Jerry's Artarama Reviews 91

I placed an order for five cans of Speedball Professional printmaking ink (fairly pricey stuff) and when the package arrived, all five cans were damaged so badly I'll never be able to get the lids off and on. One of the cans had, of course, leaked yellow oil-based ink all over everything.

I contacted customer service, sent pictures, and tried to get a shipping label for a return and refund. All they would do is give me a 25% refund! I would never have bought these cans for a 25% discount.

The packaging was substandard (just one little sheet of bubble wrap laid in a giant box, not even wrapped or scrunched or anything) but honestly, these cans are so bad that I believe they were damaged before they were sent. Like, maybe Jerry's gets castoffs from other, more reputable art suppliers and then resells them at full price? Either way, be very, very wary of ordering from Jerry's.

I've really enjoyed this store for years and have bought multiple items from them. There have been a few issues but customer service always ends up making it right. Will definitely keep coming back since its better than buying from Amazon plus no stores like this exist around me in a shopping center. Thank you Jerry's!

I have been a satisfied customer for many years, until now. I ordered five large tubes of paint, three of which came to me dried up. It was impossible to get any paint out of the tubes. After alerting customer support, I was given a lengthy list of things they needed prior to authorizing the return. I completed all those things (no company I've ever dealt with has set so many obstacles), but now customer service has not responded.
It's obvious that they do not do returns, even for defective items.
I will never order from them again.

They will send you damaged items and refuse to make it right. Buyer beware.

Great prices and selection but customer service could use some work. Also a bit unorganized at times, one part of my order never shipped… it was just one paintbrush but ITS BEEN YEARS and its still marked partially shipped…

Bought a desk lamp that failed in about a month. They kept asking for picture showing the problem. How do you do that? What is a picture of a lamp in the dark going to prove? No way to leave review on the site. Makes me wonder about the glowing reviews for this product.

I placed a couple of orders without incident. My most recent order I found they had charged 2x the price of other art suppliers for some items. I complained to Customer Service and got the runaround. They are difficult to make returns. Some of the products were old and in bad condition. I will never buy from them again.

Update to below complaint. Owner called to verify issue and review the problem. The original shipment is still lost. The updated replacements are not available except for 2 frames which he sent and arrived today. I asked him to review all the emails between me and customer service We like the frames

The order was stated as shipped with a tracking number but after 3 weeks they told me package was lost They said they would resend entire order ( 104$). After a couple weeks I asked where was tracking number. After 3 queries they responded that the items were no longer manufactured and promise refund of 64$. SCAM.

Ordered 6 stretched linen canvases. One arrived with a tear in the linen, still in the sealed wrapper. After a week of emails, Jerry's refuses to replace the defective item, instead offering $3.90... Apparently this art supply company does not understand that a canvas with torn linen is useless, since linen is under high tension, and tears can expand - meaning I can't paint on this canvas labeled, hilariously, on the wrapper "Guaranteed to last 500 YEARS!" (emphasis theirs).

I ordered a physical giftcard from their online store as a christmas present, because for some reason, their e-giftcard can only be used for their online store (tell me how that makes sense). Their estimated shipping and delivery dates were an absolute lie. Its been 12 days and the item still hasnt arrived and they cant tell me where it is. Says 2-9 days delivery on my order confirmation, and they are telling me its actually 2 weeks!!! They blamed me for failing to see some fine print on the "product description" that said up to 2 weeks but my confirmation email and when I was checking out literally says 2-9 days...

When I got in contact with them I made a simple suggestion for them to change the estimated shipping dates provided and was stonewalled and gaslit into believing I was in the wrong for their disorganized incongruous website and shipping estimates.

No apology, no suggested reparations. Jerry's Artarama might have the worst customer service ive ever experienced.

I ordered acrylic matte medium about 15 months ago. The gallon was sealed and stored properly. I recently opened the one gallon container and I noticed a strange smell aside from the normal acrylic smell. I also noticed there were adrk streaks in what would normally be white color so I stirred the medium and it seamed to help. I don't use it a lot, but when I do, I use a lot of it. The second time I opened the container which was resealed and properly sotred I noticed the smell got progressively worse to the point that it could not be used for fear of permanant damage to my paintings and sculptures. When I complained to the staff at Jerry's Artarama they basically said I am supposed to open or inspect everything I buy within one month or I'm stuck with it. Does anyone out there open every tube, jar or gallon of acrylic they buy within one month of delivery? This is not food. It should not be perishable. Shouldn't acrylics be reasonably permanent. I spoke with a number of my artists friends and most suspected some organic material must have gotten in the gallon of acrylic medium during production and when I opened it and introduced air to the mix it continued to grow and multiply. So I am stuck with a useless gallon of acrylic medium and there is no way of getting a replacement from Jerry's Artarama.

I was massively overcharged for my Sennelier Oil Pastel set, that would ordinarily only got 8x3 dollars minus tax. The price of the Pastel set from Sennelier said 40 dollars, while I was charged 60 dollars at the register. There is absolutely no reason for 6 paint knives, a hybrid pen, a portfolio, and other stuff to cost 336 dollars.

As a point of comparison, one Gondola ( Japanese ) pastel set cost 300 dollars. This was 250+ pastels. Compare this with Sennelier that's fairly regularly 500+ if you buy a full box.

I cay buy most of these for half that price online. Three five dollars should make the difference in paying back a third of that even when its not a Christmas present.

If I could give 0 stars I would.
They have good prices and discounts but it’s really the customer service.
Do not order online, if you need to return something they will make you pay for shipping back to their facility (i needed to return two frames and shipping was $50)
When I called customer support they were no help at all and didn’t provide me with any solutions.

First of all, I read the horrible reviews and decided to submit mine. I have not had a problem with Jerry's Artarama and I have been a customer for years. In fact, I have just received two cartons from them this morning. All in perfect shape. The last shipment was missing an item and I told them and they took it off my credit card.

HORRIBLE!!! Don’t even think about ordering from this company. There is a reason why so many people have had horrible experiences with them. I spent over $300 and my shipment came damaged. Took pictures and emailed them and “they determined that it was NOT damaged “ please please spread the word and Don not order from them

I just started ordering from Jerry's, as they have some lower prices on some of my favorite items. No issues as long as they use UPS; my last order went DHL to USPS, they screwed up the city on the label and now my package is in limbo and likely to be returned. Apparently they use either UPS or DHL and it's a crapshoot regarding which carrier gets used; I called Jerry's and that's what I was told, essentially. Jerry's stated they wouldn't refund my $ until the package was returned; USPS says it might be returned to sender, that the package isn't available for an exception and the city can't be updated - so it could take weeks to be returned. I am getting screwed by both Jerry's and USPS, which I will not forget.

This is the last time I ever order from Jerry's, I'll stick with Blick - they may be slow at shipping but the worst FedEx has done to me is deliver my packages next door.

If the package isn't returned to sender and Jerry's still has my money, I'll just challenge the charge on my card. I would prefer to have the package delivered, but USPS is awfully good at being incompetent on my dime. I'll get my $ back if the package never shows up, one way or another.

Horrible customer service. I am Fully disabled, as in can’t text or write easily. I use only my pinkie to type.

I’m waiting on replacement paint that was frozen. Last communication before today was in March, when they said they would ship replacement tubes.

They’ve blamed me several ways: (all today)

Telling me not to order paint during the winter, because they seem to be the only ones whose paint comes ruined. I said “Paint from Blick and others arrives fine.” He said that’s because they ship from Chicago. I live in Colorado, so I suppose I can only order materials from suppliers located in colder climates?

Telling me, after I explained how hard it is for me to type. “You sent an email before.” I explained again how I cannot use email like able people do, and that I would like to explain the info verbally. Only after I got very upset, invoked the ADA, explained that I was just asking for a reasonable accommodation, only then did he give me a (I felt he was condescending, rude, and obnoxious. I mean I personally have had only 5 or 6 orders this year with this company -averaging around $500 each time. So only around $3,000 this year. I read the other review about another artist being banned from them. I imagine I’ll be banned next.

Here is from their website:

“ Accessibility Assistance

If you have difficulty using or accessing any element of this website or on any Jerry's Artarama mobile app or tool, please feel free to call us at 1-800-827-8478 or email us at $$$$$$$$ and we will work with you to provide the information, item, or transaction you seek through a communication method that is accessible for you consistent with applicable law (for example, through telephone support).”

They give me a hard time because their systems are problematic. Like, they don’t include packing slips when they ship. Even though I’ve explained several times that email is difficult for me . ( This review has taken a long time (currently I am in hour two typing this review.) I can only type with one finger, my right hand pinkie finger. And I make many mistakes and need to refinger to fix them).

They ship without it being attached to my account (my fault, duh I am to foolish to know that if I pay with Google pay it takes you to a one off order that you cannot access from your account).

They do not indicate that there are 2 packages. There is no packing slip.

But I couldn’t access my order online. It’s not with my account. Because, even though I logged on with my email and they can use that, they redirected all my info to a new account that I cannot access because I chose the “Google Pay” option. A known problem from the sounds of it.

Called today, as some of the paint I received in January and 1 tube in February had come frozen, and that we had communicated and discussed in February And I had last sent pictures of the problem in March. I am still waiting on the 2 tubes of Lukas gouache and one big tube of Charvin cadmium red. Early this year the lady who helped me was great.

Today ruined everything for me with them. I went to try to find the alleged email they sent confirming my order. My box was stuffed with hundreds( I think) of email advertisements. Mostly at least 1 every day, but most days they are sending multiple emails actually 2 or 3. And it’s my job (according to them) to use emails, find their confirmation in a flood of emails from them, and I had already told them several times I cannot email.

I really like New York Central watercolor paper. And I like Charvin acrylics. So now I will find alternatives. Lukas acrylics are great for their price. We have an affiliated store about 1-1/2 hrs away in Longmont. They don’t carry the paper, but maybe I’ll go there someday or call to see if they carry Charvin.

I am a professional artist, therefore, I usually order in bulk, I had two separate occasions where I ordered from Jerry’s and no one bothered to notify me that my order had arrived, therefore it was stolen. They have completely refused to reimburse me over products that I’ve never received. Even more so- on a separate occasion, I made an order, waited for one week, two weeks, only to find out that they canceled my order without even letting me know. When I contacted them, they told me that they have blocked me as a customer. I’ve never seen a service that is embarrassing as this.

Products were as described. Everything was done correctly. Delivery was a bit slow, but was delivered accurately.

Honestly. This is insane. A pack of the Edge 24x36 canvas has gone up in 6mo from about $90 to $150. Dont tell me thats tariffs. That's corporate greed and gouging loyal customers. There are some reviews here that mention "poor" customer service. There actually isn't any at all. Buy at your own risk.