At Christmas time last year we went to Olan Mills with Kurt’s Mom, Sister, and Niece. It was Kurt’s sister’s Christmas gift to everyone. The pictures all turned out great. The photographer who was also the manager of that particular store took tons of pictures and made sure that we got every family picture combination that we wanted including photos of just Kurt and I with our new baby. I was pleased until it came to the part of picking witch pictures we liked best because not only were they all really good but she kept flipping between them quickly, “which do you like better, number one or number two?” It was like going to an eye exam. I wrote it off as me being sick and groggy though. I mean hell, I even misspelled my own name while signing in! No shit, I was that bad and she still made pictures of me look acceptable – she’s that fucking good!
At Sophia’s six month birthday I went back to Olan Mills without much hesitation. The pictures were phenomenal again. This time I had a clearer head and could pick between number one and two. For most of them I knew what I wanted. She put some photo collages together as examples. I didn’t like the pictures she used on one of them, but liked the collage example itself so I ordered a couple with different photos inserted. It wasn’t until after I paid and was in the car that I noticed she left one of the example collages on my receipt as something I purchased. I went back to have her take it off. She said that she ordered it and I can have it free but she didn’t charge me for it? WTF? Then why was it ordered? She didn’t take it off. I still left, but was irritated. I called another Olan Mills store to verify the price of the collages. A couple weeks later when my pictures came in and I again told her, “look these are $25. I only wanted four of them not five”. She told me they were actually $30 and that I didn’t pay for the fifth one. Really? Then what about that extra $5? She never took off that fifth one. I got it for “free”. I’m still pissed.
A couple weeks ago, I got a flier from the Sears Portrait Studio so today I went there for Sophia’s one year photos. I want to cry. The pictures all suck ass. All of them! The girl took me to the back and asked what sort of background I wanted. I told her I didn’t know, because I didn’t know what they had to offer. Through the whole session she kept the same background. She kept focusing on Sophia’s face, which is fine for some shots, but I had told her this was for her first birthday. I want pictures of my baby’s whole tiny little body too. When she did take a picture of Sophia’s whole body she was so far back, my baby got lost in the background. I purchased three different poses that were only ok. One of the poses was Sophia crying. No, she wasn’t a perfect little subject, but really, what one year old is?
I brought my flier in with me for the session. On the top of the flier it says, “no session fee”. I was charged a fee. They said it was only if I ordered one of their package deals. The flier also said that I could get a portrait CD for as low as $9.99. They said that’s only after the purchase of a $120 CD or a $200 portrait package. The flier said that I could save up to 50% on “personalized collections”. The fine print even said that the savings was based on “individual products sold separately”. Somehow, the four sheets that I did purchase didn’t qualify. The flier said that they could have the portraits ready on the same day. I got that, but before we rejoice, let us have ourselves a little chat about quality.
I can have photos printed up at Costco and have them ready the next day. These are photos I take and send the digital image to Costco. It’s cheap. I can upload photos and pick the number of prints I want of each. I can order 8×10 ($1.49 ea), 5×7 ($0.39 ea), 4×6 (0.17 ea), whatever I want, and these pictures come out GREAT! It’s the same or at least very close to the quality you get from film camera prints. What’s better is that you can even crop the pictures at no extra charge! I could also buy a cheap ass photo printer for about $200 (I’m making it up – I’ve never shopped for one) but then I also have to buy ink and paper and the picture is printed on top of the glossy paper – it looks like crap. Given those two choices, I’ll take Costco without a second thought. So when I ordered my “same day” pictures today from Sears Portrait Studio I was hoping for the Costco quality because I know that just because it’s fast doesn’t mean it’s shit, but I was wrong. Oh so wrong! They used the cheap ass printer. My perfectly porcelain faced baby looks as if she has pink blotches all over her face. And I paid $64.02 for the privilege of all this. Sears Portrait Studio, you’re nothing more than blog fodder and I’m getting my money back as soon as I calm down. You BASTARDS! I’m going back to Olan Mills.
September 24th, 2008 at 1:40 pm
Angels latest blog post… Borrowing Clothes
September 24th, 2008 at 3:50 pm
We almost went with Sears too…but Henry had to ban them. They wouldn’t let us pick the background and even though no one was there they wanted us to come back in two hours. That was when my cheap hubby said no way and decided that $100 something dollars wasn’t too much at Kiddie Kandids. I’ve even heard of problems with Target and JC Penney. Damn Sears, I know how you feel. I say send Angel in to kick their ass
September 24th, 2008 at 10:18 pm
Aww, I’m so sorry! I hope they’re reading this post right now and putting together a compensation offer for you. Sophia deserves better than this. She’s such an adorable baby. *giggles at Angel’s pregnancy hormones* Go get ‘em, Angel!
September 25th, 2008 at 10:47 am
Wow-I’m so sorry you had such a bad experience! We’ve sued Sears (at Southcenter) several times and we’ve never had a problem. My older daughter even got her senior portraits done there for a fraction of the cost of those Yuen Lui (?) rip-offs.
The girls at Sears have always allowed us to pick the background, show us the digital photos as they take them, and haven’t over-charged us. We got the three young cousins done together a month ago and one was so good all of the relatives wanted one for both screensaver and wall photo. We always choose the option of buying the disc so that we get ALL of the poses and then print our own at home as desired, plus whatever the package on sale is at the time.
We figured out a long time ago that our printer could do as good a job at printing as the studios, so it’s just a matter of getting the professional setting. The trick is timing-don’t go on a weekend or anywhere near a holiday and you’re good to go. We also look online for coupons and make sure that we get a package that’s on sale. Plus, DH is really good at saying “no” when we’re pushed to buy extras.
September 25th, 2008 at 11:06 pm
Angel – I can see it now, “Pregnancy Hormone Lady for Hire” hehehe I’ll let you know if I need your services.
September 25th, 2008 at 11:19 pm
Susan Anderson – Well I’ve banned Sears now, that’s for sure! I’m going to return my prints and
askdemand a refund. It’s bad enough that the poses weren’t that good but then the prints make my kid look ill. I’ll pay the $15 sitting fee, but that’s it. When Kurt saw them he asked why I bought any at all. They didn’t look *that* bad on the screen and I had signed the receipt before she handed me the prints. My face instantly turned RED! I just had to leave. I’m getting worked up just thinking about it. I have an appointment with Olan Mills…we’ll see how this one goes.September 25th, 2008 at 11:35 pm
Agibean – The photo session itself probably probably varies from individual stores. But the same day prints that I got from SEARS were horrible! These pictures don’t even look like my kid. The color is totally off from what was shown on the viewing screen. On the prints she looks like she has jaundice with pink splotchy skin.
Olan Mills sends their pictures out to be printed at some other location so it takes two weeks to get them, but I’d rather wait than have such poor quality for my memories. I set up an appointment with Olan Mills, we’ll see how this one goes.