I am looking to do a some projects for Father's Day & emailed before coming into the store. I corresponded with Lisa D who was amazing & extremely helpful. I enjoyed working with her & was hoping to work with her once I got to the store but she assured me that anyone would be able to help me.
I came into the store the next night for a quote & to discuss the projects. I was hoping to discuss framing. Lisa K. ended up being the salesperson who came out to greet my sister & me. She seemed a bit annoyed that I had come in for a quote but I blew that off as a normal reaction. I informed her that I didn't have the money to put towards the project that day as I wanted to get an idea on pricing first. She insisted that I could just have the project framed at Michael's & that we could go ahead with the print. I was a little startled by that comment. I said I wasn't sure how small they would frame & that if I couldn't enlarge past a 5x7 without distorting the photo, that would be fine. She said well what size do you want? I said I'd like an 8x10 but I understand that it just might not work. She said I will just put in for the 8x10 & you can see what it looks like. Even though that is not what I wanted her to do but she didn't seem interested in hearing anymore. I kept asking about pricing for a frame & she kept saying it was a standard frame that I could just get at Michael's. I was not interested in going to Michael's, I wanted custom frames. I explained this again & said that I would have another project with another portrait. I said I would have a digital image that I would need framed. She said that they could print it without a scanning fee, I said ok, that doesn't matter I just want to know what framing would be like. She never answered a single question about having any of my projects framed. She encouraged me to go to another establishment.
I emailed them to let them know that their associate had embarrassed me by judging me as someone who couldn't afford to be in their store. Lisa D. called me back to let me know the enlargement was finished (1 day turn around, less than really) & apologized for my experience. I called back to discuss things further & ask if I could make an appointment with someone else to finish my project but Paul answered the phone. Paul identified himself as the owner and apologized. He thought it was important to tell me how he has known Lisa K. for a very long time & she has never done anything like this. He said the only thing he could think of was another person who had something framed but they were not aware they could've had it done for cheaper somewhere else. I originally was going to continue my business here but after this I was even more disgusted. The owner seems to think that due to a past experience, it is acceptable to judge someone. If the woman assumed that I was poor then she could have said, this is a normal sized picture if you are interested in a more generic style, local retailers offer comparable styles for lower prices. She never let me discuss the last part of my project. Paul did offer to work with me personally & he did offer to do it for free. I am not interested in a discount or free product. I am interested in using small businesses for projects & potential business projects. I wanted respect and maybe a "hey, I am really sorry you walked out of here feeling that way, lets get your project settled the way you need it done", not an excuse. I certainly did not appreciate being told that everyone in the business was talking about me all morning either, this is how Paul opened his conversation up.
I went in to pick up my original photo and I am not sure who the woman was that I dealt with then, she wouldn't identify herself even when I asked if she was Lisa D., had quite an attitude with me. She was very irritated that I would not take the free enlargements and treated me with hostility as soon as she heard my name. I guess that's the effect of gossiping in the work place about your customers.
The prices are right and the products seemed to be of good quality but I will never know because customer service is more important to me than anything else. I will give my money to a business who works hard to focus on their customers.
Side note: For those who do not know how online reviews work, it's clear that this business incentivizes good reviews (potentially pays to remove negative ones as that is an option) and doesn't allow for actual, real reviews. A few of them even stated that they would have to update their reviews after they received their product, that is a very very bad sign! read more