I don’t mind the occasionally delay or slightly off customer service. But truly bad customer service really gets on my nerves. And today I got to delve into the dark, dusty, evil world of portrait studios. More specifically: JC Penney portrait studio.
In the past, we’ve taken Cordy to Sears for pictures. We had fancy pictures done once, and were quite happy with them, but unwilling to pay over a hundred dollars again for pictures. So Sears it is. They’re generally inexpensive, and the one near us usually has excellent photographers who are patient and creative with our stubborn child. Plus, in the past few years they’ve made some enormous improvements to their backgrounds and props. No longer are you limited to the light blue with wispy clouds or the mottled brown background. Now they use plain white gauze, solid black, and props that weren’t first used in the 70’s. (Although now they could be considered vintage, I guess.)
But Sears has been stingy with the coupons lately, and JC Penney had a good coupon, so we tried them today. Free 8×10, free sitting fee, and $3.99 portrait sheets. Bingo!
We arrived there at 11:45 and decided to make an appt. for 1:30. They advised that those with appts. go first if there’s a crowd, so we thought it best to eat lunch, then come back. I had an interview at 12:30, and hoped to be back with Aaron and Cordy by 1:30. We had other plans for the day as well, so we figured it would be a quick session, a few cute pics, and then be on our way.
I left after lunch, and Aaron ran Cordy in the mall play area for awhile. I called when my interview was over (about 1:45), and he said they were still waiting. It seems having an appointment doesn’t guarantee quick service. He was trying to keep her entertained, or well, at least trying to keep her contained in the waiting area.
When I arrived a little after 2pm, they had just gone into the photography room. I peeked in to see the photographer sitting on the floor with her camera, and Aaron trying to convince Cordelia to sit down. Apparently JC Penney can’t handle taking pictures of toddlers who stand up. However, the photographer was also lacking in creativity – you know, the one trait a good photographer should possess. Because not only did she want Cordy to sit down, she wanted her to sit on a small red spot on the floor! If Cordy wasn’t in the general area of the magic red spot, she would not even attempt a picture.
The problem with this is that mommy was on one side, daddy on the other, and the red spot was on neither side. She would run back and forth between Aaron and I in her version of a hugging game. If we tried to get her to sit on the spot, she jumped up right away and ran to one of us. There were several times she was standing still in the vicinity of the damn spot, but the photographer said Cordy needed to be sitting down.
(Side note: I should have known Cordelia was smarter than this photographer and just wanted out of there. She banged her forehead on the floor twice while we tried to convince her to accept the spot, causing two large red bumps on her forehead. It’s like she knew this was a failed attempt before we started and was trying to save us what was to come.)
Our so-called photographer had no ideas to help with the situation. Finally, I got up and grabbed some props to attempt to lure Cordy to sit down and examine them. It worked for a few snaps of the camera. I kept waiting for the photographer to suggest something new, now that we had a few shots of her sitting, but nothing came from her. No background switches. No different poses. Just, “Can you sit on the red spot, please?”
At the end, Aaron and I moved in closer and held her in place for a few pictures. It was the only way for it to work, and after all, we didn’t have any family pictures.
Afterwards, I expected to view our pictures, like we do at Sears. Instead, we were told “Come back in about a half hour to view them.” Aaron and I looked at our watches, then each other, sighed, and walked away to wait. It was now 2:15 (yeah, 15 minutes of pure hell in the studio room that felt like hours), so we walked around the mall, waiting.
At 2:45 we were back, and they told us the pictures weren’t finished uploading. We were asked to wait, saying it would be a few minutes. Around 3:00, I was getting impatient, and Cordy was nearing a meltdown, as it was now past naptime. I listened to the women working the portrait studio chat about what Lean Cuisine meals they brought for lunch. I gave a sympathetic glance to the woman with two children who had arrived for pictures.
We finally got to view them. Turns out that we spent so much time waiting because they had to create a ton of different “enhancement” options for us to ignore. And we didn’t get to see the plain pictures first, either. We had to look at each enhancement, listen to the so-called photographer rave about how lovely it was, then click to the next one. I was holding Cordy at this point, because she was too tired to stand anymore. The woman asked if I wanted to be able to view the photos online, and I said sure.
I showed my coupon, and placed my order of normal pictures (one was sepia toned, but that was just to hide the red lumps on Cordy’s forehead). She then took her time ringing up the order. At this point Cordy was waving frantically at her, saying “Bye-BYE! SEE-ya!” Clearly Cordy’s limits had been reached, and mine were close.
When I saw the total, I asked for an explanation. “Oh, well, your one 8×10 was free, and her sitting fee was free. You and your husband were each $9.99 for your sitting fees.”
My jaw fell open. “Wait, what? We were only in two pictures at the end, just to help keep her under control!”
“It says right here in the small print, that only the first person’s sitting fee is free.”
“But we weren’t planning to be in the pictures!”
“But you were.” She continued: “Also, the Smiles by Wire service is $4.99.”
“It costs $4.99 to view my photos online?” (Note: At Sears, this is a free service and it take 1-2 days to show up online.)
“Yes, I thought you knew that. Anyway, they’ll be available online in 7-10 days. If you don’t want the service, we’ll need to go back to the computer in the back and change your order.”
At that point, I just wanted out, so I paid and left. The woman asked me “What time would you like to pick your pictures up?” I replied that morning would be best. She then said, “No, I mean between 3 and 7pm.” Oh, sorry lady, I lack the ability to read your mind.
I should also point out at this point that the price of my photographs (not counting the one “enhancement”, which of course cost $14.99) was SMALLER than the price of the sitting fee.
The poor woman who showed up at 2:45 was still waiting with her two kids when we left. I imagine she was probably going to keep waiting, as one of the two (yes, only two!) women working the portrait studio decided it was time for her lunch break. I hope her Lean Cuisine tasted like cardboard.
Our pictures will be ready June 29, and they’d better sparkle with diamond dust for what I paid for them. Oh, and I’m so totally copying the pictures off the internet when I get my e-mail confirmation. You bet I’m getting my $4.99 worth.
My advice for the day: stay far, far away from the JC Penney Portrait Studio, or at least the Eastland Mall location in Columbus, OH. That is, unless you like spending ALL AFTERNOON there, attempting to keep your child entertained just so you can get uncreative, uninspiring pictures.
That’s awful. What a horrible way to spend your afternoon.
Good for you for spreading the word.
Seriously, I would send a complaint email. THAT is ridiculous – charging you for your sitting? It’s cheap, rude, and very bad business. I’m sure that the higher ups would love to hear all about it.
We went to Olan Mills in Kmart and the dude was actually pretty good. I was reasonably impressed.
I stay far, far away from that place. I’ve found that with a decent camera and a bootlegged copy of photoshop, the pictures my husband and I take are comparable or better than the mall picture stores.
But I had to learn that the hard way. Ugh. Sorry you had such a crappy day.
Geez, suckage to the Nth degree. That really bites. I was just discussing crappy American customer service with my mother the other day (not that I know much about customer service outside the U.S., but I’ve heard ours is pretty much the worst). The only good customer service I’ve come across in a while is at Whole Foods, where they’ll leave their post anywhere in the store to take you and SHOW you where to find some specific thing you’re asking about, even if you tell them it’s okay, just point me in the right direction and I’ll find it myself.
We had a crappy experience with The Picture People and since then have had Slipshod’s mom take our family photos out in our back yard while Boopa jumps up and down behind her to get Sweet Pea to smile. And our digital photos + Photoshop truly do make better pictures to send, like Mrs. Chicky says.
I’m sorry about your crappy experience. I would be livid too.
I took Tacy to JC Penney once – she was two months old and the photographer had no idea how to deal with teeny tiny punkins.
We’ve always gone to Picture People and had great experiences. Even when CJ was being a little maniac, they suggested we take a walk and come back when she was in better spirits. It worked.
But usually we stick to the digital camera too.
I have a comment or two…that’s sucks! And, we use Olan Mills, a little more expensive than some but so totally worth it in our town.
By the way, I have a guest blogger, if you have time stop by and give her a yell of encouragement!
I use Sears Portrait Studio and I’ve been pretty happy with it. The worst part used to be the hidden charge – if you ordered extra prints by phone after leaving the studio they would tack a $5 service charge onto the bill. But I noticed last time that they’ve scrapped that. So maybe they actually care about customer service. Or, hey, maybe that want to encourage people to buy more pictures instead of punishing them for it!
Just reading this post, completely stressed me out! I can’t believe they charged you and your husband for being in the picture without telling you ahead of time!!
Unfortunately, I am already a JC Penny’s portrait club member. I’ve only been once so far but I got suckered into buying the membership.
Totally different experience at the one in St. Clairsville. We travel 40 minutes to get Nick’s pictures there because they’re so good. And, strangely, our Sears was not down with toddlers standing when we took my friend’s two year old in.
Every one is different. That’s what makes it SO DAMN HARD. 🙂
That is bad service and bad business times a zillion. You should send a complaint – their biggest clients must be kids and clearly they need some new staff or policies. Yikes. I hope the pics are cute in the end and worth it 🙂
I am so glad I just read this. I was headed to JC Penney this weekend to check out the’re studio. Thanks for the warning!
We’ve never used JcPenny for portraits. I have used Olan Mills and they are decent. However, it’s not the brand, it’s the photographer.
Anyway, I havent taken my kids in a long time. I usually take photos myself.
Oh shit I am in the customer service…will make a note. But I don’t like JC portaits…!
I.HATE.JC.PENNY. With the biggest passion. This is about the 15th time I’ve heard this story from someone about their photo department. That SUCKS!!! I’m sorry you had to spend your time like that. At least you know never to go back.
I’m glad I’ve never tried JC Penney’s portrait studio now! We go to Sears, but that’s because a friend works there and we get all sheets for $2 and pay no sitting fees. Plus they have great backgrounds and props. But now I won’t ever refer anyone to Penney’s after reading this!
I’m a complainer, and my fingers are burnng to write a complaint letter FOR you.
The penny’s in our area is the same as that one. Exactly. And each photo studio is so small, hot and cramped, each time I’ve attempted this the older one gets crabby and the younger one just cries.
Fun fun
I had this same problem with our Sears studio. Our appointment was at Noon and we didn’t get in until 2:30. I complained so much that they gave us our picture order at half price. I must have scared the poor clerk.
I have my clutter pictures post, now! 🙂
That is exactly the reason I don’t do the mall portrait studio’s anymore. They just aren’t worth the hassle.
I don’t know how they can expect
kids, in particular, to smile and
act cute after they have had to
wait endlessly to take just a few
pictures. The fine print always gets
you. It really should be classified
as false advertisement.
I’ve had similar experiences. And the hard sell… My God, they make you feel like you just killed your kid’s puppy if you don’t buy an assload of photos and poses. Bastards…
OMG I hate portrait studios. Our last set where so ugly, I was embarrassed to send them out at Christmas!! And we have not gone since!! Maybe for Becca’s 2nd Birthday, but probably not!
What a terrible experience. You must have patience of Job because I would have went off!!! Is there a number where you can call and complain or when you get your pics talk to a manager.
Maybe your next pics will be free =)
We went to a place to get Aveline’s pictures done on Friday, but they were too busy, so we made an appointment for tomorrow. The place is called Portrait Innovations. I’ve heard nothing but glowing reviews for the joint, so we are going to check it out for her 1 year portraits. (Yeah, we’re a bit behind, considering she is nearly 14 months old!) I’ll be sure to review them in my blog.
Meijer’s has great customer service. I work in the service industry and it irks me to no end to get poor service.
I’m glad you warned me about Penney’s. I was very tempted with their coupons.
You should post the pictures once they are available. We would love to see them.
Check this out! lol
http://sleepbree.blogspot.com/2006/02/so-i-cried-at-jc-pennys.html
Hi- I feel for you, bless your patient heart !
As a former Portrait Photographer for “The Mill” alias Olan Mills I understand your stress. It is basically a MILL as are most mall- type studios. A NUMBERS GAME.
Appointments are made three atop each other. The Mill closed all their regular studios and moved into K-Mart broom closets (lol) without air conditioning.
Hot lights, dripping make-up and sweat. Just what the customer ordered- HA! And now a new label- K-mart photos!(lol )Mr. Mills is rolling over in his grave …
Pressure to buy and a few hidden fees. Lies to clients and employees.
Patience and creative behaviour with children and some adults is required for an overall decent experience regardless of a hectic day. I miss photographing kids so very much. I would have treated your family much, much better including- offering you homemade lasagna!!
Happy snapping!
Hi, I work for JCPenny portraits…but in NY. I highly suggest calling 1-800-59-smile. you will more than likely be able to get most of your money back! Customer service is pretty good at working with you to at least get you closer to satisfied. and BTW, you should not have had to pay those extra sitting fees.
I work for J.c. Penny portraits and I can just say that just because you have a bad experience at one does not mean everyone is the same way. We strive to provide excellent customer service to all of our customers. I hate it when people ram a company into the ground just because one of the stores did not meet your expectations. You should not have been charged thoes sitting fees, I would never do that unless you were comeing in for family portraits. I love what I do every day and have amazing talanted photographers in my studio. I am sorry you had a bad experience but as far as quality and professional looking portraits Sears cant touch us in that department. Lifetouch portrait is who we really are and please visit the website to tell someone about your experience so we can get people like that out of our company. Dont judge all of us by just a couple people. As far as the long wait it happens in all places with appoinments. If you have a child that does not want to be still, you want to try to work with the child to get good portraits. It cant be helped and I wish people were a little more understanding. How many times do you have to wait in a doctors office or dentist. I have waited for two hours before but I dont cuss him and be mad. I just know that I have to wait my turn. I know this is not easy with small children I have two myself and know what it is like. Like I said visit the website http://www.lifetouchportrait.com and let them know your experience, but give the good ones out there a break!!
Yuck- sorry you had such a rotten experience!
My husband, son, and I took pictures at JCPennys over the weekend and had a very postive experience. I guess it depends on location, crowd and photographer.
We had very little wait and our photographer was much more creative than I thought she’d be- we got several cute poses!
I was thrown off by the $9.99 per person sitting fee too (it is tiny print on the coupon…) but my husband and I were actually (intentionaly!) in the pictures, so it was a more reasonable charge than what you were subjected to!
I’ll say one thing, even though it’s only $4.95, i think the Smile-by-wire is a rip off. I was told I could use the pictures as my desktop background- yeah right-not those tiny 250x300px images!!
Sharon
I’ve just received their coupon (similar with the one you had) that came with my wife’s JCPenny credit statement. Thank you and Internet, your experience sharing is valuable cuz I was here trying to grab more info about the Portrait Club Membership before I make the decision. Last year we went to Sears too and yes, just like you said, the service was not bad. I guess if you have a Sears credit card you will definitely receive such a coupon at least once per year. Good luck and thanks again!
I don’t think I saw anyone comment that Target and JCP’s use the same photo company (at least to process the prints) which they do in my hometown.
Anyway, we had the same experience at JCP’s this past weekend (Stoopid red dot), except that I had the crazy photographer telling me that she couldn’t quote prices because it depended on how many of which kind we got. Then after selecting only 1 8×10 with enhancements (it was like a brady bunch multi-photo) and 12 unenhanced single sheets they quoted me a price of $149 (one of their “specials” that they were running). I had to tell the stoopid lady that I didn’t want the package deal I wanted to use my portrait club card and get unenhanced photos at 3.99 a sheet and pay full price (29.99 for the brady bunch) – Grand total $78….
Be very wary at JCP
Wow, that sounds a lot like the Sears Portrait Studio, where I work.
Except two people were there?! That’s amazing. Usually it’s just one person trying to handle everything…
I feel really bad for people who come to the studio and get ripped off. I sold this one lady 3 pictures for $60. I felt horrible.
I want something to change about how these studios are run, but I don’t think anything will. They don’t care who they piss off with their crazy prices; customers who are mad will never come back, and those who are okay spending that much money will keep spending a lot of money.
All they care about is money 🙁
Wow! Reading this was as though you were typing about my exact experience I had with them just 2 weeks ago! Everything from the toddler not sitting on the red dot to waiting forever to get in to the studio AND for pictures to upload. But now, when I went in today to pick up my portraits at my scheduled time THEY WEREN’T IN YET!!! No explanation, no apology, just told me to come back later. (Because that’s apparently no big deal to them for me to load my toddler into the car and haul her back to the mall yet again to pick up our crappy portraits that I don’t even want at this point!!) I’ve written 2 letters to JC Penny already, we’ll see if they respond. Glad to see someone else is spreading the word!
The whole scheduled time to pick up your pictures, is just a bad idea. I work close to where the studio is and I don’t have much time during lunch. It doesn’t take long to look for them to look for pictures and give them to you. I don’t want to sit through another sales pitch because you made some special pictures for me.
I am a studio amanger for JcPenney Portraits and i can say that not all are run on a timley basis and the digital studios are still having the kinks worked out. However the appt. time to pick up is so that we have the extra people in the studio to go over every package with the customer adn have a few minutes to help with any problems or to help you make a frame or reorder selection. We are not trying to make it ahrd to pick up your pics, we want to have time to personally go over them with you. The “red dot” is for the lighting on your child’s face… this is very important to make sure that you don’ have a bright or shadowed face. We strive for the very best in my studio and I know it’s a hard thing to do but maybe you could try a diffrent JCP studio, each one is diffrent. I hope i helped you to understand the inner workings. Also, remember all studios run on baby time, which means we try to get for each customer what they want in a timly fashion but kids (2 years and under) may not have the same idea. So yes we will run behind, but we are to try to get everything for you that we would for every guest.
JCP Penny has lost my business forever and I’ve talked to other parents in my area and they feel the same way. I would encourage other parents to do some online searches for “jcp portrait studio complaints” and you’ll find story after story of bad service.
WOW! This sounds like me talking! I had the WORST experience there a couple of days ago! I had an appointment, got there ten minutes early. There was one family in the studio and another waiting ahead of me. The family ahead of me was not happy! She had been waiting for an hour and a half. So I told the photographer that I would come back in a half and hour. I come back to a line up of about six families waiting to have their session after mine. I end up getting in an hour late…but I didn’t complain a bit. I was totally fine with it. My son who is 1 was being photographed. The photographer did not ask for his name, and didn’t ask me anything about a change of clothes. So photographer about 15 pics for ten minutes and asked me if I was ready to look at them. I said absolutely not. His tongue had been out in 90% of the pictures. She said there was nothing she could do about it and led me out. I took one glance at the extrememly unprofessional looking pictures on the screen and walked out without paying them a damn penny.
…too bad smiles by wire isn’t print quality!
They don’t tell you that the online photo album is super low resolution so you can’t print off a decent picture, you can barely see any detail at all, it is a waste of $4.99
Oh my gosh … I am sitting her laughing because me and my girlfried share these type of picture stories all the time.
We have both been crazy enough to get monthly pictures taken of our two kids for the first year of there lives. Therefore we have been to all the studios and have had good and bad experiences at them all.
The bottom line is that it all depends on who you get behind the camera … some are great and some are TERRIBLE!
I have been a portrait club member with pennys for four years (I actually have a premier five year membership that they only sold for two months). I have had both good and bad experiences there.
I would highly recommend calling the corporate office and telling them about your treatment – they will most likely refund some of your money or send you a letter for free pictures (including sitting fees).
Smiles by Wire and JC Penny should be ashamed of the huge scam they have going on. We live in a digital world where photo resolution makes all the difference. The stuff they post online is totally worthless for emailing, storing on hard drives, computer wallpaper, or displaying on a digital picture frame. They do this hoping it will force the customer to order more hard copeies. I supposes it works if you really like the photos, but those of us who rely on digital sharing learn quickly to stay away and take our business elsewhere, like Sears. They will give you a CD right on the spot. In addition, JC Penny deletes any photos they think are not worthy before they show them to you. Who are they to decide what a good pose is or not. Perhaps I am looking for something unique in my childs response to the camera. Sears will show you all your photos during the session and provide them on CD in high resolution…no games, no gimmicks. Scams by Wire needs to come out of the stone age.
X-customer forever!!!
The JC Penneys portrait studio that I work at is very good with children. All of our employees are very creative and we will take tons of pictures to make sure you have plenty to choose from. I guess it depends on the studio, photographers and the manager that hires the CREATIVE PHOTOGRAPHERS!!
SOMETHING EVERYONE SHOULD KNOW:
So about that little ‘red spot’. It’s a laser. If something isn’t breaking it, the lighting is set up to not let you take the picture. Not a lack of creativity, but a way to avoid badly lit pictures. Just because you child can’t sit still doesn’t mean the photographers are going to take badly lit pictures and risk getting terminated – yes, the company is THAT strict. And we’re required to do sitting poses and standing poses, and laying down poses with every child we shoot. Just saying.
and printing pictures off of smiles by wire is copyright infringement and absolutely illegal!
I go to Jc Penny’s for all our portraits and they always turn out great. It all depends upon the location and photographer. I always go with the manager or the photographer that has been in the business the longest. I do get enhancements there amazing compared to any where else.
I’am sorry to hear about your disappointment you received in the JcPenney portrait studio, you mentioned you came to the studio(even though you usually go to sears) why cause it is less expensive, you came in as a walk in without an appointment, they made you one for the same day and they were able to get you in, it is frustrating reading email’s from customers that bag on photographers in studio’s I have been a manager in JcPenney portraits for 16 years we work hard, we try and get the kids to cooperate as best we can, but sometimes they just won’t, I have alot of customers that are extremely loyal to me because I WORK HARD, try not and bag on all of us because you were upset about extra fees ( sitting fee for you and husband shouldent have been charged) but I BET SEARS dosent give you your enhancements for 3.99 per sheet.
It amazes me that this post still gets so much traffic! And how many people are still unhappy with department store photo studios!
Anons, I never copied the photos off the internet to print them. I simply right clicked and saved them to my computer to give me digital copies of them. (Which, if they didn’t want people to do that, why not use a very simple line of code to prevent photo copying?)
Besides, they’d be awful resolution if you tried to print them – even I know that!
I don’t expect private photographer quality images from a store studio, but I expect a little bit of creativity. I’ve had great photos from other store studios without a single complaint. This one was clearly either having an off day, or needs to re-examine their training.
I already addressed the incident with Olan Mills years ago to both of our satisfactions. The story remains as a bad example of store studios, but I’ve praised other studios elsewhere, too.
Wow. I’m surprised by how horrible everybody’s experiences were with JCP portraits. I just took my daughter there for her 1 year photos and they were fabulous. They got us in on time, took 30 more pictures than they were supposed to AND let her make a huge mess with a cupcake for her pictures. We changed her clothes four times and did a quick family photo (they did not charge my husband and I for sitting fees). They had the photos for us 5 minutes after our session was done. They had both rooms going with kids too! I felt a little pressured to make my photo selections quickly but other than that I was so happy. The free sitting fee plus $3.99 sheets was the greatest deal. I’m not even going to do reprints….I’m just going to take her back again. Hopefully your experiences will be better!
East Towne Mall
Madison, WI
Our experience has been awful also. We thought the first time was a fluke, but our second attempt was even worse. We give up — I have set up a small account to save so that we can go to a nice studio each year. We usually used Flash Portraits in Columbus, OH and loved them, but haven’t found and equivalent studio here. Good luck with your next pics.
I just wanted to reply to your JC Penney experience. First I do agree that it shouldn’t have taken you so long in there, it should take about an hour total to take the pis and to view and to pay (if all is running well) not any where near 3 hours. Next, the sitting fee, do you really think a company can make any money if you only buy 3.99 sheets? That isn’t even enough to pay the salary of the photographer, they have to make money as a company. Next, i agree your photographer should have been better trained, however thy force you to schedule appointments every 10 minutes, and you are not allowed to have more than one employee working, it is a very hard job to do and you admit your child is diffucult, now you imagine doing it for a living and every day dealing with kids that are in bad moods and parents who don’t want to buy and your job is on the line if you don;t make your sales quota!
I understand what you went through, as an ex-employee Of olan mills ( and penneys) please keep in mind it is the companies fault. They treat us good employees so bad we have no choice but to leave. so the help you do get is usually not trained well (trained in a week or less)
we are made to work 10 to 12 hours with no breaks but yet told to clock out so it looks like we took one. They book us every 15 min ( in some studios every 10) and we dont set our schedule they do from the web and an apt center.
they dont return our calls ( the employees) so we can proplerly handle customers problems but they ignore us so we cant do our job and we are the ones getting screamed at. Although im not their am still getting customers tracking me down wanting to know if im photographing elsewhere so they can still be photographed by me. we had to photograph 32 poses for every customer and sell them in 15 min if we tried to shoot less poses we were threatened with being fired. at christmas they double and triple book us so we have 2 to 3 customers every 15 min. I wish i could photograph for you and show you how i treated my customers and why they are googling me and tracking me down on facebook and myspace just so they can still be photographed by me. I treated my customers with respect and understanding.
I even bought my own props my customers loved it. because olan mills gave us crap to work with
It is only gonna get worse because all of us good ones are quitting.
ps this is what they did to me their employee with the highest customer satisfaction.here is what they did to me that made me leave .
I have been working for olan mills a total of 10 years. one year the first time and 9 this time. when I came back the second time, olan mills begged me to come back and I agreed on the condition I got the studio I have been working in for the last 9 years ( the only one currantly not in a kmart in 1 quarter of the US) I have been the top photographer for them for the whole 9 years and customers wont come in unless im there. I never call in, work sick, I dont even take my vacations and I bonus and reach my goals before anyone else. I work right thur my lunches and even clock out like i took one so they don’t get a fine from the labor board.
Today after all day of them acting all nicey nicey the big wigs 20 min to closing tell me they need to discuss something with me. so we all sit down and they start by saying that today was my last day at my particular studio. that they are moving me to a kmart ( which to me is a stabb in the back and a demotion.) that i had a choice of the cheektowaga closet sizes studio or the west seneca studio which is the worst in the ares ( the customers are rude and it is alot farther away and the kmart employees are rude it has the least oppertunity of bonusing. I was told this was from the corportate that they are makeing changes in the traditional studios and they want to make a fresh start and that it isnt that I did anything wrong. I have 6 sittings on tomarrow that requested only me to photographe and they wouldnt even let me calle them and let them know i wouldnt be there they said that they wouldnt really miss me that if they did they would tell them i would be at another studio. I was devasted. I told them it was unfair and they said either I chose one of the other studios or I dont have a job. They demand my key to the studio.
I called my hubby to come get me from work, and when he picked me up I told him what happened and I was crying very hard. He was so mad he told them off and told them I quit and to go F**k themselves and I too told them I quit I took most of my stuff out of the studio with me. We left. I am angry and devasted. I am also proud that my hubby supported me especially knowing how much we needed my job.
I just cant believe that a company that would treat the employees that work the hardest and bust thier asses the most and are the least demanding with such little respect and with so little regard.and stabb them in the back so badly. the bosses didnt even fight for me. I was litarly the top sales person in the Zone ,my studio was the first to reach its goals and not only reach them but exceeded them.
I had earned 95 merit awards and 8 gallery and 3 merit finalist awards and this is how they treated me
I worked for Olan Mills portrait studio. I can honestly say that I am not surprised that you had such bad service.
For the most part, these companies don’t care about you. They really and truly care about the sale. They are the “fast food” portion of the portraiture photography industry.
As a professional photographer with a BFA in fine arts & photography… I can tell you though… that the prices these “quick snap” portrait studios charge are for the most part fair. I know it sounds crazy, but the backgrounds and muslin curtains alone can cost up to $300 each. And they are stingy about giving studios the supplies they need to create different and interesting shots each time. This is one of the main problems I’ve had with these studios. But if you walk in with the knowledge that it would cost you hundreds or even thousands of dollars to create these shots with professional backgrounds & cameras at home. The price doesn’t seem so unreasonable. People tend to have this cheap attitude about photography because they just see the “snap snap” side and don’t see how much training, backgrounds, camera equipment, lighting equipment, & computer equipment can cost. Trying to print at home can also be pretty costly too. When you think about trying to buy expensive quality papers and inks.
Anonymous Continued…
Seriously, most of these studios are run very poorly. The photographers and sales representatives are put under a great amount of stress for EXTREMELY low pay. They are often told that low sales are THEIR fault, and not the fault of the company. We’re often reprimanded by having our pay/hours cut. Thus perpetuating the bad customer service.
I always tried to provide good customer service despite my horrible situation with this company. For the most part customers tried to be reasonable but I have been yelled at because their photo packages exceeded a $15 dollar amount. It’s really always the battle between customer and merchant. Most people who go to these quick snap photo huts are expecting to get away with robbery. I’m not saying you are, I’m just telling you that these are the customers they deal with on a regular basis. Good photo paper can cost $1 a sheet. These companies also have to pay their employees and maintain their studios, thus the reason it can cost $6-$15 dollars a sheet for you. But it’s still a good price. They have to make money. The only reason I say this is because it’s something most customers don’t think about. And because of these unreasonable demands the photographers and sales representatives suffer because the companies are trying to cut cost to provide the customer with low low prices. They cut employee benefits, employee hours, wages, and even try to get away with making the employee work off of the clock. Thus making the employee just not give a shit ya know?
I always told people about fees and such up front just so they would walk in my studio fully aware of what was going to happen. But you should know most of these places try to take every single sitting and their sittings are being booked via photographer, sales rep., telephone, and internet. All at the same time! Thus they get double & triple booked often. That’s something they don’t tell you. Their idea of your portrait experience is you are in, photographed, and at least a $70 -$100 photo package sold in around 30 minutes.
As a professional photographer I can tell you that situation only works out about 30% of the time. As we both know children are not always going to cooperate. That’s why I believe each photo sitting should be allotted at least one hour so that there is a better chance of establishing a relationship with clients and especially the little ones. Most children don’t take well to being photographed by some stranger.
Please do take the time to write formal complaints to these companies that you have such bad experiences with! Hopefully if we get enough people complaining they will see that cutting corners and not caring about customer service is not the best way to make money. Hopefully it will change their priorities.
Olan Mills is actually facing a class action lawsuit right now from some of its employees based on the “suspicion” that it is forcing employees to work off of the clock. I cannot confirm that this is happening elsewhere, but I know I personally have been forced to clean the studio on my own time. And at just above minimum wage pay… that is horrific. I’ve also paid for cleaning supplies out of pocket. We’re also required to clean props and wash backgrounds on our own time and dime. So needless to say I can tell you a lot of the props and backgrounds in our studios, not to mention the carpets, are probably filthy.
Just from my experiences working in these places. I will never…EVER, take my child to be photographed at a “happy snap,” studio. Why not just throw them in a bucket of bacteria?
We had a family picture taken of us and they completely messed it up. To take the glare out of my husbands glasses they took off his eye lids and his left eye was cut in half it looked like some kind of mistake but when I called they said they had to take out the glare and that the only option. We paid them $200 its sad I hate this company and will never use them again.
I used to work at a JC Penny Portrait Studio, which please understand that these are not owned by Pennys but by Lifetouch (like school pictures). I definitely understand your frustration, but working there before, you should know the other side of it. Employees are required to charge sitting fees for any person appearing in the picture, even if it is just your hand, unless the photographer tells you to get in the picture. If they dont charge you, they loose theyre job. And the reason your photos were less than the sitting fee was because you had the coupons. Sheets are 9.99 reg price, 3.99 with a coupon. BUT everyone needs to understand that picture appointments are completely tentative, if the kid ahead of you is super bratty, then it will take longer, hence making you wait, thats just the way it is and that is what you sign up for when you go to an untrained studio photographer instead of spending the money for a “professional” photographer. Was the discount worth it? .
i used to work for olan mills. 5 and 6 days a week 10 to 12 hour days. I had one saturday off in a year and they made me feel like i was the worst person in the world for wanting my kids 1st birthday off. I worked alone. I loved my customers and worked my butt off to help them. When i tripped over a curtain and fractured my arm in the middle of a sitting i was told to keep shooting until my relief got there -half an hour later. I called in the next day and was yelled at by the dm for being lazy. The stress from the job gave me a nervous break down. Good for the girls that filed the suit.
Yeah… I worked for PORTRAIT INNOVAITONS – incase you want to see it.. the website is…
( portraitinnovations.com ) Yeah I have to say the WORST company I have ever worked for. (thats saying alot, considering I worked at walmart) The company trains you to make people feel bad for not spending enough money. And does not care about “clients” or “employees”. NO INSURANCE… but does give money on paycheck to buy insurance… of course not enough if you have a family to take care of. If you get pregnant you dont have a job to come back to unless you are back within a week. Between the months of october – january…. breaks dont exist. your lucky if you eat between 7 am and 11 pm. working 6 days over 12 hours (mandatory) yeah overtime is great… but i didnt see my son for 2 straight months. he was asleep when i left and asleep when i got home. They book an apt every 10 mins, triple book the half hours and hours. The guy that started the company isnt a bad guy from what i hear, but his son now is running the company into the ground.
The company offers the GRAND OLE $9.95 package… in hopes that you will spend more with the extra 65 100 shots that the employees are REQUIRED to shoot. even if you only buy the small package the company is making $9 profit. but the photographer gets “dinged” after so many “dings” you get fired. so the company makes profit (win), you get a great deal (win) the photographer gets the s**t end of the stick. But who cares? Their expendable. They say the 9.95 is limited… but have no way to track it unless a photographer recognizes you.
Any monkey can hold a camera and do the basic poses they teach you… if you try to do original stuff they come unglued. “there is no time to do all that other stuff! Get em in… Get em Gone!”
The employees are forbidden from looking for a job… they find out your looking… fired. They promote anyone to store manager as long as their willing to move. I seen someone get store manager after being employed less than a year!
If you spend less than $100 the employee doesnt like you… TRUST ME! You are putting their job in danger. But you really cant blame em… the company trains them to do it. The company wants you to shoot good pictures… yes… but if you only shoot a screaming child… you are expected to sell just as many as if they were cheesin it up. THEY WANT YOU TO SELL SELL SELL.
So if you do happen to go to P.I. please dont take it out on the photographers… they are just trying to take care of their families… the company itself is evil.
It has stressed me out reading this, and I work for them. I have to admit it happens at my studio too. It happens at all of the lower level studios. The red sensor is too short lived. The managers are only allowed so many hrs a week to give to photographers. As a result, they are often undermanned. They are also constantly changing the rules. On a plus side, they got the computer side of it set up well, where you go through and see all the photos the photographer took before you see any tricks. The photographer is still required to make a certain number of these items because it is where the company makes money. The 9.99 sitting fee coupons have been altered. A smile by wire is now free.
All I would like to see fixed is the hrs and the way the studios are set up to run. If you get a bad photographer try to remember that they company does not care about their employees and so the employees have a hard time caring about you. Me and some other photographers are trying to pass the word up so that we have an easier time working there and so that everyone has a better time getting thier photos taken with us.
Wow, what a difference from the studio in my area. The photographers were always very creative…but the downside is that some of their camera angles weren’t very desirable.
When I tool my 1 1/2 year old, she did have to stay on the red dot, but the photographer took every chance she could to snap a picture with our child on the dot. She had some REALLY good ideas, but when they didn’t work, she just took what looked like a good pose. And she was very good at finding the right props to keep our daughter still for even a few seconds.
The photographers also don’t push the enhancements. We’ve been three times and we just say “skip the enhancements, we don’t want them” and they say “ok, but because I have to, i’ll scroll though them. Just stop me if you see anything” and that’s all we hear from them.
So it guess it differs between studios. This studio is so-so with getting appointments in on time, but that’s because of double and triple booking. But even then, they never rushed us or pressured us. And the wait time for getting the pictures uploaded was maybe 15 minutes. And some times we take a while to decide what pictures we want, and the photographer just sits there quietly and let’s us take our time.
So at the studio in my area, wait time for appointment – negative points, creativity – positive points, photography quality – nothing my wife couldn’t do with our $600 camera and photoshop, Pricing – decent with our membership.
I’ll try to remember not to go to the studio in your area. Like I said, not all studios are the same, and not all photographers are the same. But I do agree with you on some of the pricings they gave you. You should have given them a piece of your mind right there. But having a tired child, i’m sure you just wanted to get out…I know that feeling all to well, lol.
We just had our pictures done there for the 2nd year in a row by the same guy Dave. He was wonderful the first year and this year he was wonderful again. My son who is 2 was crying the whole time but Dave could make him laugh in between tears and none of the photo’s would you ever know that that he was crying his eye’s out. I would go back in a heart beat. It’s all in who you get, what time you do and how many people are there. I have learned not only with places like this but any place is to unsure getting in right away you have to make the first appointment of day or the first appointment after their “lunch” time. Oh well you have to try different things and place to see what fits you and your needs.
I'm pretty sure after having had a very disturbing similar situation happen to me and my LO recently in CA jcpenny must have universal training in how to provide horrible customer service.
thats nothing. try going to jcp portrait studios when its the holiday season. even with an appointment theyll see you two hours later. ALL those “photographers” act the same and dont know how to handle children at all! They get frustrated when your child does not sit or stand like the mannaquins they want them to be. they waste your time with collages and offers you tell them repeatedly that you DONT WANT. and then trick you into special offers. you end up paying $60 when you thought you’spay $20. they arent sympathetic and openly talk about how they hate their jobs. im looking to invest in a professional camera so i never have to go back there again.