Jerry's Artarama Avis 

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.

I had a frustrating, inconvenient, and unprofessional experience — and when I tried to resolve it, customer service was not only unhelpful but downright argumentative. I was interrogated about an order that I placed four years ago (which was botched by them and I believed was resolved). Instead of trying to rectify, they treated me like a problem and ultimately refused future service. No accountability, no respect for the customer.
I won’t be shopping here again, and I advise others to avoid this store unless you're okay being punished for their mistakes. There are many other places to shop!

I logged in shortly after purchasing a pre-made frame to cancel my order. "No orders." I called the next day and the next and the next and--four times total. I got careless, misinformation until I got "Jerry" the customer service rep, who finally knew what to tell me. Before that: "send the package to the address at the bottom of the website" (a corporate office? No.); "don't send the package, just call for a pickup" (can't do it without an account); "write the mailing label yourself (nope; UPS insists that the seller must do it); "just 'refuse' the package when it comes" (ok, I'll wait at home for a couple hours or days and hope I'm not in the shower or walking the dogs when the UPS person comes); "UPS will print the label for you"; (The first person I talked to--twice--neglected to send the necessary info to UPS, as I found out when I drove to the UPS store). Finally Jerry (not THE Jerry) sorted it all out. He knew exactly what to do. I wasted a week on the phone to UPS and to Jerry's.

While the merchandise is great quality and Jerry’s carries brands that are reliable, I am disappointed with their practice of listing frames for sale as “In Stock” when in fact they are not physically available at time of purchase. I ordered a frame specifically because it the website stated it was in stock, but only the paint brushes I included in my order were shipped out. I double checked my order and did further reading. It was not until scrolling much further down that it said that the frames are made to order and require extra time before being shipped out. That is not “In Stock” by my definition. I called to speak to customer service and was told that the materials to make the frames is in stock, and that’s what they mean. I pointed out that the brushes I ordered were also listed as in stock, but they were not made to order so that was a flimsy excuse. I am disappointed because this is a deceptive practice and I am quite sure I am not the only person who assumes that an in-stock item is available for shipping. I will order from Jerry’s again because the products they carry are of good quality. However, buyer beware!

Placed an order for 6 standard-sized frames, after 11 days of the order status showing "processing" I checked again and found that it had switched to "backordered." I contacted them and was told that the frames would not be back in stock for at least a month. Canceled the order, now starting again and looking elsewhere. That is to say, I requested that they cancel the order--status hasn't changed on my account. I'll have to follow up to make sure it gets canceled and I get my refund.

Usually satisfied with my jerry's orders
This one was mostly good-ordered--Centurion DLX Acrylic Primed Linen Canvas 20"x30", Box of 3
and Centurion DLX Acrylic Primed Linen Canvas 22"x28", Box of 3
4 were excellent but 2 were not flat or tight. I'm hoping the corner keys will tighten them up.
These are about the same price as just buying the materials--so a good deal otherwise

I ordered a set of four white frames to Jerry's Artarama that were advertised as gallery quality frames and offered at a discount. While they arrived very quickly, it was a bad surprise! One off the frames which were needed for a gallery exhibitions was broken, because they hammer(!) the corner protective paper ( paper not cardboard!) into the frame instead of wrapping it around it, so they can save pennies on packaging material. This chips of the paint and damages the cheap wood. The quality of the frames is subpar and way too expensive even with the discount. Build with the cheapest material they can resource, the corners are not covered with paint properly the plexiglass glass is extremely(!) thin and attracts dust and scratches, for the backing they used dusty, very cheap, non-sturdy cardboard that holds nothing. Nothing about this is even close to a usable frame for a normal household and certainly not gallery quality!!! Very maybe this is usable as a poster frame for a teenagers room, but then again its too pricey for that!

This is my first order with Jerry's and I have to say that it will probably be my last. Approximately 10 days after I had placed an order I was wondering where my order was. I went to their site, got the tracking number and UPS said that package was destroyed and there was nothing in it.

I sent an email to Jerry's and a week later I still had not heard back from them so I called. After my third try (I was on hold for over 20 min the first two times) I reached customer service. I explained the situation and she asked if I received the order??? Apparently they had replaced my order but never informed me. That day I got the replacement and it was missing all the items that I had ordered. I let them know and they said they would credit my original payment source. I asked if she would send me and email to confirm that, she said yes, however I never received one.

That evening I got an email that told me that they sent my order replacement in two packages, had I received the second box yet. I responded with no and the tracking number they gave me for the second box showed it too was destroyed???

Needless to say I will not be getting my full order and at this point I am just hoping that I get a credit for the expensive item that never came.

Then I asked about a second order that I had placed with them (prior to knowing all of this)a week prior. The customer service told me that it was still in "processing" and that it would go out at some point- but she didn't know when. I believe the order had 4 pencils and one pad in it. Tomorrow it will be 10 days and the order still has not shipped.

As a small business owner myself I am always surprised at how people run their businesses and more importantly how it is that they get business to begin with! It isn't as though I'm getting the best deal at Jerry's and apparently customer service is not their strong point so I probably won't be returning.

I think it's time for me to find another online supplier for my art supplies. I have been ordering from Jerry's for quite a number of years, however, I have noticed their quality has gone down over the past year. It started with no longer receiving notifications regarding order ship and delivery date and most recently, almost half of my order was missing. I have never needed to contact customer service for years but recently did so twice. The customer service does not seem great. I am used to suppliers being more responsive.

I did a search online for other suppliers and will start using them. I do not plan to shop at Jerry's again. I doubt I'll ever receive the missing items from my last order but I'll chuck it up as a learning experience and move on.

I've been shopping Jerry's Artarama online for a number of years, and have always had a good experience. One order last Christmas arrived without the paint tube lids being taped shut, and paint was everyone from one tube, but it was replaced with hassle and nothing else was damaged by the messy tube. There is now a local store in my area, but they don't carry the paints I mostly use, so I still buy them online.

Very unprofessional. Customer service is useless.