Cardoza James Binding

Incredible customer service! I called at 12:45 and asked if I could get a key-​chain imprinted and he said come in. I was done within 10 minutes! Gabi was so thoughtful. I’m already racking my brain on how I can use his service on more of my leather goods!

Creative! Innovative! Impeccable Quality! I had one 210-​page book that required custom binding. After a good bit of research I took it to Cardoza-​James Binding and my expectations were blown away. I explained what I wanted and was shown what is possible. After reviewing many different materials, imported fabrics, handcrafted papers, I made my selections. The bindery was beautifully done, completed with a multi-​level debossing for the title on the front cover and spine. I was proud of the book I presented my client, he was thrilled.

These guys are the BEST! Gabi took my old and battered Bible and turned it into the MOST amazing thing. I was blown away by his genuine care and professionalism.
I highly recommend Cardoza James for any type of repair or binding work no matter how big or small.
You will be more than satisfied… guaranteed.

This is a gem of a locally owned, locally run San Francisco craft business. The owner, Gabi, has been in this business for over 20 years. They do high end leather stamping, embossing, book binding menus, and other design work with leather and fabric materials.
I got a laptop case monogrammed here via hot stamp process. the results were fantastic, and the price was very reasonable.

I recommend Cardoza James binding because they did very good job on my binding project. And the customer service was excellent. Gabi spent extra time to show me the best way to bind my books.

I am a local photographer doing a small book project which I need binding for. I first called Taurus, and found their service to be ok, though not really heartfelt. In fact, though their hours state that they are open until 5:00pm, when I called at 4:45 to see if I could come in to look at linen samples, the guy told me that he had already clocked out for the day.
So I found Cordoza on Unilocal,and called at 5:00pm to see what their hours are. The gentleman on the phone said they were already closed, but to come on in anyway. I did, and found Gabi to be a genuine shop owner who cares about his customers.
The pricing was competitive and the quality of his samples excellent. I feel like I am supporting someone who cares about my project.

The extreme disparity in reviews suggest just how important the personal experience and relationship with the bindery is. Gabi (the owner) is very friendly and has a warm personality, but he is firm and is clearly a man with many things to do. As an inexperienced student working on a tight deadline, Cardoza-​James did a great job helping me through the process and providing me with a quality product. He helped me make informed decisions in each part of the binding process and was very accommodating. I suggest you take the time to get to know him and his work before making a decision about your binding.
The bindery itself is a small, intimate shop and was a great learning experience. The handmade binding and embossing look beautiful, though there are small errors or defects that come with the process. It is important to note that the range of embossing fonts and bindings are limited, but beyond the final quality product, there is obvious personal care put into your book and the process behind it. I strongly recommend this bindery to any student like me, if only for the opportunity to learn.

I came here to bind my final project. Gabi did a great job on my work. He first provided me with his professional ideas on how to create a better look on it by showing me different kind of leathers and sample from other designer, Besides, he is very patient on explaining the different binding methods. I understand there are many students giving their project to Gabi, I am so glad that he is willing to help students, who have limited budget and almost no real working experience. Thank you for taking my last minute project. I definitely come back for my next work again.

I’m a student at the academy of art. I went to Cardoza James binding to do my portfolio, and I was very happy with the work they did, especially Gabi the owner, he spend his time to explain to me the best way to do my portfolio, and the price was fair, I recommend Cardoza James binding to all students that need help with there binding.

Came here to get my book bound and was fairly happy with the result. Gabi was helpful from the beginning and got it done within my approaching deadline. The price was expensive, but that is the case for all book binding jobs anywhere. All in all, I’d say a five out of five

Gabi @ Cardoza James Binding was a pleasure & a privilege to work with. He is a delightful professional. It’s people like Gabi that make a business successful! The finished product was absolutely everything I had hoped for & more. The ease in which he guided me through my order made it an exceptional experience. Thank you for making such a wonderful gift, I love it!

I got my first iDreamCase made last year and I LOVE IT!
the fact that they can stamp/​engrave my custom company logo is the first of many reasons we ended up going with CJB
We ordered 3 dozen iDC cases and we had initials for our employees and our VIP cliental (this is an amazing gift idea for friends, colleagues, etc)
I highly recommend Gabi (Owner), he goes above and beyond for customer satisfaction. Everything is hand made in SAN FRANCISCO!

Horrible experience just getting a quote!
My company had used these folks for a project a couple years ago, so naturally I contacted them first when a similar project popped up. I corresponded via email and specifically noted in the subject line and in the body text that I was looking for a quote to basically reproduce the previous order.
I got a call a couple hours later saying the credit card they had on file was expired and immediately I thought WTF? I didn’t even get a quote, how were they charging us? So I called and spoke with Gabi and he took a rude, condescending tone with me, telling me that I put an order in. He wouldn’t even listen when I said that I had the entire email chain saved and that I kept asking for a quote, and did not even get that! No way to treat a client.
In the end, they had the better prices, but the extra money spent at another binding company was totally worth it. I would never want to work with someone that doesn’t treat clients with respect.

I will never go back ever again. Had nothing to do with the price, had everything to do with the way the OWNER treated his paying client.
First off, you’re running a professional business are you not? If you were then you should of showed more respect to your clients. My first impression of the owner was with him being incredibly rude. I didn’t come late with my work to be bound, I came a month before it was due, plenty of time to do it. Each encounter I had with the owner was awful, he talked down to me the entire time like I had no idea what I was doing.
Once I picked up my book, I found a water mark on the third page where I had to almost rip the two pages apart because they stuck together, resulting in the ink being removed from the page. It looked awful.
I’m telling you right now, DO NOT GO. I will never recommend this place ever again.

My experience at Cardoza –James was pretty much the same as Savannah L’s, including the utter waste of time to go all the way out there with a question they could have answered on the phone. I will look elsewhere.

I just received the second copy of my thesis in the mail approximately a week after they had botched the spine on it. Gabi was nice enough to UPS me my second copy rather than have me come all the way north to pick it up. I would have loved if they had done such a good job on both of my dissertations. Due to the time, hassle and inconsistent craftmanship on my theses, I originally gave them two stars, but Gabi’s ability to make up for the mistakes on my thesis bumped them up to three stars. Still, it was time and money wasted. I still really wish they gave me a refund on the poor workmanship.

Prior going to Cardoza James Binding, I read the reviews on Unilocal just to get an idea of what people thought. Although skeptical after reading the negative comments, I went and was pleasantly surprised at the good customer service & impecible job they did on my portfolio. Gabi, contrary to the others comments, is a nice man and was very helpful to me. I would reccommend Cardoza James Binding to all reading this, as I have recommended them to many of my friends, who were equally as satisfied as I was… A+!!!

Wow, am I glad that guy Gabi (owner?) scared me off with his hostility! I nearly gave him my money, not to mention my precious pages. I am sorry – yet not tooo surprised – to hear the horror stories from former customers.
My terrible experience with Cardoza-​James began with my first phone call. I asked Gabi if I could talk to him about his services. He said yes – how silly of me to believe he meant it. He was impatient from the get-​go, half-​listened, cut me off at each of my simple and few questions (questions that other binders easily and happily answered), and finally dismissed me entirely by insisting I come to see him in person.
OOOOOOOkay. So I made an appt. then took a 1 hour bus ride to see him. Same attitude. (Really?!) In fact he seemed annoyed that I had actually shown up – for an appt that he insist I make! Then, he could not be bothered to talk about my project – kept running around his shop, was definitely not prepared for the appt, and even said that he gets too many emails per day to remember me (wow!). Throughout the meeting, he made it quite clear that my business was unimportant to him, impatiently interrupted my questions (again!) with uninformed answers, and with every response and every gesture, made darn-​tootin’ sure he was as rude as possible.
Basically, this guy was mean, unhelpful, and from his representation, sub-​par: he said they offer no book cloth or foil swatches to choose from, and are incapable of doing a task that I have since discovered every other binder can do: stamp a slipcase. He condescendingly claimed that it was impossible to do, that NO ONE can do it. Not true.
My impression: 100% unprofessional. I wouldn’t trust him with my trash.
But alas, this story comes with a happy ending. Cardoza-​James only ruined my day, not my project. I took my business elsewhere: TAURUS BOOK BINDERY.

If I could give 0 stars I would. Got books and a slip case made with this guy and it cost $ 300. Not only did he cut my books crooked, but when I brought it up he was extremely rude about it and wouldn’t accept blame for it; he tried to blame me! He was super nice the first time I met him but after that it’s a downhill black hole that sucks your soul and makes you sad.
It took him two tries to make a slip case that «fit,» and the last final time I went to pick it up, while he was showing me the box, it broke open. The box literally just fell the F** apart as he pulled my books out of it. He didn’t apologize for this and didn’t say he would fix it. He just looked at me and asked me if I had glue. Of course I have glue and I told him yes. Then he told me to just glue it back myself and let it sit for a night. Besides a beyond shoddy piece of garbage of a slip case, the fit of it to the books is inaccurate. The first time he made it, it wouldn’t fit width wise and I had to come back after he «fixed» it. This second time, not only did it fall apart right before my eyes (which is just stunning), it didn’t fit the width or the height. The box was too thick by about ¼″ (enough to fit another freaking book in the case) and when I mentioned this, he tried to put the blame on me again. Lastly, the icing on the cake was the pen marks on the top of the case. Unforgettably amazing.
In summary, he is nice before he has your money, then, as he manipulates you into a deal and you pay him, he’s rude, stingy, and disrespectful. Not only do you get a filthy trash filter on your project (aka, it is not what you expect), you get ripped off. Spend your money more wisely elsewhere. In fact, you’re better off doing it yourself. I guarantee you will get a better result than with him.

Really, one sentence sums it up: They did a bad job.
The binding was fine, but the stamped title on the front looks like it was done by a four-​year old… waving up and down, and generally on a slant. To top it off, they left an ‘s’ off the end of one word, and failed to mention that they can’t do a question-​mark (rendering the title vaguely non-​sensical). When I brought it in, he fixed the missing ‘s,’ though it was slightly askew, creating an even drunker look to the printing.
He’s really nice, but I’d rather have a perfect job. Find someplace else.