Jcp Portraits

I came here on Mother’s Day with family. Due to it being that day, it was busy which is understandable. I had booked the photoshoot for 3:45pm but we had to wait 1 hour 30 mins. The photographer was great, funny, & she had an out going personality. It made the photoshoot fun and went fast. I have 2 kids (4 years & 1 year) and she tried her best to make my 1 year old smile. The only thing that sucked was the background stood the same as the people used before us. She didn’t ask what background we wanted until we realized that wasn’t the one we wanted to use. So make sure you make that clear once you walk in! When we picked the photos up one had a brown smudge on it (turned out to be pencil marking), the biggest photo was blurry and they said they couldn’t reprint it. They tried to have us buy 4 extra photos for $ 20 but because of those mistakes, I requested the extra photos to be free. After some hassle, it was given free plus a magnet. Because of this, I will not be returning to this studio again. I hope I have a better experience with the printed photos in another JCPenney.

Great photo experience i had a photographer named larry he knew what he was doing i found the whole session great! And i did see people showing up late and i mean at least 20min people should understand that it makes every personn behind you have to wait and they were on time not fare but they were still trying to accommodate the manager eboney was very kind in explaining policy and i saw that, so just be like me show up early !!! I will definitely be back and request larry for my session again

Out of my few hundred Unilocal reviews, this will probably be the lowest of all low rating… even though I have given 1 star in the past, this place is not even deserving of that (but no other choice, can’t get any lower on this scale).
If you want to be disrespected, pissed on and want to leave yourself like crap with the lowest self-​esteem possible, oh please by all means, do come here!!! If you want to be trained on customer service and WHAT NOT TO EVER DO, please come here for the experience, and you will definitely leave feeling like you learned a whole lot about how to treat customers with lack of compassion & no mercy whatsoever.
So we were late — not the end of the world. Am sure there are plenty of other people who were late, too. But DAMN — they sure make you feel like you are going to hell for being late, which is VERY ridiculous.
First off, they CLAIM they have called you, they have logs of calling the phone # as you listed… and the times that you were ‘allegedly’ called. So when they were asked in return, «did you ever leave a voicemail? Do you have records that perhaps someone on the other line did not pick up?» No answer. They did not want to hear it.
Well, obviously they do a good job keeping tabs on when you were phoned, but no other details/​logs/​records that the caller did not reach the recipient… hm… then maybe the system has to change? What’s the purpose of good record-​keeping for phone calls if there is no details on whether the customer has picked up to receive your call, and for that matter, on important details like you have to call them upon your arrival before 10am, to get picked up by personnel to bring you to a location because gates were closed. WOW! None of this on a confirmation email and none of this was every mentioned on the website. They should have provided more clarity.
Anyways, things got ugly. I asked for the manager and of course, the person who was the most rude was the manager. Surprising. It was a lot of back and forth and the ‘manager’ did not want to hear it. Did not care. There were other customers waiting for their session and all heard the commotion. So in a way, it was humiliating because you as a so-​called manager — is suppose to represent your company that you work for, the integrity & reputation that you are tto uphold and yet everyone witnesses how you treat another customer — which is basically like dirt.
But get this — the final straw was when I asked to rebook, the manager replied, no it’s all booked.
In general, to appease a customer (even if it gets so busy), if I was the manager, I would actually suggest to rebook to another more convenient time/​opening. But NOOOOO… I had to ask (which was fine) but what ultimately did it was, the manager walked away as I asked, «so there are no appointments at all? EVER??? in this lifetime?» The manager was probably fed up at this point. Sure it gets busy, but this is your job, my gosh. It’s not like we’re the most unreasonable customers in the world who is giving every human being the hardest time and trying to crank out free things. We were expecting to pay for the service, rightfully but most of all, to be treated, rightfully. That is not too much to ask.
So one of the more sympathizing workers in the back, who happened to see all of this — pulled me to the side and whispered that their upper manager will be in later and to contact that manager instead to let them know what’s going on. (this particularly employee probably knew that this manager person was being utterly and most inappropriately unreasonable for the harsh way in treating people). I thanked her for being so understanding. But that tells you a lot if another worker is already sensing all this, as a confirmation that this manager was being super nasty.
In the end, after all the craziness, walked away… feeling very much like you were reprimanded, and not being heard… ok so life goes on. I had plans to contact corporate for this behavior that was exerted and to send in some complaints.
But the grass is greener on the other side… literally.
Across the block — I found online another photo session offered by Target Portraits. Probably the same parent company who does these dept store photo sessions, but who cares. I can’t let incompetent ‘managers’ get in the way of what’s important in each of our lives, you know.
Thought I’d give it a try anyways.
But what a HUUUUGE difference, it was a dream experience compared to this JC horror!!! Here’s my review of them here:

I brought my energetic 2 year old here for holiday pics and Larry was our photographer and he was very patient with my son. He gave his suggestions on things for the pics as far as the background and props and the pics came out great. I would definitely recommend this place for pics. Also I used a Groupon deal for his session and he went in on time for his appointment and there wasn’t any waiting.

I went in with my family to take family photos. My parents were here from out of state and it was a very important time for us to take pictures. We arrived late and the lady behind the desk told us we would have to reschedule. At first I got upset. It’s hard to get everyone together on time. A blond women came out and told the girl to give us the next available spot. It happened to be in a half an hour. The women then stopped to talk to us before going back into the room. She went over what I wanted and then after going over backgrounds gave us the option to go get white shirts. It was not something I thought about but when we went over what we wanted she pointed out we would flow better wearing the same color. We went down into Jcpenny and all got shirts. When we came back for our new appointment we had the same lady who helped us taking our photos.
She was amazing!!! She played with my children, making them really laugh and smile and also got all of us laughing as well. When we were done she thanked us for coming in and wished my parents a good trip home.
I wish I remembered her name but she was amazing. The others were asking her questions so I am guessing she was a supervisor or something but she was amazing and I plan on going back and looking for her. She made our family pictures amazing and we had an amazing time.

I had a similar experience to at least one other person that has written a review here. I took my photos at the studio and was told to pick them up one week later. I arrived the next week, but I arrived after their closing time. However, they were still checking out a customer. I asked if i could pick up my photos and the manager, Andrea, kept cutting me off saying the «we’re closed, i’m sorry, we can’t help you». I plead my case saying I had traveled over and hour and was only late by a few minutes and that although I understand their policy, I was hoping she or someone could help me – either by getting me the photos or by giving me options to change my delivery method. For every comment/​question I had she answered «i’m sorry, we’re closed, I can’t help you». It was incredibly rude and unhelpful — especially considering that the photos I paid for were quite expensive (greater than $ 100). I couldn’t believe that they would treat any customer, let alone a someone who bought an expensive package, this way.
I asked her for the JCP portraits main phone number so that I could call and report the incident and see if I could do anything about the delivery method for the photos. The worst part is that this wasn’t just some employee, IT WAS THE MANAGER OF THE STORE!!! Andrea, the store manager, was incredibly rude. I will NEVER go back to JCP portraits. I will make sure my complaint somehow reaches a central office of some sort. I don’t know if there will be any consequences, but I will surely NEVER return. As the other reviewer suggested, find another place to do your photos. STAY AWAY FROM JCP PORTRAITS AT QUEENS CENTER MALL!

Not recommended.
I do like that it’s in the JC Penny which is great to shop in especially to get a toy to bribe your child with. It’s such a maze in there and hard to find without asking 3 employees. Anyway, I’ve been there twice, once during the Xmas rush which is probably a nightmare no matter what but also recently during the slow season. The people are nice enough but the photos are so super cheesy and they have a definite agenda as to what poses they want you in. It’s hard to get them to take several pictures in the same pose so that you can *maybe* have one out of the bunch that you like.
It’s also super hard to deal with making the decision on their computers after the sitting in order to place your print order. With small children and without a spouse who will entertain them it is nearly impossible to make the right decision as to what photo (s) to get. I’m not going back. Will try the Target as someone else suggested.
And no matter what, you’re going to be there for a long time even when you have the first morning appointment and it’s very quiet.

I had bought a Groupon to have two children’s portraits taken. It was a day that was very busy. We came 15 minutes early as indicated and sat down with the kids, Mother and bags of props and outfit changes, etc.
Shoot #1 (Gamer Shoot)
Gamer shoot came out cute, but there were small things that nicked me.
One of the props had a wire attached to it. Instead of covering it up, she just shot photos with it out in the open, not caring.
Shoot #2 (Dance Shoot)
This one nicked me so bad, If there wasn’t a friend/​client with me, I would have been more vocal. I started to spread out the props, and the photographer shot them as if it was a lineup. The pictures were horrible, I honestly wanted to get quality photos that could be displayed in a foyer. Few of these, None with the dancer could accomplish this. The Mother and I were completely unhappy, and so was my wallet, I asked to allow me to set up the floor for the dancer, but she dismissed me, without giving me even acknowledgement.
The photographer had taken her shoes off at this point already before we even got there. Other employees were looking for her at one point, and they couldn’t find her, the woman (think her name was Tina, started mumbling stuff under her breath about the photographer being M.I.A.) Then they find out that she was in Optical (next door) eating cake. I waited 15 minutes for an ussie with the pictures (I couldn’t select any, and it kept saying ERROR:12 879 Photo) because she went out to eat some damn cake?!
If she was pregnant, whatever, either way don’t be a jerk to people who are paying for a package and keep your shoes on. These photos are supposed to be memorable, If you are fully booked for the day, it’s not my fault.
I purchased the CD with two prints for $ 80.00 + the six they added at the last minute that were an extra $ 20.00 (I already knew this, game.) So with tax it was over $ 100.00 for a package that out of lets say 25 photos, only 10 were picked, I ended up paying for this out of my pocket, because I felt awful, I shouldn’t have to get loud in front of small children because you are having a lousy day.
Oh well, sad day for you, get over it.
I will never, ever, be coming here to this place. I’d rather pay some aspiring photographer student $ 100.00 for pictures than give it to them, at least they can take consructive cristicism.

I took my family photos a week ago and was told I could come back to pick them up in 7 days. I live over an hour away and was coming back from work and I arrived a few minutes after the closing time, but they were still there dealing with a customer. When I asked if they could help me, the manager, Andrea, kept repeating there was «nothing they could do for me because they’re closed.» I asked if they could either make an exception or give me more information about how to change the delivery method but she kept repeating there was «nothing they could do for me because they’re closed.» I found her tone and attitude to be very rude and dismissive. I told her I understood they were closed, but was looking for more information to see what my options are because i live so far away. She gave me the main jcp portraits number and I left.
I am never going back to this place again. The photos were quite expensive and I don’t think they know how to treat their customers. The experience was quite enraging. I felt like she was scolding me for arriving late and the worst part is how she just didn’t want to help me solve the problem in any way and THIS IS THE MANAGER!!! I am going to try to contact JCP Portraits and change the delivery method and tell them about my experience. I don’t know if there will be any consequences, but they have certainly lost any future business from me or my family.

If this is the JCP located inside Queens Center Mall-​beware! They have lateness policy! I went there to get my 6 month old’s pictures taken and they refused, stating we were 10 minutes late. Mind you, it wasn’t busy season and there were people waiting ahead of us, so it wasn’t like they’d been waiting. They claimed to have called us several times, which was not true because I had my phone on hand the whole car ride– my phone never rang nor did i get any voicemail messages! And it wasn’t just the fact that they wouldn’t take us, they were RUDE about it! The attitude wasn’t necessary. And I would’ve appreciated if they would’ve told us in advance of their lateness policy.
Never again!
Target Photo Studios, across the street was SOOO much nicer!