Walmart review: poor service! 33

On Feb.17, 2013 i went to the Picture me Portrait Studio at Walmart in Neptune, NJ and i have still till this day not received my son's pictures. I'm so mad i can spit.
This company is the worse and should be ashamed of themselves for taking my money, not giving me my son's pictures and lying to me that i would received them soon.

I DONT KNOW WHAT ELSE TO SAY BUT PLEASE DONT USE PIC ME INSIDE WALMART IN STOCKTON CA MY 1 M O OLD GOT HURT THERE AND YES I AM SEEKING LEGEL SERVICES FAST

Wow ! Talk about horror stories. Well Im not gonna gripe. Im gonna give a couple tips. Pretty much all of us know other people who have gone to take pictures right? Ask them where they went and about their experience. If it was positive, ask who the photographer was. Call the studio and ask for your appointment to be with that photographer. Make your appointment the first or last one of the day. Then the photographer is pretty much all yours minus the interuptions and waiting. Bring your own props. Keep them small ie a favorite stuffed animal, toy, blanket. Never be in a hurry, especialy if you have a baby. They are some of the hardest subjects to photograph, and that perfect picture is gonna take time. Be nice . You would be amazed how far a smile, please and thank you will go. If your not happy with the vibe of the photographer its ok to leave. Try another photographer or studio. Pictures should bring up happy memories, not frustration.

I have no words to explain my frustration. I had the worse experience at picture me perfect studio in Richmond V.A. I would never in life return.

I agree with PictureMe being an awful place to have your kids pictures taken! I have a 7 month old who we have taken to Wal-Mart every month to get the $4.99 package deal. For the first month, we got family pictures taken and spent about $180 on one of the large packages. After that, it was only our son for the $4.99 package. We always use the same girl because she really does well with our son. But, we just can't afford the huge packages each month. We just want good, affordable pictures to put in his baby book. Well, my biggest complaint is that the photographer keeps forcing us to accept the first pose taken as our package. Right on the advertisement for the $4.99 special, it says, "Choose your favorite pose!" How can she then force us to use the first picture for our package? I think this is so inconsiderate. She tried to tell us that 90% of the time, the first pose is the best. NOT! My son took some great poses towards the end of the session, but we had to pay for those separately because she forced us to take the first pose as the package.

My other complaint is that, as a Smiles Club member, we have the option of 10% off our order or Buy 1 Get 1 Free. I went ahead and bought a sheet of 2 5X7's of one of the good poses and my Mom wanted to use the B1G1F deal to get an 8X10 of that pose. The girl wouldn't let us. She said it had to be the same exact pictures as the one you bought. Why do we need 4 5X7's? It was completely ridiculous. My Mom tried calling the main number and they told her that it's up to local managers to decide how those options are offered. WTF? Why wouldn't they have consistant company policies across the board.

PictureMe needs to shape up or ship out!

I am not at all impressed by their rude behavior. I pre-puchased a collage (one for each of my children) and sheduled an appointment. They proceeded to tell me i had to make two appointments on seperate days because they only do one collag per family per day. Remember I pre-purchasedand this was never mentioned. I had kids in the car and I saw I had a voicemail. I thought better check quickly. Guess what it was walmart, their camera wasnt working. I tried to reschedule that was another nightmare. They told me they will not do two aapintment back to back. She then asked me if I was planning on buying a package in addition to what I already purchased. I said no and she said then we can only do three pics in one collage not the five. She said we dont make any money if you dont buy anything else. She was not explaining why I could not make two appointments at once and they I realized it was about the fact I was unwilling to spend more money. She was rude, uneducated and completely lacking any form of effective communication skills. I also had a bad experience at another walmart 30 mins from this one. Selinsgrove and Lewisburg Pa. They should be great for having a job. Some pay is better than no pay. If they dont like the pay scale they are working under than they should do what any other motivated individual would do, CHANGE it. If they choose to stay in that situation than they need to accept it for what it is and not take their feelings out on others (who are paying their salary). You dont want to work for 8 dollars an hour than do something to Change it. Stop being the victim.

I will say that i work for PictureMe portrait studio and I do agree with a lot of the comment left here, and I am quite appalled by some that I have seen as well. I am very sorry that those of you that have had bad experiences with the company have had these thing happen to you. I also agree with some of the other messages that the stores hire some really bad apples, while there are some really great ones too. I believe that customers and employees alike should be treated with respect and courtesy. As a photographer I do try to give my customers what they want after all you as the customer have to hang those pictures on the wall. I also believe that no matter what package you buy the picture should still be something that everyone can be proud of. I come from a very low income family and I personally know what it is like to not be able to afford expensive frivoulous things such as pictures. Yes, our goal is to sell you whatever we can, but I also think that as employees we need to be sensitive to our customers and what they want, need, and can afford. I will always take the best possible picture I can get, because not everyone can spend a ton on pictures. After all, we all want the memories, I know I'm one of those people. My customers mean everything to me and I hope that I can make my customers happy. There are times that cooperate rules get in the way of what I'm allowed to do, but I assure you that if I can find a way to do it, I will.

Ok as for Picture Me being a crappy place to work for I agree. I was sick with the flu and throwing up and because I couldn't find anyone to work for me they wanted me to come in. I am a manager, as a customer I wouldn't want anyone sick working with my child or myself. The place is all about making money. Who isn't? It's the companys poor ethics that is the problem. Picture Me is the same corporation as Sears Portrait studios..all a part of CPI. Corp. The training I received was less than two days and I was trained to be a manager. I have been a retail manager for a number of years and I'm wonderfull with customers. However you have customers who are always out to cheat you. They call customer service and make false complaints in the hopes of getting free stuff. No matter how nice you are you will still get parents who get upset with you because they don't like the way THEIR child smiles. Or if you can't get the baby to wake up and smile. Or if the child will not sit still long enough to get a picture. We put up with a lot. I like my job but not the company or their policies or the horrible customers who make false statements just to get something for free or a job themselves. We truely DO NOT make enough money to put up with even half of what we do.

Well let me start out by saying that i have been a photographer for almost seven years. I have worked at many studios (the picture people, olan mills, lifetouch, sears, jc pennys, portrait innovattions.) and they are all the same their goal is for you to spend as much money as possible. I love my job and enjoy every second i am at work. granted the company dose not always treat their employees right but that is just part of any job. what really makes me mad is people get on these sites and complain about how the photographer could not get their 3 week old baby to smile or how their three year old was throwing a fit and the photographers pictures came out bad. we are there to get you the best pictures possible and that is the key word there. If your child is in a bad mood or Dose not like getting pictures done how can we make them listen to us more than you can after all we are strangers. and yes we want you to spend money because well thats our job. So take it easy on the photographers cause there are some good ones out there and if you help them during your session you will see that you get better pictures

now as for the comapny's well they are all the same. they are intrested in money. Not all because the picture people was the best place i have ever worked, but most treat their employees like crap. we can not call in sick or leave early. we deal with all the complaints under a strick set of gidelines that we have to follow...like no refunds, no free pictures, no overtime, certian props for certian ages. things like that and it makes our job hard to deal with at times. i try my hardest to do everything i can to make my pictures the best i can and have very faithful customers who only come to me because of that. so the girl on here was right just cause you had a bad experience with one photographer in a corporate owned studio dose not mean we are all horriable. you just have to find one you like and stick with them.

as for pictures me i am about to start working there and it is a graeat studio. They have their flaws i am sure just like all other ones but hey when you come in with a cuopon for a $3.99 package and thats all you get or if you come in wioth no cupon and buy$500 worth of pictures it is the same to me. and you would recive the same services no matter what. i would still try my hardest to get you to buy but once again that is my job but i would not snap crappy pictures just cause you are getting a smaller package.

so be nice to the photographers and maybe they will suprise you...

### PictureMe and Marshall

I also had a bad experience at Picture Me Studio in Walmart in Louisville Ky. I made the appointment for 1:15.
I got to my appointment early like they said on the phone. When I made the appointment they said that I would not have to wait long since I had a appointment. I have a 16 month old. So I schuduled everything around this appointment making sure he was feed and had a good nap. and everything else. I'm sure other mom's can relate. Well they did not get to me until 2:15. By this time my little one got tired of waiting so I could not get even one picture of him. Since we had waited so long he got bored and tired. He totally had a melt down. But if they had stuck with the appointment I could have got my Christmas photos and been on my merry way. After a second attempt to get him calmed down I thought I would try just one more time. No that didn't work. The women taking the photo's didn't even apologize for being late for his appointment.

The whole point is when you make a appointment you don't expect to sit and wait an hour before they finally get to you.

I have been to this studio several times and spent alot of money there. I am so disappointed with this service. In fact one of the ladies there I believe was a manager. I will take my business elsewhere. I will let everyone know of this experience and how horrible Picture Me Studio is.

Mrs. Meenach

I have read all of the complaints on here, and can't really understand why people are saying some of the things they are saying about corporate policy and what not.
I took my 10 day old son in to have pictures done, took the pictures in about 30 different poses, and was about to take a look at all of the photos when the nice lady noticed that the computer was acting up. Now after about an hour and a half of waiting/shopping/waiting we left. When I returned, I had to wait til another lady was done picking out her daughters pics, so I had to wait another 30 minutes, but in the end, because of the continuous waiting, the nice employee sold me 2 of the $4.99 packages, and gave me an extra 10x13 free with enhancement.
THEN when I picked up the pictures, we had noticed a problem with the free 10X13 it was the wrong pose, my sons mouth was slightly different between the 2 poses. The girl gave me the ones they try to sell you for an extra $20 FREE. She told me they just throw them away anyways, and since I had such a bad experience with the waiting and now this one lil pose, she wanted to make me a happy customer.
Well I was happy. I received 3 10x13 5 8x10 10 5x7's and so on for $10.58.

Last we we took our son to have some halloween pics done, and decided to get a better package this time along with the $4.99 special, AND the nice lady who worked there went into my original poses from a month and a half ago and let me have some of those poses as well in my 8 photo sheets. How great is that!?
I can't wait to pick them up this week!

ALSO, when they tell you your photos will be in on one date, their usually there a few days before which is very exciting when I can't wait to get them!

So over all with some aggrevation... I received an AWESOME deal. And I WILL be returning again for Christmas photos.

I was treated treated poorly when picking up my pictures. I went to Walmart to pick up my daughters' pictures and the lady had two sets. Instead of lying, I told the associate that I don't think I ordered that many. She sorted the pictures that were in fact mine and said I couldn't have the extras which is understandable. I then asked if I could purchase a few more shots since the pictures were going to be thrown away anyway. She was rude and said they were not "specs" and didn't want to sell them to me. She ended up saying okay after arguing with her. I asked her what she was going to do with the pictures and she said she was going to send them back to Corporate. I decided not to purchase any more pictures because I was frustrated at that point. I left and about fifteen minutes later, I decided to buy them. The lady said no because she had just destroyed them! I will never go back to this studio again. She destroyed those pictures for no other reason than to be spiteful.

this is about picturce me stuido at walamart we have been taking our 8 months old grand son to get his picturce every month and i think they do a wonderful job i love the 2 girls (jen, and cant remember the other gals name )in the circleville, ohio office they take very good picturces and they are teally good they do what i ask them to do we will keep taking all (7) grandkids to them for all of are picturces needs keep up the great work

my first bad experience with the wal-mart portrait studio(apopka florida) was 2 years ago when i showed up for my appointment with 3 small children for pictures and found that the studio lights were malfunctioning so the studio was closed you would think that out of common courtesy that they would call to reschedule, the studio called ahead and sent me clear across town to another walmart to do pictures and was told that they had no one in the studio appointment wise. i rushed the kids back in the car we arrived at the studio to find that a large wedding party had shown up moments before so nevertheless i was there for almost 1 hour before our session started the kids by that time were restless and everything from that point went down hill the portraits were horrible and the employee was in no kind spirits for lending a hand i couldnt believe how many interruptions she had with her cell phone. i did contact a donna davis for a complaint on the matter. she was very cordial with me.my 2nd. experience was this year in july when my nephew came from jacksonville and once again i scheduled an appointment for pictures (apopka florida walmart) and this time the studio was dark at 11:00 and no employees even bothered to show up for their shift!so here i am again another disasterous trip and once again i called the complaint line the lady i spoke to was very apologetic and offered me a complimentary 60.00 package of my choice for the all of the inconvience that it caused me. and that i could take advantage of the offer from then and clear to christmas.so once again the 1st. of october i scheduled another appointment for my grandson the halloween background and a dressing change for a birthday portrait as well i was told by manager kim r. that could only get the add pack free and one 8/10 and 2 5/7 free of the birthday sittting and i was fine with that kim also stated to me that she would have everything at the studio for the october 6th. appointment in writting in reguards to her offer. and dont you know i get to the studio and the employee is scratching her head and has no idea of what im talking about and tries to contact her manager kim and neither one of us could reach her the employee explains the mess to another manager trina and she states that she has no knowledge of any complaint (by my name) and lets me know that the add pack was the only sitting she would give me for free.frustrated and angry i agreed to the holiday add and vigoursley tried to get back in touch with kim after i left her 4 messages and no returned calls i decided to take my grandson to olan mills for his birthday pictures. i will never go back to wal-mart in apopka for pictures and i will be glad to let family and friends know about my experience .in this day and age the way the economy is you would think that (picture me portrait studios) would strive harder for good customer service you cant even keep track of who is who and whos been fired or what.they deffently lost me as a long time customer. GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR BUISNESS>>>>

well.. I am not sure about the care given by the pictureme employees. Nor am I sure about the tudes by the customers.
But I do know this.. Everywhere I have worked I have always smiles and atleast pretended I liked my J.O.B.
It's what pays my bills. I want every customer that comes in to feel welcome. I know how I feel when I go places & yes I can be a real pain in the bum too, but I am a paying customer then. So I do expect to be treated with respect. I am the reason they even have a job. Customers are what keeps business going. Without them You have NO JOB! Never while I am working have I ever talked bad about a customer, or another worker. Thats just ugly and rude! noone wants to hear about that.. and I would hope the employee will lose their job over that. Serious, if you do not like your job, or do not want to work Stay home! It will make life for others a whole lot better.

Those two old rules govern here as they do with any consumer transaction - you get what you pay for and buyer beware. I understand what it is like to try and get pictures taken of children, to get them all dressed up, herd them into a busy store, and hold your breath while they play with all the picture props. But to be fair, the employees are not responsible if your child doesn't want to cooperate. Similarly, you can't predict what they will do either.

I went to Picture Me and spent $54.00 on a package and a few options. When I made my order the employee would give a big sigh each time I turned down one of the options. But come on - who wants to spend $75.00 on a package when they could get another one for $7.50?! Even if only a few photos are the same dimensions and you wind up getting 50 useless 1 1/2 X 3's but a couple of 8x10s it is still cheaper than buying the pictures per sheet. This is a bad corprate pricing policy - they hope to get people in with the special and pinch them with a pricey package. In my opinion, people are not really as gulliable as they assume. I feel sorry for the employees who are caught between bad policy and bristling customers.

When I received the pictures back, they were slightly below average. They weren't the worst I have seen but they weren't the best either. The quality of the photo lab is sub par, the insets on the "collage" that we ordered were not balanced and there were black lines on each side of the pictures. The color and quality of paper was okay.

It is really not worth complaining about simply because of the aforementioned rules. I got what I paid for. I could have taken them to another photo studio and plunked down $250 for some stunning photos and archive quality prints but I didn't. Why? Simply put, I didn't want to fork out that kind of money. I am sure that I am not alone in this regard.

To sum up, we all have choices. If you don't want to spend a huge amount go to a discount photo studio and hope that you get lucky with a few good prints. If you require top drawer photos that are going to be mementos for a lifetime then save up and go to a top drawer place. But don't expect to find Gucci bags at a dollar store. That's just responsible consumership.

I am shocked at the fact someone would say they hate working for this company. I understand in someplaces things are different. But I love working here! I don't know where someone would get that everything is cheap and horrible. I have my own childrens pictures done here even years before working here. They always turn out wonderful and the employees have been kind and treat my family well even if we can only by the minimum package. This is sad and shocking. Please give picture me another chance try a different store or employee not everyone or place is the same and I am sorry to those of you who have had a bad experience.

Hi. I used to work for Picture Me Studios. I just recently left them. They seriously treat the employees like ###. They don't care about the customers either. All they care about is sales. They expect the photographers to FORCE the customers to spend at least 80 dollars. Company minimum average is 80 dollars. That means that every time a customer comes in, the associate has to make them spend at least 80 dollars or they get in trouble. For the other people that work at CPI that posted comments here, I don't know how you can like your job. Maybe it is the difference in the district managers, I don't know. My DM was always wanting me t go work in a different studio and I had to drive 1-2 hours away just to work there. If I said no, she would tell me that I had to because I was a studio manager and if I wanted to stay one, I had to do it. So yesterday, she came to my store and informed me that someone was transferring to my studio and would be promoted to the manager and I would be demoted because this person had worked here longer than me. Along with demoting me, they are cutting my hours down to 15 hours per week. I don't know how anyone could live on 15 hours a week when you only get paid 8.50 an hour. In addition to all of this, I no longer am able to get health insurance and all of the vacation time I have earned now goes away. So needless to say, I quit! These people expect their employees to drop everything and be at their beck and call 24/7 365 days a year. And once they find someone to help them and are no longer understaffed and don't need you anymore, they throw you away like a pile of trash. This is why the employees do not do their job as well as they should. Because they continuously get treated like ###! I hate CPI and I do not recommend ANYONE work there!

I dont know why Walmart ever changed companies for portraits, because along w/ that came inflated prices---w/ the same low-budget employees and same quality pictures in my opinion.

The woman they had working there today when we entered the studio ( which by the way we were not greeted w/ a smile, or any kind of hello'. just tossed a sign in card and told to come back in a 1/2 hour...This woman looked literally and completely 'stereo-typically' like a bar-fly...! no exaggeration. She was quite unkempt and her professional demeanor was non-existant. She looked less than thrilled to be working --at all!...LET ALONE WITH CHILDREN! I mean seriously...Who interviews for these positions? are they that hard up that THIS is what they hire? there arent some tidy-SEMI-professional--qualified individuals out there that would or could work for them?

I'm really upset, and mind you I left this the entire day just so I could calm down over it, , , but nope Im still upset...So...we get back there after a good-healthy 30 mins has gone by, , , take a seat, and continue waiting another 10-15 mins...never told us she would be right with us---nothing...Then these 2 other women walk in---go behind the counter, using the phone, going thru files etc...these 2 looked as miserable as her! ( attitude-wise) I know everyone can have a bad day, , , , , , BUT AN ENTIRE STAFF? something must be wrong, and I know its NOT me after reading some of the previous comments left here as well!...something must be wrong w/ this company, who ever is in charge of staffing!...

So, in the end, we packed up our little family and left and made a straight line for MEIJER----OLAN MILLS STUDIOS-----WHERE WE WERE WELCOMED WITH A BRIGHT SMILE...ENERGETIC ATMOSPHERE, SOMEONE THAT SPOKE TO OUR BABY, AND ACTUALLY MADE US FEEL LIKE WE WERE WORTHY OF SPENDING OUR MONEY THERE! AND LET ME TELL YOU ALSO----THEY DID A FANTASTIC JOB----AND WHAT I SPENT TODAY------ $121.00 ----------------- I GOT WAYYYYYY BETTER QUALITY PICTURES------MORE CREATIVE SHOTS AND JUST GENERAL SATISFACTION...

Wont ever go back to that low-budget krab-joint.

Im so glad I took my money somewhere else!

Thanks!

Walmart portrait studio picks anyone off the street that does not have a child indangerment record and pays then 8.00 and hour to be a photographier do you know that the stock boy in walmart makes more than that! You cannot get and/or keep a good employee off 8.00 and hour. There is absolutly NO training you get maybe 2 days worth of traing then they tell you that they are understaffed and have no help. They leave you after two days of training by yourself compleatly. Walmart will not help you at all, only if someone is injured. Please note that the two days of training you recieve from someone that if best worked there for 6 months, Cause they go through people like underware, who could stick around making 8.00. The only thing the corperate and district and regional managers care about is sales. How can you make these people buy more that the 6.88 special. They could care less about your memories and if you do only buy the 6.88 special they could care less about you cause a 6.88 special only brings down the studio avarage. If you come in and only buy 6.88 they wish you never came in at all.

But trust me they treat their staff just as bad if not worse than their customers, that why they are so unhappy. I know someone that had to fight to get days off when their grandmother died. Someone who had never in a year called in sick.

The best advise I could give you is to go somewhere else to work and to have pictures done. They do a real bad job with small babies(2 months and under) largre groups of children. Be carefull of that seat they put your baby in it is uncomfortable and makes babies cry. Its backing is made of hard metal under that thin cloth. You get what you pay for. Find a small non coorperate Photography company in your area they are the ones that do a good job.

I think CPI overall has to overhaul their customer service, staff and perhaps take these complaints very serious. I went to have my daughters passport pictures taken at studio in Walmart. The pictures came out with a pink hue background. I asked the associate to look at them and told her they would not be accepted because the background was not white. She told me that the background is white. After explaining to her that the camera clearly has a problem and asking her if she understands photography she pointed her finger in my face and told me to get the )(*&)(& out of her store!
Totally appalled and my daughter was very distraught by the comment I called their customer service. After customer service spoke to her they told me that I was the one who was rude!
Again, I sent an email to their corporate headquarters requesting that they provide some sort of training to these associates so they know how to deal with customers.
I have not received an apology. I did go to Fedex Kinkos and that experience was truly fabulous!.

If you want professional photographs taken in a professional, courteous environment this is not the place to go. I definitely will not go there ever again.

I had my sons 6 month pics taken at the Picture Me Portrait Studio in Central, SC. I recently move back to Florida and called to see if they could shp my pic here to my new address. Well that was abot a month ago. Now my pictures are lost and I havebeen calling for weeks to try and get them and they are just giving me the run around. I now know that I will get my sons pics done at JCPennys.

I just want to say that ONCE AGAIN I was DISAPPOINTED in only hearing AFTER I recently had my son's birthday pic's taken & was checking out that I COULD NOT PURCHASE ALL the portraits on DISK ONCE AGAIN like I NORMALLY had done! I was IRRITATED by this same problem awhile back... The Company needs to realize that with the ECONOMY as BAD as it is right now; I personally DON'T think many have $100.-$200. to drop on their children's pic's each visit! I myself made atleast "4 - 6" trips there ANNUALLY. Which unfortunately... AGAIN loosing the Computer disks & hav'g to spend atleast $100. or so to receive ALL your portraits taken... I WILL NOT be going back! I planned on spending around $30 - $40. & instead DID NOT GET MY DISK & had to spend $89. to get all the pic's. WON'T be doing that "4-5" times a year...I CAN ASSURE you that at $100.+ a visit! Who are u kidd'g in say'g the DIGITAL DISKS will be out soon to replace the Computer discs... I'M NOT SPEND'G $100. for COPYRIGHT FYI to receive that so I for one was DISAPPOINTED AGAIN! MORE $$$ WILL LOOSE U "LOYAL CUSTOMER'S" SO I HOPE U CAN PRODUCE NEW ONE'S?

I work for Picture Me Studios, and yes I am deeply upset that these other associates did you all this way. I just wanted to let everyone know that alot of big changes are coming for those studios who aren't yet digital. There are some really great products that we are going to be able to offer once the conversion is complete. Please know that not all associates are like the ones in these comments and this original story. And keep in mind that we do deal with some customers who get us angry and irrate and some associates do let everyone else take the brunt of that others find a way to still be professional. For those of you who think that this is an easy job it isn't you have to have a lot of patience to do this type of work. Not everyone has that. There have been times that I have spent 2 hours with one customer because baby was asleep, or scared or whatever. Please don't get me wrong I love my job I love what I do. Not everyone can say that they have a job that they go to everyday to play. I can. I play with the childen who come in my studio because I know if they are playing and having fun that I will be able to capture the really good smiles. No matter the age I try to get aleast one smile on camera it isn't always easy and I tell my customers there are no guarantees but I will do my best. And I am sure that I have upset some customers in my job, but you can't please everyone this is mainly due to corporate policy. I do make it a point to tell everyone that I photograph that when the pictures are picked up they need to either have the reciept or the persons name who is on the customer information card can use a valid ID. This in my studio seems to be the biggest problem. I have had customers come to get pictures without the reciept and ID and I have to tell them no. This is for the Customers protection to ensure that the pictures are going to the right person. I tell anyone who asks me that this is only a stressful job if you make it stressful. I try in every way possible to resolve customer conflicts and it is true the customer is going to have better success with customer service than the photographer.

As a customer long before I even started working for Picture Me I have dealt with associates whe were rude to me. I had one when my son was just about a year old who took our pictures and my son was getting cranky and crying because he was tired, I asked if I could schedule another appointment and try again another day and she said no we have to do this now and snapped pictures of my son crying expecting me to buy them. As an employee if a customer asks me for another appointment for what ever reason I do accomodate. A very popular misconception is with the walk in customers. Walk ins are welcome but they are worked in between appointments which means you may have to wait. It is the same if you take your child to the doctor as a walk in. I do however try to work all of my walk ins in as quickly as possible, if I see that I can not I then ask if they would either like to schedule an appointment for another day and I have even gone as far as calling another studio and seeing if they have anything available for that day. I love my job and I love what I do and I think that if every photographer loved this job the way I do we wouldn't see these types of problems. Unfortunatley there are those who look at it as just another job to pay bills. We have had a few of those in our studio and let me tell you that they didn't last long. I try to make it a fun experience for not only myself but for the customers as well. By doing this I get better pictures that the customers want to buy rather than feeling pressured to buy.

As far as the comment about the necklaces that was totally uncalled for in my book. We are told that if a customer brings something into the studio that they would like to use as a prop then by all means us it and I have done this more times than I can count. I look at it like this the customer is the one paying for the product therefore if the customer has a specific request why not grant it they might actually buy it as long as it is not harmful and safe for all involved. Saftey is our first goal and we will not do a pose that may cause someone to get hurt. I just hope that our customers who have had bad experiences don't let those bad apples be the cause of using the really great photographers that the company does have and yes they do exist. So if you have had a problem with a photographer by all means contact customer service and let them be aware of the situation, only instead of saying you will never use a Picture Me Studio again try another location with another photographer you may be surprised at the out come because we have some really awesome photographers in this company and the good usually does out weigh the bad.

Hi! I am a studio manager for Picture Me portrait studios. I do understand why everyone is upset with the situations, but I would like to say a couple of things. As i read in the original post about the photographer asking the customer what she wanted to do, I do that myself. I do not feel like it is unprofessional. After all, Picture Me's logo is Let Us Capture YOUR Style. I always give the customer first choice at every detail that takes place in every portrait. It is customized to how you want it done, not just the way i think it should be done. I have gained many faithful customers due to that fact. And in part it has to do with my own past picture experiences. The ones where you have an idea of what you want but no one asks your opinion and you are stuck with their idea of your child. If you don't have any ideas, then and only then do i proceed to the basic routine.
Second of all, the customer service issue. Has anyone called the Picture Me, Corporate Customer Service Line? We have officially switched over to CPI customer service and I will be happy to send that number out to whom so ever needs it. In certain situations, unfortunately, studio associates get absolutely no where calling for the customer to check on the status of their order. I always recommend that the customer calls customer service theirselves (it usually puts an immediate move on things). And the customer always leaves compensated (in my experiences).
And the backgrounds (the ones that fit only 3). They are actually made for an individual subject, two at the most. But as everyone will soon see, all the Picture Me studios are converting to a digital format. So that means everyone will recieve their portraits in about half the time and we will be able to produce better quality images, such as sears, etc. I hope everyone will give it try. I'm excited about it and I know my customers are.

My name is Whitney not to be confused with the Whitney on the 1st complaint at the top of the page. I work for Picture me portrait studios and I absolutly HATE it! Granit I love taking pictures and I love children but this company has no moral whatsoever. They don't care about the customers, they don't care about there employees. They lie to get what they want. When my daughter got sick and I needed to leave early to go and get her they told me I needed to find another daycare. The lab where the portraits are prosesed doesn't try, they don't care how they turn out. I have been there since November and an currently seeking somewhere else to go and work. I love photography and was hoping for a chance to really learn and grow but all this company has done is take away my passion for it. So I wouldn't recomend anyone use them, they do everything as cheaply as possible, everything even down to the paper they print one. So if you have children and you want there portrait made I sould suggest Kiddie Kandids -whitney

I am very sorry to hear that the studios at WalMart are not able to handle the responsibilities of a professional photographer. I have a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in photography and none of the Walmart, Target or JcPenneys studios in the minneapolis, mn area require the photographer's to have any college photography education. It's sad that you all have had such bad experiences, if you or someone you know needs professional wedding or portrait photography.

Please visit my website at:
www.melissazphotography.com

Cheers,
Melissa

I had my 5 grandchildren for a couple weeks in July so I thought it would be great to have their picture done together - I spent $154 on pictures - when the order came in, it was completely wrong and the pictures were horrible. We gave them back and they were going to redo them - it is now February and I am still waiting for my pictures and have been round and round with the Picture Me people - two of the three people handling this have been fired, they have my pictures and I am out $154. We have always gone there to get pictures done and they have always been very nice, but this time, because some thing is wrong on their part, they keep giving me the run around. I have contacted the corporate office by certified mail twice and am still waiting for them to respond. think before you get pictures done at Walmart Picture Me Portraits.

I recently was in the pounding mill va studio. i had christmas pictures made. The management staff and the ladies that run that studio were wonderful. My photographe rwas danyelle she does a wonderful job she took time with my 14 month old. She waite d for the perfect smile . I would reccomend her to any one who has small children. She really is good at what she does. You might consider giveing her a rasie

C'mon a nightmare? Get a real problem.

I realize that the pictures are inexpensive and we shouldnt expect everything that you would normally get at a fancy portrait studio, but I do expect the people working there to be nice and professional. Even people that work at fast food restaurants, who make minimum wage, act better. My experience was at the Morrow, Ga Wal Mart with a girl named Tammy. She didnt seem happy at all to be workingand was rude. I took my son to get his portrait taken as a walk in and she was not busy at all and didnt have any upcoming appointments. However, she still proceeded to tell me and another couple that she counldnt take our pictures for another 2 hours.

I asked why and she didnt have a reason, she just said she wouldnt., so I left. Later that week I went to the Stockbridge, GA location and she was there. When I mentioned to the other girl that worked there that I tried to get my sons picture taken earlier that week without success, she snidely interjected with a "Yeah, I remember You". That was both unprofessional and unneccessary. Such rudeness. Fortunately, I had a much nicer person take my sons picture that day and I still go to Picture Me for both of my sons pictures, but that experience still leaves a sour taste in my mouth. By the way, my older son is 6 and my younger son is 2 and we have been going to this studio ever since they were born. I have another child on the way and will still go to Picture Me for their pictures as long as we get treated nicely. One more ugly incident and I will take my business elsewhere.

I had my first child's pictures taken at Walmart/ Picture Me Portraits. She was 2 months old at the time.

When we arrived at the studio, we were told to sit in the waiting area. While the girl (Ashley) just stood around. No explanation of our wait. Finally after 20 or 30 mins another woman showed up. Apparently Ashley was training her. After waiting so long, my daughter had started to fall asleep!

While the new employee was taking my daughters pictures Ashley sat on a stool and made personal conversation... including the topic of birth control. Not only was I offended but also embarrassed! This was very unprofessional.

Half way through our session, Ashley left... leaving the new employee by herself. She said it was her first day, I could tell. She really had no idea what was going on. When she was trying to show us the pictures to order, she did not know how to work the computer. She tried to get Ashley off the telephone... but was unsuccessful.

Finally we left... and the next day I realized that they had put the wrong telephone number for me. I called the next day to correct it. They said that they would "post a note."

When my husband went to pick the pictures up after work at 3pm, there was nobody in the portrait studio. They had a sign up that they were at lunch until 5pm! A TWO HOUR LUNCH? We live an hour away... and gas is not cheap, but we have to make a special trip back.

I was VERY displeased with the customer service and will not return.