Firefly Photography Studios

If I could give this zero stars I would. The stylists and photographers at Firefly are such talented people and were a joy to work with, but they have been horribly let down by incompetent, unscrupulous management. I purchased a discount voucher from Living Social for a makeover session and a photoshoot, with a free image. I decided I did like the photos and wanted to buy some. The man responsible for the viewing of the photos (Phil) seemed nice enough but was rather coercive he tried to sell me a £3000 package! (If I had that kind of money I wouldn’t be using a voucher, would I?!). I only wanted six images but was rushed out of the place £550 later. I was led to believe that I was getting a good deal because he was throwing in some extra photos and doing free retouching. Well, when I got home I looked at their website and saw that the same package if purchased in advance was more than £200 cheaper! So much for getting a good deal. Someone with a discount voucher should never be worse off. One of the managers (Paul) called me the next day and was the rudest, most patronising person I have ever come across. He made out that he had done me a favour by putting a deal on Living Social, because you wouldn’t have found us otherwise. I think that means that it is I who have done Firefly a favour by giving them my business! He then went on to say that I was only wanting some money back, that’s all you care about. He kept interrupting me and talking over me. So much for customer service. Paul then told me that I had somehow stumbled across their old website which was apparently only accessible by using specific search criteria (I have this in writing from him if anyone wants to see it). I made screenshots proving that I found it by simply typing in firefly photography manchester. The old website came up before the new one. Most other businesses I have patronised make sure that I, the customer, are aware of all the prices and deals and am getting the best deal. Paul condescendingly told me that because I am a grown adult I should have found out all that myself and it was not up to the studio to deliver good customer service. The whole experience left a bad taste in my mouth and I have only looked at my photos once since receiving them (by the way, Phil with his overzealous airbrushing removed the straps from my dress in one of the photos!). There is an abundance of studios in Manchester, so avoid this one like the plague and take your business to people who aren’t just after the short term wins and getting as much money as possible from customers.