Brightwall

700+ Five-Star Reviews... But not for Brightwall

This review is not for Canvas Print Company, but for their sister company, Brightwall.co.za. Before ordering, please note that the hundreds of five-star reviews you may see online relate to Canvas Print Company, not Brightwall, which I only realised after my own experience. I would therefore strongly caution anyone considering ordering a custom mural wallpaper from Brightwall. The two murals we received were of extremely poor quality, with noticeably low resolution and a dull, washed-out appearance that looked nothing like the images used to market the product. They were simply not what we expected from professionally printed wall murals. When we contacted the company, our concerns were dismissed. Rather than addressing the obvious quality issues, we were repeatedly told that the product was "custom printed" and therefore non-refundable. There was no genuine attempt to investigate the problem or find a fair solution. Once it became clear that we were requesting a refund, communication effectively came to an end. What concerned me further was the online reputation. Brightwall appears to benefit from the excellent reputation and hundreds of five-star reviews associated with its sister company, Canvas Print Company, creating an impression of quality and customer satisfaction that was not reflected in our own experience. Before placing an order, I would encourage potential customers to look carefully at which company the reviews actually relate to. A custom product should still be produced to an acceptable professional standard. "Custom printed" should not mean customers have no recourse when the print quality itself is disappointing. What I found particularly frustrating was that the representative handling my complaint attempted to explain away the obvious pixelation and lack of detail by suggesting that what I was seeing was simply the artist's brush strokes. It wasn't. There is a clear difference between artwork that intentionally contains visible brush strokes and a print that has lost detail because of poor resolution. The murals we received suffered from the latter. Rather than acknowledging the possibility of poor print resolution, this explanation was repeatedly used to dismiss our concerns. As someone who works professionally in graphic design and prepares artwork for commercial printing, I understand the difference between artistic texture and poor print quality. I therefore found this explanation both inaccurate and disappointing. Sadly, this was one of the most disappointing online purchases I've made, and based on my experience I cannot recommend Brightwall.