While it's true that "You can’t please all of the people all of the time" we believe that picture framers do have certain legal, 
ethical and professional obligations in their picture framing practices. Legally, they have to practise sound standards of honesty in all transactions and avoid using false, inaccurate or misleading terms, descriptions or claims. Ethically, they must properly care for all customers' artwork in their keeping and produce picture frames equal or superior to the quality of displayed samples. Professionally, they should maintain a dignity of manner and behaviour in the presentation of services and in all other forms of professional conduct.
So what can all this translate to for a picture framer in his or her everyday, picture framing trade and practices?
The first point is about honesty during customer consultations. That means, not only not telling deliberate lies, but also, not to mislead or take sale shortcuts. If customers place picture framing orders conditional on being supplied glass which "never" fades photographs, they must be educated as to the limitations of all glazing materials. They need to know that fading can never be completely eliminated, only retarded, no matter which type of glass will be selected.
Telling a customer that photographs glazed with UtraViolet-protection glass will never fade is untruthful, if not downright dishonest. The point is about being fair in all dealings with customers. If a picture framer makes a mistake with a picture frame, or overcuts, or overcrops or accidentally damages a customer's art, he or she should tell the customer what happened and negotiate a satisfactory outcome. Merely framing that art so that no-one will notice is unethical.
The third and last point is about personal decency and pride in one’s craft, if not profession. Petty, profiteering shortcuts and subterfuges such as switching cheaper matboards, gluing down instead of hinging, or dry instead of wet joining, lower the picture framing industry’s standards and contribute to the public’s loss of faith in one of the last, true, often home-grown and home-made, occupations. Thank you for r eading this post "Beware of shonky picture framers and dodgy picture framing practices!".
Talk about rip offs!!! I went to a Melbourne city picture framer last weekend who was advertising on pamphlets and leaflets about a huge fire sale. He was clearing 16×20 photo frames and A1 poster frames for a few dollars each. When I went to the store on Sunday afternoon I couldn’t find the frames and had to ask for help. I got told that the sizes I wanted had "all sold out". When I asked when they would get some more in they said to leave my details and that they would email me. In the meantime, a shop assistant said, they could make the frames I wanted. When I asked them if these would be the same price they said no and hit me with the prices of $68 and $143 respectively. When I complained they said that custom picture framing was always dearer. Well, I say, maybe, but 9 time the price? Anyway when I asked how many of their special frames they sold they got evasive and would give me straight answer. This makes me think that never had any oft hose super cheap frames to start off with !!!
Interesting post you have here. First one of this kind I’ve seen on a picture framer’s site anywhere. I also have a picture framing horror story. I got a shopping centre picture framer to do me an ornate silver picture frame last year for a wedding present. I ordered and was invoiced for the frame to have a white mat inside. When I picked up my frame, it didn’t have a mat. I explained this to the new store owner who at first insisted that I didn’t order the mat. When he was shown the invoice clearly stating the price and colour of the mat he said that they would have to make a new, bigger frame and that it would cost too much to redo. He then offered me a 10% discount on my $238 picture frame. When I declined and asked either for either my money back or a new, corect frame he said that it wasn’t "his" fault as they didn’t do their own picture framing, they were just an agency !!! But the girl who served me earlier on told me that did do the own framing !! Anyway this went back and forth for about 3 months and in the end I had to complain to Consumer Affairs Victoria. They got involved and eventually (5 months after) I got my refund. The lesson of my story is that shopping centres picture framers aren’t picture framer at all. They don’t make their own picture frames and just get others or outside factories to do these for them! I will never go to another shopping centre picture framer again !!!!
My story is almost like the first one in this post. I got a lady framer in Brunswick to give me a picture framing quote over the phone. By the way, some picture framers now have picture frames wizards in their sites where you can do your own quotes and you don’t need to ring. But anyway I wanted a 16×20 photo of my dog framed in an inexpensive black frame. She said that the standard 2 cm black frame would do and quoted me $39. I went to her store at the weekend and wanted to go ahead with the quote. But that’s when she said that the frame she quoted on would be out of stock for a few weeks and started suggesting other, more expensive, Italian frames. I said to her that all I wanted something cheap and that’s when then turned hight and mighty. She said she only did "top" work with "quality" materials and that if I wanted something "cheap" I’d come to the wrong shop. When I replied that all I wanted was picture framing as per the original quote she started to get narky. I got pissed off as well, threatened to report her to Consumer Affairs for false representations and got asked to leave her store. Anyway I did report her but never heard back from anyone. That picture framer tried to con me!!!
There’s a picture framer in Collins St., Melbourne who’s pretty shifty if not downright dodgy. I had a large, horse racing carnival photo framed with a very nice Spanish frame and double mats which cost me $885. When it came to pay, I used my business Amex card. I know that retailers always charge about 3 or 5% surcharge and I also know that if it’s more, they warn you so as to give you the choice of switching to a cheaper card. Well when I paid for my picture no one said anything to me so I assumed the surcharge was about that. But when I got my statement weeks later, the surcharge was 9% !!!!! I then rang the framer and challenged him about it. He started giving me rubbish about me my signing his Terms and Conditions on the Picture Framing Order and that he couldn’t help me. When I told him that he should warn customers about his store’s excessively high charge he got defensive and aggro more or less saying that if maybe I shouldn’t keep Amex if I couldn’t afford it. He totally couldn’t see the point that a 9% surcharge is obscene !!!!!!!!!!! I complained to Amex about him !!!!
Only about 8 months ago I got a series of collage family photo portraits in 2 big photo frames. I picked them up, they were Ok and I paid. A couple of weeks ago some of the photos dropped out from the picture mats. I went back to the picture framer (in Nunawading) to get it fixed. But when I got there the business had changed hands and the new owners would not honour the previous owner’s guarantee. They said I would have to contact the former owner myself. They gave me his number and when I rang him he said that the new owners had to fix the work as they also bought the consumer payments and 1 year warranties with the business. But the new owners said no and would not help me with wanted unless I paid $88 for each picture to be fixed. I’m so pissed off!!!!
Got my grandad’s digger stuff and old photos framed up at Christmas. Most of it was old, original stuff, Army discharge papers, leave tickets, etc. Went to the nearest framer down from where I am in Geelong. Got it framed, took it home, happy as Larry. A few weeks later an old family friend of ours saw an Army document in the frame which was very important that he wanted a copy of fo rthe university. He wanted to borrow the picture frame with all the stuf in it, take it to his lab, make copies, put everything back and return the frame to us. A few days ore so later he emailed me with photos. Apparently he couldn’t take the documents off because everything was stuck, glued or bonded together. He asked me why didn’t I get archival framing done. I said what’s that? It turns out that the moron picture framer I took al my stuff to get picture framed never explained this option to me !! When I went back to the shop to complain, the framer said that archival picture framing is expensive, that few people want it and that I didn’t ask for it. But our family friend, who’s in the arts field, explained to me that every picture framer worth his or her salt, -always- asks or tells customers about this option, especially when antique, valuable or important items are involved. Then it’s up to the customer to decide on the type of framing they want done. I never got that option thanks to our stupid country framer!!
How about glueing down my priceless 1990 Collingwood footy jumpers for insane, mindless, vandalistic framing practices? I took my beloved jumper to a Ballarat framer for framing 2 years ago. Never had anything much framer before but my mum had stuff done here before. Anyway I paid $635 to get it framed, together with my attendance ticket. I picked it up, paid for it and that was fine. About a year later at a family dinner someone noticed faint stains under the white stripes. Rang the framer who said not to worry, all jumpers go like that after a while. The stains kept getting darker and the original picture framer said that was jut "normal". So I took it to a Richmond city framer who does a lot of footy memorabilia. He opened the frame in front of me and then we saw that the Ballarat framer had CUT THE BACK OF THE JUMPER AND GLUED THE SIGNED TOP TO A PLYWOOD PANEL WITH EPOXY RESIN !!! The f****** IDIOT !!!!!
My whinge’s about a picture framer in St. Kilda. I left her 2 canvases to be stretched and framed. Said it’d take 2 weeks. After I hadn’t heard for 3 weeks I called her. Said she was very busy that she’d finish them that Saturday. Called in on that day. She wasn’t There and neither were my canvases. The counter guy said she’d "gone away for a few days". I left my number -again- for her to call me. No call after 3 days so I started to leave messages. Got called back by someone who said that she was sick. Anyway this crap went on for another 6 weeks. Managed to catch her at the store on a Friday afternoon. Turn out that she couldn’t "find" my canvases. Claimed that workers had dome some carpentry , moved shelves, stuff and carted materials away. She tried to brush me off saying that my canvases were "just" overseas touristy stuff and not really valuable. The cow offered me a $50 store gift voucher for my stuff !!! Unbelievable, the arrogance !!! Anyway took her to VCAT, I won, but am still waiting for my $365 payment order !!!
Another shonky trick to be aware of is the switching of matboards. Generally picture framers stock cheap, Chinese production mat-boards and expensive U.S. rag mat matboards. They pretty much look and feel the same but the US boards can be 5 times the price of the cheaper boards. I sell a lot of fine art and even I find it hard to tell the difference sometimes. Recently, a northern suburbs picture framer ( whom I won’t name and shame ) switched boards on me. When I challenged the framer he said that that his assistant had done the frame and that he’d switched boards as he’d run out of stock. Fine I said but why didn’t they tell me and reduce the frame price? Framer said they’d just forgotten. Needless to say I’m now going somewhere else for my conservation picture framing.