, not the customer.

Don't order from them, they said on there sight shipping was free if you spent a certain amount I did and they canceled my order without informing me. Yes I checked all my emails and text and no notice about adding shipping to my charges and no notice about canceling my order.

Ordered a few things from them for a college art course, I'm a college student so I don't have much money in the first place. I couldn't go to the physical location because it was a 45 minute drive from my apartment and I didn't have a car. A part of my order I mistakenly ordered the wrong size palette which was about 20+ dollars. I wanted to return it and get the smaller one and I was told I had to pay return shipping to send it back to them. The return shipping was 30+ dollars. The only thing they did to try and fix this was send me a voucher for some in store credit. Well I don't need that in store credit because I'm not shopping there again! Also I first ordered beginning of January and waited... and waited... it wasn't there after a full 2 weeks so I looked to see what was up and they had canceled my order for no reason. By then a few of the things I had ordered were out of stock so I couldn't order them again and this included a smaller palette! So I had to place another order and it took almost three times as long as they said to get here! Whenever I called customer service there response was what "I don't know why that happened, it should be there soon " it made me want to scream! I also payed money for faster shipping because I needed it for a class and that didn't help at all!

Having had several years experience ordering from Blick, I can give them a solid 5 stars. Always willing to help, accepts and /or replaces items as appropriate. And helpful & polite on the phone. (This is a 2 way street). Store employees are similarly friendly and helpful.(Tampa Store). During covid they are wiping down frequently touched surfaces at 2hour intervals. Prices are usually excellent so I check their website before anyplace else. I AM a Blick preferred customer and recommend it for savings at brick and mortar locations.

They ship the slowest possible method, despite charging for shipping. Their shipping page makes you think it will ship FedEx Ground, which is absolutely not the same as SmartPost. You will wait an extra week and Usps will probably misplace your package for a month.

I received 2 gift cards for Xmas for DickBlick art supply. I'm an artist, so I was excited about spending them. I placed an order on Jan. 5th and everything went downhill from there. 1st this site takes it's time sending your order information. So then I wondered did the order even go through or not. Some days later they finally inform me the majority of what I ordered was on back order! Keep in mind they just had a big sale, but clearly didn't plan for the supply demand. I could have dealt with that, but then they had another big sale with the very same items being offered, but they can't fill my order. That's just plain poor business practice on their part. Information on the backordered items were like an up and down seesaw, as the dates would move all over the place. When calling for the order status and the remaining balance on the gift cards I was left on hold and on the phone for over a total of 3 hours all in! I was even told one guy in their accounting office would call me back to correct things, he never did. And some of the customer service reps did not update their records after my phone calls with them. One again not a good business practice. For heaven sakes how hard can something so simple be? Their system is very clunky not only for customers, but also for their employees. For instance one item finally landed on a actual date as to it's availability come May! I choose to cancel that part of the order, because after all what artist want's to wait 5 months to receive their much needed supplies? In turn adjusting my gift card balance took more time on the phone and an act of god to resolve it... really! So then I ordered a replacement item for the one canceled, once again everything flipped up side down. Even though I had entered my GC numbers accurately, their site kept insisting on charging the whole balance to my CC! More phone calls were needed to straighten that out. Finally a final order was placed and has yet to arrive. Come the end of this week it will have been 2 months without total resolution. And if you think I'm being critical and picky, I would like you to consider that I've placed 3 orders with Jerry's Artarama in the meantime, which were received with the week of placing said orders without without any issue. That's the way a well run system should work. DickBlick has lost my business forever.