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Picture Framing Magazine

What are you favorite "could ya just" requests?

D

Dave Wetterstroem

Well-known member
Messages
68
Loc
Ohio
Company
FrameMakers of Powell
I just had a "Could ya just" customer in. She came in yesterday and asked if we could repair her frame, I told her I would have to look at it first, but that I don't repair plastic frames.
She assured me it wasn't plastic.
Well she brought it in and guess what, it is plastic.
To top it off, it also has big pieces missling.
That is when she game me a could ya just replace the missing part with wood and paint it gold.
 
How on earth can a plastic or resinous frame be fixed? There are plenty of new plastic frames on the market. Some may be close to what the customer brought in. Some customers don't think. They think repairing a frame can be done in half an hour and will be cheaper then a new frame. If they thought of having a new frame as an alternative in the first place. Sometimes customers are so attached to their old worn out frames, that they cannot bear to have it replaced with a new frame. They want to keep the old frame even the miters are open, wormholes on the back, paint flaking off, pieces missing. No, passed down from grandmother to mother so it belongs to the artwork. It is hard enough to get them to part with the matboard or replace the glass with conservation-glass.
 
Two weeks ago a guy called, said he was a Joanne's and they quoted him ~$250, :z-panicb: yea about it, I told him. Well last Saturday he and his wife come in they spend an hour picking out stuff, to go back to the first selection I laid down, of course. I tell him the price is $400+....:hypnotysed:

They want to try the sample at home :lie:, no prob. They call later, they are at Joanne's again, they want to buy the backing, one of the double mats and their museum glass there... :lever: Could we just" buy your frame and top mat, (cause J doesn't carry Peterboro or Engelsen)
and we have you assemble! Oh and could ya give us a discount too? :livid:



P.S. Love that this is private!
 
Guy came in last week, with some photos and some small figurines (maybe total of 20 thingies, not too big) and wanted it all framed in one shadow box. No problem.

He asked if he could pick it up at the end of the day.
 
Customer has a frame 10 x 22.
Has artwork framed with glass ready to put in a frame (I'm guessing the plastic frame broke) that is 10x 20.
"Could I just shorten the frame they have to be 10 x 20?"

Then they look at you like your being mean and trying gouge them when you say you can't.
 
"could ya just" make this frame shorter on one side, the other side is fine!!!

Or

"could ya just" do this jersey in a box for $50 I really don't want to spend much

I know we all get these!!!

Robin
 
A new customer came in yesterday with two kids and three requests...
Could ya just put this picture in a big, wide white frame? You know, the kind with the cutouts on the sides.
Click to expand...
I showed her our selection of white moldings and some from suppliers' catalogs, but she said none of them matches the one she saw in Paris. Strike One.

Could ya just frame this in a black mirror frame?
Click to expand...
I thought she meant a black frame with mirror panels, but no. She wanted a frame made out of black mirror, whatever that is. I might have inquired further, but it was obvious that I would not be able to build a frame out of mirror in any color. Strike Two.

Could ya just put this picture in an oval frame with a mat?
Click to expand...
It was an 8" x 10" photograph of a girl's face, with less than 1/2" of background on the top and bottom; the face filled the image area. I explained that we could do that with a rectangular mat window, but it would look odd in an oval frame. She insisted on an oval mat window, which would cover at least 25% of the girl's image. Strike Three.

Those are three weird requests, and all from one customer at one time. :shocked:
 
I have stored art more than once for regular customers who were moving. I could afford the space, had enough insurance and didn't mind it at all. Each time, once they came to pick up the item, they either re-framed it or brought in new work to complement their new space. It may not be for everybody, but I welcome this from established customers.

For someone I didn't know, I would price it high and get paid in advance.

My favorite was the couple who brought in a plasitc poster frame with polystyrene glazing and 1/4" rabbet. They wanted me to put conservation glass and a double mat in it for their poster. I figured out a way to do it and quoted the price. "How much!" they exclaimed together, "We only paid $25 for the frame!" I think of this every time somebody says, "But I only paid $xx.xx for the art!"
 
could ya just

We get calls all the time, asking about frame restoration and what materials we use and how to do it. I finally got tired of it, and now I tell people, this is what we do for a living. Why would I tell you how to do it yourself? (Never mind that we can't possibly know what kind of frame they have, what the damage is, what the finish is, etc.) Some people are just too thick to realize how insulting they are being. I think one time the person actually realized I was right, and they apologized for asking.

I took a class from Jay Goltz a few years ago and he told an anecdote about the famous phrase, "Could you just....". When you hear that, it means you are about to be f %$*& d if you answer it anyway but "no". He also said that a good answer is to tell the person to wait while you take their piece into the "magic hocus pocus room".

Carry on now.

Sue Davis, CPF
Master Framers Inc.
 
Not exactly a "could ya just" but funny none the less....
Guy came in last November with a fairly healthy, early afternoon buzz on telling me he has a reprint of the declaration of independence from 1804. Ok. "I'm storing right now at the University". Ok I tell him, that's the best place to store it.
He goes on and on about how he's going to sell it because he prefers Dali and Picasso. That's fine I tell him. He goes on to say he's gonna bring it in tomorrow. I gave him a rough estimate on price depending on the size and materials. He says no problem.
He comes in the next day with a lighting fixture in a backpack and says it's worth a fortune and would it be ok if he stores it with me cause his car broke down and he doesn't want anyone to steal it. Now i'm thinking, "did you steal it?!?!" Of course, I say no. So then, on his way out the door, he says, "hey, you got like 40 bucks I can borrow?" Jesus!!! "Na man, I don't carry cash".
Needless to say, I haven't seen him since.
I don't know what the guy was into but I was glad not to see him again.
 
A customer came in yesterday with an early 19th century mirror with a painted glass panel on top (a pastoral scene with figures)

the painted glass it was broken in three places

she wanted me to "just fix the glass"!

:shocked:

I helped her put it back in her car.
 
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