Ripcho Studio — Local services in Cleveland

I love the photographer we had for my son's senior pictures. She is FABULOUS! However, after placing my order and paying nearly $300 of the $500 required to receive a 'free cd' of each photo taken (after already having paid $325 for the session itself)- the owner used his wife as an excuse for why he wouldn't honor the sale- apparently the way I'd opted to hit the required minimum was a manor in which "I'd beat them at their own game" and they "need to consider such things as overhead costs, etc." Is all this "overhead" I am to pay for, at the cost of $60 PER SHEET (1 8x10 OR 2 5x7 OR 8 wallets)- $75 PER IMAGE if you have it retouched for blemishes, covering the cost of inadequately trained sales staff??? Additionally, my son's varsity football photos had appendages cropped out of them in bizarre locations- the initial order severed his left arm AND showed the break between their backdrop, so the image also included the school's library wall behind it. The "revised" replacement package was missing a corrected 8x10 AND my kiddo was then cropped at the SHIN?! Bizarre. For being a professional photography studio, Ripcho lacks the ability to see 'the devil in the details' of their work and lacks honor in the means by which they choose to do business. I will NOT be having 'Mom Prom' event photos taken by this studio as initially planned. I hope St. Ignatius begins looking at more competitive photography studios or independent photographers who don't charge astronomical prices for sub-par service...

Editing from my previous great review: I guess times change. Paid $15 extra for retouching. Photos come and it’s horrible. They even added an extra weird spot that wasn’t there before. Like they made darker spots all over his face. I called to ask about it. No one answered so I left a message with my number. No one called me back. So now I have a great pic but with their messed up “retouching” making it look worse than it would have had I not added and paid for that extra option. If you’re going to charge people $15 for one extra service, actually do it and not scam customers. Maybe call em back too…

First review: Melissa is amazing. I missed the window to order a school yearbook for the kid. Literally panicked, I called and she immediately helped me. There was no hold or waiting time. She was super understanding, patient and professional. Total willingness to assist and resolve the issue. Not only did she assure me off the bat but then waited with me on the phone while I went through the entire order process online, guiding me through each step, until it was completed. She saved me a ton of stress and my kid from being super disappointed. Melissa, thank you for being such a saint and my guardian...

Super disappointed in our school pictures. They clearly spend no time getting the children positioned well or work on getting a good smile before snapping a pic. I certainly don't expect them to completely re-style hair or take multiple shots, but I do expect that they ensure young kids look presentable. My 6 year old kindergartner, who is always smiling and has done well with pictures in the past, came home with "professional" photos where he has the least genuine smile I have ever seen and his dress shirt is mis-buttoned and with the collar flipped up on one side. It looks ridiculous and I cannot even believe I paid as much as we did for these. We were also supposed to get a class picture with our order, which we never did. If you are truly passionate about photography and your work, you should take the extra few minutes - even seconds (!) - it could take to get a quality picture. We have had WONDERFUL experiences with Lifetouch the past three years at pre-school, and they clearly set the bar high. I will certainly be contacting customer support, but from other reviews I have read it seems like I shouldn't get my hopes up...