Bookout Studios

Better than the 25 studios I've been to in the past.

My wife and I DO NOT recommend utilizing Bookout Studios in Huntsville, Alabama for your photography needs due to their customer service by the owner. To clarify, those that we dealt with directly were very friendly and professional, except the husband owner.



During the photography session for our 6 month old daughter, the main photographer and her assistant were very good with our daughter, even when she is usually scared of new people. In my opinion, we had a great session overall.



First complaint would be the prices and the fact that we are unable to get digital copies until we purchased over $1000 in prints. Then the digital prints would be $75-$100 each. We accepted that fact and were planning to spend over $2000 for these photos.



When we got to the studio to select our photos, there was still another customer making their selection, so we waited. After waiting for 30 minutes past our appointment time, my wife and I got impatient and asked the receptionist to reschedule us. My tone was calm but firm, and my volume was normal, but I was not happy. We got a new appointment we left to continue with our plans preparing for Easter weekend.



When we got home, we had a message from the husband owner for me to give him a call back. Knowing that they were closing early, I waited till Monday. When I called, I expected an apology for making us wait. The owner explained why sometimes other customers take a longer amount of time to select their pictures. I told him, I understand, but wished they allocated for that extra time or have another computer for other customers to pick their pictures. Another idea, like our home builder, would be to ask the customer to reschedule additional time if they exceed their allotted time – if stated beforehand, the customer will accept it. At this point I have yet to get an apology.



The owner then stated that I should apologize for taking my anger out on their receptionist. I stated that I was never rude, loud or mean in my request to reschedule. He said that the receptionist saw how upset I was in my body language. For the record, I did not intend to make the receptionist upset. If I did make her upset, I would apologize to her, which I tried today at a separate phone call, but she was off-duty. But I was not going to apologize to the owner for my manner, when they have not considered the customer’s mindset. At the end, I stated that we will not be purchasing my daughter’s 6-month-old pictures from them, even though we already paid $350 for the photography session.



It is regrettable that this occurred. We lost money. We did not get our first child’s pictures, which we are sure would have looked beautiful do to their skill. But customer service is important to us and that was not a consideration today. Because we were willing to pay a premium, the expectation was to have higher customer service. In our opinion, when the business relies on recommendations from others, customer service should definitely be considered.