Her Dream Modeling Print Worth $3,500 Was Ruined By A Framing Company, And She Isn’t Sure How To Proceed Without Causing An Employee To Lose Their Job
In 2014, this woman got the opportunity to model for an internationally famous artist and photographer.
Apparently, the artist does not pay models since he only accepts volunteers. However, if a model volunteers and is accepted, then the model receives the first print of his work. Plus, the copy is signed by him, and the first copy prints typically sell for a minimum of $3,500.
“I had been dying to do it for years,” she recalled. “And it took me about two years of emailing him and begging for a chance to volunteer before I got a viewing.”
But, after completing the modeling gig, she never once opened her first copy print. Instead, she kept the art piece in its original protected packaging since the artist had told her to bring the print to a professional framing company to ensure the art was safe and framed correctly.
That’s why she brought the special container with her as she traveled throughout four U.S. states and, later, overseas to South Africa– where she and her husband bought their first home.
And this year, she finally decided that she was ready to have the piece of art framed.
“I’ve been waiting nine years to have it done. It’s me in it, and it’s the first one printed, signed by the artist, one of the pieces he showed on his TV show,” she gushed.
“Honestly, it was something I’ve been dying to open and see and have framed for almost a decade.”
So, she wound up researching framers and decided to go to the best company– which also happened to be the most expensive.
vickyrandom – stock.adobe.com – illustrative purposes only, not the actual person
She paid upfront for the framing job, too, and told the company to take their time. She wanted to wait as long as it took to ensure the job was done perfectly.
And just yesterday, she received word that the modeling print was finally ready for pickup. So, as you can imagine, she was beyond ecstatic.
But, as soon as she arrived, she was greeted by an employee holding her print inside the protective portfolio– meaning it was clearly unframed. Then, she learned that the framing job had gone sideways.
“The company explained to me that they gave this job to an employee who had been working for them for less than one month. I took it to them about two weeks ago, so she [the employee] had been there for two weeks when she got the assignment,” she revealed.
“And the employee ruined the artwork. There’s a huge fold line through the entire thing.”
So, she was downright speechless after finding out. And while she was being told her options to move forward, she just asked the company to forward everything to her in an email because she needed time to think.
Apparently, her first option is to just have the messed up copy scanned, reprinted, and placed in an even nicer frame. Plus, with this option, all of her money would be refunded.
She would be completely fine with this option, too, if the print had not been the very first copy signed and delivered by the artist himself.
But her second option seems a bit better. The company revealed how they actually already reached out to the artist who agreed to have the photo reprinted– even though it is now discontinued.
Plus, the artist agreed to sign the reprinted copy and make it like a “limited edition” print just for her– all at the framing company’s expense.
“And that’s incredible. However, the cost of that– plus shipping internationally– here in South Africa is equivalent to almost an entire year’s salary for most employees,” she explained.
And the new employee who ruined her print was actually the one who detailed all of her options. The employee was a young woman– in her late twenties or early thirties– and was shaking and practically crying while explaining what went wrong.
So, she realizes that the employee was really remorseful about the mistake, and she doesn’t want anything to happen to the employee. After all, she believes it was the company’s fault for giving the young woman the job in the first place.
Still, at the same time, she is pretty furious about her damaged print. And honestly, she would really like the second option.
But, she knows the second option will cost an insane amount of money where she is from, which she believes will cause the young employee to lose their job.
That’s why she has been extremely torn about what to do. On the one hand, she realizes that the employee did screw up. But, on the other hand, she knows that the employee should never have been given such an important job in the first place. And she also feels as though the company will not take the financial fall for the mistake.
“I don’t think I could do that to someone who made an honest, untrained mistake in a country where jobs are very hard to come by, and salary is barely livable,” she vented.
So now, she’s been left wondering how to handle this situation without causing the employee to lose their job.
Can you understand why she’s devastated about what happened to the art print? If she goes with option one to hopefully save the employee’s job, do you think she will regret it in the future? Is it her job to think about what might happen to the employee, or is it the company that should take full responsibility for the mistake? What would you do?
You can read the original post on Reddit here.
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