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Glamour Shots Licensing

Glamour Shots Licensing review: Unprofessional Photos 26

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Author of the review
12:00 am EDT
Featured review
This review was chosen algorithmically as the most valued customer feedback.

I stopped into Glamour Shots to see what they offer. I was shown a portfolio of their work to include their "Glamour Touch" and other specialty products. I was very impressed by the Glamour Touch since my daughter has a scar that she is very self-conscious of on her forehead. The sales woman agreed that this would take care of the scar with no problem at all. I was also told that the photos were $45 per pose per sheet. I mentioned that I wanted these pictures a my daughters senior pictures and she offered me the "Graduation Special" which would allow for us to have a free 8 x 10, which she recommended we get her picture taken in a cap and gown. I gladly made an appointment for the following week, at which time I was asked to pre-pay the $25 sitting fee.

When I arrived the following week for my daughters appointment, 5:45pm, they were running extremely late. After waiting until 6:50pm, the manager came to me and asked me to sign their paperwork, at which time I read that the "Glamour Touch" effect was $75 per pose. At no time was I ever told this prior to reading it on the paperwork. Had I known this, I would not have made the appointment at Glamour Shots as I cannot afford the $75 Glamour Touch process and I could get the pictures done elsewhere for less. I was so upset and told the manager that this information was kept from me. She argued that they always tell the customer all the process. Since she was not the woman I originally spoke with, how would she know what I was or wasn't told. Regardless, I am the customer and all she really needed to do was apologize for the "mistake" and we could have moved on. Well, she couldn't do that. What she did do was accuse me of either misunderstanding or not paying attention to the sales woman the week before. This infuriated me and I told the manager that if it wasn't for the fact that my daughter as looked forward to this all week, I would not get this done. Her response was "Well, you won't get your sitting fee back." And she proceeded away. . . which, considering how angry I was, was probably a good thing at that point.

Now we are back to waiting and waiting and waiting. Another woman came to do my daughter's make-up. It did not look very good so I offered my assistance and finished her make-up and styled her hair myself. I was not happy about this at all. Come to find out that the woman was actually a photographer and not a hair stylist or make-up artist, she was only helping out because they were short staffed.

The photographer (not the same one that attempted the hair & make-up) was actually wonderful. No complaints there.

I was waiting on my daughter and the manager came to me and said that she was going to make sure I received a free 8x10 for the trouble. She did not use a very nice tome or demeanor. I am not sure if she is aware the I was already supposed to receive one from the Graduation special, so I told her "I am supposed to get one with the Graduation special." Her nasty response, "Then that makes two, doesn't it." What a piece of work.

It is now 10:30pm (the mall closes at 9:30pm) and we are now ready to choose my daughter's pictures. There were digital 67 images to go through. The manager came over to tell us to hurry about 6 times within 15 minutes. The final time she stated, "I really would like to hit the road sometime soon as I have a life." I was shocked and appalled. I told her NOT to come near me or speak to me again.

I was told the pictures would be in the following week. We left at 11:15pm.

Exactly one week later, they called and told me the pictures were in. I went to pick them up and they could not locate them. Okay fine, I will while they look for them. 45 minutes later, still no pictures. They told me that if they could not find them this evening, they would re-order, but they would call and let me know tomorrow afternoon.

Two days later, after not hearing from anyone, I called back. I was told they did not find the pictures and they would reorder them that day. If I had not called, when exactly do you thing they would have place the re-order? Anyway, they told me that they would be ready for pick-up in one week.

After 9 days, I don;t hear from anyone. I called to see if they were in. I was told that they were mailed to my home.

Another week goes by, I call to say I have not received any pictures through the mail. They told me that is because the pictures are there waiting for me to pick them up.

I go that evening to pick up the pictures and 4 poses are missing.

Will this ever end?

So now they have to re-order the 4 poses, which will be ready in one week,.

One week later, they call me to say the pics are ready. I go there and they are still one picture short. I know the drill. . . one week.

Time get past me and it is, again, 9 days and I am call them. Oh yes, the picture is there.

When I get there, it is the wrong pose of the wrong girl. I asked for a refund as I did not want to drive down there again. I was told under no circumstances was that possible and that I should just be patient.

Patient? I have been more than patient. I am done. I don't have the picture and I don't have a refund.

For almost $400 i received:

- A ton of aggravation
- A display of unprofessionalism like never witnessed before
- A lack of respect that every customer warrants
- A loss of time, which is irreplaceable
- Some okay pictures that I could have got at JP Portraits or Olan Mills

I will tell all that I encounter not to engage in business with Glamour Shots.

Sincerely,

Cynthia
Weston, Florida

Details:

Glamour Shots, Sawgrass Mills Mall, Sunrise, Florida

26 comments
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Janine Kader
, US
Jan 10, 2016 9:04 am EST

I went in for one of their contests. My pictures came out great! Couldn't afford them at the time so my uncle got their credit card. I set up automatic payments, little did I know paymebts were not coming. Now I'm being billed and I refuse to pay it. My bill is over $600, which I cannot afford. Customer service will not help me because the account is in my uncles name.

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gina b
, US
Aug 21, 2009 3:51 pm EDT

Billed credit card for fraud never recieved pictures cannot bill for services not rendered!

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divinemom
Raleigh, US
Jun 28, 2012 6:40 pm EDT
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

This is absolutely the worst photography organization ever! I took my daughter for a photo shoot to enter the kid s contest the company had last March 2012. My reservation was never scheduled properly by Phil, who took my payment for the deposit, so I had to reschedule and assure the manager that my deposit had been paid- b/c SHE COULDN T FIND IT, so she had to just take my word for it. The photographer who took her picture was fairly nice, but then she ignored us for thirty minutes after we came back from the one hour break to view the pictures. Someone else had to pull them up for us to view after I finally asked what was going on. When I went online to the website to start voting for my kid (after I had rallied hundreds who were going to vote for her as well), HER PICTURE WASN T EVEN THERE! I was told that for some reason some of the photos had not been properly submitted and that a different manager would call me back about it. I called several times, the manager just happened to never be working or he kept saying he would call me back. Needless to say, never got a call back, and my daughter s photo was never included in the contest, with no apology or anything! I let it go, b/c I know she would have won anyway, her picture was fabulous. Anyway, so then I never got the call to come pick her pictures up, after I d paid for them. Gave them a call and guess what...THEY LOST HER PICTURES! Again, I m waiting for Hank, the manager, to call me back everyday- who again, just happens to not be working every time I call. The most unorganized mess ever, and then they have the nerve to have packages that cost over a thousand dollars! STAY AWAY FROM GLAMOUR SHOTS OF CRABTREE!

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Tori R
Mays landing, US
Jun 15, 2012 10:59 am EDT
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

I had the worst experience. Make up was great, hair was great, photographer was great...but the manager was absolutely awful. They never give the correct info for prices and I ended up spending over 1400$ because I felt pressured and bullied to pick my poses IMMEDIATELY, as I was told they would be deleting my pictures after I left.
Meanwhile, the next day they call and tell me they have reviewed my pics again and want to hang me up in their store, for a small fee of 399$. I was outraged. They wanted me to pay for their advertising! And clearly I didn't need to rush into any decisions because they kept my pictures, I could have had time to really think about the decision instead of having a make up artist and store manager tell me that each picture was amazing and worth buying. I feel used and like I got suckered into an awful scam. When I called to complain the following day, the store manager told me oh well and the order had been shipped, that there was nothing she could do and then she gave me the customer service number, in which she said would be a waste of my time because they'd tell me the same thing.
I'm a sucker for thinking that I had to pick out a package and couldn't do it any other way because, and I quote, "a la carte is a waste of money". Then why offer it?
I did this to celebrate losing weight... And instead of being thrilled about my physical appearance I'm upset with my inside for making a stupid decision to work with these people and get duped into spending 1400$. But you can guarantee I've already talked to my credit card company and stopped the order. Guess we will see what happens. Any advice?

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Upset Mom 12
Coronado, US
Feb 02, 2012 12:15 am EST
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

I was in "shock" after the pictures were taken and we were viewing the images. Again it was the photographer that did the hair and makeup. Upon viewing the pictures on the computer, it was obvious that the mascara had run below the eyes and he did not bother to sponge it off. We had Glamour Shots take my other daughters pictures two years previously and they only cost around $ 250 for senior pictures. I believe that I got 4 different poses. Two years later and Glamour Shots wanted over 1000 for 6 different poses. I finally walked out of the store for $ 540 for 3 poses on a CD. Never again will I go back to Glamour Shots.

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ironman123
Gainsville, US
Jan 05, 2011 1:29 am EST

I work at Glamour Shots. We are commissioned based and if we don't make more commission then are hourly wage then we only make our hour wage witch is around 7 dollars. The way for us to make commission is if people start buying 1000 and more dollars for their photos. Yes it is high pressure. Yes we try to hide our real cost by telling you the cheapest way of buy our photos. If Glamour Touch (edited photos or retouched) is TOO expensive for you then you have NO business being at Glamour Shots. The most common way for us to take that 1000 dollars from you is to have you fill out the credit card application. We will not let you know it is a credit card application but let you know there is no interest fee for 12 months. Their are always specials on the web or else ware. The catch is to keep you at Glamour Shots for over 4 hours and tell you this is the only chance you have in buying or having a great deal on you photos. Yes we do lie, you can get your photos for very cheep if you come in 3 or more weeks latter, but then we (hair and makeup artistphotographersales) do not make commission and it will only go to the person who is selling those photos at the time you return. When people do complain it does come back to us in a way of loosing are jobs but this is how they train us. Their is a huge turn over rate for employees for a reason. This is a HIGH PRESSURE SALES JOB NOT ABOUT QUALITY. So next time anyone complains about, "oh he didn't mention this, or I didn't know it was going to cost me that, " please understand this a mall job and you are paying for the brand and not the product. If you want to make people happy we would like tips. Have a nice day.

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Caitlyn Eakins Photography
Chicago, US
Oct 31, 2010 12:54 am EDT

I am a professional photographer (and have my BFA in photography and digital imaging) and I applied to work for GS when I moved back home for a while and needed a job (its literally one of 3 studios in town). While I hate the work they produce, I really needed the job. I have had my photos taken there for Senior portraits and I had a great time then. But after hearing what the photogs get paid and everything that goes along with the job I chose not to take it. Basically, they do not care about their customers, they care about money. The photographers either make a commission or minimum wage (which ever happens to be higher that pay period) hence crappy service. They also like to train everyone to do everything (ie makeup artist is the photographer is the editor...) which is not professional. They will hire anyone willing to be trained. You do not have to have any formal education or training for any of their positions. Also, they own all the images taken in the shop (thats what you signed at the beginning) so they can legally hang anything they want of you in their store with out even telling you. Though they will offer you the month long 'wall of fame' to cut their printing costs. All in all after hearing all this mess at the interview I very nicely turned down the job and the standing 'if you ever need a job' offer and took a $10/hour hosting job at a restaurant. I was not going to be underpaid and overworked and barely even get to do what I'm educated to do. And I will never support them as a business again.

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ModelDeb
killeen, US
Mar 18, 2010 8:43 pm EDT

i dont have anything bad to say about glamour shots, the girls were really nice to me and they did my makeup perfect, they didnt try to pressure me into a huge package i used my jew powers to talk them down to 650 for 13 of my pictures and i didnt need any retouching cuz my pictures were already fabulous but one think that irks me is that they are putting two of my pics up in the store for advertising purposes and im not getting anything from it, im a professional model and im usually compensated for my images and time. i hope i get those pics back when they are done with them, .and another thing that kinda bugs me is that they were budoir photos where im pretty much naked and they were my poses that i came up with myself and i dont want people trying to duplicate my look

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BoomerSooner
Oklahoma City, US
Nov 01, 2009 1:44 am EDT

I completely agree, Candid Color is a disgusting company.

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BoomerSooner
Oklahoma City, US
Nov 01, 2009 1:43 am EDT

I worked for Candid Color for over ten years, and it's common knowledge among the employees there that it's all a big unprofessional joke.
Candid Color owns and operates Glamour Shots, providing the digital retouching on the photos and developing and printing your order.

The glamor touch process you are paying over $30 for on an image, they have in the past threatened discipline over spending more than three minutes time on an image, it is encouraged to go as fast as possible, with prerecorded actions in Photoshop being relied upon on an assembly line modeled process. Thirty seconds is often all the time your image is given depending upon the difficulty.

The people they have working on your images are mostly untrained assembly line quality workers smearing pixels around while avoiding your eyes and lips and nose.
The few artists they do have are underpaid, overworked, and threatened with termination if they don't like it. Suffice it to say most semi talented artists don't stick around long.

Their most recent invention, the level 2 Sports layouts and designs, where they take little league teams, sporting teams etc and place them in "professional" layouts resembling magazine covers or collectible cards, they charge sometimes nearly one thousand dollars for if not hundreds for some of the smaller images. These too are not to have spent more than ten to fifteen minutes individually at a time upon.

As for the conduct at the facility, customers photos are routinely mocked and placed on display for the entertainment factor they provide.

It's really a disgusting company that exploits and bullies it's employees and has no respect for it's clients.

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gina b
, US
Aug 21, 2009 3:40 pm EDT

I went to glamour shots at the sawgrass mall in sunrise florida, They stook 85 pictures of my daughter when i left her for an hour. then they where closing the store the whole ordeal, was 8 hours long under the pressure of the store closing i finally got out of there some how agreeing to 5800.oo for 15 picture packages and 15 email images. The next day after being in shock, I called to complain about the prices. They had charged me as much for an email image as a package so i asked nicely to credit my account that it was an oversight that i would have never agreed to it. and if you do the math, even with the outragous prices they over billed me! Twice the amount! If 3400.00 wasn't crazy enough aready for 15 pictures! 190.00 for the packages x 15 plus 15 email images, not even the favorites just ones hard to walk away from. But for 3000 if known could have been done. Long story short we got in a yelling match, i received nothing; but am being billed on the credit card by gs. Ive refused due to fraud. well we will see if this ends any worse than it already is!

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Olivia
Hialeah Gardens, US
May 10, 2009 9:46 am EDT

OMG! Thank you for writing this. I was about to book a family portrait there but after reading this NOOOO WAAAAAAYYYYYYY. I cannot stand to be serviced by people like that. I hope that manager is not there anymore. Geesh. Well, they just lost me for a customer and I had over $1, 000 to spend on shots for me, grandma, my mom, my aunt and my little girl!

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VIVIAN
,
Oct 29, 2008 12:57 am EDT

THIS SAT I TOOKED PICS AT GLAMOUR SHOTS I WAS TOLD I WAS GOING TO GET 12 FREE CHRISTMAS CARDS, AND THAT THE HAIR AND MAKE UP WAS FREE. ALL I HAD TO DO WAS PAY A SITTING FEE OF 9.99 AND A MODEL SEARCH PACKAGE OF 45.OO. THEY TOOKED 2HRS TO GET MY MAKE UP AND HAIR READY. THEY BURNED MY HAIR AND THEY TRYED COVER IT WITH MY VAIL. THE PEOPLE WORKING THEIR WHERE MORE INTESTED ON WHAT THEY WERE GOING TO DO LATER THAT NIGHT THAN GETTING TO WORK. THEN AFTER THE SHOT THEY TOLD ME TO PICK THE PICS I LIKED THEN THEY TOLD ME IT WOULD ME 1, 600. I TOLD THEM I WOULD ONLY STAY WITH THE MODEL SEARCH FOR NOW AND THE FREE CHRISTMAS SHOTS. THE MANGER CAME OVER AND SAID THAT THEIR WAS NOTHING IN HIS SHOP FOR FREE. I SHOWED HIM THE RECIPT THAT CLEARLY SAID FREE CMS AND HE SAID " TO BAD IM NOT GIVING YOU ANY THING." I LOOKED AT MY MOM AND SHE CALLED HIM BACK HE SAID "WHAT DO YOU WANT" MY MOM SAID EXPLAIN WHY IT SAYS FREE ON THE RECIPT HE JUST SAID "TO BAD, WHY DON'T YOU TWO JUST LEAVE." AND HE DIDN'T LET ME PAY FOR MY SHOTS. I HAVE BEEN CALLING THE OWNER EVER SINCE NO RESPONSE. THE GLAMOUR SHOT IN MCALLEN TX. IS NOT ONLY FULL OF S*** BUT THEY HAVE CHILDREN INCLUDING THE OWNER RUNNING THE PLACE.

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Maria Marta Rodriguez
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Aug 20, 2008 3:46 pm EDT

I went in to Glamour Shots on Glenwood Avenue (Crabtree Valley Mall) on August 13, 2008. Although I was treated graciously I did not receive the photograph I paid for. Instead I received a washed out version in which my eyebrows are almost non-existent (among other complaints). On the day I saw the final version, I clearly communicated to the staff I worked with that I was using this picture for professional reasons. It should come to no surprise that I was highly disappointed with the result. What's more, I was not offered an alternative.

I would like to note that I only purchased an electronic picture, paid over $175.00 for it and it does not even resemble me or the picture I agreed to purchase the previous week. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind the high price as long as it is accompanied by high quality and at a minimum a resemblance of me. This was not the case.

Again the staff was gracious throughout the process of the photo shoot and up until they received my money. However, in no way was I satisfied with the final product which is what I paid for. Needless to say I will not be using this picture on my business cards as it does not even resemble me and as a consequence will not be promoting Glamour shots to my heavy client load in RTP. Be assured that I will let my clients (and anyone who will listen) know of my unfair experience with this studio.

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unknown
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Apr 29, 2008 7:00 am EDT

If you all want to know who to contact, here it is! True the owners don't care about your complaints because they want the money. But they all have a contract with Candid Color from Oaklahoma City and they must abide by the regulations and customer service issues. The owner of the company and the person that started it is
Jack Counts
Candid Color Systems
1300 Metropolitan Ave
Oklahoma City
OK 73108

Phone
800.336.4550
405.947.8747
Be sure to tell them you do not want to talk to the franchisee, you want something more!
Don't bother calling the office of the owners, JPO or any of the other ones, they have someone that sits at a desk all day and will give you a free session and free val pak to come in again so they can ask you for more money. This company has so many complaints they actually pay someone to handle the calls all day long for that reason only.

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unknown
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Apr 28, 2008 6:22 pm EDT

I forgot to tell you! The day after your session or when the next hard baller sales person works they will call you to tell you the "OWNER" saw your pictures and loved them! He "loved the one of your_________ and wants to show it off to everyone that comes by our studio! He wants to discount the picture and pay half of it if you will let us put it on the wall for 30 days. This is called a WALL OF FAME!
Well, first of all the owner doesn't have any idea what your pictures looked like because he doesn't give a rats ###, all he cares about is if you spent money!

This Wall of Fame is a incremental sales for the store because the sales person makes a minimum of 18% of the commission from the sale. If you order a 16x20 then it will cost you $400 and if you order a 20x24 it will cost you $500. It cost the store $70 to print either of these prints and mount and touch it up but you are incurring the cost so they have a picture on the wall and the sales person makes extra money! So prepare for this call because it will happen, especially if you spent alot of money the first visit.

When you pick up your finished portraits there will be a unbelivable "PICK UP SPECIAL" 3 sheets of your choice for only $99! WOW

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unknown
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Apr 28, 2008 6:13 pm EDT

Let me tell you how this company works. You will find a box in front of the store that will say "enter to win a free 16x2o and you never will! They use the names only as leads and they'll call you and hound you to come in for a free session and maybe a free 8x10. Also you can go to their site www.glamourshots.com and book an appointment for a free session and a free 8x10. As soon as the makeup artist knows that you have no intentions of purchasing anything other than your free one, they'll whip you thru the makeup and hair like no tomorrow. The photographer will shoot you and get you out of his/her way. The sales person will try to get you to buy more and will also pressure you into trying to get thier GS credit card that is 19% interest rate. The reason for this is because these people make $7 or $8 an hour or commissions, trust me they are making commission or they lose thier jobs! They are requrired to average a minium of $650 a person per sale or the owner who is a rude nasty person is cursing and screaming at the staff as if they are dirt. You ever wonder why the managers change continusously we'll it's because it's a HIGH PRESSURE SALES job. Very rarely do they have talented photographers, they are people that worked at Wal mart or sears and are trying to find a job. There is No professional to it. Go on craigslist or Monster and type in Glamour Shots, you'll see they are always looking for people. Most of the makeup artist are 17 or 18 yr old kids in school or cross dressers that can't find jobs in other professional businesses. The whole time you are in the store each person that will work with you have a behind your back conversation about how much money they think you will spend. IT's a game! The makeup artist will ask you lots of questions like, what do you do? Who are the pictures for? Who all are you buying pictures for? This information is relayed to the person that will sit down and sell your pics to you and usually there is a bet going on about how much they are going to get out of you.
Now if these aren't enough please READ ON!
They will show you prices as follows, everything is TOUCHED UP, and everything is on Pearlized paper (Metallic, you can get thru anywhere, it's to shinning and fingerprints won't come off). YOU DO NOT HAVE TO BUY ANYTHING TOUCHED UP OR ON PEARL PAPER! Get the image on CD and get someone that knows Photoshop to fix it for you, the employees there will do the touch up and charge you $75 extra for 5 minutes of thier time. You will pay $135 for a 8x10 with one person touched up and on that crappy pearl paper! It cost them $6 to print it. Now was that "wanna be makeup artist and walmart trained photography worth that"?
So if you have a special event and need your hair and makeup done, go online, book your appointment and go thru the session without telling them you have no intentions of buying ANYTHING, actually act like you are going to spend ALOT of money, they will treat you like a queen, then when you set down for the sell, pick out the free one for your 8x10 and make them credit your card back the $20 deposit that you left to book your appointment before you leave! Great for weddings, proms, dates, or a few of you on Friday or Saturday night when the girls are going out! Just give yourself at least 3 hours before you have to leave because they are always behind! Remember to make them THINK you are spending alot of money! Now you may be lucky and get a good photographer but be prepared to be expected to spend at least $600 or you'll see the whole crews attitude change toward you! Good luck and I hope you realize you can really get the same quality at a private photographer or Sears and sometimes maybe walmart. They all have the "touchups" and the colorizing of portraits also" for around $10 per image!

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veronica
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Apr 28, 2008 3:01 pm EDT

I took my mom to a GlamourShots in Illinois. MAKEUP WAS DISGUSTINGLY BAD! Didn't know what she was doing! Photographer was okay. PRESSURE SALES PITCH AND OUTRAGEOUS PRICING FOR IMAGES YOU HAVE TO CHOSE ON THE SPOT! Had my mom not been so happy about my takin her there I would have been raisin hell but I didn't want to ruin it for her. We were there 6 hours and the packages they tried to push on us started at $2000!

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Leandra Bridges
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Mar 03, 2008 7:27 pm EST

Olan Mills is no diffrent than Glamour Shots, especially the ones in the Kmarts. They hire all kinds of idiots and train them to fail the Olan Mill expectation. I'm disappointed, due to the simple fact, that Olan Mills suppose to be the best portrait studio. And they are screwing up simple things like wording a annoucement. We should all do our research before going to just any portriat studio. I learn my lesson. Now off to Sears. Bye Olan Mills you lost me as a customer. Farewell!

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chelsea
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Feb 25, 2008 12:35 pm EST

I wish i would have seen all of these compaints before going to this company. Everything that has been posted is true. Unproffesional rude sales reps, who have been trained to ripped you off by any means necessary. I paid 7o to have a body image touched up and it looked terrible! Honestly any product you get from Glamour shots can be done on a digital camera and touched up in photo shop. The supposed professional hair and make-up was tacky and nothing like what i wanted. I should have done it myself. And if you have any problems or complaints, good luck because they will exaust you with excuses until you just give up. Oh and every store is independently owned so if the owner wont help you cant do anything!

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K Campbell
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Jan 05, 2008 10:41 am EST

I have had so much aggravation sinceI recieved a Glamour Shots giftcard for xmas. I have an anxiety problem so I was not thrilled to be getting a 3 hour chance to have random people touching my hair, makeup, and being put into a situation I was not comfortable in. After I explained this to them, the response I recieved from the manager was that "Its not what I think, many people love the outcome of their photos since we have the MAC makeup airbrushing" -THIS RESPONSE SHOWED NO SYMPATHY it was as if he was programmed to say certain phrases. So I thought hey, I will bring my friend and we will each have a photo taken-just one photo each. My gift card was for $107 and I was told that I would be charged an additional 50 dollars for one picture of my friend. Airbrushing was 175 dollars! for 1 photo! ALL these fees were being tacked on from out of no where. I also asked if I recieved the receipt for the giftcard could it be returned? The response was no. Here I am returning the reciept so I should be able to recieve my uncle's money back (right?) well the manager stated no. We cannot sit idle while this franchise schisters people out of their money.

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name withheld
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Nov 06, 2007 6:34 pm EST

Glamour shots is horrible. so much so that whenever they send me any kind of a "free coupon" I post it and urge everyone to go there and NOT BUY A SINGLE EXTRA THING. True, you still have to give a credit card deposit to hold your spot, but it is fully refundable if you show up. So my advice, go there, and dont buy ANYTHING extra. Get your free makeover. Get your free session. Pick out only one photo--for free and enjoy, wasting only their time. Here is the link to the latest x-mas offer.

P.S. Do not use this coupon if you want to actually spend hundreds of dollars and support them...

Your Style. Your Gift.

A FREE SESSION*
and your choice of
1 FREE 8x10 or
12 FREE
GREETING CARDS
(Slimline style)
A Free Session plus select one Free 8x10 or 12 Free Greeting Cards. See participating stores for details.

Book Now at this address:
http://www.glamourshots.com/bookonline.asp?promocode=ME8CP0710

*Limit one free 8x10 or one free set of 12 cards per session. Free session includes one makeover. Not valid with any other offer. Standard color paper & finish only. Greeting cards will be the Slimline style.
Offer expires 12/24/07.
Available at participating locations.
ME8CP0710

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Sherri Tollefson
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Oct 08, 2007 12:24 pm EDT

I had a very similar experience with a different Glamour Shots in Florida. When I arrived for a business headshot, staff had double booked my appointment then greeted me with irritation; I can only guess the double booking made them look bad. The make-up artist was rushed to do 4 faces in the timeslot she usually does one. I had to fix it myself before the shoot. The photographer did not listen to me describe the look I was going for because she was in a hurry to get to the next party of 3, still waiting.

The photo preview displayed no great shots. Several were so poorly lit that half my face was shadowed beyond view. No good on a business card. When I booked my appointment I was told the shots are guaranteed. If not satisfied, they'll retake them for free. The after-shoot fine print says they'll retake them- and I pay only half price for the new photos. Only the shoot's free. The actual photos still cost 50% of the full price I already paid for the photos I can't use. No refunds. In other words, for a lot of extra money, they'll make my photos right. No guarantee that any respectable business would "offer".

There was no disclosure that all photos MUST be selected the same day of the sitting or they delete them. No sleeping on it. No asking family & friends for feedback. No printouts. Nothing to hold in the hand to make a confident decision. And please pick them in a hurry because the next people need to pick their shots, too.

BTW, the people after me complained loudly that they had to come back after the mall closed to rush through the selection of their shots. No option of seeing them tomorrow or next week. Fork over the cash today or they'll delete them, no refund on the sitting fee. A cheap sales tactic used to get people to buy more photos out of fear of deleting something by accident? Especially effective for photos of kids where sentiment makes it hard to delete a single image. Great for sales. Bad for repeat business. Tacky as a snake oil cure all, from my point of view.

Glamour Shots is the used car lot of photo studios, in my opinion. When I objected to their ridiculous policies, I was told I was being unreasonable and "mean". No kidding, "mean". What are we, in grade school? So unprofessional it is hard to know whether to laugh or walk away. But of course if I walked away in protest, I'd forfeit the $29.95 sitting fee. As well as the cost of the fresh manicure and hair stylist hired specifically for the shoot. And gas. And time. I have yet to see the photos I hurriedly selected. If I encounter errors or untimely delivery, as other "complainers" have, I will do the honorable thing and protest the charge through my credit card company. Businesses who fail to disclose and fail to deliver should fail to get paid. It's that simple.

Forget Glamour Shots. Go to a photographer with integrity, class and ethical business practices.

Sincerely, S.T. Clearwater, FL

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Oct 05, 2007 6:58 pm EDT

this kind of thing happens alot to franchises. Because an owner tends to operate their store just a tad different than the corporate office wants it to be. It is so sad. Stick to places where there arent franchises if you can. It is alot harder to get thru to someone at the top of the chain. that way your not dealing with owners who frankly dont give a rats butt how horrible your experience was. So So Sad.

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Daniel Z
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May 10, 2007 1:40 pm EDT

Wow... Shocked and appalled. I used to work for Glamour Shots, nearly 10 years ago, and to see things like this are STILL happening is... well... Sad.

I was a Photographer / Studio Manager / Photo & Sales Trainer, and what I have read rings true about a LOT of GS Studios.

Lack of tact, courtesy, and professionalism being just the start.

What ever happened to the "No Problem" approach that was taught by my two mentors? If the client has a problem, offer an apology where needed, and take a "No problem, we can fix this" approach.

Not all of my clients could afford a $400.00 package. That didn't make them second-class customers in my opinion.

Misunderstanding or miscommunication? No Problem. Let's fix it and make YOU happy.
Don't like the images? Well, I offered a 100% Satisfaction guarantee; If you didn't like your portraits, we would reshoot with a different Make Up Artist, Photographer (Or I'd do it personally, and inform them who I was in the Company) or BOTH. "We'll reshoot you until we get it right, or until you are sick of us and want a refund".

Even 10 years later, I feel I have to apologize for the problems people encounter with GS.

I know this sounds self-righteous, but I left that company due to a conflict of interst and ethics. Specifically, because I possessed them.

Be careful.
Read the fine print.
And you CAN get a refund. You just have to be willing to take it to the top.

Again, my apologies.

J
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Jessie
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Mar 27, 2007 11:03 am EDT

After having portraits done this past weekend at Glamour Shots in Natick, MA I can completely understand the frustrations of the previous poster.

We arrived for a 4pm appointment and luckily there were no other customers at the studio (which should have been a sign, now that I think of it). I had planned a family session with only my daughter and I getting "makeovers". My first impression was that all of the employees could not have been older than 18. The "professional" photographer was no older than 18 herself and not at all a professional photographer. The store had loud and obnoxious rap music blasting throughout my session. First, my makeup was applied right over makeup I had from that morning and I had to ask for changes several times. Our "makeovers" were rushed and done within 15 minutes.

I was not given the option to look at and pick my pictures there because the store was closing which I understood. They made an appointment for me to return the next day... no problem there. When I got to the store the next day, I was very disappointed with the pictures taken and extremely shocked to learn that a picture package was going to cost me $2300 before any "touch ups".

Prices per sheet are about $45 each and it is the basic 1-8x10, 2-5x7's, or 8-wallets. NOT ALL THREE ... JUST ONE. Want the "Glamour Touch" to cover up those blemishes, it's $30 per face in the picture. In my case, it would have cost me $120 for the "Glamour Touch" plus $45 ($165) for ONE 8x10 family portrait.

This place is a total rip-off. They are not professionals by any means. Watch out for the absolutely "no refunds" line. Don't pay for anything unless you are absolutely sure you want it.

I will definitely be filing a formal complaint and will make sure I get my pictures re-done.

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