Premium prices, poor paint quality, and unresolved customer service
I was genuinely excited to receive my Craftoria order (#259286), which included six paint-by-numbers kits.
Unfortunately, my experience has been extremely disappointing.
I have been doing paint by numbers for over 10 years and have never encountered paint quality this poor. In the first kit I started (Colorful Dance Ensemble), multiple lighter colours were incredibly streaky and transparent, with the printed numbers and dark guide lines still clearly visible even after 5–6 coats of paint.
This is not a technique issue. I even prepared the canvas with clear gesso in an attempt to improve coverage, but the paint quality remained unacceptable.
Given the premium pricing, I should not need to purchase additional artist paints or workaround products just to make the kit usable.
I contacted customer support, provided photos, and initially received generic advice to apply thicker paint, which completely missed the point.
After I pushed back, they offered to send replacement paints for the affected kit, but nothing was ever actually sent.
My wider concern was the other five unopened kits from the same order. Having since seen many similar complaints online about poor paint opacity, I no longer had confidence in the remaining kits and requested a resolution.
At that point, communication stopped completely.
I have now had to open a Klarna dispute, and Klarna has paused the payments while the matter is investigated.
For a premium-priced brand, this has been a deeply disappointing experience.