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Oversubscribed Photo Sessions?


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I had a photo with James Marsters on Saturday and my only whinge is the five hour wait to get my photo back. I could only go for one day and had to hang on to pick it up.

 

Still, it's only a minor gripe and I'm quite used to waiting around at these events for various things. I was very pleased with the photo itself and have no complaints about the photographer :)

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I guess I was lucky getting my pic done on Sunday. I waited about 1 hour to have my photo with James and I thought the photographer was ace. I had one shot done and then was called back to have another one :YAHOO: so I got another cuddle with James :YAHOO:

 

I had only paid for one shot but obviously Malcolm (is that his name?) wasn't happy with the shot and took another. I got my pic back at about 3.30pm and to my surprise I got both pics :huh: and I can't really see what was the problem with the first one but hey I ain't complaining!

 

It seems a shame that some of you guys were messed about on Saturday but the problems were obviously recified by Sunday.

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in fair ness to tehphotographer most photos i did see looked really good and he did take time to make sure that if there was problem to redo one asap

 

i think by time poppy got there it was rush them thro mode so sadly she may of been missed haveing a redo

 

but i told u popps you should of worn your scarf- it def your best feature :firedevil:

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I didnt have a photoshoot but looking at what people said there are plenty of ways to fix the problem.

1) Use ever photo developer in the shopping centre to get photos back quicker.

 

2) Have TWO photoshoots at other ends of the hall so if one guest does go over the next one doesn't get pushed back too. It also keeps queues down in one area.

 

3) VT would be good. If you goto the photo stand area and show them your ticket (maybe proof of photo ID too so you cant lend the ticket to a friend) then get a VT, everyone will still be seen, yet the madness would be alot less.

 

as a 'none photoshooter' it was mad trying to get through the crowds near john lewis

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Of course something else... it's stated on the website that people would get thier photos back ontime to get them signed later in the day.

Where does it say that? I can see some stuff about hoping to have them back in a few hours and some caveats about "barring unforeseen circumstances",but I can't see any promise about having them back in time to get them signed that day. (I'm totally willing to be proved wrong on this point, btw).

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as we paid for a service we should get the product

I'm sure you will. Your contract in terms of buying the ticket did not guarantee you the photo within a certain time. There were aspirations there as to delivery time, but nothing cast-iron, as obviously you have to allow for the possibility of something going wrong.

it was foolish of them to believe such a small photodeveloper could produce that many photos

Presumably they asked the developer about their capacity and were given suitable assurances. Are you suitably knowledgeable about the equipment that they have at the developers to categorically state that it was not sufficient for the task? If not, then perhaps anger is overwhelming logic.

and when they realised thier mistake they should of looked elsewhere- in a cenre that size ther must be at least a couple of photo development places- jessops, boots, etc?

I'm assuming that the developer had a problem with their machine that occurred during Saturday afternoon. Unless they told SM about it during the afternoon, SM probably wouldn't have known. Even then they may have downplayed the problem e.g. "it'll only be half an hour" and in fact the problem then took longer to fix. (Not necessarily accusing the developers of lying - from experinece, estimating the time to fix a mechanical problem or similar can be difficult).

if everyone not recieved them in a week we should all get some sort of compensation- i.e at least half money back or voucher for free photo/ auto at next event.

I think you may need to re-phrase your "demand". Since some people have already received them, the chances of everyone not receiving them is already zero. Or are you being unreasonable in the other direction, and suggesting that unless everyone has received them within a week, you should all be compensated?

 

 

Did, on this occasion, Showmasters issue too many tickets? Did they overbalance the money making with the product delivery?

I thought that they sold a maximum of 400 tickets per shoot, which I also thought was the number they had sold before.

If that is the case, then it would suggest the problems would be with "developing"/printing - either with that actual process or with the raw pictures not getting to the process quickly enough.

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I had both experiences, having a photoshoot on Saturday with Charisma and on Sunday with Grace. The Saturday shoot was not so much the queueing, you have surely got to expect that with the number of people wanting a photo, but the waiting for the photos to come back. By about 7.00pm I gave up waiting happy in the knowledge I was back on the Sunday, but I can understand the frustration for those who were not coming back and the worry that they would receive the right photo. However I would say that the crew, and Too Tall especially, did a marvellous job of keeping cool and trying to appease people as best they could since there were some seriously unpleasant comments being thrown about when it got to that time. Hindsight is a wondeful thing and the best laid plans don't always go right etc., I think the important point is that showmasters have learnt from this experience and when I had my shoot with Grace on Sunday, it appeared to be the case as the photos were back within two half hours and from what I saw the others were coming back as quickly.

 

As to the photograph, I was held back for a second photo with Grace (another twenty seconds of cuddling her, I didn't complain). :lol: When I got the photos back at first galnce they both looked great, it took a much closer inspection to realise that on the first one my mouth was a little open and didn't look quite right. My point is that, in my naivity at taking photos, for the photographer to spot that in the few seconds he took to check the image must speak of proffesionalism and concern that the photos were as good as they could be, my photos were excellent.

 

Overall I had an excellent weekend and am looking forward to CM12 already.

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The Brandon photo session was definitely over-subscribed. There were far more than 400 people in the queue, at least 600, if not more. No wonder the developers couldnt cope. I think it was wishful thinking for a small photo shop like the one used to be able to handle all those photos and for the sessions before as well. Plus they were still doing normal customer 1 hour printing as well. I know on the Sunday other photo shops were used to cover all the shoots and that's what should have happened on the Saturday too with so many photos being taken over the entire day.

 

Oh yes, and when I did get back my Brandon photo (and the Grace Park photo too for that matter) they were printed on gloss paper when all other photos had been done on matt, which was slightly annoying (and from what I overheard the stewards saying, shouldnt have been done on gloss at all).

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Of course something else... it's stated on the website that people would get thier photos back ontime to get them signed later in the day.

Where does it say that? I can see some stuff about hoping to have them back in a few hours and some caveats about "barring unforeseen circumstances",but I can't see any promise about having them back in time to get them signed that day. (I'm totally willing to be proved wrong on this point, btw).

 

From the FAQ:

Barring unforeseen circumstances, the photos will be ready within several hours of the end of the photoshoot. This will allow you time to then have the photo signed if you wish.

 

I don't see it as unforeseen circumstances and more as "Oh damn we hired a lousey photo shop"

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my mate went for the James photoshoot on Saturday and we got there about 45 mins early and hung about - when we saw the queue get started we, we were right there

 

we used the same tactics on the Sunday for my James shoot and her Brandon shoot and both of us were in the first 10 people in the queue

 

we got Saturday's James picture back at about 5.30pm and our other pics back on the Sunday 3 hrs after they were taken

 

yes it was busy, but we just kept our ears open and if we weren't sure, we asked a crew member

 

I'm very pleased with my pic of James and even got 2 cuddles from him *swoon*

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Its the photographers responsibility to make sure its a good photograph. obviously its not his problem if you haven't done your hair properly, your make up is a mess or you have a double chin etc, but it is his problem if you are pulling a face, and the fact that he did numerous double shots for everyone else, maybe there should be two shots for everyone so this doesn't happen? I saw some where someone was half blinking, this should not happen!!

 

 

People keep saying its the photo developers fault all this happened? How is this the customers responsibility? We pay SHOWMASTERS for a service, not snappy snaps. Its their responsibility to make sure the photos are back in time, and if not that all the customers are well informed - for a good few hours there was 'I dunno' from all staff. This was completely ridiculous. I know some people feel the need to defend showmasters no matter what, but I do not complain unnecessarily - if there is something bothering me I complain. If they do something brillant (like getting Brandon in the first place) i will also say so. The fact of the matter is, no matter who wants to defend the situation - they messed up. people can keep blaming the developers as much as they want, but its showmasters that failed to organise it properly!!

 

I think A2k is right, they should get a refund if the photos aren't with them in a promised time!!

 

And I too was a bit annoyed about having the photos on gloss instead of the usual matt. I much prefer matt photos (they don't show up finger prints so badly) and obviously the staff have to sort through them, so by the time you get the photo it already had quite a few fingerprints on it. This wouldn't happen with matt!

Edited by Poppy
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The only thing I don't think was fair about the photoshoot, was that some people had bought 6 tickets, which meant people who really wanted tickets werent able to get them. I think SM should limit the number of tickets for guests as popular as James.

 

I didnt get my Charisma, James or Brandon photos back, but hopefully they will be in the post soon!!

 

Oh and they'd better not have fingerprints on!!!!

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the chain of photo stores i worked for used to have a shop in MK - but not anymore!

 

snappy snaps branches are all franchised, so the manager should know what they are doing!!

 

How would VT tickets help though, hmm i see, maybe have it in waves - announcments for "james photo batch2" or something, altho then you'd just get people hanging around anyway, which could cause more crowds. it's a tough cookie.

 

I prefer a portrait shot i think

 

I think you used to work for the same company as me, Klick Photopoint or Max Spielman? We had a store in MK until a few years ago.

 

I also prefer a portrait shot. :P

 

 

haha cool, I worked for Klick, but it was Max in MK right?

 

I left a few years ago from my branch but they too closed a few months later.

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I had my photos with James and Charisma on the sunday, no complaints from me, was expecting to wait awhile for my photos to come back after, so i just went back at the end of the day and they were ready anyway! Really pleased with them and i was lucky to get 2 Charisma photos, dont know why tho because they both came out ok? Im sure my photos are a matt finish tho, could be wrong, lol! :P

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Of course something else... it's stated on the website that people would get thier photos back ontime to get them signed later in the day.

Where does it say that? I can see some stuff about hoping to have them back in a few hours and some caveats about "barring unforeseen circumstances",but I can't see any promise about having them back in time to get them signed that day. (I'm totally willing to be proved wrong on this point, btw).

 

From the FAQ:

Barring unforeseen circumstances, the photos will be ready within several hours of the end of the photoshoot. This will allow you time to then have the photo signed if you wish.

 

I don't see it as unforeseen circumstances and more as "Oh damn we hired a lousey photo shop"

So you definitely know that the photoshop were never capable of delivering that number of photos in the required timeframe, rather than that there were any problems with the photoshop's machinery or process that weren't unexpected?

I don't know either, but I credit SM with enough professionalism to have gone to a company who under normal circumstances would have been able to deliver.

Put another way, I have no great love for SM, and am prepared to call them on errors where they are made, but are they really so dumb as to say "I know what would give us a really hard time, and be really crap for repeat business - let's tell everybody that we'll have their photos back in a couple of hours, and then go to a place that we know has no chance of delivering on that."? Between that and having to send out a load of photos after the show, costing an appreciable amount of post and packing and staff time, I think they would far rather give them all out at the show.

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So it sounds like the problems were confined to Saturday and the 'third party' problem.

 

As I said in my original post. Should SM look at leasing their own high end photo printers?

 

 

I'd say that that would be far too expensive. And if they did could push up their running costs, therefore increasing price to the punter - they'd be responsible for buying all the paper, chemicals, people to run it who know what they're doing, repairs, maintainece, cleaning etc. Thats what i'd say from having worked with two

machines, but i dont know anything about leasing. If you mean them using a photo printer (i.e. not photographic process) I'd say def not. Photo paper, altho some people seem happy with it, I wouldn't have a photo shoot if this were the case, it's not as durable, doesnt look as good. In fact, i think prints from things like kodak picture makers are s***.

 

If snappy snaps were putting other work through then they are even more to blame (which i believe they were) if you've got that volume of work to do, you DO NOT take other work. you've got a gaunrteend income from the SM work, and to risk that by taking other work is completely stupid IMO. Greed. And if it were me, I want to avoid using them ever again.

 

It sounds as if getting jessops in on the act yesterday helped solved the problem.

 

I am not saying it is all the developers fault, but they were the *root* of the problem, and SM can't control this 3rd party. it's as much showmasters fault as it is when a guest cancels. i.e they dont have control over them. Snappy snapps obviously did their job the last time around, but not this time. SM made errors with maybe timings or amount of photo shoots, but the delay in photos in the developers. I dont love SM or anything, I just am annoyed at Snappy snaps for their bad performance, having been a manager of a similar store.

 

And i dont believe any time was 'promised'. If snappy snaps had done their job properly, then all the photos would have been matt. They didnt do their job in a) getting enough matt in if they ran out, and b ) if it had to go to jessops, they may not have had that size of matt paper in stock (as they werent pre warned like snappy snapps). Where i worked didnt keep that size paper in stock.

Edited by Kookie22
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People keep saying its the photo developers fault all this happened?

Assuming that SM gave them the raw photographic data in good time, and had pre-arranged that they would sending that number of photos, then it would seem fair to assume the problem occurred within the photoshop.

How is this the customers responsibility?

Who said it was?

We pay SHOWMASTERS for a service, not snappy snaps.

True, but unless you expect SM to hire in specific equipment and employ trained operators to run it for the event, you have to appreciate that they will contract out some of the service. You wouldn't expect SM to fly the planes that bring the guests over from the US, would you?

Its their responsibility to make sure the photos are back in time, and if not that all the customers are well informed - for a good few hours there was 'I dunno' from all staff. This was completely ridiculous.

Keeping customers informed is indeed important, and from your telling this would indeed seem to be a failing. Even if the photoshop couldn't give SM an exact expected time, there should have at least been some sort of message to pass on, even if it were "depending on how long it takes to clean the lead grommet, the prints could be anything between 30 minutes and 3 hours, but we will have an update in half an hour's time." Having worked in customer service, I know about managing expectations, but I also know that people are much more receptive to having some news than just I dunno".

Edited by TommyT
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I didn't notice a problem. I had my photo with Charisma done on Sunday. I did have to queue, but the photo was back at a fairly reasonable time and looked great (well, she did anyway :D ).

 

I think some people expect too much. There are alot people with the same intention as you, so you have to be patient whilst they go through as many as possible, so you do have to be prepared to wait and at times be rushed through.

 

If this didn't happen there would be many more dissapointed people. Thank you for allowing me to get my photo with Charisma.

 

I have waited a long time for that moment.

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I think virtual queuing would be a good idea for the photo shoots On Saturday I arrived at 3pm for the Avery Brooks shoot at 3.15. There was still an enormous queue for the previou star and we were told to join the end of this queue which we followed for over an hour before we finally reached Avery.

I was told the photos would be ready that day, I had to leave at 6 so I went back at about 5.50pm Only to be told to come back the next day.Mos of the people trying to get photos were told to come back the next day and it could not because they had travelled long distances as I had.

We were told our photos would be posted but they had run out of forms so I was given a tatty piece of paper and told to write my details on it.

Judging by the chaos on the table where people were trying to get their photos posted I wonder if I will ever recieve mine :D

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Now the show is over and what's done is done. Many of us have been critical about what went on with the Saturday photo shoots on both this topic, and the Brandon photo session problems topic (myself included). I think now it's time to leave this to SM, and let them get on with getting the pictures posted on here so people can ID them and get them posted out. I'm sure they will read everything we have said regarding what went on and the suggestions we have made about improvements in the future.

 

Let's give SM the chance to sort this one out!

Edited by A007
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Well I have no complaints, had photoshoot on sunday with James, Charisma and Brandon. All photos back 1hr and half after the end of each shoot. Also Malcolm is a great photographer, if you blink in the photo he will always make sure he does it again for you. I love all my pictures :P

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I am not saying it is all the developers fault, but they were the *root* of the problem, and SM can't control this 3rd party. it's as much showmasters fault as it is when a guest cancels. i.e they dont have control over them. Snappy snapps obviously did their job the last time around, but not this time. SM made errors with maybe timings or amount of photo shoots, but the delay in photos in the developers. I dont love SM or anything, I just am annoyed at Snappy snaps for their bad performance, having been a manager of a similar store.

 

Nobody of authority seemed to ‘manage’ the situation very well at all, or provide any form of solution to an escalating problem.

 

It’s a bit of a cop out to totally blame Snappy Snaps, as clearly both parties seem to be to blame.

 

It’s weird we’re back to the ‘communication’ issues again. It seems to be a reoccurring problem? :P

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I am not saying it is all the developers fault, but they were the *root* of the problem, and SM can't control this 3rd party. it's as much showmasters fault as it is when a guest cancels. i.e they dont have control over them. Snappy snapps obviously did their job the last time around, but not this time. SM made errors with maybe timings or amount of photo shoots, but the delay in photos in the developers. I dont love SM or anything, I just am annoyed at Snappy snaps for their bad performance, having been a manager of a similar store.

 

Nobody of authority seemed to ‘manage’ the situation very well at all, or provide any form of solution to an escalating problem.

 

It’s a bit of a cop out to totally blame Snappy Snaps, as clearly both parties seem to be to blame.

 

It’s weird we’re back to the ‘communication’ issues again. It seems to be a reoccurring problem? :WAVE:

 

 

I'm not totally blaming SS, and have never said that. but saying they were a large part of it.

 

I guess SM will now learn from this fiasco, as it seems they perhaps did over the last days. Maybe commnication is the thing that SM need to look at. and SS need to look at doing their job properly.

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:WAVE: When I voted 'no'to the idea of phtoshoots some time ago it was for the reasons people are complaining about.it is too complicated there are too many people and MK is too small for an event. I foresaw all the problems people are mentioning now and I just think it is better to have a posed photo' with the guest at the signing desk.hope they scrap photoshoots as they are just more trouble than they are worth as I have been happy with every posed photo' I have had with a guest on my own camera!!!
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