CM Photographics

We won’t be a return customer!
My wife has been a long-​time fan of Flash Digital Photgraphy in the major malls. The experience is hit or miss depending on the photographer you get, so when the Groupon for CM Photographics came up, we decided to give them a try to see if they were a better option than Flash Digital Photography. It was not a good experience.
1. My wife tried for over a month to get an appointment for the photoshoot. Numerous voicemails left, no return call. By the time we were finally able to get an appointment, it was 1.5 weeks before Christmas. We were going to use the Groupon deal for the Holiday photo cards.
2. They have 6 or 7 photographers. We ended up with a woman. She was very friendly and worked with us to get many shots. BTW: their «Photo Studio» was a loft with a big open room and a colored backdrop hanging on the wall.
3. We met with another person that Friday to review the photos and select the ones we wanted. I was surprised, and not in a good way, of the results. Most of the shots were very «staged» in appearance. I am by no means a professional photographer, but I can tell when a photographer is using basic techniques and less «creativity». I don’t know how to explain it, but they looked like every other family portrait. Photos are viewed on an 80 or 90 inch Sharp TV. The color was off on the TV (As if it wasn’t properly calibrated) and you have to keep in mind that the TV is good for 1080p resolution. For professional photo reviewing, this really should be done on a high resolution monitor.
4. We picked the photos we wanted to use. There was an extra fee for the style card we chose (free cards were your very basic one photo style). Then, because we couldn’t get in sooner, we were told it normally takes two weeks so we would have to pay the rush fee to get them in time for Christmas. So we paid and provided a phone number for them to call us as soon as they came in.
5. We did not hear from them, until an email on Saturday (generic, not personalized — likely sent to all their customers) saying they were closing early and photos needed to be picked up by 3 p.m. and they will be closing through Thursday after Christmas. By the time I read the email, it was too late.
6. We picked up the cards the Friday after Christmas. Now a moot point since we missed Christmas. My wife explained to the person (possibly Chris the owner) how upset she was how this all transpired. He was with another customer and didn’t want to hear it and basically just handed my wife the cards and went back about his business with the other customer. I can understand not wanting to get into it in front of another customer, but at the least, he should have asked for a phone number to call us later to make it right or at least hear our concerns.
The cards themselves appeared low quality. There didn’t appear to be any adjustments to the photos. Color saturation was off. Contrast was off. There were flash reflections on our faces, so the flash appeared to be set too strong (didn’t see the photographer use one of those light meters). A couple of the photos were not crisply in focus (I didn’t see the photographer changing lenses or filters during the photoshoot so I assume they were simply out of focus.
In the end, we spent $ 100 for Christmas cards we couldn’t use due to their scheduling issues and miscommunication (or more accurately lack thereof). I would say generally they are very nice people to talk to, that really wasn’t our issue. The fact that we were treated like second class citizens (because of the Groupon deal?) and not treated as potential new customers was very concerning. We were made to feel like our business really wasn’t that important to them, since they do most of their business as wedding photographers. Well, for the price of the Groupon deal, they could have turned us into cheap advertisement, but instead here we are warning others on Unilocal of our poor experience. They may be excellent wedding photographers, but since I am already married, we will be using different photographers to photograph our family in the future. I truly hope our experience is the exception, because we want to support small business, but not at the expense of throwing money away. Also, their prices are definitely on the high-​end, from what we are used to, and definitely based on the end results.

Just went there last night for a Groupon, and talk about horrible customer service. They could not care less that we were disappointed with them and their services and even had the audacity, when we said that we could come back in the following morning (after I mentioned I would have to take a day off work!) to come back in that they would charge us a $ 75 dollar rescheduling fee. This was right after he explained that they had the full morning completely free. What the hell is the rescheduling fee for then? I am the director of a customer service department and I must say, I’d be fired if I was ever caught treating a customer with so much disregard as this establishment treated me and my boyfriend. This is the first review I have ever made if that helps people understand how disappointing this experience was! SAVE YOUR MONEY and go somewhere else.