Sadly, I have to alert those who are thinking about using Poster Mountain to be extremely cautious and to place work with them only if you understand and are willing to accept the risks you are running with your materials and project if you do so.
I should say that writing a review like this is very unusual for me; I have owned businesses for most of my 40 year plus career; our last company had over 150 employees when my partner and I sold it last year. We were always very strong on customer service and problem solving, which I suspect is why I am posting this cautionary notice.
I am a serious collector of vintage paper ephemera; I had been searching for a firm to do restoration on some 30 pieces for me, and was initially delighted to find Poster Mountain. I want to their office, met the staff, who were great, and commissioned them (in writing) to start work on 4 items. The owner was out ill, so I left behind five more items that the staff wanted the owner, John, to review so we could determine a price and, if agreeable commission the work. After 3 weeks passed, I called to see how things were coming, and reached the owner, John, who was very pleasant over the phone. Two items were completed, he said, (and sent me pictures) and they were working on the other two at which point we would get together and decide on the remaining pieces.
A couple of days later, I received an email from John with a picture of an item they were working on--he had some questions he said on how to proceed. The problem was that he was working on a wrong piece, one of those I had left behind for a bid. I was not upset at all; problems happen and I wanted to make a home with these people. I sent John the following email:
John!
As a friend of mine sez, there are not problems. There are just "points to consider." The point to consider is this: I didn't authorize any work to be done on Lichtefeld and Voelker; that was one of the pieces that we were going to decide on once we saw the completed work on the four items we had approved. Attached is your invoice/estimate and listing of the 4 items we approved to be done on this pass.
Let's figure out what to do here, and press on. I look forward to doing a bunch of biz with you guys, but didn't want this piece done at this time...it's always SOMETHING, right?
Not ten minutes later I received this email back from John:
Wayne,
Unfortunately the person with whom you dealt here, Chelsea is no longer with the company and I followed instructions that were left with me. These calendars are not at all straightforward and if this is really a problem for you, with all due respect then I really don't want to do business with you.
And that was it. He demanded I pay a bill he then sent over (he did not charge me for the "wrong" work) and made it clear I was to pick up my half finished order and begone.
I recognize and support the right of any company to do business with whomever they please, but this was a pretty amazing turn of events, generated it seems by my saying "you guys made a mistake here, but let's work it out and continue on."
It's sad in the sense that the staff was great and the work they did do, although pricey, was very good, and I thought I had found a home for a lot of work. My cautionary note is this: if you decide to commission these folks, you need to bear in mind that you are taking a serious risk with your materials. Based on my experience, if everything goes O.K., you will be fine. However, if there is any problem that you as a customer bring up, no matter how pleasant or undisturbed you are about it, you need to be prepared to immediately be given a bill with a payment demand and shortly thereafter be standing on the curb holding your unfinished work. This is bad enough and a breach of trust if the item is for your own display, and worse yet if you have entrusted Poster Mountain with work that is going to be shown on a specific date.
I have been in business and worked with vendors for many years; often the same vendor for a decade or more as the whole goal is to find a good company and stick with them. This is truly one of the most unusual and unprofessional episodes I have ever encountered; truly an experience with what seems to be bi-polar business behavior.
Again, be very, very careful with these people and good luck with your work. read more
