Bella Pictures - Album Issues?

HoosierKate

I don't post on here very much - but you ladies were very helpful when I was planning my wedding! We got our album in the mail - and I am not impressed - at all. We used Bella Pictures and I have loved everything about them until we got our album. There are changes made to the online proof that weren't made to the album - the font on the cover is hideous, the cover itself is pretty ugly... and the design/layout does not look very professional. (One pic on each page.) Has anyone else used Bella Pictures and had this problem? Or had this problem in general? I called customer service and let them know all my issues with our album, and right now they are "checking to see if there is anything they can do". I am pretty upset - I splurged on our photographer b/c I knew that pictures is the only tangible thing we'd have from our wedding years down the road... and while I adore the pictures - the album is pretty disappointing. Any thoughts/suggestions/advice?! Thanks in advance for any help ladies!

valdagalcoffman

I'd turn into a mega b!tch if I were you!  There is definitely something they can do - give you the quality album you paid for!!  I would not stop hounding them until you got results.  Did they show you the initial design and layout of the album?  If so, they need to hold up to what they were supposed to provide you with.I feel so bad for you!!!  I would be willing to call them up and b!tch them out for you!!!Seriously though, keep calling and demand to speak to a manager.

mbuhpathi

people are always complaining about those large wedding studios. i would tell them you are going to the better business bureau unless it is fixed in a few weeks. get it in writing. there are so many complaints about bella all over the country on those online review places. good luck.

krisdi78

What I'm confused about is if you saw the online proof, didn't you know how the layout was going to be i.e. only one pic per page?  Also didn't you get to choose the front cover as far as color, material, etc??  Did they show you any examples when you were making choices?  If it's different than what you approved, then I would be upset and make them change it, but if you saw a proof of all this and made these choices ahead of time they probably don't have to do anything if they don't want.

rhorowitz

from what it sounded like, bella pictures was the cheapest company out there. it looks like you get what you pay for. i know that stinks. can you get the disc and make an album yourself? i know themorrisseys made one on My Publisher that she said came out nice.

kellylynn2

I know that Bella is not one of the cheapest places out there, in fact it is in line with many of the other independent photographers.  I looked into them but found someone else we loved before getting a chance to meet with them.Like pp, I would keep complaining until you get results.  I would even go to the BBB if need be.  For the amount of money spent on photography, it should be done to your satisfaction.  Good Luck!

HoosierKate

Thanks everyone! Bella was definitely not cheap - and the quality of the photos and our photographer was incredible. I loved everything about them... until now! I did approve an online proof - I made two rounds of changes to the proofs and some of those changes weren't made at all - including the fact that it is missing 2 photos entirely! I didn't get to select the cover (or styles in general) - in fact I never even saw what it would look like until I got mine. Dumb move on my part - I realize now I should have demanded to see what the album cover would look like, but at the time the album was the farthest thing from my mind. I know they changed the font on the front cover - it was a pretty script but they changed it to Times New Roman, and I think the pic on the front is distorted to fit - and we look a bit more "plump" that we are in the rest of the pics. When I approved the online proof - it looked so different! It's hard to tell on a PDF that the picture was going to be so small, and leave so much black space around each photo. IT's such a waste of album space! In the proof it looked like the pictures were much larger. I probably will end up doing my own album - even if they make the changes I still probably won't love it unless I get to start all over from scratch. Thanks for your advice... one more question, should I "threaten" to spread the news about my bad experience on the knot, or do you think that won't help me at all? I typically try to be nice and understanding with people - but in this case I feel like I might get taken advantage of if I don't "lay down the law" so to speak. Thanks again everyone!

mbuhpathi

I have been hearing that if you are dissatisfied with things to use Yelp. It is public to the entire population of brides and grooms not just the knot. Then they really HAVE to help you because it is out there in the real public.