Complaint Review: Sears Portrait Studio

it was posted on their yahoo message board. check it out at yahoo enter cpy message board and click search. you will see THAT IS THE ONLY REASON WHY YOU GOT YOUR MONEY BACK. i was trained by that company how to "legally" rip people off. phrases of the dms that they would use is "customers dont know what they want, they dont go into a store to buy a red shirt" or "just hide the coupon and make sure you dont give it back to them" oh yes or my favorite "you are not allowed to show them natural photos at all" yep those are just some of their rip off lines...my advise...DONT GO THERE AGAIN

The Sears Portrait district manager finally contacted me after nearly 4 months of calls to the Sears district manager. She apologized for all the run around I was given, for the portrait managers actions on my issues, and was unsure why I was not given her name and number to contact from the store manager from the very beginning. I received a refund for the entire purchase.

As an ex-employee of Sears Portrait Studio (CPI Corporation), let me tell you, you are going to have a hard time getting a refund. The company went to a no refund policy about a year ago, but the studio is not supposed to let customers know this. Nowhere in the studio can you post your refund policy, without fear of loosing your job. In defense of the poor associate who waited on you, I feel her pain. The staff in these studios (I was a studio manager) is overworked and underpaid, and expected to shoot each sit in 15 minutes, and then has a requirement for an "average sale per customer" amount that is very high. It doesn't matter if the company puts out a thousand coupons that says it is one price, it is the associates "job" to talk you out of that coupon and get you to spend more money. If they consistantly fail to do this, they are terminated. I am so sorry you had this trouble. Most of the staff in studios love their jobs, love taking portraits and being a part of your family. But there are new policies in place that prevent the staff from always doing what is right for the customer. I know this for a fact, that is why I am an "ex" employee.

As an ex-employee of Sears Portrait Studio (CPI Corporation), let me tell you, you are going to have a hard time getting a refund. The company went to a no refund policy about a year ago, but the studio is not supposed to let customers know this. Nowhere in the studio can you post your refund policy, without fear of loosing your job. In defense of the poor associate who waited on you, I feel her pain. The staff in these studios (I was a studio manager) is overworked and underpaid, and expected to shoot each sit in 15 minutes, and then has a requirement for an "average sale per customer" amount that is very high. It doesn't matter if the company puts out a thousand coupons that says it is one price, it is the associates "job" to talk you out of that coupon and get you to spend more money. If they consistantly fail to do this, they are terminated. I am so sorry you had this trouble. Most of the staff in studios love their jobs, love taking portraits and being a part of your family. But there are new policies in place that prevent the staff from always doing what is right for the customer. I know this for a fact, that is why I am an "ex" employee.

As an ex-employee of Sears Portrait Studio (CPI Corporation), let me tell you, you are going to have a hard time getting a refund. The company went to a no refund policy about a year ago, but the studio is not supposed to let customers know this. Nowhere in the studio can you post your refund policy, without fear of loosing your job. In defense of the poor associate who waited on you, I feel her pain. The staff in these studios (I was a studio manager) is overworked and underpaid, and expected to shoot each sit in 15 minutes, and then has a requirement for an "average sale per customer" amount that is very high. It doesn't matter if the company puts out a thousand coupons that says it is one price, it is the associates "job" to talk you out of that coupon and get you to spend more money. If they consistantly fail to do this, they are terminated. I am so sorry you had this trouble. Most of the staff in studios love their jobs, love taking portraits and being a part of your family. But there are new policies in place that prevent the staff from always doing what is right for the customer. I know this for a fact, that is why I am an "ex" employee.

As an ex-employee of Sears Portrait Studio (CPI Corporation), let me tell you, you are going to have a hard time getting a refund. The company went to a no refund policy about a year ago, but the studio is not supposed to let customers know this. Nowhere in the studio can you post your refund policy, without fear of loosing your job. In defense of the poor associate who waited on you, I feel her pain. The staff in these studios (I was a studio manager) is overworked and underpaid, and expected to shoot each sit in 15 minutes, and then has a requirement for an "average sale per customer" amount that is very high. It doesn't matter if the company puts out a thousand coupons that says it is one price, it is the associates "job" to talk you out of that coupon and get you to spend more money. If they consistantly fail to do this, they are terminated. I am so sorry you had this trouble. Most of the staff in studios love their jobs, love taking portraits and being a part of your family. But there are new policies in place that prevent the staff from always doing what is right for the customer. I know this for a fact, that is why I am an "ex" employee.

My experience is go to "small claim" and sue them for the money.
Their claim less than $5,000 , then you and sears will go to mediation.
If mediation doesn't work, then the court will work for you.
Dave from Florida

First of all, I am a studio manager in Florida. I would like to apologize for the associate that serviced you. He/She should have been very professional no matter what. The associate should have known how to handle the situation at hand and if they were not capable, they should have called in another associate or moved some appointments or walk-ins around so they could service everyone with equal attention and professionalism. This happens in my studio sometimes and I train my employees never to try to handle too many tasks at once because they might forget something or someone, in turn, not providing exceptional customer service.

During busy times, it is sometimes necessary to have the customer return to purchase their portraits so they can be given the attention needed to give them everything they need. We like to give our customers our full and undivided attention as best we can, providing the circumstances.

The coupon you brought is what is called an "upsell coupon". It is a coupon designed to get the customer's foot in the door and help with cost if they need many portrait sheets for their session. This coupon stated that the sheet price was $2.99 after the purchase of 8 sheets at $7.99 per sheet. If the 8x10 that you chose was changed in ANY way from it's original raw image, it is an enhancement. The enhancement fee is $7.00 per sheet. This should have been discussed with you. If it was not, I again am sorry. This makes the original sheet price of $7.99 to $14.99 for each enhanced sheet. There are in-studio portrait collections designed for those who love the enhancements and would like to use them without paying the extra cost. You cannot combine the coupon with them but in some cases, it tends to be cheaper anyway.

"Having trouble entering it into the register" is not an excuse. The employee made an error there and should have corrected it right away if not upon the time you picked up your portraits. The associate cannot provide a refund unless the manager approves it. I have a question-did you remove the portraits from the studio at any time when you picked them up. That would be the reason for the refusal of the refund from the studio manager. The associate was right in that Sears Portrait Studio is a VENDOR of Sears. Not affilated with the company. Our refund policy is much different due to the fact that we cannot resell the product produced for the customer. I cannot sell pictures of you and your child to Mr. Jones and his wife. This means that we have to make the best judgement possible in order to decide when and who to refund and for what reason. The store manager in Sears may have an opinion on the situation but cannot do anything to enforce it what so ever. He/she has no power over Sears Portrait Studio and can only talk to the studio manager about the situation and what he/she spoke to you about. He/she might want to know the course of action the studio plans to take but can't take it any further.

I'm not sure how much you paid since you have so many different totals in your memo. I do know that if you would have read the coupon's fine print, you would have seen what it requires. I hope you don't let this experience turn you away from Sears Portrait Studios in the future. I know that never happens in the District we work in and I know that those issiues would have been addressed quickly and with your satisfaction in mind.

If you have further problems or concerns, please don't hesitate to contact our customer service department. They are there for you and DO return phone calls and contact the studio quickly to resolve any situation very quickly. 1-866-292-4949

HOW MUCH were you overcharged for these "poor quality" pictures? First you state you paid $160, then $170, then $300. Which one is it??

I am questioning whether or not you were actually overcharged on your first visit there, as you still don't seem to know how much it should have cost.