Dixie Art supply customer review

[grinnen30]

Ok...I saw a thread the other day asking about Dixie Art supply and no one ever replied with a good review...so for lack of better place to post this (product review site might be better????) Here it is. I warn you in advance...I am picky and detailed.

Overall, they get an 80 out of 100. Mainly because of the price, speed of processing the order, and willingness to help. But if you read, you will see why they lose 20 points.

Price - (20/20) First, the product was very specific, an Iwata HP-CH (Hi line with the MAC valve). Since it was a site sponsor, I checked out their prices out of courtesy. The price was $189.00 shipped...no tax (except for Louisiana residents). But since I have to keep costs down, I aggressively price checked everywhere...local shops, feebay, other sites. I could not find a better base price (189.00) anywhere, although I was able to find others at the $189.00 base price, but shipping was not included...or they had tax. My local art store would not even come close to price comparing (they actually thought I was lying about the price at first)...This was even better than the "wholesalers" I was able to find. Convincing my wife I could order the pro pack for the same price as other location shipped, I upgraded, adding 5-bottles of COM ART, frisket, frisket knife, and hose (since I know Iwata's have a different connection - total 224.00). My order was placed at 9 p.m. Pacific Time.

Website - (5/10) Originally, I wasn't going to comment on this, but maybe one of the owners will read this and change it. The only thing I liked about the site was the prices. The top navigation bar was "OK", but you get to the airbrush page and the first couple of things you see is the paints and pin striping brushes...then halfway down the page you find a big box that leads you click to get to the appropriate manufacture (once again, OK...but I wasn't sure I was on the right page at first) So I clicked on Iwata. This took me to an Iwata FAQ page, which I ended up liking only because I might not have found this otherwise, but you have a series of links on the left hand side...and I didn't think it was complete...you for the highline, you have to look under the High performance link (ok...I understand they are the same basic model...but what if I wasn't certain...or didn't know what I wanted.) I just think it could have been better.

Checkout - (15/20) I liked the "shopping cart" and the entire checkout process. It was really self explanatory and easy to use...plus it asked plenty of ways to contact me. It also gave me plenty of chances to confirm my order. After check out, I had the opportunity to print my receipt and an e-mail was sent to my e-mail account. The only part of the process I was unhappy with was when the order was processed. No e-mail was sent confirming my product had been shipped and a UPS tracking number (although it tells you that you have to sign for the product unless you note otherwise...). I would have loved this and would have given full credit if they had sent the e-mail with tracking numbers).

Contact support - (0/20) I followed up on the order a day later saying that I wanted to see about changing my mind from the CH model to the BH model (same price). I did say if it had already been shipped that was fine, but I was looking for some sort of confirmation. I never received an e-mail or phone call letting me know the status of my inquiry (even..."we're sorry this product has been shipped"...which would have been completely eliminated by the e-mail that my order has been processed and shipped).

Telephone support/willingness to help (20/20) - I called Dixie the following afternoon, inquiring into the status of my product and my request. The lady who answered the phone was very friendly (I apologize I did not write her name down). I told her my request and she was very understanding and asked me to hold while she checked the status of my shipment. The shipment had already been processed (first thing the morning after the order) and was being shipped ground and would arrive in approximately 7 days. I told her no big deal. She opened the door that IF I still wanted to change, once I received the order to call her back and she would work out the details with me then so that she is able to keep track of everything better. I appreciated this willingness to exchange with no hassle. I made the decision I would keep the CH model and maybe purchase the BH model or micron B at a later time and date.

Shipping and packing is still TBD (10/10 given as a prediction), as I shouldn't receive the package until next Monday. I expect the packing will be fine...even if it is the IWATA factory packing...but I will update upon arrival just because of the paints. I still don't have a tracking number (I did forget to ask when I called them) so that I can make sure I am home the first time the package arrives...rather than having to wait an extra day...maybe I will call back, but I am home during the day and the FedEx, UPS, and USPS guys see me and my wife a couple of times a day, so they know us and have "tracked us down" when we have a package that needs to be signed (these same guys deliver to my wife's work)

[aixguy]

Nice review! I have to say they have always come through for me, but I would never use the online ordering system. It looks to be old and possible hosted by a third party vendor. It costs a lot of money for a good safe secure website and I would much rather talk to a person and have them tell me, "Yes we have everthing!" Yes, sometimes you have to call back 4 or 5 times to get hold of someone, but that is the way it has always been, but a little worse since the Huricane. I was told that a lot of folks that had worked there never retruned. Typicaly you won't get or be charged for out of stock items, and the website may not tell you if it in or out.
I agree the site is hard to navigate unless you know exactly what you want. Keep in mind, these are rock bottom prices with free shipping.. I have not found a better source for the products they sell.

[Vicar]

You did a fine job here grinnen.
I will stick by ya with the 'not that easy' navigation of products on their site, though i can pretty much find what i was looking for.
As far as troubleshooting goes. I will say the best thing to do is call and you will get one on one help about your order.
Grinnen, it sounds like you may have spoke to the same lady as whom i did when my order or golden paints was short on volume. Actually, i ordered some golden paints and some medium in a 16oz and they sent only an 8oz medium. I spoke to the telephone customer support tech and she fixed it up to be shipped that same day at no extra shipping charge... Now how can one go wrong with that?
The lady did offer to simply credit my account though i wanted what i ordered so i asked if she could send it asap... sweet!! Actually, i also put in on the same order a golden blue tone of some sort though they were out of stock but they didnt charge me for it and... my order then fell below the free shipping bonus of $45 (i believe) but didnt get charged the shipping. I then had a free shipped order to my side door that arrived in 4 days so i was happy.

I also had an email confirmation the next day from ups i believe, that gave me all the tracking whereabouts of my order.
Telephone customer service there rocks!!
I would definitely place another order with them again.

[Soler]

I give them a 4/10
Somehow they screwed up with my shipping and listed it as already shipped when it wasn't. After like 2 weeks I contacted them and they were like oh sorry here we will throw in a free thing of cobalt blue. If they didnt do that it would of been 1/10

[chucktx]

i like dixe also, with exception of customer contact....you do not know if your order is backordered or partial shipped or not shipped. after waiting for 10 days and recieving nothing, then making a phonecall....do you find out your status....they dont email you a tracking number, you have to contact them for that. other than that problem...they are a good company to do busisness with.......
chuck

[aixguy]

Come on folks, you are getting rock bottom prices with free shipping but want service as if you were paying top dollar! Give and take, thats life.. let it go, you get what you pay for, and frankly, I wiill suff the slight posibility of not getting everthing I ordered for the lowest price around for what shows up!
For those of you in bussness, this is not exceptable, you have orders and dead lines to meet, so in that case, maybe another more expensive vendor is what you need to keep your reputation perfect. The increase in cost just gets passed to the customer like any other busness.

[grinnen30]

I agree Aixguy...which is why I did give them my business...however, with how automated things are these days...the e-mail should be a simple fix with minimal investment to help enhance their image. Would I recommend them again...100X's over...I am just trying to let people know what to expect and maybe give the owners (if they ever read it) some critique without having to pay a firm for secret shoppers or to analyze their business. I would just hate for them to lose a customer who is not price sensitive (cheap) after one bad experience, when little things could have made a difference.

[yardartnut]

I have bought the majarity of supplies from Dixie...knock on wood..been great service for me...since 1996

[TheArteest3]

When i order my paints and supplies dixie is great...i get my order confirm it and then they emailed it to me....the next day i get a tracking number to see where my stuff is...and its here with in 2 days.. and the first time i had to sign but the rest of the time they just say my name and then give it to my parents while im at school....really nice site and very fast shipping....i would give them 100/100...

[landsbro]

hmm,,my new iwata HP-CH is from dixie art,,,but i didn't order it directly
from them,,,i had a very nice guy from this forum who helped me with the purchase,,the airbrushes are quite expensive here in sweden,,,i have to pay
more than double of the price if i would buy it in my country,,,so i have been looking around at different internet stores and dixie art has the best prices
and it didn't take that long before i had the brush in my hands,,about 10 days
i think,,not bad ,,first my friend had to order it to him self and then shipp it
to sweden,,,
/kimmo

[grinnen30]

YEAH!!! Got my brush yesterday...Packing was definitely a 10...but UPS messed up...they didn't have me sign for it...I actually caught them on it and they signed it for me...not dixie's fault...it was supposed to be signed.

Overall experience...very happy, just would have liked the confirmation number or a response from the contact submission...but by no means no where near enough to make me worry about it. But that is just me being picky (my wife hates it...i do it too just about everything...including my own stuff)...

[Ispray]

I've been buying from Dixie since 2000 and very happy. I only use the web site to find and get product numbers and call in my order, but that's just me I like talking to real people.

[Stephen Casey]

Grinnen30,

Your detailed review of Dixie-Art is very helpful to me right now. Along with everyone else's opinion. In fact that is what drew me to this site and the mags. I just placed my first order for a current copy of Don's Airbrush Techniques.

The Iwata HP-CH happens to be the object of my desire now too. So it is nice to hear they are able to deliver them in a timely manner. I read yours and the other six reviews in the review section.

As for my limited experience with Dixie so for I will say that they were very friendly the one time I called them shortly after the flooding. When I recently emailed them a complex inquiry after about a little less than three days they responded asking me to call them directly to talk about it. I like that.

Again thanks everybody. Maybe when Don gets some time he could add a vendors to the review section.