Ian’s Artworks

I gave them two canvases: one to frame and one to stretch. They were supposed to take two weeks. After two weeks I had heard nothing so went in. They had one, which was meant to be framed but had been stretched, and some in such a way that it couldn’t be framed and have the same effect. To their credit they have me this for free — but I wanted to pay the price we agreed for the frame effect I wanted. More time went by so I went in again for the second (they never called me). They had shut early (this was Christmas Eve and he previous day they confirmed their hours for me, and this cost me about two hours with family). I tried again after 4 weeks, and they had again shut early but another let me in and the stretching had been done correctly. Throughout this the main women I spoke to had been aggressive and rude towards me, repeatedly implying she can give good service because she’s busy. I encourage you to reduce that burden for her, and go somewhere else in Balham that might cost slightly more, but will also give you what you want.

I had high hopes for Ian’s. I dropped in 2 prints for framing. I was advised on my framing by a very young girl who was congratulated for her first «consultation» which didn’t fill me with confidence, but I still left my prints. 1 of which I was happy with and 1, after a few months realised that it really didn’t look good and that I had been ill advised. I contacted them to see what I could do, they said bring it back.
I advised what I was hoping for and was told I could keep the original frame I paid £70 for and essentially pay for it be redone entirely. Again I left my print only to chase and chase for 2.5 months. At which point I asked for a refund and got my original ill advised framed print back. I got no apology and my returned frame was dirty and chipped and the framing rope was cut. I was truly truly disappointed in the overall service and won’t be going back.
I hear Pond Framing at Clapham Old Town is good…

Dreadful.
We have had a number of items framed at Ian’s Artworks in the past year (as it is conveniently placed), and several of them have needed re-​framing or adjusting due to errors. The most recent picture was framed very poorly and had to be taken back several times. It’s a large piece of work, and so a massive pain to transport back and forth from the shop at our own expense. Rather than fixing the issues quickly, we were presented with excuse after excuse as to why they needed longer/hadn’t rectified the problem yet. This has stretched out over months and has worn our considerable patience and goodwill out. Calls have gone unreturned, and messages unanswered, promised delivery deadlines missed repeatedly and without warning or explanation, and then when we chase, more excuses. Extremely poor customer communication — unless we phone them to chase, we don’t find out whether there are any issues or what those issues might be. Most recent excuse, when I chased after over a week of their failure to return our enquiry, was that the manager’s business phone was stolen/​damaged and that she couldn’t make any calls or return any messages. I can’t believe any serious business would have their customer details on a single office mobile. Indicates dishonesty or ineptitude. Utterly hopeless.
We were warned off Ian’s by friends, but didn’t listen. More fool us.
It’s a tremendous shame as we really wanted to like this business as it’s small, independent and the staff are, at first blush, friendly.
Honestly, for the sake of your pictures, avoid at all costs unless you want shoddy, delayed work stretched out over months and which will likely need re-​doing. We will not be using them again due to their poor quality of work and their complete lack of regard for their customers. Despite blathering on about the importance of customer service, they should actually try providing it: words are a good deal emptier without action.

Although I was a dissatisfied framing customer, I have given Ian’s Artwork 3 stars because of their friendliness, good customer service and the fact that they aren’t just a picture framer but also a small trendy art dealer with a collection worth checking out.
If you are seeking a picture framer my suggestion would be to go somewhere else, UNLESS you’re looking for a lower-​cost custom picture framing job AND you don’t mind risking imperfections (which they will gladly fix for you). And, while in their shop I saw lots of nicely framed work.
In my experience I brought in a picture that they suggested not dry mounting. (Dry mounting ensures the picture is flat under the frame but can reduce the value for resale if you have purchased artwork as an investment, because the piece is fixed to a board for the rest of its life. Not dry mounting makes the framer’s job of keeping your work flat harder.) When they told me it was complete, I went in to pick it up and noticed an obvious smudge on my poster in the lower left corner, a very obvious hair in the top right corner, and a tiny spec of hair in the top left corner. I pointed these out to them and they said, no problem and asked if I could come back tomorrow. Very nice but they should have caught these issues before ever presenting it to a customer. When I came back the specks and smudge (some dust) were gone. I brought it home and upon looking at it the picture was very wavy under the frame. (Additionally, I noticed some issues with the consistency of the stain on the frame and [I had decided not to say anything upon the purchase of the service] but the stain job looked very unnatural.) By this point I had lost faith in their abilities. When I took it back they said they could straighten it but I decided to ask for my money back and try somewhere else. They agreed to my request and handled the situation extremely well, I just have very diminished faith in their framing abilities.
I chose Ian’s for picture framing because they were local and I didn’t want to leave Balham. In hindsight I wish I had taken the time to leave Balham. I had also read a bad review about them from someone who had twice gotten pictures framed there, accepted the work and then complained online that, not only were the frame jobs bad but also her pictures were damaged. Mel, the owner had replied to this review by rightly saying:
«In reply to the review would like to say we were quite suprised that you felt you were unable to tell us that you were unhappy with your framing as we do try and accommodate our customers. We are more than happy if you want to bring the picture back and we can rectify the problem even after one month (you wouldn’t get that kind of service at Ikea). Unfortunately you were not happy with the frame but we did try and get it to you sooner rather than later. As a family run picture framers we are very busy and believe than communication with our customers is a vital part of the local shopping experience.»
I respected that and felt just that way about their treatment of me as a customer.

Ian’s Artworks is such a funky cool store. They carry all sorts of prints, both framed pieces and posters, that you can decorate your walls with. They have your basic iconic prints, like Van Gogh’s ‘Starry Night’ or that Audrey Hepburn picture that you see in every trendy kid’s lounge, but they also carry fairly obscure pieces that are pretty much one of a kind. The prices aren’t ridiculous either, you can find things starting at £20 and ranging up to around £200. You can also find greeting cards here. Even if you don’t want to buy anything, it’s worth having a look; it’s like a mini-​gallery.