Target Portrait Studio

Yesterday 8/30/11, I filled out the photo processing form and asked the clerk to review it. She was on the phone but looked at it and said it was fine. My phone number was on there. This morning, I went to pick up my photos and the clerk said they ran "basic" processing on it. The photos were of terrible quality. This clerk offered "a redo" but never mentioned I would have to pay for it! I then paid for the first set of photos.

I went back this afternoon (my third trip in 24 hours) and the photos were just as bad. This clerk (they were never the same clerks) said the machine was "dirty" and they couldn't run any more photos today for anybody because the "machine's been acting up" yet she insisted I pay for these photos too! I asked to see a manager. I got a refund for one set of photos, but not for the other. Faraz said, "I still have to charge you for the processing". Is he kidding? At this point, I didn't even want any of the photos. I just wanted to get out of there.

I left without a refund because the store manager, the guy in charge of the entire store, thought the customer ought to pay for their mistakes. What kind of a company asks for contact information but doesn't contact the customer if there's a question about their order? What company in today's economy would think it's fair to charge a customer not once but twice for crummy photos? And what kind of manager decides it's okay to do this to loyal longtime customers?

Faraz insisted that I pay the $8.01 regardless. Terrible, terrible customer service. How is it my fault that their photo processing clerks don't call customers if they have a question? How is it my fault that their machine is running "dirty"? I shouldn't have to pay for these crummy photos; photos I don't even want at this point. Why is Target accepting money for goods not properly received? This is a clear violation of consumer policy, should be investigated and should be a warning to anyone considering doing their photo processing there. Buyers, beware!

Back in December 2002, we took our daughter to the Target Portrait Studio for Birthday/Christmas pictures. One of the pictures she took was with Clifford and she LOVES Clifford. When we saw the samples, that was one of the pictures we ordered. When the pictures came back, the picture had Clifford cut off so we picked another picture (the person at the time told me we couldn't switch pictures but she would LET me since there was something wrong with the picture).

In early February 2004, I went back to see if they could try to redo it just in case whoever processed the picture cut it off by mistake and I was told I would have something by February 22nd. It's now March 8th and I've left two messages at the Target store with no answer. It seems whenever I call Target, it's not THEIR responsibility because this area is a separate contractor but my reasoning is that since they are IN the Target Store, I expect the same level of service from them as I do from Target.

It's more of a sentimental issue - we can't go back to the day my daughter turned 2 and if I would have seen that the picture was cut off in the preview (the picture was fine in the preview), we could have redone it then.