NIGHTMARE-Alain Bourgouin- Poster Science -London

[Silhouette]

Has anyone sent him a link to this post?

[1] He might like to comment.
[2] He might like to repair his reputation (with possible future clients and this forum) and his relationship (with Rosa) because these posts stay on the internet forever(ish).

"A poor review will travel just as far as a good referral"

Another one for you Chris, made that up too.  

[Matt]

My lot came in from Dario this week. All three looking very crisp. Turnaround time three and a half weeks.

The Good---->Dario Casadei

The Bad------>Chris Cloutier

The Ugly------>Alain Bourgouin

[50s]

A little looking on the interweb:

http://vintageposterblog.com/2013/03/27/carefree-by-coach/#comment-10495

[Mirosae]

Sad to read that I am not the only one...But glad that others are speaking out too.

[Silhouette]

Same story different poster/client it seems...oh well, there's a lot of people who own posters out there needing restorers, seems the list of restorers who offer a good service, great restoration and are honest is so much smaller. Don't they know we (collectors) talk?

Cable Guy: Really superb looking restore on that GBU....so when does he do the top half of the poster? 

[CSM]

"A poor review will travel just as far as a good referral"

Another one for you Chris, made that up too.  

You should get to the trademark office stat

[CSM]

My lot came in from Dario this week. All three looking very crisp. Turnaround time three and a half weeks.

The Good---->Dario Casadei

The Bad------>Chris Cloutier

The Ugly------>Alain Bourgouin

[ladeda]

So sorry about your experience Mirosae.

Thank you for sharing this however, you've saved me a potential clusterfuck, I was on the verge of having a few posters sent to Alain.

[paul waines]

As I said before I was boarder line sending him 3 of mine, this guy has lost a substantial amount of business  already...

[Drew]

I wish I’d found this forum 6 months ago. It would have saved me a lot of grief.

Rosa, you are not alone, I too have had a very similar issue with Alain too.

I sent him a quad to be Linen Backed and restoration work to be  done on the creases. After 2 months of hearing nothing I began to chase it up.
“I am doing it now” was his reply. I continued to chase on a weekly basis for a month getting the same reply and when I questioned if he had really done any work on it he became very aggressive and started shouting at me accusing me of not understanding the process.

At the 3 month mark, I received pictures of my poster linen backed, and we spoke about the restoration part of the job. He was nice as pie and I gave him the benefit of the doubt and agreed and paid for 2 hours restoration work, and the return postage.

At month 4 having heard nothing, I began chasing again.
The rare occasion he actually answered my call (he was obviously screening me) there was always an excuse.
“I have lost your poster but found it again”
“I am doing it now” – This was his favourite.
“I have lost your address”
“It is finished, I will post it today” – This I heard on 3 separate occasions

Not once during this period did he EVER reply to an email or an answerphone message.

I’m now at month 6. Yes, month 6.
A week ago he actually answered his phone to me and I said to him if he doesn’t post it today and give me the tracking number as proof,  I would take legal action against him. His reply? “I don’t care”.

Well, it looks like the threat of legal action worked. By the end of the day I had a tracking number (that didn’t work).
By the end of the following day I had another tracking number that did work and soon after I got my poster back.

It turns out that the work he did was good, but there is no way in hell I would ever send him anything again.
The worst customer service I have experienced in my life.


Drew

[Matt]

I'm really sorry to hear your predicament Drew.

I have 2 positive notes for you.

1 Welcome my friend.

2 It WILL only get better from here!

You're on the right track now.

[erik1925]

+1

 , Drew!

Jeff

[paul waines]

   To the Forum Drew..

Sorry to see you have had problems with Alain, such a talented Fellow who should really get his act together. Still there are other restorers, and Jollygood ones too, check out some of Dario's work.
I know it's sending through the mail, which is what I worry about.. Then again if your down South, or around the London area there's Graham Bignal or however you spell his name. who seems to be getting a good reputation.   

Now the main Question, When you going to post a pic of the poster you had done? 

[rdavey26]

Drew. Sorry to hear about your bad luck with that piece of shit restorer. And sorry to anyone else that has used him. Lesson learned I guess. But like Paul stated check out Dario. He does amazing work.

[Mirosae]

Drew..Welcome to APF and thank you for sharing this with us. Though I am sorry to read that you too have had your fair share of (......) from Alain Bourgouin. As other have said there are other restorers out there with so much better customer service that Alain...!!

Looking forward to seeing your posters

[Drew]

Thanks for your welcomes and kind words :-)
I'm in contact with Dario now which is good. I looked into Graham too but he seems very expensive. My posters aren't worth much and I just want them tidied up for my wall at home. We'll see what Dario comes up with. My only concern is getting stung for import duty when they come back.

Drew

[Simes]

A little late to this thread as I have minimised this collection of threads since the beginning of time on these boards.

That said, I have had all my restoration work done by Alain (please see my Saint's Vacation poster), have (until now) always had stuff done according to time and in a superlative fashion.  I have picked items up from his studio and had delightful conversations with him.

He is perhaps very typically French, and I say that with kindness as I love France and the French, including all the generalised foibles one expects from the French.  I think he is going through some crap right now with a long held fatigue of London, a desire to move to Kent and the problems associated with buying and selling houses in the UK.  That this is not really voiced is perhaps a character trait, and if I was in his position, I would perhaps make a point of returning with apology all the posters he has waiting, finish those that are started, move to Kent and start again with his reputation intact.

But he is a grown man and he will do it his way.

I am aware he has his favoured framer helping him sort his business out Monday to Wednesday and to this end, she will take the calls then.  I would recommend calling on these days and forget Thursday and Friday - at least until there is notice he has completed his move.

I have a poster with him and it too is long overdue but I know I will get it eventually and at present, we maintain a good relationship.  Sorry to hear of others' woes.

[Mirosae]

 (...) if I was in his position, I would perhaps make a point of returning with apology all the posters he has waiting, finish those that are started, move to Kent and start again with his reputation intact.
But he is a grown man and he will do it his way.

(....)

Thank you for sharing your views Simes. I too had until now a good opinion of Alain, and you will find that on some of my earlier posts about his work. But not now.

I don't want to repeat what happened to me, I have posted all about it here. I would like however to say that I agree with you on what it would seem the best thing to do in his position. It would be better if he could return with apologies those posters that are long overdue, including the pre-payment. I hope that someone can advise him to do that.

He refused to do that with mine. He took my money and left me with two semi- restored posters.

He clearly has his own way. But if it works for you, then, I am happy for you.

[Simes]

I collected my poster from Alain today.

Indeed, I had the pleasure of watching him add some finishing touches to it.  There is something delightfully theatrical about the way he works; there is either concentration that excludes all else, or he is distracted by this and that as it comes up for interest.  There is no doubting that he is supremely good at his work but he admits he has become overwhelmed by the sheer volume of material that has been sent to him so, while I was there, his framer, Louise, was good-naturedly chivying him along.

His studio had various works in progress, one of which was an antique circus theatrical poster that arrived in bits apparently but was now looking positively gorgeous in its unfinished state. He also had a French half sheet-sized poster for Moulin Rouge (1952 John Huston) which even unstarted looked glorious, and once it is bleached and restored, you could see that the reds would absolutely pop.

I performed a quick search for this poster but could not see it.  It is a variation of the high kicking girl, mostly reds, and landscaped.

Anyway, Alain is not taking any more posters on until he a) clears his stock and b) effecs a move to Kent.

There were multiple apologies so, he is aware of everything.  Sorry to hear of others' woes.

[AdamCarterJones]

Simes, this is good to hear.
I always like seeing and hearing of people admitting any wrongdoing and wishing to move forward in the correct way.

I hope Alain does indeed get everything sorted and build his reputation again.
Thanks for letting us know.

[Eye Sea]

Hi Rosa,

I've just had a very similar experience. I took 2 posters to Alain Bourgouin at Poster Science to linen back and restore. He told me they would be ready in 2 weeks but over a month later and after leaving him numerous messages he finally called back and said they were ready. When I went to collect them he'd torn one of them, something he didn't apologize for and the following day the linen became unstuck on one of them. I returned the poster to Alain and asked him to repair it. He said it would be ready by the end of the week, that was about 4-5 weeks ago. I've called, texted and written to him saying that I just want the poster back and a refund so I can get it repaired elsewhere but he hasn't responded, refunded me or returned my poster. 

He's by far the most unprofessional person I've ever come across and I absolutely would NOT recommend him either.

I called the Citizens Advice Bureau about this and they gave me some good advice regarding taking out legal action so i'd recommend you do the same.

James 


 

[erik1925]

  to APF, James.

Sorry to read that you also had a very similar experience with Alain. Not returning calls, ignoring emails and then on top of it all, damaging (tearing) your poster and not telling you that he did so all show complete lack of professionalism, imo.

Good to know you made some calls and got some professional info to help and guide you in (hopefully) resolving this situation.

Keep us posted!

Jeff

[rdavey26]

James. I would take every action possible to run that crook into the ground if I was someone that had been screwed over by him. But like Jeff said keep us posted it would be good to read where this all went.

[Mirosae]

Hi Rosa,

I've just had a very similar experience. I took 2 posters to Alain Bourgouin at Poster Science to linen back and restore. He told me they would be ready in 2 weeks but over a month later and after leaving him numerous messages he finally called back and said they were ready. When I went to collect them he'd torn one of them, something he didn't apologize for and the following day the linen became unstuck on one of them. I returned the poster to Alain and asked him to repair it. He said it would be ready by the end of the week, that was about 4-5 weeks ago. I've called, texted and written to him saying that I just want the poster back and a refund so I can get it repaired elsewhere but he hasn't responded, refunded me or returned my poster.  

He's by far the most unprofessional person I've ever come across and I absolutely would NOT recommend him either.

I called the Citizens Advice Bureau about this and they gave me some good advice regarding taking out legal action so i'd recommend you do the same.

James  


 

Hello James,

Very, very sorry to hear this. I assume you have contacted Sue, his ex partner. She could perhaps help ?

He is  awful and is getting away with it. I have not been able to fully enjoy this hobby since March. Just thinking about it makes my blood boil.

Disgrace.

[brude]

And it doesnt matter that he's preparing to move, has a good number of posters to complete, etc.

His LACK of response to James (and Rosa, when that was going on with her) is outrageous and there is NO excuse. Period. It takes little time to fire off a brief email update or text. They paid him to do work, and he then pulls this nonsense, once their money is in his pocket? 

That he is silent, screams volumes about his character.  

Exactly.
Dude needs a wake-up call.