Ok, I know several people here discussed the $5 special on 16x20's lately - it was mentioned in a few different threads... Anyway, thought I'd post my own experience with the offer & see other's reactions:
I managed to get an order in by the 6th... seems they were totally over-run with customers on this offer! I placed three separate 'jobs' within the same order, so each shipped at different times - the free 4x6's, a bunch of regular/lustre 16x20's, and a few 16x20's duplicated as metallic prints.
The 4x6's came pretty quick (5 or 6 days) but, after waiting nearly a week, I received an email about their falling behind on the massive number of 16x20 orders (it was an apology - fair enough). Then I noticed on their website that they follow Jewish Holidays & would be closed for several MORE days (not that I really mind; faith is good).
Just received the initial set of 16x20's (lustre) last night - nice, but slightly underexposed / dark looking compared to MPIX or SmugMug. I hope to receive the metallic prints tonight when I get home! Receiving the majority nearly 2 weeks after placing the order doesn't meet my standards, nor my customers (I hated having to call the excited Senior & explain a slow shipment, especially since I'm relying on her to help spread MY good name!!) The orders shipped USPS & were supposedly trackable, yet the tracking system barely showed any record of being received FROM adorama but was already delivered to my door (ie - had no idea of when i'd actually GET the order!!!) Just be very aware of their time lines & ship with a more reliable carrier if it's a critical order...
Overall, I'm not totally dissatisfied with them, and will definitely keep an eye out for future sales, but will continue to use MPIX / SM for everyday order fulfillment. It was a good deal - just don't think they were ready for the response they got. Although, i DO wonder about the online 'one touch correction' option, and plan to test it with their next sales promotion; hoping it will help with the brightness / contrast.
Billy |
