Lisa Ruckle

Review of Southwest Portraits

If it were an option, I would give Southwest Portr...

If it were an option, I would give Southwest Portraits 0 stars for customer service. Parents have no options for school pictures and senior portraits, therefore we are at the mercy of the studio chosen by the school district. And that is evident in Southwest Portrait's abysmal customer service. In years past, minis were always offered as part of one of the lesser priced packages. I have older children and have ordered school pictures for many years. Every year, I need only 1 mini picture to fill a K-12 School Days calendar for each of our children, so I order the least expensive package. However, on the order form, minis alone were not available for purchase, nor were they included in any of the reasonably priced packages. They were an "add on" to the packages offered for an additional cost of $10. So prior to Picture Day, I called SW Portraits to ask if it would be possible to get minis rather than wallets in one of the packages, and explained my dilemma. I was told to cross out "wallets" and write in "minis" on the order form, which I did. My daughter also pointed out the change to the photographer on Picture Day. When the pictures arrived, there was a sheet of wallets, and no minis. I called SW Portraits to explain what had happened, thinking it would be a simple fix and they would take care of the mistake. Instead, their "solution" was that I purchase the minis as an "add on" ($10) in addition to the $16 I had already paid for the package of pictures I'll never use, and there was nothing else they could do. They know we have no options for school pictures, so what's the point of striving for exemplary (or even just marginal) customer service?? They have us over a barrel, so to speak. I just wanted other review readers to know what kind of company SW Portraits is...and wish them better luck than I had!