Showing posts with label online shop. Show all posts
Showing posts with label online shop. Show all posts

9/05/2023

Riot Arts & Crafts (Online Store)

 Riot Arts and Crafts, not Riot Projects, have amazing prices and a great selection of arts and craft products. Most of their stock is Australian art brands, some of them excellent like Matisse and Holcroft, for example, mixed with a smaller selection of international brands and a small selection of their products (Golden, Liquitex, Posca or Faber Castell for ex.) They have free shipping for orders over 80 bucks, which is an increase of 5 bucks since last time I purchased something from them. Still better than most online art supplies stores.

I've both from them many times and they deliver via AuPost. Product quality has always been good or great, except for one case, and the pricing excellent even when the products aren't on sale. But every time I check they're on some sort of sale. 

The main issue with Riot Arts & Crafts is that the dispatch time is ridiculous and can take over a week or more, depending on the time, to get the products dispatched, plus the time AuPost takes to deliver a standard parcel. If you need materials for a upcoming project, this is not a place you want to buy from as, more likely, you won't get them on time. However, it's a great place to take advantage of their offers and stock materials before the ones you already have run out.

Another downside is that, due to the fact that their prices for good brands is below most online sites, the products I want are always sold out or out of stock.  

My last parcel in April, took about 10 natural days to be dispatched. The last one, in September ditto. The shipping info on their website says that intercity or interstate takes average 7-10 business days, which is about 2 weeks, for the parcel to arrive to your place, and they cannot guarantee that either.

So, if they cannot fulfill the demand, why not stop, get more staff and reorganise the business? Most of the negative reviews online are on this issue.

Customer service by email is corteous but minimal, androbotic, full of vacuous wording. Last time I asked why it was taking so long to get the product dispatched the answer was 'we've changed our procedures at the warehouse' or were working on it kinda nothingness.