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Review Summary
Cowlingandwilcox is praised for making ordering straightforward, with a site that is easy to use and a clear online selection of art materials. Customers also mention helpful communication and customer service, which makes the whole process feel smooth and reassuring.
Delivery
"Great service, prices and prompt delivery. Thank you"
"Excellent customer service quick delivery and great price thank you"
"Fantastic. Easy to navigate website. Great savings. Arrived well packaged. And products exactly as described"
Digital experience
"Easy to navigate. Simple to use. Variety of ways to pay. Simple and quick."
"Easy to use website, efficient delivery. Will be using again."
"The site is easy to use, could spend ages looking at the different departments. I had a bit of trouble at checkout with my account, but customer…"
The site is easy to use, could spend ages looking at the different departments. I had a bit of trouble at checkout with my account, but customer service were really helpful and sorted it out right away.
Team expertise
"Very efficient service and very helpful service team. Thanks"
"Cowling and Wilcox provide, as they always have done, excellent advice and service. Items from their online shop are always well packed and promptly…"
Cowling and Wilcox provide, as they always have done, excellent advice and service. Items from their online shop are always well packed and promptly delivered.
"The whole experience was very positive. Excellent customer service. Will definitely use again. Thank you."
Choice
"Great range of products, and prompt delivery"
"Very easy to order and find the items online . Good communication throughout and a large selection of items . Sale prices very good vfm on a wide…"
Very easy to order and find the items online . Good communication throughout and a large selection of items . Sale prices very good vfm on a wide range of art materials .
"Great stock and great prices"
Responsiveness
"very prompt and efficient service"
"Efficient and prompt"
"I was really impressed by both the delivery time and the promptness of responses I had after sale. Really recommended as a seller."
Friendliness & courtesy
"Very helpful staff and friendly"
"Excellent service and staff quality art supplies"
"Great prices, fantastic customer service"
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Helen W.
17 May 2026
Verified reviewCustomer service excellent.
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Garry C.
15 May 2026
Verified reviewGood
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Barbara F.
15 May 2026
Verified reviewI ordered a tin of felt tip pens as a gift. It took a long time to be despatched. It was packaged only in a jiffy bag when it arrived. When the recipient opened it there was a small dent on the tin under paper packaging.
Reply from Cowlingandwilcox.com
Thank you for taking the time to review us and provide your feedback. I've looked into your order and I can see you ordered on the Friday evening and we despatched on the Thursday, four working days later. You're right, this took too long to be sent out and, for that, I wholeheartedly apologise. Our aim is to despatch within 2 working days so, again, I'm very sorry for the extended delay. As way of an explanation (not an excuse), we were still recovering from the Easter break and we did have some staff sickness but the main issue was that we've been implementing a new packing system which has proven very effective and we're now despatching within 2 working days sometimes next day. I'm so sorry you got caught up in this slower patch and I hope you feel you can use us again now things have improved. Regarding the damage to the goods, if you'd like us to sort this out for you please contact our customer service team at admin@cowlings.com and they ca help you with that. If I can help further, now or in the future, please don't hesitate to get in touch. Kind regards, Guy.
Reply from Barbara F.
I have ordered from you before and there was a delay. I did hesitate ordering this time. You mention packing but not packaging. A tin was put in just a jiffy bag to be sent out though the dent may always have been there under the packaging which was under plastic when given as a gift. Thank you for taking the time to respond.
Reply from Cowlingandwilcox.com
I'm very sorry about the packaging. I've now reminded our packaging team to use appropriate protection especially as Carriers these days seem to throw our parcels around a little too much for our liking. Kind regards, Guy.
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Julie M.
15 May 2026
Verified reviewGood quality supplies at a very reasonable rate and great selection of items that can't be bought easily anywhere else.
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Judith W.
15 May 2026
Verified reviewGreat company and very helpful after initial glitch with no order confirmation received. Soon sorted and products arrived very promptly and well packaged. Thank you.
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Lisa B.
15 May 2026
Verified reviewDelivery states 2-5 days. On day 5 I emailed to ask that my item was dispatched. Which they did using the cheapest delivery service possible and my item arrived 5 days later. I needed the items sooner than that and I explained my need for the items in the email. I waited 10 days for my delivery. I received an explanation that the late dispatch was due to staff sickness, but no effort was made to send the item on a quicker delivery and how long would I have waited for dispatch if I hadn’t chased it up? I won’t be using them again.
Reply from Cowlingandwilcox.com
Thank you for taking the time to review us and provide your feedback. I've looked into your order and I can see you ordered on the Saturday and we despatched on the Thursday, four working days later. You're right, this took too long to be sent out and, for that, I wholeheartedly apologise. Our aim is to despatch within 2 working days so, again, I'm very sorry for the extended delay. As way of an explanation (not an excuse), we were still recovering from the Easter break and we did have some staff sickness but the main issue was that we've been implementing a new packing system which has proven very effective and we're now despatching within 2 working days sometimes next day. I'm so sorry you got caught up in this slower patch and I hope you feel you can use us again now things have improved. If I can help further, now or in the future, please don't hesitate to get in touch. Kind regards, Guy.
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Leonard K.
15 May 2026
Verified reviewMy delivery was damaged in transit by the ccourier company Meghan Warren sorted out everything to my satisfaction
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M. G.
14 May 2026
Verified reviewItems arrived safely and as described
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Eleanor L.
14 May 2026
Verified reviewAlways has the art materials I need, at very reasonable prices!
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Louise P.
14 May 2026
Verified reviewEasy to find what I wanted and it arrived well packed. However no instructions on assembly so was working from photos on the box
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Clare B.
14 May 2026
Verified reviewI have not received the order after 2 weeks.
Reply from Cowlingandwilcox.com
Thank you for taking the time to review us and letting us know about your delivery issues. We've looked into this and have found our Carrier have let us both down on this occasion. I'm so sorry about this. I understand one of our team has been in touch with you to provide a refund. Once again, I apologise for this situation and please don't hesitate to get in touch if I can help with anything else. Kind regards, Guy.
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Godfrey D.
14 May 2026
Verified reviewGreat
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John R.
12 May 2026
Verified reviewThe biggest problem was the delivery. It took far too long. I was told about backlog since Easter and staff off sick but there was absolutely no communication at all about anything and a bit worrying as the days went on and my items hadn't even left the building. The packing was rough and ready. The drawing book I got turned out to be 3 inches by 3 inches l and cost about £5. The portfolio that I bought had a problem with the zip and you can't pull the zip round to close the portfolio. All in all a bit disappointing.
Reply from Cowlingandwilcox.com
Thank you for taking the time to review us. I've looked into your order and I can see you ordered on the 14th April and your delivery was despatched on the 20th. You're right this took way too long to be sent out to you and, for that, I can only apologise. As way of an explanation (not an excuse), we were receovering from the long Easter weekend and we had a few members of our team who took holidays around this time. More importantly, we've been implementing a new despatch process which has pretty much doubled the speed of despatch and so we suffered short term with later than desired despatch times but now our aim is to despatch within a day of ordering. We expect to hit this target by the end of this week. Once again, I sincerely apologise for you getting caught up with all of these issues and improvements but I hope if you feel you could use us again things will be a lot better. Kind regards, Guy.
Reply from John R.
OK, thankyou for taking the time to reply to my criticism I appreciate your efforts to improve things and your courtesy in comparison with my rather savage review. All the best to you and all your time. Thankyou.
Reply from Cowlingandwilcox.com
Hi John That's fine, I totally get the frustration. If I can help further now or in the future, please don't hesitate to get in touch. Kind regards, Guy.
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Heather H.
12 May 2026
Verified reviewPleased to have a speedy safe delivery.
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Lynette N.
12 May 2026
Verified reviewexcellent
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Lisa G.
12 May 2026
Verified reviewGood products, good prices, but took far too long to receive my order. What should have been delivered in 1-2 working days ended up taking 8 working days to process and 3 email exchanges with Meg from Cowling & Wilcox. While I appreciated the professional attitude in responding to my queries and the prompt answers, I find this was needlessly lengthy. If i knew it would take so long, I would have bought it in a different place.
Reply from Cowlingandwilcox.com
Thank you for taking the time to review us. I can only agree and I can only apologise. Your order took far too long to be sent out. As a way of an explanation (not an excuse), we've been putting in new systems recently to speed things up as our aim is to send all orders out within a day of receiving it. We're well on track to achieving this and hope to be caught up fully in the next few days. As you can imagine, a whole new despatch process creates an awful lot of upheaval but will be well worthwhile in the medium to long term (or short term now). Once again, I do apologise and I just hope you can see fit to try us again. If you were to order from us again, please do not hesitate to email me directly at guy@cowlings.com and I'll make sure your order goes without a hitch. Kind regards, Guy Cowling.
Reply from Lisa G.
Thank you Guy for taking the time to respond. I was not aware of any system changes, which are understandable. The reasons for the delays that I have been provided with were first due to the Easter Bank Holiday, and then due to "sick leave" and unavailability of staff, which resulted in my conclusion that the delay was needless from a customer experience point of view. I will consider Coming and Wilcox again because of your prices and quality of goods provided. Hopefully the ordering and delivery experiences will improve as well in future. Thank you, Lisa Grayston
Reply from Cowlingandwilcox.com
Hi Lisa Thank you so much for your understanding and, as I said, if you need any more help please don't hesitate to get in touch. Kind regards Guy
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Michael A.
2 May 2026
Verified reviewEverything went smoothly - there were no issues
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Nicola M.
2 May 2026
Verified reviewBrilliant paints at really good prices will definitely be buying more in fact I'm waiting on another delivery
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Simon W.
2 May 2026
Verified reviewStraight-forward, easy to use.
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Chloe J.
2 May 2026
Verified reviewI would have like more communication regarding the item’s packing and posting process but other than that all good.
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