Advice needed, not happy with current work from a London based linenbacker
I'm beginning to regret doing this but i thought i would give a local London based linenbacker a try instead of shipping to the US. His work looked good on the website, work for museums etc. 2x Japanese tatekan [2-panel] posters, one very rare Bardot poster and one for 'Lone Wolf and Cub:Baby Cart at the River Styx', both needed a fair bit of work some areas of missing paper, tape stains and paint [Bardot].Tears, stains and wear on the 'Lone Wolf and Cub'. A quote was given £325+VAT [tax] each poster [£650 + VAT] which was quite high but considering the work needed i thought i'd go with it.
Alarm bells started ringing when restoration started, there was virtually no communication except to ask me if i wanted more work done to the Bardot poster at an additional cost of £180, the alarming thing apart from the added fee was the low-res photos i received!
I reluctantly agreed and cancelled a quote for a poster frame i had with him as the costs were mounting up, he quoted £1,000 for work to a French one panel for 'Alphaville' i brought in which pointless as i could probably buy a fully restored one at Christies for that price!
I was sent an email saying both posters were ready for collection, needless to say i wasn't too impressed when i saw the results, no photos were provided beforehand other than the 3 low-res ones above. On the Bardot poster the paint was still clearly visable no attempt had been made to remove it, plenty of touch ups still needed throughout the poster, the tape stains lessened but no attempt to airbrush them out.
On the 'Lone Wolf and Cub' poster the fills were done, top one could've looked better, tears on the bottom left, still very clearly visable, black marks still clearly visable, wear on the poster still visable!
Last Thursday i went to his studio which was a pretty awkward meeting with me pointing out that i was very unhappy with the results.
"Why hasn't the poster been retouched?"
I show him my receipt for the quote which clearly states retouching, he then admits he doesn't know why it wasn't done!
"Why hasn't the paint been removed?"
His assistant chimes in "Oh it's oil based paint can't remove that"
Me: "so no attempt was made or email sent to me asking me, looks like poster paint to me, i had an Italian 2-fogli which had the entire title painted over and stenciled with a new title for use in Belgium restored, all the paint came off and it only cost $250 *this was a few years back in 2009 admittedly*
Me: "The black marks, wear and pin holes on the 'Lone Wolf' poster haven't been touched, why?"
His assistant: "The black marks are surface wear"
Me: "Some of these flaws should have come out in the deacidification and bleach baths"
Personally i don't think this has been done! I was livid!
I won't name this individual as he still has my posters promising more work, he'll let me know when they're ready, which if the quality of the work hasn't improved i'll be rejecting again.
What would you guys do in this situation?
Alarm bells started ringing when restoration started, there was virtually no communication except to ask me if i wanted more work done to the Bardot poster at an additional cost of £180, the alarming thing apart from the added fee was the low-res photos i received!
I reluctantly agreed and cancelled a quote for a poster frame i had with him as the costs were mounting up, he quoted £1,000 for work to a French one panel for 'Alphaville' i brought in which pointless as i could probably buy a fully restored one at Christies for that price!
I was sent an email saying both posters were ready for collection, needless to say i wasn't too impressed when i saw the results, no photos were provided beforehand other than the 3 low-res ones above. On the Bardot poster the paint was still clearly visable no attempt had been made to remove it, plenty of touch ups still needed throughout the poster, the tape stains lessened but no attempt to airbrush them out.
On the 'Lone Wolf and Cub' poster the fills were done, top one could've looked better, tears on the bottom left, still very clearly visable, black marks still clearly visable, wear on the poster still visable!
Last Thursday i went to his studio which was a pretty awkward meeting with me pointing out that i was very unhappy with the results.
"Why hasn't the poster been retouched?"
I show him my receipt for the quote which clearly states retouching, he then admits he doesn't know why it wasn't done!
"Why hasn't the paint been removed?"
His assistant chimes in "Oh it's oil based paint can't remove that"
Me: "so no attempt was made or email sent to me asking me, looks like poster paint to me, i had an Italian 2-fogli which had the entire title painted over and stenciled with a new title for use in Belgium restored, all the paint came off and it only cost $250 *this was a few years back in 2009 admittedly*
Me: "The black marks, wear and pin holes on the 'Lone Wolf' poster haven't been touched, why?"
His assistant: "The black marks are surface wear"
Me: "Some of these flaws should have come out in the deacidification and bleach baths"
Personally i don't think this has been done! I was livid!
I won't name this individual as he still has my posters promising more work, he'll let me know when they're ready, which if the quality of the work hasn't improved i'll be rejecting again.
What would you guys do in this situation?
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Comments
Direct him to this thread, this site gets well over 40,000-50,000 site visits per month, we have followers numbering in the thousands on Facebook and various poster groups around the world, you are perfectly within your rights to name him if all you are doing is recounting the facts.
It is simply up to the rest of the poster collecting community to decide whether his services are worth trying based on your experiences/review.
Gorgeous Bardot too btw
Very sorry to read this. I know how it feels...
****Edit*****
Ps. Just noticed that you don't wish to name the restorer. I understand. I had similar issues with another two in London. In my case i asked for my money and posters back. I had to send my posters semi restored to the US to get them sorted.
As David suggests directing others to this thread is another good option.
http://www.grahambignellstudio.co.uk/areas-of-specialism/posters/
http://www.grahambignellstudio.co.uk/areas-of-specialism/
Agree with the other guys, the prices seem up there.
Was there any kind of attempt made to do anything to rectify the problems you identified or to make you happy?
I used him once, and would never go back again, luckily my costs were nowhere near what yours are, and I put mine down to experience.
As much as I hate the sending to the US, and the worry if the poster will get lost, it still works out cheaper even taking into account the postage both ways, plus you get a better job done.
I'm going to send him an email this weekend asking if any sort of deacidification or bleach bath has been applied, i'll be amazed if it has as the paint and stains are there. If it hasn't i think that's game over, the poster needs to be sent to the US.
I can see this ending in the small claims court at the moment.
If it helps, when I was in a similar position I reached an agreement I didnt need to take it further. I took my posters back, sent them to the US and as a compensation the London restorer framed it "free" of charge.
But it wasn't your guy, but another London based restoration gallery, MPAG. The guys there are actually nice.
Listen to Mirosae. I think you will be far happier in the long run if you try to settle it for a lesser amount, and then send them to someone who has a sterling reputation, to perform additional restoration.
Here is a handy checklist to help tell eMoviePoster.com apart from all other major auctions!
My email;
I'm still a bit shocked at what i saw at your studio last Thursday [11th Aug] when i came in to collect my 'Bardot' and 'Lone Wolf and Cub' posters, both of which i was told were ready to collect!
So this begs the question what has actually been done to these posters as i have received no progress reports, other than a request for more money to cover more work to the Bardot poster, which should've been included in the original quote anyway, accompanied by 3x very low resolution photographs which make it near impossible to see anything!
Frankly i'm very disapointed with the work so far, especially at a premium price considerably higher than any US linenbackers i have used in the past;
*Links to Dario and Jaime Mendez sites*
On the 'Lone Wolf and Cub' poster there has been no attempt to touch up the poster, i was pretty shocked that you didn't know why, especially seeing as you've billed me for it on the invoice you sent me, the tears on the poster and pinhole damage have not been addressed, this should be disguised and should be near invisible with paste fills, the black marks have not been removed this should have been bleached out, the fill at the top of this poster is poor and stands out, this needs addressing as well.
If you are to continue with work on these posters, and frankly i am so disturbed by what i've seen so far i'm not sure this is a good idea, i expect to be given progress reports and high resolution photos of the work as an absolute minimum, frankly i have no idea why you've charged me even more on your invoice when the work from my the initial quote still hasn't been done. Very disapointing.
Regards
Adrian Jones"
The reply;
"Dear Adrian
Hope that helps & feel free to pass on my tel # if they want to chat further.
Best Regards,
Michael Bloomfield
MEM: Music & Cinema Memorabilia
www.moviepostermem.com
www.rockpopmem.com
www.chantrellposter.com
www.fiskenposter.com
Tel: 01635 269 327
I hope the areas you have noted can be addressed and you will be happy with the posters. In the end, this might just become one of those proverbial 'painful learning experiences' unfortunately...
I would have an issue with the work he doesn't do for his charges, if he fails to do as directed/requested then he has breached a contract between client and supplier.
Recommend to cut the cord and take your posters back. Its causing you undue stress. Its cost you enough money already. Sure you have and will pay more than you want to take your posters back but not worth this ongoing stress. Cut the cord and feel relief. All collectors have had some experience where money has gone down the drain, so dont feel too bad about it. You just need to end it now rather than continue the saga.
Good luck!
A few things stick out in Graham's reply, firstly the way the deacidification bath is initally mentioned then not addressed, so this looks very much like this hasn't been done. Doesn't this process also get rid of imperfections within the paper, presumably acid free masa paper has been used and then the poster linenbacked.What affect would not having the deacidification bath have on the poster? if i wanted to send the posters to the US, would the posters need debacking of both the linen and masa then going through the whole process again?
The Mike Bloomfield quote is a McGuffin as he goes on to say "Whilst I would accept minor re-touching", i'm not asking for large areas of airbrushing to be applied anyway, just touch ups, some of which i've been invoiced for but the work hasn't been carried out [LW&C].
Graham has at no point asked me if it's for resale or for my personal collection, it is for my personal collection, so an email and some communication wouldn't of gone amiss. I haven't asked for 'over restoration' just touch ups anyway, look at the photos earlier in the thread, the smaller ones were sent to me when he wanted an extra £180 for an 3 extra hours work, which i reluctantly agreed to. I viewed the posters when i went to collect them, there were no touch ups carried out on the LW&C at all. The Bardot still needed lots of touch ups and paint removal, frankly the only difference i noticed from when i put them in for restoration was the linenbacking and tape removal, all the other flaws were still there.
Far out. Talk about a rough time!
I agree regarding the price...as with posters, people are free to charge whatever they like as long as they disclose what you are getting for that price.
It sounds like you didn't get what you initially seemed to have agreed upon with the restorer.
I don't know any collectors who want an "over restored" poster.
When we send something for backing it is usually because it has some issues which we want removed right? Else what is the point of sending it off for restoration????
And who cares what the feck you are going to do with the poster afterwards? It's not his concern if you are going to keep or sell it. You've asked him to do specific work, he quotes on that work and then does it (hopefully) then you pay. That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard...
It sounds like to me that you are not unhappy with his work, rather unhappy with his lack of doing any work.
I guess you need to ask yourself what will you do if when you get them back they are um, you know, not very good!
I've not used him and I have no idea the quality of his work, but if (when he actually does something) it is good, I would give them the opportunity to fix it. But would be prepared for the worst and the obvious battle over payment that will ensue.
Good luck to you...I will keep everything crossed that things turn out great.
I've a handful of pretty rare pieces that need some TLC which I will hopefully be in a position to correct next year! All this talk of late of bad restoration and bad experience does not bode well. What's a girl to do!
I will challenge him not on the price but overall on his customer service and on the quality of his work so far. Take your posters, try to get some of your money back and dont look back.
Correct the bath essentially removes acid, which causes paper to brown over time.
I would say yes they would need to be rebacked after a bath. You have the option not to but for peace of mind i think you should. Otherwise you will get them back from the US and start thinking, maybe i should have had them bathed and rebacked .
Best
I thought it was explained what I wanted sometime back, but the guy never lived up to his promises, I never got my posters nor my payment back - a total loss
another lesson I guess
Um, why should the cost rise?
The most I would be paying is the original quoted and agreed to price. Anything above that is the restorers problem.
Today i sent the following email to Graham Bignell;
"Dear Graham,