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Original poster

Venture made my dp cry - BASTARDS...

54 replies

Dottydot · 30/11/2007 22:01

We got a voucher from dp's brother for our civil ceremony and over a year later finally got round to having our photos done.

Went to 'preview' them last night and they were of course gorgeous photos - just stunning.

But... our voucher entitled us to one 10" x 8" and they were insistent that the photo we really wanted (and our second and third choice) couldn't be made into this size. But they could be made into a 7" x 5" but we'd have to pay £100!

We ended up paying and dp was soooooo upset and angry that they'd taken us for a ride. I knew she was on the edge of crying and we just about made it to the car...

She phoned this morning to cancel the order and we're insisting on having the free 10" x 8" but it's heartbreaking because we couldn't afford the layout we wanted and they'll probably crop the picture so it's rubbish anyway.

Sooo, I know it's been said on MN many times before, but don't go to Venture! Definitely not worth it and definitely a horrible hard sell at the preview - tainted the whole experience and we hate that there are stunning photos of the boys that we'll never have

OP posts:
SlightlyMadScreachingSirens · 30/11/2007 22:15

They could make a 107.14 from the same print as a 75...that is minimal difference.

In fact
64 75 86 108

are all standard photo sizes and I thought they were all interchangeable.

SlightlyMadScreachingSirens · 30/11/2007 22:16

Sorry the **s have got int eh way

Standard sizes are

6 * 4
7 * 5
8 * 6
10 * 8

Flamesparrow · 30/11/2007 22:21

Bastards

I hate Venture. I came away in tears, we couldn't afford to upgrade (we "won" a session, had never heard of them before), they actually had a shot of me & DH looking like a couple rather than our normal "two people stood together" (even our wedding shots are a bit like that), but since we got them as our first new family ones, we had to leave it.

"The pictures sold themselves which is why we spent more than we planned"

No. There is no "hard sell". There is just clever lighting, atmosphere etc. I bet you anything that shown the same photos on a laptop they would be good photos, but you wouldn't end up spending £900 on them

SlightlyMadScreachingSirens · 30/11/2007 22:24

There are lots of independant photographers out there these days which will do the same type of photography without the hard sell and a fraction of the price. Just ask to see their protfolio first.

edam · 30/11/2007 22:25

Call Trading Standards. Outrageous. Unless they shot those particular pix at such a crappy resolution that they can't make a 10x8 without the quality suffering. Which would be mad! Of course they didn't just happen to shoot exactly the pix you wanted at a lower resolution that makes a 10x8 impossible...

Too late for the wedding, I know, but if you ever want another session, go to a local photographer.

hatwoman · 30/11/2007 22:32

dotty - my brother is a photographer (a very good one - and a very honest one with bucket loads of integrity - totally passionate about photography but more passionate about enjoying it, and about his clients enjoying it iyswim) tell me what reason they gave and I will check with him.

madamez · 30/11/2007 22:37

Oh cock what a miserable bunch of bastards. I went and had a session with one of these photography chains last year and managed to argue with the photographer that the 3rdpicture they shot shoudlbe the big one (before seeing them) rather than the first one as I knew DS was fidgetting and unrelaxed in the first pic. THen (luckily) got some extra money just after I'd seen the previews and so bought the mini-pics of all but the really lousy ones.
But I would never go to one of these again. They are gouging bastards, and the photography is not that good. I have photographer friends who do a very reasonable session price and then give the customer the digital disc and/or all negatives and let them go away and do what prints they want.

SlightlyMadScreachingSirens · 30/11/2007 22:39

I have just done a couple more sums and the aspect ratio of a 75 and 108 is slightly different - which would certainly have given them a "scientific excuse" to baffle you with and not to do a 10 8 print. However as I said early if you scaled a 75 up you could do a 10 7.14 (or 11.2 8)...I can't see why they can't crop something entirely suitable...unless you faily are sittin gright in teh 4 corners of a 7*5 print and would thereby be cropped off completely in the process!!!

Hatwomans DB will certainly be able to advise better though...

HairyIrene · 30/11/2007 22:47

there is no reason on this earth that images (taken at same resolution on digital camera i presume?) that could be printed on 7x5 couldnt be printed as easily on 10x8 sized paper..

as pointed out by others, they are standard sizes and the sizes are in proportion to each other ...

they are fooling you around and this its nasty

mustrunmoreisntmakingabadge · 30/11/2007 22:52

When we had our 'gift experience' we were told we could exchange the value of the 10x8 against any other photos. We got as far as leaving the place, then decided we needed 3 smaller ones intead of the one bigger one, and had worked out that it would mean paying £55 on top. This was based on the figure the girl gave us for offsetting, which was diffrent to the one on the price list. Sent dh back in, and somehow they then convinced him it was an extra £100 on top to pay, which matched neither of the first two prices quoted.

LyraSilvertongue · 30/11/2007 23:00

I got stung for £600 by Venture. I had a photoshoot with me and DS1 as a surprise Christmas present for DP and of course when I went to the viewing i wanted so many pictures it cost me a fortune.

Original poster
Dottydot · 01/12/2007 11:51

Hatwoman - that's very kind. It's just whether a photo that the bloke said would be perfect for a 7"x5" could also be made into a 10"x8" - which he said it couldn't. It's a close up of all 4 of us (taken at the end of the shoot so the boys were tired and are being all snuggly on us!) and dp and I are at each end of the picture, so he reckoned it would chop too much of us off.

Anyway, dp's gone ahead and ordered it anyway, so we'll see how much is cropped... Probably end up having to either throw it away or crop it more and have it just of the boys - such a shame as it was our civil ceremony present

Thanks again everyone - it's good to vent!

OP posts:
LIZS · 01/12/2007 12:20

If it really were an issue surely they could digitally show you what it would look like as a 10*8 so you might then appreciate what they are saying . To my lay mind it would seem minimal, maybe they have to zoom out a bit more and crop a smidgeon, and they are just being awkward for the sake of £££

FluffyMummy123 · 01/12/2007 12:26

Message withdrawn

crokky · 01/12/2007 12:49

My friends had a baby and were given a similar voucher thingy. They were treated in the same way as the OP. Don't ever go to one of these places!

xJSPx · 01/12/2007 13:20

Hello everyone, I have spoken to our local trading standards office (Ok, he's my DH!) and he tells me there have been considerable complaints about this venture company.

It would appear most of the complaints involve fraudulent selling.

He recommends that if you feel you have been pressure sold to, or have been misled in any way, that you should complain to your local trading standards office.

IMO, I know for sure that a picture can be made as a 10x8 size when it was a 7x5 size as I enjoy playing with pictures on my PC and I use photoshop which is what they will use to, and I can do it!

Also, I spoke to my friend who teaches art at our local college. He says that you get much better pictures going to a 'local photographer' and not venture as they are a franchise and all the processing work is done at a central lab somewhere in the north so you don't get a personal service.

Lot's of decent photographers charge lots of money, but then if they show you a price list before you start, and you know all your options, then there are no surprises!

If they don't tell you how much they charge, or 'won't' as in ventures case, then avoid like the plague!!!

mylittleponey · 01/12/2007 13:23

Complain about this.

Bet the photos you take are great.

tillykins · 01/12/2007 13:35

Thats rotten of them
We spent £1,000 with venture a year or two ago, which is mad money I know
But we didn't get the hard sell at all, infact at one point he suggested a cheaper way of framing (which we went for) saying it sounded more like it would match our decor

I didn't feel we got a hard sell at all, they were quite the opposite with us

I still love the pictures, they really are fab. But, I have seen equally fab once since, done by local one-man-band photographers who seem to capture families equally well if not better

you should cause a real stink, see what you can get out of them for nothing, by way of compensation
and report them to trading standards and to watchdog
and go get some beautiful pictures done by a local photographer

hatwoman · 01/12/2007 17:25

I agree about not using franchise photographers. photography is an art and every photographer is different - and if you want a certain style you need to chose a photographer - not a company iyswim. you need to look at the portfolio of the individual who will be taking your photos - not some random portfolio from a selection of photographers from all over the country. another key element of good photography is liking the photographer - meeting them face to face before you pay up money is highly recommended - enhances the experience and enhances the photographs. I notice that the Venture website says nothing about the photographers, whether they are qualified, whether they are members of the industry assocation (British Institute of Professional Photographers). They are clearly just part of a production line set up. imho a good photographer stays with the process from beginning to end - showing the client their portfolio, discussing the needs, and then afterwards doing - or at least overseeing the printing

franchises work for easy to replicate things. and average things. like low and mid-price pizzas. for something artistic it's just strange. and, imho, likely to attract photographers who aren't good enough to make a living out of it independently. I'm hugely biased - I come from a family/long-line of photographers - but I feel there is an element of this Venture stuff that is undermining to good photography.

TwinklyfLightAttendant · 01/12/2007 17:30

I 'won' a free shoot thingy when Ds1 was about 9 months old. It was a bit pushy, felt very hurried and so on by the bloke.
I went back to get a picture and chose one and the woman showing them was really going fast, not a single smile, nothing, just 'how dare you be choosing a free one and not buying loads'.

It was shit. I would never go again. Made me feel like a cheapskate.

Hulababy · 01/12/2007 17:31

I recieved a call from Venture today telling me we have "won" (not entered anything ooddly!) a free £125 voucher. Not sure I will take it up!

filthymindedvixen · 01/12/2007 17:34

venture made me cry..we 'won' a shoot years ago. i was pg and it was awful. Took ages and couldn't even give nme a glass of water when i felt faint. And they denied all knowledge of the free picture i was supposed to be entitled to, the guy snapped at ds (who was 2 1/2) for being silly after hyping him up to the max and they hassled and hassled me for weeks (really hard sell tactics) to buy more pictures.

MerlinsBeard · 01/12/2007 17:58

Our venture experience was the complete opposite to this one BUT if the photo that they have shown you has been taken from a distance and has lots of effects on it then maybe 7X5 is the only size it will go to without looking shitty.

BTW you can't win something that comes free in magazines as their vouchers do

FWIW, we won't be doing venture again, not because we are still paying for them 3 years later but because now i am accomplished enough as a photographer top achieve the same things with my own camera, a white sheet and photoshop!

DarthVader · 01/12/2007 18:16

Venture are notorious for folk intending to spend £50 and then spending £2k - had you really not heard any stories before you went in?!! They are the timeshare equivalent of the 90's and 00's.

The photos can be good, but they are certainly not good value for money in my opinion.

Original poster
Dottydot · 01/12/2007 18:42

The bloke said buying one of their million pound-type photos was like buying a settee - a real investment. What??? Sorry but I can't sit on a photo...

The photos were gorgeous so I suppose if you've either got lots of money or don't mind taking out a 3 year repayment plan to buy photos then it's fine, but if you go in just for what you're entitled to, then it's rubbish.

OP posts: