Portrait Innovations Consumer Reviews - Page 2

GREENWOOD, INDIANA -- Went to get family pictures and they never used our coupon of 19.99 with a free mug and ornament. Said it was 99.00. 2 sheet of portraits was 70.00. 1 advertises special was 29.99. Gave us 20 percent of 14.00 off and we paid 92.01. They charge 29.99 per sheet. Now nothing like it used to be and I will not ever be returning at those prices again. At 68 and 70 we can't afford this stuff. Don't see how families now can and they are pricing themself out of a business if they keep this crap up. Pictures nice but not that nice.

HOOVER, ALABAMA -- I took my babies 1 and 2 to get their first portraits and Christmas cards. I had a Appointment at noon but was told that day that I could come in at ten. My babies were in a good mood and ready to go. Around noon someone asked me who I was (checked in at the front when I got there too). We still sat there till 145! No explanation as to what was going on and why they didn't take me when they said they could OR as to why I didn't get in by my scheduled time. By the time it was our turn my babies were so fussy and done with being there.

I wasted 4 hours out of my day for no reason. The only professional one was being pulled everywhere try to help all the other photographers and answer questions. These people should know how to answer. As she was starting my session she was getting my oldest to have fun doing this and she got pulled away AGAIN. The person who took over for her seemed to lose interest as soon as I showed her my coupon. Like I didn't matter as much cause I was using one. I will NOT ever use this place again. Very unprofessional all together besides the one photographer.

NORTHVILLE, MICHIGAN -- Booked our 33rd appointment in 10 year span and was shocked at the level of experience, lack of training that now exists, the much higher price plus the one thing that made them attractive; leave with your photos! Booked our appointment weeks in advance for my granddaughter's 10 year old portrait. On Saturday November 3, although they were not very busy, we were forced to wait 35 minutes. This is expected at the all too busy Christmas-holiday time, not on November 3rd when they were clearly not that busy.

Our photographer, Heather, had little imagination, was totally clueless and if not for our experience and suggestions, our portraits would have been a disaster. The packages have changed drastically. At prior visits, I would spend less than $100 and have a high resolution CD. Not anymore! Now you must spend $549 to get this CD. We chose 6 poses, paid $116 and received low resolution CD. There was always a FREE item; mug, post cards, something. Not anymore! And then, upon check out, learn we must come back an hour later to get our pictures! Seriously? We have chosen Portrait Innovations over other studios to avoid returning. They have priced themselves out of the market and this family will not ever return!

The dimwits at checkout tried to tell me they have a price increase typically at this time. I've spent more time in that studio than anyone I spoke to. In a month or two, they'll be gone and new 'photographers' will arrive, again with little or no training. No creativity will be found in this studio. Contact JC Penney or others. DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME OR MONEY ON PORTRAIT INNOVATIONS.

PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA -- Arrived with my 2 year old grandson at 12:10 for my 12:10 appointment to a room full of so many people. There wasn't any room to sit. Then I find out that the one family had been waiting an hour already. So I wait for 20 minutes then go ask the one sales person how long until my turn and she says 2 people ahead of me. So I wait and those 2 families go in and then a 3rd family go in the one room and I say, "Excuse me it is my turn" and they say no I am in the other room. Then the next family go in "my room" and I say, "Ok enough is enough. I am to be next or I am leaving and calling the corporate office!"

So after almost 2 hours I finally got my grandson in for his pictures but by then he was done with waiting and didn't want to cooperate and the photographer/manager had no idea how to take pictures or make a child cooperate or smile. He was completely unprofessional and rude. Then we get to the pictures. The majority of the pictures were terrible. My hands were in the pictures or my arm holding him. He wasn't looking at the camera, etc.

So I buy a couple poses and they want to charge me 6.99 for handling for a "free" mug! And then the printer wasn't working so I had to go back anyway. And I was supposed to get 2 free mugs or mug and ornament but she only gave me one. I WILL NEVER GO BACK TO PORTRAIT INNOVATIONS AGAIN! They are the worst for professionalism, wait time, honesty, and caring.

GRANDVILLE, MICHIGAN -- This was by far the worst experience I have EVER had in getting my children's pictures taken. They do NOT care what the customer wants, what pictures they want done, what their budget is, etc.; they are out for the sale, no matter what. Unprofessional staff, including manager. Wasted an hour of my life I will never get back on something I made very clear I didn't want from the original scheduling of the appointment. They seem to think just because they don't charge a sitting fee that they can override what the customer wants and run their own agenda. I have never been so upset after a photo session.

I will absolutely NEVER go back there and I highly recommend Target, JCPenney, or another portrait studio. Might have to wait an extra week to get your pictures back but it is well worth it in the end. I placed a call to Corporate and they could have cared less about my experience. They have go to be aware of their 1.8-2.0 star rating on several websites putting them at a POOR rating with hundreds of reviews. Why is this place still open. Almost no one had something positive to say.

FORT WAYNE, INDIANA -- I made an appointment with Portrait Innovations in Fort Wayne, IN and explained to them that I wanted to get holiday family photos taken as well as get my twin one year old first birthday pictures taken. On the phone they seemed very friendly and accommodating, not the case when we arrived. The studio is 20 miles from our house and located in an outdoor mall. We had a 5:20 appointment and arrived at 5:30, but finding parking and then finding the studio took time. When we arrived we were told that we were 10 minutes late and they would not take our pictures. I asked why they didn't have a bit of a leeway for traffic, parking etc.

She said we allow a ten minute window. I replied, "well we made it in 10 minutes. You just said we were ten minutes late." She replied, "You have to be here in UNDER 10 minutes." Also, why wasn't this policy mentioned when I made the appointment and why is it not on the website? To top it off the lady was very rude, the waiting area was so packed and chaotic that I could not imagine that we would have received any quality pictures anyway.

I believe that they know their customer service is a problem because there is no way to contact customer service through their website. They do not care what kind of service is offered. It is too bad for Portrait Innovations actually, because I spend a lot of money on pictures. I will never return to ANY Portrait Innovations studio again.

PLEASANT PRAIRIE, WISCONSIN -- On a trip to meet my new niece in Illinois, I talked my sister-in-law into taking our three children to Portrait Innovations for pictures together. I have been using Portrait Innovations for over 8 years, originally in Colorado, and most recently in Arkansas. At the studio in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin, on November 10, 2012, our studio session went great! The photographer was nice, even though her camera battery died just as the infant gave us her best smile of the day - figures, right?

As we were selecting our photos for purchase, I point-blank asked the photographer which package was the smallest package with a CD. She told me the 6 pose package for $129.99 (plus $15 for the gimmick package) was the smallest with a CD. I'll admit my husband is the one with the good memory and he wasn't with me, but I thought that seemed like a little more than we'd selected a few weeks earlier at our Arkansas studio. After selecting our 6 poses, I again asked the photographer if this was the smallest package with a CD. She said yes.

That evening I called my husband to tell him what a great time we had and asked if he remembered what package we'd bought a few weeks earlier in Arkansas. He did better than that - he pulled out the receipt. We had purchased a THREE pose package with a CD for $69.99 on September 23, 2012.

I called the Wisconsin studio the next morning and asked for our photographer. I thought it right to give her an opportunity to explain herself, rather than attacking her to her manager. She said that the 3 pose package had been discontinued. I asked her when that was and she said it was about a month before, when the Christmas backgrounds began being offered. Still not completely trusting the photographer, I called our Arkansas studio and asked if (1) all the studios had the same packages (they said yes) and (2) if they were still offering the 3 pose package with a CD. They said yes again.

This time I called the manager at Pleasant Prairie. She got on the phone and I explained how upset I was that our photographer lied to us! She made no apology!!! I couldn't believe it!!! In fact, she said that her photographer was just trying to help us get a better deal, but that if we wanted to bring three of our poses back she'd refund $15. She said the 3 pose package had increased from $69.99 to $114.99 from September to November! So the price difference from the 3 pose package to the 6 pose package was $15. Furthermore, I couldn't get my refund until the calendars they ordered for us, all poses our photographer selected, arrived via mail!

I decided to eat the $15 rather than drive from Arkansas to Wisconsin to return their items. However, I've learned my lesson. I'm taking bets on how long a company that was great 8 years ago can survive with employees and policies like these. The CD quality has completely deteriorated and they've added an advertisement to the bottom of each picture on the CD. I had been telling my friends in Arkansas about this great studio we'd loved in Colorado that had finally made its way to us in Arkansas. Not anymore.

IF I darken the door of a Portrait Innovations again (solely due to the honesty of the local studio) it will be only for the $15 gimmick package - until they change that too! Be warned - Portrait Innovations lies with no apology!!!

WESLEY CHAPEL, FLORIDA -- For the last five years, we've used a local JC Penny (owned & operated by LifeTouch Photography) for all of our family portraits. We've been generally happy with that service which, on average, costs $80 and includes a TON of photos PLUS 40 holiday cards. We are also able to purchase at a constant/set price all of the HI-RES images on CD from JC Penny including a copyright release form. This November 2012, we decided to try something different.

At the Wiregrass Mall in Wesley Chapel FL, a new photo studio named "Portrait Innovations" opened for business. In summary, our experience was unsatisfactory. We will never return there nor recommend it to anyone. Here's a list of reasons:

1) Overcrowded studio. The place was PACKED to the point it was severely distracting on several levels. (A) All the children waiting with their families were LOUD, playing in the centrally-located play area as well as (B) throwing balls / toys into the open photo rooms which were currently in-session by different families. (C) It was very difficult to focus on the package choice process, due to the noise level and other customer sitting nearby and staring at the large monitors with all of our personal data displayed (name, home address, phone, etc).

In comparison with JC Penny, there was never more than three families present; the customer currently being photographed, the prior customer choosing their package, and the customer waiting to be photographed next. The JCP studio was ALWAYS quiet and well-mannered.

2) Deceptive marketing. We were enticed by a low-price ad of $14.95. While most ads are designed to lure customers, this one was completely deceptive. When we first sat down to review our photo session, the sales rep's first pitch was for all of the photos taken. Cost? $494.00 USD. I nearly fell off the chair and had to restrain myself not to get up and walk out.

When we asked what the advertisement was offering, we were told it was "CHOOSE ONE POSE ONLY" and have it printed on the variety of formats offered in the ad. This was despite their shooting over 70 images during our session. We definitely feel this was a scam, especially in comparison to our prior years' experience with JCPenny Portrait Studio who never attempted such deceptive marketing measures.

3) Three shots per pose. They only shot three photos of each pose, even if someone blinked or one family member wasn't looking directly at the camera. There was no obvious on-the-spot checking to see if the photographer captured the intended shot. This was not the case with JCP who had a nearby monitor in which they reviewed each and every shot before moving onto the next pose.

4) No placement of subjects/blocking faces. We kept expecting the so-called photographer to place us or, at least, advise us to adjust our positions in reference to the shot and others in our group. This did not occur and, as a result, we had shots where one person was blocking a significant portion of another person's face which destroyed the shot. Again, this is contrary to our experience with JC Penny portraits.

5) No training. When I asked our young photographer where they were trained, they confessed to having NO professional or commercial photography experience prior to working for Portrait Innovations in Wesley Chapel FL at the Wiregrass Mall. They said that the studio offered some training but it focused more on the "protocol" (as they put it; meaning the 3-shots-only as discussed above) and the proprietary software and up-selling process that followed. While I understand that we all have our first job with little to no experience, this does fully explain the other complaints I have mentioned in this blog.

6) No retouching. While many (but not all) of the shots were decent, they all were raw. Neither the sales process nor automated software performed any retouching whereby a photo is "softened" or processed in a way that reduces the wrinkles, blemishes or other imperfections one would get while shooting at the HI-RES (10MB and above) quality that their professional cameras captured. JC Penny Portrait Studio offered this non-intrusive processing on our prior years' photos and it only enhanced the holiday images that were chosen in our package.

For those not understanding what I mean here; the high-resolution photos are intelligently processed by software that recognizes eyes, teeth and other features which are then protected from the "softening" process, so as to retain the crispness of those features. When performed properly, it beautifies the overall photograph.

7) Deceptive CD. (A) The package came with a CD but it only contains the LOW-RES images from the session. Moreover, each digital image has a footer with the studio's name and website address. The studio "encouraged" us to share the low-res images on Facebook and other social websites, clearly at their gain, thanks to the embedded marketing on OUR paid-for photos. Fortunately, using simple and no-cost tools such as WWW. GETPAINT.NET, one can easily and quickly crop off the marking footer from these photos. (B) Following suit with 7A, the CD contains encrypted versions of the hi-res images, in a file-format ".PI2".

8) Digital images are not retained. Session photo images are NOT available online for reordering. In fact, Portrait Innovations was quick to inform us that ALL of our photographs would be DESTROYED after we left the studio. Hence, the CD being the only copy of the session and, regardless of how much money one spent, the images would REMAIN encrypted and would therefore require additional purchasing to order more/different copies... and all this by revisiting the studio with CD in-hand.

This is VERY different from JC Penny Portrait Studio who otherwise provide ALL of the session images on CD - in BOTH high-res and low-res - INCLUDING a digital COPYRIGHT RELEASE thereby allowing the purchaser or their extended families to make copies at any printing facility of their choice such as Walmart, Walgreens, etc.

In summary, we would never again use Portrait Innovations photo studio in Wesley Chapel Florida (nor any other location). Moreover, we would not recommend Portrait Innovations to anyone who would also be upset by the aforementioned issues, should they likely occur during their session.. or by having their precious keepsake digital memories held ransom for a cost.

SOUTHAVEN, MISSISSIPPI -- This place is awful. We arrived a few minutes late for our 4:20 appointment. She tells me "You missed your appointment and now you have to wait until 6." We all know during this time traffic on Goodman Road in Southaven is jammed. I was really angry after this. The customer service is horrible. They had over 20 people scheduled at the same time. Just horrible. My family and I will never return.

MIDDLETON, WISCONSIN -- Dirty tricks. I went in for a 12 dollar deal, but was charged an additional 12 dollar "handling fee". Cannot even imagine what they hope to accomplish in ticking off a customer like that. How ridiculous. So the "12 dollar deal" was really close to 25 dollars, and the sales pitch they made you sit through was obnoxious. As a customer, you were unable to "cut to the chase" so to speak, but had to sit through this monotonous, repetitive, torturous sales speech, and the attitude was not very friendly if you chose not to buy a package.