Portrait Innovations Consumer Reviews

STOW, OHIO -- Here is a running list of the incompetencies I faced at the Stow studio in Ohio: The Stow employee entered in the incorrect spelling of my last name at the initial point of contact. The Stow employee forgot to double-check that all of my purchased pictures were in the carry-out bag. I returned on a separate occasion to pick up what was left out.

The large canvas that I ordered was shipped to this studio after approx. two weeks. When I drove to pick it up, the wrong picture had been put on the canvas. The Stow employee told me that she entered in the correct information, and that the correct canvas would be delivered to my house in approx. two weeks.

After about one week, I called to check on the arrival date of the canvas. Customer Service told me that the canvas had never been ordered. I called the Stow studio and spoke with a manager named Samantha. Samantha was unable to locate the changed order while I was on the phone, and told me it, for sure, would be delivered to my house. I asked her what address was in the system for delivery. She hung up the phone.

Over the next 10 minutes, I called the store multiple times. The first time Joshua answered, apparently heard my voice, and hung up. The second time, Samantha answered, put me on hold, and then hung up. The third time, Samantha answered and put me on hold again for 15 minutes!!! At this point I hung up.

I cannot believe how unprofessional this manager named Samantha was. She was completely unwilling to solve the problems created by her and her employees own incompetence. AND I have yet to hear one apology. I spent over $350 at this store, and 5 weeks later, I STILL do not have the canvas. Next photo session? I will go to JC Penney's, pay half the price, and have MUCH less wasted time and headache.

CRANBERRY TOWNSHIP, PENNSYLVANIA -- I needed to get my son's senior pictures taken - and quickly. I've used Portrait Innovations in the past. I always had a coupon, or went because of their package deals. They had a 10% discount and were also running some other deals. However, I feel like because we were having these senior pictures taken, they felt like they could charge more.

I got a call the day before the photo shoot. They went over how many shots they would take, bring a change of clothes, etc. At the end she said that she wanted me to know packages usually started around $300. Then we ended the call. I kept thinking that that would only be if I bought a package, or that I'd just buy a few sheets. I admit, I should have done a lot more research.

We got some nice pictures. My son refused to take a change of clothes, he doesn't do sports. This was all very basic. We were told we didn't have any choice. The lowest package, the $300 package, was 15 poses and 3 sheets each pose! I said I didn't need that much, wasn't there something else we could do? The answer, again, was no. $300 and 162 photos later and I left until everything was printed. Ran an errand, and thought no way am I doing this. I'm not paying that much money for photos that are going to sit in a drawer.

I did go back in and asked to speak to the manager. Unfortunately, it was the guy who took the photos & already told me they couldn't do anything. I told him I did not want the photos. He said he would do a return, but they couldn't do it until Tuesday (for some reason). I'll be going back and I will let you know what happens.

FREDERICK, MARYLAND -- Made an appt. for pics at J.C.. Penney. Thought their package was high at $75 on sale, but would have got the cd & copyright release. Looked online, found Portrait Innovations. Found reviews that said you could get cd with package around $70. Portrait Innovations was closer, thought would be about the same as J.C.. Penney's, maybe a little less. TOTALLY WRONG!!!

Not only did we end up with a $100 package to get the CD plus the advertised package, they do not give you the copyright release like J.C. Penney's. You have to go back to them and pay their prices if you want prints. LESSON LEARNED! Will NEVER go back and WILL TELL ANYONE & EVERYONE TO STEER CLEAR OF PORTRAIT INNOVATIONS!

WATERLOO, IOWA -- We had pictures taken before Christmas. There was to be an ornament sent to us. It never arrived. The day pictures were taken we were treated rudely by not only the photographer but also a manager when we questioned shady sales tactics. So, when our product never arrived over a month later I called and was told she was calling customer service to get details as to why it was being made again and would call me right back. That never happened. I don't like being treated rudely then lied to.

So when I called back again today, yep same treatment. Was treated rudely again and they made excuses why it happened. Only after making a huge fuss they offered me a voucher to be used in their store!!! Why would I pay them a penny more after that! I asked them that same question. She told me I could mail the voucher to the corporate office and they could refund me the money! What a crock of crap!

VIRGINIA BEACH, VIRGINIA -- Unbelievably horrible experience. Got 2 kids under 2 clean, dressed & ready for pictures. Drove 2 hours from kill devil hills, NC to Virginia beach for Christmas pictures. Get to the location and it is PACKED. We sit on the floor with a 6 month old and 22 month old for 40 minutes (30 minutes PASSED our appointment time). I ask how long it will be and the associate straight faced says it will be at least another 30 minutes, but closer to an hour she guessed. We waited 15 more minutes and nobody had even moved in line. ARE YOU SERIOUS?

We ask again, and get the same exact answer. So with my nicely dressed, frustrated, whiny kids in tow we are forced to drive TWO HOURS back to NC. With NO PICTURES. 4 hours in the car with 2 babies, toll roads TWICE. And again, NOTHING to show for it. I am amazed and utterly disappointed. We have only had one prior experience with portrait innovations, in Greenville, NC., and it was amazing! In and out in under an hour... At Christmas time! You have no idea what it takes to get everyone ready for such an ordeal. And to have it go like this? Unreal. You've literally ruined this for us. No Christmas cards this year and no family pictures.

SUGARLAND, TEXAS -- I made an appointment for my mother to take pictures a week and a half in advance for her 78th birthday. They asked if it was a special occasion and I said, "yes her birthday." They asked how old she would be and I told them. They made the appointment. We came in and then this smart ass White Girl takes her into the studio to start taking pictures and then says who know she can't get the promotional since she is the only one taking pictures and I said know I did not! I was pissed because we had rushed up there to take the promotional package for 19.99 and all ** was concerned about was us paying for the more expensive packages.

I called their corporate office and spoke to the [customer] service manager named ** (of course she was black with a ghetto name like that) and she only kept repeating their policy and saying that she was sorry and they will have to go over the policy [in depth] in their training sessions. I have taken a lot of pictures before and I have never heard this before. I guess it was because we have always bought more than the specials. ** was the only nice person who tried to make us feel better about what had happened to us. I will never go to Portrait Innovations again because Customer Service is not what they practice!

SNELLVILLE, GEORGIA -- My family and I have had family Christmas photos for the past five years at Portrait Innovations at the Snellville, Georgia location. I've had other issues to contend with but always felt they were not insurmountable, so we returned year after year, that is until now. I will no longer have family photos taken at Portrait Innovations.

Our granddaughter was scarcely 3 months old during our first Christmas session. I recall having to have some of the photos touched up or Photoshopped because one of the props our granddaughter was in was damaged and looked unprofessional. I didn't think that was reason enough to quit going to a professional photographer. However, year after year your props are damaged and/or paint has worn off of chairs. The Christmas backdrop looks faded and aged this year, unlike previous Christmas backdrops.

In addition, I am extremely unhappy with the fact that Portrait Innovations no longer offers calendars and family book photos. The cost for the photos we choose is always over $300 and, yet, I am going to have to create my own calendars utilizing my time and incurring additional expenses and will not have family books to give as gifts. Portrait Innovations provided 12 Christmas cards, but did not include envelopes! Your company has succumbed to greed and I will no longer take my family and myself to your studio for photos. I hope this letter awakens you to the experiences we have had at your studio. I do not like to see businesses close.

CENTER VALLEY, PENNSYLVANIA -- We had an appoint at 10:55 on Saturday to have our daughter's photo taken. When we got to the studio it was complete chaos. Once it was our turn to check in (we were on time) we were told that there were four others ahead of us. And there would be a wait. I asked how long and they would not tell me. I know from past experience you are there a minimum of 30 minutes for each session so that would be at least 2 hours, TWO HOURS! Are you kidding me. Our daughter had to get to work. Why are they overbooking?? This is terrible.

We spend a lot of money there every year with having four children and we will NEVER walk in their doors again! Although the work they do is beautiful it is terrible how this company has no concern for anyone's time. I would rather pay higher prices than have to wait over 2 hours. I highly recommend avoiding this place at all cost. Kids cannot expect to wait that long and then have a productive photo session.

BEL AIRE, MARYLAND -- My family and I traveled for about 2 hours to Bel-Air to have our Christmas portraits taken on 12/15/18. And we've been doing this for a couple of years now. However, last December's experience was a horrible one. After our session, we were told we would not receive a link (to see our pictures on line) right away as before since Portrait Innovations has changed the way things are done with new management. It's more than a month close to 2 months now and we still haven't seen any link.

I called the studio and the people I spoke to told me they cannot help. I was given customer service number which is no help because one just listens to a recorded message and phone hangs up. I have sent email and that still didn't do. We're never going back to Portrait Innovation again considering every time we've gone there, we spent over two hundred dollars.

SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS -- Family had flown in from New York and Utah and I specifically sought out studio where I could immediately walk away with pictures that day. Upon arrival (10 minutes early) I was informed that they were about 20-30 minutes behind. That wait turned into over an hour. To add to the disappointment their printer was down and they stated it was in the process of being repaired and worst case we would have to pick them up that evening. We proceeded with the picture taking process which was so poorly done. Photographer did little more than count down 3,2,1 for each photo. No effort was made to encourage the young child with us to smile or look at camera.

When the picture taking process was completed we were brought to a kiosk computer with a pixelating screen to review the pictures. When I inquired as to prints they stated printer was still down and photos would have to be picked up after Christmas. This was impossible as we were all leaving to return to our respective states. I would be once again traveling full time in my RV the day after Christmas. This was the first time my whole family was together in multiple years. So disappointing!

When I inquired about having pictures put on a cd disk instead of being printed as their printer wasn't getting fixed anytime soon, they stated that the cost was 400. An outrageous sum for mediocre quality pictures. After much discussion the price was reduced to 298 plus tax. Still an outrage but my family photos were being held for ransom and I so wanted the physical memories of our Christmas together. This company is a bait and switch that does not clearly explain their picture packages prior to the photo shoot.