Wal-Mart Messed Up My Pictures

Valentine's Cards Ruined

from JoeUser Forums
My wife went to Wal-Mart for our son's 3 month pictures. These pictures are very important to her, and when I saw how cute he looked, to me too. Well, we bought two packages. One came out great, just fine, but the other had a thumb print on it. A thumb print on the entire package, so every photo was ruined. The print did not show up on the computer screen when she picked out which poses she wanted for the packages. It was a bigger package, too.

So Wal-Mart gave us some extra 5 x 7 pictures of the first pose, as if that would make everything all right. The package was for a 10 x 13, a ton of wallets, and some 8 x 10s. Probably for some other things too. Now we have no pictures to send in our Valentine's cards, that we are late with anyway because we were waiting for the pictures. It was the cuter picture too. Gah!

They also gave us a coupon to get the pose reshot, but he's 3 1/2 months now. Not 3 months. It's just not the same, he looks totally different. Why couldn't they just use another pose from that day? I don't understand them.
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6,535 views 12 replies
Reply #1 from JoeUser Forums Top
Bummer.

I used to work for a photo studio (although not WM), and I'll give you this advice: Call the district manager.

If you dealt with the people in the studio, they are only allowed to do certain things to make the customer happy when there's problems (usually something along the lines of a sheet or so of free photos and a re-do without a sitting fee). The district manager should be able to do more for you.

Be firm, but not rude. Let them know that you have an infant and will be getting photos frequently and would like to continue to do business with them, if they can make things right for you.

Hope that helps. Of course, you could always use a digital cam and take some photos of your little one yourself and then have them made into the sizes you want. Saves a lot of money.
Reply #2 from JoeUser Forums Top
For some reason my wife thinks we need professional pictures, not ones we take. I think she's right. There's a definite difference in the quality of the photos when it's in a studio as opposed to not. It looks like the pictures I had of me on the wall at home as a child. That's probably why I like them better from a studio. Thanks for the advice, and I'll see how it works out with the DM. I really don't know much about complaining.
Galactic Civilizations IV
Reply #3 from JoeUser Forums Top

We made the mistake of getting a family photo done there right before mu husband deployed. When I say 'right before' I mean RIGHT before...we got the photos on a Sunday and he deployed the following wednesday.

I go to pick them up 10 days later, and they're messed up.  Both our glasses have a horrible glare coming off them and you can't see our eyes.  The girl says "I can let you have a coupon to come and get the redone for free anytime in the next 2 months" as if that will make up for it. 

I tell her 'lady, he's gone to war for at least six months, that coupon's no use to me whatsoever.  I wanted to get these done so that I'd have a new one of him to carry around whilst he's gone, and you've screwed that up pretty effectively.'

You're not alone, I got screwed too.....and we're just the ones who have a place to vent about it.  There's probably thousands more people who got shafted and just aren't telling!

Reply #4 from JoeUser Forums Top

They also gave us a coupon to get the pose reshot, but he's 3 1/2 months now. Not 3 months. It's just not the same, he looks totally different

I had to laugh, not as a nit pick, but how so very true!  Sorry they messed them up.  At least they tried to make good, but as you see, you cant recapture a moment in a child's life.

Reply #5 from JoeUser Forums Top
I think the main thing here is that convenience =! quality...
Reply #6 from JoeUser Forums Top
Cheap = !quality. The pose they messed up was the one with the package we got with the coupon. $3.88 for all those photos. Of course my wife needed to drop another $50 on the second package. Arrrgh. No more business there from us. We're going to Penney's or Sears. The Picture People do really good work but they're so expensive. We got a free 8 x 10 on a coupon and man, they had 8 excellent pictures of him for us to choose from. Made us WANT to spend the extra money.
Reply #7 from JoeUser Forums Top
Might I make a suggestion?

The company I used to work for, Olan Mills, does very good quality portraits for reasonable prices.

Your photos are only going to be as good as your photographer, so it might be good to try a test run with one of the advertised packages (btw, photo studios do those at a loss...those are just meant to get you in the door) and see if you like the photographer's work.

Olan Mills portraits are good because of the way they process them. The photos will last longer than the ones from places like Wal-Mart. Unless things have changed, you are able to buy by the sheet and pick and choose instead of having to stick with a predetermined package set (i.e. 1 8X10, 2 5X7s, 8 wallets, etc.). Expect to spend $50 - $75.

Another neat thing they do is the canvas portraits. I have one of my family in a 16x20, and I love it.

The only downside (again, unless things have changed) is that they aren't set up with the digital stuff to allow you to view your portraits the day they're taken.
Reply #8 from JoeUser Forums Top

The company I used to work for, Olan Mills, does very good quality portraits for reasonable prices.

You worked for them?  The first picture my mother had of all 7 of us, I coordinated through them!  For her 50th!  We did another 17 years later.  But that was the first!  Hard to imagine, but when the ages are from (years) 53-72, not like we were all at home at the same time!

Excellent suggestion!  I have never had a problem there.

Reply #9 from JoeUser Forums Top
The only downside (again, unless things have changed) is that they aren't set up with the digital stuff to allow you to view your portraits the day they're taken.


They do the photos for our church's pictorial directory. I LOVE the quality of the photos. And, they've gotten to where they allow you to preview the shots before you pick them. At least, this group did. And it was portable. Because of that, it probably varies some from studio to studio.

In general, the quality of Olan Mills photos ROCK! Being an Army brat (and the fact that Olan Mills did the school photos for DODDS for a large number of years) I've got many examples of Olan Mills photos from across the years.

Another neat thing they do is the canvas portraits. I have one of my family in a 16x20, and I love it.


Those are just amazing. I've got one that has my parents and my wife's parents in it and it's always the second thing that gets put up on the wall after a move. The first is the picture collection of the kids 1st pics (the one's that the hospital takes shortly after birth). Gotta have your priorities straight, dontcha know?!?
Reply #10 from JoeUser Forums Top

I would never go to Walmart for photos.  The people working there barely get paid for what they do and get hardly any training.

Pictures are worth their price.  Just like you said- you can't take an age shot over again.  It's a little odd that they have a finger print in them, especially if it is a digital print (since almost all of them are now).  I'm trying to figure out how they even managed that one....

Reply #11 from JoeUser Forums Top
The company I used to work for, Olan Mills, does very good quality portraits for reasonable prices.


Olan Mills is VERY good, I agree.
Reply #12 from JoeUser Forums Top
When we went to The Picture People they had 8 shots all lined up, printed in 8x10 form for us to look at. So when we chose, we just took the one we wanted. And, all the poses are available online for my relatives to order. Or, I can order a tie with his picture on it! They did pricing by the sheet, as well.

I might check out Olan Mills, after I get my lucrative job. But that's for another article. It also hasn't happened yet.