Vantine Imaging

This company will charge you an insane amount of money for sub-​par composite work and bad, slow, misleading service.

Vantine Imaging is a scam operation. First they collect a $ 10 deposit from my 18 year old son (who is pledging the fraternity, so does not want to «rock the boat» by asking questions) that then obligates us as parents to the portrait charges, without being allowed to view the proofs or any options with an email stating that «C.O.D. charges will apply» if the parent does not respond within less than 7 days.
I asked if I could have the portraits in a blue background color, so they charged an extra $ 10 for a different, very cheesy, but slightly better than the washed out gray background «included» in the extremely low quality 5×7 prints ($ 22 plus tax and S&H).
Lifetouch does 5×7 color prints for $ 6.99 (blue background included) and their quality is far superior to the quality of the portrait sent to me by Vantine Partners.

This is probably the shadiest company that I have ever had the misfortune of encountering. They took my sorority composites, and after coming in to decide which picture I wanted for my composite, they asked if I wanted to order any pictures for my family to have. I asked how much it would cost to get 2 5x7s of just my own picture, and they said it was only $ 10. I gave them $ 10 in cash and gave them my home address to send the pictures to my parents.
My parents yesterday received a COD for $ 75. APPARENTLY Vantine imaging thought that people are insane enough to pay $ 42.5 per 5×7 picture? Apparently the $ 10 that they told me was fairly reasonable was just a DOWN payment. Not once when I spoke to the photographer/​register did they mention any cost beyond the $ 10. Apparently they just assume you will be dumb enough (as I was) to sign off on my picture and agree.
Luckily I called and told them I would under NO circumstances pay, especially after being completely LIED to.
DO NOT use this company for composites under any circumstances.

Just filed with Ripoff Report
This is a scam– do not accept the COD package. My son ordered a digital image, paid $ 20 and then we (his parents) receive a COD for a printed composite in the mail. I’m sure Vantine would say that’s how they have done this for many years. It’s just very misleading and dishonest to follow up with this approach. Incidentally, my son never received the digital image.

My daughter had her portrait taken with her sorority. She wanted me to be able to order some pictures and was told at her sitting that if she put down a $ 10 deposit I could do so. She specifically stated at her sitting that she did not want to order at that time and was assured that the $ 10 was a deposit and not an actual order and that later I could choose what I wanted. I received a «bill» in the mail for $ 50.99 that stated «my daughter had placed an order and that I owed this amount in balance». I went on the website to see if I could choose a specific package. No option exists. I called customer service and there was no answer. I left a message saying I wanted to be able to see the choices. I recieved a message back a few days later just asking me to send the money, not answering my question about how to choose a package. The only conclusion I can come to is that this company is trying to scam parents into paying for things their students did not order and they hope some will fall for it.

Vantine Imaging has apparently been in the business of college fraternity and sorority pictures for most of its history. My only exposure to them came in the form of a letter from them demanding payment for photos my daughter had supposedly ordered.
However, my daughter had been led to believe that she had placed a $ 10 deposit just so we could go online and review her photos in case we wanted to order them.
When I went on the website, there was no option to order photos. There was no option to see what package she had supposedly ordered or to order more photos. The only option was to pay $ 77 in advance for a an undefined package of photos.
The letter also «encourage» you to pay in advance to avoid an extra COD charge. Who sends anything COD these days?
In any event, please be aware that the only way to cancel the order is to call them, you cannot do it online.
I will give them credit for agreeing to cancel the order and refund the $ 10 when I did call.