Playing the Game with Sears Portrait Studio
scott.d.brenner
picture taken. We went armed with a $12.95 coupon for 100 photos
and some knowledge gained from other posters in this newsgroup.
I had read here about their new computer preview system that lets
you see the picture they've just taken on a computer monitor. One
post I read here recently said "with the new preview system they
have, you actually KNOW which shot is the shot you're going to get,
and you can get them to retake it until you are happy with it."
Our experience was a bit different!
The clerk (she certainly was no photographer!) explained that she
takes 5 photos for the package deal. The *first* one she takes is
the shot we'd get for the $12.95 (plus $3 sitting fee). The other
shots would be available for extra $$$. (She told us later that,
for $16.00, we could choose one 8x10, two 5x7s, four 3.5x5s, or eight
really tiny pictures. But we could pick only *one* of the additional
poses.)
Knowing that we'd be able to see the images on the computer, I asked
her what would happen if the first shot she took was really bad. She
told me that she'd retake it *ONCE*, but that's it. She complained
about people "taking advantage" of her by asking her to retake the
first shot over and over. Sure enough, the first shot was bad. She
took another shot and it was satisfactory. We ended up getting the
package (100 photos for $12.95 + $3) on the second "first" shot she
took. We also got two 5x7s of an additional shot that was pretty
good. But when I asked to also get two 5x7s of another additional shot,
she said I couldn't and tried to blame their computer.
Now, I'm no fool. I understand the coupons are designed to bring
people in with the hopes that they'll buy some of the additional
shots (at ridiculous prices). We wanted a few extra 5x7s, and some
of the additional shots weren't bad, so I was going to bite the bullet.
Here I was, willing to pay $32 for four 5x7s and she's telling me I
can only get two. So instead of getting an extra $32 from me, Sears
was happy with $16!
All in all, I can't complain, because we're getting one 11x13, three
8x10s, six 5x7s, four 3.5x5s, and a whole lot of wallets for about
$29. I know that a professional photographer would charge at least
$100 for the same number of prints. But, of course, we'd *really*
be able to get the shots we want.
Any other SEARS portrait studio experiences, hints, tips, complaints,
etc. would be appreciated.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Scott D. Brenner AT&T Consumer Communications Services
sbre...@attmail.com Piscataway, New Jersey
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Marion Baumgarten
> Any other SEARS portrait studio experiences, hints, tips, complaints,
> etc. would be appreciated.
>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> Scott D. Brenner AT&T Consumer Communications Services
> sbre...@attmail.com Piscataway, New Jersey
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Go to Penneys. Similar deal/situation EXCEPT- you get to choose the
picture (any shot) for the special offer.
--
Marion Baumgarten Mari...@wwa.com
Mother to Martha (6) and Peter (3)
Die Wunderkinder
Scott Gant
pose to use for my coupon. Is this not the case?
I actually didn't get any, because Kevin was uncooperative and would
not sit for any pictures.
Kristen (mama to Kevin 9/17/93)
sg...@cris.com
Susan Raymond
yet). The sitting fee was $5. My portrait studio explained things
differently.
I didn't know they would retake a picture for you and the
first one was not the best of the bunch, but not that bad so I took the
package. Plus, I was able to buy 1 - 8 X 10 of the second pose for $16 and 2
- 5 x 7's of the fourth pose. What I was not allowed to do was buy 1 8 X 10
of the second pose and 1 8 X 10 of the fourth pose. Yes, I was told it was a
SYSTEM limitation, but that the SYSTEM was being corrected and should be more
reasonable by May.
The $25 preview deal was a cash & carry. You could take the five poses with
you, each about a 4 x 6 size.
Marion suggested Penneys. Yes, at Penneys you do get to select the pose.
However, Penneys is for the time organized because of their appointment
system and they are booked alot in advance. This may sound morbid but I made
the decision to get Miriam's picture taken at the last minute, just in case
the worse happened during her sugery 3/8/. She is fine BTW.
Susan
I never met a chocolate I didn't like
I second that. I've been very happy with Penney's photos. They also have
coupon deals, and you can join their photography club where you pay no sitting
fee and get discounts off their packages.
This is why - and I mentioned this in a previous post - I will NEVER deal with
a studio that says "poses our selection". I've been screwed by this before.
Debbie
Elaine Kiernan
>
>Knowing that we'd be able to see the images on the computer, I asked
>her what would happen if the first shot she took was really bad. She
>told me that she'd retake it *ONCE*, but that's it. She complained
>about people "taking advantage" of her by asking her to retake the
>first shot over and over. Sure enough, the first shot was bad. She
>took another shot and it was satisfactory.
It sounds like it depends on who you get. We just had Patrick's
picture done, and we didn't get a good picture on the first shot,
until the 3rd try. It came out pretty good. I think the guy would have
gone on taking pictures as long as we needed to. Heck, they should, at
least on the first shot, since that's the one you're getting 100 copies
of. The thing I didn't like about choosing the picture is that it's only
on the computer screen for about 5 seconds! You really have to think fast!
Still, if you can get a decent picture on that first shot, it's a great
deal.
Elaine
--
kie...@koa.ifa.hawaii.edu
http://koa.ifa.hawaii.edu/~kiernan/kiernan.html
Mike Dedek
|>
|> Any other SEARS portrait studio experiences, hints, tips, complaints,
|> etc. would be appreciated.
We've found that IF you order 5 sheets (usually $59.95), you can then
pick any of the 5 poses for the package. So if the first pose in the
computer (may actually be the 2nd or 3rd shot taken) is really bad,
but another is really good, we get that deal and then pick the good
one for the package. It's still a pretty reasonable price to pay for
that many photos. And the first poses have always been good enough
for us if we really didn't want to spend the extra $$$. In that deal
you pay $59.95 for 5 sheets + the package, meaning the 5 sheets
cost $47.95. I don't think you get to pick the size of the 5 sheets,
they give us 2 8x10 (2 sheets), 12 wallets (1 sheet), 2 5x7 (1 sheet),
and 4 3x5 (1 sheet). In that situation, Susan Raymond (for example)
would have gotten 1 8x10 of each of 2 poses besides the package. She
would have gotten (I think) the remaining 3 sheets of her favorite
of those 2 poses.
Also, they will print some of the extra poses even if you just say you
want the package. When you come to pick them up you can get them
cheaper (I think $12/sheet). Of course you don't get to pick them.
But they ask you which are your favorite 2 of the non-package shots
and those are the ones they print extras of.
If Susan had chosen pose 2 and pose 4 as her favorites, but only
picked the package, they would have printed some of those poses.
When she went to pick them up, _I think_ she could have ordered
8x10s of those 2 poses at that time. That might be more expensive;
or maybe they won't do it anymore; they only time we did it was
before they got the computer setup.
Finally, the individual photographer makes a big difference. At our
local Sears, there's one really good one and one pretty good one.
One time they were really busy so we went to another Sears and the
photographer was not as good. I also think the individual stores
may be different in how "flexible" they are (the really good photog
at our store has taken as many as 4 tries to get the package shot,
although that time 1 or 2 tries she said were bad before we had
a chance to say anything).
I think this post is a little confusing - email/post if that's the case.
-Mike Dedek
dad of Mikey, 22 mos. and Tessa, 9 mos.,
portrait schedule: 3, 6, 9, 12, 18, 24 mos., every year thereafter.