First things first, we did not choose CADY @ Raleigh, NC. That was decided by the county school district. Students that wanted their pictures on the yearbook were required to have them taken by CADY. CADY went to every length to charge exorbitant amounts of money for every aspects of their service.
We made one appointment for both seniors and graduation photos. The photographers looked like college-aged kids. While I have no issues with their eye for framing and composition, it does not justify the price gouging. They tried to get our son's phone number so that they could send him an exclusive portfolio set. The ulterior objective is for him to pick what he likes but not inform him of the extra $$$ that we would pay later. Fortunately, wife put a stop to that by giving her phone number instead. The $58.99 session charge in Sep 2026 was just for taking pictures. That included $24.98 for "Artists Touch" to "reduce minor blemishes" and "smooth skin". Why such a steep price? That's like ordering a $30 entree at a restaurant and paying an additional $30 to clean the ingredients before preparation. Sadly, the price gouging didn't stop there.
The session charge is separate from the packages CADY offered. To make things interesting, each package has a "as low as" price at the top and a "packages starting at" price at the bottom. Very deceptive. For example, a Simple Package "as low as" $29 is just the starting price. In a restaurant, that's just the price of the pasta itself and you don't mind eating only pasta. Adding ingredients like veggies and proteins are extra charges. However, a restaurant has the decency to show the total price of an entree at the start. CADY does not show the total until the end.
We started at Basic Package ($89.99): one pose, 2 print sheets, and no specifics regarding the photo sizes. For this package, CADY offered $14.99 for "Artists Touch", the very same "Artists Touch" that we already paid $24.98 for in the session charge. Are they double-charging for a single "Artists Touch", or for "Artists Touch" done twice? Another price gouging strategy. When we added additional prints for wallet and 4" x 6" sizes, the package was automatically upgraded to Senior Special Package at a whooping $219.99 - there was no lower-tier package for fewer wallet-sized photos; we didn't need 32 of them. We tried to revert the package level back to Basic but the CADY website would not allowed it. The only recourse was to contact the CADY staff to reset the order, which they did. Yet another price-gouging strategy: customers can move from low to high in package tier and not vice versa.
CADY mailed us the portfolio - two sets of five poses, all of them 4" x 5" - for us to look at and choose the pose for order. It was a fair assumption that the Basic Package's prints would be 4" x 5". Or we could accept CADY's offer of $149.99 to keep the portfolio. After much discussion, we kept the portfolio and forwent the package. We realized we would be paying more for the photos we wanted, and were frankly tired of the price gouging. In Dec 2026, we were charged $182.30 for the portfolio, for a sub-total of just under $250 after adding the session charge. Had we gone with Basic Package, the sub-total would be over $300... for two 4" x 5" prints! But the story wasn't over. The final act was the graduation photos. As unpleasant as CADY's business practice is, we didn't want to stick to our guns at our son's expense. So on Apr 2026, we went with Basic Package ($89.99) and opted for Artist Touch. The total came to $128.68. If you want the graduation photos on magnets, CADY offers 2 starting at $184.99. As if customers haven't shell out enough money.
Profits before customers. 5-star pricing for 1-star product and service. This is why CADY can afford to operate 29 locations all over the country... price gouging to proliferate more price gouging. Considering the number high schools in the county and the hundreds of graduating seniors per school, why do that? But now you know this is who and what CADY is all about. read more