Reposting: Photo281

jcsunshine14 · September 2011

My fiancee and I are considering hiring Photo281 as our wedding day photographers; they're only a year old and reasonably priced. I found out about them through the Houston Bridal Extravaganza, but they don't have any reviews that I can find on their website or online in general. They also were unable to provide me with any references. Does anyone have any experience with Photo281 that could provide me feedback on their experience? Thanks so much!

* I will share any info I find to those also interested.

NRB263 · September 2011

I don't have any information on them but IMO, your photographer/photos are one of the most important choices you will make in the wedding planning process. After everything is all said and done, you only have your memories and photos to remind you of your special day and to pass on to your kids/grandkids. If you are happy with their work, then I would go with them even if you don't have any reviews/references (everyone has to start some where right?). But, if you just think their work is okay and you like them more because of price, then I would keep looking and maybe consider spending a little more for your photography and a little less some where else (trust me, no one is going to notice if some of the details you pictured in your head aren't there). Anyway, I hope this helps and I wish you the best of luck in finding a photographer and the rest of your wedding planning.

erollis · September 2011

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_texas-houston_reposting-photo281?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:121Discussion:cc64c51c-2c68-4674-9770-fa7a1e9667d6Post:38cc89ea-b01c-4741-860e-96aece2a9957">Re: Reposting: Photo281</a>:
[QUOTE]I don't have any information on them but IMO, your photographer/photos are one of the most important choices you will make in the wedding planning process. After everything is all said and done, you only have your memories and photos to remind you of your special day and to pass on to your kids/grandkids. If you are happy with their work, then I would go with them even if you don't have any reviews/references (everyone has to start some where right?). But, <strong>if you just think their work is okay and you like them more because of price, then I would keep looking and maybe consider spending a little more for your photography and a little less some where else </strong>(trust me, no one is going to notice if some of the details you pictured in your head aren't there). Anyway, I hope this helps and I wish you the best of luck in finding a photographer and the rest of your wedding planning.
Posted by NRB263[/QUOTE]
So true.
I wouldn't call their look journalistic. It is much more on the art side. It screams artsy. They are really lovely photos. If you really like them give them the opportunity to photograph your wedding.
Instead of references you can ask to see an entire wedding that they photographed. So whatever they gave to the bride on cd or photos to choose from ask to see them. That will give you a fairly accurate idea of their work and how happy the bride was with her them.

Rich02002 · September 2011

I used them for my bridal pictures and my wedding in June. The bridal pictures were great and we didn't have a problem. Unfortunately, our wedding photos weren't that seamless. I had 2 photographers, and somehow between the both of them they ended up losing 30-40 frames. The worst part is that it was all of the family and close up shots directly after our wedding ceremony. I understand mistakes and mishaps happen, but they haven't returned ANY phone calls or emails in regards to creditting me for the less-than-medocre work. I am still fighting to get an answer and it's 2 1/2 mos later. I still have 3 wedding alubums to complete with them, but I don't have enough good pictures to do so. But without any return calls or emails, I haven't been able to resolve the matter. GOOD LUCK

jcsunshine14 · September 2011

Hi,

Thank you for your feedback on your experience. I am so sorry for your situation, but appreciate your honesty. I will definitely consider your experience and try to get some answers from Photo281. Hopefully the photos that you do have are beautiful! Wishing you luck in pulling together the pictures and memories of your wedding; I do hope Photo281 can compensate your for your loss.

mcinnism · September 2011

I met with photo281 in August and signed a contract and everything. It was so hard to get in touch with them and I was on my way to meet with the chick and I was calling to make sure that she was still going to be able to make it and she never called me back until I started calling her repeatedly. After meeting with her she said that since my wedding is over a year away I could make $150 monthly payments, she also said that she was about to go on vacation and she would be back in like 2 weeks. When she said I could make the payments she never told how or where or anything, she said that someone would contact me. I still hadn't heard from anyone so I emailed last week and someone told me that they would forward it to the main office and I STILL haven't heard from anyone. I'm about to call and cancel with them because I don't want to have to worry about if they are going to show up if I can't even get someone to contact me to pay them ya know? I'm sad because it was a really good deal but maybe now I know why.

Belle101781 · September 2011

Wow... I'm so sorry that both mcinnism and rich02002 have gone through that with these people.

Hopefully they will get back to you and get you everything you requested in what you paid for with your package or that they compensate you for what you aren't getting.

@mcinnism~ At least you found out about this vendor before you made a committment or paid them anything. Before you decide on someone again, definitely sit back and do some research. There are so many great photogs here in Houston and people like this vendor make people weary of all in the same field.

Good luck ladies!

SydneyHeart · September 2011

DO NOT HIRE Photo281, they called 30 minutes before my bridal portrait shoot and said her camera wouldn't turn on, she wasn't coming and we'd have to reschedule. We already paid in full the entire photography contract. I was at the hotel suite where we were to do the portraits, in full hair & make-up, wedding gown, etc. with my parents and grandparents, we paid the hair & make-up professional, paid for the site fee, my wedding gown had been rushed to be ready for the shoot, I had manicure and pedicure done, spray on tan- THE WORKS! Rescheduling was not an option.

We called Manny Chan (from the hotel vendor list)- Creative Photography in Galveston, and he rushed over to take the photos. Manny is my hero!

When we tried to get a refund through Photo281, they stopped taking our calls. We had to get a refund through our credit card company.

DO NOT HIRE PHOTO281!!!

mrsbritishguy · October 2011

Wow. So sorry for all of you've had a bad experience with them!

I received an email from them yesterday (the Bridal Extravaganza Ad they send) and actually considered giving them a call. But not too sure I will now given the feedback on this thread.

Thanks so much to those who provided feedback! I really hope you all have some kind of retribution on the matter.

kalibarry421 · December 2011

I would use caution if selecting Photo281 to take your wedding photos. We took our engagement photos with them on December 1st this year and our photographer told us it would take 10-14 days to see them posted on the website and to also recieve this CD with all the photos in the mail. On the 13th I tried to contact them by email with no response by the 16th (they normally had a very quick response time with emails sent before the engagement session) I sent another email hoping for a reply. Still no response by the 19th so I then tried to call them at the number listed on their website and got no answer so I left a voicemail. I then tried to call their phone number that is listed on the Credit Card statment when my card was charged with no answer so I left them a voicemail as well. With multiple attempts to try and contact Photo281 by email and calling the 2 phone numbers I had to get a hold of them I had no other choice but to dispute the charges made to my card. I then recieved an email that very same evening I had gone to the bank stating that my photos were being edited and he was waiting to hear if they would be posted soon or not and that he apologizes for the delay in his response because they close their Houston office for the month of December. Im sorry but if you had a professional bone in your body common sense would tell you that you can NOT shut down a business for a month without communicating that to your customers! ...Still no photos posted on the website.
Good Luck with your search and do NOT hire Photo281.

emoliver87 · January 2012

I am having the same exact issue. We took out engagement photos November 21st and still have nothing. Were you able to get your money back? I am considering getting a lawyer because of this issue. Please respond to this or email me at
eo1031@gmail.com. I am fed up with photo281 and regret my decision to use them.

marifeng · February 2012

DON'T USE PHOTO281!

My fiance and I hired them last year because of their amazingly low price quote. We are both just getting out of school and wanted to save every penny for our wedding, so we decided to try out Photo281. Troy and Christie from Photo281 were nice and responsive when we initially reached out to them. Once we signed with them and paid our deposit, everything went downhill.

We had scheduled an engagement session in October. Nobody contacted us in the days leading up to or on the actual day of the photo shoot. I had to call them a million times. I tried calling all the numbers I could find through past emails and their website, but no one responded.

Eventually I got a call from Troy 20 minutes before the appointment and he told me there was a mixup with the photographer. There were a few confusing phone calls back and forth between me, Troy and the photographer. Eventually my fiance and I had to rush to Herman Park and we had our photoshoot. I was furious, but decided to suck it up since we had already paid our deposit.

Post shoot, Troy told us we would get our edited engagement photos back within 3 weeks. 3 weeks went by and I heard nothing from him. My bridesmaids and I started calling and emailing him by week 4 to see if he had forgotten. He never responded to any phone calls or emails. Randomly one day (probably two weeks after that), he sent me a link to download our photos online. The email had no message or no explanation as to why the photos were given to me so late. To top it off, the photos were not edited.

I was so fed up with Photo281, I emailed Troy a week later to cancel our contract. That definitely got his attention because he responded within 24 hours. I explained how awful the whole experience was. He wanted to argue that there was no cancelation of the contract. Once I told him I didn't care to get my deposit back, he stopped emailing me.

Awful awful awful organization of Photo281. I regret my decision to not fight for my $600 deposit back, but there's not much I can do about it now.

Again, DON'T USE PHOTO281.

You don't want to risk this all happening on your wedding day!

Best of luck to you all,

M

Crowan30 · March 2012

I also have had a horrible experience with Photo281. I hope they stop advertising on wedding sites because the service is terrible. I canceled the service due to their non-responsiveness, and still have yet (3 months later) to receive a refund. Further, when I did get in contact with them, they said they got confused because there was a customer with the same name.

DO NOT INVEST ANY TIME OR MONEY IN PHOTO281.

rox74ever · August 2012

DO NOT HIRE PHoTO281 It has been 3 months and a half since my wedding and I still havent heard back from them. I am willing to go to their next bridal show and warn every bride there.

linnashley · December 2012

DO NOT USE PHOTO281!I
I got suckered in by their low price quote at the Bridal Extravaganza and by the fact that years before one of my sorority sisters had used them at her wedding with no problems; however, from the beginning I have had nothing but problems with them. They cancelled our first engagement shoot the day before it was to occur even though my fiance, who is from Ireland, was only in Houston for a few days. Once we finally got a re-shoot, the pictures took so long to process that we were unable to use them for any part of the wedding. The bridal shots were really great, but I had to hound them in order to get the canvas print in time to be displayed at the wedding. Finally, our wedding was on August 10, 2012...and I have yet to see any photos from it! I have tried for months to contact Photo281 and have received no or very minimal responses. I am now thinking of getting in touch with the BBB and possible an attorney.
Wedding photos are so very important, and I regret that I have hired such a sloppy, neglectful, and unprofessional company. Be warned, do not hire Photo281.

AdnSmith · November 2013

We were married in December 17, 2011. We still do not have any photo albums from our wedding. All payments were made up front. We went with Photo281 because they were less expensive than others. What we did not realize is that they take the photos and then they contract the development out to another company. They then wash their hands of ever having to deal with you again. Since our wedding date I have contacted them dozens of times but have never been able to speak with anyone in person from Photo281 or the company doing the development. Never a phone call from them in 2 years. I still do not know why I do not have albums, when I might get them or if we will ever get them. Of course, my wife is distraught and I have been frustrated for years. Not sure where to go from here except to pursue legal measures.

Reposting: Photo281

Re: Reposting: Photo281

Choose Another Board

Search Boards