Portrait Innovations

I really wish I had more positive things to say about this place. I have to start by praising the photos — the ones we took here were wonderful and I really do love them. However, I do have to preface that if they took so many photos (more than a 100), some of them were bound to be good right?
While I do love their photos, I am highly disappointed with the service we had here. Yes, I understand that studios during the holidays are quite busy. However, this place seemed unnecessarily overcrowded and unorganized. They kept us waiting four hours after our appointment time without any apology for running late. On top of that, they had the audacity to tell us to show up early so we would not miss our appointment. Seriously? Why should you keep a customer waiting 5 hours because you don’t know how to read a clock?
In addition, they have arbitrary «rules» to expedite the photo taking process. However, no one takes a moment to explain them to the customers. For example, they forced us to take Christmas photos first even when we didn’t want to take Christmas photos. We were only allowed one outfit change, which made matters even worse because we could not wear the outfits we wanted on the backgrounds we had wanted them on. Best part — when we politely asked why we couldn’t do this, the saleswoman their barked back that they had left us a voicemail regarding these ridiculous rules. Guess what? There was not a phone call, a missed call, or even a voicemail explaining their idiosyncrasies.
Once they finally finished the photo shoot, they have the most idiotic, time-​wasting method to select the photos you want. You have to pick one out of every three photos to put into your «favorites.» Forget the fact that your eyes might be closed in all of them and you look half drunk, you MUST pick one of the three they put in front of you. Really, it’s a way for them to waste time and get you so frustrated you end up spending more money. They do not clearly explain the pricing tiers. And, anytime you try to ask a question, the saleslady’s go to response is «We never spend this much time on a person. We closed two hours ago and really do need to get home.» Well, guess what? If you had been on time, you wouldn’t have to stay past closing. I’m sure my tirade can go on for hours. But, seriously — please come here if you want beautiful pictures and a migraine that will last for weeks. Otherwise, I’m sure there are plenty of other photography studios in Plano that would be better suited for your needs.

A very pushy saleswoman was trying to increase sales by taking us through a guilt trip and lying about the sequence of events.
Their prices were mentioned online
1 pose = $ 19
Collage =$ 25
We were prepared to spend $ 100. Ended up spending $ 90.
If we want to spend $ 500 or $ 700 we would go with better professionals for outdoor or at home shoot… who have better skill and equipment than a discount studio like portrait innovations.
We arrived on time.
We requested 1 dress change and 1 white background. Which they said was normal and ok.
Luckily Kids were in a good mood and our session lasted 20−25mins.
She said they needed to take at least 70 photos and will filter from them. TACTIC.
They rescheduled our photo-​selection to later in the day because they had to step out.
During photo selection the woman kept on whining and lecturing about buying more stuff because we took more snaps. WE DID NOT ASK FOR THEM TO TAKE SO MANY SNAPS IT WAS A SALESTRICK AND WE UNDERSTAND IT NOW.
I am ok with pushy sales but pushing sales by lying and making the customer feel guilty is just cheap behavior.
We have been here twice before and it was routine sales push never insulting.
There will never be a next time for us.
They constantly run the promotions because thats the way they get people in the door not because of their skill of the trade. Once in the door they use cheap tactics to sell more stuff.

Getting the kids together for pictures is not always an easy task, but my experience with Leila was far from the usual craziness that comes with get them done. I arrived at my appointment early like usual, but was surprised when I was pleasantly greeted and taken to the back to start immediately. Throughout the whole process, she handled my cranky two-​year-​old with the utmost enthusiasm and energy. And to top it all off, the finished product was nothing short of adorable. Thank you, Portrait Innovations, for this wonderful experience and for the pleasure of getting to work with Leila!

In addition to other photographers, we have used portrait innovations at least once a year for the last seven years. Honestly, I’ve only had one bad experience. This was our first time at the Plano location and Mya was our photographer. She was amazing! So kind and patient. She was better than me at getting my youngest to smile and open up. We got there early and she started working with us immediately. Yes, we did go on a weekday. You have to expect going to any studio like this on a weekend is going to be chaotic.

I would never recommend anyone to Portrait Innovations. I wish I could give negative stars.
We wanted pictures of our three boys and our one-​week old daughter. After arriving 5 minutes prior to our appointment, we had to wait another 30 minutes. When one studio became available about 10 minutes after we arrived, we asked if we could go ahead and start in that studio but the photographer refused because it would «disturb the order of their sessions.» When we arrived, we were asked what backgrounds we liked. However, when we requested to start with a white background, we were told that there was a specific order they had to follow regarding the background colors. We had to take photos in front of two other backdrops before getting to the white.
The photographer was horrible with young children and would not take the poses we requested. We had to pose the children as the photographer clearly did not know what to do with them. We were told she had to take pictures in a certain sequence, despite us running short on time due to their delay in getting us in.
After our objecting, the «photographer» got her manager who told us that we could leave if we did not want to take pictures in the order they are required. I can honestly say this was the worst customer service I have ever encountered. I signed up for Unilocal just so I could write this review. I would recommend JC Penny over this place. Do not waste your memories or money at this establishment.

TERRIBLE-​. I called in the morning & booked an appt. for the same afternoon. I took half a day off of work and took my daughter out of school early. When we arrived 10 min early for our appt. the store was packed with people and the rude employee at the counter said they were running one hour and 15 min behind! After waiting for over an hour he said it would be another 30 – 40 min. He said their corporate office requires them to book appts 10 mins apart. Coupon was a scam– I watched lots of customers get the hard upsell for hundreds of dollars. The store was full of angry people waiting 1 ½ — 2 hours ! After waiting almost 2 hours we walked out ! Complete waste of time. I wish I would have read the reviews before booking. Don’t waste your time !!!

I can not say enough good things about these folks. I think the reason they may not always run perfectly on time is because they take their time getting the photo right. They are working with kids, not machines. They really saved my Christmas because we had a very unusual plight. My 1 yr old daughter was in the hospital her 2^nd Christmas in a row, but they could give us 1 six hour pass with special permission. Most folks would use it for Thanksgiving or Christmas day, but all I wanted was the portraits with her twin brother I couldn’t get last year because she was too sick. I bought a Groupon for the photo studio at SuperTarget in the same shopping center as Portrait Innovations, but they decided to just not show back up after lunch that day. I was in tears with 5 hrs left to get her back to the hospital. I called Portrait Innovations crying & told them the situation, and they said they would do everything they could to get us in. At that point both babies were getting more tired and cranky from my perfectly timed afternoon gone awry. During both photo setups they kept crying, but the photographers & assistants were so patient and went above and beyond in getting great photos. I was in a rush & they helped me quickly do selections & emailed me the entire session in an hr. The pictures & CD were ready the next day and turned out AMAZING. It truly made my Christmas, and while it was the deal I had with Groupon I thought it was pretty reasonable.

How Can business do this for many, many years yet not know how to run a business? Our 10:20 appt, for which we arrived 20 min early, started off looking bad, and it was. we were met with a crowded waiting room full of angry people. despite a 10:20 appt, our photograph session started at 11:15! This place opens at 9am, yet by 10:00 they are already 55 minutes behind. How is that even possible? The employees are obviously not empowered, no one had a solution, no one seemed to be in charge. Total chaos and all the customers were so angry! Thankfully my youngest is 2 and can’t imagine if I had and Infant whose feeding and nap schedule required a exact appt window. No one cares, the employees are oblivious to the customers needs.
The fact that they schedule appointments every 10 minutes, when it takes at least 45 min to cycle thru the two studio rooms and then pick out pics, shows they are clueless. It sets the employees up for a total disaster of angry customers. They are obviously much more interested in making as much $ as possible than they are interested in actually taking great photos or giving good service. I have been a loyal customer for 8 years, and my experienced Tuesday 11÷26÷13 will be my last.
If you ignore all the bad reviews, at least be sure you are the 9am appt or else you are in for a 3 hour experience and a lot of frustration.

If it was possible to give a negative star rating for this place and its corporate office I would give them a –10. I recently went there because I had a gift certificate that a family member had given me as a gift. They told me that this place was great and quick and easy for those with kids. Well, I wish I would have read reviews before going to this place.
The over all picture taking process was fine. I had a very friendly photographer but the poses we did weren’t anything special. After we finished they take through the process of eliminating the pictures that did not turn out well and then start at the most expensive package they offer and go from there. I’m sorry but that is a load of crap. I know they are just trying to get you to spend more but for those with a little kid who is getting impatient it would be nice to see all the different package options without having to go through every single one.
Since my child was on the verge of a meltdown I just decided on one package which ended costing me around $ 300. I received several prints, a photo cd, 3 photo books, and a 16×20 canvas print. I also added on the special summer deal they had for $ 16.99 that gave you a free 8×10 canvas. They advertised on their website that this free 8×10 canvas is valued at $ 50. After leaving the place I didn’t really know how many prints I was getting until I returned to pick them up a little while later. Yes I got several prints of several different poses but after seeing them printed out especially in an 8×10 they weren’t anything special. There were shadows on our faces in some of the pictures we took which I find comical considering all the «professional» lighting equipment. I really wanted to return them all but my husband did like some of them so I just decided to keep them.
The 16×20 canvas was shipped to my home and when I opened it up they managed to chop off part of my husbands head. I called the portrait corporate office and told them my issue and the lady let me pick another pose to have printed and assured me that we would be all on the canvas. The replacement came and my husbands head was chopped off again! From what my husband and I can tell is that they don’t account for the edges of the canvas that get end up on the side. Since most of the pictures were taken so close there really isn’t any other option for us to print on this big canvas… which they somehow managed to make me feel like that was my problem. I had to go pick up my 8×10 at the plano location because I guess spending that amount of money doesn’t include free shipping on small stuff like. go figure. I asked if it was possible to come in and redo our large canvas print to see it in person before reprinting again. Well I was told I had to make an appointment and that it might be possible to do… might be possible… are freaking kidding me.
When I get home I decided to call the corporate office again and see if I can just get a refund because I am simply tired of dealing with people who obviously don’t know how print on a canvas. I was told that the refund value for my 16×20 canvas would only be $ 10 freaking dollars. They said since I received so many prints that the canvas is only a add on. I told the lady you have to be kidding me. It clearly states on your website that the 8×10 canvas is worth $ 50!!! How can you expect me to think that the prints I got are worth hundreds of dollars! You can print these same pictures at any other place like wal-​greens or wal-​mart for less than a $ 100. Plus, if I want to get my stupid $ 10 back I have to take the canvas prints back to the studio and then call the corporate office back to get a refund. It is not even worth my time and the gas wasted to go over there to get $ 10 freaking dollars back.
If you have a choice DO NOT waste your time or money with this place. Never trust a place that doesn’t offer a price break down of everything because they are just ripping you off. Find a friend or family member with a nice camera to take your pictures because it will be ten times better than what you get here.

We had scheduled an appointment for 4pm on this Saturday 2 weeks ago for a family picture with relatives that were coming in from out of town for the weekend. We arrived 5 minutes early to what looked like a crowded doctor’s office we were told there was a 30 min wait, not a big deal. We took the 5 small kids and 6 adults to the hobby store and went back at 425 to be told again it would again 30 – 40 minutes. That was a little irritating now with small kids, but we went to target and had a few pretzels and went back at 5. Now for the third time we were told there was now only 3 groups in front of us and it would be another 30 – 45 minutes. At this point, the kids were hungry and screaming and the place was so full there wasn’t any room for our parents to sit down. We decided to leave with having the pictures taken. I must have talked to 4 people that work there and only the last young man I spoke with seems to partially care for the inconvenience they caused us. After a few minutes He offered to discount our session, but we weren’t fishing for a discount. They still couldn’t even tell us how much longer the wait was. They were very disorganized and had obviously over booked the day and really didn’t seem to care too much about that. As a parent with small children, we have pictures taken frequently. We are moving to plano very near this store and I will absolutely never schedule any pictures with them. Definitely not a service oriented business.