HH may have some good news for those who are concerned about LJ/JoAnn chop and join s

BUDDY

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I just read on HH that a normal shop was inquireing about the poor quality of LJ chop and join services.

Others agreed but more assured them that LJ would gladly correct any mistakes.

However if Joann's is relying on C&j and there are more than usual mistakes it could seriously slow down their TAR and quality. Even when LJ makes them good.

So maybe this is the flaw in the system.( we don't have enough time to do it right , but we sure have enough time to do it over. LOL)
BUDDY
 
Buddy, I'm sure there are regional variations in quality, but I used to use quite a few LJ chop-and-joins when I got really busy and they were generally very good - though pricey.

Very rarely I would get corner gaps, big chunks of exposed putty or even a beautifully joined frame of the wrong size, but those were the exceptions.
 
We order chops for anything too large to cut on our trusty Pistorious saw. They are good chops. I know what Larson puts into their saw maintenance. I know the guy that comes in for special regular maintenance because ages ago he used to be our Arquati rep and he's a good, quality man. I know the work Larson does to calibrate and maintain their blades because when I've been scratching my head with problems on my own chops they have helped me. I know the people who cut and join frames locally and they care about the quality of their work. It's very difficult for me to speak badly of Larson because they have made it that way. There are other companies that I could speak badly of, but on those I choose to keep silent. Maybe those companies habits have changed in the years since I've dumped them.

However, I would never take a deal like Joann's has because I would never outsource my quality to that extent, I don't care who I'm buying from. That may sound weird coming from a company who buys all their moulding pre-made and just chops and joins it because, hey, why draw the line there? But I watch my customers as they look at their framed artwork for the first time and so many of them quickly go to the corners of the frame. It's an easy, visual thing for them to check to give them an overall impression of the quality of the work. I would never outsource that.
 
Buddy-I saw that thread, also.

I think everyone has their own "vision" of quality and what they expect.

Sometimes, however, it reminds of the person that sends bottle after bottle of wine back becuase it doesn't quite "measure" up.

One thing for sure- a bunch of the people in the kitchen will drink pretty well with those "unacceptable" opened bottles.

I think we all have horror stories of customers that "micro-inspect" corners on mats and measure down to 64th of an inch of reveal.

Like I said, we all have visions of what we think is quality.

For years, we have used a lot of chop and joins and the overwhelming majority were more than acceptable. If they were not,we could have done them ourselves,couldn't we
 
They are joining more frames than ever before. LJ's facilities have not grown any larger. As they keep adding line items to the mix they are busting at the seams. If you try to drasticaly increase volumn with the same infrastructuer, quality could take a drop.
 
I completely agree with the comments about the quality of LJ services and how some are never satisfied. The point i was trying to make is that with increased demand often quality can suffer. Not in ever facility and not on every frame but the more they do the more likely it is going to suffer.

I think Dave's ( Framemakers ) comment is saying the same if not very similar and it is strange that Framers on HH are discussing the same problem at the same time the demand is probaly increaseing.

So LJ may adjust ,but then maybe thay have reached their stauration point with the shear numbers JoAnn's is causeing.

As far as I remember Chop and Join wasn't even discussed much before even though it was always available. In fact some where surprised to hear that anyone could order them .And now there is open complaints about quality.Coincedence? Maybe.But could it be more than they can handle at the moment ,or maybe thay didn't expect as much demand.
BUDDY
 
Actually, the HH thread was in regard to the facility here in MA. They have been (and are still in the middle of) a remodel/rearranging/reconfiguration in the waarehouse/shipping areas and I suspect that may have impacted their "attention" some. Overall I haven't had any problems that weren't consistent with the past and "normal."
 
Well, here's a new one:

Customer came in yesterday needing new mats cut for her frames since another child has been added to the family. Michael's sent her to me because they do NO mat cutting in their facility. She was shocked but said they were so nice about referring her to me. (And I was so nice about accepting her work).
 
Wow! Janet, we had the same customer, seperately together.

Customer has Michaels frame 9x24.. with 5 openings for 4x6 verticals. Now has 6 kids... needs 6 opening mat...

Michael's just looked at the frame and said "cool frame, where did you get it? People ask us for something like this all the time, and we just send them to Americana Frame because they have stuff like that..."

Yes, it is call "custom" frames.... We love Michael's. And the girls a mile away at JoAnne's do their framing with us too.... :D
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