We had Christmas pictures taken and they came out horrendous. I messaged customer service and no response back till this day. We spent over $200 on pictures that cant even be used. and to top it off, one of our dogs is the reason we had a family portrait taken as he had cancer and did not know how much longer we had with him. He passed at 6 years old on 1/13/25. I will never go and waste my hard earned money on The Picture People ever AGAIN! read more

I should've listened to these yelp reviews before booking my session with a Groupon, but then again this was the only location that allowed pets (for their very last appointment). We arrived 10 min early, checked in, and then waited for 20 minutes. Then someone came to us and asked us what we were waiting for, checked us in again, then finally we got in 30 min past our appointment. There was little empathy that my child and dog were going to have a meltdown because it was LATE. As others commented, at least the photographer we had, failed to engage our child other than to shake a tambourine and then eventually just drop it on the floor so it made a loud noise. Besides standing and sitting on the floor, we had no other props. The photos we received back were uncut -- like I have to physically cut them myself with scissors. I left 1 star because it is pretty convenient that we can select, print, and take our photos the same day. This is definitely helpful if you're in a pinch for photos. But perhaps that's the reason why we felt so rushed -- because they're working double duty. Felt understaffed. read more

We've used this Picture People since my son was 6 weeks old, and we were there today for his 2 year pictures. I have always been happy until today. I didn't recognize any of the photographers. My son was not in the best mood and although the photographer got some good shots I was annoyed by how pushy she was during the sales process. I knew I only wanted the hi-res cd as my son has a bruise I needed to edit and frankly, Shutterfly has better options and pricing for prints. I will give them another shot around Christmas but only because the pictures seem to come out well. read more

It's probably the worse place to take your kids. It's expensive and the studio rooms are disgusting, it looks like they haven't cleaned them at all. The enter place is pretty gross and dirty as well. For catering to kids they don't have anything for kids to play with or be entertained while waiting. Depending on the photographer is depending the amount of time you have. I went once and the photographer was strict on time and then another time they weren't strict on time (both times it was equally as busy). I wouldn't waste your time going to get your photos taken here. read more

I know how hard booking sessions on weekends or evenings can be so I booked mine on a weekday in mid morning in April 2016. Had no wait at all. We bought the CD so we got every photo taken. We were pleased with the photos BUT I thought ahead and had 4 balloons made and taken with us to the shoot as props. My daughter was turning 4 and I was worried their props would be minimal at best and I was right. We were in and out of there within 45min I'd say worth going to only on off peak hours. read more

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Never Again!! Purchased a Groupon for holiday photos for my daughter's first Christmas. That was the easy part. Scheduled my appointment for 1pm on a Wednesday. Arrived at 12:30p. The place was a madhouse, but such is to be expected with small children everywhere, right? However, the messiness and overall appearance of the store left much to be desired. Kids running around. Employees huddled around the cash register chatting and checking their social media. After standing at the front for about 5 minutes, someone finally decided to address me and check me in. Afterwards, I bobbed and weaved through hyped-up children and overburdened strollers (dang, even JCP photo studio has stroller parking!), I found a seat for myself and my daughter and we waited. At 1:15. we were finally ushered into the room where my DDs photos would be taken. This room was also a hot mess, but fine. We''re here so let's do this. The photographer was great. He rolled around on the floor for 20 minutes to capture shots of my very active daughter. At one point, he asked me to be his assistant- not sure why when the place was chock full of employees who stopped by to remark on my daughter and all the laughter that was coming from our room, but whatevs. Anything for DD. Though I had to ask for props (many of which were only one in number, forcing us to wait while another family was using said prop), I have nothing but good things to say about the photog and the actual photo session. Dude captured some pretty good shots! So after that part was over, we then selected her best photos. This process was painless. I even agreed to purchase a CD at half price ($80), which contained all of the photos taken, even a few that he edited. Nice freebie. I paid for my pics, received the photo sheets, holiday cards, envelopes, etc. and walked out pretty pleased. Later that day, I received an email that was supposed to contain a web link to download the digital image album online. When I tried to retrieve the digital album and download, only one picture was available. Closed the page and re-tried, and now zero images available. Called the studio and spoke to R_ (not giving full names bc I realize that employees only follow company policy and i don't want anyone getting fired and jumping off a ledge, cuz, #christmas). R_ said he'd resend the link. He did; however, same problem. Called back and he said he'd call IT and call me back. OK, so here we are 8 days later and I received no new link or call back. I called the location twice today and spoke to a fast-talking associate named C_ (?) and twice, she hung up on me trying to transfer the call. To whom? Who knows. Finally spoke to R_ again and he basically told me that he remembers me and my daughter and has been "thinking about me" (not hard enough to call me back like you said you would tho, bruh). In short, he said the problem is with IT, they are "very slow" and he sometimes has to call them "7 or 8 times" to get issues fixed. Great. But not my problem. So I said: here we are 8 days later and I still don't have all that I paid you for. His response was "the online album can't be shared anyway, so it's really just to view. Come back to the store and I'll burn you a CD." What??? Drive all the way back to Paramus Park Mall in ridiculous holiday traffic on Routes 4 and 17? Nah son. You buggin'. #aintnobodygottimefordat. Or Picture People. My response: "Thanks, Roger". Then I just hung up and logged into Yelp to write this review. Great deal; however, incompetent customer service, at best. Be warned. read more

Had a great experience at Picture People SD. Carlos was great and very patient. He had great ideas for poses for father-daughters pictures and made everyone feel comfortable and relaxed. This place has good packages at affordable prices we're definitely coming back! read more

Pretty horrendous experience there. As others have said, the appointment was meaningless. Took 40 minutes to get our photos taken and another 2 hours to finally walk out of there with our photo package. They also lied and said we couldn't leave the store and come back because there was a chance our photos could get deleted. Then someone walked up to the counter and said they wanted to buy the photos they had taken over a month ago and they were pulled right up! Its a lot for a store to ask families to wait this long with their young children and babies. The photographer was nice and the pictures came out good, but this place is a cluster f@#k! We'll be looking for a new place for the next family photos for sure! read more

The top review (the very long one) is clearly written by someone who works at Picture People because it is the same rhetoric they were spewing to us. The place is very unprofessional, seemingly run by a group of uneducated, young picture snappers. They use the same tactics and positions with everyone and try to fit every child (and family, as it was in our case) into the same poses WITHOUT THINKING and often without looking into the back of the camera to see if they were even getting the shot. My son was wearing glasses and the majority of the pictures they took had him with a terrible glare over his eyes. It wasn't until we realized there would be a glare, that we directed the photographer how to position my son so that he would photograph in a non-glare way. We also had an appointment and waited over an hour before we were seen. However, we knew this going into the appointment since we did this once before. We decided to come back because they did the great Groupon and we thought it was worth it even for one good photo of the 4 of us. We were shocked the first time that they only took 17 pictures, but still had gotten a few that we liked. That is what made us come back the second time. This second time was awful and we will never go back! Our particular photographer had great energy--they could hear him all over the mall-and was great at getting our little one's attention, but there were 4 of us in the photo shoot and while he was sneezing loudly at the 2-year-old, the rest of us looked terrible in almost every picture. To make matters worse, we were forced to shoot in the front of the store, not in a room, so there were dozens of angrily-waiting customers staring at us the whole time. Oh and if you go, make sure you have a mirror with you, because after waiting over an hour, they can't even give you a mirror (during a photo shoot?!) to see what you still look like. After the photo shoot, when they show you the photos, they try to up-sell you photo packages ("I have to show you threes," she said as she smiled politely, giggled uncomfortably and roller her eyes.) Some of the packages were absurd; going up to $1,000+ ... as if someone with a pre-paid $16 Groupon is interested in that. Take a look at who is in front of you before you serve up the same old thing. We're not asking for custom back-drops - just cleaner ones. When we pointed out all the spots in the backgrounds, she promised, "Oh of course they won't come out printed like that; we take those out!" But ours printed out with all those spots right on there. We decided to buy a package that included the CD with all the images and a framed 3-photo. (We figured we could photoshop several the images together where one of us looks good in one and the other looks good in the another.) After we paid and came out with our Groupon prints, she told us they were out of the frame she just sold us and they would call us in less than a week when it was ready. A week later and no call. So I called them and asked if it was ready. They told me it had been sitting there. When I got it, there were dots in the background, the center image was over-exposed, and the matte wasn't even secured! One of the pictures was slipping and the other was already buckling under the matte. There was also a black dot on the white matte. Overall I know they are the fast food, chain-operated shop, but they claim to be something they are not. They are selling you memories, but are creating terrible memories because I look at these pictures and remember the annoying experiences. There is so much potential here - and the idea is great but the execution is flawed in so many ways. The customer service is lacking; they team seems self-entitled and rude, expecting the customers should have to wait, rather than preparing them, apologizing them or even thanking them. They stress appointment times, but almost entirely disregard them. Every single family I saw arrive seemed disappointed to be told, "This is just like a doctor's office. We give you an appointment time, but that doesn't mean you'll get that time. Sometimes you have to wait an hour. Without an appointment, you would wait for hours. Plural." The team here lacks professionalism and basic politeness. Look at your customers first, not just through the lens. Don't apply the same formula over and over to the same people. It will work often, but you have to step back and realize that even though you do this hundreds of times, we do this much less often and it is something special to us rather than a Ding, Next! read more

The first time I went, I had an appointment but they were very overbooked so we were waitin around for at least 40 min before we were called in... and my son who is really scared of the backdrops changing saw them change the background (my fault for not telling them to do it beforehand.. i was just so tired from waiting I forgot) so we ended up having to leave since he was just petrified. We went again a few weeks later when there was no one there; photographer said she couldn't accommodate as she had people coming in later but I managed to convince her to take our pictures. She was patient and did a good enough job and we got our pics and left. It isn't the best place, but it's an affordable way to get yearly portraits and professional pictures in general. read more

Oh sweet lord what a shit show this place is... I don't know where to even start. I simply wanted passport pictures, 3 visits later, about an hour and a half later of wasted time I still don't have it. Place is so crummy, beat up and so utterly unorganized. You wait and wait and wait. It takes about 10 min of standing by the register to even get acknowledged. read more

I bought a Groupon for my grandsons first professional pictures. He was 3-weeks old. The place was filthy and the photographer had the bedside manner of a sloth. We took our own blankets and props due to the young age and thank God we did. The photographer, if you can call her that, had a nasty leather wrist bracelet that kept rubbing on my grandsons face. I could only imagine where it had been. She kept trying to pose him and offered no explanation for what she was trying to accomplish. After a few minutes of her manhandling my precious baby, my daughter and I had had enough. I DO NOT RECOMMEND PICTURE PEOPLE FOR INFANTS - their staff is not qualified and their facility should be condemned. read more

Not sure what the point is in making an appointment. Our photos were taken late and we waited more that two hours AFTER the portrait session to walk out with photos. The pictures were okay but it just isn't worth the wait. Although I have been a customer of The Picture People for more than 8 years, my latest experience has finally convinced me to switch studios. I feel bad for the people who work here because I understand it's busy, but that is why variable staffing is important during holiday times! read more

I had an appointment at 1pm on Thursday Dec 14th. I got my kids and nieces together for a Xmas present for my mom, the grandma. I had 2 photos sessions here in the past which is why I came back. Never again! Granted, I was 20 minutes late but there were 3 appointments ahead of me. How did that happen?! When I booked online there was a choice of 1pm and 1:20pm. THEY DOUBLE BOOKED! We went to the food court and came back. One appointment ahead of me. Then I was told they were waiting for the bigger room. It was 2:28 and I decided to reschedule because I had appointments to go to with the kids. A room opened up. Due to the time frame, I had to stop the session short with 2 poses. I came back later to pick up the photo which turned out really nice. Giving 2 stars because my mom loved it and the staff kept their cool. read more

Wow, this place is TERRIBLE! We had to wait at least 45 mins after our appt. time, we went there for family pictures and the photographer took 1/2 the time to take pics of only our daughter, the pictures were okay at best, most of the pics had to be retouched due to scratches on the backdrops, the retouching took so long they told us to come back on Monday, the cd wasn't ready on Monday, they said they'd mail it to me once it was done and once we got it(on Saturday) there were no pics on the cd-it was blank. Please do yourself a favor and avoid this place, I know I will. read more

I LOATH THIS PLACE! It was filthy. They were about an hour behind schedule. That's ridiculous for an adult but when you're trying to get a little ones schedule going it's unacceptable especially for the prices they charge. My photographer was extremely pushy and framed pictures I did not want, continually acted like he was doing me favors when he was only wasting my time. I have no idea what I went home with other than extreme disappointment. The icing on the cake was when they were all smoking right outside as we left. read more

First off - the appointment scheduling is BS. We had a time scheduled for 10:30 (which I made online). When I went to check in I asked if they were running on time because it looked very crowded. I was told they were running behind but it didn't matter what time my appointment was because they take you in the order that you check in. So essentially it was pointless to make an appointment - I would've been there when the doors opened to beat the crowd had I known this was the way they operate their scheduling. Also, I ended up being seen before a family that made an earlier "appointment" because I happened to check in before them. Second issue - While the photographer was very nice she continued to check her camera for what shot she just got which meant she was missing more great or sometimes better shots. She shouldn't be reviewing what she just took while my kids are sitting there. Who cares if you take 100 shots - its digital! They can be deleted out at a later time! I found myself saying "oh that's a good one" only to see her looking at the camera instead of getting the picture! However I was assured she got some great ones (and we will get to that in a minute). Third - Time to review the photos which they don't let you see until they try to sell you a $700 package! Well when you have only about 5 good pictures to choose from a $700 package isn't going to work! After I expressed my budget will be $100 and under I got a big huff from the lady and she went to retrieve the pricing for individual photo sheets. Fourth - Time to pick some pictures....or should I say time to find maybe one that's decent. Finally found two that I liked - problem was my son had a tiny scratch over his eye. I asked if we can touch that out which the lady told me they could. When I asked about the second picture of just my son (mind you there were 4 kids total in my family) and having his cut touched up she let me know it's $40 to retouch. $40 a picture....$40 each picture to re touch the tiny cut on EACH picture. So I'm already up to $80 just to get the blemish taken out. I thought now would be a good time to leave, buy nothing, and come back when it was healed. However, she spoke to the manager who said they would do it for $25 for the first picture, $15 each additional picture. Nice deal - I don't think so. The cut stayed. I bought two sheets of just him. At this point I was totally aggravated and disappointed. Overall, the place stinks. If you are looking for a classy, well operated, professional place this IS NOT IT! There are many true professional photographers that may charge a sitting fee but will do touch ups, have creativity, and be willing to work with you! At the end of the day the price is comparable but the experience overall will be worth any extra penny it costs - trust me! Save yourself the time and energy and don't bother. PS- since my kids were looking so cute and we weren't happy we went home and took some ourselves. Wouldn't you know they turned out adorable. I have about 15 GREAT shots to chose from - which I can now touch up the blemishes myself! read more

What killed my experience was picture people not cutting the photos. I have pictures connected that should have been cut into individual pictures. It's just one extra unnecessary step after spending $160. read more

Other then the photographer who did a wonderful job with my four month old and two year old. I am extremely disappointed. Session went great and the fifteen minutes I was told everything would take turned into almost 4 hours. Not offered a damn thing. Now while I am sitting here typing this review they just brought me out another bad set of Xmas cards. That's the second bad set and still no resolution or real apology. read more

As an update, I emailed corporate to let them know what happened to my family. I received a call from the franchise's management. They sounded sincerely apologetic for the fiasco. They attributed the missing reservation to overzealous parents who took print-outs of reservations to accelerate their appointment times. I'm willing to give The Picture People another try. read more

When they first opened I loved bringing my kids here for pictures. They always took a ton of pictures and we always had too many great shots to choose from. Sadly, this has all changed drastically. This is the second year in a row that I've been disappointed and it is now the last. To put it simply: 1. Be prepared to wait at least 20-30 minutes beyond your appointment time. If you're working around feedings or naps plan accordingly. 2. They don't have the same backdrops in every room. You may have to wait for another family in order to get a backdrop you like. 3. The backdrops and props are in rough shape. We have pictures with the white backdrop that have noticeable scuff marks and dirty spots. 4. They no longer take nearly as many pictures as they used to. 5. None of the packages worked with what we needed so so we bought the "High Definition" CD for $150. The cd was NOT High Def. When I enlarged the photos to 8x10 they were blurry. Also, they did not put ALL of the photos onto the cd. They only put the ones that we were originally interested in purchasing sheets for. I gave this location two stars because it's convenient and because the staff was nice. That being said, I will no longer suggest that anyone go to Picture People. read more

Holy cow. Went last night and it was Absolutely brutal. Appointment was meaningless. Waited an hour after my appointment was scheduled so What's the point. Perfect pose by all 6 kids finally and the photographer's camera battery died. Are your kidding me??? Never again, go to target or Sears instead. All the pictures were not edited with the dirty floor showing. Sorry. Just horrible.... read more

We had a very different experience from the previous yelpers who reviewed this Picture People location. Maybe because our appointment was set for 2pm on a weekday. We got there at exactly 2pm and only had to wait a couple of mins before being called by our photographer. Our photographer was pleasant and very patient with my infant daughter who was not exactly in the mood to take pictures. We got some good shots and were able to go home with some nice printouts and a cd with our high res images. I will use Picture People again when in need of some decent baby/family portraits. read more

First time using Picture people. I was checked in right away and waited about 15 mins before my session started. My photographer Roger was patient, fun and creative when taking pictures of my son. Following our session the packages were presented. Although, they do try to sell you a package my rep was able to provide some flexibility to my order. The downside is that when I asked about online ordering was told that the system doesn't always work and was not provided any information on how to access my pictures online in the event I wanted to order more things in the future. I do plan to return in the future but will make sure I have a plan and budget in mind before the session. read more

Edited: a year later, I had no choice but to go back since the GSP location closed. Well I am thankful I did! I told the manager my experience last time and he squeezed me in a very booked and full room (everyone was there taking xmas photos) with no appointment. We only waited about 20 mins and our photographer Michael was amazing. He did such a good job with my two year old that I bought a membership! Very happy with my visit!!! read more

Although I am not a picture people fan, and think they are incredibly over priced... Michael was outrageous, high energy and an all around fantastic photographer. Would highly recommend asking for him! read more

Sad that I have to write this about Picture People, I don't know how they still in business. LONG waiting over 40 minutes. Horrible pictures were taken. And they don't honor coupons the next day (it have to be in the same session) If I can give them a zero I would. Unfriendly people work there, you can tell they don't want to work. Not a professional photography. read more

Although my photographer and the other employees I dealt with were professional and courteous, I had a horrible experience. From start to finish I waited for 3 hours for my product. I watched as other families, who arrived after me, got into the photo rooms before me. The prices are asinine, *sale price* of $90 for a USB drive with all of your photos. Even if you use a Groupon the assortment of pictures you get are useless. So, once you pay, you are asked to wait 20 minutes for your product to print. I had about 8 sheets of one photo, and 1 sheet of a different photo printed. After the requested 20 minutes, I returned, to wait another 15 minutes. So, if your child gets restless, like mine after 3 hours, prepare to be pissed off because your child is crying and no one is even at the reception desk to help. There were 3 families when I arrived, and although it is the holiday season, the store was surprisingly empty. My suggestions; have all day to wait for these people, or find another place. read more

I am still waiting from an email or a call from the franchise regarding the horrible experience I had at Picture People. Portrait Innovation in Clifton takes accountability for their mistakes or oversights much better. I always went to Picture People , then got tired of the unprofessional environment, went to Portrain Innovation, but decided to unfortunately give Picture People another chance. read more

This place is the worst! Unprofessional is not the word. Inexperienced photographers, rude staff, awful photos. I wasn't the only one who had an issue during my visit. read more

Just horrendous. I scheduled an appointment online. Apparently this holds little meaning (what's funny is that the website to book your appointment is very slow as well). When I got there it was pretty crowded with only two staff trying to both take photos and man the register. They finally took me to take my pictures one hour after the appointment start time (this was a weekday afternoon). Thank goodness I packed a lunch to feed my kid in the meantime, otherwise he just might have started a riot with all the other poor little kids waiting. The photographer we got was actually very nice and did his best to get my son to smile but he wasn't happy, so he suggested looking through the photos he took so far and trying again in a "few minutes". Fast forward to 45 minutes later, I had to flag someone down to look at the photos, by this time two more staff had arrived but everyone spent most of their time in the back room trying to sort out some issue while children ran amok. I wasn't too happy with any of the shots so instead of having to beg for attention again I just left. Maybe I'll come back to choose a picture, but I don't think so. All in all it was literally over two hours and I left empty-handed. read more

After having a horrible experience at a different picture people location, I went to this one to use a Groupon. I have been back three times since. The pictures always come out AMAZING and I have had nothing but good experiences with the staff. I am typically able to book during the day, so I do not experience some of the long peak wait times others have mentioned, but I was there when it was very crowded for Easter pictures. We did have to wait a little while, but nothing unreasonable. I often get e-mailed coupons from picture people and will continue to utilize this location. read more

Terrible experience. I just wanted one photo. We were there 2.5 hours! Will never go back again. Do yourself a favor and go to a professional! read more

I went here last fall. Place tends to be really busy. Quality of photographers varies. Most packages come with a ton of print sizes you don't want or need (giant prints and wallet sizes). Most groupon deals are limited to one pose so you will wind up buying more stuff. I would give them three stars but for some moronic reason if you purchase the digital prints of your session they give you a CD; there was no cloud drive or even USB stick option. The CD sat around for weeks until I dug up an old laptop and managed to transfer them to my G-Drive. Get current with technology! read more

Needed pictures ASAP for a publisher; could not have been more pleased with my experience. The customer service was outstanding; from making a same day appointment with Ki Ki, to our photographer Travis. Travis was amazing, patient and definitely a person I would come back to for photos. The studio was clean. Got a CD with 24 pics and an 8×10, didn't wait more than 5 minutes. read more

This is the most unorganized place I have ever been too. I wanted to take nice photographs of my nieces for my sisters for Christmas. I purchased a groupon and booked a session. I had to wait more than 45 minutes before someone could take their photos. By that time, the kids were fussy and crying and the photographer did nothing to ease their fear or try to make them laugh. There were no options of backdrops only the one that was already hanging. The prop room was a joke. It had broken frames, boxes, chipped paint. A HOT MESS. Then we had to wait forever for a computer to pick out the photographs. We had no good photographs and I ended up picking out one where they were nearly in tears. Even for $20 groupon, it wasn't worth the stress. THEN you had to wait for the photographs!!! We decided to come back the next day and guess what??? The photographs weren't even ready because the machine broke down!!! read more

Worst service ever experienced. Did a mistake going here, they are going to play you and the person at the front desk is too rude, they are out of business anyway....take my word don't go here. They are only nice when they take your pictures. read more

If I could rate them a minus zero I would! I recently visited the Paramus Park Studio and was appalled by the service I received. My daughter is one year old and we were getting pictures taken for her 1st birthday. From the moment we walked into the studio the staff were extremely rude and unwelcoming. The person that took my information was more interested in talking with her coworkers. I didn't even get so much as a "hello". After going into the area where my daughters pictures were taken, we met the photographer who was actually nice. Every time she was in the middle of taking pictures a guy kept coming into our session and calling her out to talk to her, I'm assuming this was her manager, he was rushing her and she could not concentrate, leave alone help my daughter to feel comfortable. This was so rude, we ended up with a session that was only ten minutes and only seven pictures which I was highly unhappy with. To put my daughter through all of the "getting dressed up and getting her to pose" the photographer didn't even make an effort to get good shots. The nerve of them to rush us through the photo shot but made us wait hours to look at our pictures and every time I went to ask someone they kept telling me "a few more mintues" mind you I am telling them that it's past my daughters dinner time and she is starving. They could careless. Let me also say that we drove 40 minutes to come to a 'Picture People" location as there is none near us and I thought "Picture People" was a reputable company. I am so disgusted with the service and quality of pictures. I would have rather went to a Sears or JC Penny... After stressing how disappointed and unhappy I was, the person that was helping us couldn't even comp. us the enhancement fee of the one picture that I liked. I will never waste my time visiting a "Picture People" again. I also noticed this specific location has two stars on Google... I will be telling my friends not to take their small children there as they are unaccommodating and have no clue how to work with "little ones". This was supposed to be a wonderful fun experience for my daughter but it turned into a nightmare and she is now scarred from this experience.I am a manager in the customer service/financial industry and if I had staff like this I would terminate them all. Highly disappointed dissatisfied customer! read more