Blick Art Materials

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.)

I have been ordering from Blick for a few years. When they made a mistake in my order they quickly showed their true colors as a company. Their "customer care" deptartment is nonexistent, unhelpful, and actually rude. So, the result is losing a customer, poor reviews, and spreading their poor business practice across the artist community by word of mouth. Very unfortunate that they made the choice to treat their cutomers in this manner when we have so many other online stores to choose from.

I ordered a tube of paint and a set of paintbrushes for a christmas gift on black friday. I had it sent to my home while I was away in school so that I could wrap it when I arrived for the holidays. When I opened the box, I had received the correct tube of paint, but instead of my $50 paint brush set, got a $3 acrylic marker. There was also no return slip, receipt, or order slip in the box.

I called my local store for help and they said they couldn't do anything for me. They gave me a customer service number to call which left me on hold for 15 minutes before I was told that I had to call a different number. I asked them if they would be open for me to talk to them and they assured me twice they would be open. I called and the the center had already closed.

I usually love Blick, so I'm disappointed with the rabbit hole they've put me in, and I now don't have a gift for my mother.

I have been a Blick customer for years, but lately I avoid them if at all possible. Between their slow processing time (2 - 3 days) and terrible shipping (FedEx DumbPost) service, I've pretty much had it with them. I live in Florida and it takes, on average, 9 days to receive my order. Sure I could spend another $3 on the "upgraded" shipping, but even then my order doesn't arrive in a timely manner.

On top of that, when you check out, your cart says that your items are "in stock and reserved" This is a load of bs. I ordered 2 of one item and am only being shipped one despite the "in stock" message.
I prefer Jerry's Artarama, but sadly they do not carry some of the things I need. I suppose I will continue to deal with Blick's lousy shipping and processing time whenever I need specific things

I ordered a selection of black light paints and a large container of gesso from DickBlick last month. When the package arrived, I was disappointed to find that the black light acrylics were very transparent, requiring coat after coat to render the color somewhat opaque, but not quite. The gesso, however, was wonderful. I called customer service and was told that they would not refund my money, even though I had used very little of the product. I looked through the packaging and found the return slip which I filled out, along with my complaint, and sent the black light acrylics back to them, shipping at my expense, in hopes they would give me somewhat of a refund. It's been three weeks, and I have not heard a peep.
Just a few days after writing this review, I was contacted by a DB rep who was extremely helpful in procuring a full refund. She apologized for the horrendous treatment I received and even mailed me a $15 credit for the next purchase I make with DB. Ok, I accept their apology, and will definitely give them another shot. How about treating your customers right to begin with, guys?

For eleven day now, I've been trying to post a negative review of the Blair pastel fixative that I bought from Blick's, that ruined several drawings. Each time I click "post review" a flag appears that says an error has occurred and to try again later. I wonder if I'd have the same problem if I were posting a positive review. Just a question but I know what I think.

Ordered three oil brushes from blick web page on the 16th of February... they were shipped from Illinois and are expected to arrive here on the 27... 11 days to go from Illinois to California... what slow service hard to justify using Dick Blick to purchase art supplies when you can go to Amazon or others and get far better service... really disappointed...

The shipping algorithm used by DickBlick is extraordinarily inefficient. We will not be doing business with this company again.

Wow! A customer service rep yelling at me because they didn't ship the order correctly? Incredible. I'll be doing my business elsewhere next year.

When they get my order right, it's great. More often than not, there is some type of issue. Their policy of holding the ENTIRE order for one back ordered item is ridiculous. Any other online retailer I've ordered from will send you what is in stock and the rest will come later. I also don't really like how they don't actually charge your card until they go to ship. On a few occasions there has been an issue with the card I have through my credit union, and instead of finding out immediately I find out later. So annoying. A few weeks ago I ordered a copper plate, was sent the wrong size, it took forever to get the new one, and then when I got the right one it was bent! Instead of trying to get them to fix it, I just went to the effort of flattening it out myself. On my most recent order I paid for overnight shipping, and I was on the phone with reps making sure my payment had gone through and was told everything was fine. It wasn't. I have the charge on two different cards now and no order. When I argued my point on the phone, the rep didn't even entertain the idea that it was their fault and I was entitled to a reimbursement of some shipping. When you pay 40+ dollars for shipping and it doesn't actually get there overnight, that is incredibly frustrating. If it's not here tomorrow, I guess I'm going to have to be one of those nasty customers on the phone, which I try not to be. This will probably be the last time I order from DB. I will drive two hours to the nearest decent art store and save myself the headache.