Portrait Innovations
Reviews and Complaints

I went into the studio for an appointment. They did the photo session. I asked very specific questions, so that there would be no misunderstanding. I asked if I selected only one pose, would the CD that came with the promotion package have only one pose on it? The employee replied to me no ma'am it will have all of the poses taken for you on it, but you will not have copy rights, so you will only be able to view them or share them online, but you will not be able to print them. I asked more than once and repeated back to her what she stated to me, to make sure. so at the end of the session the manager and the assistant manager came over and acknowledged that the employee admitted to stating this to me, giving me this information, but then stated that oh well she's new, so that was invalid information, and that the won't honor what she stated, because she gave the wrong information. rather she was wrong or not was not my fault, I do not work there nor do I know their rules, but they should have honored what the employee said that she said it, and gave her more training on the correct information. Then I ordered a canvas, they mailed the wrong pose out, I call in about it, and Rita states to me that I need to bring the canvas that they mailed out back in to the store, and when I do then they will reorder the correct one that should have been mailed to me in the first place. why should I have to waist my gas and time when it was their error. I ordered a package with one pose and everything was suppose to have that pose. I should not have to be inconvenienced any further than I already have, with their errors. I can be contacted at [protected]. Thank you. My name is Nikki Robertson, and my session ID was 0200_[protected]_00048_01. again Thank you.

Sincerely,

Nikki Robertson

My family and I take family pictures every year at Portrait Innovations in Wyomissing, PA. Every year has been wonderful except this year. This year we experienced an extraordinarily long wait time, a photographer that clearly was not prepared with poses for our family of 5, staff that was dressed unprofessionally, no greeting upon entering or apology for the wait time but what was worse was my encounter with the "manager" Uniqua Baly. Ms. Baly was pushy and aggressive had a POOR attitude from the moment we walked in, did a poor job at explaining packages and pricing, became argumentative with me because I wasn't making selections fast enough as if it was my fault that she had the office over booked and understaffed. I had to remind her several times that I was a paying customer and that my family has gone to PI for several years to which she informed me that she had other appointments to tend to and that "EVERYONE comes there yearly to take family photos" as if my money was not needed or wanted. The experience was BEYOND terrible to the point that my family and I left without making a purchase. The best part (sarcasm) is that I asked Ms. Baly for her name and the number of her supervisor and she gave me the wrong number----- When you have to tell the manager of a place how to behave appropriately with customers - that means it's time to get a new manager. At this point, if Ms. Baly, remains employed at the PI in Wyomissing, PA I will take my business else where unless she is thoroughly re-trained in customer service. I'm not usually one to write reviews but this experience with Ms. Baly at PI was so RIDICULOUS I felt compelled to warn the public about her lack of professionalism. Considering the portraits are not cheap - customers ought to be treated FAR better.

I understand sometimes companies dont have many enployees for shift people call out. But customer should not feel the effect of it. Customers should not be put to the side one customer was here waiting since 1p. My appointment time was over 30 mins ago and i received no empathy. Just like your time is precious if im late im penalized if i set appointment i expect to be acknowledged and assisted with service i requested.

Date: August 25, 2018
Kristen Shimp
Mt. Laurel Location

I've been coming to Portrait Innovations for years for family photos. This experience was the first time I was very disappointed, and I seriously thinking of taking my future business elsewhere. There were a number of reasons I was disappointed:
1) When photos were printed, heads and parts of bodies were cut off towards the sides of the pictures. I was offered reprints on some of the photos.
2) The white sheet background was very wrinkled and you could tell my children were standing on a wrinkled, dirty white sheet.
3) The photos were a gift, and it took months to get 3 families together, living in different states, for this picture, and it's not something that's easy to re-do.
4) The price was double what I usually pay, and when I asked if there were any promotions, I was told no, but after checking the website, I saw that are a lot promotions, for much less than $320, which is the amount I paid for 15 photos, only 3 of which were keepers.

I look forward to hearing from someone soon.

Worst experience I ever had at Portrait Innovations. I originally scheduled my appointment for 11:40 on 8/28/18. I called on 8/25/18 to inquire about an appointment on 8/27/18 and was informed they are closed on Mondays. I was then asked if I could reschedule to 1:00 because they only had 2 photographers on Tuesday and I accommodated them. I ended up having a family emergency and called to let them know I would be late. Was rescheduled to 1:20. I was 10-15 minutes late due to traffic and was told I had to reschedule because they don't have grace periods. "I'm thinking but they can make you wait". I only drove over an hour to get there. I stressed to her that I was only getting one pose. I was then informed they must take 60 poses. I asked if I could wait in case someone didn't show up and she said yes. My daughter told her where she lived going North and photographer said where she lived going South (I thought being sarcastic because she iterated she gets to work on time). We don't live in that area and didn't know it was construction on several of the routes needed to get there. She's coming from a rural area more so than city traffic like we were. We sat there 45 minutes while she conversed with manager and customer. Finally the other customer waiting on reprints said go ahead and take their pictures, I'm in no rush and they then agreed to take pictures but we would have to come back another day to review them. We said ok and she took pictures in the first room only. I again expressed to photographer and manager that I was only purchasing one pose and I've taken pictures before and had to wait. They said she had to go to lunch. I said I understood and we could go to lunch and comeback. I was willing to do some shopping and come back later while still in the area. Manager said it would have to be another day. My daughter said she would have to look at her schedule and call back. She only took the day of to get these pictures done. It appeared manager wanted us to come back ASAP another day to review pictures. The same two people that were there when we arrived over an hour ago was still the only two people there when we left. Never experienced any such service like this when taking pictures. The pictures were of my 3 year old great-granddaughter. She couldn't understand why she didn't see any pictures or have any pictures. Of course we wanted to see the pictures on same day as taking them, but we couldn't.

I took my daughter to get back to school pictures and because there was a 19.99 offer that was in my price range I thought it would be perfect, the girl was new an inexperienced and kept asking me for different poses, that is not something I want to deal with. After everything was done we picked a picture and it was okay. Later that week my ex took my son to get back to school pictures and wanted to do the 19.99 package and he was told he could not use that since I had already got my daughters taken. This was ridiculous, in front of my children she was asking how much he wanted to spend since he couldn't do the package. It was appalling. It was two different orders, there isnt any reason why he shouldn't have been able to use that package or any other for that matter. It made me very uncomfortable and my children as well. He now has to find another place to go to, he paid 25 for one sheet. That's crazy we are single parents, on a budget the way we were treated is terrible. I hope someone sees this and changes something. I wont be going back. And maybe the staff needs to be trained better.

On 7/11/18 I took my grandson to get his picture taken. I had an appointment for 11:30 a.m. I arrived at 11:00a.m. I was immediately taken back to get the photos done. At that time informed my photographer that I had a coupon for the $19.99 special. She immediately changed her attitude towards me. She acted very short with me during the photo session. The photo session didn't even last 10 min. I felt as though she thought she didn't have to try so hard because I had a coupon. I have had my children to your studio at least 8 times for senior pictures, family pictures and I have never had such a short session. After the session we went to pick out the picture and she really didn't take the time to show anything and I picked out the picture I wanted. I left this studio at 11:32a.m. with my pictures. This was the most disappointing experience I have ever had with portrait Innovations.

I visited the Sanford location on Saturday 7/7/18. We were taking pictures for our 1 yr old. The service was horrible, and our photographer was absolutely horrible. She was so disengaged and we did have not 1 picture out of over 40 poses. We drove over 45 minutes and these were especially important to us because she was born a preemie and we were using the pics for our family to see her progress. The manager only said I should've asked for a seasoned photographer. This was a complete disappointment.

On Sunday, June 17, 2018, fathers day, my siblings and I took my father to Portrait Innovations in Brookfield, WI for a surprise family photo shoot for the holiday. The evening before our session, I did receive a phone call informing me that the print machine broke the day before and that I would not be receiving my prints same day but later on that week. After the photo shoot on Fathers day, we were told by our photographer that we would receive a call on Wednesday and be able to pick our photos up on Wednesday, 6/20/2018 in the studio. I did receive a call from Portrait innovations on Wednesday stating that our photos were not ready then but would be ready on Friday or Saturday. I never received a follow up call after receiving this call on Wednesday. I called Portrait innovations on Monday 6/25/2018 to ask about update on photos. I was told by a guy that the tech just finished after finally fixing the printer at Portrait Innovations and that he was putting photo prints away as we were speaking. The associate at Portrait innovations then went on to say that I would be "receiving a call in the morning to pick up photos; like for real for real." Tuesday morning arrived and I never received a call. It is now Thursday morning and still nothing...I originally chose to have my portraits done at Portrait Innovations because I love this company and like the option of same day photos as this is the only photo company in Wisconsin that offers this option. I never thought that it would take almost 2 weeks to receive photos and feel that there is a disconnect, disrespect as a customer, and lack of communication with the Brookfield, WI Portrait Innovations Studio. I am strongly requesting a full refund from Portrait Innovations or the full photos taken from our 12:30pm photo session on 06/17/2018 Father's Day as soon as possible.

Had pictures of my great grandchildren taken on 5/16/18. Had a 4 o'clock appointment. They started taking pictures at 5:45. Only 2 people working, they called another in when when one of the original 2 just up and left with a waiting room full. The girl arrived and hurried through our set. Used no props. She didn't crop any of the photos, the disc has background edges, chairs, tables, etc showing. When I received the photos they had blotches on them. I took them back and complained and worker spent hours trying to take out blotches, but left big shadows under the children. I ordered extra books, before they shipped right to my house within 2 weeks. This time I had to call, and call just to find out that they were delivered to the store where I had to make another 45 minute trip to pick them up. I have been a customer at this store for 9 years, sometimes 2 a year. This last trip cost me $450 plus dollars, needless to say I'm not a very happy grandmother.

Hi:

Yesterday I had an appointment at the Fairview Heights Il location. They were having REAL Computer Issues! It was insane the amount of time it took to be able to view pictures. No One Else was even in there - so it's not that their computers were just overloaded.
I went back to get my pictures. On the way home I discovered my CD was Not in my packet. So I had to drive all the way back to ask about it. They could not get it to burn my CD. After 3 or 4 tries they finally said they did it another way - but that none of the pictures were cropped.
When I spend $365.67 on pictures I should not have to make an extra trip back because my CD is Not in with the pictures - and no one said a word to me about it when I picked them up. The CD should also be Quality - NOT just the only way they could get it to burn.
I am very up-set by this!
It would be better to cancel appointments than to do this type of work.
I want my CD Fixed! Or you can refund my money!
Your computer problems are NOT my problem!

You can contact me at
[protected]@travelplex.com

Constance Brauch
204 Renee Drive
O'Fallon, Il 62269
Home Phone : [protected] - After 6pm.

I was in the Wyomissing location on March 30th to get pictures for my sons first Easter. They had a special advertised online and all over the store that for $23.99 you got 33 portraits, a high resolution cd and a 16x20 canvas. I also got a photo book and a calendar so when i went to go pick those items up i asked about the canvas. They told me it wasn't on my invoice but they would order it for me because i got the special. Now a month and a half later i call the store just for them to tell me that i got a special but not the one that comes with the canvas.. so they were running two different specials but only advertising one. And none of the staff members mentioned the whole time i was there that i wasn't getting the special that came with the canvas. Staff members were rude and rushed through our pictures and everything is very overpriced for what i got. I'm not happy with my experience and will not be returning to any of your locations and i would not recommend this company to anyone.

The Syracuse location is horrendous. I spent $700 on pictures and the manager, Marie, rushed us through the entire thing. Never listened to what we wanted. Didn't do half the shots I wanted and had me so distracted because she was getting impatient with my 3 year old for playing with the motorcycle prop. "That's not a toy." She kept telling him and sighing. If you cant work with children, you probably shouldn't be in a profession that you need to deal with kids on a regular basis. This location was all about getting my money, not helping capture memories as the website advertizes. And then they destroyed my products just because I didn't pick them up within a two week time frame, even though the email they sent said to pick them up at MY convenience. I would not recommend this place to anyone. The manager was terrible and cares nothing about quality of work or customer service, just getting all your money!

I was told that the camera's were having trouble and that the monitors for which I reviewed my photos on was too malfunctioning. When the photos were printed out they looked exactly as the monitor showed and were dark. I called corporate Three times to no avail. I called the Mayfield, Ohio location only to be told that they would get back to my (Alisha) to this date nothing has happened. I want to redo the pictures at a different location if possible as that location was not helpful at all. They were short photographers, 3 hours behind and the session was rushed and not an ounce of creativity or enthusiasm about the shoot. This took place Good Friday March 30th at 10:00 am. I want a refund of my money of over $160.00 I will return the pictures.

We made an appointment for our sons first year birthday pictures and we are currently sitting outside of the store and nobody is even here and they open at 9 am. I've called twice and nobody has answered. Our appointment was for 9:10. It's currently 9:15. Are you kidding me?!? How unprofessional. When we came to try for Christmas pics we had an appointment and they told us we still had a 2 hour wait. I will never come back to this place, ever. I am so disappointed.

I scheduled a session for my daughters 13th birthday on her birthday April 6, 2018 @ 5p. Our entire family ordered custom made shirts to celebrate. I arrived at the session to be told there would be a 1/2hr delay. I was fine with that because some of the family coming from out of town was running late. Our 1/2hr wait turn out to be a 2hr wait! Because i didn't want to ruin my daughters day i decided to wait for the photographer. I asked the Manager (George) a couple of days before arriving that i had a large party of about 20 ppl, if that would be a problem and if they could accommodate me. George told me "sure bring your entire family"! The photo session went well with the amount of people that we had. We selected our photos and paid the $350.00. It was well past 8pm and the studio was closing we decided to pick up the photos the next day. We returned to pick up the pictures 4 days later Wednesday April 11th! Unfortunately, our pictures had cut off arms, legs and bodies! We called and told George the pictures were not the best and asked if he could fix them. He said to us "the lady that took your photos is a professional and she did the best she could." I disagreed because for $350.00 we should not have received our package until everyones entire body was in them. The pictures should have never been printed with half of anything or anyone. When George tried to correct the pictures we sat for hrs at a time watching him try to correct, crop, shade and add parts to our photos so we could be at ease. It didn't work! George told us the family picture would have to be taken over he couldn't do anything more to fix it. We had family drive for hrs to capture this moment! My daughter said its no way we could get everyone together again, she took out her hair and we washed the dress. We are stuck between a full refund and my daughters birthday being ruined! We our forced to accept photos with cut off ppl just to satisfy my daughter for her 13th bday with incomplete photos! I will never give this place my business or refer anyone ever again!

I had a horrible experience at portrait innovations in Roanoke Virginia today. We were the first appointment of the day and when we got there the place was dirty. The dressing room was dirty and smelled like a wet diaper had been sitting in the trashcan for who knows how long. We arrived a few minutes early and the girl said "oh you may have to wait a little bit." No big deal, I assumed she was waiting on another employee to get there. No, she was the one who took pictures and was the only one there the entire time we were there but I guess she isn't allowed to take us a minute early. She stopped several times to answer the phone. Not good when you're photographing an 18-month-old and a four-year-old. She did not attempt to pose my children or attempt to get them to smile. This is the reason that I take them to have their pictures done . I was rather disappointed with my selection of pictures and on some of the ones that would've been halfway decent the lighting was not right and the picture was too shiny. When I go to check out I tell her about the special that I saw online for 24.99. Well she can't get it to come up although it is advertised on the website. The advertisement on the website does not have a code like it normally does for whatever reason. She asked me what I want to do because it's my money, not hers. That was very unprofessional as I feel that she should've called her boss or manager and figured it out especially Since it was advertised on the website. I was told that my pictures will be ready in 45 minutes so I go back two hours later to pick them up and they are not ready because the machine "has to warm-up." I'm not really sure why this couldn't have been done before my pictures were taken while she was sitting there waiting for my appointment time. I do not have time to wait around all day as the store is 45 minutes from my house and I'm told that I will be called when they are ready. I get a call at the end of the day and I'm told that the printer is down and I will be called when my pictures are ready. My pictures have been paid for and I do not have them although portrait innovations clearly advertises that you get your pictures on the same day. I realize that things happen and things break but this was a horrible experience all around. I will not go back to portrait innovations. I have used them quite frequently over the past four years since my son was born but that will be the last time. I am so very disappointed .

Terrible! Just terrible. We took our engagement photos here and was there over 5 hours. A lot of people were there complaining about them taking long and having attitudes. The first photographer that took our photos was unexperienced and the pictures were bad. We were asked to comeback two hours later totaling 7 hours to get our pics taken again. The second shoot was not any better. After complaining and calling corporate we were hung up on numerous times and told that our number was being blocked. Ashley in corporate is very rude as well as a girl named Tanisha. Portrait Innovations have no respect for their customers or our engagement photos. We were told that in order to get a refund that we would haft to write a letter and wait for our funds to be sent by voucher in the mail. Considering that we haft to hire another professional photographer and our wedding day is approaching our save the dates are not out yet and my wife is stressing all because of this. I would not recommend anyone to Portrait Innovations. Please save your money and hire a true professional. These are only employees that are given a camera with no proper training or knowledge in focus, lighting, or customer service... My rating is well below 1, I personally rate them at zero... John, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

I made a 5:50 pm appointment for Saturday, March 31, 2018 at the Oglethorpe Mall in Savannah, GA. The appointment was for my 8 month old twin niece & nephew, who had flown into Savannah that day. The appointment was made to coincide with naps & feedings. When we arrived, we were told there would be a 40 minute wait, because they were behind schedule. Fine, understandable, no problem. An hour later asked how much longer. Was told 35 more minutes. I indicated we had already been told the wait would only be 40 minutes. So we were then told, once 1 customer moved to another room, we were next. After another long wait, while seeing other customers coming & going in the room where we were to be next, an employee, Travis, called for Wiggins. I asked if he said Williams (my last name). When he said no, I asked how much longer. After checking computer he said it would be another 35 to 40 minutes. 2 customers ahead of us. I told him we were told that over an hour ago. I asked why bother to make an appointment if you have such a long wait. His answer was, they had 121 appointments that day. Seriously!, each session takes about an hour. There are only 24 hours in a day. There were several photographers but only 2 rooms. I feel my family was deprived of great pictures because by the time pictures were finally taken, the babies were worn out. Our female photographer was good. When I came back to pick up my photos, Travis made a comment to his co worker, that there werent as many "no shows" as expected.in my opinion, they overbooked, hoping people wouldnt show up. Unfortunately, for all of us unsuspecting customers, everyone did.

To whom it may concern, my family and I had pictures taken in your knoxville tn location off of kingston pike. yesterday and I felt like I needed to let you know about my experience. First of all my children are two years old and 3 months old. Your photographer was very impatient and extremely rude and how she conducted business. I asked if i could change my son into a onsie for some single shots of himself because we have no newborn shots of him at all and she acted like it was the most absurd question. She said that she wouldnt have time. It would of took all of 2 min to change him. Most photographers strive for that perfect picture but the photographer that we got yesterday seem like she didn't really care. Several of the pictures turned out blurry. My husband glasses are blocking his eyes, I feel like a good photographer would have noticed this and asked him to adjust it. We only got one family picture because the other one that she took was terrible my husband nor my son was looking at the camwra. also feel like a photographer should be able to handle a two-year-old meltdown and not get frustrated. The lady yesterday was very obviously frustrated with the whole situation and was very rude in the delivery of her comments and her commands. My family and I have taken pictures with Portrait innovations many times and had very pleasant experiences. The pictures that were taken yesterday are horrible and we're taking by an unprofessional photographer. I will think twice before returning to your studio or referring anyone to this studio. The only reason I bought pictures was because it's my son's first Easter and now I have awful pictures to show for it along with an awful experience.

Patience case
200 butler rd
Oak Ridge tn 37830
[protected]
[protected]@gmail.com