Grad photo photographers are nice, but some rush too much.
Customer service is rude and unfriendly.
Company is a proper money-grabbing scheme. Overpriced and inflexible options in the lower price points.
Absolutely love their work! High quality photos and professional prints!
Artona deserves a negative rating tbh. This is the monopoly in the greater Vancouver area, which means if you want your grad photo taken there is literally no other places to go. The price is astronomical, a single 10x13 photo costs $95, are you **** serious? Ok so if you are going to charge such a ridiculous price, at least provide some decent services eh? You spent maybe 10 minutes to rush through my grad photo, and now I tried to login to the website to order my photos and guess what, the pictures won't even load! (Tried different browsers). Artona is probably the worst business I have ever encountered, period.
BAD service!!! AND overprice for download only 5 photos.And they sent me email said my Session Portfolio Booklet has been shipped on OCT.25, but I have received after half a month!!!!! And I called them why this happened, they said it might be lost!!!! Very bad service and the bad photo shoot, never come again!
I must give a BIG shout out to the Artona Group. I am an executive member of You Wear It Well...Just For Grads. We are a non-profit group that provides formal wear to graduating students with a need. We host a "Boutique Day" every spring where the kids come and choose their outfits and have their hair and makeup done and then are professionally photographed by the wonderful Artona photographers. They are then provided with graduation photos at NO charge to the student. It is amazing to see the Artona photographers make the kids feel comfortable and they have a way of making each student feel special. This is not a small contribution from Artona; it is a very large contribution. Each year they provide photography services to several organizations such as ours and provide photos to hundreds of students who otherwise would not have a graduation keepsake. I always receive a lot of feedback the week that the students receive their photos from Artona - there are lots of smiles and even some tears when they see their pictures. I cannot say a big enough THANK YOU to Artona for supporting the community and making a difference in the lives of these students!!
OVERPRICED garbage. The amount they charge for silly things is RIDICULOUS. $150 for a background change? That's pathetic. That is a simple thing that anybody could do themselves with a little knowledge of photoshop. Additionally, the pictures they take are very CRINGY and awkward. Simply a terrible company.
Artona came to my daughter's school. They were behind, then the power went out which made them further behind and thus her photo session was cut short. Offered her the bare minimum in poses, was not helpful, nor artistic. Where do you hire these photographers?
Angery reacts
You can see the dirt on the floor in the shots from above, when I was there, I had several photos missing from the preview, many technical bugs (too many to remember), and prices are way too high (I bought packages anyway, but don't let that distract from this angry review)
Edit: I also feel like edits to the photos shouldn't cost as much as they do, people could edit themselves for no cost.
Essentially a monopoly. Charges insane amounts for every little detail, but takes mere seconds for a picture. Poor website design. A single sheet of two copyrighted 5x7 photos is $43 + $13 processing & handling fees, plus an estimated 3-6 weeks processing time. I wish they had adequate competition to become more user friendly, reasonable, and affordable for student budgets. It ruins milestones like graduations when you don't wish to spend that much money on a photo but still want to preserve the memory.
Absolutely horrible business. Our school uses them for grad photos and they were extremely unprofessional. Our group photos were supposed to be at 4:30, but we got a text from them saying they would 10 minutes late. After waiting until 5:30, we got another text saying they would be another HOUR. We finally had to cancel because we couldn't wait that long. They did not plan ahead and ended up inconveniencing many grad students and groups. Please DO NOT use this company.
poses are so dorky and out dated....time to get new grad gowns and do better more professional poses for the prices charged.
I wish I could just give them 0 star rating. A few days after my convocation, they sent me a link where I found two convocation pictures of mine. One picture was really bad (later I talked to one person from the company and she also admitted that the image was not good). The person who took this picture should be more careful while capturing such moments as I won't get another chance to retake that. I paid around $89 just to download the two pictures, which was also really expensive. I even asked her about refunding half money as I am not happy with one picture. I suggested her to talk to her manager and follow up on this issue, but she never replied.
There are so many things that frustrate me about this company.
One: The payments. There is no reason to have a $60 deposit for someone who doesn't want to order photos. The deposit feeds off of the fact that if you forget to refund your deposit, your money goes to waste. Also, why does everyone participating in a group photo have to buy a copy of the photo? Some people have friends who don't have the money to waste $10-$15 on a picture, yet still want to participate in the photo.
Two: The quality. Could you guys get some better online scans? I can barely see any of the details in each photo of me. I would like to observe the quality of a photo before I buy said photo.
Three: The pricing. More than $100 for a package is ridiculous. School packages are around $50, and those are the most expensive ones. Why are graduation packages 6-8 times more expensive? And why do touch-ups cost more than a singular group photo?
Four: The studio layout. I would like to remind everyone that most girls like to wear heals during their graduation photoshoot. Making someone go down a staircase, then back up a staircase, and still not be done is preposterous. Either change your studio's layout, or change the order in which people go to each room.
Five: The inconsistency. Some photographers take one photo for each pose and tell you to go along, while other keep you for 15-20 minutes trying to get you to tilt your head just enough. Each room shouldn't take more than 10 minutes, but less than 7. The flow should be even throughout the shoot.
Overall, I didn't enjoy my visit to Artona, but I will be back eventually, and hopefully things will have changed by then.
Professional staff. Rooms for last minute touch ups. Quick and easy photoshoot. More parking available at free (until 6pm) public lot on Yukon and 10th.
Insane prices. I paid over $350 for 16 digital downloads, not even printed copies. Unreasonable processing time of 3-6 weeks for a digital download. Photo shoot is rushed through. Service is mediocre. Not worth it at all, the only reason people come here is because of their monopoly on graduation shoot services. Very very unsatisfied and disappointed that this is the only place I could get my college graduation photos done.
This place is awful I had a bad experience and all I've heard are people waiting 5 hours in a studio
They have never sent me my grad photos booklet it s been almost a year
Do yourself a favour. Try everything to avoid this place. First of all, the pricing is ridiculous. I got no choice cuz SFU exclusively works with this place for all the convo. IDK what kind of deal they have between them (shame on SFU school board). Secondly, they avoid being clear about their charge. They present you this confusing system (made to confuse you I believe) upon choosing your photos. You wouldn't know their hideous pricing till days later.
I seriously feel I got ripped off. A feeling I hadn't had for years.
Stay mentally healthy. Stay away from Artona
Hi the owner of Artona
Just replying to bad reviews to show that you are trying is not the way to go. How about you make some real changes. In many replies you make it seem like there's nothing wrong with how you do business and it is us that don't understand or did not know about something. Seriously? Don't you see your rating? (2.6 stars is way higher than what you deserve. probably thanks to some suspicious 5 star ratings)
Below is for your insincere reply:
Overpriced monopoly that has become so tied to schools that they've lost all buyer power. Wish there was a better alternative.
Rent a camera and take your own pictures. You ll do a better job.
Compensates for their mediocre photo quality by having a high-class building. VSB uses them for school photos for some reason. When I lost my gocard, a teacher took a new pic with their iPhone, and it looks much better. The pic from Artona is totally washed out and a terrible angle. Look elsewhere if you can, I'm sure there are cheaper places with much better pictures, perhaps a freelancer if you don't need a studio.
My overall experience with Artona has been absolutely horrible! I had a grad photo session on Wednesday evening. My sash was ripped at the centre seam. The photographer didn't acknowledge the ripped and tattered sash until I asked about it, after he started taking the photos. They only had one sash for my faculty and school, and he didn't care that the ripped sash made my grad photos look completely unprofessional. The photographer did not attempt to fix the sash, until I asked him if he could safety pin the sash together. He taped it in attempt to fix it, after I suggested taping it. When I apologized for asking him to fix the sash (which I shouldn't have had to do) he cut me off and made a rude comment about it being the end of his work day. The photographer made several rude and condecedning comments to me. This made me feel disrespected. He did not tell me when my hair was covering the diploma, or when I had random strands of hair on my shoulder. The person who came with me pointed these things out to me as he was taking the photos, so that I could attempt to fix them. I was very excited for my graduation photo session, especially since convocation was cancelled this year due to COVID. It was suppose to be a happy and fun experience. I called on Thursday and spoke to someone who seemed to be very understanding and kind. He told me to email a specific email address about what happened, and that I would get a response on Friday. I did not get a response to my email. However, my friend who posted a google review about her recent negative experience with Artona got response on google. I am posting a google review in hopes to get a response from Artona.
I'll try to be as objective as I can. I had an individual grad portrait session including a family shot with my parents.
WAIT TIMES
Appointment wait time: Was booked for 2 pm, arrived 20 min. early and started taking photos on schedule--or possibly before (but I didn't check the time). 5 stars.
Phone wait time: Called right at opening (9 am), was caller #1, but had to wait 7 minutes until someone answered the phone. 2 stars.
Wait time for deliverables: Ordered digital downloads on Thursday, and received them the following Wednesday. How it takes almost a week to post photos is beyond me, especially considering how many people I saw at the front desk when I came in for the appointment (4 not including the photographer) but maybe there's only one person doing the uploads and the number of orders is too damn high. At least I got them within a week, which is sooner than some of the reviews here. 3 stars.
CUSTOMER SERVICE
Front desk: Helpful, but when problems arose, none of them really seemed to know what to do except the boss. 4 stars.
Photographer: My photographer was very nice. He never rushed me, always tried to make sure my hair, pose, etc. was ideal, and even reset the 5-min. timer to take a few extra photos. He was also just as patient with my parents. 5 stars.
PRICE
Sitting fee: Email said there would be no sitting fee, but I guess since my university isn't big or popular enough to work out a deal with Artona, I had to pay $15 on top of the $60 deposit. 1 star.
Packages: As others have mentioned, their prices are ridiculous. The university grad photos cost twice as much as the high school grad photos. In the end, I just opted for digital downloads, since I would actually save more money that way based on the print sizes and quantities I wanted. 1 star.
MISCELLANEOUS
Wardrobe issues: My university and faculty doesn't have the most straightforward/user-friendly sash, so it actually took us a while to figure out how to put it on properly and keep it that way. I do appreciate all the effort my photographer put into making sure it was correctly worn and clearly shown in the photos. 5 stars.
Technical issues: For two of the rooms, my photos weren't showing up on the little tablet they give you. I had to wait for them to reset the connection since I had to choose the pictures before leaving. 3 stars.
Crooked photos: A few of the photos were significantly crooked, and you could actually see the bottom edge of the backdrop for a couple of photos. 2 stars (since I had other similar poses to choose from).
Customer consideration: The customer after me actually arrived before we started taking photos, so they had to wait for quite a while and were obviously pissed off. I felt really bad for both my photographer and for the customer, since the wardrobe and technical issues caused some delays. I assume the reason why there wasn't a second photographer to get them started on time is because it wasn't a busy day/time/season. I guess how much time you get and what time you start depends on luck, since you're definitely fudged if they're busy and probably still fudged if they're not. 2 stars.
Clarity: I had to call Artona to clarify their packages (hence the phone wait time above). Digital download (5 or 10 poses) provides the same resolution as the digital image package (16 poses ONLY; NOT your "complete portrait sitting"). 2 stars.
SUMMARY
The photographer didn't rush me and I actually got some pretty good pictures out of the grad photo session, but it certainly hurt the wallet. Based on my personal experience and the overall value, I'd say 3 stars is a fair rating.
If I could give less than a star, I would. These guys are not professional photographers! The pictures are terrible, I am extremely disappointed. Now I have to rent the gown and cap from my school and go get my pictures taken in a PROFFESIONAL studio! I was so excited to get my pictures taken since it s my first time graduating from anything at age 40, and I am terribly disappointed.
One of the most difficult and outdated websites to view proofs and order photos.
Took my high school and university photos here. I even came back to get some head shots done for work! They turned out great! It is a little pricey, but you pay for the quality you get! The staff were super friendly and accommodating, even when I'm being awkward in front of the camera. Definitely will recommend to family and friends.
Terrible service. Waited 2.5 hours for grad gown photos. Super long wait times and no effort to make up for lost time.
It was a right choice made for my graduation pictures. Ankit was very patient and did a great job at taking pictures and Kristal was really friendly and a great help! Great customer service. Highly recommended
I recently had my university grad photos with Artona. I have had nothing but problems since the beginning. Finding where to go on campus took an hour and I ended up being late for my appointment and they refused to see me. There was no information sent to me on where to go for the photos. After talking to the photographers that refused to take my photos, because they had 'packed up' which Im sure was not true because there was nothing to pack up. I had my photos taken the next morning. She didn't show me what they looked like when I had them. When they became available online, the photos were awful, only 3 out of 16 looked decent. On top of that the 3 that I did want to order didn't have a background. I was just a floating white head. I called their head office to find out why and he told me he would fix it and get back to me in 10 minutes. He never got back to me. I am so upset that I paid for these photos to document my graduation and they look horrible.
Recently had an amazing experience visiting the Artona Group! The photographers were true professionals as they assisted us through various pose options and explained their company mission statement and goal in serving all customers well. Thank you!
I had my grad photos done with artona recently and I couldn't be happier. The website is easy to use and when I had any questions, their instant messenger on the website was quick to respond and was very helpful. The photos are amazing quality. Planning on having more photos done with my family at the artona group.
True professionals at what they do. Artona has taken all my photos from elementary, high school, all the way to university, and they NEVER disappoint. I recently booked my graduation photo session here and the process could not have been smoother. We were actually so impressed that we did a family shoot of 4, and ordered the full package - probably the happiest I'd seen my mother all year. Everyone has high expectations when it comes to photos, but there's not a photo studio in Vancouver that I'd rather go to.
a little expensive for subpar photos.... some of the photographers are SO NICE but then a few are... meh. also people at reception were very nice too
Nice studio and it's cool that it's been around since 1909. Must be doing something right to still be here in Vancouver. It wasn't crowded when I went in January and it went a lot better than reviews indicated.
Rushed and uncomfortable at a cramped photo shoot. About 350$ for a basic grad package. INSANE. Two to SIX weeks processing before you get pics. (still waiting) .. Any editing or Correction is quite expensive per pic even tho the photographer said they edit them which misled me. And their frames are like $60 minimum . Photos are basic... Of like 20 I like 3.. Which are nice and going to buy them because I dont really have a choice at this point .. The guy was nice but a line up of ppl made it rushed and uncomfortable and it was awkwardly in a parked truck trailer on campus.. SFU needs to rethink this contract
Update (From 2 Star to 4 ): Received my final photos (after 4.5 weeks) and I had to update my review because a) they actually look of Good quality in physical form and I'm happy with the final photos more than originally thought. B) a friend of mine in Ontario at a university had a much worse experience and much worse pictures and didn't have the option of alternative poses etc. and I feel happy that Artona came through. I definitely still believe they are overpriced and they could rethink the location and system of the photo session (not a cramped truck trailer and not so rushed for time) but otherwise I'm actually pretty happy :)
Terrible services. Terrible photographers. Utterly disgusted by their unbelievably high pricing. Never again.
I was hoping that everything would go smoothly at Artona despite the many negative reviews. Unfortunately, even after 16 days from the day I took a group session, I have yet to receive any previews. I am absolutely frustrated as anyone else I've spoken to miraculously has had their group session photos given back within a few days. I can not believe how this is being dealt with, if at all.
$160 for 4 photos in a semi-rushed 15 minutes session with no immediate feedbacks on how the photos turned out, so we gotta risk that our smile looks alright...just no
Nice and quiet studio during the day, was photographed on time by Albert who has photographed there since 1993! Choosing poses before the photo session was a nice update to what I remember the first time around. Yes, it's a pretty penny, but you get what you pay for. I wouldn't be happy with a a $0.25 grad photo.
the website need to be updated way too far away. I think that they need to have a Surrey studio way too far away the pictures are way too expensive
Takes 1-2 photos and then says ok.
I just changed from 3-2 stars because I remembered the photographer chuckling at my picture
Pretty awful experience honestly. I waited an hour after my appointment to START taking my photos, and i was on time 15 minutes early like they asked. It was frustrating finding out the people in front of me had a later appointment but just came early and got to go in front of me... on top of that when I started getting my photos taken, they asked me to go to another room and they were so busy and overwhelmed, but while the other rooms were completely empty and the photographers not doing anything. So of course i went up and asked nicely if i could get my photos done now in that room i think it was the library room and she was so rude and was like " i guess so" like what.. Im paying here and you guys are late and clearly not organized to try and get people's photos done. And there was more that 8 other people just waiting around for there photos to be done. On top of that the photographer was clearly not wanting to be there and was so rude to me the whole time when talking photos and all of my photos were terrible in that room. So waiting almost 3 hours to get my photos and no compensation and just rude remarks from the staff made my artona experience bad.
Terrible, money grabbing company. Would not recommend
Most expensive and most awful pictures.
They take advantage of the event and all the emotions to rip off as much as possible.
Once fallen into trap of signing up, spend more to make yourself good or to try to make a value of the money spent, but no matter what you do, its a rip off
The photographers are very friendly and creative and take their time to make sure you are looking your best in your photos!!
Only have good things to say about Artona Group. The photographers are friendly and professional.
They take the time to make sure everything is right to get the best possible picture. They make you feel comfortable and at ease. They have been taking photos of my kids for many years and I have always been satisfied with the quality of their products. This year, 2 of my kids are graduating and I just love their Graduation session portfolio! The quality is excellent.
Customer service is also very good. If you have any questions, concerns or issues, they will respond and always find a solution to satisfy their customers.
I highly recommend Artona Group.
Best Studio in Vancouver , and they have the best customer service ,LOVE U GUYS
My order came in 3 months late and they still got it wrong.. like how and why? If someone's order is very late there should be an explanation and made sure that everything is correct but no.. not with this company.
*Update* Another issue again with this company, I sent my photo back because they got it wrong and its been almost 6 months they haven't sent my photo back to me. Someone promised me as well that I would get a digital copy of one of my photos as an apology but that never came. I don't know what's with this company anymore.
This Artona Photo Studio is designed quite well aesthetically but there are a few other things that are slightly problematic. Considering that Artona has a monolopoly on a ton of schools in the lower mainland, there isn't really a ton of time for each school to take their photos. A big issue is that there is so little room in this building and so many people booked at once. It gets really crowed in this building as such little space and seating is available. It would be great if you guys could expand this building or build another location to help meet demands. And one of the biggest issues so many people have with this place is that you have to get a mortgage just to be able to pay for a few photos. This place is crazy expensive. Many photos at least have turned out quite decently though.
The Artona group is a scam. And here is our story with them:
My girlfriend planned to take graduation photos before the convocation day. In the conformation email there was mentioned that there is NO seating fee but then on the day she was asked to pay $15 seating fee, which is not a big deal.
Then she was told she can use the deposit towards the purchase of pictures from the convocation day as well. Yesterday we called to order convocation photos using the deposit and the operator told us she CAN T use the deposit. She has to return the booklet, get the deposit back, then order the new photos. What a joke!
Regarding the price and the quality of the work:
Price is high because they have monopoly and nobody competes with them, just like ICBC.
The quality of the work depends on the photographer s personal skill and your luck.
On picture day, there were many bad pictures taken by the staff members of my fellow students. The person that took my picture took at least 5 tries before hesitating, then saying the picture looks great. The next day when I checked the website to see my photo, what I saw felt like I've been disrespected. One eye was looking at the camera, and the other one looked like it was looking down. If the photographer was gonna put lots of effort into taking more than one try to take my picture, then give up and say that it looks 'great' when its the absolute opposite, then might as well keep trying to make it look decent. (I'm not crossed eyed btw)
Their website is so outdated and you cant even order photos from it.... And all of it is SO EXPENSIVE... I cant believe they take so much $$ for bad service.. Lifetouch is so much better
the time limit they give you is 45 mins but for my photo session i was done in 10 minutes. The photos were dark and my head was too tilted in all of my photos.
An alright experience, I hate how the school system forces us to use this company though.
It seemed very rushed. They take photos and then drag you into the next room, it feels like they want you out as fast as possible. For the price the photos ask for this is pretty bad.
The photo prices are a rip off. I m in the creative industry myself, but upwards to MULTIPLE of hundreds of dollars for photos that were quickly shot is really bad. The cheapest you can buy is a couple tiny photos for $80.
The staffs were helpful though. But some could have been more optimistic.
The monopoly status of graduation portrait (or anything) is only likely leading to a degradation of quality. "Eric" who does the library shot seemed to only have 15s for each shot in an get-it-over-with style. Some resulted photos are even slightly out of focus.
The photographer gave me VERY little directions in posing so most of my grad photos have my head tilted. My photos do not look professional - it looks like the photos that you would take during the warm-up of a photo shoot. I'm extremely disappointed in how they turned out. Save yourself the $60 sitting fee and just get a friend to take them instead.
Wow! I totally forgot my gocard but Amanda helped me with it! Thank you! The staff was very helpful!
Over priced EVERYTHING, if students had options or if the school districts weren't so insanely dumb, then this place would go broke within the year, it's a complete and udder waste of human resources, poor service along with a website that doesn't even load pictures, this place consistently gets 1 star reviews yet makes tons of money off the school system.
Had my both my high school and university grad pictures here and they were the best! The photographer was really professional and made sure the photos were perfect. They posed me very naturally and they had high attention to detail. Highly recommended :)
Update: Was fixed right away! Thanks!
I received someone else's photos in the mail lol. 2 provinces away!
Terrible experience with this company. When I paid at commencement ceremony they told me I had purchased one photo. In reality, I had paid a $60 deposit, which was more than the one photo actually cost. It left me with the option of paying more than I needed to for the photo, or paying extra to get two. In addition, I paid $75 and they did not explain that $15 was a sitting fee. Their website is terrible to navigate and the prices they post are misleading.
it is the best rating I can give , the photographer didn't know how to capture the photos , I can even do better quality with my cell phone camera , it is overpriced too , So disappointed
the photographer was unprofessional and didn't not know what he was doing. He placed the light too far to the side and positioned me too close to the backdrop, creating a very ugly shadow behind me. photos costing upwards of 100 dollars EACH should not be this terrible.
I honestly hope there could be a negative 5 star rate. I would never go there if our school hadn't made us to. I have awful looks in the picture and the photographer kept saying "you look great" while I thought I looked so bad.
But this is not what make me angry. I ordered a digital download online, cost me 150$, insane price with no retouching(whitening teeth = $17? i can do it in 1 minute)
AND IT WOULD TAKE 4-6 WEEKS!
I did not understand why giving you a link to download your photos is so hard. The girl at the reception said "it would need color analysis" And what? I know there is a queue and the artona makes quite a fortune being monopoly (almost) in grad photo, can't you just give me my photos?
disappointed, angry and super bad experience.
Just like any other professional photography place. A small place with a very high service fee! However I do feel they are operating like a monopoly as they got all the contacts of lower mainland's schools, colleges and universities. I've been there at least 4 times due to my kids' school and university grad photos. I must warn you that they never respect your time of booking regardless of however early you book your session. They do require advance booking and min of $60 deposit the moment you show up at their studio. You should expect a minimum wait time of 45-55 mins before they call you in for your photo session.
Got my grad pics done here. Great service and mom loved the quality of the photos!
I am an instructor at ILAC International College and have brought groups of students to this studio several times for their LinkedIn profile photos. Always a great experience! One of my former students is also working here.
This photograpy studio has been doing portraits for kids graduating from High Schools in Vancouver for many years. They have perfected their craft in such a way that they can provide you with a very wide range of options for your photos (settings, backgrounds, props, etc.) all done very quickly. Also, the professionals working there are experts at finding the best angles and choosing the right poses that will bring out the best in everyone, all the time doing their jobs with so much patience! Highly recommended for any kind of special events!
Extremely long wait time to receive orders and very poor customer service. Been waiting almost 7 weeks for an order and still nobody can tell me if it s been printed or where it is in their system. Quick to collect payment and then forgotten about. If I could give zero stars I would. Horrible company.
Had to wait at least 15 minutes past appointment time and no apologies tendered
This review is based solely on my group photo experience at Artona. As a photographer of my own I was absolutely appalled and felt quite sad for what the group I was a part of had to go through. We came in over 30 minutes early and were still an hour behind schedule after being herded downstairs into a narrow hallway with about 50 other teenagers by the staff upstairs. I could let this slide, it's a small facility on a Friday night, everyone wants to get the portraits done with their friends. When we finally all finished paying and were on deck to do out group photo, I took a look at the back of the basement and for what people are paying (3 figures for those doing single portraits and most likely more for large groups), the waiting area is disgusting. There's garbage thrown everywhere, it looks like an abandoned house. You would think that a place like Artona would at least invest in some storage compartments that would hide away some of the unsightly things and put a couch or two for those who were waiting.
What followed was something I've never seen working in studios as a photographer. We were screamed at and yelled at by the photographer who was extremely aggressive. Everyone was put in a bad mood. We only received one pose which, for $20 each with more than 5 people, is absolutely ridiculous. Afterwards, our photographer gave us 10 seconds to find a pose that we wanted as a group, and because we didn't come in with one prepared we were scrambling to find something fun to keep. But instead of being able to talk it out, the photographer started shouting and counting down from 10 giving us all anxiety and forcing us all into positions that were last minute and uncomfortable. Needless to say we didn't get that photo so we were left with just one pose arrangement of people.
Sad and appalled that most of Vancouver's youth have to come here for senior photos that are supposed to last a lifetime to be memories in the future.
Terrible customer service.
When I was there, I had finished taking my photos in the middle room, but something happened where my friend's middle room photos got put into my tablet. I asked the front desk if it was possible for them to take her photos out and put them into her tablet instead. They removed ALL my middle room photos and told me that I'd see them when they post it online. When I looked online, they weren't there, so I had to call them, which I was put on hold for 15 min until I told them to call me back. The next day they called me back and after I explained my situation they told me I would get my middle room photos up within 48 hours. It's now been 2 weeks and they're still not online nor can I order/view them. Also, the prices are unreasonably high.
I would prefer you had MUCH MORE background choices for high school photos. For just one or two plain old backgrounds to choose from and each sheet being so pricey, I'm not happy about that.
Way to expensive. Photos very rushed. If you blink, no redo. $210 for 5 photos digital. $500 for 16
My faculty was contracted with another photo company for the class composite but I just had to book with Artona because everything about them is very professional. Prints are expensive, as expected, but I had a great time and felt like all the details were taken care of by the photographers. :) thanks Artona!
Awful service. My daughter came home crying because these guys refused to let her get her photo retaken no matter how hard she tried to convince them. Was told that the older white woman who came to her school on retake day was quite rude. How rude do you have to be to make someone cry?Like I wouldn't even treat my worst enemy like that. The photographers are also very inexperienced.Horrible service from a place that wants my business. Would rate 0 stars if I could.
The receptionist said that I'm only allowed to take the composite photo for my grad photo shooting because the photographer is running behind the schedule, which is unfair for me, but I talked to the photographer and they let me did the whole set. I waited 1.5 hours after the scheduled time, and i think they can schedule the time less compact so that nobody is waiting for a long time.
I wish I could put negative five stars on this review. I have been waiting for four months for Artona to update the combo package on website. Unfortunately, they failed to do so at the end. The biggest struggle of purchasing a set of photos in my life.
Expensive, and long waiting times both inside and on the telephone. However, staff are very friendly and courteus.
The biggest RIP off people, ridiculously high in pricing, they even do not consider for Grad pictures, that they are still just kids graduating and have to finance their future study. These are just merely some pictures, why is the price so up the sky. Artona does not deserve to work with school district for Grad pictures. Those are once in a lifetime opportunity for young adults and they cannot, in some cases afford any of the pictures. Pricing should be lowered to a reasonable rate and they must consider the financial conditions of families wishing to make a purchase.
A total rip off and monopoly. So expensive. I dont understand why university of Calgary only allowed them to take grad pictures. I had to wait a year before I could save money and courage to order crappy photos.
I was interested in ordering the 111th Year Special which was $111 and you could add additional digital prints and sheet poses. However, it wouldn't let me add additional sheet poses so for two days I was on the phone or live chat trying to figure out what was going on. I talked to someone on the phone yesterday and she said she would call me back, but never did. So, today I was going to call them again when I noticed the price of the additional prints went by almost 3X! I was shocked. So, I went on live chat first and they told me they are able to increase prices at any time, so I called them and spoke to someone who said they can't do anything and you could never add additionally sheet poses to begin with. If this was true from the beginning, it feels as though they withheld this information until they could increase the price. I am disappointed and angry.
I saw all the other negative reviews about how expensive their packages are, but I expected that from a professional photography place. I was mainly disappointed with the lack of transparency and tripling of price.
Update: I saw Melissa's email under another review so I decided to email her. Turns out she was the one who didn't call me back. She rectified the situation by honouring the original price I saw on the website. I appreciate this, but it was a process talking to everyone and everyone telling me they cannot do anything. Thank you Melissa!
Bad experience with my grad pic...
My friend and I prepared for it for like whole day, but the photographer doesn t even care bout our pic is good or not.(some pic r like half way eye close they r like ok perfect next one)
And for the friend photo...for some reason I can only do one with my friend even tho she prepared for whole... The worst thing is I got rejected when I asked to take more friend pic....
Absolutely brilliant photographers, true masters of their craft. Of course with quality pictures comes a price so I have no problem shelling out 100 dollars for a little picture.
I am very unimpressed with my session with Artona. The photoshoot wasn't flexible at all; I was told I had to bring between 4 and 15 people when all I wanted were photos with my best friend. When we got to the photoshoot with the whole group, we were told that we could actually have done a photoshoot just the two of us, but we would have to book another session and pay more. We were unable to even get one of the two of us during the group session because everyone in the group had to be in every single photo. We didn't get to choose poses, we didn't get to choose who we stood beside, there were restricted hand poses,we basically didn't have any say whatsoever in where we were or how the photos turned out. When I emailed to find out how to order my photos, they gave me the wrong username to sign in and see them and the wrong amount of days to wait. Overall, this was an unpleasant experience and I would not recommend the Graduation group photos.
ALL OF THAT BEING SAID,
When I went in for my school ID photos, the photographers were amazing and it was the only ID picture I've had that I have ever actually liked. The photographers were surprisingly friendly and patient for people who have to photograph an entire school's worth of teenagers.
Had a great experience with this company, especially customer service. Photos were suburb, would recommend to anyone.
artona.com
