Aaron Brothers

I consider this a store that specializes in picture frames more so than art supplies. In this modern age of mobile technology, sometimes its good to have physical frames to decorate the house, or in my case a mini project to build a push-​pin world travel map to track all the places we’ve been on vacation along with business travels. I was planning to mount this map on the wall — goes hand-​in-​hand with Unilocal adventures!
I found a large open wood frame that fits a 2′ x 3′ print. It was listed at $ 79, but with 50% discount it wasn’t too bad. However when I went to pay, it turned out to be a clearance item for $ 7.99 (?!). A pleasant surprise indeed!
FYI — the other map components I found within a 2 mile radius of the store:
— 2’x3’ laminated roll up world map with adhesive back ($ 20, CVS Diablo Plaza)
— 2′ wide foam insulation board to stick the map to ($ 4, Home Depot San Ramon). You need a sharp utility knife to trim it so it fits inside the frame.
— 50 little push pins (at Richards in San Ramon)

My five star experience here is based on the great customer service. However one person in particular stands out, hands down and that person is Reggie.
Reggie is kind, very respectful, goes above and beyond with exceptional customer service and he is hands down the best example of what customer service should be like.
I’ve brought several items here to get framed and it’s all turned out beautifully.
So far so good. And Reggie, keep up the phenomenal service, I.e.: keep being you, you make every customer feel great!

Discount signage difficult to assess and the organization in the store wasn’t intuitive for me. Staff was «ok». Parking easy and location convenient if you’re in the San Ramon area.

I went to Aaron Bros. to get a mat and frame for a greeting card that I wanted to frame for my boyfriend. Chanel gave me suggestions and was very helpful. I had a double mat custom cut and chose a ready-​made frame. It turned out beautifully!
Chanel’s great service made this a successful shopping project that was both easy and quick!

Shop here at your own risk.
I just bought a condo very close to this location and was very excited to find out that there was an Aaron Brothers practically right next door. For Christmas, my boyfriend got me a beautiful big clock from Aaron Brothers. I was so excited to put the clock on my wall. I put a battery in it, and a couple hours later, we realized that the clock does not keep time. I love the clock and it was such a thoughtful gift, but the fact that I was going to have it be a focal point of my dining room and it didn’t keep time?! I told my boyfriend that it would be best to take the clock back and we could find something that works.
Well, he took the clock back to the store. Unfortunately he did not have a receipt, but he did have the card he paid with. The clock was over $ 125! The store, at first, said that they would only give him store credit, minus 20% for a ‘re-​stocking fee’. After further discussion with the manager, the manager agreed to reimburse the amount of the clock minus 20%.
This is poor business practices. The clock didn’t work. How will the store charge for restocking a item that does not work?
We would really like to support local businesses, but with this kind of shady business practice, I can guarantee you that we will never shop there again.
I will be writing a letter to the company. This is simply wrong. The people at this location should be ashamed of themselves for behaving like this and thinking that it’s ok to treat other people’s money with such disregard.

I bought a unframed lithograph from a gallery and surprisingly enough, recommended I just go to Aaron Bros or Michaels to have it framed. Aaron Brothers is down the street, lady up front was nice enough and willing to give me their «Labor Day Discount» a day early.
After getting an initial quote of ~$ 500, final quote with their amazing discount was $ 930.
They gave me a finish date of 7 days.
8 days go by (one more than quoted) — I went to pick it up. «Oh no sir, we are going to need more time with that one. we haven’t even started.» Salesperson wanted another day and said don’t come without us calling first.
Never got a call so i called. Guy said «Sir it will take a couple more days… I want to get it right. After telling him It was already 3 days overdue, no apology, just that he’s a part timer, he didn’t know, and he wanted to get it right.
Work came out reasonably. Absolutely no respect for deadlines and Zero communication. Even with their sale, overpriced.
Go somewhere else.

This location is spacious in large busy mall. The service was great but I was there at the 10:00 AM opening to get a cheap frame so I could replace the glass on an expensive frame I just broke. Very large selection of frames and lots on sale — they do not carry replacement glass.

In terms of frames (and not art supplies) I never find what I need, and when I am willing to get creative with what they have (as in all frames are the wrong size — solve with matting) the staff is incredibly uncreative and I leave very frustrated and empty handed — more than a few times.

If I could rate NO STARS I would! This is the worst customer service I have experienced EVER!!! The manager at the store location and her employees do not care about you or your project. PLEASE DO NOT GO HERE!
I never ever write reviews, this is my first one, but I am SO OUTRAGED about how they handled a mistake that I feel I need to write.
1. Gave them my artwork «map» to frame. They said they would cut an area for me and glue it onto another section. I outlined the area I wanted to cut in pencil and then outlined the area where to glue. VERY EASY. The girl took notes on everything and said it was good to go.
2. Picked up my frame and they cut the wrong area of the map and then glued it to the wrong area of the map!
3. The framer tossed the rest of my map piece that was missing!
4. They said sorry are corporate policy is to not cut anything and have the customer cut it out themselves, someone should have told you this. (If they asked me to do this I would have, they never mentioned it to me). Then said they would call me later that evening when the framer was in to fix the problem.
5. NO CALL later that night nor the next day. I called back and they said they couldn’t help me or knew about my project.
6. Two days later (total of ⁴⁄₅ days since problem) … STILL NO CALL. I called Sunday and they are saying that they will order a new piece of art for me but I need to give them a receipt. (Proof of purchase). I BOUGHT THIS MAP 2 YEARS AGO. How will I find the receipt? I asked them if they could put themselves in my shoes and what was another way to fix this but they just repeated what they told me!
7. Last they said that with out the receipt they will refund my money, BUT THEY WILL TAKE THE MAP AND FRAME APART and give it to me in pieces!!! What a REFUND!!!
SO i am out of money, time and artwork!!! I LOOSE THE MONEY AND MY ARTWORK because of their policy and HORRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE and that they Messed up my art piece.
8. I called the DISTRICT MANAGER Laurance (they said this was his name) and waiting to hear back about what they will do.
PLEASE DO NOT GO HERE… I WAS SO UPSET and they just do not care and obviously hate working there, because they do not care about the customers walking into the store.
WORST EXPERIENCE EVER…

Shoot — should have check what Unilocalers said! This location could care less about you for some reason. I wish the staff there would consider what if it were you.
From how I was treated and another woman waiting for a cashier, we did not rate. The guy never acknowledged my existence as I stood there for 15 minutes waiting to pick-​up my frame job.
I guess I only go there if I DIY or have a ½ off coupon otherwise go someplace else.
It should have been simple. My job was estimated to be ready the day b/​4 but I got no call and was busy so let’s try the next day. I called to ask if they could tell me. He said he’d call me back. 45 mins and still counting, he didn’t call me back. But I went on my lunch break just to check where I waited 15 mins+ to be finally told he had no idea when it would be ready, but he’d call me.
Just saying but my job was a $ 300 job so it cost at least me good money plus the picture means something to me. But to not be acknowledged but he continued to care for the couple who brought in a massive custom job, oh well me and the others get pushed aside. We don’t exist.
One woman with kids had purchases and they said forget. Another woman needed help and was told to wait at the cashier desk by the guy, but the deal is, he was by himself so what was her ending to this? Don’t know as I left empty handed as he didn’t even say anything to her even when I said you have her waiting.
But yes the fancy couple was being taken care of…
I hope I get my picture if not today maybe next week… hope they call me as they keep saying they would.
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An almost ending… I get back to work & than they call me an hour later to say its ready. Well I pick up the next day, glad to be done, but note to self don’t just look at the front check the back! The picture mounting and frame came out great (granted we chose it ourselves), BUT the mounting to frame in the back was done wrong meaning this is a vertical picture — they put the hanging wire for a horizontal picture. This made no sense as this picture is obviously vertical given the painter signed it — you wouldn’t put the signature sideways. So one more trip to have them fix it — wait 20 mins — done — the saga is over.
Too much trouble for something that should have been easy

Horrible customer service. I placed an order for one frame, as they were sold out in stores in December 2013. I called three times in January and one of the three calls was on hold for 10 minutes. Each time I called I was given the excuse of «we need time to locate your order.» I asked my husband to go in store today (one month after order was placed) to see if he can locate himself, since I was not even given a returned phone call. They immediately found the order. Super bad customer service, not to return phone calls or follow up with orders placed… very disappointed in customer service.

«Pen orgies. In here tonight. Pencils welcome.» This sold on a pencil holder for kids on display in center of store. I talked with the district manager who happened to be working today and told him about this. I told him that I didn’t want my kids learning about orgies and probably should remove it from the kids gift section. He shrugged his shoulders. I attached a picture for reference.

Purchased 6 frames during the one cent sale 3 weeks ago and still have not received them We were told it would be here with in two weeks. I was hoping the staff could help me get it from another store but they were totally not helpful.

This is a very good alternative to Michaels for those times that you can’t deal with the long lines and parking mayhem. Especially during the holidays!
Had something framed here as a Christmas gift and while I was here discovered that they also have a great selection of art supplies. Also, all kinds of interesting gifts, frames and photo albums. The service was great, my order was completed on time and I received a friendly call letting me know it was ready to be picked up.
The one cent sale (buy one frame and get one for a penny) is terrific and check the Sunday paper for coupons — they generally have a 40% or 50% off coupon for framing or regular priced item.

Having a baby means needing a ton of photo albums. I keep up with my printing of baby pictures. Ive filled 3 giant albums already and am halfway through my 4^th.
I consistently bought them here because of their closeness to my office. One day when I went in an employee couldn’t stop complaining loudly about how busy they were. In this day you shouldn’t complain about things like that.
Bought new photo albums and inserts along with a cute Papyrus happy birthday card and little tattoo book for my Lil sister. They have all the big art stuff an little fun art things dispersed throughout the store. You just got to keep an eye out for the perfect thing.
Ive been back many more times and the last two times they were out of inserts for the large photo albums I buy.
Until I can find somewhere else with adequate photo albums up to my quality standards, Ill keep coming here.

As a part of national chain I was skeptical about the service and the quality of framing that Aaron Brothers would be able to provide for a work-​related gift. Being the art snob I am I have always chosen off-​the-​beaten-​path, highly overpriced framing shops/​galleries for my framing needs. I can safely say that Aaron Brothers in San Ramon has a new fan.
The quality of custom frames is amazing — they have a frame to fit every budget. And the work? «No wood putty was used in the framing of my poster.» The edges matched up perfectly, and the mats were precision cut.
I could not have asked for a better experience!

Great selection and helpful service.
I came in to buy a large pre-​made picture frame. They had a large selection of various frame styles in the size I needed. An employee helped me sort through the frames to find the style I was looking for.
Some of the frames had minor scratches and dents which I thought was acceptable given that the damage probably came from customers roughly handling the frames while looking through them.
They gave me a 15% discount due to a minor scratch that I easily covered up with black marker.
The employee helped me pick out the appropriate picture wire and wall mounting hook and even wrapped my frame in heavy paper to avoid any damage while transporting it in my car.
Prices were very reasonable compared to other frame stores I have been to.
Large parking lot with plenty of available spaces.