Alan C.
Yelp
I don't normally write reviews, especially poor reviews, but I'm writing this now since Peter Lik did not return my message nor did his company address it after sending this letter to them.
To whom it may concern,
I was visiting San Diego from San Francisco on Sunday, Sept. 18, when my cousin took me to the Peter Lik Gallery in La Jolla, on 1205 Prospect Street, and unfortunately experienced very disappointing customer service. In fact, this poor service was so terrible I am compelled to write to you. While I could easily share this story on Twitter, Facebook, and my own personal blog, I am opting to share it with you out of consideration for Peter Lik since I am, and continue to be, a fan of his work.
My cousin Liz, a fan also, visited the gallery before and was excited to take me there as we toured La Jolla. Arriving at the gallery, we walked in and admired the amazing photography on spotlight. I was fascinated by how the lighting on the photographs looked so brilliant; so radiant. I commented to my cousin about whether or not the photographs were backlit to give it that amazing lighting effect. She excitedly shared with me that Peter Lik's gallery has a demonstration on lighting and that it was, "very cool".
Both her and I walked up to the young, blond, gallery saleswoman and Liz kindly asked her if she would demonstrate to me the uniqueness of Peter Lik's art with lighting. The woman replied, "I take it you've been here before?"
Liz responded, "Yes, I have and it was amazing. I'd like my cousin to see for himself if you don't mind showing us."
The saleswoman inquired as she sat us down in the demonstration room, "So do you own any?"
Liz mused, "Oh I wish!"
From that point on, the gallery saleswoman's attitude changed towards us. Her demonstration lasted less than a minute (I'm not exaggerating) and upon finishing she promptly left the room with me sitting there wondering what was "so cool". Liz, disappointed, turned to me and tried to salvage the situation by giving a far better demonstration herself from sheer memory. She apologized to me saying that the last time she was there, the gentleman really wowed her with how much the lighting changes the mood, ambiance, and feel of the photography. I believed her but was so shocked at how curt this gallery saleswoman was to us. We left the room and she ignored us the rest of the time we browsed the photographs. Leaving the gallery, she did not bid us farewell nor thank us for coming in. I mean even Hollister clothing stores greet and bid you farewell when you come in and out.
Being a fan of Peter Lik, I am disappointed at such terrible customer service; especially in an age where one yelp review, one bad blast on twitter, and embarrassing youtube video is all it takes to sway the public's view.
It saddens me to see such great art being represented by such a terrible docent. Moreover, it saddens me to see my excited cousin go from happy to disappointed simply because she was judged for not owning a Peter Lik photograph. The art never changed. Peter Lik is still an amazing photographer. However, I'm certain my cousin's view, along with mine, is currently in question.