I am posting this in August 2012 in hopes that other consumers will be protected from the fraud and the time-consuming, expensive process that I have gone through with Reproduction Art Gallery www.reproductionartgallery.com. I back dated the post so that it doesn’t appear on the first page of my blog. Mostly I want it to be available to people who google Reproduction Art Gallery as I did when I was first thinking of doing business with them.
The very short version of this long and miserable story is that, in November, I tried to find a company or artist that could do a reproduction of Wassily Kandinsky’s Several Circles for my partner’s Christmas present. It is his favorite painting, but not one of Kandinsky’s most popular so it is hard to find good posters or reproductions. I contacted Reproduction Art Gallery www.reproductionartgallery.com (and emailed back and forth with Founder/CEO Stella Buffett) and they had a money back guarantee and the website promises that you are able to return the painting for any reason. I was slightly nervous about paying in full via paypal ahead of time, but I had emailed with Stella and she and the website seemed trustworthy. First warning sign is that the digital picture I was sent of the painting was not a reproduction of the painting – it resembled the painting, but key colors, spacing, etc. was completely wrong. I said I would really prefer not to go forward with the transaction, but if they were SURE they could correct it, I would consider it. They promised that it could be corrected. Around this time they also told me it would be late and not arrive before Christmas, but they agreed to refund some of the cost. Huge problem for me. I agreed, however since I really wanted to have a present to give to my husband near the time of Christmas, even if a few days late. I agreed to have it shipped via very expedited mail and would just give it to my partner a few days after Christmas. I had it shipped to my uncle’s house where we were spending Christmas. It arrived TWO WEEKS later from Vietnam, not Great Brittain where I assumed it was being shipped from since this is where they say they are located. My uncle was not at his house then and thus could not mail it to me. And I could not drive to get it since it was hours away. FINALLY, I DROVE hours to get the painting in March. When I opened it, I cried. There were VISIBLE pen marks on the canvas, the colors were extraordinarily wrong, and the texture clearly showed the attempts at correcting things. So I emailed them and they told me they would not accept a return. We emailed a lot more and finally they agreed to accept a return. I mailed it back. They told me they didn’t get it. I send them receipts and tracking numbers. I didn’t hear anything. I emailed again. Nothing. I have spent SO MUCH time trying to contact them, trying to get this worked out. Better Business Bureau cannot do anything since it is international. Paypal strangely will only handle cases 45 days since date of payment, which of course does not apply here because I didn’t even have the painting 45 days from date of payment, much less have returned it and found out that they refuse to refund my payment. It has been a terrible process, expensive, and sort of sad because part of it was that I just trusted people to do the right thing – to be fair. I know that that isn’t always the case, but it is sad to encounter people who are so disrespectful of other people’s money, time and a present that was meant to be a very special Christmas present. I strongly discourage anyone from buying from them. Reproduction Art Gallery and the founder Stella Buffett is not fair, responsive, trustworthy, and have cost me $200 dollars (including shipping costs to return) and lots of time.
Our Email Correspondence (starting from the last email to the earliest)
Subject: Re: painting
Date: Thu, 31 May 2012 13:36:01 -0500
From: Elizabeth
To: Stella Buffet , linh@reproductionartgallery.com, stella@reproductionartgallery.com
[Scan of] Postage receipts attached from returning painting March 28, 2012. I have filed a complaint with paypal.
[As noted above, I found that paypal, my credit card company, BBB, and any international equivalent of the BB could not really do anything aside from allow me to file a complaint which they would not act on.]
Date: 05 May 2012
[At this point, I received a message via etsy (where I contacted her) stating that she had not received the painting (although I used delivery confirmation and tracking and had the receipts). I am not sure where that email is at.]
Subject: Re: painting
Date: Tue, 01 May 2012 14:13:57 -0500
From: Elizabeth
To: Stella Buffet
CC: Elizabeth , stella@reproductionartgallery.com, linh@reproductionartgallery.com
If my funds are not refunded in 24 hours, I will immediately file grievances/fraud complaints with paypal, my credit card company, all relevant authorities, your website host, and post online to alert any other potential customers of my experience when they google you. My paypal email for the refund is elizabeth——–@yahoo.com
Subject: Re: painting
Date: Sun, 22 Apr 2012 12:16:44 -0500
From: Elizabeth
To: Stella Buffet
Could you please let me know that you received this and go ahead and/or process the refund? I think both of us would like to avoid me having to file a complaint to pay pal and my credit card company. However, if the refund is not processed in a week, I feel like I will not have a choice since I still haven’t been able to buy [partner] his Christmas present and I’d like to have it ready for his upcoming birthday as a make-up for no Christmas present. I can’t buy it until the refund is processed.
Thanks so much!
Elizabeth
On 4/16/12 4:28 PM, Elizabeth wrote:
According to my USPS Express Mail delivery confirmation number, the returned painting should have arrived. I originally paid £130.00 Nov 17, 2011 and you refunded £30.00 on December 20th. Please refund the remaining £100.0 now that the painting has been returned. My paypal account is elizabeth—–@yahoo.com [Note that this does not include the $50 it cost to return with delivery confirmation.]
Elizabeth
On 3/15/12 3:42 PM, Stella Buffet wrote:
> Hi,
>
> Please return the painting to the following address:
>
> Shaleni Vallapayan
> [address]
>
> Thanks
>
> Stella Buffet
> CEO, Founder
> Reproduction Art Gallery
> info@reproductionartgallery.com
> http://www.reproductionartgallery.com
Subject: painting
Date: Wed, 14 Mar 2012 10:55:04 -0500
From: Elizabeth
To: Stella Buffet , linh@reproductionartgallery.com, stella@reproductionartgallery.com
Dear Stella, I feel really frustrated that I have not heard from you. I would really like to return this painting as per your policy. Two hundred+ dollars is a lot for us and I spent it thinking I would get a good painting for [partner's] Christmas and instead it has been one challenge after another. I have not been treated fairly and I would very much appreciate an address to return the painting to and a refund. I trusted you with both a very special Christmas present and in terms of your business and promises. If I do not hear from you, I will start proceedings to file a complaint through paypal and my credit card company. When it is resolved, I will also make sure that when your business is searched for on the internet, the account of my difficult time is made available to other customers.
Sincerely,
Elizabeth
Dear Stella, It has been over 8 days since I sent this and I would appreciate a reply. I think I have made a good faith effort to be understanding about the process of ordering and receiving the painting and I think the process has not been particularly fair to me. I did not expect a perfect reproduction, but I think it is reasonable to expect one that is done by someone who is familiar with the original and does not have visible pen marks. Please let me return the painting and provide a refund. If I don’t hear from you, I will be forced to keep the painting (which we’ll simply give to a local charity) and post a review of your company and my experience on my blog so that when other people are considering using your company and google you to see if there are complaints, they will be aware of my challenging experiences.
I appreciate that you are trying to run a good business and that sometimes things don’t go right. But it really seems fair that you would correct them when they don’t go right and not make it a difficult ordeal for the customer who acted in good faith.
Sincerely,
Elizabeth
Dear Stella, I showed the picture to [my partner]. In addition to the visible pen marks, the colors are not reflective of the original – not even very close and the texture is extremely rough which, not only does not look close to the original, but is also not very aesthetically pleasing. This was somewhat difficult to discern from the pictures, but after discussing with [my partner], we all agreed that this is not a reasonable reproduction. It seems to have been done by someone who was not familiar with the original. Your website says, “Our paintings are genuinely hand painted by our talented artists under the close supervision of the quality control team,” but it is hard for me to believe that someone reviewed this painting. Your website says, “100% money back guarantee if you are not happy with the painting. We are proud to say that we haven’t had a complaint about the quality.” I would like to return it. I am very sorry to be the first customer to have a complaint about the quality, but perhaps when you see the picture you will understand why. Please let me know where to send it. You can refund the payment to elizabeth—–@yahoo.com when you receive the return.
All the best,
Elizabeth
Dear Stella, I wanted to let you know that I just got the painting from my uncle, as it was sent to his house over Christmas and because of a death in the family, he was away from his home until recently. I opened the painting and I was a little surprised to find visible pen marks on the painting where the artist had apparently drawn out the picture first and then filled in the circles but not fully covered up the original pen markings. I also saw from the post mark that it was sent regular post – not FedEx or UPS or any other faster form of delivery – from Vietnam on December 23. Obviously, if I had known it was being sent from Vietnam (I assumed it was being sent from GB) two days before Christmas (I thought it was being sent the 20th) regular mail (I thought it was overnight or two day mail), I would have just had it sent to my house instead of my uncle’s and I would have received it earlier. I do not mean at all to be unkind to you or your company, but this really has not gone well. The first version of the painting was not a good reproduction, it was corrected but looks very amateur to me – I think to call it a reproduction is an overstatement – and there are visible pen marks. It was late. It was sent later than even the later agreement date we had. I was not told it was being sent from Vietnam. It was not sent expedited mail. I was skeptical about buying from an online company, but I took the risk and I see now that it was not a very good decision. I haven’t shown the painting to my husband yet. Maybe he will like it – I will try to pass it off as a great reproduction and hope he will like it, but I am skeptical since the pen marks are somewhat noticeable. If he does not, I would really prefer to return it and be done with this and just buy a poster that I know will look like the original painting. However, if you insist on not refunding the money, I suppose I’ll have to ask for another version, hopefully by someone who is more familiar with the piece of art and more skilled. I’m really very sorry about this but I don’t think that this has been very close to what we originally agreed on or the sense that I got from your website about the skill level and service level of the company. I’ll talk to my husband and see and let you know.
Apologies,
Elizabeth
Hi there. I just wanted to let you know that I haven’t been able to see the picture yet. It did not arrive before Christmas, and I had planned to stay after Christmas in order to get it, but there was a family emergency so we had to leave my uncle’s house where the picture was sent. His neighbor agreed to get it (since my uncle had to leave town for the same family emergency and is staying with the family as they recover from the death), and so I will go get it from my uncle’s neighbor next week (it is a three hour drive). I’ll let you know once I see it, stretch it onto a frame and show it to my husband.
Just an update. EG
Dear Stella, As far as I can tell from the photo, it looks good! Thanks for the adjustments. Please send it to
Elizabeth [address removed]
If you send it fastest shipping available, it may arrive by Saturday. Also I appreciate the discount – you can send it via my paypal account which is ————-
I’ll look forward to seeing the painting.
Thank you,
Elizabeth
On 12/20/11 5:18 AM, Stella Buffet wrote:
> Hi Elizabeth,
>
> Thank you for your kind thoughts.
>
> Please find the fixed painting attached.
>
> Our artist has worked very hard on it and said that’s the best they could do.
>
> If you accept this version, I will be happy to give you a reduction of £30 for the late delivery.
>
> Thank you very much.
>
> Best regards,
>
> Stella Buffet
> CEO, Founder
> Reproduction Art Gallery
> Mobile: 07912415448
> info@reproductionartgallery.com
> http://www.reproductionartgallery.com
Hi Stella. Yes, this is disappointing. I’m not quite sure the best way to handle it. I actually feel bad that it causes a hassle for you all in terms of either fixing the painting or doing a new one. I hate to be picky and I realize a reproduction isn’t an exact science or exact copy, but, to me, the differences were significant enough that I’m surprised the artist did not see them him or herself.
I’ve struggled with what to do about this. I think ultimately my gut reaction is to say that I don’t really want this anymore because it will not be ready for Christmas and I am somewhat concerned that once it arrives it will not look close enough to the original. That said, I realize that you are a business and an artist has already worked hard on this and thus I want to be fair to you all too. If you think that there is a chance that you could sell the painting on your website, my preference would be to have a refund. However, if you think that is unlikely or that would cause a problem for you all, then my preference is just to go ahead and have it completed and sent. As I said, I really don’t expect or need it to look identical, as I realize that is impossible. But I would appreciate it if the artist could not submit another draft until he or she is relatively sure that it looks very similar with no major differences. My understanding is that the shading of both the circles and the black space is one of key features of this painting, thus it seems important that it is pretty similar to the original in that respect.
If we do continue with the order, I would certainly welcome a reduction in the price since it will not arrive before Christmas as per our agreement. If by chance something close enough to the original is completed close to Christmas, I may need to have it sent to a different address. I’ll let you know asap once I see a final copy of it.
Thank you very much. Sorry to cause any trouble on your end.
Take care,
Elizabeth
On 12/18/11 7:57 AM, Stella Buffet wrote:
Hi Elizabeth,
Firstly I’d like to say I am so sorry for this unwanted inconvenience.
Our artist has been working on fixing the painting and they confirmed with me that it will be done in 2 days. And unless you are happy with the painting, they will paint a new one from scratch.
However, due to the Christmas rush and this unfortunate incident, I am so sorry to let you know that the painting might not be able to reach you before Christmas. I know how upset you must feel right now because that’s a surprise present for your husband. We all want to make our beloved ones surprised and happy, I am fully with you about that. But because the painting needs to get dry before we could send it away (we roll it in a hard tube therefore it needs to be fully dry), so even if they finish the painting in 2 days and you agree for us to ship, and we will use the fastest express delivery but again it’s Christmas, I can’t guarantee it will arrive before Christmas. I do apologise again for this.
Customers’ satisfaction is very important to us therefore we will do everything to keep you happy.
Thank you so much for your patience and understanding.
Best regards,
Stella Buffet
CEO, Founder
Reproduction Art Gallery
——– Original Message ——–
Subject: Re: reproduction of Kandinsky’s Several Circles
From: Elizabeth
Date: Tue, December 13, 2011 4:07 pm
To: Stella Buffet <
info@reproductionartgallery.com>Hi Stella. Thanks for sending this on. Sorry for the delay – I’ve been
overwhelmed. I’ve attached a PDF with two different versions of the
picture that are available online next to the painting that you all
have done. I’ve circled a few places (with a white circle) where it
appears to me that the shading is noticeably different – mostly where
some of the circles overlap and how they are shaded. I realize that it
is difficult to capture the fullness of the picture in a photograph
and perhaps it is simply a matter of the photograph. My only concern
is that my husband is a student of this particular painting (for
reasons I do not completely understand myself) so he will notice if
the picture is noticeably different from the original so I just want
to do my best to assure that it is very similar. Certainly there will
be some slight variations, but from the picture it appears to me that
the shading of some of the circles is quite different than what it
looks like in the two originals that I included as comparisons in the
attached document. I realize that colors are difficult to capture with
a camera, so I don’t think I can say much about the colors except to
just request that you all feel confident that the colors are pretty
close matches to the original that hangs in the Guggenheim.
Thanks for your care with this. I think ultimately because a
photograph does not do justice to colors and shadings, I will have to
trust you all that you believe that the painting you are sending looks
like a relatively true reproduction. I will have it stretched on a
wooden canvas and give it to my husband on Christmas. I don’t think he
has expectations that it will look EXACTLY as the original, but I do
think he would be disappointed if there were differences that are very
noticeable.
Thank you,
Sincerely,
ElizabethOn Sat, Dec 10, 2011 at 2:40 PM, Stella Buffet
<
info@reproductionartgallery.com> wrote:
> Hi Elizabeth,
>
> I hope you are enjoying your weekend. I don’t know what the weather is like
> in America but here in London it is freezing :(.
>
> As promised, please find the attachment the photo of the painting Several
> Circles.
>
> Please let me know your opinion about it and if there’s anything you would
> want us to change.
>
> Many thanks,
>
> Regards,
>
> Stella Buffet
> CEO, Founder
> Reproduction Art Gallery
> Mobile: 07912415448
>
info@reproductionartgallery.com
>
www.reproductionartgallery.com
>
>
Dear Stella,
Very exciting! This is exactly the painting I wanted. I would like to order it now.
To be clear, if I pay now, you will send it in 3-4 weeks? 27X27, Several Circles by Kandinsky. £137 (about $217.00). Do you send me an invoice from paypal and then I pay it? Just let me know the best way to pay. If you need to invoice me, please send to ——–which is my paypal account.
Also, could you just let me know the best way to mount the picture? Ideally we do not want it behind glass and would like to put it on a stretched canvas, but I’m not sure that is possible after the painting is done – maybe only before? I know little about this and would like to go ahead and figure out how it should be mounted so that I can someone to do that in our (pretty small town) so that I can make sure that is also done by Christmas.
Thanks you! Just let me know the next steps.
Elizabeth
On 11/14/11 5:09 PM, Stella Buffet wrote:
Hi Elizabeth,
Thank you very much for your interest and I do apologise for not getting back to you earlier. It’s Christmas :D.
In order for us to prevent misunderstanding, please find the photo attached and confirm that is the painting you enquired about.
We do custom work and it usually takes 3 – 4 weeks, so it will be fine for Christmas if you order now. If the painting attached is the one, size 27″ x 27″, it will cost £130 including shipping. We put quality as the first priority, so as soon as our artist finishes painting, we will send you photos of the finished painting for approval. We will amend the painting until you are 100% satisfied with it. We only ship the painting when you agree for us to do so.
Thank you very much and I look forward to hearing from you.
Best regards,
Stella Buffet
CEO, Founder
Reproduction Art Gallery
Mobile: 07912415448
——– Original Message ——–
Subject: reproduction of Kandinsky’s Several Circles
From: Elizabeth
Date: Fri, November 11, 2011 4:30 pm
To:
info@reproductionartgallery.comHi there. My husband’s favorite painting is Several Circles by
Kandinksy. It is not one of his most popular works and thus
reproductions appear difficult to find. I was wondering if you do custom
work and if this could be done by the week before Christmas? I would
want the reproduction to be about 27 X 27 which is half the size of the
original work. If this is possible, it would be great to know what your
price is. Thank you, Elizabeth
Our names are Theo and Emerson and we are looking for a home together. We’re brothers and we can’t stand to be apart from each other, so we can only be adopted together. We were found on the streets and Second Chance Shelter in Jamaica Plain was able to find us a foster family while we were socialized and have become very cuddly and feel as though we are ready to find a forever home. We have a brother Phineas who is still sick, but we are healthy, and have had our first round of shots and have an appointment to get fixed which will be covered by our adoption fee. We have tested negative for Feline AIDS and for Feline Leukemia and are in very good shape. As you can see, we are both black. I have more orange eyes (that’s me, Theo) and Emerson has blueish green eyes and also a few white hairs under his chin so you can tell us apart. We are about 12-14 weeks old. I (Theo) like to talk and I meow to say hi or to say when I’m hungry. I enjoy chasing balls and strings and cuddling. My brother Emerson is a little more quiet, but he also likes to play with strings and chase balls. As you can see from the picture, we also like to cuddle together. We are looking for a loving permanent stable home where we can live out the next 15-20 years or so with an wonderful family or individual. If you think you could offer us a home together, we would love to meet you. You can email our foster mom. It would be great if you could tell us a little bit about you and your family or roommates and what our living situation might be like. We will respond to only a few ads because our foster mom says that kittens usually get more responses than they can get to.
Posted by Elizabeth 
