A & R Engravers

They were unprofessional and added nothing to the «service» beyond the commodity. I suppose if you can get past that to get your engraving or whatever you need completed, give them a try. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to see what the end product looked like because after them calling me and making accusations against me, I had enough and ended the call.
To the back story…
My company threw a trivia night at another bar in Rosslyn this past Thursday. In our planning sessions we thought it would be both funny and neat to give the winning team a very cheap and almost laughable trophy. A former company of mine was headquartered in Clarendon so I remembered A&R existed from walking around town. I gave them a call a few days before the event to talk about options. The entire time, J. sounded like he had better things to do. Very short in his responses. He eventually told me to send him an email when I make up my mind. Back to their additive value beyond a commodity product; I called an engraving business to get a «professional’s» opinion but he fell short. I would have done better using google.
J’s instructions were for me to send him an email directly with what I wanted; tube color, mantel piece on top, small plaque engraving… so I did and added that we need by 5PM on Thursday as the event starts at 730PM. This was on Tuesday morning I believe, so a rush charge would apply raising the cost of the trophy from $ 10 to $ 20. No worries or complaints regarding that.
I get no response or acknowledgment the rest of the day Tuesday. Nothing again on Wednesday. And surprisingly, nothing on Thursday, the day I needed the trophy.
[On a side note, on Wednesday my team had discussed changing the trophy design and I said, «I’d prefer not because dealing with them so far has been unpleasant.» And by this point, I was over the idea of getting a trophy because of A&R’s attitude toward everything. I had gotten to the point that them blowing me off would have been just as good b/​c I eventually was going to lose my cool with their lack of professionalism.]
I had written off the possibility of a trophy being made and handed out due to the lack of response and contact by A&R, yet on Friday evening at 5PM I get a call. I don’t recall his name, but it wasn’t J. He was, however, just as rude. [quotations aren’t exact, but mimic tone and message] «Hi I’m X from A&R engravers. We have your trophy ready and our store closes in 5 minutes so when are you going to pick it up?» Yep, off to a good start. Hey customer, what’s your deal?
I told him that we needed it yesterday so getting it today doesn’t do me anything. To which he responded with, «I have a note here that he called and left you a message but you didn’t call back.» Negative, no message left. But I continued to tell him that I was upset that they never acknowledged receipt of my request. Well, the old adage that A&R Engravers is never wrong came out strong on X’s part. «Regardless if he called you or not, you asked for it to be ready by yesterday and we placed a rush order to make it happen so…» This wasn’t going anywhere worthwhile so I told him, «pleasure doing business with you. Goodbye.» And I hung up.
Lets review. Rude. Lacked industry perspective. No acknowledgement that the job was actually accepted and being worked. When called out for their poor service, they didn’t take that as an opportunity to admit, improve, and make well, but rather intimated that the customer owed them for doing said bad job.
Best of luck A&R. You failed me miserably.

A&R is the only place I go for engraving and awards. They are able to do classic hand-​engraving on silver cups that my business gives as awards. Their service is always prompt. When I’ve searched for new products to give as gifts and awards, they’ve always offered a range of options to fit our needs and budget.
The staff couldn’t be nicer over the phone or in person. The prices are very reasonable. I will keep coming back here for years to come.

Not that I frequenly require engraving services, but in the event that I do again, I will definitely choose A&R. My work has engaged A&R for several pretty unusual projects and they have done a fabulous job.
The first time I called, the staff was extremely helpful, and unlike every other company I called, they actually WANTED to do the work that I was asking for and gave me an estimate over the phone. I know that engraving and «decorating» a piece of steel fence is obscure, but, business is business, right?
I went back several times to drop off and pick up and was very pleased with the service, very friendly and professional. The price was extremely reasonable especially considering the manual labor involved. The product came out great and many people asked us who did the work. Its not easy making a bollard «mantle — worthy.»