Cowling & Wilcox Anmeldelser 

We attended the gelliplate printing workshop with Michaela and Emma. We really enjoyed it and the time went by so quickly. Michaela and Emma were brilliant tutors and we both came away with much more of an idea about the art of gelli print.
The morning was extremely good value and we would thoroughly recommend this workshop. Thank you girls!

I loved going to the Shoreditch branch as they had exactly what I needed - Seawhite Sketchbooks in various sizes!

Arlene kindly showed me where they were and once I had gotten them, priced matched the items with the price on the C&W website, which saved me around £6!

Thank you Arlene and see you again soon!

Michela in the Canterbury store provided invaluable help. Without her I would have left with totally the wrong products.

I visited Canterbury shop needed a birthday gift for a 8 year old who wants to be an artist. Emma very kindly helped me out with a large paper wrapping it carefully which I needed for myself - she was very helpful with my gift choice finding a brush and another postcard pad by C&W - I had the pan stacker set which is on offer. Emma was also lovely to talk to which always helps! 😊

I visited the store in Canterbury and was really pleased by the service. One of the staff asked if I needed help, she helped me find the pencils and ball point pens I was looking for and gave me some useful advice. She was very friendly and helpful and made my time in the shop very pleasant.
There was a good selection of products too.

I chose the romilly easel. Like others said there is no email confirmation until dispatch but the courier message allowed me to reschedule delivery easily. The parcel arrived with holes in it and a washer fell out. Several knobs and screws were loose in the box. Other parts where in a sealed bag with a list of what's included in the bag but no reference to the other parts. I appreciate not having to attach all the knobs and washers myself but they need to be better secured. In the end only one washer was missing and I bought a replacement. In places the wood is marked, which I presume is from where loose screws rubbed against it during delivery. Overall for the price paid I am pleased with the purchase and assembly was quick and easy because it was mostly pre-assembled. For my first ever easel it will do and the experience wasn't too stressful.

I wanted to get back into some form of art and was keen on watercolour painting and alcohol pens. Jack listened really carefully to what I wanted to start doing and then showed me absolutely everything I would need while giving me lots of tips as we went along. He made my shopping trip brilliant fun and I am now excited to get started with it all. He was really patient and informative

I visited the Canterbury store and was served by Kit. The whole experience was definitely 5 star. Kit was helpful, and overwhelmingly enthusiastic and encouraging. The products in the sale were excellent and I went back the next day to buy some more. A great team of assistants and full marks to Kit for making it a joy to shop there. Many thanks.

Not hugely impressed
The 2 * refers simply to the polite response when I called b4 ordering to confirm items required were in stock but since then it’s been fairly negative!
The email query I made on Friday 28th August remains unresponded despite it being 3rd sept today!
In the absence of a reply but based on a call I made to C&W on Tuesday 1st I placed an order that morning for several items, created an account and made the payment.
Today, 3days on, the order status remains ‘new order’ with little sign of any activity.
It’s not acceptable to use summer holidays or bank holidays as an excuse. It’s also unrealistic to claim orders can take 5 working days to ship (that would mean a ship date of 7th……) and then add 2-3 days with Royal Mail.
I sell goods myself and ensure orders are fulfilled the same day even if it’s a weekend or bank holidays!
So would I order again from C&W…? At this rate very unlikely.
I would just like to see my order shipped ….even a status change online to ‘being processed’ would be a step forward.
So it’s a case of high expectations versus low reality!

REPLYING TO THE RESPONSE FROM C&W

The email sent was done via the message function contained in the C&W web site and not sent via an independent email servuce. This is a C&W message link.....
As for my order number I'm not prepared to disclose my order details on this open forum for privacy reasons however as the order was placed on tuesday 1st Sept there can be many orders where the customers name is 'marc' and btw the order remains unfulfilled as of 1700 today.....!

REPLYING TO LATEST RESPONSE

Sent an email yesterday evening, at 1700, to the email you listed (admin@) asking for an update.
Unsurprisingly I have not recieved any response as of this morning.

Final update
So order finally shipped Friday with apologies for staff Holidays abd bank holiday!
Shipping could have been with Royal Mail and arrived today but instead it gets sent by DX express to arrive Monday when I am not at home to take it in.
Last night I changed delivery to Tuesday only to find this morning delivery has changed back to Monday
Tried calling DX except their AI telecaster cuts you off when uou think you are through. So endedbup with a 90 minute wait in the chat service only to be told delivery will come Monday irrespective of my change and if im out the parcel may be left by my front door or if not I should contact DX again with a 90 min wait to rearrange!
A truly farcial experience with cowling and wilkins and one I have zero intention of repeating. Support your local high street shops and avoid this type of joke service if you go on line!

I ordered some goods based on the positive review the company had received. They were to be a gift. After a couple of days I'd had no updates re:delivery. Company was responsive and explained that my order was being 'picked'. Another couple of days went by and I'd still received no updates so made contact again. My order still had not been dispatched due to staff sickness. I understand things can happen, but as it was for a gift, I felt that a wait of 5 days was enough and cancelled the order last Tuesday. My refund has still not been processed. Is this all just bad luck on my part? I've emailed details over on 2/9/2026

The Gelli printing workshop run by Emma and Michela was excellent. I have carried on enthusiastically printing with the supplies I bought afterwards.

Sophie is warm and welcoming, enthusiastic and helpful.

I value her cheerful manner, making the shopping experience very happy.

I had the most amazing customer service at cowling and Wilcox Canterbury with Janey and Jack! They were very knowledgeable and helping me choosing the canvases. They accommodated me with lovely kindness. Made me so happy, thank you so much!

Excellent customer service.
Very small issue with my order that was sorted out immediately. Can’t ask for any more than that.

This is my second review - the first was negative. Order not received and no way to get hold of anyone.
In the end, after repeated attempts, I did speak to someone in customer services who was very helpful and offered a refund. Sadly Royal Mail didn’t leave a foto so we can’t trace the delivery. But I’m happy and will use this company again!

I visited your Canterbury shop and your colleague Jack was extremely helpful in my decision of buying brushes and paper for water colour painting. I am very much a beginner and with his knowledge I chose a selection. Jack was very kind explaining all the options, I just need to practice now. A lovely shop to browse in.
All the staff are always very helpful.

Sophie was really nice and helpful!

Tyler was absolutely brilliant! They were friendly, knowledgeable and genuinely took the time to help me find exactly what I needed. They made the whole experience at Cowling & Wilcox in Shoreditch easy and enjoyable. Fantastic customer service. Thank you, Tyler!

Excellent service from Jack. Great shop with extensive stock of art materials.

Excellent shop and friendly professional staff. Michela and Sophie were very helpful - nothing was too much to assist me finding the right canvas in the right size - which we had to order in the end. It arrived on the designated date with no issues. Very happy with the service.