Monday, 21 December 2009
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Do You Know Where Your Photos Really Go?
Have you ever wondered how safe the digital photos you send to have developed are? I never did until recently, when I had a photo mix-up.
Usually, I like printing mine out at home but when there are more than just a couple it becomes too expensive (all that ink!) to do on my own. Over the summer I went to Chile and took over 300 photos and since I don’t go on trips like that very often I decided I HAD to have actual prints. So, I began shopping around online for the least expensive prints I could possibly find (with that many photos you have to)!
Six months later I finally found an inexpensive place called snapfish.com. I had never heard of the company before but found the advertisement on a site I frequented and decided to check them out. I went to their website and was pleasantly surprised to find they were running some pretty good sales.
When I saw that they had a sale on hardcover photo books I knew that was exactly what I wanted! Have anyone of you seen these things? You get to pick which photos you want and they put them in a book for you (you can choose from different styles) and you can even add captions if you want! I thought that this would make a great coffee table book and would just be such a fun way in which to remember my trip!
After placing the order I was excited to find out that my photo book would be shipped in just 5 days! I couldn’t wait to see my photos. 5 days later my package from snapfish.com arrived just like promised! I tore the brown box open and pulled out my book. It was red; I had chosen the ancient map theme I thought. I then opened up the cover to see the first photo, it was two little girls.
Two little girls I had never seen before in my life. Frantically, I flipped through the pages looking for my photos. Unfamiliar face after face appeared before my eyes. I got some family’s photo book! Did they have mine?
Immediately I picked up the phone and called snapfish.com. The customer service representative I reached assured me that the proper book would be mailed out the next day. She also apologized to me and said that they have had a lot of mix-ups like this lately! This made me wonder how many other family’s photos were being sent to strangers.
The worst part about all of this in my opinion was that I was not even told they would send out a prepaid package so I could send the book back. I wasn’t even asked to send the book back period! Now I have a photo book with some family’s photos, a family with kids, a family I don’t even know! And someone else out there has photos of my trip! It all just creeps me out a little.
Have you ever received photos that weren't yours? What did you do?
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About the Author
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- From: michcoy@xanga
- Name: Michelle
- About Me: I am a full-time nanny who loves to write whenever I can. I also love being outdoors whenever possible. Camping, hiking and kayaking are a few of my favorite activities.
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Comments (31)
I've ordered from photo places many times and have never ever received the wrong prints. I'm so sorry that on your first time, you ended up with such a bad experience.
I did want to tell you that even cheaper than snapfish is a place called clarkcolor.com
Did you get your photos?
@vexations@xanga - I did! It took an extra 3 weeks but I did!
@alaskamommy@xanga - Oh thank you! Maybe it was just because I happened to order my stuff around the holidays but yea still a frustrating first time!
OH! That mix-up would bother me. I expected this to be about posting pictures online. I'm glad you got the rights ones, but it would still bother me. You pay more than money for convenience and low prices.
That's why you don't order coffee table books filled with naked pictures of yourself, I guess
@michcoy@xanga - Yep, I think it happens a lot more around the holidays. I had some business cards printed from a photo printing website, and they were totally different in person than they were on the screen. Not exactly the same as your situation, but I imagine a lot more orders causes a higher percentage of human error.
@BarniganFlarn@xanga - ahah, so true : )
What about those people who found their family picture used in an ad, I think it was on a side of a bus. Now that would be freaky.
I like Snapfish, but they are slow. Mypublisher makes amazing photo books! As for creepy..a long time ago I had some store develop my photos, and some turned out not so nice in colour. The guy reprinted me a new one, but instead of ripping up my old photo or toss it I saw him sneak it into his bag!! I was like what the??? I asked him what he was doing and he just gave me a weird smile!
@lil_squirrel4ever@xanga -
That's when you go, "Uhm, no...I think I would like those back, too... MANAGEMENT!!"
I got a free photo book credit through Disney Movie Rewards for Snapfish. That's how I got my wedding album. I also print most of my photos at home, and I don't even print a lot of photos. I just keep them on the computer I've lost so many loose photos. I do think I should get an external hard drive to back them up though.
I've used snapfish for years and only had one real problem with them. My ex and I had gone to a football game and I sent in the film (35mm) a few days later. A few months went by and I never got the prints or an email with a link to them on the website. I forgot about it until about 6 months later when they finally arrived in the mail.
@scrambledmegsntoast@xanga - What the heck?! That's awful! I had a friend that once went to a nightclub and had her picture taken by a photographer there, which somehow meant she agreed to become an unofficial spokesperson for that club. She saw her face on random fliers around town. :(
I've used snapfish before and I haven't had a mix-up like that, I guess you were just unlucky. I think instances like the one @scrambledmegsntoast@xanga mentioned are worse. Some unscrupulous companies will take your photos from Facebook or Flickr and use them in their ads, all without even asking you...
I ordered a gorgeous calendar from snapfish and everything went great. *shrug* It was awesome.
That's why you buy a camera that comes with a storage card so it goes directly to the computer. I was so tired of taking PG pictures because I would be worried about some worker at Walgreens looking at my pictures.
So throw it away. It's cheaper for them just to create another and send it out. Who cares?
I've never had any photo mix ups but I do wonder if sometimes the workers make an extra copy of themselves if they see a picture of someone they find attractive or even a picture of someone doing something dirty (I know of people who take erotic pictures to get printed out at the local store). My dad's ordered those online picture album books before and they came within a few days each time and had no mix ups. sometimes mistakes happen.
That's so creepy.
hmm. guess you shouldnt make a sexy photo book with that website.
that is truly horrid. i would be a bit freaked out too because photoshop can do wonders nowadays with cut outs of peoples faces. but try costco which you can go locally to and give them a piece of your mind lol! i prefer that. good luck next time!!!
The only place I get mine done is Wal Mart because it's right around the corner. I make sure to check my pictures to make sure they are mine before I even pay for them!
There was also that couple who found their baby's picture on Craigslist. I think the baby was up for adoption but they had their baby. Someone took one of their pictures of a site and used it or something like that..
Never, I dread to think the what happens to the photos which get taken of us by photographers when we go on day trips for us to buy.
When I was in college I did a photographer course for nine weeks one day per week in the afternoon we develop the photos we took.