Unfortunately, I had our friend, Chris Cloutier, working on 10 of my posters through that auction he continues to run on eBay for linen backing 10 posters at one price. (That was the first week in July a couple years ago).
He seems really decent until he gets your posters and your money, then he will definitely push you beyond what eBay will cover for feedback or help in returns so you end up having to go to Paypal. I got his account frozen for awhile. That was fun. So were his e-mails. I still have copies of some of his e-mails, photos, my complaints to the BBB, FTC, etc.
The following is one of his e-mails copied and pasted from the original (after I had his Paypal account frozen). I included some of my own comments in red text:
I cant work based on paypals recomeendations. Your money was spent in fixing the posters. Funny, I don't have all my posters back so I don't know where the money could have been spentWhat paypal is doing to me is unfair. Hardly I will not be screwed around. Who won't be screwed around? what I do is highly precise work. Compared to trained monkeys I agreed to do your posters because you said "I prefer quality over speed" Agreed? I paid you up front "Ass Clown" Speed = never? ...does paypal know what service I am providing? Oh yeah, they definitely do...
do they know how cheap you bought my serrivices for? They know to the penny. That's the amount they removed from your account before freezing it the incredible expence I put into this work? Expense = ZeroYour lack of understanding--i have been doing this sort of work for over 26 year- is amazing.
You may want to find another hobby, or leave your posters in plastic sleeves. Quit while you're behind and if I ran my business like yours, I'd never have another customer or I'd be in jailHis spellchecker must have been turned off most days.
Chris had given me an update with pictures about three months in. He had done 5 of the posters and they looked decent in the photos he sent. It took until just before Christmas to get the rest done and it looks like his rush to get his Paypal account reinstated was to the detriment of the posters of mine he had not completed. He really did a horrible job. I think he cut the posters off the frame he uses while they were still wet and none of them entirely stuck to the linen and hopefully rice paper he used underneath. (He was using a really cheap, dingy linen, by the way. Kind of dirty looking compared to other posters I've had backed.) I don't know what he uses for glue, but I wouldn't use it to glue together Tinker Toys. Nothing against Tinker Toys...
Unfortunately, I had another experience with a linen backer from New York that didn't turn out great, He was actually really good at linen backing. He used nice linen, his glue worked... Hahahahaha, but he would do a few posters and then disappear never to return a call or an e-mail. So I already knew all the wonderful agencies to contact concerning interstate commerce and such. I got all my posters back from him too, but at least the ones he did look really nice. Too bad for him in the end as I have thousands of posters I was willing to linen back through him. He couldn't really do retouching, but I have been an artist for a living for over 25 years and can do my own retouching with watercolors, watercolor pencils, etc. Anything that is reversible if need be. So his linen backing was going great until he would up and disappear. After my experience with Posterfix and "Ass Clown", I actually miss the disappearing magician.
So, eventually I will be looking to try another linen backer, but I'm still a little soured right now and will probably be holding back for awhile longer. Leaves more money to buy more posters anyway.
(Hopefully) Attached are a couple images of some of the posters I sent to Posterfix prior to the amazing(ly bad job Chris did on them).