Ok, so I have to rant. This is probably one of the only times I am ever going to do this, as the PR superstar in me believes in PR karma, but, the service industry superstar in me truly believes that a service experience this bad shouldn’t go unnoticed.

I am not pleased.

I have been selling photos through my ridiculously cheap Etsy photosale (it ends Friday, so you should buy a print before then!), and today was get-photos-printed-and-mail-them day. I usually go to Wolf/Ritz Camera in Raleigh to get my prints for my Etsy sales, but as I am in New Bern, I am left with Target, Wal-Mart, and 1/2 Hour Photo. I chose the latter, as it is closest to my house and I can avoid distractions such as clothes or food or shoes or home accessories.

So I talk to the man who appears to be the owner. I tell him I need five 8″ x 12″ prints, and one 16″ x 9″ print. Nothing more. I hand him a disk of my images. Nothing needs to be done to them. Just hit print.

He checks me out, swipes my card, I sign and head on my way. It’s not until I am in my car that it hits me: he just charged me 90 dollars for my photos. I clearly saw the amount he swiped me for when I was inside, but didn’t take a minute and do the math until I got outside. $90 for six photos.

For some printing, this is totally reasonable. However, this is for my ridiculously cheap Etsy photo sale. I want standard printing. Standard printing that usually costs me less than half of what he just charged me.

So I turn around and head back to the store, arriving a few minutes later.

Elderly customer is currently speaking to 1/2 Hour Photo Man about how he feels he was drastically overpriced for a photo restoration. Fancy that. I let them work it out.

My turn. I tell 1/2 Hour Photo Man that I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to cancel my order. PhotoMan says that he has already started working on the project. I ask what work he could have done. He says that there already three of the six photos in queue to be printed, and there’s nothing he can do to change that.

He ends up only charging me for $50 for the three photos he was “already working on.” I ask him if this is the standard printing price for his photos. He says that it’s the pricing for high-quality printing. I explain that I am working on a low-budget project and did not say I wanted high-quality printing prices, and usually pay half of this cost for the same printing. He says… sorry.

So I pay, and ask him when I should come pick the photos up. He says 3:00 tomorrow. I leave.

I’m driving home. Still thinking about what has just happened.

- If the photos are in queue and won’t be ready until 3:00 TOMORROW (at 1/2 Hour Photo, mind you), how was it impossible for him to cancel the order? Since when do printers not have a cancel button?

I am feeling like I got got, for lack of a better word. I get home, look up the phone number, and I, possibly the most laid back and non-confrontational person on the planet, call 1/2 Hour Photo and get saucy.

Photoman answers.

I ask him if he can explain to me why, if my photos are in queue and won’t be ready for another 24 hours, they can’t be cancelled.

Photoman stutters.

Photoman says that they are printing, and that’s why they can’t be cancelled.

I then ask Photoman why he has charged me $13 for an 8″ x 12″ when an 8″ x 10″ is $7. That’s almost double the price for not-double the photo.

Photoman explains that an 8″ x 12″ is a bigger size than an 8″ x 10″ (yes I am aware), and that the 8″ x 10″ is $9 anyway.

I explain to him that his online prices indicate otherwise.

Photoman begins rambling.

I tell Photoman that this experience is not settling well with me and I am extremely disappointed in how this has turned out.

Photoman tells me….. sorry.

I ask if I still need to wait until 3 tomorrow to pick up my photos.

He says yes.

So. Yeah, I definitely should have thought about it and said something when I saw what he initially charged me. Regardless, this scenario should not have played out this way. Now, after printing and mailing these three photos, I will have spent $60, the total price that I was paid for these photos. So I’ve lost revenue from three photo sales. And that makes me unhappy.

And I’m still sitting here at my computer, wondering how on earth three photos that are “currently printing” won’t be ready until 3 PM tomorrow. All three are printing? Right now? For the next 24 hours? None of them could be canceled?

I hope your new $50 was worth it, 1/2 Hour Photo Man.

[I'll have a happier post coming your way later!]