I took the girls a few days before their birthday to get special portraits made to mark the occassion. It was at the PCA studio at our local Super Wal-Mart. I went to pick them up yesterday and the photographer told me she needed to speak with me about the portraits. It seems the roll of film that our portraits were on was somehow "exposed to light." The portraits came out with orangeish colored blurrs on the sides of each picture. You can see the girls just fine, but DH and I felt that $120 was too much to pay for such a low quality product. I took pictures of the portraits to show what they look like. The photographer even had the nerve to say that the discolored blurs "added" and made the portraits look better.
These sheets with multiple pictures illustrate the problem the best. DH and I wanted the pictures we just didn't feel we should pay full price. The day the portraits were taken I paid 50% down and the rest was due upon pick up. The photographer said we could do another re-shoot for the same price. We didn't want to do that because these were their 1st birthday pics. Lydia has had eye surgery since then and doesn't look the same. The other option was a 10% discount. I asked her to call her corporate line and find a better solution. She said she couldn't do that. I left and went outside and called their corporate help line myself. The customer service rep agreed this was unacceptable service and gave me the option of having our total refunded minus $13 for the disk and we would own the copyrights to the portraits OR take 50% off the order and take the portraits as is. I said I wanted the 50% off. She said she was going to put it into their computer system and call the studio and tell the photographer. I went back up to the studio and the photographer said no one had called her and she had no way to give me 50% off. I told her to call their corporate line and talk to the customer service rep and she said she "couldn't do that." She called a manager at another store and she fiddled with the computer and asked us for $37. We said no. $62 was the agreed upon price. She fiddled some more and asked us for $28. Again we said no. She fiddled some more and asked us for $38. Once again we said no. DH told me to go to the car with the babies. I did so after a while he came out and had the portraits. He ended up giving her $7 which was half of the disk price. She said she couldn't include the disk in the deal so he paid the $7 and got the package.
I felt like this was very poor customer service. You can see the blurs down the sides, and their resolutions to the problem were weak. I want people to beware and have a heads up. If I ever go there again I will only buy the advertised package ($10 for like 35 photos) and none of the extras.
A corporate customer service rep called back yesterday afternoon and said the studio employee was only supposed to give us 50% off the remaining balance and NOT the total price. She said there had been a "miscommunication." I'm just shaking my head in disbelief. They realized this after speaking with the studio employee. So instead of just saying, "I'm sorry, we can't refund the $7," she had the nerve to tell me that we actually owe them money back, but they will "leave me alone" if I "let it go."
Bottom line: This organization should not be trusted with your children's portraits. It is a responsibility they do not take seriously. I filed a customer service complaint with the Better Business Bureau (to go with the 64 previously filed complaints).
These sheets with multiple pictures illustrate the problem the best. DH and I wanted the pictures we just didn't feel we should pay full price. The day the portraits were taken I paid 50% down and the rest was due upon pick up. The photographer said we could do another re-shoot for the same price. We didn't want to do that because these were their 1st birthday pics. Lydia has had eye surgery since then and doesn't look the same. The other option was a 10% discount. I asked her to call her corporate line and find a better solution. She said she couldn't do that. I left and went outside and called their corporate help line myself. The customer service rep agreed this was unacceptable service and gave me the option of having our total refunded minus $13 for the disk and we would own the copyrights to the portraits OR take 50% off the order and take the portraits as is. I said I wanted the 50% off. She said she was going to put it into their computer system and call the studio and tell the photographer. I went back up to the studio and the photographer said no one had called her and she had no way to give me 50% off. I told her to call their corporate line and talk to the customer service rep and she said she "couldn't do that." She called a manager at another store and she fiddled with the computer and asked us for $37. We said no. $62 was the agreed upon price. She fiddled some more and asked us for $28. Again we said no. She fiddled some more and asked us for $38. Once again we said no. DH told me to go to the car with the babies. I did so after a while he came out and had the portraits. He ended up giving her $7 which was half of the disk price. She said she couldn't include the disk in the deal so he paid the $7 and got the package.
I felt like this was very poor customer service. You can see the blurs down the sides, and their resolutions to the problem were weak. I want people to beware and have a heads up. If I ever go there again I will only buy the advertised package ($10 for like 35 photos) and none of the extras.
A corporate customer service rep called back yesterday afternoon and said the studio employee was only supposed to give us 50% off the remaining balance and NOT the total price. She said there had been a "miscommunication." I'm just shaking my head in disbelief. They realized this after speaking with the studio employee. So instead of just saying, "I'm sorry, we can't refund the $7," she had the nerve to tell me that we actually owe them money back, but they will "leave me alone" if I "let it go."
Bottom line: This organization should not be trusted with your children's portraits. It is a responsibility they do not take seriously. I filed a customer service complaint with the Better Business Bureau (to go with the 64 previously filed complaints).
They are more money, but I like the quality and have never had any problems with the pictures I've purchased there. The pictures are also ready in about 10 minutes depending on how many people are waiting. I even got my Christmas Cards in the same amount of time that I got my pictures. You can also see the pictures on their website using your sitting number and a password.
She said she was "marking my account as paid in full" and again said, "I suggest you drop it." I told her that I was done argueing with her company and I would be using other channels to fix the situation. I ended the phone call.
I would not pay them anything else and insist that is what you had been told. Take it on up the chain. The salesperson had the opportunity to call and if there was a misunderstanding then it could have been cleared up then. Since she didn't, 
They are wonderful with kids, and always get several great photos. I think the only downside is that I spend more because I want all of the photos - it's too hard to choose! 
And it's so nice getting them in 15 minutes. 
