Complaint Review: Sears Portrait Studio - Brookfield Wisconsin

Dear Sir & Rebuttles-

I am currently an employee at Sears Portrait Studio in New Jeresy and your issue with the company is extremely common, with just cause! I've been with the company for basically three years now so I've seen it all...so this is how it breaks down.

Explanation of the coupons:

We send out these coupons flyers all the time, with DOZENS of different discounts, coupons and what have you. Now most of these discounts offer the consumer extordinary deals...no scam, no rip off...these deals are amazing. Now no matter what, there is typically a coupon for a free 10x13 wall portrait (not 8x10, so to the original poster of this topic, im a bit skeptical of your problem). There is also usually the coupon for $2.99 sheets with the minimum purchase of 6 or 8 sheets (depending on the store). This coupon is extremely helpful for the customer that is looking to order a large amount of photos with no enhancements. Then of course there are the basic 20%, 10%, and even the new 40% off your entire purchase coupon (which is self explanatory). There are also the "portrait packages" (an employee's biggest fear and worst thing a customer can buy all at once). These packages range from 4.99-9.99, and it gives you a plethora of sheets of a single pose. This sucks because the customer only spends under $10, and it sucks for the customer because you only get one pose (and if there are a bunch of cute poses, why are you being cheap?). Along with alllllllll of these coupons, the "no session fee' tag is often applied (which knows off $15 from your purchase). 

Why the original complaint is valid?:

The first two replies to this complaint are clearly from stooges of the company (no offense). Every studio applies WHATEVER kind of extra fee they want, and MANY studios work freely with bending the rules of MANY prices and MANY coupons. In one the studios they purposely lie and say that the sitting fee is indeed $25, so they told me to not tell them the real price or else there whole plan will be ruined. Plus there are dozens of times where there is not "fine-print" that justifies the studios claims. Sir, you should have gotten your no sitting fee no questioned asked, especially if it clearly states that in the coupon. The whole bending and application that they changed the rules on you is TRUE, they did do that. It shouldn't be your responsibility to leave in anger, have to deal with all of these minor details that are never explained until the end, and call some 1-800 number to make it a two week ordeal to simply get photos of your 3 year old daughter.

Why the original complain isnt valid?:

Now of course with every complaint, it has to be looked from BOTH sides...and of course there are going to be those cheap little customers who are frustrated that they couldn't muster the best possible deal they could get. "Why cant i combine coupons," "what a ripoff", "where does it say that"....there DOES have to be some logic coming from the customer when going into any business. There are some customers who walk-in and CANT BELIEVE they have to buy something in order to get the free wall portrait...."yes sir, we are not just giving out free portraits...why in the world would we do that?" And no, why would we let you combine all these coupons for what is all ready one of the cheaper family portrait studios in the country in the first place. THEN we do get the customers who actually try and BARTER with us!! These aren't the cities of Jerusalem where we are selling you rugs for goats (lol). So there are those evil consumers that try and take advantage of every little nook and cranny of every coupon/store possible, which forces us to create such stipulations and force us to take harsh stances on policies that are established. YOU DONT HAVE TO BUY ANYTHING! Remember that...we didn't take you from your house, dressed your kids up, forced your kids to have outfit changes and take a million photos...this was all your plan, and the fact that you're upset that you cant get it all for nothing shouldn't shock you. That's what I hate the most...the consumers who don't take responsiblity for what they are paying for. 90% of the time we do try and explain every policy in full detail and won't shock you when we tell you the final product. WE DO NOT WORK ON COMMISSION AT ALL, THIS IS IMPORTANT.

EVILS OF SEARS PORTRAIT STUIOD:

There is actually a web-site for managers and associates of Sears Portrait to talk about how bad the company is! The company treats their employees like crap, with no commission/no raises/and half the time we are forced to work single coverage so customers are forced to wait long periods of time before being photographed. This is extremely unfair for the customers who have made appointments in advanced and are still forced to wait over an hour (holidays) before they are taken in. Also, in most studios the ventilation is poor so you will be sweating from your face as well as your wallett (ha ha). The company forces there studios/associates to have high sale numbers or else we are threatened with less hours, termination, and studio closures. We do not work on commission, but our jobs are at stake some of the times (I choose to not care, and I have not been fired because they are desperate for workers, no sane person would work here). But its true that we do get hours cut if we cant sell an appropriate amount of photos in a given time. What makes this difficult to acheive are the irifutible coupons that make it impossible for consumers to pass up. How in the world can I convince the customer to spend $100 if there coupon offers a package for $10. It can happen, but its difficult to sway the customer. And when you have those snooty, cheap customer that walk-in...it forces us to use sale tactics and sometimes, lying sale tactics in order to help save our jobs. For me personally, I never lie to a customer and honestly try to give them the best deal possible. If I think the pictures are poor or unmeaningful, or if I think you're spending too much, I WILL let you know! But when you're pinching me to save you $5-$10, or $1 (I've had that before)...I am forced to be strict and stern.

My Conclusion:

In this particular case sir, you were absolutely right...there are plenty of times when the studio has to come up with lies/deceit to sway you to not purchase a certain way. From the way you describe it, you should not have had to pay a sitting fee...but it sounds like, sir, that you were trying to squeeze everything you could out of your dollar, because the only time we are forced to use certain policies is if a customer is doing that. You will NOT find any other studio that offers cheaper portrait prices than sears, with quality that I am actually pretty fond of most of the time. You have to respect the fact that we are usually sweating our faces off trying to make your misbehaved children...so when we hear that you are only looking to spend $10, we arent very pleased to say the least. The way you handled it was fine, and you are right, you should not have been charged a sitting fee...but for the experience that you had, I don't think you should be that overly displeased.

Take care good luck.

Dear Sir & Rebuttles-

I am currently an employee at Sears Portrait Studio in New Jeresy and your issue with the company is extremely common, with just cause! I've been with the company for basically three years now so I've seen it all...so this is how it breaks down.

Explanation of the coupons:

We send out these coupons flyers all the time, with DOZENS of different discounts, coupons and what have you. Now most of these discounts offer the consumer extordinary deals...no scam, no rip off...these deals are amazing. Now no matter what, there is typically a coupon for a free 10x13 wall portrait (not 8x10, so to the original poster of this topic, im a bit skeptical of your problem). There is also usually the coupon for $2.99 sheets with the minimum purchase of 6 or 8 sheets (depending on the store). This coupon is extremely helpful for the customer that is looking to order a large amount of photos with no enhancements. Then of course there are the basic 20%, 10%, and even the new 40% off your entire purchase coupon (which is self explanatory). There are also the "portrait packages" (an employee's biggest fear and worst thing a customer can buy all at once). These packages range from 4.99-9.99, and it gives you a plethora of sheets of a single pose. This sucks because the customer only spends under $10, and it sucks for the customer because you only get one pose (and if there are a bunch of cute poses, why are you being cheap?). Along with alllllllll of these coupons, the "no session fee' tag is often applied (which knows off $15 from your purchase). 

Why the original complaint is valid?:

The first two replies to this complaint are clearly from stooges of the company (no offense). Every studio applies WHATEVER kind of extra fee they want, and MANY studios work freely with bending the rules of MANY prices and MANY coupons. In one the studios they purposely lie and say that the sitting fee is indeed $25, so they told me to not tell them the real price or else there whole plan will be ruined. Plus there are dozens of times where there is not "fine-print" that justifies the studios claims. Sir, you should have gotten your no sitting fee no questioned asked, especially if it clearly states that in the coupon. The whole bending and application that they changed the rules on you is TRUE, they did do that. It shouldn't be your responsibility to leave in anger, have to deal with all of these minor details that are never explained until the end, and call some 1-800 number to make it a two week ordeal to simply get photos of your 3 year old daughter.

Why the original complain isnt valid?:

Now of course with every complaint, it has to be looked from BOTH sides...and of course there are going to be those cheap little customers who are frustrated that they couldn't muster the best possible deal they could get. "Why cant i combine coupons," "what a ripoff", "where does it say that"....there DOES have to be some logic coming from the customer when going into any business. There are some customers who walk-in and CANT BELIEVE they have to buy something in order to get the free wall portrait...."yes sir, we are not just giving out free portraits...why in the world would we do that?" And no, why would we let you combine all these coupons for what is all ready one of the cheaper family portrait studios in the country in the first place. THEN we do get the customers who actually try and BARTER with us!! These aren't the cities of Jerusalem where we are selling you rugs for goats (lol). So there are those evil consumers that try and take advantage of every little nook and cranny of every coupon/store possible, which forces us to create such stipulations and force us to take harsh stances on policies that are established. YOU DONT HAVE TO BUY ANYTHING! Remember that...we didn't take you from your house, dressed your kids up, forced your kids to have outfit changes and take a million photos...this was all your plan, and the fact that you're upset that you cant get it all for nothing shouldn't shock you. That's what I hate the most...the consumers who don't take responsiblity for what they are paying for. 90% of the time we do try and explain every policy in full detail and won't shock you when we tell you the final product. WE DO NOT WORK ON COMMISSION AT ALL, THIS IS IMPORTANT.

EVILS OF SEARS PORTRAIT STUIOD:

There is actually a web-site for managers and associates of Sears Portrait to talk about how bad the company is! The company treats their employees like crap, with no commission/no raises/and half the time we are forced to work single coverage so customers are forced to wait long periods of time before being photographed. This is extremely unfair for the customers who have made appointments in advanced and are still forced to wait over an hour (holidays) before they are taken in. Also, in most studios the ventilation is poor so you will be sweating from your face as well as your wallett (ha ha). The company forces there studios/associates to have high sale numbers or else we are threatened with less hours, termination, and studio closures. We do not work on commission, but our jobs are at stake some of the times (I choose to not care, and I have not been fired because they are desperate for workers, no sane person would work here). But its true that we do get hours cut if we cant sell an appropriate amount of photos in a given time. What makes this difficult to acheive are the irifutible coupons that make it impossible for consumers to pass up. How in the world can I convince the customer to spend $100 if there coupon offers a package for $10. It can happen, but its difficult to sway the customer. And when you have those snooty, cheap customer that walk-in...it forces us to use sale tactics and sometimes, lying sale tactics in order to help save our jobs. For me personally, I never lie to a customer and honestly try to give them the best deal possible. If I think the pictures are poor or unmeaningful, or if I think you're spending too much, I WILL let you know! But when you're pinching me to save you $5-$10, or $1 (I've had that before)...I am forced to be strict and stern.

My Conclusion:

In this particular case sir, you were absolutely right...there are plenty of times when the studio has to come up with lies/deceit to sway you to not purchase a certain way. From the way you describe it, you should not have had to pay a sitting fee...but it sounds like, sir, that you were trying to squeeze everything you could out of your dollar, because the only time we are forced to use certain policies is if a customer is doing that. You will NOT find any other studio that offers cheaper portrait prices than sears, with quality that I am actually pretty fond of most of the time. You have to respect the fact that we are usually sweating our faces off trying to make your misbehaved children...so when we hear that you are only looking to spend $10, we arent very pleased to say the least. The way you handled it was fine, and you are right, you should not have been charged a sitting fee...but for the experience that you had, I don't think you should be that overly displeased.

Take care good luck.

Hi There, I too work at Sears Portrait Studio, however even though I am north of the border we have the same coupons/offers running as the states so I feel obligated to say something. First off, we as employees almost always do not see these coupons until customers begin bringing them into the studio to redeem them. Therefore, if a photographer looks a little confused or frazzled the first time they read your coupon, it could be because they are seeing it for the first time and are trying to interperate the coupon the right way so that they sell you the right product. The wording on coupons and the lingo we use in the studios are different, so it's almost like reading another language when you are so used to the technical terms of everything. Secondly all of our coupons and mailings will always have fine print, like any other company out there. It is up to you, the customer to read the offers completely before deciding to use them. Whenever a customer comes into my studio with one of those coupons, I always go over it fully with them BEFORE they start chosing any of their portraits specifically because of the fact that so many people out there are like yourself. They just see the big bold eye-catching print and think nothing of it. There is always going to be fine print, but at least we put our fine print on the same side of the paper as the offer itself so that it doesn't seem as though we are trying to hide anything. Honestly, the point of those coupons is just to get a customers foot in the door. We as the employees are supposed to offer you one of the companies custom sitting collections hoping that you will chose that over the coupon that you have brought in. In some cases it is more worth your money to stick with the coupon, however, in many cases you will receive more product for you money by going with one of the collections. Right now for example our studio has a great collection available for Easter. It is about $350 worth of product for only $160. For some people the specific products that come in that collection are exactly what they want (it is a silver collection with 20 greeting cards and a high resolution portrait cd). For other customers who would just like a couple sheets without any fancy enhancements, it's a little over the top. It is the sales persons responsibility to sell you what is going to be the best value for the product that you would like to purchase while still bringing in a profit for the company. We are not allowed to use pressure sales tactics. We do not make any commission. The only thing we get for having good sales percentages in our studio is better props, backgrounds and equipment which in turn allows us to better serve our customers. It really is a win-win situation. Now there is something else I must mention in this. Personally I am not a major fan of the marketing plans that the company forces us employees to carry out, however I do know that they are in the best interest of the company, and none of them are designed to mislead or rip-off the customer in anyway. For example: our studio does what we call smile searching. It is a way to bring people into the studio who have never been there before (or in a long time). We go out into Sears and we pick random customers to bring back to the studio for a free session and a free 5x7. We ask the customer for their permission to display a copy of the picture in our brag book (a scrapbook with examples of the studios work) but we do not force customers to sign the release to display it. Also the customer has the option, and I repeat OPTION to purchase addition portraits at the normal studio fee of $9.99/sheet (keep in mind, Canadian prices). In all of this they have just received a free sitting (worth $15.99) as well as a free 5x7 (worth $9.99). At no time has the customer been pushed or forced to purchase anything in order to receive their free portrait. Also, they will have been treated just the same as a customer paying $200 for portraits because we believe that every customer deserves the best. Just please, do yourself and everyone else around you a favour, use some common sense and read the WHOLE coupon before freaking out on someone because YOU failed to fully inform yourself. It just makes everyone's life a little easier.

Dear sir...Let me address one thing real fast. We do NOT work on a commission. We get paid to take pictures and sell you the pictures and photo products you want. High presure sales lead to refunds, the company frowns on both! If you feel you were high presured, you should have NOT ordered anything and called the clearly posted TOLL FREE phone number listed right above the register. I have copies of all the coupons that are the current specials since Oct. I dont want to sound like a smarty, but maybe you should take time to read the coupon and you would realize no one was attempting to rip you off. YOu stated you work in retail sales, so you know NOTHING of Excellent quality is free or cheap... The coupon you used states NO Session Fee (a 14.99 value) That my friend means you dont have to pay a session fee. What the lady attempted to do was offer you the SMILE SAVER program HALF PRICE. IT is a promotion that is mentioned on the right hand side under the two coupons on the page. (Ask about the Smile Saver Program 50% off) The sit fee is 14.99 unless you have a coupon or a member of the smile saver. She was attempting to save YOU money by offering the next two years to you...YOu clearly stated you take pictures every year, so this would be of benifit. The coupon you used states: 10 x 13 (19.99 value) or 8 x 10 (7.99 value) + Buy 8 sheets a regular price and each add. sheet only 2.99 *please note sir, the 7.99 price is the Holiday price to begin with, sheets are Normally 14.99 each. THis is a custom sit, six poses. On the bottom of that coupon, is a 35 picture package for 9.99. Which is ONE pose and is only 9.99 if you are a Smile Savers Memeber. If You read right under it 14.99 session fee if not a smile saver. Leaving you alone with a worksheet is standard, no one likes to have someone over their shoulder. I not only work there, but Im a customer also. As I stated before, we DONT work on Commission..so we can care less if you have coupons that take away the sit fees...We dont make nothing by helping YOU save money when Offering you a product like Smile Savers with is normally 29.99 for two years for half price. As for you having to check and click on the computers, You lost me, You the customer do not submit the order. You only accept it when you pay. And then you get a sheet of what you ordered and a sheet with all your info on it. If She allowed you to use the computer, she was not doing her job...If you choose to change prices ( you said you worked in Retail Sales) then you know YOU were in the wrong. Again, Why pay for something your not happy with? And why not call the Corp. Toll Free Number that is Posted Clear as Day and Guess what? There is someone on that number during the studio hours, even the weekends.