VENTURE PHOTOGRAPHY - HELP !!

[blandhill78]

Hello everyone, I went to Venture for my studio session recently with my 6 month old. It was so much fun and they were really friendly and I have a feeling I am going to LOVE the photos. Problem is they gave us the price list on the way out and the CHEAPEST VERY SMALL picture is over £300 !!! Agh!! We have our session coming up when they will show us all the pics and we have to chooose which ones we want and I have heard this is a hard sell. Anyone have any tips for getting the price down or know of any way you can try and get some of the pics on a memory stick etc to print ourselves as you also have to pay them for framing etc. Please help, I am getting very worried !!! thanks

I've never been but a bump for you.

Not a chance
Don't go! No obligation you know!
My cousin used to work there. Still NO discount!!

it's a very, very, very, very hard sell.

i'm going to be honest and say, i woldn't buy from them. you could probably find a lovely local independent photographer who could do the exact same pics for a fraction of the cost,

if you DO decide to buy from Venture though you should decide how much you are willing to spend, and take it in cash. leave all your cards at home,
that way you just can't spend more than you have.

If you are SE see my cousin anyway
Helenenglandphotography.com or similar. Sorry, should know it better!

Seeing as she used to work there.... Her pics are great!!!

Oh and they pay the staff rubbish wages whilst they rake in an absolute fortune.

No no no! Just dont turn up!!

Did you not get the deal where you have a sitting and a 7x5 for £25? We've done it wice and then used that towards a £70 one but never go any higher. You could look for a local photographer to do some more at a fraction of the price - that's what we've done recently.

I got our venture photo for a third of the price they originally said. I said that our max budget was £x, there was only one photo and frame combination we would consider, either they did it for that price or we walked with the free photo.

Don't go! They will have you at emotional gunpoint at the screening. As said before go to a local photographer.

Hate Venture. We "won" a photo shoot and framed print. a 6 x 4 print. when we said it was really small they offered the next size up for about £90. But refused to do any photoshopping on it "because it wasn't worth their while for such a small order" . They also refused to post the photo so we had to make a third round trip to pick it up. Horrible, money grabbing people.

Keep checking your local Groupon as they often have very cheap offers.

i just walked with the free photo.
had no money.
a few years later got some even better photos done from independent photographer. spent £300 on set of 3 framed pics.

We refused to go back for the sales pitch. They said we couldn't even see the photos if the whole family didn't go back. DH refused. So I told them to sod off.

Ours was shutting down so got all photos on disc for £100 and got some lovely frames for tkmaxx

Sale is hard but you can just walk out with free photo if that's the offer.
No is a full sentence

Have insider knowledge, very much hard sell - to the point where the studio is advised to make sure the husband/male partner is present and they focus their sell on them whilst pulling the wife's heart-strings. The studio's are Franchise's, there is no reason for them to charge the money that they do - it's all about making money and not about the 'experience'.

Many photograph studio's have sprung up with cheaper and often better alternatives.

Don't go, cancel appointment and tell them you are not interested as you had no idea how expensive their products are.

Then, go along for another session at a local place and get your family memories framed for much less!

My parents were sucked into the Venture 'experience' and fleeced for £800 (after "winning" a free session/7x5 pic) admittedly stunning picture but it could have been bought elsewhere for less. I have since worked closely with the company and was less than impressed with the way they work.

Steer clear.

That's interesting, whomoved. We went for a photo shoot because we were told that we had "won" some free prints, but they wouldn't let us take dd back for the viewing. We explained that we didn't have childcare and said that one of us would attend to look at the pictures while the other one looked after dd. They insisted that DH and I should both be present for the hard sell for the viewing.

We said that we could only attend together if we could bring dd too. They got arsey and said we couldn't. We told them to get stuffed.

Have heard from friends that they use really aggressive sales techniques, and their prices are just absurd. Avoid, avoid.

X post rhonda - what you have said certainly backs up our experience. Interesting that they assume the male partner will have all the spending power!

I agree with everyone else. We gave a friend a £25 gift voucher for Venture as a 30th birthday present (we didn't know about the hard sell) and our friend was fleeced for £1000 !!!

Just don't go. Then you won't see the pictures, and you won't have the chance to fall in love with them!

Book a local photographer for a session, you will get much better value for money!

I was when I learned that, apparently it isn't something they openly admit to, but in all the training they give the Franchisee (if that's the right term) that is the basis - husband holds the purse strings, no distractions (ie children) and pull on heart-strings of the lil' woman!

I know they are a business, I know they are there to make money, but it just really hit a nerve with me - especially after my parents had been sucked in a few years prior to me coming into contact with the company (yes am being a bit sketchy on the details - too much info could 'out' me, sorry!)

I just paid an independent £250 for fab photos: she gave me 5 7x5 prints and an edited CD of the whole shoot for that.