Hacks

I just witnessed first hand that Lifetouch will hire any minimum wage hack they can find. Today was picture day for my son's preschool. First, they were late so that pushed all the times back ALL DAY. I was in the room when my son's class was taken. There were 2 of them. The camera died and they couldn't figure out how to change the battery. After 5 minutes or so, they finally figured out how to change it only to realize the extra batteries were still in their car. By this time, all 15 preschoolers were getting a bit squirmy.....imagine that. 15 minutes go by and they are FINALLY ready to take the picture. There were 3 kids who weren't even looking at the camera. "Yep, we got it," and they turned the camera off. I politely informed them that there 3 kids who weren't looking and they probably should have taken a couple of shots. The girl told me they didn't have time because they were already the getting to the next assignment. Great, no w oh r kids are getting screwed because of incompetent people. I guess you get what you pay for in an employee.

It's the way pro photography is going, the customer gets "it's good enough". Pro photography is turning into a hobby for all. Lifetouch has been that way for years.

Well, my kids school photographer was at least fairly competent but they were using XTI's with a 28-105. But you know, for an 8x10, school photo for a 6 year old in front of a cheap backdrop, that was probably sufficient.

Lifetouch is the Jiffy Lube of photography. It's not the standard that professional photography should be measured by. In fact, Lifetouch is not professional photography at all.


Nuff said.

I know a person that does the same thing. He hires photography students and hacks and pays them a flat rate to shoot a weddings and events. $250. You use your own gear and process your own images. Between a few states he does like 50 weddings a year. He would be the Jiffy Lube of weddings...

Except that Jiffy Lube actually does a good job for what they do.

stsva wrote in post #13991600
Except that Jiffy Lube actually does a good job for what they do.

Having buddies who've worked at Jiffy Lube and hearing their stories, I'd say YMMV.

As for Lifetouch, it was no wonder why I hated all my school photos.

minimum wage workers, they get what they pay for.

stsva wrote in post #13991600
Except that Jiffy Lube actually does a good job for what they do.

I own an auto repair shop and I have repaired a lot of cars that were just at Jiffy Lube and other quickie type lube places for stripped drain plugs, oil in the cooling system, coolant in the brake reservoir, and even coolant in the transmission. Given the number of cars that go through there in a day I am sure their failure rate is still very low. You get what you pay for.

Kronie wrote in post #13990979
I know a person that does the same thing. He hires photography students and hacks and pays them a flat rate to shoot a weddings and events. $250. You use your own gear and process your own images. Between a few states he does like 50 weddings a year. He would be the Jiffy Lube of weddings...

Could you share the name? I think I know who you are talking about

I really hate that you have to pay up front for the photos, and then the photos came back out of focus. They refuse to refund the money. My wife is big on the class picture thing, so we only get the whole class photo and I take the photos at home of the kids.

Markk9 wrote in post #13997431
I really hate that you have to pay up front for the photos, and then the photos came back out of focus. They refuse to refund the money. My wife is big on the class picture thing, so we only get the whole class photo and I take the photos at home of the kids.

Same here.

Didn't know they changed their business model, before they used to send the prints home with the kids then the parents got to choose which package to keep and send the check w/ the remaining photos back. I thought it was a pretty sneaky tactic in that we often forgot to return it and just paid for the whole thing, but then again the new tactic sounds worse.

Haven't bought school pictures, save a very tiny package once in a while if they came out well. Our school district has the pictures taken, then they send a packet home to order with a 'proof' enclosed.

cxphotokid wrote in post #13998510
Didn't know they changed their business model, before they used to send the prints home with the kids then the parents got to choose which package to keep and send the check w/ the remaining photos back. I thought it was a pretty sneaky tactic in that we often forgot to return it and just paid for the whole thing, but then again the new tactic sounds worse.

With that model you do not legally have to give the photos back or pay for them. By giving them to a minor child (under 18), they can not force the parents to pay. The "contract" was made between the minor child and life touch. This makes the contract void.