Posterfix Corp — Attraction in New York

I love this company's Youtube channel and sent in my poster confident that they would handle it as best as they could. But unfortunately I can't recommend this company due to the results.

First, there was a delay. I don't mind delays (it was a busy time and delays happen). But the lack of communication ABOUT said delay was unprofessional. I'd ask them when the poster would be completed, get told it would be finished and shipped "this weekend"... and then a month later I'd ask them for an update only to be again told it would be finished and shipped "this weekend." This happened three separate times over the course of half a year. Again, the delay itself wasn't the issue but they should not commit to have a product finished in a certain time slot if they don't intend to meet that commitment. They could have simply said "It will be done by [month]."

Secondly, when the poster finally did arrive... there's no other way to describe it than it looked like it had been scribbled on with marker. I'd paid for retouching and expected it to be minimal and tasteful (as their demonstration videos show), but the hue of their pigment did not match the poster at all and the cracks looked far worse than when I had sent it in. Fortunately I was able to carefully remove most of this retouching myself (so I can verify that Posterfix does use water soluable and reversible materials like they claim. Which is good), but most customers will likely not have the experience needed to accomplish this reversal. [I did not contact the company about this issue as I had already removed the retouching and had no desire whatsoever to pay to send it back for another try.]

So overall I'd probably hesitantly recommend their linen backing procedure--but I do not recommend retouching.

EDIT same day review was posted: The company replied to this review but I can't reply back manually so that will have to go here at the end. I absolutely did order from you (Posterfix), I just have more than one email account. You yourself have more than one email account and if you recall we initially had confusion when sending you the money on Paypal to your listed email (which apparently was not the correct one tied to said Paypal account). So you understand how that sort of misunderstanding can go when people have more than one email. But if you want verification that this is not a fradulent review then sure, here it is: The poster you worked on was the 1984 James Christensen poster that was sent to you in April of 2020, and returned sometime after September in the same year. Check your records and the emails I sent you and you'll notice that the example image I included here absolutely matches that poster. This IS a faithful example of your restoration work.

EDIT one day later: The company has now changed their response from (paraphrasing because I no longer have access to the exact text after the edit) "Fraud, this was never a customer" to "they didn't care about their poster and did this only to hurt our business." To which I can only respond that no, I did not pay $267 plus $80 shipping to have my favorite artwork linen backed and touched up, only to have to undo that work later "just to hurt their business." I even tried to be polite in this review acknowledging the good work they do and recommending their linen backing process. But I think I can no longer recommend even that if this is how they handle criticism. I'll just let the back and forth here between this review and the company...

If you asked me if Poster Fix is a good poster restoration company, I would tell you to run as far away from this company as quickly as you possibly could. Clearly, from the reviews, some people love this guy, I can only relate my experience with Chris to back up my opinion.

The first problem I had lay in communications. Before I sent my poster emails were perfect: quick replies, professional; no problem. But you have to pay for all restoration services in advance. That's a big red flag, heck, it's several large, waving crimson banners, but I ignored it and sent my poster in anyway. After paying, communications ceased as if all the electrons in the universe had suddenly disappeared and email was no longer possible.

A promised 3-week job turned to 4 weeks, then 5 weeks, still with no word. As we approached six weeks, I dared to call out the Artiste known as Chris Cloutier on his lack of returning emails and received an expletive-laden tirade full of His indignation at how dare I, a mere pedant who couldn't possibly understand His process, be upset he wasn't communicating. To add insult to injury, He out-and-out lied to me and said my poster was done and ready to be shipped and then took two more weeks with progress pictures clearly showing the poster was, in fact, not done, but rather just started.

When I finally got the poster back, the work was, to give Him the benefit of the doubt, substandard; to retract that doubt, it was deliberately botched to get even with me after dealing with his tantrum. Don't take my word on that, however, the work was so bad I had to send to another restorer who said, "This is the worst job I've ever seen. If he didn't do this deliberately, he doesn't know what he's doing and shouldn't be in business."

How was it bad? The poster had been folded for many years. The creases were still prominent, there were bubbles under the poster all over, the touch-up was just non-existent, the poster had prominent swirls all over it the second restorer told me were excess adhesive, and tape damage had been covered with what I thought was White-Out, but the second restorer told me was acrylic paint. Let that sink in: acrylic paint. Jesus wept. On top of it, in a final fit of pique, this clown told me my poster was clearly a fake and anybody could see that and I was an idiot not to. My authenticated poster with full provenance. Yeah, you really got me there, Chris, ouch. What an infantile performance.

So, form your own opinion. I'm not telling you what to do; just what happened to me when I decided to send a poster to PosterFix.

Pictures show PosterFix on the left, the guy who fixed PosterFix...

After acquiring three vintage film posters recently, I went to the web in search of someone or someplace that could restore and preserve these pieces, by having them repaired and then linen backed. I have a small collection and have used this process before, but it had been a while, and I had in the meantime moved.

I found Chris Cloutier and Posertfix on Shopify through this web search, and after watching the videos and seeing the before and after photographs of some of his work, I decided to reach out to him and inquire about having these newly acquired posters restored and preserved. I sent him photos of each of my posters and described them in an email. Chris acknowledged the email immediately, saying it would take him a couple of days to look them over and would get back to me when he’d done so. He came back with what seemed a very reasonable price for the three posters of which I had sent him images and descriptions. I decided to initially send him the one which needed the most work to see how it came out and for a more first-hand review of his work.

As I shared with him after receiving the restored poster in return, his work is spectacular. It was as if it wasn’t the same poster I sent to him. I've had other movie posters restored and preserved in the past, and until now I impressed with those results. What I had sent him was one of the more damaged and obviously aged posters among those that I owned. Comparatively, there was one poster in my collection which had been restored and preserved in this way, and was one which was similarly poorly cared for prior to my acquiring it though it was 5 years newer. I was always impress with how well this poster had be restored, but it is not at the level of professional artistry which is displayed in the which Chris and his crew at Posterfix sent back to me. The results on this poster are well beyond my expectations, and even though it took a little longer than he originally anticipated, as I explained in earlier communication with Chris, that was of absolutely no consequence.

The work that Posterfix produces is top quality and their prices are very reasonable. Chris is easy to work with and responds to inquiries fully and quickly. I will be sending him the other two film posters I had him look at originally, and any others I obtain in the future. I wouldn’t hesitate recommending him to anyone who is looking for the restoration and preservation of any kind of poster, he is an artist at...