Annoyed at JC Penny Portrait Studio

[mommy22boys]

Went to get family pictures last week and the service was terrible. The photographer made zero effort to call the children by names even though I had stated their names several times. She called them "you" and tugged at their shirts to position them. They were all confused and unhappy, trying to do what she wanted but not understanding her just pulling at them. She made no attempt to get our 1 year old to look at the camera at all. She spoke in a monotone voice and would say "one two three" then snap the picture. The picture selection was terrible. She took one- or zero- picture of each pose so most of them, someone was looking away or had a funny face. We got family pictures, pictures of the 3 kids together, 1 year pictures of ds3 and couples pictures for dh & I. Well guess how many pictures we had to choose from TOTAL ------> 14. 14 pictures. There were 4 pictures of the family together, 3 of dh & I, 3 of the kids together which were all awful, and 4 of ds3. Maybe I'm crazy, but I would expect like 100 pictures to choose from considering all the poses we asked for. She didn't even want to take pictures of dh & I. She said "Who's gonna hold your baby while you do that!?" in a really negative tone. Well, ds1 played with him while she took reluctantly the pictures. I guess maybe because we had a coupon for free sitting, free 8X10 & 50% off, she thought we were only planning to get the free 8X10 and didn't want to waste her time. But in reality we spent $100 and would have spent more had we actually of liked any more of the pictures. The only reason we spent that much is because I really wanted the pics of dh & I in 10X13 and we wanted 8X10 family pics for all grandparents and great grandparents. We had planned on buying pics of the kids and ds 1yr pics but they all sucked. BUT seriously even if we would have just wanted our free 8X10, we should have still been treated with respect! Geez.

I gave her the benefit of the doubt that maybe she was having a bad day or in a bad mood. But my coworker went there this week and she had an even worse experience! At least a few of our pictures were decent. The pictures of her 6 month old daughter were terrible. Some were of the side of her head! And not in a cute way!

Thanks for listening!

[amylynne01]

We had a really poor experience there last year. We had an appt for 10 of us (my sisters and our families), and we were called in an hr later. Imagine how thrilled my then 3 and 1.5 yr old DDs were. The pics the photographer took were so bad. There were shadows everywhere, and my DDs were crabby from waiting, so they didn't smile at all. My parents have the pics up in the foyer, and I cringe every time I see them. Maybe we'll get more done next summer once my #3 gets here because I can't stand them!

[Mama Stu]

I quit using Penneys years ago for those very reasons. I love Target studios, they are usually cheaper and take better pictures IMHO

[Macaela25]

It all depends on your location, I think...we had pictures done 18 months ago and they were outstanding.

[jluper7297]

Sadly, there is an advertisement for JCP Portaits on the bottom of your post.

[mommy22boys]

Sadly, there is an advertisement for JCP Portaits on the bottom of your post.

Oh great! But I think it changes.... when I just looked at it it was an ad for igoogle music. lol

[mommy22boys]

Yes, it does change... after I posted that it was igoogle music, it's now Lucky Brand Jeans.

[rebate_queen]

I don't go to Penney's portrait studio anymore for this reason and many others. They kept saying they would do better, and they never did, so I refuse to go back no matter how good of a deal they try to give me. And I had been going there for YEARS since DD was born. Now I go to Sears.........and have been much happier even though I think all of those type of places have room to improve.

[mom2lucas]

Lots of local photographers will honor those coupons for a free portrait etc. My sister is a local freelancer after having worked for a studio for some time. She is frequently cheaper than Olan Mills and the studio in Walmart (our only two chain studios locally). She does on location photography as well as uses a mobile studio. That's really common in my area.

Maybe next time you can check with some of the locals (usually found on Facebook or Craigslist). Many of them are moms just trying to make extra money by using their talents, and most portfolios are loads better than the big chains. Cheaper too!

[bigsweetie]

That stinks

We've had good luck with JCPenney, but it was because we found the ONE decent studio in our area... when we tried a different location they were aweful. Now, we just hire a private photographer who charges one flat rate and sends us the digital images, then we go to www.winkflash.com to print them off. Her sitting fee is high, but worth every penney, and the price we pay to print them is so low that it's about what we would've spent in a studio anyway.... except we're thrilled with the photos!

I'm glad you got at least a few you liked, but I personally wouldn't have bought any from her at all. Just because of her attitude. That would've really pissed her off! I know how it is though when it's close to the holidays and you took the time to get everyone dressed up, etc.

In the future I'd recommend looking into private photographers. You can see their work online so you know their skill level...and there are lots of places to get good prints done cheaply.