Redbubble Calenders

[helen]

I have never tried the Edge or Nulab, but have used DW. I did test prints with a few different labs and DW came out far better than anyone else. DW had every bit of detail printed, lines in buildings, white hairs on dogs etc, that ended up as blobs with other printers. Would be interesting to do a test print with edge and nulab though

ETA DW service for me has been brilliant. I have phoned a couple of times for advice and had excellent service, every time I have sent a print (always get them in early) they have been sent the same day. Only delay I ever had was the other day with Australia Post truck blockages

Edited December 19, 2009 by helen

[Ashanali]

There is a looooong and ongoing thread about DW on another forum I am on. This is just one of the more mild (and shorter) responses in the thread

I had huge probs with my mounts last year- so much so that I was told I am no longer allowed to order them as I will never be happy with them! DW is great but if there is a problem they are the worst to deal with as it is never their fault

I understand their quality it good which is why I've been tempted in the past, but one of my pet hates is sloppy service. That is only one person in the thread, there are other similar stories where everything is good then all of a sudden it's very bad... I don't want to chance it.

[helen]

Lucky I am only getting prints LOL

[PossumCorner]

PC -why aren't you using a pro lab like 'The Edge' or 'NuLab'? More consistency.

Mainly because both Digital Works and Croydon Camera House are close to me, so I can send an order overnight to either, then go and pick it up in person the next day, and if everything okay cross the road to Post Office and mail it. And if not okay they can do a reprint for me on the spot usually. But my orders are only small beans compared to full-on pro work and the in-person contact works well for me.

I've always found that forum-bashing of DW strange. One photography forum (no longer with us) thrived on it, and they seemed to have the mental capacity of the anti-Canon/anti-Nikon brigades, sort of pathetic juvenile pack-attack types. Maybe there are real grounds, maybe some people do/did have ongoing bad experience. But like KJA and Helen, I always had brilliant service and a great attitude and full-on helpfulness from them. And small amounts matted or mounted very acceptable quality. Warragul Camera Club had a 'field trip' there one night a few years ago, I went along and we crawled under and over every step of the process, full tour from computers to printing to mail room. The place is huge and impressive.

Must try The Edge though, only heard good things of them.

[helen]

Who has links for the Edge and Nulab?

[Ashanali]

http://www.theedgephoto.com.au/

http://www.nulab.com.au/

Here are the links.

As I said PC - I've never dealt with DW. The forum I'm on is a closed, private photography forum so they aren't the sort to go around 'bashing' suppliers. The thread began as a heads up with most people saying that they love DW, but it's long running and by the end it seems to be the same story over and over (great product, bad service).

I have been tempted to try them (and still might) because everyone keeps saying how great the product is - it's just the service side that scares me.

[Ashanali]

I'm also going to throw these guys into the mix

http://www.frontierdigital.com.au/

They are around the corner from us (so Qld based) but they process orders from all over Aust. We have never had an issue with them and their prices are brilliant. Love them!!

[kja]

thanks for the frontier link I haven't yet done any mounted prints, but am thinking of adding those and some other things this season so always keeping an eye out for other solutions.

I've only ordered prints from DW and have only had one issue - a print got a small crease in it. The mailing tube was fine so it had to have happened when they put it in. They reprinted and I had the new print in two days. Easy.

I, too, detest bad customer service and one time is enough for me to pull my business. I will never ever in a million years use Genius Print again - omg, just thinking about it makes me crazy LOL

[Guest Tess32]

I've had good customer service from DW too when it was me that stuffed up. They were really helpful and they've always been very quick.

Only had prints though.

[Ashanali]

I'm also going to throw these guys into the mix

http://www.frontierdigital.com.au/

They are around the corner from us (so Qld based) but they process orders from all over Aust. We have never had an issue with them and their prices are brilliant. Love them!!

Can I just say again how much I love Frontier.

We called them up at 3pm on the 23rd and said that we have a rush order for 13 8x10's can they get them printed. They were about to start shutting down but they said they'd put them through for us and we had them in our hands within the hour.

You can see why I hesitate to go elsewhere when we get service like this - no doubt they got a little christmas present from us.

[kja]

Good service is awesome to hear about - thanks for sharing it!

[altheau]

thanks for the frontier link I haven't yet done any mounted prints, but am thinking of adding those and some other things this season so always keeping an eye out for other solutions.

I've only ordered prints from DW and have only had one issue - a print got a small crease in it. The mailing tube was fine so it had to have happened when they put it in. They reprinted and I had the new print in two days. Easy.

I, too, detest bad customer service and one time is enough for me to pull my business. I will never ever in a million years use Genius Print again - omg, just thinking about it makes me crazy LOL

Oh no I hope it was not to bad, I was hoping to use Genius to do prints of my art. I have come to realise that finding a good source for prints is quite hard. sounds like I might need a back up as i can not stand bad service either.

[kja]

They were TERRIBLE. I will never use them again. If you want all the gos I can copy what I put on a private pro forum in a PM to you, but long story short - horrible, rude, confusing, lying customer service. Quality on what they got right was OK. Trying to get THEIR error corrected was a nightmare that I finally gave up on ever getting redone properly. Did I mention rude, slow, confusing, time consuming...?

Brilliant Prints are fantabulous to work with for canvas prints. And the canvas I've had done is gorgeous. My first ever canvas from them had the teensiest little white dot way up in the corner. No one else could see it, but I knew it was there. I rang them and explained and asked if it was just one of those things with canvas and they said no way, we'll get a brand new one out to you tomorrow - no charge for freight or the reprint. I asked if I should send the original one back - nope, keep it.

No muss, no fuss.

Special orders have been done fast and efficiently and correctly each and every time. Their shipping to me is super fast and SUPER cheap - no one else even comes close.

[Ashanali]

High quality canvas prints as a great cost - Ally Harrison. They have changed hands but the people who have the business now are sticking to the business outline already in place.

Exceptional quality canvas prints at a higher price - Bruce Peebles in Brisbane. Photographers all around Australia use him and the difference is incredible. We loved our Ally Harrison stuff then we used Bruce Peebles. WOW! Blew us away! The print quality is exceptional, the finish is perfect. The only thing that sucks about them is that you have to take them to get mounted yourself and sometimes it's the framer that lets you down. A photographer in Newcastle just had $2500 worth of canvases ruined by a framer there. She now has to go through small claims to recoup the money from the framer and in the meantime is very apologetic to her clients while she gets reprints made.

[PossumCorner]

Thanks for that one also. When they send canvas prints to you, are they sent flat or rolled? I need to set up a reference file for suppliers and services "not yet used but highly recommended" for future reference. I don't "get" the framer spoiling the canvasses. Do you know what he did to them? (The bit I don't understand is how anyone would send work of that value for framing without knowing the framer's work inside out and back to front). We are lucky to have one of the best close to us, she is passionate about it, with a waiting-list, no quick jobs.

Back on topic - RedBubble did an excellent job with my roses calendar: the colours are all very true, and with the dark backgrounds I had been a bit worried about it printing too dark. Very pleased: and it created an order for a duplicate, plus two "commissioned jobs" for calendars, (of owners' horses) so go RB calendars.

[kja]

Brilliant Prints sends them already stretched on the frame. Check them out.

[Ashanali]

Thanks for that one also. When they send canvas prints to you, are they sent flat or rolled? I need to set up a reference file for suppliers and services "not yet used but highly recommended" for future reference. I don't "get" the framer spoiling the canvasses. Do you know what he did to them? (The bit I don't understand is how anyone would send work of that value for framing without knowing the framer's work inside out and back to front). We are lucky to have one of the best close to us, she is passionate about it, with a waiting-list, no quick jobs.

Ally Harrison are already stretched onto frames

Bruce Peebles are sent rolled.

The story about the photographer in Newcastle is a little detailed. Bruce Peebles is based in Brisbane. The photographer used to get him to print the canvases then send them to Abel Framing (also in Brisbane - they are very good), then they would be sent to Newcastle.

She decided to save on freight costs she would source a framer down there.

She has been using her framer for a while now without any issues but in the lead up to christmas, she sent off a whole lot of canvasses to be mounted. After five weeks she contacted the framer who said they weren't done (5 weeks?!?) and they would get onto it asap.

When she went to pick them up, the were on one inch frames not the usual 2 1/2 inch. These were LARGE canvases that needed to be over the stronger frame. As a result, the frames were already starting to warp at the time the photographer picked them up. She questioned why they were on 1 inch frames and the framer responded with, "We didn't have any left so we used the 1 inch frames. We didn't think you'd mind". The photographer also pointed out a couple of scratches on the canvases and the framer said, "yeah, but the client won't notice".

This photographer isn't cheap. The canvases would easily be sold for about $1000 each (at least). A client spending that much money WILL notice scratches.

Due to the nature of mounting the canvases, they can't be taken off one frame and put onto another. They all need to be reprinted. The framer is still refusing to pay for the reprints.

All the framer had to do was call the photographer and explain the situation in regards to not having the right size frames available. It's poor form to do the wrong thing, destroy the canvases and then refuse to take responsibility. Photographer has said that she will go back to the old way of doing things and have them mounted by the Brisbane framers that she trusts.

Edited December 31, 2009 by Ashanali

[altheau]

They were TERRIBLE. I will never use them again. If you want all the gos I can copy what I put on a private pro forum in a PM to you, but long story short - horrible, rude, confusing, lying customer service. Quality on what they got right was OK. Trying to get THEIR error corrected was a nightmare that I finally gave up on ever getting redone properly. Did I mention rude, slow, confusing, time consuming...?

Brilliant Prints are fantabulous to work with for canvas prints. And the canvas I've had done is gorgeous. My first ever canvas from them had the teensiest little white dot way up in the corner. No one else could see it, but I knew it was there. I rang them and explained and asked if it was just one of those things with canvas and they said no way, we'll get a brand new one out to you tomorrow - no charge for freight or the reprint. I asked if I should send the original one back - nope, keep it.

No muss, no fuss.

Special orders have been done fast and efficiently and correctly each and every time. Their shipping to me is super fast and SUPER cheap - no one else even comes close.

Ok, thanks for the info. I will definatly be looking for a diffrent printer then. Canvas prints would be awesome, but at the moment I am just looking at Matt paper prints on some really nice fine textured paper for a reasonable price.

As for the framer talk about the stuff nightmares are made of, I want to learn how to frame myself so I know it is done right, I am scared to death of someone ruining a piece of work that took so long to create.

I had a got a print from reb bubble that was a bit on the darkside, I thought it was just how their prints turned out, maybe I will have to try another and see.