Walmart review: Poor customer service! 196

I find it difficult to believe an adult reacted in this manner. Was there no provocation on your part?

Customer service witnessed this scene after it escalated (via your phone) but what they didn't "Hear" was how you treated Mary prior to this, over said .77 cents. This could’ve been easily avoided by comparing your receipt, to what she had in the computer. Why wasn't this done? And Mary is correct, in that computers don't lie, people do.

Since there were other witnesses present in the studio at the time, I'm sure they will shed light on your behavior as well as Mary's. The truth is generally 1/2 of both sides. All they have to do is pull the security tapes to see this entire situation unfold.

You mentioned that you've been going to these studios for 11 years, obviously without incident. Therefore this situation is an isolated one. How can you blame the "Whole" over one bad apple? There’s a simple solution to this. Don’t return to that particular studio.

As for wanting an apology from Wal-Mart - Picture Me Studio's rents space from wal-mart, and are not a part of the company. Therefore they have NOTHING to do with this situation, other then the lending of security when needed. (As you’ve seen) This is only done when one feels threatened. Why would Mary of felt threatened?

You've received an apology from customer service I'm sure. Also you will be receiving both pictures that were missing (Lab error) as well as your refund. What I don't understand is why you "X" out the receipt, what did that prove? But more importantly, what more do you expect from this company? You’ve been compensated.

I’m sure Picture Me Studio’s will launch an investigation into Mary’s behavior, and your treatment. They will resolve this issue one of two ways. They will fire her, or she will be written up. That all depends on the tapes, and witness reports.

I too have had a terrible time with the studios, Its been almost a year and i still to this day have not received all my pictures that I had to reorder and every time you call its another excuse.. And it does no good to call the corporate customer service because they also lied to me and said they would send coupons, etc.. and again almost a year later and nothing... I do not recommend these people at all and I made my opinion about them clear to others in the area..

What coupons do you have out or sales things like that or enter something!

It's not me to sit around and complain about business's/employees but when I read the above article it was a lot like my experience with the picture me employees. I arrived on time to my appointment, the lady photographer was training a new employee while my husband and I sat and waited for 45 minutes! they sat, laughed and chatted most of the time. They acted very unprofessional, at one point the photographer even picked up my purse that I had sitting on a chair and asked the other girl if she wanted to buy it, trying to be funny. I thought it was just strange. I wont be going there again.

I am sorry, but how cheap are you when you have to call customer service over .77 cents? Get a life!

I just had my son's pictures taken today for Christmas and Halloween. The lady who was taking the pictures seemed to be a bit frazzled, since the person in front of us was having a very difficult time getting her child to cooperate to have her pictures taken. I offered to let the little girl watch my son have his pictures taken, so she wouldn't feel so afraid.

The photographer checked with the lady, and she agreed. My son's pictures came out wonderful, she made him smile really easily, and asked permission to put a hat and scarf on him, and to use certain props (my son is 9months old). She was very officiant, and we were done with the pictures in about 15 minutes.

Another lady rung up my order, and the little girl went back to have her pictures taken, and got some great shots as well. The last time I had professional pictures taken it was at the Picture People's and they did a lousy job. I defiantly liked the job they did at picture Me much better. They weren't as pushy with the sales, either. My pictures will be in in about 2 weeks, and I will make sure that I get all of my pictures.

And I do find it odd, that someone would be so upset of such a little discrepancy of only .77 cents.

I too have had a horrible experience with that company. On May 8, 2007 I brought my daughter to the studio in Avon mass to get pictures done in her first communion dress. We paid in full that day 169.00 for the packages that we ordered. On the first visit back the pictures were unentered and had a black strip going through them. The girl was suppose to reorder them, well needless to say they were never ordered. I now deal a girl named colleen who just pretty much gives a great song and dance. She was not helpful, very rude to the point that on my last visit to the store which mind you was the 7th time I have been back trying to get my pictures, she informed me I was holding her up from going home to her son. The store manager Maureenm was appalled at her behavior and rude manner that she also asked for her supervisors telephone number she told us don't bother calling her she will never call you back which she has not. have called customer service, the corporate office and whatever extensions I was transfered to. Here it is October 27, 2007 and we still do not have my daughters pictures or an answer to where they are. So beware of the studio picture me they are the worst studio to deal with!

I was recently at the Lafayette, IN location for my daughters yearly birthday pictures, and I was so upset. We have the children's pics done every year and our family pics too. We are good, and loyal customers. I have noticed a lot of new faces, and maybe thats the problem. We had a scheduled appt, but when we got there they weren't ready for us. After about 15 mins my daughters had to use the restroom, I let one of the girls know and
took her. When we got back they were still not ready. We had to cancel our dinner reservations that night because we waited at the portrait studio for 45mins. Im sorry but that is quite ridiculous when you have a scheduled appt. When my daughters pics came in, again I was upset. Some of the extra sheets went the ones I had ordered, but her birthday is Sunday and we plan to hand them out at her party, and the re-order would take to long. I think what upset me even more was that we never received an apology, a discount, or anything. I just wish people would train there employees to be a little more courteous and remember if it wasn't for the customers, there wouldn't be a business. The employees seem very immature, and uncertain of there jobs. I really wish the situation would of been handled better, But we have decided to take our business else where for our family pics and my sons birthday pics. I think its time for a change.

I recently had a difficult experience at a walmart portrait studio. My reasons for being upset involved to much pressure from the staff on my 21 month old to take too many pictures when she does not have the attention span for that at her age. I have a hard time understanding why this woman would make such a big fuss over a few dollars. If these are really the kinds of things that people get upset over perhaps they should take up a few more hobbies.

I just had a bad encounter yesterday. My daughter is not good with strangers and the two employees that work at Picture Me in Gaylord were not kid friendly at all. We ended up going into our appointment late because of the one ahead running over on time and we were done before the end of our 1/2 hour session. I was disgusted when the photographer was snapping pictures of my crying child to use up the film and then once the film was gone she was like "ok thats it". We had four pictures snapped, three of which my daughter was upset in. Then to add to this I had a 20% off coupon and the lady told me to save it for when I buy a bigger package. I told her I wont be back before it expires and she still failed to honor it. I am not happy with the customer service at this studio at all.

I also had a problem at the store in New Castle,IN. I took my grandson in to have photos done and was told that they were out of film and the man said it was his first time alone and he didn't know how to change the film. I was told someone was coming from another store and I should come back in about an hour. I came back two hours later at about 4 pm and no one was in the store I waited for about 30 minutes and walked around Wal-mart came back about 20 minutes later still no one was there. I think either they should train the employees better or get people who have some experience with cameras.

As an employee of Picture Me... I would like to apologize about the mishaps that you have all experienced. Not everyone in the company acts this way and most are very professional and responsive to customer needs. All studios are required to take 7 saved poses that includes the one you are having done for your introductory package. I apologize that it takes a while and if you child seems upset or it is not possible to get all 7 than the representative should have made the exception or ask for a reset the appointment after the child had calmed down enough to get them to smile. The training of the employees is a long process because there is never the same situation or day like there is with any other job. Yes some need more guidance than others but please keep in mind you were also the new person on a job just like we are.

Please do not let one bad experience destroy your faith in others. I am sure there may be another studio in that district that you may be able to go to and have a wonderful experience and photos done at.

Sincerely,
Employee.

I didn't have any problems with the wal-mart studio i think they where sweet, my daughter is ten months old they where very patient and playful with her and the pictures turned out great, THANK YOU PITURE ME! STUDIOS!

I have been getting pictures taken at this studio for almost 6 years now! My son is 9 months old and I get his done once a month. This month after she took his pictures and I bought the introductory pkg. she(studio manager) would not let me order single sheets, she said that I had to buy the $60 pkg. in order to purchase separate sheets. I have never heard of that in my life! So I called customer service, they said that I am aloud to buy sheets. Went back to picture me. She still would not let me. She treated me like I was and idiot, she was smart mouthed, and I would not go back there and let someone like that around my children again! For her title being a store manager, she definetly has no place in customer service!

I deal with costumers like you all the time and they make a big fuss about nothing just like you . Get over yourself you obviously have nothing else to do but sit on your butt at home and complain about how walmart owes you .77 cents and make a huge fuss, you obviously dont get enough attention!

Well, up here in anchorage there is two walmarts, and since it is a 4 hour drive to there, I had made an appointment with the lady at picture me studios. I asked her where she was, she said at the a street walmart in town. I was like, ok, so we will get there a little early, and have them done in thirty minutes, tops. Show up, 10 minutes early, and the appointment is at the other studio. So we have them call the other studio and tell them that we will be there in 10 minutes. Show up on time (mind you) and their three o clock has shown up 5 seconds before us (our appointment is at 1:30, and it was 1:30). I could not believe it! The lady completely ignores the fact that we were her 130 and goes and starts taking pictures of the 3 o clock family which is all teens and adults! She said that she would be with us in just a minute, and I have twins. They get only about three cause it is their nap time. And we wait, and wait, and wait. one hour goes by, and my girls are screaming the whole time, and ruining the studio. They are two, and they are terrible when they have to wait. We wait another thirty minutes, and our girls have driven some of the other customers away because they said that they didn't want to be where they treated kids the way that picture me was treating ours. Finally my husband packs up our belongings, and starts to go, and I said wait a minute. I asked the lady if there was someone else who could help her out, since there was four other customers besides us. She had me pass a slip of paper around to each of their customers, and have each of them fill it out. I then call the other lady "Kay" who was on lunch break. I started by saying that I understand that she is on lunch, but I would appreciate it if she would come in and take the pictures, so that we could leave. She said she would see what we could do. So finally at 326 did we get our pictures taken, when we were the 130. We waited just shy of 2 hours for these pictures, and then they got mad when we asked if we could have them mailed, cause we don't go up to anchorage often, and we bought the stamps, if they could mail them it would save us a trip. That was two months ago, and we still haven't seen them, and have called and asked about the order status, and they said that it hasn't been order yet. Oh well. I guess that shows what walmart is capable of!

I just had to comment on Amy J's comment... obviously biased and probably a friend of the BAD employee. Give me a break! People in the service industry should realize it is their job to be accommodating not rude, obnoxious, and ridiculous! I would expect an apology as well.

I think it is ludacris and juvenile to conduct oneself in front of one's children is such away. Or in front of anyone for that matter. It was only 77 cents for crying out loud. Maybe it was tax? Maybe your original "receipt" was just an estimate. It couldn't have been an actual receipt anyway, since you hadn't paid yet. I've had 2 session done at picture me. One when my son was 1 week old and one when he turned two. The first I was rather disappointed b/c there were no ideas from the employees on which props or poses to do. But this last session went very well. There were different employees each time. I figure people will usually treat you the way you treat them. There is not way that you simply "told her to talk to another customer because you were on the phone" I'm sure you screamed and yelled and rather rudely and explicitly told her off. And this probably why she reacted in the way she did. Have you ever been on the other side of any customer service job? Sure the customer is "always right" but when the customer is an ### it's hard to be polite. It sounds to me as if she was trying to do just that until you so politely asked her over and over to stop talking to you.

I, too, have had a bad experience with the portrait studio. I had 3 portrait packages taken. Mind you the two of them were my kids pictures for school, and my other one was of my two kids and my Nephew. The one of the three are for Grandma, for Christmas!

Now, I got them taken on the 10th of November...3 weeks later... I still do not have them. They were to be back on the 20th. So I called, with the price of gas, I was not wasting the trip up there, to see if they were in. I got a song and dance story from an employee, to call back on the 21st. I was patient at that point. So I called back on the 21st, and you will not believe it... now another song and dance. She told me to call back on the 23rd. I was starting to loose my patience. These are school pictures and important pictures for my Mother... I am not getting any answers. So I hung up with that employee. I don't call back on the 23rd, I wait until the 24th. I not only get through to a person I get the manager...which you'll never guess ANOTHER song and dance. She then tells me that she would give me 40% off the next order. I assured her that there won't be a next time. I am going to pay the extra money to get my pictures and order that same day. This time she assures me that there was a computer glitch and that they SHOULD be here on the 26th...I told her that for the companies sake I had better receive them. I told her that if they are not back I WANT MORE!

Here it is the 26th STILL no pictures. I spoke to the regular employee she could not find my 3 packets. I told her that I wanted the manager. I waited with static and paper crunching for 12 minutes. Finally, the manager got on... The same one that I spoke to on Saturday. I told her that I wanted answers, and I wanted them now. She told me that she did not know where my pictures were. (I am the only customer that had not received the pictures, with in the 2 weeks. ) Had she have done the research that she should have maybe I would have had some type of answers on Saturday.

Now with my blood at boiling point, she states that she does not see where they went to the lab. That must have been the glitch.. she did not say that but that is what I am guessing. I asked what she was going to do for me her dissatisfied customer. They offered me the disk of the pics, What good is that? I want then printed out and they cannot be "Printed" off the disk. How is this helping me? I suggested them copying them to a disk and them printing them out on the digital photography. She told me that it would be too much money to fork out. I suggested that maybe that would be her other option... She did not like that too much.

She then says that she is going to give the pics to me for free... only if they can find the darn things can i get them free. I told her that I wanted them to be FED-EXED to them and they better be there by the 28th. I have things to be mailed out of town and I want my pics. This being said she hangs up and says she will see what she can do... when they call the lab they are on hold for 2 hours. I suggested that it would be in her best interest to be on that phone for the 2 hours and find my pics immediately. She only has email to communicate with the lab... Who ever heard of that? That is totally outrageous! I NEVER heard of only email no PHONE ##.

However, I, the customer, have a customer care number. So I call the number, was on hold for 20 minutes with the [protected] number just for the guy to tell me that the manager did what she needed to... there was NO supervisor to talk to and he was rude and inconsiderate. He would not give me his last name and the supervisor. They don't have a supervisor in customer care, again who ever heard of that? I asked again for his name, he would not give it to me. His name is Brandon at extension 5824. He has my full name phone # and address, why he could not give me the initial is beyond me. I work for the government and I am allowed to give my full name. I guess that the whole thing of them not finding my pics was what I was more upset about. I asked how he was going to resolve the situation. He told me that he would not help me because being that it was customer care and all who would have expected any help you know?! He was going to email the manager and they would get back to me within 2 days.. NOT good enough. They better find and deliver my pics sooner than later or not at all.

This is a nation wide company that sits right in Walmart stores. I will not EVER get my pics taken here again. I will spend the couple of extra $$ and get them taken and printed out right then and there.

I don't know if I would have made a stink about the .77 cents. Your receipt should be right and paid for before you leave the sitting. I don't know why they would charge you an extra .77 cents. But seeing that you were charged the money and that your package was not right that would have been my gripe and then the .77cents after all that. They could not even get the package right, let alone the price of it!

I , truly am not a person to complain, but this is a poor way to run a business. Had the business been conducted right in the first place, maybe my pics would be here and ready to be mailed out.
I will update and post what happens on the 28th.

I hope that others don't have this situation... It really stinks!

I'm not sure I would have made that big of a deal over $.77 but it's the principle of the matter. I have dealt with Walmart picture studios before and I have found that they tend to hire very unprofessional people. I have dealt with people who have no patience with children. It's like "hey, if you don't have the patience, find another job". They are getting PAID to provide the service, they aren't doing it just to be nice. Oh and most of the "photographers" take pictures like a 5 year old. I don't use them anymore.

I too have had my fair share of problems with the portrait studio in Walmart. But about your problem.. I see a couple of problems:

1. Was it really worth it to have such a commotion over 77 cents?
2. You wouldn't let the rep talk to Mary over your cell phone but yet you sat there on hold waiting for her to call the store? Where is the logic there. You spent more daytime minutes and battery use on hold than if you would have just handed the phone over and let them discuss the matter.
3. Why should you receive a full refund for work that was performed? That's not right. Now if you give the pictures back then yes, you should be entitled to a full refund. But you can't get something for nothing.

Just my two cents on the matter.

If you are so upset about the service you are getting... get this. Picture me and sears are the same company. Employees are trained the same. So get over yourself talk to the customer service manager and get on with your lives.

Thank you.

I can not stand the picture me company. They put you on hold forever and never send you all the pics that you paid for. I will never use them again!

I work at Picture Me Portrait Studios and dont think people realize that when someone has a problem with their pictures or they want a refund their is nothing we can do at our studios until we get ahold of customer service.

As to a long wait when you have an appointment schedulded, realize that we work on "baby time" and not real time. At the studio I work at, not nationwide, I can not speak for all studios, we all have at least some kind of outside photography training(I am a photo major right now) and we all want your pictures to be the best they can be, there should be no set 30 min sessions because all children are different. Some children could take 15 min to do all 7 poses and I worked on two children for an hour last night because they were the last appointment for the day and they had twin newborns.

We are also in the process of every studio being switched from film to digital and as such differenet studios are owned by different companies. As for the lady whos pictures are missing still, computers do make mistakes, nothing in this world is perfect and be appreciative that you are getting the pictures for free even if it does take a little while longer. Everything that arrives in the studio should be FedExed and we print nothing off in our store, if something happens to the pictures we normally only do a reshoot or we give you a 50% refund and you get no pictures(Sears policy)

And yes, digital studios are owned under the same corporateion as Sears

I don't know about $.77, I understand it being a mistake and wanting it to be fixed, but to throw such a fit over that little, if I was the lady this lady was dealing with I think I'd have a bit of an attitude as well. Some people have gone to battle over a lot more then $.77. I just went to Picture Me at the walmart in Banning, I had a good experience, I picked out the poses I wanted, but when it came time to pick up those pictures, it's like the girl who rung it up did not listen to me at all. They printed out the WRONG pose, a pose that I did not like, I made it clear which pictures I wanted. I wanted to order them in B&W adn the girl told me I had to do it online after I got my prints back, well it's been a week, and I still can not access my online prints. I am in the last stages of my pregnancy, my husband and I took these pictures together, a moment captured in time. I got my pictures, but I want the ones I picked out. Trying to get them to reorder my prints has been a hassle adn a half, I just want my pictures. I am not getting what I paid for, that's the worst part. I paid in full, and I feel like I'm not getting what I paid for.

First of all, computers are not ALWAYS right. I recently took my family to Denny's on a Tuesday night, the night that children eat free. My bill came out to $26 and some change. I took out my calculator, added the items up and it totaled $19 and some change. I took my receipt to the manager, who added the bill and was baffled at the difference, or so he acted. Computer glitch my %##, how else do you think they cover the "kids eat free" campaign?

Second of all, if Picture Me cheats one person a day out of 77 cents how much do you think they are stealing per year? $281.05! Now how about all you piss heads screaming "It's only 77 cents, get a life blah blah blah" write a check to Picture Me for that amount. It's the principle you stupid $hi!$.

Thirdly, Picture Me does not hire professional photographers. They hire remote control button pushers. They do not hire well paid professional photographers, they hire barely over minimum wage trailer trash. They do not hire artistic photographers, they hire people who can half way decently imitate the same poses of the remote control button pusher that trained them.

I feel that every time I have gone to the Walmart studio, they're people are rude to customers and even children. I refuse to go there anymore. Their manager was the worst of them all.

I've had both good and bad experiences when going to Picture me studios, or any other studio similar to it. In fact I have had horrible pictures taken from several professionals around the area as well. We usually go to our regular photographer for all of our family photos, and then go to picture me just to get something cheaper to hand out to people whom we may not be as close to. I think that we need to understand that sometimes they are having bad days, the person that they helped prior to you could've been a real jerk. If the clerk got short with you because you treated her poorly I don't feel that constitutes poor customer services. They are not expected to be treated like crap. Everyone should follow the golden rule...treat people the way you would like to be treated. If she felt she needed to call security it sounds to me like you must have had a threatening demeanor. Whether you were raising your voice hostily or physically threatening her.
In regards to their workers being trailer trash, all I can say is WOW! Have you stopped there? Most of their employees are college students who are just working a part time job to help pay the bills. Whether a person lives in a trailer or not does not make them trash! That is just ridiculous. Some people enjoy working in that setting, regardless of the amount of pay they receive. Don't put all of their employees into the same group, every company has good and bad employees.

I Angel have always went to a Wal-mart portrait studio cause of the prices. But today is another story. We all make an appointment to get in at a decent time. But this is the second time it has failed. I understand to have to wait maybe an additional 15 minutes but when you arrive 30 minutes before your appoinment to be told " Well I am sorry but our computers crashed so there are two families ahead of you would you like to wait or reschedule?" Well if your computers crashed it would have been nice to receive a courtesy call due to the situation considering there are two girls working there and one could have been making the calls. So my husband and I took our 5 yr. old daughter to another place in town and we will make this the number one place from now on., The customer service was so much better and efficent than Walmart. What I do not understand is how many times does this company have to change there name before Walmart decides to get rid of the portrait place all together. Thanks for all your complaints cause now I realize I am not the only one. This Walmart incident happened in Danville Illinois.

I fail to understand the "disbelief" of poor service or quality. You get what you pay for! If you are only willing to pay $7.88 for pictures, what do you expect? If you want quality service and quality...go somewhere else and pay for it. Why would you put precious memories in the hands of someone that charges $8 for a package of pictures?

I recently took my son to Walmart in White Marsh MD to the picture studio. I always have taken my son there, and I am a big customer whom buys so many pictures. It seems everytime I go there, they have new employees. It's gets a little frusterated getting to know somebody whom you think is professional, but they are young people. I was told that since Walmart went with Picture Me, we have the right to choose our own introductory package, until my recent sitting I was told different. My pictures have been messed up so many times, they are too dark, off centered. They have poor customer service, they are always playing on the phone, taking phone calls. Actually yelling at customers, and friends. They always have friends there while they are working, my last sitting someone actually came in and had a complaint about her pictures, she was told to come back, to have them retaken for free. I had my pictures done in 10 minutes, and mind you my son is 1 years old. It takes longer than 10 minutes. I called customer service, I was told I can choose my own package, so now my pictures were supossed to be in on Dec. 3rd, they were not. I kept calling to see if they are in, and they keep telling me to call back. Now when I change my package, I may not have them in time before Christmas, I got them taken before Thanksgiving. I am completely dissatisfied, I am going to Sears!

Wow, I can't believe how ignorant Amy J is. I totally agree with the customer. Bottom line, Mary sounds like a lazy rude employee. I've worked retail for years, and if you are in that line of business you cannot act like an immature little ### like Mary did. It doesn't matter how much the price was off, even if it was just 77 cents, that's not the point! The point is, the customer paid for portraits, she had the receipt, the amount was off, marry should have given her the amount before swiping the card, it's common sense. Mary could've given her a refund or canceled the charge if she had half a brain. That just irritates me how people can sit here and blame the customer, IT"S MARY"S JOB TO ASSIST IN A CIVIL MANNER. "customer is always right".

And also Saralee. You need to get out of Customer Service right now before you pop an artery. CALM DOWN! It's not some little thing here. The customer probably wouldn't have made a "big deal" out if it if Mary didn't start of by being a rude jerk. Do you not understand what CUSTOMER SERVICE means? Yeah, I've been in Customer service for a while, and everyone gets annoying customers, but you NEVER act like a ###ed jerk like Mary, If you do then yeah..get the heck out of that career before you get a nose bleed!

Bottom line, The customer in this situation is in the right and does deserve an apology. How embarrassing. I mean Mary needs to be FIRED!

Oh yeah, and the only reason I even came across this sit (I'm so glad I did) is because I was trying to locate a local smile store's number. The first time I made an appointment at the Walmart Smile Store, He stupid lady didn't even show up. So unprofessional. Especially when the customer has BABIES! So I am not going to contribute to that company in any way.

I to have had a bad experience at Wal Mart Picture Me Studio ! I had taken my 2 girls for their Christmas Pictures on the 20th of Nov! The lady taken the pictures was in a rush... Mind you my baby was 3 months old... She had no patience what so ever and rushed through the session. Now she had no idea how to prop an infant up to take correct and nice pictures she actually made me use the carseat and she threw the carpet thing over it... Ok so I have my 6 year old sitting on the table and my 3 month old in the carseat so in the picture she actually looks like she is laying down... Who wants them kind of pictures when you are going to a professional place to have them done.

Then she is snapping pictures and asks me if i can go behind and hold the baby up... Ok so I did well i couldn't get a good enough grip on her and she was sitting sideways and she just snaps the pictures. Then she gets my 6 year old to sit back up on the table thing and then has her hold the baby..Ok so if she was holding the baby in these pictures why did i have to have her sitting in a carseat for my main package? She didn't know how to make the baby smile at all... wouldn't let me stand close to her to where my baby could see me so i could get her to smile. She more or less chose my pictures for me..Rushes me through my appointment and did a crappy job taking the pictures. Of course I bought the pictures because they were my kids and I wanted holiday pictures of them and being around the time that it is you cant get into any other place.

When my 6 year old was a baby I had great pictures taken of her at the same place... they propped her up right and the pictures came out awesome... as for now since they changed the name and did their make over yes there customer service is crap they don't know how to treat people and they don't take their time... they want you in and out.

I myself will not go back their and have pictures taken again... When my baby turns 6 months I will pay the extra money and go to Sears or JcPenny where they are more professional and get better pictures taken.

I also have a major complaint about Pictureme studio in Walmart. Last weekend all my grandkids (10 ) ranging from 3 weeks to 9 yrs old were visiting from out of state at my house. We spent hours dressing all the kids-loading them up and going to walmart for a group picture. My appt was at 10--opening time-I was first. We get there and they are doing another family.. It was 10:45 when we were taken in. The kids were slowly getting impatient but were very good and the session went great.. The picture came out great.

Yesterday I get a call that my pictures have a huge scratch on them and need to be retaken. I went directly to the store and said there is no way and I want those pictures... My grandkids live out of state..

All Pictureme has offered me is a refund.. They said the whole weekend had scratches on them. How can this happen?
This picture means so much to me and I definitely want it-scratch or not... No one has a answer for me?

You were upset enough to stay there for .77 cents?! That's not worth the time... sounds to me as if there is more to the story. Were you taking your medication as prescribed that day?

Also, the fact that you sat down and wrote this entire account over a .77 cent issue.

I completely agree with you! When they are already taking alot of the money for the pictures as it is! I had my families photo taken there on 11/30/07. We also had an appt & the rude photographer named Kim kept us waiting while she was trying to take pictures of a little kid who did not want his picture taken. After about a 40 min. wait she finally took our photos. Mind you we had all adults in our group. When we finally got our pictures back, every single shot (we had a total of 6) came out messed up except 1 shot. The lady told my fiance who picked up the pics (& we had to drive 45 min each way to get to the studio) that because they were messed up, she gave us our proofs which are normally a $35 value. Well, they were messed up just like the other photos. You could see the top and/or the side of the roll that the backgrounds roll down from. I called back & they said they could either reshoot the pics (like I would trust them) or I could bring my pics back & get a full refund. We settled on a refund. I showed up yesterday to get my refund, they have no money, however they promise me that they will have it by today so I send my stepdad up there to get it (mind you I left the pics there that they had taken) & again, no money! After being promised that they would have it. I call customer service because that is what Kim tells my stepdad is the only other choice we have & they are no help. The lady there named Jenna ( who would not even give me an extension # let alone a last name) very rudely tells me that she can take me check card # & in about 2 days they will have an authorization to reund it back & then the refund takes "5-7 business days". When I ask to speak to a supervisor, she refused & after I said that I had a right to speak w/ a supervisor she refused & hung up on me! I called back & after holding another 30 min. got her agai & again she refused to transfer me. I called back again & got a very nice lady named Sonya however she really couldn't do anything more to help me either all though, atleast she offered & I truly believed that she cared about what was happening & was truly sorry. I will never go to this place again & may even picket outside the studio for a few weeks because it is the principle of the matter. They have my pictures & my money! I wonder if this would fall under a criminal prosecution?

To the person who called Picture Me employees trailer trash. I take real offense to that. I worked at one of their studios and I am not trailer trash. They do not pay minimum wage it is actually over minimum wage. They also train their employees before letting them take photos. The studio i worked at even allowed us to be creative with pictures. They do have a set amount of time that you have to get the photos done in. It is not the photographer that is usually the problem it is usually the customer or the child if that is the person being photographed. Parents have a tendancy to bring in whinny, tired and hungry kids and expect their photographer to make this kid smile. I have even seen people bring their child in when that child was sick. I have even had paents expect me to deal with a child who does not like strangers. Parents need to think about how their child will react at a certain time of day and make their appointment durring the time the child is most likely willing to deal with strangers.

I completely agree with you. I have also had a disappointing experience with Walmart Portrait Studios. I purchased the special packet and had no trouble until I wanted to purchase some of the other shots. I couldn't order them right away, but according to the receipt I had 90 days. On day 89, I went online and my pictures were not there. I called customer service and was told that they could still be ordered over the phone. I gave her my order which totaled $48.38. I never received my pictures. I was told they would arrive between November 1 and 5. I called them on November 15 to inquire about my pictures. After waiting on hold, I was told that the computer was down and they would note that I had called to inquire. They also said that the pictures would not arrive that quickly and if I did not have them by December 2 I should call back. On December 3, I called again, they told me that the pictures had been mailed on October 30 and that since I didn't get them they would re-order them. Picture Me! then called me back because there was a question about my order. I was not home at the time and when I returned the call I was told that a representative would call me back. I never got a call, so I called them again. Now each time I called, I waited on hold for between 15 minutes and half an hour which in itself is not a good business practice. By the time I finally talked with someone I was told that they could not find a record of my order so I just asked for my money back. They told me to send a copy of my bank statement showing the transaction since I had no reciept because the order was made over the phone. I faxed them all the information including a copy of my bank statement showing the charge for $48.38 which cleared on November 5 ( Do companies send out pictures before they are sure the payment has cleared? Because I was told the pictures were first sent on October 30...) Well, I received a check in the mail for $7.29 which is the amount of the special package that I purchased in the first place. I have wasted so much time on hold every time that I call these people to try to resolve this matter. I am extremely disgusted with the customer service that I have received. I also have been a very loyal Wal-mart customer and am very disappointed that they do not have more regard for their customers.

Refer to the above comment by "Professional Photographer"

"Thirdly, Picture Me does not hire professional photographers. They hire remote control button pushers. They do not hire well paid professional photographers, they hire barely over minimum wage trailer trash. They do not hire artistic photographers, they hire people who can half way decently imitate the same poses of the remote control button pusher that trained them."

Hello! I am a studio manager of a Sears Portrait Studio (owned by CPI, Corp., the owners of Picture Me! Studio). Contrary to your belief that employees of these facilities are ALL "trailer trash", I have to speak up for my colleagues and inform you that I do have a four-year college degree in Business Administration, as do most of my co-workers. My employees are college students working up in the world just as I had to do for myself. Thanks to what all I've done, I have a brand new Mercedes sitting out in my driveway (and half paid for) and a nice house. Oh, all the things I can do on minimum wage! How dare you insult us all that worked so hard to have all the nice qualifications and possessions we do have!

Hi, I am an employee at a Picture Me Studio and although I was not involved with any of these issues, as an employee I would like to address a few things.

1. B R
One of your complaints was that you were not allowed to stand in front of your child to make him/her smile. Here at Picture Me, we are not allowed to start taking ANY portraits unless a parent is sitting on either side of the posing table. Our JOB is to get children to smile and capture beautiful memories for their parents and families. We do sometimes need the help of a parent and if both parents or another companion are present, we can ask for that but our first concern is the safety of the child seated on the posing table. A parent has to be seated next to the posing table at ALL times.

2. PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER
This is in response to the very rude and uncalled for comment left by Professional Photographer. Your comment was not very professional. I am a photographer myself and I would never speak to anyone with that type of language. That type of language makes you seem low and disrespectful.
You also mentioned that all Picture Me employees are trailer trash and that we don't know what we are doing. Some may take offense to your remark but I am not one of those people. I personally KNOW what I am doing when I walk into my studio everyday and I admit that some just don't. I myself have seen some pretty unnacceptable behaviors in many portrait studios but not all studios and their employees are the same.

3. COLLEEN K
First of all, accidents can happen no matter where you have portraits made. If you felt that you were not getting the service that you deserved during your session, you should have made that known to the photographer instead of allowing the session to go on. That could have saved you from having to make the often times difficult choice to buy portraits that you were not pleased with simply for the "memories". I actually ask customers to let me know if something bothers them at anytime during their session and most customers will do so. I am not blaming you for this situation at all, the photographer should have known better, I just wish you would have spoken up and let your thoughts be known.

4. JANET C
I understand that you feel you should have been photographed at your set appointment time but you have to take into consideration the fact that the person already being photographed probably had an appointment as well. We work on "baby time" so sometimes sessions do take awhile. If the roles were reversed and you were the customer being photographed, you would end up angry and disappointed with the photographer if he/she began to rush to finish your session and did not capture great memories for you and your family. I think often times cutomers don't think about things like that, that's one reason why we receive so many complaints. I think the customer should always keep in mind that they may have to wait a little longer to be photographed. This happens everyday in every studio of this type, wether it be Olan Mills, JC Penney, Target, Sears, etc. it is always going to be a possibility.

I am very sorry for any inconvenience any of you may have been caused and I ask that each of you who have made the choice to not return to a Picture Me to realize that not all studios and employees are the same and give us another chance. Some employees such as myself are very dedicated to our work and serving our customers so it is very offensive to know that we are all being judged as a whole when it is not neccessary.

Good Luck!