Viva Life Photography, Viva! Life Photography, Viva Photography Photography studio gave us sepia photos when we asked for colour, then wouldn't exchange Subiaco Western Australia
My wife and I received a $300 voucher to use at Viva Photography towards a photo shoot and prints.
The photo shoot was great and the photographer made us feel comfortable. The photos were a mix of casual (with clothes) and intimate (without). No complaints with how we were treated there.
We viewed the photos afterwards in the viewing area with a staff member to choose which photos we wanted to buy. We chose two casual photos and 5 intimate ones for a total cost of around $700 plus the sitting fee of $150. It was a stretch for the $700, but we felt it was worth it. With the voucher, our out of pocket was about $550.
Due to the neutral clothes we wore in the casual shots and the lighting in the viewing area, the casual photos appeared to us to be in colour. In the viewing area, I referred to the two types of photos as "colour" for the casual ones and "sepia" for the intimate ones.
On the purchase form, there was no option to select black&white, sepia or colour. Thinking we were buying 2 colour photos and 5 sepia photos, we paid our money and left, satisfied with the experience.
A week or so later, the photos were ready for collection. My wife picked them up. I was shocked to discover the 2 "colour" photos were in sepia, which I particularly dislike for casual photos and made them useless for what I was intending to use them.
After several phone calls and emails to Viva Photography in Subiaco and Perth (head office), it became clear that they weren't going to exchange the sepia photos for colour photos unless we paid another $80 per photo. They said that the photos were all viewed in Sepia and because we had not specifically requested colour, we couldn't do anything about it. They said they would have been happy to print the photos in colour had we requested it at the time.
As I said, the clothes we wore were neutral, the lighting of the photos wasn't terribly good in the viewing area and we viewed them from across the room. There was no option anywhere on the purchase form to choose colour. Most of the casual photos on display in the studio and in the viewing room are in colour.
Right through our back and forth, the staff insisted that the photos "look better in sepia anyway". That's their opinion, not mine. My wife was quite distressed that we paid all that money and I won't have the casual photos up anywhere because I can't stand them in sepia.
To rub salt further in the wound, a week after our complaint, they sent us an intimate photo (in sepia, which was appropriate), one of the ones we didn't choose, with a message saying they hoped we enjoyed our experience at Viva and would recommend them to our friends. Notice they sent that, rather than one of the photos in colour, even though they were well aware we wanted the casual ones in colour.
My message to anyone getting a photo shoot with Viva is to be crystal clear about EVERYTHING you want. Don't assume that because you view the photo in a certain way that it actually is like that.
Mike
Perth, Western Australia
Australia
3 Updates & Rebuttals
SamanthaGartner
Fremantle,Nationwide,
Australia
Turning over a new leaf
#4UPDATE Employee
Thu, July 28, 2011
To both reportees, and to any one else reading this...
As a company, and from our marketing team, I sincerely apologise for the poor experience with the studio in requesting your images in sepia/colour. Although ex-staff address this post in the past, I'd like to inform you of how this report impacted our business and how we are making steps to listen to our clients and care for them.
We now offer our images in sepia & colour. This has been communicated to all of our studios. You'll even see on our site (not looking to advertise it) that our galleries display both colour and sepia images as examples. In addition to this, our display products in the studio have both sepia and colour images. When anyone goes into our studio now, their images are first shown to them in sepia - only as this is a signature tone and style that we aim for - however, now when requested we can easily accommodate. I realise that this situation is not about what we promote, but our service delivery, and I can assure you that this has been rectified internally with ongoing communication and training in all our locations.
It is my understanding that these clients were contacted by the Subaico studio - if I am mistaken, please contact us to allow us the chance to apologise and talk about your grievence.
To anyone else considering a portrait shoot with Viva - allow us the chance to show you that we can deliver on requests from clients and that we certainly care for you regardless of what you spend - and of course there is no obligation to.
Aaron
Nationwide,Australia
Now is the time to be proactive
#4Consumer Suggestion
Wed, June 02, 2010
I was looking at doing a photography session myself, but after reading the 2 negative reports on here, and seeing the same copy/paste response from the company, I'm not so sure now.
Viva Photography
Subiaco,Other,
Australia
Viva Photography
#4UPDATE Employee
Wed, April 28, 2010
At Viva Photography, we pride ourselves on being one of the best photography companies in Australia. We offer natural unique imagery of the highest quality. Our photographers are professionaly qualified and trained through our specialised training academy. Collectively, our company has won over 50 Australian Institute of Professional Photography Awards.
Our customer service staff provide a friendly, happy service. We are currently placing a strong importance on communication within our company between staff members and clients and the public, always striving to improve.
By experiencing a Viva photo shoot, we have inspired our clients to live a more fulfilled life with better self confidence and self value. Some of our clients have been more than happy to document this in our client testimonials on our website. Our photo shoot experiences really are enjoyable life moments to remember forever.
The final products are beautiful works of art that capture life's moments and are to be cherised.
We do specialise in sepia tones, however we are more than happy to also offer our clients colour photographs if requested. In some cases, we do also offer our customers a surprise image simply to say 'thank you' for booking with us and thanks for your business.
Our business is all about people. We love getting to know each and every one of our clients.