Before we left for vacation, there was mention of a family portrait. Once, but not so much after that. Then when we get there, Oh by the way we're taking pictures. Eeerrr. We worked it out and it was something that has never been done, on either side of the family. So Tuesday was the day.
We all had to wear red, white, or denim. Now if I would have been reminded, I had stuff I could have brought. But alas, that was not the case. So off to WalMart on Monday to try to find some stuff. I got a red shirt, hubby got a red flannel plaid, and the boy got a red and black plaid flannel. The big girl got this really great fuzzy white shirt and these really cool jeans that have sparkly, silver pockets. If you know the big girl, you know that she likes anything sparkly. The baby already had a white shirt that I had brought with me.
Tuesday my mom and stepdad had a doctor's appointment that couldn't be rescheduled. That was alright, because it gave us a little time to breathe. When my mom called at 3, she couldn't believe that we hadn't left already. Our appointment was at 5, and we were leaving at 3:30. She failed to mention until then that traffic is horrible when you get closer to civilization. So scrambling around, we finally get ourselves together and head out the door. It was a little crazy, but not as bad as we had anticipated. And boy, did we ever look good!
We got to the mall right on time and actually met my mom and one of my nieces in the bathroom. We all primped a little and out to the photo studio. This should be a warning that all would not go well. And it didn't.
There was only one person working the photo studio. She had to answer the phone, take the pictures, and help the customers in the store. Apparently, her help didn't show. She had placed a call and help would soon arrive, but not soon enough.
We had 13 people (there are 19 on hubby's side) with 7 children ranging in age from 11 to 3. They were actually very good for having to wait as long as we did for the actual picture taking to commence. We didn't get started until after 6. There wasn't that much whining (cringe, cringe), and they all got along really well.
So once the picture taking got started, the fun began. There was blinking, startled expressions, eyes closed, mouths open, heads turned, and who knows what else. We did each family pod-my sister and her family, me and my family. We did all of us together. We did Mermie with her babies. And then there was Mermie and Uncle Jessie. They were great pictures. And to finally have them done was a huge relief.
Hubby and my brother in law took four of the kids with them to a play area in the mall that is free. It is all padded. There is one way in and one way out. And it's free. It's like having a park at the mall, and it was a tremendous help to our children and us. Because that's when the fun really started at the photo studio.
The girl uploaded all of our pictures, and let us look and meander and decide. My sister had called earlier that day and checked on the use of some coupons she had. She made sure that certain ones could be used certain ways and was assured it was so. Until we got there and found out that we couldn't do it that way. I cannot stand that. It took us forty five minutes to figure out the prints, the groupings, the number, the size, the sharing, the giving away, and all the other details that come from a family portrait. And then we were told that we couldn't do it. We wasted almost three hours of our time that we cannot get back only to be told that we couldn't do what the coupons said we could do.
My sister was hot. My mother was hot. And I was, too. I think by that time the poor girl that was working with us was so frazzled by her day she didn't give a rat's ass what we did or what we thought. And we were very vocal about how unhappy we were. Everybody in the studio knew, and so did everyone in the store. We left without placing an order and almost refused to come back.
But it was one of those things that had never been done. And it was one of those things that we wanted. So my sister went back the next day and ordered some prints. We had a buy one get one free coupon that she used. No where on the coupon did it say that you had to order the same print to get a free one. But by golly that was what you were supposed to do. So she did. When we had questioned the girl about it the night before, she said we were expected to know. Yeah, way to advertise. My sister is going to call the customer service number when the order comes in and give them heck. Whoo hoo! Go get 'em, Tiger! When asked if she wanted to pay an extra $3 per sheet to have them printed same day, my sister said she wasn't spending any more money than she absolutley had to.
We will never use Sears photo studio again. Yep, that's who did the pictures, and the round about coupons that were misleading and not clear. That's who, after being over an hour late to take our pictures, gave us the run around and wouldn't work with the customer. But hopefully, we'll get our copies soon and have some to share.
And if we ever do this again, maybe we'll be a little better prepared.
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