Complaint Review: Sears Portrait Studio - King of Prussia Pennsylvania

I am still in shock and disbelief at the awful service I received at this location. Let me start by saying that my sister went in for a photo session but had to leave town the very next day (overseas), so she asked me to deal with placing her photo orders and talk to the employees.

My sister came in hoping to use the the "Free Wall Portrait" coupon that Sears Portrait has on their web site under Special Offers, only to be told that a purchase was required to get the free portrait. I read the fine print twice and nowhere on the coupon does it say a purchase was required - it didn't say "No purchase necessary" but it didn't say "purchase required" or "with purchase of..." I talked to the manager and tell her so, and she says that it says "restrictions apply" and they've always enforced that policy. I asked her if it was written anywhere (it's not written anywhere on their website) so that I could see the other "restrictions" and she couldn't give me an answer, she just kept repeating that they've always enforced that policy.

I call another studio and ask them about the coupon, and they said they've never heard of a purchase requirement and that the free coupon means free portriat, no strings attached. I call another studio and they said the restriction was that you had to be a member of the portrait club. So apparently, the managers can make up the restrictions as they go along.

After much give and take, the manager finally agreed to honor the coupon, but since it had been more than 48 hours, I would have to pay a reorder fee of $10!! The only reason it took more than 48 hours was because I was trying to convince her to honor a coupon she should have honored from Day 1.

I told her I had to call my sister and that I'd call her back, which I did. I called back several times over two weeks and got the voicemail; I left at least two messages, no one called me back. I FINALLY get the manager on the phone and tell her I'd like to get the free portrait with the $10 reorder fee, and she says it's been too long since the session (4 weeks) that the order timed out and she can no longer use the coupon!! She said she didn't get a reply in a timely manner and she cannot manipulate the system. I told her I called and left messages and she said she didn't get any messages. I'm not familiar with their system, but I find it hard to believe she can't just place the order and do a price adjustment or something, it cannot be that hard. SHE'S THE MANAGER but evidently her hands are tied and the computer controls HER, not the other way around.

In any case, I know there are two sides to every story and the manager probably has her own version of this incident, but I just can't get over how cold and arrogant the manager seemed. All of my interactions with her were over the phone and she just seemed like she had absolutely no interest in cooperating; she always sounded impatient and stoic. And finally, as a first-time customer, would it have been so hard to make an exception and honor the coupon as a courtesy?

By the way, I told my sister she could just order a portrait and get the free portrait and save herself the headache, and she said that honestly out of 15 minutes of picture-taking and 15-20 photos, she thought only one was good enough to print and keep. She didn't like the others at all and wasn't willing to put money down for them, sometimes they weren't looking, sometimes they were't smiling...each one had a flaw.

Goodbye, Sears Portrait Studio, you won't be getting any more of my sister's business and certainly none of my business, and I will be telling my friends and family the same.