JCPenney Portrait Studio

I ordered some prints online and after waiting for 2 weeks from the "shipping date" they still had not arrived. After getting the run around by customer service I asked for a refund and was told I could not have a refund unless I returned the prints that I had not received. I will never spend another cent at JCPenny again. They are worse than the 1 star. more

I took my 2 children to get their pictures taken at JcPenney's because I had purchased a Groupon coupon and we had the worst experience ever. We show up at our scheduled appointment time and wait over 20 minutes to be lead back to a dark studio room. You would have never guessed that the photographer assigned to us had taken pictures of kids before because she did a lousy job at getting the kids to look at her and smile. After 10 minutes of taking pictures she said she thought she got enough decent shots and that was the end of the shoot. We review the pictures and there was not a single picture I would purchase. They were horrible. Spoke to the manager and she said to come back by for a reshoot. We came back a week later and got assigned to the same photographer! The only other employee on duty was helping other costumers. 5 minutes into our shoot we ask if there is anyone else that can take the pictures and she gets the other employee to come in and this lady did really good interacting with the kids but did not spend more than 2 minutes with us. Took some semi decent pictures and ended the shoot. I would never go back to JcPenney Portrait Studio after this experience. more

I have tried several different portrait studios with my daughter in the last two years (Picture People, Sears, Target, etc.). Overall, I have been most satisfied with my experience at JC Penney's Portrait Studio. This location has only been open about a year and it is very nice and clean. At many other studios that I have been in, they take the kids back in a dark room, which can be scary and overwhelming for some kids, especially younger ones. Their "studios" face an open glass window so the kids can look out and see what's going on. This always helps to put my daughter at ease. I haven't had a bad experience yet with the photographers here. They really take their time to make sure that you get some good portraits. The prices here are reasonable. You can sign up for their "birthday club" and they will send you coupons around your child's birthday so that you can have pictures taken. https://www.jcpenneyportraits.com/birthdayclub/secure_bday.asp I get coupons from them in the mail all of the time (maybe because I've had pictures taken here so often). They are also usually in the Baby Talk and American Baby magazines and you can print them online: http://www.jcpenneyportraits.com/coupons/index.shtml The coupons I get are usually for $3.99/sheet (no sitting fee for the first child) and $7.99/package (but you can only choose one pose). They have a Portrait Club Membership which is $29.99 right now and it waives all sitting fees (and gives you some additional offers and benefits) for two years. I haven't had a reason to sign up for this yet because even when we have had family pictures taken, we've always managed to find a coupon that waives sitting fees. If I had more children, I probably would have signed up by now, and we will probably end up signing up for this before we have our family Christmas pictures taken. I have always been impressed with the quality of the pictures when we get them back. They have all of the "standard" options for sizes (10X13, 8X10, 5X7 - which also includes some wallets, and wallets). They also have some great multi-image options where you can pick your favorite three pictures and make them into an 8X10 sheet. They also have a wide variety of themes and backgrounds to choose from and if you go online, you can check these out beforehand: http://www.jcpenneyportraits.com/backgrounds/ When you are looking at the pictures before you order, you have the option to "enchance" them by changing the tones to sepia or black and white or adding borders. They do a great job of "selling" this feature there, and it really does add a lot to the pictures! The only "complaints" I have (and these aren't really complaints, to be honest, because I can live with them) are that it takes awhile to get your pictures back. I got my daughter's taken yesterday (7/28) and they won't be ready for pick-up until 8/14. You can get the "smiles by wire" feature which allows you to view the photos online. You can share the link with family and friends, as well. It costs $4.99 but has always been worth it to me because you can also download the pictures and make screensavers and stuff out of them. The only other "complaint" is that they almost suffocate you while you're trying to pick out the pictures and bombard you with upgraded features and package options so that by the time I walk out of there I usually spend way more than I intend and my head is spinning because I'm wondering what just happened. I guess that's typical of any studio, though, and just means that their sales staff is well-trained and doing their job. I just thought you should be forewarned, though! THey are good at what they do! You can call to schedule appointments, and I have always been able to get in relatively quickly. They will give you a reminder call to confirm your appointment the day before. When you have children, you want to have quality portraits and don't want to spend an arm and a leg to get them. JC Penney's Portraits will help you to do that! more