Comments | mavjop: Lies, Damned Lies, and Sears Portrait Studio

mavjop

Lies, Damned Lies, and Sears Portrait Studio

Jul 30, 2010 22:24

Sears Portrait Studio offers variations on a coupon that offers some form of FREE 8x10 print, with no sitting fee. It turns out that this is a blatant bait and switch, and that if you waste your time on it you will end up screwed by them.

( For all the details, click here for the story behind the cut... )

argh, consumer

Comments 4

anemone July 31 2010, 12:41:45 UTC

I've had unpleasant experiences with Sears. We made an appointment, and they were late. So late that Helen went from cheerful and happy to crabby and about-to-sleep. And their prices were high.

We usually use JcPenney--not spectacular pictures, but with portrait club membership ($50 for two years), there are no sitting fees (usually $10/person) and basic portraits are $4/sheet.

mavjop August 1 2010, 04:19:30 UTC

D'oh. That sucks too.

JC Penney does sound like if you're going to use such a studio with any frequency they would be a better deal, and sounds like you've had better experiences with them, too.

We would normally be more likely to just take photos ourselves most of the time and occasionally maybe hire photographers (e.g. friends of ours) to take really great photos. We only went to Sears because of the coupon. As I mentioned, they had the opportunity to prove us wrong and show us that they could take great photos. They didn't wow us. If they had, we wouldn't even have known that they planned to pull a bait and switch on the coupon.

anemone August 1 2010, 12:38:25 UTC

JCPenny has never wowed me, either, but if you actually want posed shots, the price is reasonable. (Even one-time it's reasonable, unless you go in with a family of 5.) While we get some good shots ourselves of individuals, we don't usually get good portrait-style shots.

I did hire a real photographer for Erik when he was a newborn, and she got some great shots, but she was $$$.

mavjop August 3 2010, 22:07:13 UTC

Yeah, hiring a real photographer is indeed expensive, but I think we'll probably, if we can manage it, try to do that rather than go to a studio like this where possible because when we have done so most/all of the shots have been good and many have been really fantastic.

You're right about not generally getting good portrait-style shots oneself.