Portrait Innovations152

Funny how I am now the second person complaining about the CD issue.. First of all, the sitting went well.The photographer was nice, and her helper too.. Although, i will say, with three kids (all under 6), it was hectic trying to get a good family picture, and we did feel a tad bit rushed.. but they were kind enough. Our issue lies with the whole "how much are your packages that include the CD??" deal.. You will NEVER get a straight answer from the sales people. They are there to negotiate with you, and they will never answer your questions directly. They start you off at a package of 450 dollars (and they keep telling you that your portraits are that HIGH value.. yeah right) , and you delete pictures to work yourself down to a lower cost. I must have asked the sales girl 10 times, "how much do i have to spend to get the CD??"-, as I was trying to contain three children.. She finally told me she would not give me the CD unless I bought the package for $69.99, PLUS the $9.95 special. I'm sorry people, but I dont think anyone should have to spend 80 dollars just to get the darn disc. Needless to say, we are extremely disappointed -- all we got was the run around.. NOt direct answers and sales pitches.. . We wasted our time, and we walked out only purchasing the $9.95 package.. I even offered to buy enough portraits to spend 60 dollars (if she would give me the CD) and she wouldn't budge.. so, we left as NON returning customers.. and very disappointed that we had to experience a bad sales ending... (by the way, i went there before and spent $55 dollars, and GOT the CD)... (and its not about the additional 20 dollars, it was the point that we felt we were being taken advantage of..... ) We are a single income family and we try to watch our budget. They should have been satisfied with taking 60 dollars, give us our CD, and making their customers happy. They let us walk -- after all the time we spent getting our kids dressed, and ready for the pictures.. We will never go back.

I received a flyer for Portrait Innovations for a one pose package for $10. with no additional fees. Needing Christmas cards I thought this would be a great idea. We have tried Sears in the past and the expereince was fine,but I liked the idea that we would not have to wait days for our pictures, only a few minutes. At out appointment the photographer and support staff were great. The kids were having fun and the pictures were super cute. I was ready to be a loyal customer and sing all the praises of this company. We sat down with the photographer and narrowed our choices down to the $10.00 special and then two additional poses. At that time the photographer showed up a "special effects" portrait that we would be getting and told us we would receive the CD as well. We paid, ran and errand and then returned and picked up our photos and cards and everything was Awesome. Until we looked at our package and found that neither the "special effects" picture or the CD were in the bag. I went back in and a woman who was most likely the manager, greeted me and asked me what I was confused about. I asked her about the CD and the "special effects" picture. She informed me that they did not come with what we had purchased and that they would be an additional $30.00. I told her that the photographer had not said that and that we should expect them with what we had received. She again said "No". She then asked me if it was my "first time" there (to which I replied yes, as it was) and "that was why I must be confused". I took my prints and left knowing this situation would not improve. My husband decided to go and speak with the staff about the missing item. At that point the people told him that he was incorrect and the "photographer had made a mistake" and they had "thrown away the CD" already and those items were not part of what we paid for. It's customer service 101 that you do not get into a shouting match with a customer, which is what this woman did with my husband. We are not the type of people to complain about a dollar or two or standard sub-par service. Considering, however, that I work in customer service/sales management I would be fired if I treated a customer the way my husband and I were treated. Hopefully their HQ will take our concerns more seriously than the staff at this location did.