Blick Art Materials

This company is beyond real, I order 2 items that listed available, and I had a big order and mostly were gifts for Xmas and I was traveling so dates are imp. They ship all the items except for 2 And they fail to mention that these 2 items were on back order.
I receive an email a week later saying sorry these items didn't ship. I complain, they said they made a mistake Ans didn't update their system, buy dont worry we will ship one of the items soon. Today they shipped it and charged me 15.75 $ shipping for one tube of paint that fosted 14$?! And I had free shipping with the initial order, so noni got screwed with it. I have been using this shop for a long time, but this was beyond anything I experienced with an open shop! Ill never be using their shop again! Be aware

I'll use Blick again but not because I'm happy.

If I could Blick to do some things differently, it would be to package things better, stop using Fedex since they are the ones who seem to literally throw stuff on their box corners out of the trucks, check the quality of the goods before they are packaged.

Credentials: I'm a professional artist who paints full time for a living and sells around 70K worth of art a year. (I'm a former tenured professor of art and art history.) I by all my supplies through Blick but, I still am annoyed by them.

I feel about Blick the way the I feel about Amazon, they don't care about how you feel: provide poor customer service but they have the monopoly.

I order almost all my supplies from Blick, canvas panels, stretched canvas, Winsor Newton paints, brushes, the whole shebang. I have ordered the same products and amounts from other sites and the prices are comparable but often the quality, delivery time, and customer service are worse. So Blick is able to beat grade "C" companies with a "B-" although at times I've had an "A" level experience too.

I always expect things to arrive damaged or poorly packed. How things are shipped sucks, and often things are damaged. Paint tubes are poorly packed and busted open or cut by the other items in the boxes and corners of canvas panels are sometimes damaged, and stretched canvas is often loose due to poor warehouse conditions or poor packing, but Blick always replaces them if you get in touch.

For example, I just got a shipment of 18x18x1.5 inch stretched canvases and the boxes were really messed up (the canvases were okay to use just loose or dented) easily fixed, I have had to spray canvas retentioner on every canvas to tighten them back up. I've actually got in touch with the owners by figuring out their emails and they have offered me coupons and discounts.

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.)

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

I've been a customer of Blick Art Supplies for many years and have never been disappointed. If there's ever an issue (which is rare), they've always resolved it quickly.

I especially love the choices Blick gives you. You can always find what you need no matter what art project you're taking on.

If you're buying in bulk or not, you just can't beat the price and the quality has always been great!

Deb :)

A couple of months ago, Blick seemed to start screwing up more.
They've always shipped far slower than other on-line art dealers.
But suddenly I was getting things like leaky paint tubes, or instead
Of getting the small pastels I'd ordered, I got giant pastel sticks -
Difficult to use for small detail work. It seemed like Blick was pulling a
"bait and switch." I figured maybe it was just an innocent error.
Also, customer service became most unhelpful.
What clinched my dropping Blick: Their website promised free shipping
If you filled in the promo code.
I filled it in. A note popped up stating that my item would ship free.
But after I paid, I noticed that I was CHARGED FOR SHIPPING!
I immediately called customer service. (more time waste) They did some
Work, then said they made sure the item would ship free.
But they never sent me an email verification, so I could not believe them.
I had to call YET AGAIN.
Finally, the next customer service rep sent an email stating that the shipping
Charge would be refunded.
Ordering from Blick has become frustrating and time-consuming.
I don't feel like I can trust this company anymore.

I am completely satisfied with the powdered pigment that I bought and received recently. The quality, price, and delivery were all quite satisfactory, but I have a problem with the packaging and over use of materials, especially plastics. I suspect that the vinyl bottle and powdered contents could be dropped from a helicopter without damage. But the over sized packaging with plastic wrapping would protect a dozen eggs! Given our environmental challenges, we could do far more to control waste in packaging.

I like DickBlick. Inexpensive prices with a variety of good items. I don't like the price to ship or the length of shipping, however. I also like that they sell individual colors of Prismacolor colored pencils.

I don't usually need customer service with Blick. The one time I did, they contacted me before I contacted them! This customer care team works very hard to quickly and efficiently correct an issue and they are pleasant while doing it. Really a treat in today's world of mediocrity.

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 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 have ordered supplies from Blick 5 times now. The fifth was just a day or two ago, but I've received the other four - all well within the times they listed for the shipping price I paid. (No, it's not two-day shipping, but it's quite reasonable. If you want two day shipping you pay extra like normal.) All items were in good condition, and the price I paid was as good or better than the competitors. I've recommended them to family, and they've also ordered with good experiences.

I ordered about $500 worth of merchandise and even contacted them to ensure my payment would go through. Due to their incompetence, the charge to Pay Pal did not go through (although used 7 time with 7 other companies thereafter) and they demanded payment through a "collection notice". Really? Perhaps if they were not incompetent in the first place, no such demand would have been needed. Waited 10 minutes on hold to get payment to them. Had to finally write a check. What a complete waste of my time.

I have nothing to say except this has been the most rewarding & pleasurable experience working with DickBlick. The sales staff has been extremely helpful whenI call or email they get on the request ASAP! When I had a problem with an order they took care of it immediately! You have made my little art studio what it is today a real pleasure! The selection is prefect, the pricing is more than fair and the ordering process is quick, easy & delivery is almost as fast as Amazon... lol. Thank you guys!

I paint with acrylics and I order all of my paints from Blick - I love the Utrecht brand they carry. The paints are carefully packaged to arrive safely. Only one shipment has had a problem and Blick made it right immediately. I have ordered our easels (a joy to use); canvases; paints, glass palettes and other supplies. I have always been impressed with the value received for the cost of the products. Thank you Blick for allowing me to paint during lockdown. Thank you for excellent customer service.

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.

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.

My art materials arrived in well-packed, perfect condition. They do take great care in how they package their materials. This was a concern I had because I ordered several rather large pads of paper, plus other items. I am very satisfied with the condition and quality of all of the items from Blick. I have ordered from them before, and I will do it again.

Easy to find and dial in to the product needed. Good email communication for updates and quick delivery.
Plus, better prices than other art supply sites and stores!

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!

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 using Blick for several years now. I teach high school art and their prices and products have always been wonderful. I spend around $1000 each order.
My last order was back in August 2018. Due to my order being large, my shipment was delivered by an outside delivery truck. I was going to be charged a large amount extra to have the items carried off the truck and into our school office.
I do not have extra money in my account for such a fee and honestly feel I shouldn't be asked to pay an extra fee. Some of my students had to go outside and unload the items from the truck. I was extremely disappointed in this new system and so was our front office. Amazon or any other place that I have purchased items from deliver it to my door no questions or extra fees included.
I might could understand a bit more if my boxes were oversize and such but they were just normal size boxes. I just had several.
As sad as it makes me, I will have to find a new supplier if this is the new delivery system. My students should not have to do the work of the delivery truck driver and I should not have to pay so much more for him to bring them inside the building.
Very disappointing!
Susan L

I have used Blick for years, probably spent $1000. Today, I attempted to add an item to my order and the representative was rude and unhelpful. I am done with Blick. Edit: 9/26/17 I would have felt a lot better if anyone from Blick bothered to ask me what happened. Instead, they just posted a canned "sorry, not sorry" response. Jerry's Artarama has better deals and treated me a lot better.