Hazel’s The Picture Place

First some history: We visited one of Hazel’s studios, «The Picture People» (a nationwide chain) at the Fox Run Mall, and were pleased with our photos and service. Hazel had been really nice and helpful. This location closed unexpectedly (and without notice– we had a long-​term package with TPP.) We discovered that Hazel had opened «Hazel Issacson’s The Place for Pictures» in the same mall. Between having portraits taken there and receiving them, this location seems to have closed, and the studio moved to Rye under the name of «Hazel’s The Picture Place.» So the following review is for the service we received from the same studio and employees but at two addresses.
I’m not sure how Hazel’s Rye studio looks, but the second mall setup was hastily thrown together and dirty. Cords were stretched across the room– easy for kids to play with and trip on. But we trusted their quality and service from our experience at TPP.
The gentleman taking photos told us he’d be ready in 20 minutes. We waited. The whole time he was reviewing photos with another group and talking excessively. The group seemed annoyed.
Finally 40 minutes later, he was ready for our 1 y.o. daughter. We honestly aren’t picky about photos, but it was an exhausting shoot. He constantly tried to force mangled props into the photos that we clearly did not want; some questionable choking hazards. He insisted that she pose, and took photos only when she looked at the camera. You cannot pose a 1 y.o. He’d take two pictures of each pose and move on seeming frustrated. We tend to be too polite to express our concerns; lesson learned.
When the shoot was finally over, we were told it takes 25 mins to upload the photos, and he’d let us know when he was ready. We went to the play area right outside for a half hour. When we went back in to check on the progress, we found him deleting pictures. It would have been nice to see all the pictures. During the review he told me how the other studio had closed overnight, how they were opening a new studio, how the group before us was having family issues and he had explained to their kids to «trust in God, believe in Him and everything will be fine.» A wholly inappropriate subject to share with me. And this is what we waited an extra 20 minutes for– while trying to keep our daughter happy in her new birthday clothes.
The review was also exhausting, and there really weren’t many pictures to choose from. It appeared that several were out of focus, but it was hard to tell because they were stretched wide on the monitor (the computer was not properly configured for the widescreen monitor.) He ensured us that the photos were ‘definitely in focus.’ He kept telling me how lovely they were– how they were ‘art shots’ and ‘perfect.’ He kept trying to choose for me, saying «You have to get that one. I’m writing that one down.» Eventually when he was distracted with another customer, I got my own paper to write the numbers that I wanted.
The mall closed long before we were done. He told us he’d mail the photos in a week. We left for a 2-​week vacation and returned to no pictures. The mall location phone # was disconnected. I assume the studio closed, again no notice to us. We discovered the Rye location online. After days of unanswered messages, the same man ensured us he’d send the photos overnight. After a week+ and more unanswered messages, and a promise to call us back with a tracking # («I mailed them a week ago.») we receive the photos (postmarked 3 days prior.) None were in focus. I’m not talking about artistic depth of field or even soft focus.
I would not recommend this studio. The customer service was phony and weird. I wish I could get my money back, but even these tainted memories of my daughter’s first birthday are better than nothing. We have emailed our comments to them.
EDIT: Here’s a summed-​up response from Ken Isaacson: ‘I have reviewed your photos, all are in focus, the previous group ran late, as to your comments on another shoot, it’s truly none of our business [you shared that with us, sir, we did not eavesdrop nor ask,] further contact will be considered harassment.’ [we sent you one email to express our disappointment… Hazel asked for more details, that’s harassment?]
Their Facebook page states «Our studio is ranked the #1 Portrait Studio in Southern NH for convenience, price, and quality according to MerchantCircle! «Oddly they do not have any customer reviews on MC so how can this be? (Also MC allows businesses to delete reviews, hence my negative review there disappeared.) Their advertising photos are mostly of their own kids, and not representative of their commercial work. Their Facebook page still shows their mall location, not the Rye location, so either they haven’t updated it, or haven’t moved or closed or???
In response to the review by ‘Tom’: You guys are only making yourselves look worse. Appropriate action would be to correct future problems. Fake reviews are against Unilocal TOS.