Thumbs down to Sears!
On Saturday we took Bip to the local Sears Portrait Studio for pictures of him in his baptismal gown. We left in plenty of time to arrive for our 1:30 appointment at the mall which is 20 to 30 minutes away. The sky was threatening to rain so we parked in the covered parking which is on the other side of the mall as the Sears. We had to make a potty stop on the way, plus little legs just don’t walk very fast. We got to the portrait studio at 1:40. The woman said "your appointment was for 1:30 and it’s now 1:40. You’ll have to be considered a walk-in."
Me: Ok, what does that mean?
Woman: You have to wait until 2:00 and see if the 2:00 appointment doesn’t show. If they don’t, we can take you.
Me: Oh. Well, is there anyone back there now?
Woman: No
Me: Well, can’t you just take me now? I only have the one child, one background, no props.
Woman: No, that’s the company policy.
Me: So even though no one is back there right now, I still have to wait?
Woman: Yes, that’s the company policy.
?????
Then the 2:00 appointment arrived, and even though they were not going to take her back until 2:00, I still had to wait.
Me: So what you’re telling me is that I now have to wait here all afternoon, waiting for someone not to arrive for their appointment?
Woman: Well ma’am, our company policy…
Me: Right, I heard you. But you are saying that in order to get pictures today, I have to sit here all afternoon.
Woman: Our company policy is that…
Well, I finally got her to admit that yes, rather than going right away to take this one picture, I would now have to sit and wait for someone not to show up. I don’t think so. We walked out into the mall, and what should we see directly below us on the first floor: The Picture People!
We went down there and they were happy to take our money! From the time they took us back, changing Bip into his gown, taking 3 different poses, changing his clothes back and walking out the door: 15 minutes! The photographers were wonderful, props and backgrounds were in good shape and the pictures turned out beautifully! An added bonus was that I donot have to make a return trip to the mall in a week or so to pick up the pictures because they were ready in an hour.
Now, I totally understand that we were late. That was our fault. I would have understood if the Sears people had taken a walk-in in our place when we weren’t there in time. I also understand that the company needs to have a policy in place to deal with apparent no-shows. What really made me angry was the inability of their employees to assess the situation, realize that they could accomodate the customer and still stay on schedule. What happened to good customer service where the customer is always right? They would rather take no one’s picture rather than bend the rules and take the one quick portrait I wanted. Well, not only did they lose my money that day, but I have no intentions of ever returning to that particular portrait studio (Landmark Mall in Alexandria, VA) and possible even any other Sears Studio.
And about this "company policy." In the 7 years I have been taking my children to have portraits done, I have used Sears almost exclusively. At no time have I ever been informed of this policy. Not back when I would call the individual studio to make appointments and not the last two times when I called their central appointment number.
I will be writing a letter of complaint to both this particular Sears Portrait Studio and their corporate office.
It all turned out in the end. Like I said, the pictures are beautiful and I don’t have to make another trip to pick them up. We got a lot of things done while waiting for the pictures, including getting me an eye exam and a new prescription for reading glasses. Boo got to by the Larry Boy car he’s been thinking of for months, plus we all indulged in Auntie Annie’s pretzels for snacks. So 2 thumbs down plus a giant raspberry for Sears, but yay for the Picture People.
