Just offended the #### out of a customer.

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J

johnny

SGF, Supreme Grumble Framer
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Jun 7, 2004
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Ohio
"We'll make it look great!"

Don't ever say that.

The Bellagio just had to change their website. Under the gaming section it said "Our unbeatable games..."

I guess if they can have an oops I can too.
 
Bellagio??

Paul?? :D

StopWatch.gif
 
Also not a good idea to refer to the work room as the "T*rd polishing area".
 
lolol

The webpage in question for general amusement, it's fixed now....

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Oh, that's nothing. A couple of years ago, some woman came in with a small Haitian painting on canvas. She was going on and on about how she didn't pay hardly anything for it (translation: I screwed over some poor, starving third world artist), and didn't want to pay a lot for the framing. I tried to work with her, honest, I pulled down about a dozen pretty inexpensive but nice looking frames, the last one being one of LJ's Tuscany series, which looked good on the piece and was under $150. And she says, for about the 100th time in 15 minutes, "I didn't pay very much for the art, I don't want the framing to cost so much more than the art," and I couldn't resist any longer. I muttered not too quietly "maybe you should buy better art."

Yeah, she left, and I haven't seen her since.
 
Well, this is the Bay Area, we've banned Wal-Mart. Instead, we have Ikea, which is Swedish for "wal-mart for liberals"
 
I guess it sounds more classy to point and say Ikea is one mile that way. Only problem is they think Ikea is quality.
 
AnneL said:
So what would the art have cost if you translated whatever local currency they paid in to the equivalent value in dollars?
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Anne, I used to live and work in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Before getting into this business, I was looking for a job, and this HR flunky asked me "what would your salary at the Santa Fe job translate to in dollars?"
 
"Well, this is the Bay Area, we've banned Wal-Mart. Instead, we have Ikea, which is Swedish for "wal-mart for liberals"

LOL if there is ever a Best of the Grumble. that has to go under "Best One Liners"
 
PaulSF said:
...A couple of years ago, some woman came in with a small Haitian painting on canvas. She was going on and on about how she didn't pay hardly anything for it... "I don't want the framing to cost so much more than the art"...
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I would have suggested she take it back to Haiti for framing, where labor and other costs of doing business must be less than here.
 
That's a bit like buying an old car, taking it to a garage saying "I want this back in showroom condition, but I don't want it to cost more than $50 because that's what I paid for it". :help:



"Try Our Burgers. You Won't Get Better"

That's another one
 
When my family went on a cruise last year, I overheard the Park West auctioneer say (when no one would even give him a opening bid):

"Come on people, this isn't Walmart, it's wall art!"

Made me laugh.

~I love the buy better art statement also.
 
I also would use that on an artist that blathers on about how he or she doesn't want the framing to "overwhelm the art." Well, make better art.
 
PaulSF said:
I also would use that on an artist that blathers on about how he or she doesn't want the framing to "overwhelm the art." Well, make better art.
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..."so, underwhelmed it is".......L.
 
You could incorporate a Cymbalta tablet into the framing package to keep the art from feeling overwhelmed. You can tell it feels that way when it begins to breathe heavily.
:cool: Rick
 
prospero said:
That's a bit like buying an old car, taking it to a garage saying "I want this back in showroom condition, but I don't want it to cost more than $50 because that's what I paid for it". :help:
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This is the theory my FIL and DH have about my 1986 Nissan Pick-up...
"Don't get it fixed, because the repair will cost more than the truck is worth!"
Yeah, that's true, but whatever the repair costs, it'll still be less than another truck!


Oh, and lots of people should buy better art.. some of the carp that comes through here.... yuck! All framed with white mats and black frames! Double-yuck!
 
Rick Granick said:
You could incorporate a Cymbalta tablet into the framing package to keep the art from feeling overwhelmed. You can tell it feels that way when it begins to breathe heavily.
:cool: Rick
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I guess I make art anxious. I'm always snapping at the canvases, "Stop breathing so I can glaze you!"
 
We just show them our Hatian art framing special any size with saran wrap
glazing $25.00*


*quanities limited
no charge for deluxe recycled hanging device
 

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PaulSF said:
And she says, for about the 100th time in 15 minutes, "I didn't pay very much for the art, I don't want the framing to cost so much more than the art," .
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At this point in a design attempt, I usually say something like "If I might ask, what were you hoping , then, to budget for framing of this piece,? The customer will respond, after a bit of a silence., then I have the opportunity to say I can or cannot meet their requirements. We usually figure something out. or not.
 
If they bought a cheap piece of so-called "art" at a fabulous vacation location I tell them to add the price of their plane fare and hotels and meals - that will give the artwork more oomph. So they spent $5 on the thing - their whole vacation cost five grand.

Tell 'em to do the math.
 
And if they had air miles and a comped hotel and free meals then paying five bucks for a piece of carpy art deserves a blow out extravagant frame job - hang the expense! Memory of a lifetime. Yadda yadda.
 
Then there's the lady who came in today. Bought a little piece
of street art on a trip to Germany and wants to put it into
her own 8x10. It's out of square, and she took it to our glass
shop to have mirror strips inlaid into the front. The strips aren't
lined up well, either. But she's fine with paying us $98.00
plus tax to float hinge it with japanese rice strips and refit
it with Museum glass. I quoted less costly options, too, but
she's set on the whole shebang. Job security, I guess.
And when she left, she said what a good time she had
meeting me. :)

LOL....as compared to the richest wheat rancher
in town, who acts like I've just asked him to nurse
an alligator whenever he hears a frame quote.
 
I do what Framar does and remind them the trip likely cost a chunk of change and that the framing won't cost more than airfare or their hotel bill. Besides, what's the point of buying art when on vacation only to shove it in a drawer or under a bed? I tell them they can relive that vacation every time they look on the wall. That works most of the time.
 
Well I tend to verge on the side of understatement with frames. But I never make the mistake of overstating the understatement. :p



All You Can Eat. $5000.
 
$12 poster, $1600 Regence frame. (I apologize for fuzziness -a small section of a larger photo.) My town in 1883 - my house is in the picture. I did this poster for a customer in a $1650 Munn.
:p
You can never tell!


Newton.jpg
 
Paul N said:
Huh, what??

My favorite reply to those who say..."But the print cost only $12 in Mongolia!"

We'll make it look less cheap......
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And you counter with, "I've always wanted to go to Mongolia, how much did the trip to Mongolia cost you?" The framing is usually cheaper ;)
 
Framar said:
And if they had air miles and a comped hotel and free meals then paying five bucks for a piece of carpy art deserves a blow out extravagant frame job - hang the expense! Memory of a lifetime. Yadda yadda.
Click to expand...

And then tell then that we pay for the air miles and other perks of their credit cards, so they already got a good discount from us ;)
 
Pat Murphey said:
$12 poster, $1600 Regence frame. (I apologize for fuzziness -a small section of a larger photo.) My town in 1883 - my house is in the picture. I did this poster for a customer in a $1650 Munn.
:p
You can never tell!
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I also have 2 $10 posters (a Vermeer and a Picasso) at my house in 22 CT gold leaf frames.....guests always ask if they're originals...;)
 
I have a customer who buys cheap posters and spends a fortune on frames to make it look like it's original art.

Again, you can never tell. His reasoning; "I wouldn't be able to afford the real art anyway, but I enjoy looking at it and want it to look as good as possible.
 
Bob Doyle said:
And then tell then that we pay for the air miles and other perks of their credit cards, so they already got a good discount from us ;)
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That's an excellent point, Bob. The other day, a lady brought in a great poster she just brought back from Barcelona. She picked an LJ frame, and it was going to be $219. "The print only cost $15." As usual, I replied, "...not including air fare." She acknowledged that was true, but still thought it was too much. Of course I told her a metal frame would be somewhat less etc. It would have been great to add the part about how we provide a discount by underwriting her lower air fare.
:kaffeetrinker_2: Rick
 
As for cheap black frames, i keep the cheapest stuff broken. Yeah, that's right, i broke my samples and i only show half of it. Putting the broken one in the customer's hand will really disuade them from purchasing it.

"yes ma'am, that's out most economical frame, but as you can see, the sample is already broken and i'd hate for your beautiful art to fall off the wall because you chose a press-board moulding."

I do have a good, fully mitred version of it that i only show to people who are using it properly, aka, posters which arent meant to last forever.
 
real conversation in our shop after a customer has asked can it be done cheaper.
call from the shop counter, tinted with a little sarcasm:

"anybody fancy doing an extra hour's work for no pay today, so this lady can have her frame cheaper?"

3 voices call back in unison "f*** off".

"I'm sorry, the framers say....."

"Yes, I heard" Says the customer.

We'd heard the door-bell go, and thought the customer had left. In fact it was another one coming in.

two birds with one stone :shrug:

Second customer didn't even question the price.
 
Sign in a frame shop back when there were shops with employees.

Wanted
20 Highly Skilled Picture Framers
Willing to work long hard tedious hours
for free.
 
Kev@Frames said:
real conversation in our shop after a customer has asked can it be done cheaper.
call from the shop counter, tinted with a little sarcasm:

"anybody fancy doing an extra hour's work for no pay today, so this lady can have her frame cheaper?"

3 voices call back in unison "f*** off".

"I'm sorry, the framers say....."

"Yes, I heard" Says the customer.

We'd heard the door-bell go, and thought the customer had left. In fact it was another one coming in.

two birds with one stone :shrug:

Second customer didn't even question the price.
Click to expand...

This is a really good one................thanks for sharing!!!!
 
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