Venture on Canvass HELP

dappa110

Suspended / Banned
Messages
10
Edit My Images
No
Well where do I start, I Visited Venture in Cambridge yes I know expensive but the wife insisted and I thought ok, I will get these portraits an investment (according to venture), something that will most probably outlast me (again ventures words) ok so I wanted them done properly so buy the best (how wrong could I be)......

Three years ago now I purchased 4 Canvas Prints (large ones) £495.00 each, looked stunning when I got them, sharp, good quality and looked sexy, however after about two years my wife and I said they look a bit funny not too bad but noticable you know, so as year two progressed I kept looking at them and stone me they had changed and were gradually getting worse, so I called venture Cambridge only to find it had closed.

So I called head office to explain that Picture 1 was still stunning no blemeshes, however Pictures 2 3 and 4 had changed considerably, My hair color had changed to a grainy look my complextion has yellow patches and i seem to be growing spots, my blond girls had gone ginger, around the eyes and eyelids had gone really red I imformed head office that these had been hanging on a wall not near a radiator or indeed direct sunlight as advised at the time of purchase.

Head office started off ok first call late october, recieved a call early Nov asking for proof of purchase, all done they called me again no sorry i chased them up and they said the managers were in a meeting and they were awaiting a decision anyway she called me back in December to say they no longer produce the Canvass range and that they are trying to retrieve my images from the hard drive, christmas came and went January I call back whats going on I ask them they inform me that the hard drive is broken and they cannot retrieve any of my images. HOWEVER they wanted to collect my prints and try to scan them onto Metro (the new range) so I agreed, they did this and called me to say the quality is of no good and they are unable to scan my images and that they have exhaused all options they informed me that my contract was with Cambridge and the Lab technition says there is no fading. in other words sorry we can not help you as we cant fix them and we dont care you spent over £1500.00 just three years ago on pictures that my wife refuses to put on the wall because they make us look like zombies.

So just last week i recieved my pictures back, I open the box only to find that picture 1 (the good picture) is pink and it looks like there are purple rings going round the eyes.

In a rage I call Venture Customer service manager and I use the term loosly to say what have you done to ny picture, nothing they said we just scanned it, did you scan Picture one, yes they replied so I explained what was up with it and also asked why they would mess around with the only goodpicture I had left. UNBELEAVABLE, so she said she would email me, no responce.

I have since taken the pics to inderpendant lab, he said he would have a look at them free but didnot want to get involved, immediatly he was not impressed and said I need to see this through to the end which I intend on doing but...... not sure exactly what line to take.

Just to clarify VENTURE UK insist that if a shop closes they have no responsibility as they are just the franchisee. and the contract is not with them
 
Contact Consumer Direct and find out what your rights are under law. You may have a case against Venture HQ, as its my understanding the shops have to use Ventures printing facilities.

Contact Consumer Direct here: http://www.consumerdirect.gov.uk/ . You can also phone them. They offer very good and free consumer advice.
 
Trading Standards... or threaten to go to the Press. The Sun or Daily Mail may well be worth a call. Say to Venture, ok, you have had your say, I am taking this to the national press.

Different topic, but my previous business was owed bt TMobile for some work, not loads, around £500. Chased for months and got nowhere. Then I contacted the PR dept, explained things to them and how I was going to the press about how large companies screw small businesses. Within 48hrs I had a cheque sent RMSD!

Ask to speak to the Venture PR dept and say that you are going to the press, as you think other people should be warned of the dangers of buying of franchisees with no head office support. Be polite but firm and hopefully you should be in luck.
 
Doesn't surprise me.
They spend a fortune on advertising, so have to charge a fortune for products to make up the difference.

It would seem logical to use a supplier that uses second rate materials.

What this kind of service does though is shoot the saying "YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR" well and truly in the foot.

Anyway, getting help, trying to think back to my business study days I am sure a franchise holds some responsibility for anyone who trades/traded under their name.

but best option is like David said

Consumer Direct, or the Citizens Advice Beuro
 
I would write a letter (send it registered) explaining that the goods they sold are not fit for purpose as described. Give them a deadline (say 10 days) to either

1. Give you a full refund
2. Replace the product with what they promised ie a good quality lasting prints of the original shoot
3. Offer a free re-shoot with 3 new canvases

I would threaten to take them to the small claims court if they do not offer one of the above and go ahead and sue them if they don't.

I am told it is surprisingly easy to make a claim agaisnt somebody in the small claims court and it can even be done online.

Good luck and keep us informed.
 
Are there any implied 'warranty periods' with Venture prints?

I know that if any of my customers complained, Id bend over backwards, or give them a refund. Some years ago, A lab in Cardiff started printing on Konica paper rather than Kodak, and within months some of my prints were going wonky. Caused me no end of trouble.
 
When purshasing from venture you have no written confimation of warranty
 
Doesn't the sale of goods act say goods should be fit for purpose for 6 years? I would have thought that a canvas print should be good for at least 6 years given that many conpanies are claiming prints are good for 100 years.
 
If paid using a form of credit, i.e. a credit card or a credit agreement arranged by the trader you may have an equal liability claim against the credit firm under section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 & 2006 provided that the cash price of the item is over £100 (but not more than £30,000).
 
Where do you live? Venture head office is in cheshire, not too far north of Crewe. Go and camp in their reception, that'll learn 'em!
 
Did the canvas come with a guarantee certificate?

The ones I've sold have a certificate enclosed - a 25 year guarantee of quality and lightfastness. The company selling them to me believe their product is first class and it is and if a customer comes back to me, I will have the files!
 
I have given them 7 days to respond, that run out yesterday.... Venture garentee was with the shop apparently... head office would replace the photos BUT the hard drive is broken apparently... they do however have a one off 10th anaversary at a top london gallery in march at the Louise Blouin Foundation. "The gallery event is the first of its kind we've held says the CEO and I have every intention of being outside with my Wife and Kids. the problem is I cant find out the dates. I am also going to be writing to shop owners pre-warning them that I intend on doing the same outside there shops on certain dates. I presume this is legal as long as im sensible about it. informing the public that there £1500.00 prints are NOT garenreed.
 
Oh and they did offer me a free photo session a whole £25.00 worth..............
 
The sad thing is that there are so many interpretations of the term canvas print. We've purchased some examples from some of the largest canvas print companies to compare the quality to our canvas prints and some certainly shouldn't be called canvas at all.

Thin, uncoated rubbish that has no varnish or protective coatings to enhance the light-fastness of the inks.

As has been mentioned earlier in this thread; if we sold you a product that proved to be sub-standard we would do our utmost to rectify the situation and keep our reputation intact.

Sadly, some of the larger companies couldn't care less as they trade off their name and not their reputation.

Good luck getting a satisfactory outcome to this issue.

Paul C
 
I bet if you where to enquire about having reprints done at your expense the images would be found within seconds, might be a bit tricky to test it now but get a freind to call asking for photos around the month you had your done!

and find a sales team, normally found in the shopping malls, ask the question what if your not open any longer and something goes wrong down the line?



Michael.
 
I wish I had gone to someone with your morals.

It's not always about morals; it's taken us a good many years to earn our reputation and that generates work and keeps customers returning and recommending us. Without that, things could be a lot harder.

We also work with some prolific artists who rely on us providing a quality service and end product as the prints are sold all over the world.

Sadly, the company you describe don't seem to have this mentality which is sad.

As they also store clients images, I would have thought they would have some form of data backup to ensure things like this don't happen. Especially as their service certainly doesn't come cheap!

As I said in my previous post, I hope you get a satisfactory result and your images are 'found' and can be reproduced for you.

Regards

Paul
 
Just heard back fron Venture and they quote in there letter "Venture products are not supplied with a guarantee and this is not in any of our documentation or literature". on top of that I have legal right to take them to court as the contract was indeed with a branch. Let the battle commence ...
 
Sorry I have NO legal right to claim as the contract was with the brach that closed.
 
Just heard back fron Venture and they quote in there letter "Venture products are not supplied with a guarantee and this is not in any of our documentation or literature" snip

Print it on a shed load of banners and get a pile of people to march outside their head office with a few (hundred) tog fans taking pics and spreading them around, they might change their T&C in the future...

Power to the people and all that :lol:
 
I feel you could be on a hiding to nothing tbh... I'm not a lawyer, but as Venture's are sold as franchises, your contract would have indeed been with the now closed (and I assume dissolved) company. There's no-one to sue.

I would love to be proved wrong though, as it does seem downright out of order!

Perhaps one of the togs on here local to you would do you a shoot at cost and some canvasses, again at cost?

Maybe...
 
Back
Top