The Smart Art Club

Only got my money back after going to Fair Trading – Ordered and paid over $650 for goods they had no intention of delivering. Free delivery Australia wide? Rubbish. My first contact was me to them 3 weeks after ordering and they responded by simply saying, we are having trouble sourcing some items, let us give you a refund instead. Looked on website - still advertising the very items they… Read more

supposedly couldn't source.

Avoid at all costs.

No delivery. 2 months after going to Fair Trading finally got my money back.

Served me well – I must say that I used this company's service in the past and had no problems. This art supplier was suggested to me by a few artists who had only good words about it. This was in the past couple of years. It's hard to believe such decline in service after reading recent comments... Inexpensive good products, prompt response to phone call & delivery.

Very very nervous about The Smart Art Club – I have had no end of trouble with this company. The main point of contact is a chronic liar - on numerous occasions she has told me items have been posted and indicated it is Australia Post who are holding up the order. I have pointed out to this woman that the items are postmarked with the actual date of processing, and have blatant evidence… Read more

that she has been misleading about the send out. Even when I scanned in the stamp and emailed it to her, this fool still denied it!! To make it worse, on one particular occasion, the invoice INSIDE the package was clearly generated days after she had told me it was in the mail! Lies, lies, lies. I am still waiting on the balance of an order placed more than six weeks ago, and an order which was supposedly "being express posted" over a week ago. Scary thing is now I cannot contact the Smart Art Club on any of the available numbers. I'm suspecting I've just lost a few hundred dollars, not to mention the loss on my missed commission (client has gone elsewhere - can't wait for my painting). Very, very unhappy customer.

Dont buy from Smart Arts Club – I ordered over $100 worth of paints and paper in late April. $60 delivered 14 days later and since then nothing. Have tried to phone them, no answer. Emailed them, no reply. Warned them I would write a bad review if they didnt respond to my last email. That was a week ago so heres the bad review. The prices Didnt deliver paid for goods ore respond to emails and phone calls.

Stay clear from the Smart Art Club! – What ever you do, stay clear from the Smart Art Club!!! I've been scammed out of more than $300. I contacted Paypal but a few days later I received a shoe box with some random bits of art material. Mostly things I didn't order. As they've sent me something Paypal wrote it off as sent. I've tried getting hold of them but to no avail.

Cheats and con artists – Warning! Warning! Warning! After placing my order the following occurred 1 rang many times only answering machine 2 after reading these reviews I became worried & sent email to ask when items sent 3 received email with Australia post tracking number & PayPal id 4 tracking number directed me to FedEx web site "no Information for this item" … Read more

5 PayPal id directed me to PayPal site (looks like PayPal) said id not valid

6 sent threading email to Blackline stationery & received a prompt call from lady from blacklines (the smart art club) she said it was sent. Kept saying I am checking other customer before me & their item appears on the Australia post tracking.

7 got email from lady from smart art saying "contacted PayPal & they did not send you those emails with tracking numbers etc.

8 received a dodgy email from PayPal showing [name removed] item sent to Cleveland. Why I was sent someone else's email for their item.

Conclusion

I am taking legal action & investigation into fraud

Liers, cheats, frauds

Getting better – I too have been purchasing for years with them, and have had a few delays with stock but have always recieved my goods. I believe that this can be a great company but they need to pull there socks up, maybe get some new staff in and replace the old. I might have to wait for my supplies but id rather pay less for them then what the retail market charges. All in all i will keep supporting them. inexpensive

0 Stars for these Scam Merchants – 0/10, no stars. This mob are scammers. This has really held up my work. If smartart were an eBay business they wouldn't be able to keep doing this, nor would they have any customers left with this kind of feedback...I only found this review page when I googled to find smartart ABN for the DOCEP complaint form-wish I'd checked before I place my… Read more

order!!They used to be good but in the last 12 months our experience has been pretty much identical to the other reviews i.e. they pretend goods have been posted yet on our online account was marked not dispatched, she could provide no tracking number, no receipt or proof of postage, impossible to get through on phone, they didn't return emails & bounced them once I wanted my money back, changed their phone number(she lies about that too)changed their website, deleted my online account so I cannot access my order information, now no record of current order number(other than what I have)or my previous orders, she only eventually got back to me because I emailed 'I want my money back if no response by the end of business,I have no option but to lodge complaint with ACCC & DOCEP'-at that point she still pretended it was lost in the post-even said maybe the label washed off in the rain!! Keep your email confirmation of your order & print out your bank statement if you didn't receive a proper tax invoice. Keep and print copies of each correspondence, including what has been said on the phone, with smartart so you can lodge an official complaint with ACCC and relevant State authority(see ACCC website)also, ring your bank and organize a 'charge dispute' and cancel your card from any further deductions by this unscrupulous vendor...This may be marginally quicker, but still takes 30 days from the date of your order, then another 45 days for vendor to respond. It's a long wait to find out whether we can get our money back. Used to be good & cheap years ago Scam. Evasive. They take money for goods they have no intention of sending.

I believe I was conned by this company – I have had big problems with this site..i ordered Art products on the 2nd and 9th of March 2012. I have not recieved any of my products and every email i have sent has not been answered to date, nor, has anyone returned answers to messages I left them by phone. I had an account and a password with them, ((originally you had to phone them to start… Read more

an account))I tried to see if my order was still there, now the site doesn't accept my password and I can not sign back in. I did not create a new account with them as asked,((they have now changed there way of starting an account with their site)} due to the fact that if I did they may try to say I had not previously ordered from them on the original account. I am also going to contact Consumer affairs or fair trading as they accepted my money shown in my bank account but not sent my orders. Riadra

They don't fulfil their end of the bargain...i believe it is a con.

Very disappointing – I have dealt with the Smart Club for a number of years and have always been happy with the service, that was until my last order. I placed an order on the 4th of August for $182 worth of oil paints, after 10 days no order rang Company, said that it had been sent, still not arrived after another week, Company agreed to re send the order still did… Read more

not arrive. a third attempt to send it after eight weeks still no paints, it was then agreed by the Company that they would refund my money which they did not. After threats to put the matter in the hands of Victorian Consumer Affairs the paint order arrived four weeks later minus two tubes of paints worth $30. This business does not now answer their phones or emails. A word of warning to fellow Artists do not use this Company. Their web site is still active.

My order took two and half months to arrive

This place is a complete Scam – My experience with this company has been appauling. The lady on the phone is a complete scam artist. I have been waiting over 2 months now for my order (except for the couple of cheap items they managed to send in a massive box filled with nothing but newspaper). They do not return emails, change phone numbers constantly - do not be fooled - this is a scam. Do not use this service. 80% of items not received, waited over two months

It's probably too late! – As per one of the previous reviews, I had been dealing with these people for 3 years and always had good service. Not anymore, as has been already been said here, they are not sending goods and not answering emails. They have had the phone off the hook(the new number) for over a week now and in the last couple of days have disabled their email… Read more

address.

They have updated their website to show their new address & Phone number even though neither are accessible, go figure?

The company Blackline Stationery, which is actually run by a family trust, also run the SmartOffice Club and the situation probably exists there as well.

I have initiated a complaint through Vic Consumer Affairs last week, but I doubt they'll even have assigned a case officer before this lot have gone.

If you have outstanding orders or refunds with this company I'd suggest filing with consumer affairs and/or asking your bank to try and initiate a chargeback of your money which I have also done. The bank may work a little faster than Consumer Affairs although I doubt there will be a bank account to access.

Con artists

What a Joke! – Ordered a large roll of canvas about 12 months ago. Contacted the receptionist dozens of times, talked to her about 5 times, each time she has told me it has been sent. I'm going to get my canvas / refund despite the waste of time and cost perusing legal action, just for the principle of it. didn't turn up

Totally unprofessional – I agree with all the other unhappy customer of this business. The phone is forever engaged or if you do get a ring tone they don't answer. I did manage to get through by phone last week and they promised me my order had already left and I should get it the next day. 7 days later still no goods. They took money out of my bank account that I… Read more

didn't authorise and they didn't advise me of any change to my order. I have dealt with them once previously ages ago and had trouble getting my goods but just thought that was a one off until I searched for reviews today and found this is not a very well run business at best, maybe a sinking ship! anyway I would not recommend this firm to anyone which is unfortunate as the prices are so good which is probably the problem. goods offered, what appears to be a good online site no goods after paying and no customer service

Disaster – My credit card was charged on the 9 December 2011 for an order for oil paint. I have never received it to this date. After many phone calls and emails, - nothing. In my opinion they had no intention of fulfilling the order, yet promptly took my money!

Extremely frustrated! – I purchased from The Smart Art Club earlier in 2011 with no real problems, although there was usually something on backorder. However, towards the end of last year I started to have problems with deliveries. I was told on many occasions that the goods had definitely been posted, but never turned up. Luckily I wasn't charged for the first item… Read more

that didn't eventuate, but in early November I ordered some colour shapers on special and that's when the real trouble started. The receptionist was apparently off with back problems and it was impossible to contact them by phone or email. In the end I contacted Victorian Consumer Affairs, however, I got a letter from them saying that they couldn't do anything at the time and to try and get the money back by chargeback. The very day I was going to do that the order arrived (a few days before Christmas).

You would think I would have learned but I decided to give them one more chance! I am still waiting for an order placed on 9 February which was supposedly sent out on Friday, 18 February, and it doesn't take 10 days from Victoria to NSW! I am still waiting for a reply to two emails. They used to send out an email when and item was shipped, but the receptionist said she was still catching up from Christmas and hadn't been doing that. The prices were cheap, probably too cheap for them to keep up. Have become unreliable regarding shipping.

Do not go there!!! – Goods were ordered and paid for 4 months ago. Part of the order came six weeks later after countless phone calls and e-mails and the threat to cancel the order and to seek a refund from my credit card provider. After waiting a further month with goods still outstanding I finally contacted my credit card provider to recover the value of the goods… Read more

not received. Do yourself a favour and shop elsewhere. In future, I will be happy to pay more for my goods from a reputable, reliable source but definitely NOT from Smart Art Club. Prices seem cheap until you factor in the cost of chasing the order over 4 months. The whole business is a con.

Avoid this business! – On 3 February they accepted my order for $174 worth of art supplies. Nothing has been delivered. I have tried phoning many times and it is always on message bank. Emails were not replied to until 28 February when I was told that the goods had been dispatched. I emailed on 13 Feb demanding a refund and on 16 Feb told them that I had lodged a complaint with Victoria Consumer Affairs. No response. Don't go there! Goods not delivered

Not Even 1 Star – A Warning! Do not deal with this business! I have paid $270 for art materials by credit card in Jan 2012 and as of 23rd March 2012 nothing has been delivered. I have rang this business twice a week since placing my order and have been told an array of stories from "the work-place girl has messed up the orders"(Feb 22) to "your order has been sent… Read more

to WA by mistake"( Feb 29)

I asked for a refund, and it was agreed upon -and that was 3 weeks ago. No result.

I have lodged a complaint with Consumers Affairs Victoria.

Artists do it tough already - we do not need rip-offs like this in our industry. My advice is to avoid Smart Art Club like the plague.

Do not go there - Be Warned! – I have used this business before without any problems so did not perform a reputation check, big mistake. The money was taken quickly but nothing was recieved. After 2 weeks I emailed an enquiry using their web site and that was a big mistake because I did not get a copy and they never responded. I phoned and was told that the order had been… Read more

partially dispatched and the rest was on back order. Nothing arrived and once again I had no record.

I tried calling again several times and could not get an answer and then I did the reputation check. My heart sank after reading these reviews.

I started emailing direct to the blackline email address requesting cancellation of order and full refund and kept copies. Finally I got a response that said they had not sent anything due to medical problems and would try to post soon!!

I again emailed a demand to cancel the order and refund the money and have not heard from them since.

I have put in a disputed payment with my bank.

Ozzie battlers ripped off! – Warning! I have also had a similar experience. Placed an order, received half the goods contacted them via e-mail and phone (had to keep trying the phone as it was constantly engaged).Finally got through to be told it had been sent, I was actually told this same story about it being sent and must have been lost in transit twice. It has now been… Read more

3 months, I contacted them only to be told after demanding reimbursement for goods not received, that this would occur when she got around to it, and that she would send a receipt. Three weeks later and still nothing and now when I ring I am getting the not connected message? and no answers to my e-mails.

The lies and deception and not honoring my order, not reimbursing my order!