On 10/30/10 we went to an Olan Mills at 67th Ave & Bell Rd. We had a scheduled appointment at 1 pm. The day prior, I received the courtesy call regarding the appt and time. When talking to Kathy (the photographer), she told me their location doesn't provide props. That she can purchase them, but that she feels the pictures are about the people, not the props. And if I wanted to bring any I could. When I asked about having 3 kids (6, 8, and 5 months) in a picture together and if their were enough people there to help get them all to smile. She told me she has been doing this for more then 20 years and it won't be a problem. And that I should bring a toy for the little one. S he would get a picture of it as well (which I didn't want). She then told me she is required to take each childs picture individually (even if I didn't want her to). And that if I didn't want the picture that I didn't have to purchase it. The day of the appt, we arrived 5 minutes early. We weren't acknowledged for 10 minutes. Then at that time, another family was brought in before us to look at their prints. This family took 1/2 hour. Then she informed us that she could only take our kids pictures for 30 minutes because she is "required by law" to take a break at 2. Well Arizona is a right to work state. There isn't a law that says she has to take a break. Some businesses require their employees to, but it isn't a law. So we told her to just cancel the appt. By this time my 5 month old was tired and not in the mood anymore. I requested my personal information back and she told me that her accounting requires her to turn it into them. I said that I want my personal information removed then. So she started to scratch it off the paper.

I will NEVER return to this location. And I WILL tell my friends/family to never go there. Waste of time and energy.

I, a 28 year old woman, was walking through Four Seasons Mall alone on 04/24/10. I was stopped by Olan Mills Rep named Rusty/Dusty whom told me that I was the 100th person to walk by the Olan Mills kiosk and that I had won a photo package deal (One 8x10, Two 5x7s, 8 wallets, 1 10x13, 4 3x5, and 6 cards) for $15.00. A few short moments later, I overheard a different rep offering another mall goer the exact same message...

Regardless, I accepted the offer and I was scheduled to take the picture on 05/01/10 @ 5:15 pm. I was unable to make it to that appointment. However, I received a call from Olan Mills during the week of June 20th and I was told that my expiration date had been extended and that I could reschedule an appointment. My appointment was set for June 27th, 2010 @ 4:15 pm.

One June 27th, 2010 I drove from Pittsboro, NC to Greensboro for the sole purpose of taking the picture. At about 4:10 pm on that date, I called Olan Mills from within Belk to locate the photo studio because I did not see it. I then learned that my name was not on the schedule @ all. Also, the photographer told me to gather the kids. I was not with any kids nor do I have any kids...

Once I got to the photo studio, It became clear that the studio was in a children's setting and appeared to be a children's photo studio. Again, the photographer asked me to gather the kids as she clearly was expecting children and not me.

I was already pissed that I drove out of the way to find out that I was not on the schedule and then finding out that the photo studio had been misrepresented was the icing on the cake.

I left a message on the photographer's desk which requested that my $15.00 be returned to me. I supplied my mailing address and went back home.

Later that week, I received a voicemail from Kelly which stated that she received my refund request and that she would like to talk to me about it. I returned the call and I left a message telling Kelly when the best time was to call me. I never received a call back...

I submitted a complaint through the BBB and I've yet to receive a response. A full month has passed since I submitted my complaint to the BBB.

On August 13th, 2010 - I submitted a request through www.olanmills.com. The request was for someone at olan mills to contact me. I spoke to Christie Bryant, District manager, at 5:00pm ish. I gave her a refresher of my issue and requested a refund. Christie refused the issue. In summary, she welcomed me to file complaints or to get a lawyer involved. The bottom line was that she was not going to refund my money. Never in my life have I seen a company treat their customers this way.

I called Olan Mills corporate customer service at 18002516320 in which I was told that they could not override what the District Manager said and would not refund the money. I was told that I would receive a follow up call from Christie's boss but we will see how this goes...

Olan Mills did a photo directory for our group this past year. In conjunction with that, we could order individual photos. Over $300 later, pictures ordered, confident that we had described all touch ups we wanted, we walked off and waited. A month later a batch of UNRETOUCHED photos arrived. Now, for $300 plus, I can buy adobe photoshop and do them myself, but that was what I paid Olan for. We returned the photos, and batch number two arrived, again, a month later... Flyaway hair, eyes that needed to be opened a bit, skin blemishes, EVERYTHING escapes their attention! So, we went for round three, which was promised in 14 days... 6 weeks later, still nothing. We demanded a refund from the company finally.

Olan Mills is understaffed, their staff is undertrained, and the work is aggressively overpriced. Shop around and get bids on your group photo project, and demand to talk to former customers. Had we done this we never would have hired Olan for our project. Not even the cover of the directory is done correctly. Our cover is filled with photos that have bad lighting, incorrect color hues, and worst, one photo is completely out of focus. You'll find similar products for about half the price Olan charges, RUN do not walk if they offer to do your project!!!

Olan Mills hires anyone to work in there store. I know for sure that the person that they have hired to work in the K-Mart store is a thief and and drug head. dont't get your picture taken there