Monk Office & Art

I went to Monk Art & Office - corner of Fort and Quadra - for the first time in late March 2023 to use their printing services. It was a small print job, but I was pleased with their prompt and efficient services. While I was waiting for completion of my job, I had a good look at their art supplies. It is a small well-organized area, but brand choices are limited. A few weeks later, I phoned inquiring about graphite pencil sets and prices. The person who answered the phone gave me a quote for two sets. When I got there, a young lady showed me the location of the pencils straightaway and acknowledged she was the person I had spoken with on the phone. Much to my surprise, prices were higher than the amount she quoted. Either there was a mistake or prices were speedily inflated during the time elapsed since my phone call. To make matters worse, while I browsed, the young lady stayed behind me, looking over my shoulder, as if I might steal something the moment she took her eyes from me. Despite her suspicious manner, I purchased a pencil set, even though it is cheaper at Amazon, simply because I choose to support local businesses.

Within this business, are those who genuinely care about everything they do! I've had positive dealings with Craig, Kim and especially Lindsey. From the beginning, Lindsey has always communicated in a positive manner. He has been helpful and reassuring, in the process of book printing!The high quality of my final product and the insight provided, has seen me benefit from their professional services! Highly recommended for all of your printing needs. Exceptional customer service!

I was looking to get a few 8.5x11 prints made here but was immediately brushed off. Found it odd because what I needed wasn't even a rush job (I didn't need them until next month.) I had my files ready on USB which they refuse to look at and so I asked if I can just send the files through email which they essentially said don't bother."Ok...At least they have a decent selection of art supplies."

good selection, unfortunately both times I've been in the general feeling is that I'm bothering/interrupting the employees, especially last time with two staff chatting, looking at me, then continuing their talk at the til.it's not that difficult to say someone can help you soon" if you're busy - I totally get it as someone with over a decade in soul killing front line customer service work - but this is the least you can do

Located on the quieter side of Fort Street in Downtown Victoria, Island Blue Art Store sells unique high quality stationary and rare art supplies at a very reasonable price.

The recent name change seems to have been accompanied by throwing a history of customer service right out the window. This used to be a great place for artists to go but my wife who has been a loyal customer for 30 years was was just told she couldn't return a pen that didn't work at all because she could have used it all up". It also smells musty since the reno. One less good art supply store for Victoria - sad."

Island Blue were truly rock stars!I had a week to get a mini comic for my UVic class printed and saddle-stitched for our final review. The staff worked with me through all the trial and errors, gave me great information about sizing, and worked through all the layout glitches.I'm especially grateful to Gavin for going to work early so that my comic could get prioritized and be finished in time for my class.Thank you SO much for all of your hard work this past week, for sharing in the importance of what this comic means to me, and going above and beyond so that I could share it with my class.

5 Stars to Karly in the printing/copy department! I needed 200 greeting cards in a very short amount of time after another service fell through and she got them printed within 24 hours. I couldn't believe she finished so quickly. They look great!

I can't say enough about the service I received at Island Blue Victoria. I dropped off 271 blueprints for digitizing, in various states of disarray, from 55 years of development and renovations in our Strata building. They organized them all, repaired frayed edges, scanned them, and most importantly communicated with me on the progress. I give them my highest recommendation.

While I've been impressed with their work in the past, unfortunately I was met with some extremely disappointing customer service and will not be coming back. I provided a lossless TIFF image for printing, and noticed that the color reproduction of the print was incorrect (visible in attached photos). Upon kindly asking for a reprint, staff insultingly reminded me that images and colours will always look different from how they appear on your screen compared to how they print" and insisted that they could not offer a reprint